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<div><p>La Isla del Azur is a piece of heaven, laced with miles of white-sand beaches lapped by crystal clear turquoise water. For teacher Athena Crawford, the lush Caribbean island offers the career opportunity of a lifetime. But there's trouble in paradise: Collin Winslow, the education project's difficult, drop-dead-gorgeous administrator. When they're not locking horns over teaching methods, they're sharing mind-blowing kisses that leave her confusedand craving more.</p><p>Collin was ready to dismiss Athena as an empty-headed beauty. Instead he discovers that she's smart, sexy and dedicated to helping his people. Passion erupts as the island works its sultry magic, but can their delicate relationship weather the storms about to break?  </p></div>


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<div><p>For recently laid-off Asia Crawford, an all-expenses-paid vacation to the Colorado Rockies—courtesy of her sorority sisters—is just the getaway she needs. Until Trace Gunthrey shows up, claiming <em>he's</em> booked in the same rustic cabin! The only solution? To split the two-week time-share. But with the gorgeous single father sharing her intimate living space, sleep is the <em>last</em> thing on Asia's mind….</p><p>In Atlanta, Trace is a judge who moves in high-powered circles. Here, he's just a man at one with nature…and the earthy beauty who seems set on seducing him. Trace came out West to get closer to his daughter. Instead, Asia's the one who's bonding with both of them, making the captivated widower long to let nature take its course—one scorching kiss at a time! </p></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>It's less than a week before Sonya Morrison's wedding when she decides to pass her legendary little black book on to her cousin Courtney Andrews along with all of her best wishes. Courtney, who's fast approaching thirty, thinks every woman she knows has somehow met a man who is_ husband_ material except for her. So Sonya’s little black book seems to be just what she needs. That's until Courtney discovers she and her cousin have completely different tastes when it comes to men. </p><p>But just when she is about to give up and toss the infamous little black book into the garbage, she meets Lake Masters. Nearly ten years her senior, he’s a lot older than the men she’s normally attracted to, but he’s handsome, intelligent, wealthy, and a man who is determined to sweep her off her feet. But the road to love is never easy and Courtney may find that her little black book is more a curse than a blessing.</p></div>


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<div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>National bestselling author Bryant returns with another hot contemporary romance novel that introduces readers to the third Strong brother: Kaeden. Original.</p><hr class="annotations_divider"><br><p></p><div class="user_annotations"><br><span style="font-weight:bold"><br>  1/26/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 4257 (99%)<br></span><br><br><br></div></div>


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<div><div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>A fabulous summer two-in-one—twice the scandal all in one unforgettable volume!Husband Material by Brenda JacksonBeware the jilted husband: Matthew Birmingham never played fair…especially when it came to his ex-wife. When she moved across the country, he moved back to their estate—back to their bedroom—determined to win back her love…by any means necessary.The Sheikh's Bargained Bride by Olivia GatesMeet the shocked groom: Sheikh Adham saw marriage as a business venture, his wife a mere convenience…until they portrayed the loving couple in public. Would finally seeing his bride in a new light shatter all his rules?</p></div><hr class="annotations_divider"><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  7/14/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 2304 (99%)
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<div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>A Dirty Little Secret? Sex therapist Dr. Simone Beaupre is living large. Her popular dating-and-advice column, 'Just About Sex,' has made her the toast of Cincinnati. And that's not all. Her column is about to go national. A 'phat' syndication deal is in the works. But Simone's big-time future teeters on the brink of disaster, when an obnoxious lawyer threatens to expose her. At thirty-four years young, Simone is still—a virgin? Prominent attorney Alex Greene is on a crusade to 'out' Dr. Simone as the fraud he believes she is, until he meets the good doctor in person. Then his campaign turns from prosecution to one of sizzling seduction.</p><hr class="annotations_divider"><br><p></p><div class="user_annotations"><br><span style="font-weight:bold"><br>  1/26/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 4131 (99%)<br></span><br><br><br></div></div>


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<div><div><div><p>Kendra Redding and Slate Landis shared an intense love affair seven years
  ago, but a tragedy forced Slate to leave town — and Kendra — without
  looking back. Now he has returned and Kendra intends to show him just what
  he's been missing — sizzling passion that he can get only from a
  lover's touch. But Kendra's looking for a strictly physical reunion — she's
  not about to lose her heart to Slate a second time.</p>
<p>Slate knows he lost the best thing in his life when he left Kendra behind,
  and he intends to correct that mistake. And if he can convince Kendra's body
  before she can convince her heart, than so be it….</p></div>

<p>Kendra Redding and Slate Landis shared an intense love affair seven years ago, but a tragedy forced Slate to leave town — and Kendra — without looking back. Now he has returned and Kendra intends to show him just what he's been missing — sizzling passion that he can get only from a lover's touch. But Kendra's looking for a strictly physical reunion — she's not about to lose her heart to Slate a second time.</p> <p>Slate knows he lost the best thing in his life when he left Kendra behind, and he intends to correct that mistake. And if he can convince Kendra's body before she can convince her heart, than so be it….</p></div><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  7/15/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 524 (99%)
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<div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>For Erica Sanders, finding a soul mate was the easy part. Brian Lawson is the man she wants, and everyone agrees they're the ideal couple. Almost everyone. The one exception is Erica's mother, Karen, who prefers her daughter marry another man. Karen even hires a private detective to investigate Brian, but the truth he uncovers is the last thing she expected—a devastating betrayal that rips both families apart.Convinced that her relationship can't be salvaged, Erica ends her engagement. Yet she has lingering doubts over her decision, especially once Brian's attractive single neighbor starts pursuing him. A chance meeting proves that the passion between Brian and Erica hasn't dimmed—but neither has the determination of others to keep them apart, or the shocking lengths Karen will go to in order to undermine her daughter's relationship.As secrets old and new are revealed, Erica and Brian find themselves caught between the bonds of the past and an uncertain future, each making painful discoveries about who to believe and trust. Masterfully told and laced with the sensuality and drama that Brenda Jackson does best, this is an unforgettable story of relationships at their most complex, and how hard it can be to choose between living separate lives—or holding fast when love hangs by a silken thread….</p><hr class="annotations_divider"><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  4/1/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 4701 (99%)
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<div><div><div><p>SUMMARY:</p></div><p class="description">When celebrity jet-setter Troy Singleton meets TV up-and-comer Jasmine Stewart, it is lust at first sight. Major players on the singles' scene, the last thing on either of their minds is playing for keeps. Until Jasmine is forced into a temporary marriage of convenience. And she realizes the sexy-as-all-get-out man is the one she wants to have and to hold….The free-living, free-loving playboy Troy never planned to turn in his player's card. But the proposal intrigues him…especially since he can't keep his hands off the hot-as-sin reporter. As the passion heats up between the newlyweds and rising media stars, Troy makes a new vow. He'll win the heart of the woman he's promised to honor forever with the love that began with a single kiss….</p></div><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  6/13/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 2134 (99%)
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<div><div><p class="description"></p><p>When three Chicago girlfriends find they aren't getting any, they get
 serious. They want men who know their way around a woman's body — and 
how to provide the ultimate in stimulating pleasure...it's over the knee
 and over the top…</p>    <p><b>Fienin'  Angie Daniels</b></p>    <p>Nightclub
 owner Simone Thomas has given up on love. She wants S–E–X only, and 
with a man who can fulfill her every fantasy. Architect Shaun Dutton 
can't wait to fly her to Florida, where he can strip off her clothes — 
and uncover the steamy secret fantasies even Simone has never admitted 
to...</p>    <p><b>Just Lay Down  Kimberly Kaye Terry</b></p>    <p>After
 she left her husband, Lilliana Michaels never expected to want a man 
again. But rock–hard Josh Ellis is far too fine to pass up. He's got 
plenty to teach her about pleasure — and he's so good with his hands 
that Lilly wants them all over her...</p>    <p><b>Caught   Lisa G. Riley</b></p>    <p>Melinda
 Carlisle is shocked when gorgeous Dr. Nick Pantino answers her personal
 ad. Dating a co–worker is a bad idea, especially when what she wants 
involves getting naked. But Nick's deliciously sexy suggestions change 
her mind — and his passionate attention to her curves makes her hot all 
over...</p></div><hr class="annotations_divider"><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  2/18/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 4265 (99%)
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 <br><b>Location 1385 • Note</b><br>  5<br><b>Location 1386 • Bookmark</b><br><b>Location 2837 • Bookmark</b><br><b>Location 4255 • Note</b><br> 5<br></div></div>


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<div><div><h3>Review</h3><p>"Byrd proves once again that she's a wonderful story-teller. Her style shines in each book, and the surprise at the end of this one makes this excellent novel well worth the read." -- <em>Romantic Times BOOKreviews on The Beautiful Ones</em></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p><strong>Welcome to Arabesque's At Your Service series featuring romance in the military service . . . </strong></p><p><strong>Above and Beyond the Call of Duty</strong></p><p>Air force fighter pilot Sydney Garret was born to fly. No other thrill came close enough to shake her -- until she met Captain James Colton and found a reckless passion that led to fifty-five hours together as husband and wife. </p><p>When they went their separate ways, Sydney's heart understood what her pride refused to admit -- that someday, somehow, fate would reunite them. But no one imagined that it would be a matter of life and death . . . </p><p>When Sydney's plane was shot down over enemy territory on a routine reconnaissance flight, James and his crew were deployed on a dangerous search-and-rescue operation where every second counted. But James was not only going in after one of the military's finest pilots -- he was also racing to save the woman he loved. </p></div><hr class="annotations_divider"><hr class="annotations_divider"><hr class="annotations_divider"><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  9/21/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 16 (0%)
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<div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Courtney Hudson didn't date, didn't go barhopping and definitely didn't do one-night stands. But when she decided to bust loose for one night, who would have guessed the beautiful young widow would end up in the bed of a sexy, brown-skinned brother from Alaska?Detective Lloyd Vance had moved to the lower forty-eight to escape a troubled past. And after a single, sizzling night of passion with Courtney, he knew he had made the right move. But then tragedy struck, and Lloyd and Courtney got caught up in a twist of fate that threatened to destroy their burgeoning affair.…</p><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  4/9/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 2696 (98%)
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<div><div>She has a secret...<br>Mystery writer Desiree Davidson has been swept 
into a situation wilder than any she ever dreamed up in her books. She's
 hiding out in a rundown house in Delaware, she's changed her name to 
Destiny Davis, and has started a whole new life. In fact, she's 
beginning to think she's safe from the killer hunting for her. Then she 
meets her gorgeous neighbor, and it's an instant chemistry that sets her
 reeling.<br><br>Building contractor Duane Urban doesn't bring his sexy 
new neighbor a cup of sugar-he offers to help repair her house. And the 
more he's on the premises the better it feels just to be near her. But 
it doesn't take long to figure out that Destiny is hiding something. And
 while Destiny sees the promise of a new future, her past is coming back
 with a vengeance.</div><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  7/1/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 6020 (99%)
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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Melanie Harte's latest matchmaking assignment comes with a catch. Her client, Jaxon Landon, can never know that his grandmother hired Melanie to find him a woman of substance—someone more interested in making the handsome banker happy than in spending his money. With Melanie's help, Jaxon meets Zora Campbell, a former model whose thriving agency proves she's just as brilliant as she is beautiful. For the first time Jaxon is falling for a woman who is his equal—and their combustible chemistry proves the feeling is mutual. But the hotter their relationship gets, the more Zora worries about what will happen when Jaxon discovers the ploy behind the passion. A simple lie brought them together—but will it also tear them apart?</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Before he was a football legend, Devon Hayes fantasized about Hollywood actress Jazelle Richardson. Now that he's famous in his own right and ready to settle down, meeting Jazz through The Platinum Society seems like destiny. Their sensual chemistry is overwhelming except Jazz wants the one thing Devon can't give her—a life away from the spotlight.Born to movie star parents, Jazz has seen the problems wealth and fame can bring. Reeling after a loss, she's not sure she's ready to get close to anyone again, especially someone who's so attached to his celebrity status. But by the time Devon figures out what matters most, will he have lost the woman his heart chose to love long ago?</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Melanie Harte's exclusive matchmaking service—the Platinum Society—can help any soul find their ideal mate. Because when love is perfect, it is a match made in heaven.Single, Savvy Businesswoman Seeking to Stay That Way…Never get involved with a client. Melanie Harte's reputation depends on her not breaking that golden rule. Yet suddenly the Platinum Society's dedicated owner has two of her most eligible prospects pursuing her.Rafe Lawson is a senator's son with a wicked grin and a player's charm. Claude Montgomery is the senator's ambitious, charismatic and very attractive special assistant. Both men are off-the-charts sexy—and completely off-limits. But as Melanie's feelings for one of them deepen and their desire intensifies, it puts more than her business in jeopardy. Now, keeping her company's name in good standing means risking the one thing she wants most of all—her very own perfect match.</p>


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<div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>One mind-blowing kiss. That was all Ellie Weston shared with her neighbor and crush one summer, before he angrily discovered she'd approached him on a dare. Ten years later, Ellie is back at her great-aunt's lake house, and so is Uriel Lassiter—still wildly sexy, single and happy to stay that way. When Ellie finds her great-aunt's never-completed romance novel, she decides to finish the manuscript—but first she needs some real-life inspiration: a sultry summer fling.Uriel hasn't forgotten Ellie, and their sizzling chemistry is starting to make him reconsider his tried-and-true bachelor status. But when the truth about her motive emerges, can Ellie convince him that make-believe has turned into sweet reality?</p><p class="description"></p><hr class="annotations_divider"><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations"><span style="font-weight: bold; ">12/2/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 4701 (99%) </span></div></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>After mousy Mary Reyland discovers her inner vixen, Edmund David isn't sure how to handle the challenge. Edmund enjoys being in charge, but the new sultry, confident Mary won't settle for less than she deserves, in business or pleasure. Original.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Dog groomer Yvette Coulier dreams of living the life of the wealthy clients she services. Tired of rich men who want fun and games but no commitment, she's thrilled to get a mysterious invitation from the Black Stockings Society. When she wears her sexy sheer stockings to work the next day, she catches the admiring eye of Nate Blackwell.…Nate craves a taste of the simple life, out of the spotlight and away from all the demands and obligations taking a toll on his sanity. So he makes this sexy siren a deal: he'll introduce her to the upper crust she longs to rub shoulders with if she lets him pose as her valet. Soon this fairy tale has a twist when passion forces them to take off their masks…to expose their hearts.</p>


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<div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Biologist Brenda Everton has excelled in a man's world—often at the expense of her personal life. When she receives an invitation to join the Black Stockings Society, her first impulse is to throw it away, until she starts to wonder just what kind of fun she's been missing.…Now, donning a sequined pair of seamed black stockings, Brenda's taking a meeting with her ex-husband, wealthy entrepreneur Dominic Ayers. Dominic has learned there's a lot more to life than work…and one glimpse of Brenda makes him realize how much he wants to teach her all about letting loose, listening to her heart and finding out whether passion can strike twice.…</p><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  1/25/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 2295 (99%)
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<div><div>Product Description</div><div>Can true love be found after one night of passion?</div><div><br></div><div>Celeste Burton goes out with her girlfriends to celebrate turning thirty and winds up spending an unforgettable night with the man of her dreams. One week later, as a favor, she attends a wedding with a friend as his date and is shocked when she sees Roarke again.</div><div><br></div><div>Roarke Hawthorne despises cheating. Cheating tore apart his family years ago. When the physics professor sees the woman he spent the night with show up at his sisters wedding on the arm of his brother, he knows he should keep his distance. But because of the night they set fire to the sheets in his hotel room, he cant resist the urge to be close to hernor can he resist the temptation to have her back in his bed.</div></div>


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<div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>As head buyer for the prestigious Lakefield Gallery, Karena Lakefield travels the world seeking out the finest paintings. But there's one trip she'll always remember: a sizzling summer weekend with Samuel Desdune, the man who awoke her scorching desire…only to part ways with her once their plane touched down.</p><p class="description">Sam has just about given up on finding the right woman… although he's never forgotten the lovely, elegant Karena. Now the all-business art dealer needs the P.I.'s expertise to help clear her family's name. Seizing his chance to show Karena that they belong together, Sam accompanies her to Brazil, where they're caught up in a scandalous art scheme—and one another. With her family's reputation on the line, she needs him now more than ever….</p><hr class="annotations_divider"><br><div class="user_annotations"><br><span style="font-weight:bold"><br>  1/26/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 3098 (99%)<br></span><br><br><br></div><p></p></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p><strong>SHE'S SEXY IN THE CITY.....HE'S RUGGED ON THE RANCH</strong></p><p>Bianca King is living the golden life in metro Georgia with a booming veterinary practice and a steady string of dates--until her somewhat estranged father asks for her help in keeping the family ranch afloat. When Bianca returns to her small South Carolina hometown, she meets the latest threat, neighboring rancher Kahron Strong, a man with knowing eyes and the body of a gladiator. But this competition may just do Bianca some good... </p><p>Ever ambitious, Kahron has his eyes on the Kings ranch--among other things. Bianca rejects his offer to buy, but he's not one to take no for an answer, even if it comes from the sexiest lips he's never kissed. But when a series of dangerous accidents puts the business AND Bianca at risk, Kahron decides the auburn beauty is much more valuable than her land. As they come together to track the source of the trouble, Bianca will have to surrender her resolve and her heart to save the ranch ...and something she cares about even more. </p><h3>From the Author</h3><p><strong>HEATED</strong> is the first in the Strong Family Series <em>and,</em> the third book set in fictional Holtsville, South Carolina. </p><p>This is truly one of the steamiest books I have ever written. </p></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>_<em></em>"When it comes to true love, all you need is one <br>spark..."<em></em>_  </p><p>In the heavily anticipated follow-up to <em>Heated</em>, sexy widower Kade <br>Strong has just moved back into the house he once shared with his wife, <br>hoping to bring some stability into his six-year-ol daughter Kadina's life. <br>He certainly isn't looking for a relationship, but the women of <br>Holtsville, South Carolina have a different ideas and are willing to do <br>anything to get his attention. Only Garcelle Santos respects Kade's <br>grief. Although he isn't ready to let anyone into his life, Kade can't <br>help being irresistibly drawn to Garcelle...  </p><p>Studying to be a nurse, Garcelle can use a little extra money and accepts <br>Kade's job offer to baby-sit Kadina even though their first meeting was <br>filled with drama. Once they get past their differences, a deep friendship <br>is soon forged between Garcelle and Kade. When Garcelle sees the tricks <br>the neighborhood women have up their sleeves to get near Kade, she makes it <br>her business to protect him. But when she finds herself getting jealous, <br>she realizes she's fallen in love with Kade. And after a stormy night <br>alone, Garcelle and Kade surrender to a desire that only leaves them <br>wanting more...  </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>Niobia Simone Bryant's a nationally bestselling and award winning author of both steamy romance and compelling mainstream/women's fiction. To date she has more than ten releases that have brought her a devoted fan following and much critical acclaim for her storytelling. Currently she is busy on her next drama filled novel <em>Show and Tell</em>--the follow-up to her mainstream debut <em>Live and Learn</em>. She writes full time and lives in both New Jersey and South Carolina. </p></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>For one newly single lady, it's time to make things hot…</p><p>When Zaria Ali married her high school sweetheart, she jumped straight into adulthood. But twenty-one years later, her husband has left her for a younger woman, her kids are in college-and Zaria is looking to make up for lost time. Who says she can't be living la vida loca in her forties? And who says she can't date hot twenty-six-year-old Kaleb Strong?... </p><p>Kaleb may be young, but he's mature-and ready to settle down with the right woman. Zaria lightens up his serious side-and turns him on like no one ever has. But is there more between them than just explosive chemistry? The only way to find out is to follow his heart, and show Zaria that when it comes to love, age is nothing but a number…</p><p>"Hot men, spicy women and a sexually captivating story.” --_Romantic Times_ on <em>Hot Like Fire </em></p><p>"Very impressive.” -Cydney Rax, author of <em>Brothers &amp; Wives </em></p></div>


