Who's that peeking out of the sleigh? As St. Nick and eight tiny reindeer descend through a brilliant night sky onto the roof of a Victorian house in a snowy New England village, the famous Christmas poem begins. The father of the family narrates the words just as Clement Moore wrote them, and artist Jan Brett captures the spirit in brilliant illustrations that reflect this memorable night. Visually she extends this favorite Christmas story for children, who will delight in watching the two mischievous stowaways from the North Pole enthusiastically exploring the sacks of gifts on the roof while St. Nick, unaware, journeys down the chimney... until the toys spill down onto the lawn and he turns with a jerk! Antique toys and exquisite ornaments frame the borders in which sometimes the father, St. Nick, or the family cat and dog look on, as the story unfolds. A unique and beautiful edition to be cherished for years to come by all the family, especially the youngest, who find the night before Christmas perhaps the most exciting night of the year.

Eight year old Annika wants to do her part to help an underprivileged child have a Merry Christmas. But, when circumstances force her to make the toughest decision of her young life, what will she do? Annika's Christmas is a heart warming holiday story the whole family will enjoy. Merry Christmas.Annika's Christmas is a story about a little girl with a big heart who wants to donate a toy to her school's Christmas toy drive for under privileged children. Circumstances intervene forcing her to make the toughest decision of her young life. Loosely based on a true event, it's a holiday story the whole family will enjoy. Merry Christmas.

Do we really need to buy twenty-four pencils? a student asked. -No, not just twenty-four pencils, but rather twenty-four sharpened pencils, the lecturer replied.Point of a pencil, is a short story about a creative writing class, in which the lecturer tells the students that she requires each of them to arrive at the class with twenty-four sharpened pencils. The students question this number, but soon the point she made is brought home to the class, when those students that did not follow her instruction begin to run out of ink, break the point of the only pencil they've brought with them, or lose the lead out of their clutch pencils.Its just a short story about how a lecturer can inspire a class to write more interestingly and use their imaginations.

Mookie is tired of being victimized by the school bully and when he stumbles upon the web site, "Hell.org", he believes his prayers have been answered. But, is it worth the cost?From best-selling author Stephen England comes NIGHTSHADE, a new stand-alone short story in the Shadow Warriors series, predating the events of Pandora's Grave by several years."He wasn't supposed to be here. None of them were. That wasn't unusual--he'd spent well over ten years of his life going places he wasn't supposed to go, doing things he wasn't supposed to do. "CIA paramilitary operations officer Harry Nichols had brought his team to Ciudad del Este for a single purpose: eliminating Jean-Claude Manet, aka Ramzi bin Abdullah, the former head of al-Qaeda operations in Europe.It was supposed to be simple. But there's nothing simple about killing a man.

Nina begged Phillippe not to reveal her identity before she danced on stage for the people at the village. He agreed, providing they ended both of their dancing careers by performing one final pas de deux together.In the end this performance proved to be a fitting ending to both of their dancing careers, as they felt they could now move on with their lives, hopefully still as a couple.This is a love story about how two people who were once ballet dancing partners, meet again under unusual circumstances, while working at a retirement village.To begin with they feel awkward and don't communicate, since they had parted after a silly quarrel. But once they realize that they have moved on and that they still love each other, they decide to put aside their former grievances and to dance one final pas de duex together.The performance takes place on New year's Eve at the retirement village and this proves to be fitting finale to both of their dancing careers.Note: A Pas de deux is a partnership between two dancers.

