If you were here

If you were here

Fleur McDonald

Literature & Fiction

This ebook original short story is a prequel to Fleur McDonald's upcoming novel Suddenly One Summer. In If You Were Here, the bestselling author of Red Dust and Crimson Falls reveals the events of thirty-five years ago, which led up to the mysterious disappearance of Brianna Donahue's mother from their family farm.Brianna is three years old and very much loved by her mother, Josie, and her father, Russell. What seems like an ordinary work day on the farm becomes a nightmare when Josie vanishes without a trace. Do the travellers found camping on their property have something to do with her disappearance or is it something more sinister?This original SHORT STORY by Fleur McDonald includes a sneak peek of her forthcoming novel Suddenly One Summer.
Read online
  • 40
Daughter's Keeper

Daughter's Keeper

Ayelet Waldman

Literature & Fiction

How much would you sacrifice to save someone you love?When Olivia, wild-haired and headstrong, makes a terrible mistake, she must turn to the person least likely to help—her mother, Elaine. Motherhood was a role that Elaine never embraced and her best never amounted to much. But now Olivia faces prosecution for a naïve connection to a drug deal and she needs Elaine more than ever. As the days count down and Olivia's future hangs in the balance, Elaine must decide just how much she is willing to give for a second chance with her daughter.With Daughter's Keeper, Ayelet Waldman has crafted a redemptive journey at once highly emotional and unbearably suspenseful, as Olivia and Elaine's struggle builds to a beautiful, heart-wrenching climax. In this luminous, gripping novel, Waldman brings to life the tensions and the tenderness that forge the unshakeable bond between parent and child. Daughter's Keeper reveals the unlimited boundaries of forgiveness and the sacrifices...
Read online
  • 40
Collision Poin_A Brute Force Novel

Collision Poin_A Brute Force Novel

Lora Leigh

Romance / Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers

From #1 bestselling author Lora Leighcomes the thrilling Brute Force series—packed with powerful men, steely women,and explosive passion.SHE'S NOTHING BUT TROUBLERiordan Malone ismore than a bodyguard. As an Elite Ops agent, he's ripped, raged, and ready torumble—a true warrior, inside and out. But no war zone can compare to thebattle in Rory's heart when he lays eyes on the only woman he's ever loved—and thought he had lost forever. . . HE'S EVERYTHING SHE NEEDS As the daughter ofa crime lord, Amara Resnova has endured the cruelty of her father's enemies—and has tried to escape that world ever since. Now,she must reach out to the one man who saved her life, even if she's neverforgiven him for breaking her heart. But Amara istougher today than she was then. She's also more desirable to Rory—anddangerous to love. Can he protect her from her father's enemies withoutsurrendering to his own...
Read online
  • 40


At the Reunion Buffet

At the Reunion Buffet

Alexander McCall Smith

Mystery & Thrillers / Literature & Fiction / Children's Books

A Vintage Shorts "Short Story Month" Original SelectionIn this warm, intelligently observed novella, Isabel Dalhousie, Alexander McCall Smith's wonderful heroine, learns valuable lessons about inviting the past (and everyone in it) back into your life.Isabel Dalhousie--philosopher, mother and friend--has generously agreed to host the opening dinner for her school reunion weekend. Twenty-five former classmates will descend upon her home, bringing with them new names, new looks, and old reputations. While some will see the reunion as an opportunity to forge new friendships and reaffirm old ones, others aren't interested in changing their minds about the past. One particular classmate, Barbara Grant, was known as an especially mean girl who bullied the others relentlessly. As hostess, Isabel feels compelled to help her guests on the path toward reconciliation and forgiveness, but bitter feelings and long-held secrets threaten to derail her efforts entirely....
Read online
  • 40
An Ornithologist's Guide to Life

An Ornithologist's Guide to Life

Ann Hood

Literature & Fiction

"A collection of short stories that makes it possible to be proud to be human."—Carolyn See, Washington PostLooking at her characters as if through a pair of binoculars, Ann Hood captures the extraordinary in the ordinary. A pregnant woman left by her husband cooks obsessively to cope with her loss, but never tastes a morsel. In an attempt to stay sober, a young alcoholic seduces her priest and embarks on a tour of caverns with him. An adolescent girl picks up bird-watching as a hobby and, in her newfound habit of observing others, discovers a budding romance between her mother and her neighbor. These stories, many published in The Paris Review, Glimmer Train, Story, and The Colorado Review, are full of characters seeking an escape from their lives while uncovering small moments of understanding that often have huge implications and consequences. They discover that they can only find peace once they stop searching for a way out. Through diverse voices...
Read online
  • 40
Women with Men

Women with Men

Richard Ford

Literature & Fiction

Richard Ford's Independence Day--his sequel to The Sportswriter, and an international bestseller--is the only novel ever to have received both the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Now, with Women With Men, he reaffirms his mastery of shorter fiction with his first collection since the widely acclaimed Rock Springs, published a decade ago.The landscape of Women with Men ranges from the northern plains of Montana to the streets of Paris and the suburbs of Chicago, where Mr. Ford's various characters experience the consolations and complications that prevail in matters of passion, romance and love. A seventeen-year-old boy starting adulthood in the shadow of his parents' estrangement, a survivor of three marriages now struggling with cancer, an ostensibly devoted salesman in early middle age, an aspiring writer, a woman scandalously betrayed by her husband--they each of them contend with the vast distances that exist between...
Read online
  • 40
The Land of Stories

The Land of Stories

Chris Colfer

Literature & Fiction / Young Adult / Children's Books

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Chris Colfer comes a gorgeous, full-color fairy-tale treasury.Dear Reader, you hold in your hands a very special book that contains more than thirty-five classic fairy tales and nursery rhymes, plus your very own survival guide to the Land of Stories. If you notice the pages glowing, followed by an inviting humming noise, don't be afraid! That is just the book's magic. But whatever you do, don't lean too far into the book. You never know where you might end up.Enter the world of fairy tales in this stunning illustrated gift book that includes more than thirty-five beloved stories and rhymes retold by #1 New York Times bestselling author Chris Colfer.This gorgeous, full-color companion book to the Land of Stories series will appeal to new and old fans alike, who will delight in favorite classics such as "Cinderella," "Sleeping Beauty," "Little Red Riding Hood," "Jack and the...
Read online
  • 40
183