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<div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Detective Jason Hightower has waited 15 years to find out why Penny Keys left him. Penny hasn't returned home to face her difficult past, or the man she still loves. But Jason wants answers, and nothing will keep him from the truth. Original.</p><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  10/11/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 3432 (99%)
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<div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>After a career-threatening injury, brooding firefighter Joel Hightower's only hope of regaining his cherished livelihood is a sassy spitfire named Samantha Dash. As the by-the-book physical therapist helps Joel get ever closer to achieving his professional goals, Samantha also ignites a sensual spark in him that he finds impossible to ignore!Samantha is totally unprepared for the sizzling attraction that intensifies each time she is near "Tall, Dark and Surly" Hightower. As she helps Joel get better, their relationship goes way beyond patient and therapist. It flares into full-blown passion. But when it threatens to end her career, Samantha must decide if a future as the partner of a risk-taking hero is really worth fighting for.</p><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  10/12/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 2626 (99%)
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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Karen Williams has never been a big believer in fate. As she fights to make her neighborhood a safer place, her motto is determination, not destiny. But from the moment they meet, the community activist feels an instant, powerful connection to searingly sexy Darius (D-Roc) Rollins. And when they share a soul-stirring kiss, she knows their passion is meant to be.  </p><p>Darius came up the hard way. Now the celebrated rapper and up-and-coming Hollywood star has returned to his 'hood, determined to give something back. Yet he could swear he's met beautiful Karen before. He remembers everything about her, <em>especially</em> the way she feels in his arms. She may be a woman on a mission, but he's a man with a plan: to surrender to the love that's taking them beyond anything they've ever known.  </p></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Still stung from her ex-husband's betrayal, Dominique King has vowed never again to let a man play her for a fool. But everything changes the night she meets flat-out gorgeous Marcel Benoit. With one smoldering glance and that sexy accent…Dominique's hooked. And for the first time in her life, she's letting passion rule her heart—and loving it!</p><p>From the moment he opens the door to Dominique, Marcel knows he has to have her. The ambitious Ph.D. student may be new to the U.S., but that doesn't stop him from pursuing the stunning, sassy banker. Sharing kisses on a sun-drenched tropical beach, Marcel and Dominique's dream of love is almost within reach. But long-held secrets threaten to darken their paradise. Unless they can learn to trust in themselves…and in each other….</p></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Special events planner Jacqueline Murphy's love life is a disaster. Her low point? Being dumped by her fiancé on Friday the thirteenth. So why should her luck change when she accidentally rear-ends the car of her next-door neighbor…who turns out to be her new boss! Tall, dark, irresistibly attractive Greg Armstrong oozes potent masculine charm. Is he just another romantic disaster waiting to happen?  </p><p>Greg left his career as a high-powered attorney in Washington for the slower, serene pace of Paradise Cove, Arizona. But his stunning new employee has his pulse racing and his hormones in overdrive! Kiss by sensual kiss, Greg's falling under Jacqueline's seductive spell…and starting to believe in fate.  </p><p>Will flirting with passion lead to falling in love?  </p></div>


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<div><div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>It was magic from the moment they met—dancing into each other's arms as if they were meant to be together. Their first kiss erased all doubt—they shared a passion as true as their hearts. And Talib Mason knew he'd love Misha Bales forever.</p><p>But their sizzling affair came to a crashing halt when secrets and lies tore them apart.</p><p>Six years later, fate has given them a second chance. But Misha isn't about to trust her heart again to the much-too-seductive ex-athlete. And though Talib is still haunted by Misha's betrayal, he realizes it's time to forgive and forget. Can he convince the guarded journalist that their love deserves a fighting chance? </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>AlTonya Washington's first contemporary novel, “Remember Love” BET/Arabesque 2003, was nominated by <em>Romantic Times</em> as Best 1st Multicultural Romance. Her novel “Finding Love Again” won the <em>Romantic Times</em> Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Multicultural Romance 2004. Her fourth novel “Love Scheme” was nominated as Favorite Steamy Novel for the prestigious EMMA Award of Romance Slam Jam. She presently resides in North Carolina. </p></div><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  11/6/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 2449 (99%)
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 <br><b>Location 414 • Bookmark</b><br></div></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>After being dumped by her longtime boyfriend, Shay Daniels isn't looking to get burned again. But that's before she meets legendary love expert Quinn Anderson at a relationship therapy retreat. Th e jaded travel show host vows to get an exclusive story on the gorgeous, enigmatic Dr. Love.</p><p>Shay may not be buying into Quinn's whole relationship philosophy, but boy is he hot. Th en the widowed entrepreneur throws Shay a challenge: he'll teach her the art of seducing a man by becoming her partner in an erotic test run. But he never expects his passionate student to surpass the teacher. Now the only exclusive he'll give is the one on Shay's heart. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>Celeste O. Norfleet, a native Philadelphian, has always been artistic but now her artistic imagination flows through the computer keys. With over 14 novels she continues to win rave reviews and critical praise for her spicy Kimani Arabesque romances reflecting strong sexy characters with unpredictable plots and exciting story lines. Although Arabesque is her heart Celeste is now lending her talent to TRU, Kimani’s young adult line. Celeste lives in Virginia with her husband and two teens. </p></div>


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<div><h3 class="productDescriptionSource">Product Description</h3>
  <div class="productDescriptionWrapper">
  <i>Who is Monica Dupree?</i><p>They called her Venus. Beautiful, 
mysterious and elusive, the international icon was the envy of women and
 the secret desire of men. Until tragedy struck. Now she lives a quiet 
life far from the limelight. But her safe haven is threatened when a 
suave and seductive stranger sweeps into her life and makes a sensual 
fantasy come true.…</p><p><i>Who is JD?</i></p><p>JD is also running 
away—from his privileged, powerful life. From the moment the billionaire
 businessman meets the gorgeous, guarded stranger, he knows he can never
 go back. But their romantic idyll could be fleeting once JD uncovers 
Monica's secret—a secret that could thrust her back into the spotlight</p><p>and tear her from his loving arms forever.…      </p></div></div>


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<div><p>When Kayla Adams wants something, she goes after it. But the take-no-prisoners mogul may have met her match in gorgeous alpha male Ethan Graham. The ruthless billionaire takeover kingand Kayla's secret girlhood crushis hotter than an Atlanta August night. He's also made it clear he's going to acquire Kayla's beleaguered family enterpriseand will do whatever it takes to get it!</p><p>Ethan plans to own a lot more than Kayla's high-profile company. The glamorous president of Adams Cosmetics drives him wild with desire, but acts indifferent to the playboy's sensual charms. Until they share their first kiss. Then Ethan comes up with an offer the alluring Southern beauty can't refuse. Marry him and they'll merge their divided interests in a passionate takeover that will make them partners in everythingmaybe even love. </p></div>


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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>"An unusual story and thoroughly rendered exotic locations make this story a terrific read." - RT Book Reviews on Destination Love (4 stars) </p><h3>Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.</h3><p>Haley Feldon stepped out into the late summer sun. grateful for the trees that shaded New York City's East Sixty-Fourth Street. She both loved and hated New York City. but if her dreams were ever to have the slightest chance of materializing. it was where she had to be.</p><p>She'd had a difficult meeting with Tom Brennan. one of her backers. that morning. The conceited old coot never missed an opportunity to remind her of his wealth or to mention his generous contributions to the numerous foundations that depended upon him and others like him to finance their philanthropic work.</p><p>As she walked swiftly down Second Avenue. Haley sighed. She hated having to work with Brennan. but their meetings were unavoidable. As founder and president of the International Institute for Social Progress (IISP). she devoted herself to projects that improved the lives of poor women and children. Her immediate goals were to improve educational opportunities for children living on reservations and to establish a program to reduce pregnancies and school dropouts among teenage girls in New York City.</p><p>She was determined to make a difference. Unfortunately. her work brought her into contact with men like Brennan. because making a difference cost money. And funding for projects like the ones she envisioned for IISP was hard to come by.</p><p>Haley glanced at her watch and saw that she had about an hour before her appointment with Nedia Ed-strom. head of the United Nations Conference on Social Change. That would give her time for coffee and a few minutes to focus on the proposal that she was presenting to Nedia. Inside the United Nations Secretariat Building. she took the escalator to the second floor and walked down the heavily carpeted corridor toward the North Delegates Lounge. Walking toward her was the tall. sandy-haired man she seemed to glimpse almost every time she came into the Secretariat Building. Elegant and well-built. he exuded an aura of power. strength and pure animal magnetism.</p><p>Her response to him always astonished her. How could she react this way to a man she had not even met? Haley was sure that he had his share of female admirers. but she was definitely not going to become one of them. She vowed she wouldn't even though. or perhaps because. he showed up regularly in her dreams and often interfered with her daytime thoughts. too. No. she didn't fool herself. She was acutely aware of him. even if she always tried to pretend that she wasn't. It had gotten so bad that she looked for him every time she entered the building. And she knew that she flushed whenever she saw him. What was it about him? she wondered.</p><p>Not to mention she'd caught him looking at her on numerous occasions. She'd always looked away before their gazes could connect. In spite of her natural reserve. she almost hungered to know him. Yet. because she sensed that he represented a danger to her. she usually avoided him. But she wouldn't be able to avoid him today—not this time. Today. he was walking directly to her.</p><p>Jon Stig Ecklund leaned back in the chair in his office in the United Nations Secretariat Building. The main office of Ecklund International Syndicate. Inc. (EIS). his family's international satellite network. occupied three floors of a large building on Madison Avenue. Jon preferred to use this smaller office at the UN when he needed privacy or solitude for his work.</p><p>He didn't enjoy being alone. but sometimes he needed absolute quiet to hear himself think. Yet even in the solitude of this smaller office Jon was finding it hard to concentrate today. He pushed back his chair. walked out of the office and headed to the North Delegates Lounge for a drink and a break. He took the escalator to the second floor and started for the lounge. It was then that he saw her.</p><p>He had seen her at a distance so many times that he felt as if knew her. Actually. he did know her. because she had spent many hours in his dreams. Her beauty intrigued him. Her regal bearing. long jet-black hair. olive complexion and soft brown eyes bespoke of mixed heritage. And with her tall. perfectly proportioned figure and lovely face she could have been a fashion model. Yet he knew instinctively that there was more to her than beauty. He'd once seen her in the dignified Delegates Dining Room daintily plucking raspberries from her plate and eating them one by one with her fingers. He guessed that she was at once respectable and sassy. She exuded calm coolness. yet Jon wondered if she hid fiery passion beneath her cold facade. He was drawn to her like a moth to fire.</p><p>Dammit. he wanted to <em>know</em> her. But she never gave him the opportunity. Every time he managed to get close enough to speak to her. she bolted like a skittish colt. He was fast losing patience with that game. She was an enigma that he was going to solve…and then forget.</p><p>Haley wanted to turn around and go the other way. but it was too late. He was looking directly at her. and her usual calm deserted her. He was handsome. No. he was beautiful. And he was tall. maybe six feet four or five inches. Not many men towered over her. but his height dwarfed her five-ten frame. So this is how dainty felt. Haley thought.</p><p>He seemed to pause in his approach. Was he going to speak? She realized she'd never heard his voice. Now she was dying to know if his voice matched his smooth masculine good looks.</p><p>Jon held her gaze until he was abreast of her. "Good morning." He said it softly. as if not to frighten her. but she didn't respond. She saw him open his mouth. and in an act of uncharacteristic cowardliness. she glanced away. The moment passed. She wasn't sure whether she walked faster or slower. but when she passed through the lounge and reached the coffee shop. she had strength only to find a table and sit down. She hugged her stomach. calming herself. She knew something else about him now. He had blond hair and long eyelashes that half hid a pair of piercing. fern-green eyes—beautiful eyes. She wanted to kick herself for not speaking to him.</p><p>Resuming his normally brisk stride. Jon promised himself that no matter where he saw her again or who she was with. he was going to speak to her. The thought that he would finally settle something that was definitely getting out of hand lightened his mood.</p><p>He walked on. mulling over his encounter with the woman. Who the hell was she? What was it about her. a woman of whom he knew absolutely nothing. that made him feel so empty. so lacking in something that he could not label but that was so vital it gnawed at him? He released a long sigh. He wanted her out of his thoughts. out of his mind. He didn't need this aggravation. this teenage craving for something he shouldn't want and couldn't get. Having given himself that stern lecture. he quickened his steps to the lounge. He'd have a vodka.</p><p>"Haley Feldon! Haven't seen you in ages. How's the institute going? I heard that you'd delivered a first-class lecture down on Capitol Hill. Do you think you stand a chance of introducing some new life into the secondary school programs for Native American children on reservations? Can I get you an espresso?"</p><p>Haley's face creased into a big smile at the sight of her old friend. "Hello. Nels. It's good to see you. How is Isabella? Are you two still an item? And yes. I'd love an espresso." <em>And thank you for distracting me, bringing me back to earth.</em></p><p>"Say. why were you sitting with your back to the entrance? Are you hiding from someone?"</p><p>Before she could answer. she heard Nels call out to someone. "Jon Ecklund. where have you been? Come over here and join us." Haley felt the hair prickle on the back of her neck.</p><p>"Nels Andersen. son of a gun. you're a sight for sore ey… Well! Hello. at last."</p><p>Haley knew who it was even before she looked up.</p><p>"Hello." Was that dry quivering voice hers? Did they notice how it trembled?</p><p>"Have you two met?" Nels asked. rather tentatively.</p><p>"We have now." Jon offered. "Who <em>are</em> you?" He looked at her intently.</p><p>"I'm Haley Feldon." she said. extending her hand. He took it and held it. still looking at her. She felt the blood warm the skin of her face and experienced something that she had never felt before. a flash of warmth from head to foot. the heat settling in the pit of her loins. She hated that she had reacted to him that way. Withdrawing her hand. she took refuge in the lukewarm espresso. It was a mistake. Her hand shook as she raised the cup to her lips. and both men saw it.</p><p>"I've got exactly nine minutes to make an appointment on the twenty-second floor. It was a pleasant surprise seeing you, Nels. I wish I had more time. Perhaps we can get together for lunch one of these days. Goodbye. Mr. Ecklund."</p><p>"Aren't you implying that you aren't pleased to have met me?" Jon asked. sardonically. He had the pleasure of seeing her speechless. But she quickly regained her composure. smiled rather lamely and hurriedly walked away.</p><p>"What on earth is going on between you two?" Nels wanted to know.</p><p>"Nothing! Absolutely nothing!"</p><p>"Is there anything I can do to help this 'nothing' along?" Nels asked. "You know I'm always willing to do anything I can for a college buddy."</p><p>"No! If there's anything I don't need. Nels. it's the kind of chaos you can create when you start your pranks. I'm not in the market for a woman. And if I was. I'd look for one a bit warmer than that porcelain Venus."</p><p>Few people knew that second side of Nels's personality. and most anyone would have had difficulty reconciling the boyish prankster with the suave. efficient journalist. the tough adversary that aptly characterized Nels Andersen.</p><p>Nels lifted his right shoulder in a careless shrug. "Well. at least you admit that she's a goddess. Haley is a wonderful human being. but I thought I caught some sparks between you two."</p><p>"Look. Nels. drop it! Just drop it. will you? A ... </p></div>