Twelve year old Billy Martin, reared in liberal Stockholm, is sent to live with his eighteen year old brother Bob, who has recently joined an ultra-conservative religious sect in Idaho. Accustomed to getting his own way, Billy’s high spirits collide with the group’s strict regimen, and he quickly discovers the meaning of “Biblical discipline.” A must read for every adolescent, and his parents.Sic Semper Tyrannis is a memoir about a time, not so long past, when men were free, religious values were taken seriously. and parents were allowed to pass on the cultural heritage to their children without governmental interference. As David Selznick remarked concerning the Antebellum South, Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered, a Civilization gone with the wind... This fictional account is the story of what might have been, had Christian parents possessed the courage of their convictions. It depicts the use of spanking and other types of physical correction, from the perspective of an adolescent boy. Twelve year old Billy Martin has been suddenly uprooted from the only home he knows, in liberal Stockholm, and sent to live with his eighteen year old brother, Bob, who has recently joined an ultra-conservative religious group in Idaho.Billy, a high-spirited youth, has been allowed to run at loose ends for his entire life, and has never experienced discipline of any kind. He now finds himself in a vastly different world. Bob immediately sets about bringing his kid brother into line, and giving him the “Biblical discipline” that he, and the other sect members, consider essential to proper child rearing. Billy strives to come to grips with the new reality.While the characters are wholly imaginary, the issues they confront are real, and threaten to undermine the very foundations of our civilization. This work does not contain any erotic material, but is a sobering assessment of today’s child rearing practices in the United States and Western Europe.This is the second volume of a more extensive saga, which traces the course of Billy and his friends as they struggle through the years of adolescence, and should be required reading for every adolescent boy, his parents, and all those who seek to influence him.Volume 53 continues the story of twelve year old Billy Martin, reared in liberal Stockholm, is sent to live with his eighteen year old brother Bob, who has recently joined an ultra-conservative religious sect in Idaho. Accustomed to getting his own way, Billy’s high spirits collide with the group’s strict regimen, and he quickly discovers the meaning of “Biblical discipline.”

A widow inherits and old house, but when her young son finds a secret door, she begins to discover that the reclusive aunt who once lived there left some eerie secrets behind.After a group of divers disappear, a pair of sailors fight about the nature of a recent discovery at the bottom of the Baltic.

What would you do if you payed mother a surprise visit at Christmas and discovered all the gifts the family had sent her over the last five years displayed on her dining room table, - all unused and with the wrapping paper close by.Hopefully you'd handle the situation with care the way Leanne did and not turn the situation into a screaming match that would get your mother's back up.Sandra has a secret that her daughter Leanne finds out about when she pays her a surprise visit just before Christmas. To Leanne's surprise, she finds out that her mother has never used any of her gifts over the last five years, but rather re-wrapped them and kept them in her memory box. A box that she opens again each year at Christmas and the re-wraps the gifts again until the following Christmas.Later, Sandra tells her daughter that she has been doing this ever since the rest of the family moved to Australia and left her to fend for herself. Leanne gets cross because it was Sandra's choice to remain behind and they had often begged her to come. But she also knows that as she needs to take her mother back home with her now, she will have to handle the situation with care, -and not mention the gift episode or any of Sandra;s neighbours complaints to them about her mothers behaviour. This is why Leanne makes up her mind to tell Sandra that she won't mention the gift episode to the others, -as long as she returns to Oz with her. But in the end she doesn't even need to do this, as Sandra makes up her own mind to go back to Australia with her.A happy Christmas story that is based on a true story.

Susan's mother tells her that she was once a spy for MI6 during the cold war and that she believes her life is now in danger, as she has recognized a man lurking around in the village. Susan finds this hard to believe, but after she realizes just how scared her mother really is, she decides to do whatever it takes to keep her mother safe.When Susan's mother's secret life as a spy for MI6 during the cold war, spills over into Susan's life, she is unprepared for the devastating effect this has on their lives for many years to come. To begin with, her mother tells her that she suspects that her life is in danger. then she says she has seen an old enemy from the cold war lurking around in the village. she also says she thinks other men might be involved as well, due to the number of enemies she made during that time. Susan questions why they'd come after her mother so many years later, but her mother assures her that they are men who have huge grudges against her, for what she did during the cold war.her mother then places five encrypted emails on her laptop, and tells Susan that if she receives a certain sms from her, she must send off the emails immediately. But as Susan doubts if anything will come of this,she is surprised one morning to receive an sms giving her the 'send' instruction.after she has sent off the emails, she gets into her car and drives to her mothers house, but on the way there, she finds her mother sitting at a bus stop down the road from her house. when she asks her what she is doing there, she realizes her mother is in a terrible state and unable to talk about what has happened to her.Susan then drives up to the house and finds that the police are already there, while at the house, there are signs that a terrible battle took place.The police tell Susan they have discovered three bodies and that there is plenty of blood all over the place. they also say that MI6 will be taking over the case and that they will possibly have some answers for her. the police then try to persuade Susan to get her mother to talk to them, as they are convinced that she must have seen what happened, but they soon realize that her mother is not in a fit state of mind to give them a statement.When MI6 arrives, they tell Susan her mother was definitely involved, due to the manner in which she cleaned up after herself and by the measures she took to ensure that the local police did not suspect her involvement. They then go on to explain what her mother once did for her country and Susan is amazed that her kind, gentle mother, could ever have been such an incredibly brave spy.MI6 later takes them to a safe house, but after a time, Susan and her mother decide that they will be better off if they leave England and hide out elsewhere. they decide to make their way to a small Greek island, where they become absorbed into the local community.Susan later marries a local man called Jorge and they have two children that her mother dotes on. for the most part they are happy and they live pleasant carefree lives, but once in a while,Susan begins to feel edgy and starts to imagine seeing suspicious looking men lurking around in the village. At these times, she remains at home in hiding, until the feeling has passed. then one day when she has a conversation with her mother about her suspicions, she realizes that her mother still feels afraid that someone will come after her, even now..So on days when things do not seem quite right with their world, Susan stations herself on a rock far out in the ocean, where she fervently prays, as she watches the waves while they wash onto the pristine white shore. then only when all her fears for their safety have been washed away, does she return home to her family.