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<div><div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>By day, Lena Morrison is an ambitious grant writer. By night, she's an escort to some of Chicago's most successful men. Sex isn't on the menu—Lena's job is to provide her elite clients with comanionship and sparkling conversation. She enjoys the extra income, but even more, Lena loves the empowering feeling of being appreciated for her beauty <em>and</em> her brains.</p><p>When tycoon Roderick Brand hires Lena as his date for a private party, their electric attraction leads to the most erotic night of her life. Incredible as the experience is, she vows not to mix work and pleasure again. But Roderick is relentless. His irresistible proposal: three weeks fulfilling all his fantasies, in exchange for a million-dollar grant that will guarantee Lena a major promotion.</p><p>Lena can play that game. She'll give him the hottest, wildest sex he's ever had, then she'll walk away, leaving him aching for more. But when it comes to desire, rules—and hearts— are easily broken. And the best-laid plans have a way of working out in ways neither could expect…. </p><h3>Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.</h3><p>"Are we almost there?"</p><p>The uniformed chauffeur met Lena Morrison's gaze in the rearview mirror. "About five more minutes."</p><p>Nodding briskly, Lena slid a tube of MAC lipstick across her mouth and surveyed her reflection in the compact mirror she'd removed from her evening purse. The lustrous red color made her full lips look as juicy and inviting as ripe mangoes dangling from the bowed branches of a tree. Smoky eye shadow accentuated her wide, dark eyes and high cheekbones. She'd exchanged her conservative office attire for a sexy black dress that hugged her curves and had a plunging back. Diamonds glittered at her ears, throat and wrists.</p><p>She looked like a million bucks. Felt like it, too.</p><p>So it was only fitting that tonight she was escorting one of Chicago's most eligible bachelors to a glitzy party aboard his private yacht. Roderick Brand, president and CEO of a multinational energy conglomerate. Educated at MIT. Recently named Businessman of the Year by Forbes. Net worth $2.4 billion.</p><p>Lena had done her research, of course. As a professional escort, it was her job to learn as much as she could about her wealthy clients. The more she knew and understood about them, the better she could serve their needs.</p><p>"Here we are."</p><p>The Bentley limousine had glided to a stop in front of a sleek glass high-rise located on Lake Shore Drive. At the canopied entrance to the building, a doorman greeted elegantly dressed couples heading out for a night on the town.</p><p>From the backseat of the limo, Lena watched as the driver spoke into the car phone. After a few moments, he hung up and met her eyes in the rearview mirror. "Mr. Brand will be down shortly."</p><p>Lena nodded, smiled. "Thank you."</p><p>As a rule, she never entered her clients' residences. While most of them understood that she was paid to accompany them to social events, there were always a few who expected more from her. After being groped, propositioned—even cornered in a bathroom—Lena had decided it'd be easier to maintain professional boundaries if she never stepped foot inside her clients' homes.</p><p>Her need for boundaries was what prompted her to get up and move to the opposite seat. She felt more comfortable sitting face-to-face to her clients rather than side by side. And it worked out great for the ones who enjoyed ogling her legs across the aisle, hoping for a glimpse up her dress. Wryly she wondered if tonight's client—</p><p>Suddenly Lena gasped, staring out the window.</p><p>The most gorgeous man she'd ever seen had just emerged from the building. At least six foot three and powerfully built, with wide, muscular shoulders and endlessly long legs that carried him forward with purpose. Lena had escorted some of the richest men to countless black-tie affairs, but she'd never known any man to wear the <em>hell </em>out of a tuxedo. Until tonight. Roderick Brand couldn't have looked finer if he'd just completed a cover shoot for <em>GQ.</em></p><p>As he reached the waiting limo, Lena mouthed to herself, <em>Oh. My. God.</em></p><p>The driver had gotten out to open the back door for Roderick. Lena's stomach clenched as he lowered himself into the plush leather seat across from her.</p><p>Their eyes met.</p><p>It was as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of the car—or out of Lena's lungs, at the very least. Suddenly she had difficulty breathing.</p><p>For several moments neither of them attempted to speak.</p><p>As Roderick's dark, glittering gaze traveled over her face and body, Lena shamelessly returned the favor. None of the photos she'd seen of him could begin to do the man justice. He was devastatingly handsome, with black slashes for eyebrows, sculpted cheekbones and a square jaw. His skin was a deep, molten brown that made her think of the most decadent chocolate dessert she'd ever eaten. But what had her mouth watering were his full, sensual lips that brought to mind all sorts of erotic images—skin moving on skin, limbs entangled, mouths and tongues working, two bodies thrusting between hot, twisted sheets.</p><p>A slow, legs-spreading smile curved Roderick's lips. As if he'd hijacked her thoughts.</p><p>"Hello." His deep, dark voice was as sexy as the man it belonged to. "You must be Lena."</p><p>She smiled. "Either that, or you've climbed into the wrong limo."</p><p>He laughed, a husky sound that made her nipples harden. "A sense of humor. I like that."</p><p>Her smile widened. "I aim to please."</p><p>"Oh, you do," Roderick murmured, giving her another one of those slow once-overs. "You please me <em>very </em>much."</p><p>His words sent an illicit shiver down her spine. Her loins tightened, and her clit pulsed and tingled until she had to shift in her seat to alleviate the pressure.</p><p>"Would you care for a drink?" she offered abruptly.</p><p>Roderick smiled. "I'd love one."</p><p>The limo was equipped with a fully stocked minibar. Roderick watched as Lena went to work fixing him a dirty martini with three olives. As she passed him the glass, their fingers brushed. Heat shot through her veins, making her skin tingle.</p><p>"Mmm," Roderick murmured after sampling his drink.</p><p>"Good?"</p><p>"Very." He held her gaze over the rim of the glass. "You seem to know exactly what I like."</p><p>Lena smiled demurely. "If I didn't," she said, settling back against her seat, "I wouldn't be very good at my job. And I am."</p><p>Something hot and wicked flashed in his eyes. "How good?"</p><p>She returned his gaze, pulse thudding. "Good enough to know better than to answer that question."</p><p>He chuckled, raising his glass to her in a mock toast.</p><p>"Well played."</p><p>Lena grinned. It went through her mind that Roderick, with his heavy-lidded eyes and bone-melting smile, could easily pass for Idris Elba's brother. <em>Have mercy.</em></p><p>As Roderick sipped his martini, she stared at his hand holding the glass. His fingers were long, broad and masculine. He oozed testosterone, confidence and power, and possessed an unmistakable swagger. Wearing an expensively tailored tuxedo, a gold Breguet wristwatch and John Lobb loafers, he looked right at home in the luxurious limousine. Yet even in his fancy threads he exuded danger, a ruthlessness that warned Lena that Roderick Brand would be formidable in a heartbeat if ever crossed. He hadn't gotten where he was without having a street fighter in him, courtesy of his South Side roots.</p><p>"It doesn't seem fair."</p><p>Lena's eyes snapped to Roderick's face. "What?"</p><p>"This setup. The fact that you know so much about me, and I don't know nearly enough about you."</p><p>Lena gave him an amused look. "What would you like to know?"</p><p>"Your last name, for starters."</p><p>"I can't tell you that."</p><p>"Can't? Or won't?"</p><p>"Both." </p><p>"Why?"</p><p>Lena couldn't help smiling. "You know why. Those are the rules."</p><p>"Whose?" he challenged. "Yours or the agency's?"</p><p>Torn between laughter and exasperation, Lena shook her head at him. "Are you always this persistent?"</p><p>"Absolutely." His voice dipped low. "And the more I want something, the more relentlessly I pursue it."</p><p>Lena's mouth went dry at the thought of being pursued by this virile, gorgeous man. And what would he do to her once he caught her? she wondered, even as she imagined being tied to a bed, naked and spread-eagle as Roderick took her roughly from behind.</p><p>She swallowed hard, giving herself a mental shake to erase the erotic image. "All you need to know about me, Mr. Brand, is that I take my work seriously and I'm committed to serving your needs." At the suggestive gleam that entered his eyes, she added, "Not <em>those </em>kind of needs. You hired me to be your companion this evening, so that's what I intend to be. Nothing more, nothing less."</p><p>His lips curved in a lazy half smile. "In that case, I have a request to make."</p><p>Lena was almost afraid to ask. "What is it?"</p><p>"I'm feeling kinda lonely over here. I'm sure that wasn't your intention."</p><p>"Of course not," Lena murmured.</p><p>Roderick patted the seat beside him. "Then come join me."</p><p>Lena knew it wasn't a request. This was a powerful man who was used to giving orders and being obeyed. She doubted anyone ever refused him. And the reality was that he was paying good money for her company. The least she could do was sit beside him—even if doing so tested every ounce of her self-control. Because if ever there was a man she needed to keep at arm's length, it was Roderick Brand.</p><p>"Much better," he said approvingly as she moved to his side. "See? I'm perfectly harmless."</p><p>At Lena's skeptical look, he laughed. They both knew he was about as harmless as a bloodthirsty wolf on the prowl for its next meal.</p><p>As he set aside his drink and leaned back against the seat, she watched the way the fabric of his pants stretched over his muscular thighs. She could feel the heat radiating from his body. The subtle, woodsy scent of his cologne teased her senses, tempting her to lean closer and inhale deeply. Somehow she managed to resist.</p><p>"So," Roderick began conversationally, "how long have you been with the agency?"</p><p>Lena hesitated. "Three years."</p><p>He nodded slowly. "Zandra tells me that you're twenty-nine, you have a master's degree in communications and you speak fluent Italian and Japanese."</p><p>"That's right."</p><p>As the owner of Elite For You Companions, Zandra Kennedy prided herself on hiring escorts of the highest caliber. The women she selected were not only beautiful; they were intelligent, polished and able to discuss politics, world affairs and a variety of other subjects in any social or business setting. The wealthy clients who anted up for one of Zandra's escorts knew that they were getting more than just arm candy. They were getting a companion who'd be admired for her beauty <em>and </em>brains.</p><p>"I can definitely see why you're one of Zandra's most popular employees," Roderick drawled.</p><p>Lena arched a brow at him. "... </p></div><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  6/28/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 3504 (99%)
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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>After a daring, headline-making rescue, basketball star Naomi Venable accepts Zack Keathley's invitation to spend a week recuperating at his sprawling country estate. The sinfully sexy millionaire could have his pick of any woman in the world. But once he sets his sights on Naomi there's no way she can resist this rugged alpha male's charms….</p><p>Zack owes Naomi for coming to the aid of his baby sister. But grateful isn't all the driven developer feels for the sleek and sultry pro athlete. And once he makes up his mind, there's no stopping the aroused penthouse playboy! Caught in Naomi's seductive spell, can Zack convince this fearless sorority sister that their passionate paradise is meant to last forever? </p></div>


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<div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>When it comes to disastrous relationships, Suzanne Rand wrote the book. The frumpy-housewife-turned-superstar-author has come home to North Carolina to sell the family house—then hightail it back out of town.</p><p class="description">But there's an unfinished chapter in her life: bad-boy-turned-successful-businessman Rick Gordon. Suzanne's been burned before and can't let the roving playboy play fast and loose with her heart again...even if he is the sexiest thing on two legs. And once passion reignites in Rick's arms, she has no idea where "this" story's going....Rick could write the book on how not to get hooked. But he's never forgotten Suzanne, and now's his chance to pick up where they left off. That's why he's plotting a course of seduction she'll never be able to resist. But will their rekindled passion lead to love...and the happy ending they both crave?</p><hr class="annotations_divider"><br><div class="user_annotations"><br><span style="font-weight:bold"><br>  1/26/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 2727 (99%)<br></span><br><br><br></div><p></p></div>


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<div><div><br>THE SWEETEST TABOO<br><br><br><br>The moment Sonya Morrison gazes 
into Mike Kelly's deep blue eyes she knows that he wants her.  But she 
also knows he is wasting his time.  She doesn't do vanilla, and is 
surprised when he boldly informs her that he's never acquired a taste 
for chocolate.  Mike and Sonya are in for quite a surprise when struck 
with an urge to sample the forbidden, and that can only mean one course 
of action for this couple who risks savoring the sweetest taboo.<br><br><br><br>*  Mike and Sonya was first introduced in - THE SAVVY SISTAHS <br><br><br><br>CUPID'S BOW<br><br><br><br>A
 MADARIS NOVEL - At age six, Kimara Stafford had a crush on Kyle.  At 
sixteen, she hoped he'd be her Valentine...just as he announced his 
love- for someone else.  Now grown-up, gorgeous Kimara doesn't need or 
want the playboy heir to the Garwood fortune in her life.  Little does 
she know that an eccentric but wise Cupid has other plans for Kimara and
 Kyle.<br><br><br><br>PERFECT MOMENTS<br><br><br><br>In order to keep 
his twin daughters with him while he travels and works, widowed dad 
Parnell Cabot needs a wife of convenience and Rose Woods wants the job. 
 She also wants Parnell.  Rose makes him an offer he can't refuse.  
Parnell wants nothing more than a strictly business affair, but the 
intense sexual chemistry between them dictates otherwise, and Rose tests
 Parnell's level of endurance at every perect moment.<br><br><br><br>*Rose and Parnell was first introduced in PERFECT FIT  </div><hr class="annotations_divider"><hr class="annotations_divider"><hr class="annotations_divider"><hr class="annotations_divider"><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  6/7/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 2832 (61%)
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<div><div>THE MAKEOVER <br><br>Before becoming a strait-laced wealthy businessman,
 Robert Noble was considered a bad boy and sexy rogue inside out, while 
breaking hearts, right and left.  No one knows it better than Roxanne 
Miller since Robert was her brother's best friend in high school.  When 
Robert returns to town and hires Roxanne as an interior decorator to do a
 makeover of the house he purchased, she decides she doesn't like the 
uncompromising Robert Noble and decides he’s the one due for a makeover.
  Roxanne is determined to bring the bad boy, sexy-rogue back.<br><br>TRULY EVERLASTING - A Madaris Novel <br><br>Twice
 divorced Felicia Madaris isn't happy to discover that her childhood 
nemesis, Trask Maxwell, has returned to town.  And when they run into 
each other, sparks fly as usual.  After learning that she's sworn off 
men, he's determined to put her to the test.  What they discover is that
 with each other, they have both met their match.   <br><br>BOUND BY PASSION <br><br>Attorney
 Royce Parker has had the hots for Michelle Kincaid for a couple of 
years and decides it's time to do something about it.  He books a cruise
 through her travel agency and talks her into joining him as nothing 
more than a friend.   Once together on the high seas they discover their
 biggest challenge is fighting the powerful attraction trying to 
overtake their senses.  <br></div><hr class="annotations_divider"><hr class="annotations_divider"><hr class="annotations_divider"><hr class="annotations_divider"><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  6/8/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 2871 (56%)
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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Mia James will do anything to save her family home—even drive into the eye of a hurricane. But from the moment she comes to the rescue of a rain-soaked stranger, another kind of storm rages.Stephen Morales thinks he's dreaming when he sees the sultry beauty tending to his wounds by candlelight. And he wants more than shelter from the storm. Soon the sexy deputy sheriff is tempting Mia to throw caution to the gale-force winds and give in to a night of passion neither will forget.But a new tempest is gathering, swirling around a tumultuous family secret that threatens their future. With the Florida Keys erupting, Mia and Stephen can play it safe—or risk everything for a love that's sweeping them beyond danger, beyond deception…beyond anything they've ever known.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Giving her boss's fiancé the kiss-off isn't in Doreen Fleming's job description. But when she meets the soon-to-be ex, gorgeous real estate developer Lucas McCoy, Doreen knows she's headed for a storm tide of trouble.Building his dream house isn't the same without someone to share it. Doreen may be just the messenger, but she's unleashing a tempest inside Lucas that's tempting him to risk his heart again.Then a hurricane hits, stranding Lucas and Doreen in the house of both their dreams. As the winds howl outside, the passion rages inside—hotter than the sweltering summer night…and twice as explosive.</p>


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<div><p>Tease! After three years of trying to have a baby, nightclub owner, 
Simone Dutton discovers she is finally pregnant. Bubbling with 
excitement, she can’t wait to tell her husband Shaun, only the sexy 
architect is in the middle of contract negotiations and away on 
business. ...</p><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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<div><div><h3>Review</h3><p>"Perrin's strong characters and even stronger storyline make this a keeper of a novel." -RT Book Reviews on ISLAND FANTASY </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p><em>A Risk Worth Taking</em></p><p>Salina Brown isn't looking for a new relationship, and her goal of landing a position as a New York City chef is proving more difficult than she thought. Then a temporary position as a nanny comes her way, and the opportunity could help her achieve her culinary dream.</p><p>Sexy lawyer Jake McKnight has a demanding career, yet the widowed father can't help but relax his guard around his new nanny, Salina. Amazingly, she is able to make him want to enjoy romance again. Suddenly, Salina's living the high life…with this sensual man who's showing her a side of love she never knew. But can he persuade Salina to believe in him and in their special love? </p></div><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  9/18/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 3202 (99%)
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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>All Paige Turner wants is to be taken seriously as a journalist. The entertainment columnist and blogger extraordinaire gets more notoriety than she planned when her scathing review of NFL superstar Torrian Smallwood's memoir sparks an online confrontation. But that's nothing compared to the sensual heat that tackles her when she meets the heart-stoppingly sexy athlete face-to-face…. </p><p>Torrian can't let Paige derail his dream of a new career as a restaurateur. Even if the sassy, sultry writer is making America's favorite wide receiver yearn to be on the receiving end of her desire. And with a reality TV cook-off propelling them into the spotlight, Torrian can no longer hide his passionate secret goal—to build a future with the woman who's making an end run around his heart…. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>Farrah Rochon, award-winning author of the popular Holmes Brothers series, hails from a small town just west of New Orleans. Currently residing in Austin, Texas, Farrah writes contemporary romances for Harlequin's Kimani Romance imprint. Farrah was named Shades of Romance Magazine's Best New Author of 2007, and her debut novel claimed the prize for Best Multicultural Romance Debut. </p></div>


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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>"This is a real page- turner, and each character has an individual storyline that will heighten readers' interest."</p><p>-RT Book Reviews on HUDDLE WITH ME TONIGHT </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p><em>Is love about to even the score?</em></p><p>Life is one endless touchdown for Jared Dawson. Until the former playboy and star cornerback for the New York Sabers discovers his girlfriend in bed with another man. Reeling from the betrayal, Jared returns to his flings-with-no-strings ways. But no man can walk away from Chyna McCrea. The ravishing choreographer is already tackling the pro-footballer's heart.</p><p>Playing defensively is supposed to safeguard against heartbreak. But how can Chyna protect herself from Jared's sensual onslaught? It seems the hunky athlete—and sports world's most eligible bachelor—has decided that playing the field is no longer an option. Together, can they score the greatest victory of all and be on the winning team of both their dreams? </p></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Fate has one last zinger in store for Barbara Allen. His name is Michael Stevens, he is a basketball millionaire, he's little more than half her age and he wants to spend the night! Does Barbara dare throw convention to the wind and enjoy her very own boy toy? It's a decision she'll need the help of her three best friends to make. But as the trio weighs in on whether Barbara should or shouldn't, they come up with an outrageous plan that will mean a life change for them all.</p>


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<div><p class="description">With a new job at Pause for Men spa and wealthy Sterling Powers in her bed, Ann Marie Dennis is about to realize her goal—the perfect life. Then fate intervenes and her grown daughter moves in, crowding her once-empty nest. Next Ann Marie's ex shows up claiming he wants her back.</p>
<p class="description">And just like that Ann Marie's picture-perfect life falls apart.</p>
<p class="description">Now she hopes a trip home to Jamaica will help her reconnect with her only child and put her ex-husband out of her life for good. But can she count on the support of her girlfriends and her new beau to make things work out?</p></div>


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Brenda Jackson (One Special Moment) thrusts two women together during a 10-year high school reunion cruise in Perfect Timing. Maxine and Mya were best friends, but have drifted apart. Maxine's fiancE died just before their wedding and now she is facing having a hysterectomy; Mya is married to Garrett, a handsome football star. The women quickly patch up an old misunderstanding and commiserate over various on-board distractions including studly Christopher, with whom Maxine has to share a cabin, and Mya's growing insecurity about Garrett's fidelity back on land. The lackluster plot is all but buried under tedious exposition, monotonous sex scenes and laughably wooden dialogue. Mystery. <br>Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>From Booklist</h3><p>Mya Rivers and Maxie Chandler have been friends since they were little girls in Savannah. Mya's decision not to attend Howard University with Maxie severely affects their friendship. Ten years later, a class reunion cruise brings them together. The class outcast, Christopher Chandler, is also attending the reunion. Since he left Savannah, he has become a handsome, educated, and successful business owner. Christopher and Maxie have the same last name, which causes an error to be made in their reservations and they are assigned the same cabin. During the seven-day cruise, Maxie and Christopher finally discuss their feelings. They discover that they have always been attracted to one another. After the cruise, Mya and her childhood-sweetheart husband, Garrett, begin experiencing a strain in their marriage. This class reunion could not have come at a more prefect time for Mya and Maxie. Just when each of them is struggling with emotionally difficult situations, they rekindle their friendship, and the result is a warm reading experience. <em>Lillian Lewis</em><br><em>Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved</em></p></div>


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<div>Sage Dunbar is dealt a shattering double blow when she discovers that 
her fiancé has depleted her bank accounts and her father has been having
 an affair. Reeling with shock, she accepts a job promotion that 
involves relocating to Anchorage, Alaska. She never expects to cross 
paths with a man who will challenge everything she thought she knew 
about love.<p> Gabe's "sex-only" relationship policy has been working 
just fine, keeping him free of messy entanglements and emotional 
baggage. Then he meets Sage, and his no-commitment ways start to lose 
their appeal. But Sage isn't ready to give her heart and trust to 
another man any time soon. With a single-minded determination that 
surprises even him, Gabe resolves to convince her that true love can 
erase every obstacle--real or imagined--in its path. . .. </p><p>.</p></div>


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<div>Descended from a legendary political dynasty, Lee Ann Lawson has been 
the glue that holds her sprawling clan together. But being primary 
caregiver has meant putting her own dreams on hold. Preston Graham is 
about to change all that. From the moment they meet—at an estate in 
Baton Rouge—Lee Ann can't stop thinking about the ambitious, seductive 
junior senator from Louisiana.<p>All his life, Preston has focused on 
only one thing: rising up the political ladder. Marriage isn't even on 
the ballot. Until Lee Ann. The passion she arouses is hot, 
irresistible…and all-consuming. Can he convince the senator's daughter 
to toss her hat in the ring—by giving her heart to him and a love that 
comes only once in a lifetime?      </p></div>


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<div><p>The heiress to a political dynasty, Desiree Lawson is more interested in tossing her hat in the ring than in playing the field. But when Desiree's twin decides to play matchmaker in order to find her a suitable date, the serious-minded senator's daughter has a change of heart. Spence Hampton is a charismatic Baton Rouge playboy who is famous for his amorous exploits. He's also the man Desiree has secretly desired for years and when the opportunity presents itself, she knows it's time to take a chance.</p><p>Forced to love and admire Desiree from afar, Spence finally has his chance to be with the stunning Louisiana sister. Their first date is beyond his most passionate fantasies. With everything finally going their way, can he convince the reticent beauty that his playboy days are over and become the top candidate for her heart?</p></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>It's the prize of a lifetime: one million dollars and your own hotel. All Sasha Carrington has to do is beat the competition on the new TV show Heartbreak Hotel. The daily challenges test her creative flair and business acumen, but it's fellow contestant Mitchell Davenport who's pushing her emotions to the limit. Before they knew they'd be rivals, Mitchell and Sasha shared two smoldering, unforgettable nights in Antigua. Mitchell—as fine as he is ambitious—was immediately drawn to Sasha's warmth and earthy sensuality. Now, winning is the only thing that matters to both…but what are they willing to lose to get there?</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Virginia State assemblywoman Vaughn Hamilton is only a heartbeat away from her lifelong dream of winning a coveted congressional seat. Yet few know the desperate secret that has haunted her for so many years...a secret that her powerful family will do anything to keep hidden forever.When Vaughn meets business tycoon Justin Montgomery at a Washington D.C., fundraiser, the desire that flares between them soon sweeps her into a passionate and reckless love affair. But the liaison ends abruptly when Justin decides to run against her in the election. Shattered by his betrayal, Vaughn vows never to let a man into her life...and her heart...again. What she doesn't know is that Justin unwittingly holds the key to her past, and to the love that binds them together....</p>


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<div><div><div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Her bottom line:</p><p>Journalist Tatiana Coles is famous for doing anything for a story— including putting herself in harm's way. Now, on vacation in Marthas Vineyard, she faces her greatest challenge: getting an exclusive on reclusive media mogul Spencer Cage. Putting his words to her paper will fast–track her career. But it also means facing the man she loved and lost.</p><p>Their work stays on the page…</p><p>Spencer plays by nobody's rules but his own. Three years ago he and Tatiana were inseparable. Which made her betrayal all the more unforgivable. Now the self–made entrepreneur intends to have his sweet revenge: a summer the traitorous news correspondent will never forget.</p><p>Not in the bed</p><p>All it takes is one kiss to reignite desire. But how can he avoid putting his own heart on the line? Because now Spencer and Tatiana are playing for the highest stakes of all—a second chance at love…</p></div></div><hr class="annotations_divider"><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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<div><p class="description">Texas Cattleman's Club member Darius Foster is tired of women chasing after his millions. But his jaded heart is about to get a jump-start.</p>
<p class="description">The wealthy rancher never expected to see Summer Martindale in his part of Texas. Darius was still trying to forget that incredible night they'd spent together...a night that never should have happened. Certain she had relocated just to get close to him--and his money--the ex-lawman vowed to keep his distance. But when danger came calling, Darius knew he was the only one who could protect Summer. And that meant getting closer to her...in every way!</p>
<p class="description">Texas Cattleman's Club member Darius Foster is tired of women chasing after his millions. But his jaded heart is about to get a jump-start.The wealthy rancher never expected to see Summer Martindale in his part of Texas. Darius was still trying to forget that incredible night they'd spent together…a night that never should have happened. Certain she had relocated just to get close to him—and his money—the ex-lawman vowed to keep his distance. But when danger came calling, Darius knew he was the only one who could protect Summer. And that meant getting closer to her…in every way!</p></div>

Texas Cattleman's Club member Darius Foster is tired of women chasing after his millions. But his jaded heart is about to get a jump-start.

The wealthy rancher never expected to see Summer Martindale in his part of Texas. Darius was still trying to forget that incredible night they'd spent together...a night that never should have happened. Certain she had relocated just to get close to him--and his money--the ex-lawman vowed to keep his distance. But when danger came calling, Darius knew he was the only one who could protect Summer. And that meant getting closer to her...in every way!

Texas Cattleman's Club member Darius Foster is tired of women chasing after his millions. But his jaded heart is about to get a jump-start.The wealthy rancher never expected to see Summer Martindale in his part of Texas. Darius was still trying to forget that incredible night they'd spent together…a night that never should have happened. Certain she had relocated just to get close to him—and his money—the ex-lawman vowed to keep his distance. But when danger came calling, Darius knew he was the only one who could protect Summer. And that meant getting closer to her…in every way!


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Caleb Thorne was used to having plenty of female attention. And yet the hot young law professor had never crossed the line with a student until he met Daniela. There was something different about her--with her fierce attitude, ambition and to-die-for body. Something he was determined to uncover, layer by silky layer... . Private investigator Daniela Roarke knew she was in over her head the minute she saw her mark. Caleb Thorne wasn't just fine, he was gorgeous. And although getting close to Caleb could finally mean busting his no-good father, Daniela knew she was just an amateur at the game of seduction. And now both her cover and her heart were in jeopardy.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Journalist Riley Kane has long suspected that the death of her fiance, Trevor, a San Antonio police officer, was not a simple accident. The only person who can uncover the truth about Trevor is his former partner, Noah Roarke. But thoughts of Noah fill Riley with guilty longing. Noah kept his distance from beautiful, tempting Riley while Trevor was alive. Now she's back, in his office... and in his arms. Blindsided by the heat that surges between them, Noah tells himself that the sooner he helps Riley find closure, the sooner she can leave town. But getting her out of his system-- and out of his heart-- won't be that easy... .</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Hired to do a routine background check on Solange Washington, private investigator Dane Roarke unearths secrets regarding her parentage that force him to walk a thin line between his growing suspicions and his consuming hunger for this vibrant woman. Original.</p>


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<h3><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Ari Alexander just got the shock of his life. He's heir apparent to a 
glittering hotel empire. But the legacy comes with rumors of an 
explosive family scandal. The last thing the grieving widower needs is 
Natasha LeBlanc—a stunning consultant with attitude. So why is he so 
determined to uncover the sensual woman beneath Natasha's all-business 
facade?<br><br>Natasha was hired to protect the interests of the luxury 
resort chain. But Ari doesn't seem to realize she's on his side. Worse, 
the far-too-sexy brother is arousing desire she's never felt before, 
making it impossible to keep her professional distance. From Aspen to 
celebrity-studded Beverly Hills, Natasha and Ari are caught up in a 
breaking scandal that could end their five-star love affair before it 
begins…</span></h3>


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<div><div><p>As president of the talent agency she built from scratch, Chloe Banks is a New York success story. But beneath the fast-track facade is a small-town girl who's never forgotten her humble beginnings—and whose past is a closely guarded secret. Until Chloe's family comes to visit and brings a special holiday gift. Sensual Southern charmer Lyfe Alton was her childhood sweetheart...and is the man who still owns her heart.</p><p>Lyfe was devastated when Chloe left their Georgia hometown for the bright lights of the big city. Now he has just four weeks to seduce her back into his bed...or lose her forever. With Chloe nestled in his arms where she belongs, can Lyfe turn their sizzling Christmas affair into a season for second chances?</p></div><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Heir-apparent Malcolm Braddock may be the sexiest community activist under the Houston sun, but clearly he's met his match in Gloria Kingsley, the late senator Harmon Braddock's strikingly beautiful executive assistant. Both were recently spotted in a limo in a very…um…compromising position, and it appears Ms. Kingsley is influencing more than the brooding, lone-wolf bachelor's normally conservative sense of fashion (when she lets him stay dressed, of course!).We can conclude that Gloria is on a mission to make No-Commitments-Malcolm her Mr. Right. But with rumors flying about Senator Braddock—and a few dirty little secrets that didn't die with him—can she get Malcolm to secure his father's mantle as well?</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>As Senator Braddock's only daughter Shondra Braddock seemed to have it all: brains, beauty and the bank account of an heiress. But she didn't have answers. Determined to discover the connection between Stewart Industries and her father's death, Shondra accepted a job working for Connor Stewart, the company's blue-eyed, blond-haired CEO. But rugged and daring Connor was more man than Shondra could handle, and before long her undercover mission exploded into a secret, jet-setting affair that spanned the globe. Shondra might just be willing to risk her big brothers learning about her interoffice, interracial romance to uncover the truth. But when all of her secrets were revealed, would she risk losing it all?</p>


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<div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Except for one passion-filled night after his father's funeral, Ty and Felicia Braddock's marriage had been cold for years. Now Felicia was pregnant…and unwilling to bring a child into a home with a workaholic, absentee father. She wanted a divorce, but for their child's sake Ty demanded she give their vows a second chance. But the challenging vixen Felicia had become was nothing like the sweet-tempered, predictable woman he remembered. More and more the driven financial executive found himself wanting to spend less time at the office and more time making love to his oh-so-desirable wife.…Felicia desperately wanted their marriage to work. But would their newfound desire be enough to make her husband the family man that she and their baby needed?</p><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  1/26/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 2521 (99%)
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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>Ms. Sims delights her fans with sensuous love scenes, and the imagery and geography of France. 4 stars. -- <em>Dera Williams of Affaire de Coeur Magazine</em><br></p><p>Readers get double the romance in this charming love story...complete with intrigue and sensuality. -- <em>Darlene Kendall of Rendezvous Magazine, March 2005</em><br></p><p>Sims writes an effective story, drawing readers into the characters' lives with excellent precision. 4 stars. -- <em>Robin Taylor of Romantic Times Bookclub, April 2005</em></p><h3>From the Author</h3><p>Dear Readers, </p><p>WAITING FOR YOU is the first book in the Bryant Winery trilogy. You get to meet the entire family in this novel, although the focus is on the baby of the family, Erica, and the love of her life, Joshua Knight. Books two and three: CONSTANT CRAVING and ONE FINE DAY, respectively, are to be published in the upcoming months. </p></div>