A mysterious warrior woman approaches Northwest Smith, with a tantalizing proposition, "Come with me to the green hills of earth in the distant past of 1500."

What do you do when your best friend starts dating the absolute worst guy on the planet? Well, sometimes you just have to take matters into your hands...and find a way to make him go away, without ruining your chances of getting into a good college or going to jail.Is love a feeling or a decision? Niall Reaner chooses Deidre Whitmire as his wife and the future queen of Aisling, but it could be the biggest mistake of his life considering he is in love with another. Is he willing to destroying two marriages and a lifelong friendship in order to be with this woman from his past, or will true contentment only be found in choosing to love his wife?At Love’s Beginning is a short story portraying a glimpse of life before Securing Aisling, book 1 in The Kingdom’s of Kearnley series.

Leslie Rhoads may have grown up in a small town but is on the verge of becoming a supermodel in the Big Apple, when the 24-year-old is chosen to grace the cover of Style magazine and star in the controversial Passion Nights’ perfume ads. But before she can step into the spotlight, Leslie is assaulted by a drug gang and disfigured with a broken scotch bottle. Without her perfect face, she is lost and no amount of surgery can ever make her what she once was. Now trying to hide her face from the world, Leslie encounters more trouble as she seeks to rebuild her life: unrequited love, thoughts of suicide, and her assailant out to finish the job. Little does she know that a young girl named Angel will turn it all around, showing Leslie the joy and potential in life and the fact that love truly is blind. 

Joe didn't actually realize that he was searching for his birthday gifts, as his grandfather asked him to help him find a key as well as a ball of string that he had misplaced, but in unraveling these clues and searching for these objects, he discovered a bicycle and some computer games as well.Joe's birthday was coming up, but instead of just giving him his presents, his grandfather who was a detective, gave him some clues to search for instead. His grandfather also spun him a story about a lost key and an illusive ball of string and along the way Joe managed to unravel the clues and also find a bicycle and some cool computer games.

Four years ago, Gabriel Preston, Duke of Beckhampton prepared to ask for the hand of his love, Lady Eliza Clayton. Then she vanished. Rumors ran rampant through Polite Society, each one suggesting a different theory, yet all resulted in the same conclusion: Lady Eliza didn't love him. Vowing never to bare his soul to a woman again, Beck locked himself away on his estate. After protesting, cajoling, and crying daily for four years, Lady Eliza has finally convinced her mother to allow them to return to England from Boston, where they'd been "visiting" family. She knew the true reason for their voyage, despite Mama's denials. Her parents refused to allow her to marry the Duke of Beckhampton. Yet after all this time apart, Eliza still loved him. Beck is shocked when Eliza appears in Society once more, and even more surprised to discover he desires her after all the pain she caused him. He's feeling the Christmas spirit for the first time in years....

Marry a stranger? Who does that?!? Taylor Thompson's mother is haranguing her to get married, but she's working too hard to fund her dream—the best cupcake shop in town—to have time for romance. Nathan Fletcher's movie star grandmother has only months left to live. Her death bed wish? To see him married before she dies. So they strike a deal—if Taylor will pretend to be his girlfriend, Nathan will fund her shop. When his excited grandmother takes over planning the wedding, they can't bear to disappoint her so they decide to go through with it—and have it annulled after Grandma's gone. Except nothing after "I do" goes as planned. What happens when you fall in love with a stranger? Join Tayler on her enchanting journey in Tying the Knot, the fifth heartwarming installment in USA Today bestselling author Heather Horrocks' beloved Love on Christmas Street series. If you adore the laughter and warmth of holiday rom-coms,...