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<div><h3>About the Author</h3><p>Janice Sims is author of more than twenty titles and feels as if she's just getting started.  She has been hooked on writing since she was seven years old, more years than she'd care to admit to, and the desire to create is still burning brightly.  Her characters, plots, and settings feel real because they're inspired by real people, situations, and locations.  So don't be surprised if you see yourself in one of her books.</p><h3>Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.</h3><p>Jason Bryant whipped the Ford Explorer into the parking lot of Aminatu's Daughters and parked right behind Sara Minton's cherry-red Mustang convertible, thereby blocking her exit. If there was one thing he knew about Sara, it was that she was a hard woman to pin down. This way, she wasn't going anywhere until he'd issued his invitation.</p><p>He climbed out of the SUV's cab, his long muscular legs flexing beneath a pair of Wrangler jeans. The heels of brown leather cowboy boots announced his arrival as he walked across the hardwood floor of the bookstore.</p><p>He noticed right away that there was another strange woman behind the counter in the coffeehouse section of the bookstore. Strange, in that she was new to him.</p><p>The rate of employee turnover at Aminatu's Daughters astounded him. He'd counted more than ten new employees within the past year. All of them had been women and all of them had been brown-skinned. They worked a few weeks, and then moved on.</p><p>He made a point of speaking to each and every one of them in order to prove his theory that none of them could claim English as their native tongue. The woman today was in her early twenties, had dusky brown skin, dark brown eyes and a very short afro.</p><p>Jason walked up to the counter. "Hi, how are you? I'm looking for Sara. She's here, isn't she?"</p><p>"We have wonderful mocha lattes," the woman said cheerfully. She turned to gesture to the coffee machine behind her.</p><p>"Thank you, no," said Jason. He smiled gently. He couldn't be sure, but he would wager that she was South African. She had the same lilting cadence to her voice as Nelson Mandela: a musical tone that was beautiful to the ear.</p><p>Upon hearing that he did not want a mocha latte, her expression became so sad that he changed his mind. "Oh, okay, I'll take a small one."</p><p>She smiled broadly. "Miss Sara is working in her office," she said once the sale was under her belt.</p><p>Jason laughed softly. It was obvious she intended to earn her keep around there.</p><p>"Thank you. I'll be back for my coffee." He turned and walked across the bookstore section and into the hallway. The first door he came to was the storage room. The second was the employee lounge. Next, he came to Sara's office. The door was closed.</p><p>He knocked and waited. "Come in!" he heard Sara's distinctive husky voice call.</p><p>When he walked in Sara was sitting behind her desk, and Gary Pruitt was sitting on the corner of it looking right at home. He was wearing an expensive suit, as usual. Jason didn't think he'd ever seen the man in anything except a suit. But then Gary was the most successful attorney in town. He had to look professional. Jason, who used to work as an attorney himself, could recall how looking professional was a part of the job.</p><p>These days, as a gentleman farmer, his chosen title for his job as a vintner, he wore jeans or khakis and sturdy denim shirts. The last time he'd worn a suit it had been to his brother Franklyn's wedding, which had taken place over a year ago.</p><p>"Am I interrupting anything?" Jason asked lightly as he entered the room.</p><p>"No, no," Sara said quickly. She rose and Jason leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek. Her smooth brown skin had a light flowery scent and, as always, Jason's heartbeat accelerated as a result of being near her.</p><p>Jason straightened and Sara gestured to the chair in front of her desk before she sat back down. "Have a seat. Gary was just telling me that he and Kat are having a dinner party next Saturday night and wanted to know if you and I could come."</p><p>Jason brightened. He knew he had no reason to be jealous of Gary. All indications were that he was happily married. He was a newlywed, in fact. But why did he have to spend so much time with Sara?</p><p>"If you can, I can," he told Sara. Oftentimes, her schedule was packed tighter than his. Unless there was some kind of an emergency at the winery like a wine press breaking down, he worked only from sunup to sunset. On the other hand it wasn't unusual for Sara to be called away at a moment's notice.</p><p>He never knew the life of a bookstore owner was so exciting. He had noticed, too, that practically every time she went out of town, either a new employee arrived or an old one departed. There had to be some connection there.</p><p>"Barring emergencies, I'm free," Sara said.</p><p>"See you at eight," Gary said, rising. "There'll be six of us and we're having seafood."</p><p>"I'll bring a few bottles of our best Chardonnay," Jason offered.</p><p>"I'm looking forward to it," Gary said with sincerity. The Bryant Chardonnay was among the most delicious in the wine world.</p><p>He and Jason shook hands, and Gary left.</p><p>Sara got up to go sit on Jason's lap. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she bent her head and kissed him on the cheek. Then lower, at the corner of his full, sensual mouth.</p><p>Jason regarded her suspiciously through slits. "Are you ever going to get down to business? Because I could be doing something fascinating like watching grapes grow."</p><p>"When I'm good and ready," Sara said, smiling. She enjoyed taking her time, kissing his face and neck before getting to his mouth. Anticipation was titillating to her.</p><p>She could feel Jason's state of arousal on her bottom. Patience wasn't his strong suit. But she'd known that about him before she'd taken him into her bed. She had known that sometime soon after they'd become intimate he would want a commitment from her.</p><p>Jason had made changes in the past year and a half. And those changes had not come easily for him.</p><p>Formerly a sought-after divorce attorney in Bakersfield, he'd moved back home to the quaint town of Glen Ellen to take over his family's winery. He'd made sacrifices to do it. Among them, a freewheeling life of revolving-door relationships in which the only thing that interested him about a woman was how attractive she was and how good she was in bed.</p><p>Surprisingly, he didn't miss the women. Perhaps if he'd made an effort to develop a genuine relationship with any of them, he would. But he'd avoided anything serious. You couldn't miss what you'd never had.</p><p>Now, though, he knew what he wanted. He wanted a good woman in his life. He wanted children with her and he wanted to leave behind a legacy, like his parents had done. Something lasting.</p><p>Sara knew all of that about him because he'd told her. Oh, the late-night talks they would have after making love! They would talk about anything and everything.</p><p>First loves. The first time they'd ever made love. Their favorite books, movies, foods. The people who had helped shape them into the people they were today. They even talked about those painful high-school episodes in which Sara had been ridiculed and Jason had stood by and said nothing to prevent it.</p><p>She didn't blame him. However, he blamed himself. She knew how hard it had been for him to fit in at Santa Rosa High. And the bus ride between Santa Rosa High and Glen Ellen, during which she and he had been the only black students, had sometimes been pure hell.</p><p>He sat up front with the rest of the football players, laughing and cracking jokes.</p><p>She sat in the back, hunkered down, her nose in a textbook, hoping all the while that no one would say anything to her. Please, God, just make me invisible!</p><p>It didn't help that she was overweight, wore glasses, and had skipped a grade. The kids regarded her as a freak of nature. But she had hoped, the entire two years that she rode the bus with Jason Bryant, that he would say something nice to her. He never did. He simply looked at her with sympathy in his eyes. She hated him for that. He could deride her like the rest of them, but she didn't want his pity. She was glad when he'd graduated. The next two years, she was the only black student on the bus between Santa Rosa High and Glen Ellen, and that suited her fine. She grew tough. They made her grow a thick skin. They made her turn inward and realize what a strong, competent person she could become if she wanted to. It was trial by fire, and she had passed.</p><p>Now, as she embraced the man who had once been the boy she'd hated, she found that she only wanted to love him. Her present life, however, made that impossible.</p><p>She needed to make some changes of her own. Finally, she kissed him full on the mouth. His response was immediate and passionate. He pulled her closer and she lost herself in the feel of his mouth as he patiently and thoroughly made love to her with his tongue. She moaned softly. Desire engulfed her, and he feasted on her mouth as though it was the most pleasurable act in the world. Now, at this moment, nothing else mattered to him except her complete and utter enjoyment of his mouth on hers, her breath mingling with his and her body ripening under his sensual assault.</p><p>He had a one-track mind when it came to giving her pleasure, and she thought that a good characteristic for a lover to have.</p><p>They came up for air, and gazed lovingly into each other's eyes. His were the color of brandy, hers were a more mellow shade of brown, almost like caramel.</p><p>His hands caressed the back of her head, her braids between his fingers. Hers pressed against his chest. "Will you go riding with me tonight?" he asked softly.</p><p>Her full lips turned up in a smile. "Love to. There's a full moon."</p><p>"Good, we can watch it come out. Can you be there by seven?"</p><p>"I'll be there."</p><p>"Afterward, I'll cook for you."</p><p>"Mmm," she moaned. "Too many sensual pleasures, and I just might give in to you and become the mistress of the Hacienda, after all."</p><p>She immediately knew she'd made a miscalculation. She'd joked about his asking her to marry him much too soon after the fact. It was still a sore point between them. One that wasn't going to go away without some serious negotiations.</p><p>His eyes grew distant in an instant. He attempted a smile in order to cover up the hurt she had unconsciously inflicted but it wasn't much of a smile. Instead of responding to her comment, he said, "Look, you're busy. I should go."</p><p>She reluctantly stood up. After which he also rose. She could have stood aside and let him go, but it wasn't her way to let things slide. Smoothing her skirt, she said, "Jason, I didn't mean to sound flip. I realize how m... </p></div>


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<div><h3 class="productDescriptionSource">Product Description</h3>
  <div class="productDescriptionWrapper">
  This is the book that started it all. The first book in a series of 
rich, family-oriented romances about two dynamic African-American 
families, the Cochran/Deveraux books have captured the hearts and 
imaginations of readers since Lucky in Love was first published in 2002.
 It's the story of Benita Cochran and Clay Deveraux, two over-worked 
business owners who manage to fall in love, even though Benita is based 
in Detroit and Clay is in Atlanta.<br> Benita has had more than enough 
of her controlling father and the pressures of running the family 
business, Cochran Communications. She wants a life of her own--even it 
it means leaving Detroit for good, And she's found all the encouragement
 she needs in Atlanta media baron Clayton Deveraux, the kindest, most 
passionate man she's ever known. <br> From the moment Clay meets Bennie,
 he is both attracted--and wary. The damage done by his father's affairs
 has left him unsure about whether love is worth the risk. But after 
spending blissful days and nights with her, he knows that he wants 
Bennie as his wife. Now, as hidden secrets frm the past test their 
happiness, they must each struggle to put the pain behind them and claim
 their future...together.      </div></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The men of the prominent Deveraux clan knew plenty about romance, and Lucien Deveraux was the biggest player of all. But that changed after Hurricane Katrina devastated his beloved city. Now Lucien's ready to dedicate himself to one woman: Nicole Argonne. Trouble is, Nicole has no time for what she calls "pretty men." If Lucien wants her, he needs to prove himself…and Nicole's not going to make it easy.Lucien is sexy, smart and charming—just like the man who broke Nicole's heart before. But Lucien has his own plan to win her. And when his scheming ex arrives in town, Nicole must decide whether she has the courage to trust again.…</p>


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<div><div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Artist Chastain Thibodaux's gallery show includes a painting of a sensuous nude: the man who had shattered her heart, Philippe Deveraux. When Philippe arrives at the opening demanding an explanation, his anger mixes with desire. And he vows to have Chastain back in his arms. Original.</p></div><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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<div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>That day had started out like any other, until a brown-skinned beauty in a flimsy nightgown jumped into his car and demanded he drive her to the airport. That's how investigative reporter Adriano Norwood met Payton Vaughn, the star witness in the trial of the decade. She was on the run, and judging by the trail of bodies in her wake, just driving the lady put his life in danger, too. But there was something honest, true and hot about Payton that made it impossible for him to walk away from her. He would protect her with his life, but would she stand by him if she knew the secrets he hid inside... .</p><hr class="annotations_divider"><br><p></p><div class="user_annotations"><br><span style="font-weight:bold"><br>  1/26/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 2761 (99%)<br></span><br><br><br></div></div>


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<div><div><div>This wealthy Manhattan family is suddenly at odds as the family patriarch has pitted sibling against sibling to see who will win control of the Elliott publishing dynasty. As the family clashes, secrets are revealed, scandals are ignited and strong passions are unleashed.</div><div><br></div><div>Bundle includes: Billionaire's Proposition by Leanne Banks, Taking Care of Business by Brenda Jackson, Cause for Scandal by Anna DePalo, The Forbidden Twin by Susan Crosby, Mr. and Mistress by Heidi Betts, and Heiress Beware by Charlene Sands.</div></div><hr class="annotations_divider"><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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<div><div><div>This wealthy Manhattan family is suddenly at odds as the family patriarch has pitted sibling against sibling to see who will win control of the Elliott publishing dynasty. As the family clashes, secrets are revealed, scandals are ignited and strong passions are unleashed.</div><div><br></div><div>Bundle includes: Under Deepest Cover by Kara Lennox, Marriage Terms by Barbara Dunlop, The Intern Affair by Roxanne St. Claire, Forbidden Merger by Emilie Rose, The Expectant Executive by Kathie DeNosky, and Beyond the Boardroom by Maureen Child.</div></div><hr class="annotations_divider"><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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<div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Pierce Grayson is a marked man: if his mother, Ruth, has her way, his carefree single days will soon be over. But Pierce isn’t going down without a fight. He’s ready to take action against his mama’s matchmaking…but what he’s completely unprepared for is the feeling that hits him when he meets Broadway actress Sabra Raineau. She’s in Santa Fe helping Ruth with a production at the University. With her luscious lips and long legs, Sabra is temptation personified—and Pierce isn’t in the habit of resisting temptation.With Hollywood calling and another play in the works, Sabra has no time for romance. And, after one heartbreak too many, she’s happy to stay unattached. But Pierce has other ideas—the kind that can curl a girl’s toes. Sabra’s not above a little extracurricular activity, but she can’t afford to risk her heart on anything serious. Still, the closer she gets to Pierce, the harder it is to deny him—and to keep a secret that could tear them apart....</p><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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<div><h3>From Booklist</h3><p>Divorcee Alexis Stevenson wants a stable life for her young daughter, Tara, so she accepts a position as housekeeper at Harrington House. She and Tara soon win the affection of three bachelor brothers and their grizzled cook. Her feelings for Telford, the oldest, metamorphose into a passionate love, one that he feels for her as well. But three secrets keep her from committing to him. Written in a warm, sensual style, this book features well-developed, sympathetic secondary characters, while two strong subplots involve revenge for an old wrong and a former husband who has no feelings for his own child. Forster, a best-selling author of twelve romance novels and five novels, has been recognized with many honors, including the Black Writers Alliance Gold Pen Award and the Affaire de Coeur Award for Best Romance with an African-American Hero and Heroine. <em>Shelley Mosley</em><br><em>Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved</em></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>With a young daughter to support, recently divorced Alexis Stevenson jumps at the chance to become household manager for wealthy businessman Telford Harrington and his two brothers. Though she knows it won't be easy turning their bachelor-pad mansion into a home, she is determined to handle any obstacles, while maintaining a separate life for herself and her daughter. But Alexis isn't at all ready for the red-hot chemistry crackling between her and Telford—or the fact that she's suddenly caught in a maze of unexpected secrets and deep mistrust. But if she and Telford find their way through it—together—can they both embrace the love they so deeply desire? </p></div>


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<div><h3>From Booklist</h3><p>Plus-size Velma Brighton feels uncomfortable in her form-fitting bridesmaid dress, but she'll do anything for her sister Alexis. Velma is attracted to Russ Harrington, the no--nonsense brother of the groom, and the light in his eyes when he sees her is reassuring until doubts creep in. Russ is attracted to Velma, but he hates her lack of self-confidence. Velma's persistent insecurities stem from her belief that her parents didn't love her or her sister. She has always tried to protect Alexis, but no one has helped her. Now it should be Velma's turn for love, if only the two stubborn people can commit. This is the second in Forster's Harrington brothers trilogy exploring the life and loves of the wealthy African American family from suburban Baltimore. Difficult to follow unless the first is read, it will please readers of the first installment, who will enjoy another go-round with the studly family, and await the third book, in which the third brother finds his destiny. <em>Patty Engelmann</em><br><em>Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved</em></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>In the much anticipated follow-up to <em>Once in a Lifetime,</em> full-figured caterer Velma Brighton is constantly comparing herself to her thin, beautiful sister, Alexis, who seems to have everything. On Alexis's wedding day, Velma's insecurity kicks into overdrive when she puts on a formfitting maid-of-honor gown that reveals all of her curves. Worse still, the man who makes her heart race will be escorting her down the aisle. How will he react to her very shapely physique?</p><p>Rugged, tough and a loner, Russ Harrington is every woman's dream. And Velma is his type of woman. He fell for her—beautiful curves and all. But he has little patience with her lack of self-esteem. Setting aside his concerns, Russ pursues Velma…until she tries to undergo a complete makeover. Ironically, Velma's attempt to attract Russ could cause her to lose the very thing she wants the most—his love. </p></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Love Me or Leave Me</p><p>Engineer Drake Harrington has spent years living 
in the shadow of his older brothers. His extraordinary good looks have 
earned him a reputation as a ladies' man, but Drake's real goal is to 
make his mark in the family business. When he meets television news 
anchor Pamela Langford, Drake gives in to his attraction. And although 
he's reluctant to settle down until he realizes his career ambitions, 
Pamela is not interested in playing the waiting game. A business trip to
 Accra, Ghana, could confirm Pamela's fears about Drake's inability to 
commit—or help him to recognize a once–in–a–lifetime love…      </p></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>A MAN ON A MISSION... While his adoptive parents were alive, Judson Phillips never tried to find out where he came from. Now he's determined to uncover his roots, and falling for diplomat Heather Tatum--a woman he can imagine making a life with--is yet another reason to delve into his past. But Judson, a handsome lawyer accustomed to success, is striking out on both fronts: his search is going nowhere, and Heather, who witnessed her own parents' unhappy marriage, has no intention of settling down. Putting her job first has been Heather's way of avoiding heartache. But when Judson unearths his ties to the Harringtons, Heather gets a glimpse of the kind of loving family she's always craved. But taking a chance means risking everything their sweet, sudden passion has brought and trusting that tonight is just the beginning....</p>


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<div><h3><em>In her beloved Harringtons series, Gwynne Forster introduced the 
sexy, wealthy brothers from Maryland. Each found his perfect match, and 
now their family and friends are searching for happily-ever-afters of 
their own….</em><br><br>Scott Galloway has always known how to get what 
he wants.  A U.S. Ambassador at thirty-six, he's got ambition to burn. 
His latest goal—settle down and start a family. But finding the right 
candidate isn't easy. Especially when the one woman he can't stop 
thinking about is the one he ruled out years ago.<br><br>Accomplished 
and successful in her own right, Denise Miller has never forgotten 
Scott, in spite of their disastrous first meeting. And now that their 
mutual friendship with the Harrington family has brought them together 
again, Denise is more and more intrigued. Scott is strong enough to 
stand up to her—and she could be the loving, equal partner he needs. But
 with hearts this stubborn, and passion this wild, can they find the 
compromise that leads to forever?</h3></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Zoe McNight has sworn off blind dates. But her white-hot dalliance with Ben Hood was a night to remember! Now, with her upscale jewelry and gem boutiques in trouble, Zoe's determined to put diamonds—not desire—first. Ben may be banned from her heart, but she <em>needs</em> this sexy private investigator to uncover who is stealing from her high-priced inventory—before her reputation is tarnished for good.</p><p>Ben wants this sexy, sophisticated lady more than ever. But he's willing to play it cool to catch a thief. Soon, work becomes a dance of sweet seduction and Zoe wonders if she was too hasty in denying herself a good man like Ben.</p><p>Because sometimes all that glitters really <em>is</em> gold. </p></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Loren Smith's new career as a pastry chef is finally bringing the former model out of her shell. But when a fire forces her to move in with her best friend, she doesn't expect to be living under the same roof as sinfully seductive Robinson Hood! And soon the sexy undercover investigator makes her his personal mission.   </p><p>Rob finds Loren as fragile and irresistible as the airy confections she whips up--and he isn't about to let her go back into retreat mode. The widowed P.I. wants her to know only <em>his</em> sensual touch. But first Rob has to earn her trust. Which means taking it slow and hot until he has the wary beauty right where he wants her--in his arms, in his bed... and in his heart.  </p></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The law is her life. Until now…</p><p>Kimberly Thurman is used to life 
throwing her curves. The beautiful, fiery judge has struggled hard to 
get where she is and nothing's going to make her back down. That 
includes the high–profile murder case that has suddenly plunged her life
 into danger. And into irresistibly handsome Zachary Hood's arms. 
Kimberly hired the virile P.I. to guard her body. But who's going to 
shield her heart?</p><p>Taking risks may be the Hood Team's 
stock–in–trade, but Zach will die before he lets anything happen to 
Kimberly. For beneath those judicial robes is a fiercely feminine 
seductress who's tempting him to open up to the passion she's offering. 
As desire mounts—and the threats against Kimberly escalate—is Zach ready
 to take the biggest risk of all? For a love that may never come again?      </p></div>


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<div><div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The sexy King brothers own a successful bachelor-party-planning business and a string of upscale clubs across the country. What could be better than living the single life in some of the world's most glamorous cities?</p><p>Finding a woman worth giving it up for…</p><p>Eamon King organizes the wildest bachelor parties in Las Vegas. So wild that his latest client ends up marrying one of the strippers. Now the jilted bride-to-be, Victoria Gregory, is suing his company for millions. The problem is Eamon has never been so turned on by anyone as he is by the beautiful, voluptuous and very angry Victoria. He's sure that all he has to do to charm his way out of the lawsuit is to charm his way into her bed. Win-win, right? Wrong. Because every white-hot moment they're together makes him realize he's found the only woman who can make him lose his heart…. </p><h3>Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.</h3><p>"Welcome to The Dollhouse, Las Vegas," Eamon King shouted above the crowd, raising his glass to toast the raucous bachelor party as fifty or so guys entered the V.I.P. section of his exclusive Vegas nightclub. Most of them whooped and hollered, and fist-pumped over the loud, pulsing music—a clear sign that they were married men who'd planned to go buck wild on this rare night away from their wives. A few of their eyes were already bulging at the sexy-looking women who worked at The Dollhouse.</p><p>"Now, which one of you is Marcus Henderson?" Eamon asked, his gaze combing the crowd.</p><p>"Right here," they shouted and then pushed a six-foot, pencil-thin nerdy-looking brother in black-rimmed glasses.</p><p>Eamon ignored his private thoughts about the guy looking like a stereotypical paper pusher and hooked one of his muscled arms around the man's neck. "All right, Mr. Henderson," he boasted. "As one of the owners of this establishment, I want to personally guarantee you that tonight will definitely be a night that you will <em>never </em>forget!"</p><p>"Whooo-hoooo!" Henderson's party shouted.</p><p>"Last night of freedom," Marcus joked shyly.</p><p>"Plenty of time for you to change your mind," someone shouted from the crowd.</p><p>Although there was a smile on Marcus's face, Eamon detected a note of uncertainty in his voice. He gave Henderson another casual glance and thought to himself that if this man had found a woman—_any woman_—to say yes, then maybe he'd better get on his knees, say his prayers and seal the deal as fast as he could.</p><p>"Ladies! Please come on up here," Eamon shouted.</p><p>On cue, Shawn, Brittani and Cassie strolled into the V.I.P. room smiling from ear-to-ear in their metallic gold Daisy Dukes and matching bikini tops. In their hands each one carried a golden ice bucket with a bottle of Cristal.</p><p>All the men's eyes grew even wider and their mouths sagged to the floor.</p><p>"Good evening, gentlemen," the beauties greeted in sync.</p><p>"Oh sweet baby Jesus," Marc mumbled.</p><p>Eamon reached over and nudged Marc's chin so that he'd close his mouth before he started to drool. "Now gentlemen, these three ladies will be your hostesses for the evening. If there is <em>anything </em>that you need, your hostess will take care of you. But first…" Eamon walked to the back of the V.I.P. room and stepped onto the stage and grabbed the microphone lying on the lone chair next to a stripper pole. "I need the man of the evening to come on up here."</p><p>The men clapped and shoved Marc forward.</p><p>It was clear that he wasn't used to the spotlight as he seemed to tuck his head down and had trouble making eye contact as he made his way up to the stage.</p><p>Amused, Eamon shook his head and then swung his arm around Marc's shoulder and directed him to face forward. "Now. We at The Dollhouse have something special for you, my man."</p><p>One side of Marc's lips curled upward as he asked in a quivering voice, "Really?"</p><p>"Ooooh yes. I have a special girl in mind for you. " He tossed him a wink and then signaled to the DJ. The music quickly transitioned into Li'l Wayne's "Lollipop." To the crowd Eamon said, "Gentlemen, won't you welcome to the stage DELICIOUS!"</p><p>A gold-and-silver disco ball descended from the ceiling. The men gave enthusiastic barks and shouts as The Dollhouse's number-one moneymaker, Delicious, stepped onto the stage, working her hips like a figure eight and rolling her chest so that the small tassels on the ends of her gold pasties spun like mini-helicopters.</p><p>The crowd went wild while Marc stood like a deer in headlights and Eamon exited the stage and handed off the mic to one of the hostesses. Delicious knew how to work a crowd and within seconds, she had them all eating out of the palm of her hand. As Eamon worked his way to the back of the V.I.P. room, he spotted his brothers, Xavier and Jeremy, with their arms folded and leaning against the back wall. The three of them were similar in build and coloring: tall, milk-chocolate brown with solid, sculpted muscles. Of the three, Eamon sported a pencil-thin goatee, a slightly squarer jaw, with eyes that were slanted like Tyson Beckford's. While Eamon and Xavier stood at an even six-four, Jeremy, the pip-squeak, came in at six-three and three quarters. It was hardly noticed by others, but it made for endless teasing by his older brothers.</p><p>They were all pretty laid-back. They were very close having grown up in a family that didn't have a lot of money, but plenty of love. Their parents had taught them the value of hard work and didn't accept any excuses. The three put themselves through college and then went into business together. They weren't as rich as their cousins, the Hintons, but they each had a couple of million in the bank.</p><p>"What are you guys doing here?" Eamon asked, suspiciously.</p><p>"Damn. What? No hug or 'how in the hell are you'?" Xavier shouted above the music, smiling.</p><p>Eamon lifted a brow. His brother was showing a little too much teeth with that smile. "I'll hook you up at the next family reunion." His gaze then shifted to Jeremy who was acting like he'd never seen Delicious perform before. Playing along, Eamon folded his arms and turned back toward the stage.</p><p>Marcus Henderson sat in the chair center stage, looking like he'd died and gone to heaven. His ebony goddess backed up her beautiful, oiled, brown booty with a disappearing gold string down the middle up on him and then started bouncing her round cheeks until he was damn-near hypnotized.</p><p>"WHOOOOOAAAA!" His friends whooped and hollered as they crowded around the stage and tossed bills of every denomination onto the stage.</p><p>Marc's mind spun like a pinwheel while money rained down on him and this goddess of the stripper pole like they were in their own little money globe.</p><p>Delicious bent over at the waist, giving him a better view of just where her mysterious gold string disappeared to before effortlessly making both cheeks clap.</p><p>The erotic applause made Marc tug at his collar. Even though the sucker was already open, it still felt as if it was choking him. Completely wiped clean from his mind were any thoughts of the woman he was going to marry tomorrow. In that moment, all that mattered was Delicious. She gave Marc an erection so hard that he swore he could feel his inseams popping.</p><p>Marc turned his head, while his jaw elongated and his hands trembled with want.</p><p>"Your boy is looking like Gollum up there," Xavier chuckled.</p><p>Jeremy turned with his fingers creeping toward Eamon's face. "Precious. I must have the precious booty."</p><p>Eamon swatted Jeremy's hands away from his face and then rolled his eyes. "Grow up."</p><p>That just succeeded in making Jeremy laugh. "Testy. Maybe we should arrange a private lap dance for you, as well. You need to relax." He put his hands on Eamon's shoulders and started rubbing. Since he didn't know what he was doing, the shoulder rub hurt like hell.</p><p>"Will you two just spit it out. What the hell do you want before this fool lands me on a chiropractor's table?" He shrugged Jeremy's hand off his shoulder, but then turned in time to catch his younger brothers sharing a look. "What?"</p><p>Xavier sucked in a deep breath. "Maybe we should talk about this in the office?"</p><p>Eamon frowned as a ball of anxiety picked up speed in his chest. "It's that bad?"</p><p>His brothers stood mute blinking at him.</p><p>Cursing under his breath, Eamon cast a quick glance back at the stage. Delicious had Marc's face planted in between her chests while she slapped both cheeks with her fresh-out-the-box silicon-filled breasts. When she finally pulled his head back again so that he could breathe, Marc looked like he was in love.</p><p>"Another satisfied customer," Eamon chuckled. But when he looked back up at his brothers that ball started rolling again. "C'mon. Let's go to the office."</p><p>The three Kings exited the V.I.P room and entered the main floor of the club where it looked as if they had a full house. Prince's old-school jam "Get Off" pumped through the mounted speakers while seven of his hottest women on seven different stages worked golden stripper poles while their customers rained money on them.</p><p>As the Kings traveled down the glass staircase, a harem of belly-dancing strippers were coming up for the bachelor party's next set. Eamon plastered on a smile as he glanced down at his watch. "Running late, ladies."</p><p>The women gave him meek apologetic smiles as they continued running up the stairs. At the bottom, Azizi, an African beauty with gorgeous coal-black skin, waited with a sly grin…and a goat.</p><p>"Now that's something you don't see every day," Xavier said with mild amusement.</p><p>The brothers stood on the side of the staircase so that Azizi and the goat could climb up. Right behind her were a dozen dwarfish women, no more than three and a half feet tall, dressed in two-piece black cat costumes with furry ears.</p><p>The look on Jeremy's face was priceless. "What kind of freaks are you hosting tonight?"</p><p>"The kind whose credit card is approved when I swipe it," Eamon laughed while he threaded his way through the thick Saturday-night crowd. He could literally hear the <em>ca-ching </em>of the cash registers as he watched the army of bartenders, waitresses and dancers scurry about.</p><p>The success of The Dollhouse defied the odds and baffled all their competitors—not only in Atlanta, but also in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. But the Kings believed, as their father had always taught them, that the fundamentals were what made success: vision, integrity, talent and communication. After that was location, location, location—marketing, marketing, marketing—and cash, cash, cash.</p><p>That last part—the money—was particularly hard. When Xavier and Jeremy first approached Eamon about <em>expanding </em>their small adult nightclub and laid out an impressive business plan, he was skeptical. The normal movers and shakers who did wh... </p></div><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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<div><h3><h3 class="lesser">Back of the Book</h3>
                															<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">The sexy King brothers own a 
successful bachelor-party-planning business and a string of upscale 
clubs across the country. What could be better than living the single 
life in some of the world's most glamorous cities?<br><br>Finding a woman worth giving it up for…</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br><br>Jeremy
 King's brothers may have turned in their player cards, but that just 
leaves more action for him. Like the gorgeous, bikini-clad party crasher
 who saunters into the Malibu  bachelor bash he's hosting. Leigh 
Matthews wants Jeremy, but just for one last fling. And what Leigh 
wants, she gets.<br><br>Unable to forget their amazing connection, 
Jeremy is stunned when weeks later Leigh hires his company—to plan her  
bachelorette party. Leigh has her reasons for getting married. But after
 their night of unbridled pleasure, Jeremy doesn't believe she's truly 
in love. Now he's got six weeks to convince her that their incredible 
Malibu night was only the beginning.…</span></h3></div>


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<div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Barbados sugar plantation owner Shayne Knight fantasizes about escaping into the arms of a beautiful stranger—and lovely, sensual travel agent Carla Thompson is the answer to his secret desires. When he's called away suddenly, he vows to return to the island hideaway they shared and turn their no-strings affair into something more. But he's too late....Carla awakens, blissful and in love, and discovers Shayne is gone. She's hurt, mad and "outta" there. Soon she discovers he did leave her something besides memories. She's pregnant! But to claim the man and the love that was meant to be, she'll have to discover paradise all over again.</p><hr class="annotations_divider"><br><p></p><div class="user_annotations"><br><span style="font-weight:bold"><br>  1/26/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 3140 (99%)<br></span><br><br><br></div></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Four novellas in one book! DANE Bad boy, Dane MacKenzie, is coming home to Surrender, Montana. It’s been ten years since he left the woman he loved behind to make a name for himself, and now he’s bound and determined to claim her once and for all. But Charlotte Munroe has no desire to welcome home the Prodigal Son with a fatted calf. The bitterness of Dane’s betrayal runs deep, and she has no plans of letting him back into her life. Especially since she’s trying to protect the son Dane isn’t aware exists from heartbreak, since she’s sure he’s only going to walk out of their lives again. THOMAS Cat Randolph is the best cat burglar in the world. But when a job goes wrong and she’s shot, it’s Doctor Thomas MacKenzie that comes to her rescue. Unfortunately, it’s a lot harder to keep secrets when you’re risking the life of someone you love. Thomas MacKenzie knows Cat is keeping secrets, but getting her to trust him with them is a slow and steady process. But time isn’t on his side. Convincing Cat to stay in Surrender, Montana is harder than he could have imagined. He just has to make sure that their lovemaking is more addictive than the adrenaline rush she craves. RILEY Riley MacKenzie is one of the world’s leading experts on Egyptian artifacts. But when Maggie Lawrence walks into his life with a priceless stolen artifact and bad guys on her trail, he has no choice but to whisk her away to the safety of Surrender, Montana. Maggie Lawrence takes one look at Riley MacKenzie and sees everything she’s ever craved and always avoided when it comes to men: Adventure. And she knows it’s only a matter of time before she falls prey to his seduction, especially since she’s trapped with him during one of the worst snowstorms Montana has seen in years. But when the enemy finds them, Maggie’s confronted with a past that could destroy her love for Riley forever. COOPER Claire Drexel has loved Cooper MacKenzie since she was fourteen years old. But being ten years older, he’s never seen her as anything more than a kid sister. So she decides to take matters into her own hands. It’s not a secret that Cooper is a heavy player in the BDSM scene, and Claire decides what Cooper needs is the perfect bottom to his top. Only she gets more than she bargains for. Cooper MacKenzie can’t believe his eyes when he sees little Claire Drexel sitting on the lap of one of the most dangerous men he’s ever met. The fool. She’s just walked into the middle of a drug investigation at one of the premier BDSM clubs in the state, and one wrong move could blow the cover he’s been developing for the past three years. He has no choice but to intercede and claim her as his own, but facing the consequences of his actions might be more than even he’s bargained for. </p></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Lance Montgomery, renowned relationship expert, has perfected the art of being a playa. His acclaimed workshops and bestselling books prove it. His most popular title, The Playa’s Handbook, caused a major uproar among black women and men, and shot to the top of the bestseller list.Then he met Dr. Asia Fowler, a colleague whose views on love are vastly different from his own. Intrigued and unable to forget her, Lance wanted her in his bed. Instead, she found her way into his heart. Fighting his feelings for her, Lance drives her into the arms of another man. Soon after, he realizes Dr. Asia Fowler is the first woman he has ever loved. Now he’s determined to get her back. No matter what.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Alexandria, Renee and Danielle are three very different women with one thing in common: their late husband!Alexandria Lord-Wright was an Atlanta society princess— wealthy, beautiful and popular. The only thing she couldn't buy was her parents' respect, and marrying Marc Foster was supposed to change that. Instead, Alex was crushed to learn that Marc had two other wives—at least. In danger of losing her stake in the family company because of Marc's deception, she finds an unlikely ally in Hunter Smith, a sexy, successful businessman. But now that Alex is finally learning to stand on her own two feet, she's not prepared to let any man run her life—even one whose red-hot kisses awaken her senses to just how good love can be.…</p>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p><strong>One Reckless Night Of Passion</strong></p><p>After a long absence, FBI agent Althea Pritchard has returned home to Baltimore, but it already feels like history is repeating itself. A teenage girl has been abducted--just as Althea was eight years before. The ordeal left her determined to capture such criminals, and she's more prepared than ever. There's just one problem--her gorgeous, irresistibly sexy new partner. A man she knows intimately, yet not at all. . . </p><p><strong>One Dangerous Affair. . .</strong></p><p>Special Agent Damien Wade is shocked to discover his new partner is the same beautiful mystery woman with whom he recently shared one night of incredible passion. But bowing out is not an option. Inevitably, as the kidnapping case intensifies, so does their relationship--especially when Althea becomes the target of danger. But she has vowed never to be a victim again. And now with Damien by her side, she has more to live for than ever. . . </p></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>From the author of the bestselling Hideaway novels comes the first in a dazzling, sexy new series, The Wainwright Legacy, chronicling the lives and loves of two prestigious New York families.High-profile lawyer Jordan Wainwright is an expert at uncovering the truth for his clients. But he guards his own secrets closely, especially those surrounding his adoption by the powerful Wainwright family. Meeting attorney Aziza Fleming at a party, he's captivated by her ambition and sensual warmth. Although Aziza insists she's not looking for anything serious, their casual dates spill over into sultry, pleasure-filled nights.Aziza has been burned twice before—first by a bad marriage, then by a harassment case that nearly destroyed her career. Sophisticated and irresistibly sexy, Jordan could be everything she wants, if he proves to be the trustworthy man she needs. However, he'll have to choose—between keeping a decades-old secret, or embracing their newfound passion.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Born into a real-estate dynasty, Brandt Wainwright chose football over the family business, and now he's a Super Bowl MVP. That streak of good fortune runs out the day Brandt crashes his SUV into a tree. During the long recuperation, the fun-loving quarterback becomes cranky and sullen—until private nurse Ciara Dennison shows up for duty.Ciara has zero interest in sports, or in tall, blond jocks with overblown egos. She's dated a man in the public eye before, and she's not repeating that mistake. Somehow Brandt keeps breaking down all her defenses, seeing through her facade to the sexy free spirit underneath. But once his recovery is complete, will he return to the celebrity life he knew—or choose the woman who can fulfill his dreams?</p>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>STORIES THAT ARE INCLUDED IN THIS TRADE-SIZE BOOK ARE:  </p><p>READY FOR LOVE<br>Barbara Andrews is trying to get her life back together after her divorce while planning her daughter's wedding. Even with everything she has on her plate she hasn't been able to forget the man who had entered her life at a very difficult time and had shown her kindness. And when Detective Rick Blair asks her out, she is not sure if she's ready to put the past behind her and move on, although she can't deny the attraction between them. Rick intends to prove that she is definitely a woman who is ready for love. <br>Barbara was first introduced in HER LITTLE BLACK BOOK  </p><p>THE SECOND TIME AROUND<br>Peggy Morrison has finally gotten her life together and is happily involved with a man who knows how to treat her like the desired and passionate woman that she is. And when Willie Baker asks her to accompany him to Paris, she has to decide just how far their relationship has come and even importantly, how far she wants it to go. Willie is determined to be the one to teach Peggy a thing or two about love the second time around. <br>Peggy was first introduced in HER LITTLE BLACK BOOK   </p><p>CONQUERING HIS HEART<br>Cathy Bristol has been in love with her boss for what seems like forever, and decides it's time to take matters into her own hands. She gets the chance to do so on a business trip they take together. While Orin Jeffries focuses on business, Cathy focuses on trying to show Orin that she's the woman for him and is determined to make the emotionally scarred divorced Orin see her for the woman that she is. A woman intent on conquering his heart.<br>Cathy was first introduced in TALL, DARK…WESTMORELAND and seen again in TEMPERATURES RISING  </p><p>COREY'S MOUNTAIN <br>When Corey Westmoreland runs into the one woman he let get away over thirty years ago, he is determined to keep Abby Winters within his reach. Even if it means taking her up to his mountain. And once he realizes their attraction is still explosive after all this time, he’s determined to convince her that it's not too late for them and that their past and present have now collided for a reason. It was always meant for Corey’s Mountain to be their home.<br>Abby was first introduced in STONE, COLD SURRENDER<br>NOTE – This book is a Prequel to Stone, Cold Surrender /A Westmoreland Novel  </p><p>Tis The Season…for Romance is a “must have” book for every Brenda Jackson reader keeping up with the various families she has created. The hero and heroines in these stories were requested most by Brenda’s readers….Okay, Joshua Avery headed the list, but we won’t tell his story just yet!  </p><p>Suggested pre-reading:  </p><p>Since these books are the sequels or prequels of several books, you are encouraged to read the following books BEFORE reading Tis the Season…for Romance:  </p><p>• Her Little Black Book<br>• Tall, Dark Westmoreland and Temperatures Rising  </p></div>


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<div><div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Brenda Jackson's beloved Westmoreland family saga has been a reader favorite since making its debut in 2002. And with heroes including a bad-boy motorcycle champ, an arrogant sheikh intent on seduction, and a sexy fire chief whose world is turned upside-down by torrid weekend with a too-hot-to-handle virgin, it's easy to see why! Now you can get the entire series in handy bundle format, starting with this collection of the first five novels: "Delaney's Desert Sheikh, A Little Dare, Thorn's Challenge, Stone Cold Surrender" and "Riding the Storm,"</p></div><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  5/12/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 11731 (99%)
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 <br><b>Location 330 • Bookmark</b><br><b>Location 2388 • Bookmark</b><br><b>Location 4822 • Bookmark</b><br><b>Location 7205 • Bookmark</b><br><b>Location 9430 • Bookmark</b><br></div></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Investigative reporter Viveca Jackson vowed she'd destroy the wealthy Warner family. After all, the powerful clan was responsible for her father's unfortunate accident and her family's ruin. But when the feisty journalist embarked on her quest for payback, she didn't count on arrogant Andrew Warner's devastating charm, or the passion that flared between them. </p><p>Andrew was determined to make her go away. He was also determined to get her into his bed. And after the would-be enemies share a night of fiery passion, each is left wanting more. Although in the light of day, Viveca and Andrew are both left wondering if her undercover deception and his dark family secret will make a not-so-happy ending to their love story.… </p><h3>Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.</h3><p>Viveca Jackson had never been a voyeur, reluctant or otherwise.</p><p>Until now.</p><p>She'd been having a lot of firsts lately.</p><p>Like being offered a book deal. She'd gotten the thrill of her life a month ago when she'd picked up the phone in her microscopic East Village apartment and her agent told her that an editor wanted to buy her book. Viveca was writing a family history about the Warners, who were Columbus, Ohio, royalty.</p><p>Even more exciting, Arnetta Warner, the family matriarch, wanted to participate in the writing of the book.</p><p>It was the opportunity of a lifetime.</p><p>Viveca had never dared hope that in one fell swoop she'd get the chance to build her career <em>and </em>ruin the reputation of the Warners, the family that had destroyed <em>her </em>family, but there it was, falling neatly into her lap.</p><p>Nor had she ever before taken a leave of absence from her job as a reporter for the <em>New York Times, </em>but she'd arranged the time off, sublet her apartment and flown to Columbus for a six-month stay at Heather Hill, the Warner estate.</p><p>Who'd ever have thought the Warners would open the doors of their palace to Viveca while she engineered their long-overdue comeuppance?</p><p><em>Was this divine justice? </em>It sure felt like it.</p><p>She'd certainly never seen such a staggering display of wealth. In the Warners' world, uniformed butlers answered front doors, and houses weren't houses. They were estates with pretentious names like <em>Heather Hill </em>and with soaring, domed ceilings, curving staircases, silk wallpaper, damask drapes, crystal chandeliers and priceless antiques.</p><p>Unbelievable, really. Sickening.</p><p>The butler—Franklin Bishop, he'd said his name was— led Viveca down a long, windowed hallway and into a library to wait for Mrs. Warner. She studied him, liking his quiet dignity. He wore a crisp white dress shirt, starchy enough to stand by itself on the floor, dark trousers and black shoes polished to a mirrored brilliance that almost hurt her eyes.</p><p>"If you give me your car keys," he said in an accent that had originated somewhere in the Deep South, his lightly lined brown face crinkling into a welcoming smile, "I can get your luggage and put it in the cottage."</p><p>"Oh, no," she began automatically. She hated to think of the old gent lifting those heavy bags, but then she gave herself a swift mental kick in the butt. Why not enjoy the trappings of living with the filthy rich? The Warners owed her that much and more.</p><p>But… she still couldn't inconvenience this nice man.</p><p>"I can bring them in later," she told him. "Really."</p><p>He held out one weathered palm. "Give me those keys right now."</p><p>Not wanting to injure his pride, she handed them over and tried to be gracious about it. "Thank you."</p><p>"Tea or coffee?" he asked. "You must be thirsty."</p><p>"Oh, no," she began again.</p><p>He raised a salt-and-pepper eyebrow, and his lips twitched around a repressed smile. "You trying to put me out of my job?"</p><p>"Ah, no," she said. Now she felt sheepish.</p><p>"Good." He nodded with satisfaction. "I'll bring you some Darjeeling. You'll like that."</p><p>"Thanks. Have you been with the family long?"</p><p>"Oh… about a thousand years. They couldn't get along without me."</p><p>Viveca was still laughing when he winked and left. She reminded herself that in six months, when she finished the research, she'd have to return to the real world, where people handled their own luggage and got their own tea.</p><p>Yeah. That'd be an easy transition. Not.</p><p>Turning in a loose circle, she gawked openly, something she'd tried not to do in front of Mr. Bishop. She'd thought libraries like this existed only in movies, but she'd been wrong. Thousands of colorful leather-bound books lined thirty-foot-high bookshelves on opposite walls. A staircase on one side of the room led up to a second level, which had a narrow, railed walkway.</p><p><em>Books, books, books.</em></p><p>There was nothing she loved more. If only there had been a plate of brownies with thick, gooey icing on the coffee table, she would have thought she'd stumbled onto heaven on earth. What she wouldn't give to have the run of a library like—</p><p>Laughing voices and the splash of water outside broke her train of thought.</p><p>One of the French doors, she noticed for the first time, was ajar and let in the sweet, heavy fragrance of roses from some unseen garden and the smell of chlorine. Viveca crept to the doors and peeked out.</p><p>Blinding June sunlight scorched her eyes for a second or two, but then an amazing scene came into focus. She saw an enormous, glittering sapphire pool surrounded by columns and statues of various Greek gods, lush potted trees and flowers, and them.</p><p>No, <em>him.</em></p><p>She gasped because there was no way to hold in her stunned appreciation of such a man. Or was he a god? She wasn't sure, having never seen anything like him before.</p><p>She'd researched him, of course. Andrew Warner, the thirty-five-year-old CEO of WarnerBrands International and heir to the Warner family fortune. He was one of <em>Queen City </em>magazine's most eligible bachelors, Yale graduate, blah, blah, blah.</p><p>Meaningless words that couldn't possibly prepare her for <em>this.</em></p><p>Rising out of the pool just twenty feet away, Andrew Warner was <em>glorious. </em>There was no other word for him. That first glimpse of him froze Viveca into place, and she could no more look away than she could resurrect the dead.</p><p>She had a dazed initial impression of a flashing white smile, startling against the healthy honey-with-cream color of his skin, and curly, dark hair flattened against his head.</p><p>But then she noticed his body and her gaping mouth went dry.</p><p>Water streamed down his long limbs as he sauntered over to an occupied lounge chair and sat beside his female companion's legs. <em>Tall, </em>Viveca thought. He was very tall. Muscular, too, with wide, sculpted swimmer's shoulders, a round butt, powerful thighs and shapely calves. A soccer player's calves. Dark hair dusted across his chiseled chest, tapered through the ladder rungs of his abdomen and disappeared into his blue board shorts.</p><p>Watching him grab a towel and run it over his head, Viveca felt a strange, tight knot form low in her belly.</p><p>The woman laughed, and Viveca's gaze slid unwillingly to her. Viveca refused to acknowledge her negative response to the woman, who was a shade or two darker than Andrew and had a sleek, precision-cut bob.</p><p>She'd been lying on her stomach, wearing only the bottoms of a skimpy red bikini, but now she flipped over and sat up. Viveca was treated to a startling glimpse of large, jiggling, walnut-tipped breasts that stuck straight out like twin <em>Hindenbergs, </em>impervious to the effects of gravity.</p><p><em>Don't watch this, </em>Viveca told herself sternly. <em>You're spying on people in a private moment… you don't want to see this…you don't—</em></p><p>She did.</p><p>Dismayed and fascinated, Viveca stared as the woman scooted down to the end of the lounge chair, wrapped her arms and legs around Andrew Warner, and pressed—undulated—against his back.</p><p>Viveca whimpered involuntarily. Unwelcome images and questions burned through her mind, demanding answers…</p><p><em>What did it feel like to touch that man? To press against that hard, perfect body? To make love with him?</em></p><p>In answer, Viveca's breasts peaked.</p><p>Even without touching her, Andrew Warner aroused her more than her few and infrequent boyfriends ever had. This was not good.</p><p>Viveca watched as Andrew frowned and pulled away from his companion. The woman laughed, tossed that gleaming hair and, whispering in his ear, snaked her hands down his chest, kneading and caressing.</p><p>Viveca couldn't breathe, knowing she should look away and knowing she wouldn't. Slowly…slowly…the woman's hand slid lower until finally it stroked his crotch.</p><p>The woman cooed with obvious appreciation.</p><p>Viveca gasped again, loudly, and this time there was no splashing water to drown out the sound.</p><p>Andrew's head whipped around—naturally he had the perfect hearing of a bat—and Viveca's reflexes failed. The panicked voice in her head screamed directions at her to hide, but her uncomprehending feet and legs did nothing.</p><p>Andrew Warner, her enemy and the sexiest man she'd ever seen, looked directly at the French doors and saw her. And Viveca couldn't do anything other than gape.</p><p>For one endless, agonizing, pulsing moment, they stared at each other, connected by a force as powerful as it was invisible. Looking into his bright eyes, Viveca felt a succession of his emotions—surprise, curiosity and something darker.</p><p>Viveca was mortified and felt her cheeks flame with enough wattage to light the Vegas strip for a year. In the lamest move of her life, she leapt behind the curtains until she was out of his line of sight, a tactic only marginally more effective than rearranging deck chairs on the <em>Titanic.</em></p><p>Safely hidden, she slapped a hand to her forehead and squeezed her eyes shut, as if that could block out what she'd just seen, or her reaction.</p><p><em>Stupid, stupid, stupid.</em></p><p><em>What </em>had gotten into her?</p><p>Outside, Andrew spoke, his voice deep and commanding. "Stop it. Get dressed."</p><p>The woman said something whiny, and then was silent.</p><p><em>Breathe, </em>Viveca told herself. After a few seconds her galloping heart rate returned to something approaching normal.</p><p>Rattled, she slumped back against a bookshelf, rubbed a hand over her churning belly, pushed Andrew out of her mind and focused on the reason she'd come <em>here, </em>to the heart of the enemy.</p><p>Justice for her family.</p><p>The Warner family had untold millions, private jets, lavish estates and spoiled playboys, and they deserved none of it. For this simple injustice, she'd hated them for half of her thirty years. Hated their glorious living and, most of all, their overwhelming sense of entitlement, as though they thought God had smiled on them, would smile on them forever and to hell with the rest of the world.</p><p>Viveca looked to the portrait above the enormous marble fireplace: Reynolds Warner, the late patriarch of this godforsaken family and as imperious as Henry VIII, stared out at her with a fie... </p></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Isabella has always known where she stands with Eric. The gorgeous millionaire is her best friend, her confidant…and the one guy who's completely unaware of her as a woman. At least he <em>was,</em> until a road trip unleashes some serious sexual tension—the potent but complicated kind! But falling for a playboy like Eric is a sure path to heartache, no matter how hot their physical chemistry.</p><p>And Eric can't believe he's lusting after Izzy. Their friendship is too strong to mess up, and he just doesn't do long-term relationships. Still, surrendering to their smoldering attraction just once couldn't hurt…right? </p></div>


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<p>She’s the biggest gamble of his political career … For journalist Liza Wilson, covering the campaign of presidential candidate Jonathan Warner is a career-making opportunity. She’s up for nightly news anchor, and this story will cinch her spotlight. Plus she’ll get to see the charismatic senator up close and personal. Only, Liza doesn’t realize just how personal—until she and John give in to a passion that could turn them into tomorrow’s headlines…and derail both their careers. John’s whole life has led up to this history-making moment. He can’t afford to let a breaking scandal destroy all he’s worked for. But when Liza uncovers a secret in his past, he risks losing her, too. And John isn’t a man who likes to lose. Now he’s waging an all-out campaign to win Liza’s love. Because her vote is the only one that counts! </p>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>After Jillian Warner's much-publicized divorce from her ex-governor husband, Beau Taylor, all she wants is a quiet life—_out_ of the political spotlight. And quiet it is: the heiress and single mom runs a quaint B and B in Atlanta.</p><p>But Beau is back, vowing to win her heart. With desire reigniting, Jillian's more confused than ever. Her seductive ex betrayed her once. How can she ever trust him again?</p><p>A near-fatal accident has changed Beau in ways he never imagined. Now his number-one priority is becoming the devoted husband and father he knows he always should have been. He's determined to atone for the sins of the past and build a new future with the woman he's never stopped loving. Beau wants Jillian—and this time he's doing it right. </p><h3>Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.</h3><p>Beau Taylor wasn't sober, but he wasn't drunk, either.</p><p>Luckily, the Miami night was young enough for him to change that.</p><p>Drinking took the edge off. Drinking was good. Drinking was necessary.</p><p>How else could he survive in the toxic waste dump of his life without some sort of buffer between him and reality?</p><p>As the disgraced former governor of Virginia, Beau was only slightly higher on the social scale than, say, venereal warts, but after a couple of drinks—preferably scotch on the rocks—he could look on the bright side. People thought he was scum. That being the case, it was easy to fulfill their low expectations.</p><p>Perfect, eh?</p><p>If he wanted a drink, he'd drink. If there were a party somewhere, he'd go. If he met a woman who was beautiful and willing, he'd screw her. Why shouldn't he? Because he'd disappoint someone who loved him? Easy solution there: no one loved him.</p><p>So he found his consolations where he could. Living in Miami, with its astonishing array of after-dark activities, helped. There were always clubs to discover and drinks and women to be savored.</p><p>Lucky him.</p><p>He was momentarily between clubs, but no worries. A quick glance outside the limousine's darkened windows showed the Intracoastal Waterway streaking by and the city stretched out before him like a glittering jewel.</p><p>Man, he enjoyed Miami.</p><p>He also enjoyed being rich, one of the benefits of the beer distributorship his late father started back in the day.</p><p>Thanks, Dad.</p><p>Having money had its pluses, and riding in style was one of them. Every car should have plush leather seats, a fully stocked bar, a discreet driver and a privacy divider. Beau enjoyed riding in limousines.</p><p>Sabrina enjoyed riding him.</p><p>And she was good at it.</p><p>Sliding his hands up the shapely thighs straddling him, Beau gripped the flexing globes of her naked ass. Ahhh…nice.</p><p>Sabrina kicked it up a notch. Flashing a wicked grin, her long black curls wild and falling in her face, she pumped her hips nice and hard, taking him deeper into her body.</p><p>Worked for him.</p><p>Laughing now, she rubbed her jiggling breasts against his tailored shirt. It was all good. Nothing like a quickie in the car to loosen him up.</p><p>Then Sabrina slowed things down. Moaning loud enough to be heard on the other side of the divider, she levered herself up until only the sensitive head of his penis remained inside her.</p><p>Yeeeaaaah. That worked, too.</p><p>Her back arched and one of her walnut-tipped nipples skimmed his lips. Was that an invitation? Looked like. He sucked it, hard, into his mouth. She rewarded him with a high-pitched cry and impaled herself again, up down, up down, faster, harder, and the fun continued.</p><p>Except…the fun wasn't that much fun. Never really had been fun.</p><p>Beau let that nipple pop free, rested his head against the seat and wished again that he were drunk. Things were easier then. He didn't have to work so hard to feel alive or, depending on his mood, to sink into oblivion.</p><p>Oblivion was his own version of heaven, the blessed place where he hated himself just a shade less than he normally did. Oblivion—not another party—was his ultimate destination tonight. Too bad he couldn't seem to get there.</p><p>Staring up at Sabrina through half-closed eyes, seeing the straining column of her neck and the faint smile on her lips, he wondered why he always did this to himself. Always picked women with sparkling amber eyes, straight brows and fine cheekbones. Always wished he were just a little drunker or could pretend just a little more that these women were someone else.</p><p>It had never worked. Not once.</p><p>Maybe he should try harder.</p><p>Holding Sabrina's hips tighter, he pumped in a blind fury of movement, screwing her mercilessly until sweat ran down his temples and Sabrina began her chanting routine. <em>Yes…yes…yes. </em>Whatever. He just wanted to be done—with this, and with her.</p><p>Waiting only long enough to hear the surprised yelp that was his signal that she'd climaxed, he came, too. For five perfect seconds, relief—and it was only relief, not pleasure—surged through him. But then it was over, and nothing had changed.</p><p>Did that make sense? Was that fair? When he thrust so much of his emptiness into another body, why did it still fill him to overf lowing?</p><p>Why, God?</p><p>That emptiness always stayed, no matter what, or who, he did.</p><p>Jesus. He made himself sick.</p><p>He eased the limp Sabrina off his lap and onto the seat beside him, wishing he could shower or, better yet, spray himself with a bleach-filled pressure washer.</p><p>Like that, or anything, would ever make him clean.</p><p>Every sexual encounter these days—and there were plenty— ended this same way: with relief and disgust. Relief because his body had cooled a little, but disgust because he still hated himself and what he'd become, and knew he'd do it all again tomorrow anyway.</p><p>Disposing of the condom, he adjusted his boxer briefs, zipped up, rebuttoned his shirt and smoothed his hair. Great. Good as new. Oh, and don't forget the seat belt. He buckled up. Now he was ready for more partying.</p><p>If the self-hatred didn't kill him first.</p><p>For now, he needed to get the everlasting bitterness off the back of his tongue, so he reached for his snifter of cognac and drank deep. He waited for his brain to fog, but…nothing. Shit. He drank again, draining the glass.</p><p>Sabrina, meanwhile, adjusted her negligible black dress, reached for her glittery little purse and found her lipstick. A few minutes of primping followed. "Where are we going now?"</p><p>Beau heard the slight slur in her words and hated her for it. Why was she drunk and he wasn't? Where was the fairness in that? Reaching for more brandy, he shrugged.</p><p>"I forget. We'll let it be a surprise when we get there."</p><p>No arguments from Sabrina, who closed her compact with a snap. "How do I look?"</p><p>He would have preferred not to see her again just now—if ever—but he did the polite thing and glanced over. By the dim interior lights he surveyed the skimpy-skanky black dress, the cleavage, the bare legs, the screw-me heels, the makeup and the hair. It was funny how she looked equally naked whether she was dressed or not. How did she manage that?</p><p>Sabrina waited for his answer and, focusing on her total package, he tried to frame one. The bottom line on this lovely lady was that she was vacant, shallow and soulless enough to be his ideal companion for tonight's debauchery.</p><p>Knowing she'd never hear the sarcasm in his voice, he raised his snifter in a toast and flashed a smile that felt as natural as shoving glass shards through his cheeks. "You look perfect—"</p><p>The sudden painful glare of headlights directly into the car was their first warning.</p><p>Then came the earsplitting screech of tires and a violent lurch strong enough to knock the drink from Beau's hand.</p><p>His seat belt tightened across his hips and his body jerked.</p><p><em>Shit.</em></p><p>Sabrina screamed.</p><p>With a surge of full-blown panic crushing his throat, Beau whipped his head around to see Death barreling at them in a brilliant yellow glow bright enough to power two suns.</p><p><em>Truck,</em> his brain registered. <em>Semi.</em></p><p>The driver tried to veer the limo out of the way again, but that truck kept coming.</p><p>The impact took forever to come, giving random thoughts the time to flash through Beau's mind.</p><p>He was about to die.</p><p><em>Good.</em></p><p>Allegra would grow up without a father.</p><p><em>Tragic, but ultimately better for her.</em></p><p>The semi rammed into the side of the limousine with the earth-shattering force of a bomb and their screams rose up in a chorus of terror and agony.</p><p>As Beau's world spun out of control and then went black, one face filled his mind's eye. One beautiful image ushered him through the excruciating pain and fear and into the next life, if there was a next life for the sorry likes of him, which there probably wasn't.</p><p>He saw the bright amber eyes, heard the joyous laughter and felt the love.</p><p><em>Jillian. God, I loved you. You never knew how much.</em></p><p>She smiled at him and he rejoiced at what was now and had always been the most beautiful sight in his life.</p><p>And then he died.</p><p><em>Six months later</em></p><p>"Someone's leased the Foster place." Blanche Rousseau, vibrating with excitement over today's gossip, hurried into the kitchen with a brown bag of groceries in each arm.</p><p>"Really?"</p><p>Jillian Warner paused in her relentless kneading of bread dough and eased the curtains aside. Peering out the window over the sink, she surveyed the Foster place, perched atop the tree-dotted hill at the end of their street.</p><p>She half expected to see a moving van speed by, buuuut… no.</p><p>Nothing about the massive and weathered white house looked any different in today's midmorning light. The wide veranda still begged for a fresh coat of paint, and so did the columns. The bushes, as usual, were overgrown monstrosities that would soon reach out to grab unsuspecting children who wandered too close, and the windows were still vacant and eerie.</p><p>She was about to return to her dough when a distant flash of movement caught her eye. A big black dog—a standard poodle, maybe—rounded the Foster place, barking with excitement. Oh, and was that the tail end of some sort of SUV in the driveway?</p><p>Maybe, but who really cared?</p><p>Jillian let the curtain drop and attacked her dough again. They didn't have time for gossip when there was bread to be made and meals to be cooked for ten hungry guests.</p><p>Blanche, meanwhile, set the bags on the wooden counter and surveyed Jillian's progress with pursed bubblegum-pink lips.</p><p>Oh, Lord. What now? Jillian tried to concentrate on her task, but there was no ignoring Blanche—not the blue-beaded chain of her cat's-eye glasses, her white-blond teased beehive circa 1962 or her plump frame squeezed into electric-blue stretch pants and a matching jacket—especially when she got in a mood.</p><p>Finally Jillian looked up, exasperated. <em>"What?"</em></p><p>"You need to ease up on that dough, honey," Blanche drawled, her lilting Louisiana tones thick ... </p></div>


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Readers who like a pinch of plot to a pound of seduction will love Smith's sizzling suspense novel, which reads like the screenplay for an erotic film. There's not a lot of romance but plenty of sex as dance teacher Tomasina Tommie Purnell and homicide cop Paulo Sanchez strut their unbelievably hot bodies through a couple of murders. Smith (_No One but You_) takes a refreshingly casual, low-key approach to interracial dating. Paulo and his partner, Julius Donovan, are well drawn and the minor characters are memorable, but Smith goes over the top with Tommie, a former stripper with sexy curves who improbably became a prima ballerina at age 29. The investigation is written in a smooth, flowing style, but the prose turns purple whenever Tommie and Paulo get together, and sex often overrides suspense._ (Dec.)_ <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p><strong>She Can Run</strong></p><p>Ballet dancer Tommie Purnell has finally left her troubles behind her. After a devastating scandal derails her dancing career in New York, she flees to Houston for a fresh start. Once her new dance studio takes off, the rest of Tommie's life follows suit. But when a local woman connected to Tommie turns up dead, Tommie is petrified. . .and doesn't know where to turn. </p><p><strong>But She Can't Hide</strong></p><p>When veteran homicide detective Paulo Sanchez walks through her door, Tommie wonders if her troubles have just doubled. She and Paulo had a torrid attraction years ago. . .but she's sworn off men because of too many broken dreams. Yet their sizzling attraction can't be denied, and as their passion intensifies, the killer's body count also rises. That's when all clues point toward the one person Tommie thought she could finally believe in... </p></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Funny and feisty true-crime writer Dakota Phillips has <em>almost</em> everything she wants. She's still looking for the perfect man: very tall, very educated and very cultured—all wrapped up in rich chocolate brown. So far, her insecurities about her generous curves and her independent streak have kept her searching. </p><p>Nick is a self-made mogul who works hard, plays hard and loves life's finer things. He's not perfect, but he makes Dakota feel beautiful, desirable—and maybe a little too vulnerable. Dakota can't surrender to a take-charge man, and Nick has worked too hard for everything to give up control. Moving on would be easy—except for a little complication called love.</p></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Billie Phillips's beauty has made her a household name, but she's ready to quit the world of modeling and pursue her real dream of flipping houses. All she needs is the help of one of Chicago's leading real estate moguls—a man who heats up her daydreams but vows never to surrender his heart.…</p><p>Tall, rich and charismatic, Jason Wainwright is willing to play along with Billie—especially if it means getting her into his bed. But Billie is all business and won't even agree to a date. By the time Jason's persistence finally pays off, will he be able to convince her that no woman—except her—could ever win his heart?</p></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Ayanna Walker’s life was her job and raising her two nephews. She barely had time to remember she even had a passionate side...and didn’t expect that workaholic attorney Johnny Phillips would unleash it. But when Johnny’s kiss curled her toes, she knew they would enjoy a summer fling neither would forget.</p><p>As soon as he met sweet, shapely Ayanna at his sister’s wedding, Johnny knew she was the one. His game plan was honest: shower her with his desires, his devotion, his dreams. But could a man planning forever and a woman still planning the moment find the right time for love?</p></div>


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<div><div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The laws of attraction…</p><p>Walking in on a beautiful woman taking a bath is a perk Todd Wainwright doesn't expect when he arrives at a friend's Hilton Head beach cottage. The dedicated Chicago surgeon is looking for some much–needed R &amp; R. He gets that and more when he spends an unforgettable weekend with South Carolina biochemistry professor Emily Porter, who knows all about the laws of attraction…</p><p>The chemistry of love</p><p>Emily has desired Todd ever since she first saw him at her sister's wedding. Having the sexy surgeon all to herself in a romantic oceanfront setting is beyond her wildest fantasies. But once the vacation's over, she's hit with a cold dose of reality. Is the workaholic doc ready to commit? Is the chemistry between them strong enough to turn a passionate lovers' idyll into a true and lasting love? </p></div><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  8/2/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 2249 (99%)
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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>There's not a whole lot happening in Gary, Indiana. That is, until nationally renowned relationship expert Lance Montgomery bursts onto the scene. Twice divorced, Montgomery is now on a mission to perfect the art of being single. His tantalizing book "The Playa's Handbook," is causing quite a stir. His rules include: - Never give a woman the key to your apartment.- Playas "have sex"; they don't "make love."- Don't be afraid "not" to commit, no matter how hot the sex is.- A woman can't use you if you use her first. One night, while watching a game and drinking beer, three friends, Marcus Lowery, Samuel Gunn, and Phillip McKenna, all admit to having bought Montgomery's book. Recent divorces, Phillip and Sam are looking to unleash their hidden playa. And after being a widower for a year, Marcus is ready to cautiously ease back into the dating scene. So they decide to put the rules to the test. . .and end up going on the wildest ride of their lives.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>After a close friend commits suicide, Faith, Monique, and Shannon head to the beach cottage on Hilton Head Island.  Determined to heed her advice and make the most of their lives, they make a pact to spend the summer embracing new adventures.  They also embrace new men and a new best friend along the way.Filled with profound passion and sensuality, witty dialogue and richly drawn characters, this is a story of women having fun, embracing life, taking charge, and doing the things they want –and discovering in the process that everyone deserves to kick the routine every once in a while, let their hair down and explore new things.  And if the right man comes along, especially one who is willing to make an already hot summer even hotter, then pushing the envelope just might give her life the jolt it needs.</p>


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<div><h3>Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.</h3><p>The scream of frustration was shrill but short-lived. It came from the bride's room. It was Saturday, December 10th. Elise Gilbert, who was not a member of the wedding party but the date of the bride's brother Franklyn, heard the shriek as she walked past the door on the way back from the bathroom. She stopped and listened.</p><p>No more screams. She was concerned, but didn't want to barge in if there was nothing seriously wrong. But then another, longer, scream came from the other side of the door. </p><p>Elise immediately turned the doorknob, found the door unlocked and strode into the room.</p><p>Erica Bryant, the bride, was standing in front of a full-length mirror in her wedding dress and holding her side, where a long rip revealed the skin of her midriff. Her short black hair was freshly washed but not yet styled.</p><p>She looked at Elise with a panicked expression. "I don't know how this happened. The seam ripped open like tissue paper. What am I going to do!"</p><p>Elise closed the door behind her and walked farther into the room. She and Erica were both in their late twenties. Elise was taller by a couple of inches and also weighed more than Erica. They didn't seem to have much in common. Elise had just started dating Erica's brother, and she and Erica had met on only two occasions, so she was a little reluctant to offer advice on Erica's wedding day; she might not take it well. </p><p>Elise gently clasped the torn sides of the dress, assessing the damage.</p><p>Thankfully, it was just a matter of the stitches coming undone. It wasn't the first time a seamstress had had her sewing machine malfunction and not perform its job adequately. The length of the stitches was, she noticed, too long, and when Erica had put on the dress, putting stress on the seams, they had naturally split.</p><p>Elise smiled. "It's not as bad as it appears. Do you have a sewing machine?"</p><p>They were in Glen Ellen, California, at the hacienda-style home of Eric and Simone Bryant, Erica's parents. The Bryants were winemakers, proprietors of one of the few African-American-owned wineries in the country.</p><p>Erica shook her head. "No, that's not a skill Mom or I ever had an interest in learning."</p><p>"Needle and thread?" Elise asked. She could repair the dress by hand. It would just take longer.</p><p>"Yes," Erica said, brightening. "Oh, Elise, if you can fix this mess I'd be eternally grateful. You've already come through with that beautiful cake!"</p><p>"It was my pleasure," Elise assured her with a smile. "If you'll take the dress off and go get the needle and thread, I'll check out the damage while you're gone."</p><p>She placed her purse on the canopied bed and sat down. "I can't believe this is happening to me," Erica said, her voice muffled due to the dress covering her head. "I should have known some disaster would strike me. Things have been going <em>way</em> too smoothly."</p><p>She handed the dress to Elise, then looked at her reflection in the mirror. "Maybe I've gained weight since my last fitting."</p><p>"That's not it," Elise said. She told her about the faulty stitches. "My mom does a lot of sewing. She taught my sisters and me. This is not your doing."</p><p>Erica breathed a sigh of relief and fairly beamed at Elise. She liked Elise. She didn't want to be too demonstrative, though, because she didn't want to chase the poor girl off. She tried not to grin too widely when she saw Elise and Franklyn together. The sight of Franklyn in love made her so happy, she felt like doing triple somersaults. It had been a long time coming.</p><p>According to Lettie Burrows, Franklyn's sous chef and a close friend of the family, Franklyn had been head over heels in love with Elise for nearly three years. If not for Lettie's keen observations, Erica and her mother, Simone, might not have known about Franklyn's attraction to Elise. Franklyn was painfully shy.</p><p>Erica had thought it was a minor miracle when he'd had the nerve to ask Elise to the harvest celebration here at the winery a few months ago. Later, it had been her idea to ask Elise, a pastry chef, to make their cake. Now Franklyn had brought her with him to their wedding. A man didn't ask a woman to a wedding unless he was serious about her. </p><p>"I'll be right back," Erica said as she slipped on a bathrobe and headed for the door.</p><p>Elise was busy studying the material where the seam had come apart. "All right," she said, then peered back down at the dress. There wasn't any damage to the material, so if she stitched it closed, Erica should have no more problems with seams ripping.</p><p>Erica was back with the needle and a spool of thread in less than three minutes.</p><p>Elise accepted them, held the thread against the dress. The color was a close match.</p><p>Erica watched her as she threaded the needle, secured a knot in the end and began sewing the seam closed.</p><p>Erica took the opportunity to observe her. She was really attractive, though not in a glamorous way. Her brown skin had red undertones, and was healthy-looking.</p><p>She had a sprinkling of freckles across her nose that gave her a youthful appearance.</p><p>The eyes in her heart-shaped, high-cheekboned face, were dark and intelligent.</p><p>She had full, bow-shaped lips that were tinted rose-red and, at the moment, were pursed as she sewed. Her thick, jet-black, shoulder-length hair was straightened and combed back from a widow's peak.</p><p>It looked very nice in the relaxed, upswept style she was wearing.</p><p>Erica didn't spend much time assessing other women's facial features, but she readily admitted that Elise had the type of face that most men would be drawn to.</p><p>And she looked fit. Erica remembered Franklyn saying that Elise biked nearly every day. No wonder she had such great legs.</p><p>Sitting across from Elise on the bed, Erica said, "May I ask you a personal question? Just tell me to mind my own business if you don't want to answer."</p><p>Elise briefly met Erica's eyes before lowering her gaze again to her sewing. "Go ahead," she said cautiously.</p><p>"You've been married before, right?"</p><p>Elise nodded. She didn't like talking about Derrick. She was content to leave him in the past, an afterthought, a vague notion, someone she didn't waste her brain cells on anymore. But she tried not to frown when Erica brought him up. She wanted to make a good impression on Franklyn's family. She liked them and hoped they would learn to like her eventually.</p><p>Erica was reluctant to go on probing unless she got some kind of signal from Elise that it was okay to proceed. And Elise was looking down at the dress in her hands.</p><p>Erica cleared her throat.</p><p>Elise looked up again. "I divorced him more than four years ago when I was twenty-five."</p><p>"You divorced <em>him?</em>"</p><p>"Yes. Actually, he left me after he passed the bar exam, but he was dragging his feet about divorcing me. So, I got things rolling instead. You would have to know Derrick Scott--I took my name back after the divorce--to understand why that was so important to me. He was controlling and abusive..."</p><p>"He hit you?" Erica cried, shocked.</p><p>"No, what he did was worse." Elise met Erica's eyes. "A punch in the face eventually heals. The wounds he inflicted on me were more than skin-deep. He was a master at derision and insults. He belittled me. Tore down my self-esteem. It was his goal to break me. But luckily, I recognized his intent and got out in time. Still, it's taken me a long time to be able to trust another man."</p><p>"Franklyn would never do anything like that!" Erica vehemently declared. "I know," Elise said with a warm smile. "Your brother is the gentlest man I've ever known."</p><p>Erica smiled back, content. "Yes, yes he is." Franklyn was special, a genuinely good man. Looking into Elise's eyes, she knew she didn't have to tell her that.</p><p>Instead, she got to her feet, and began pacing the room. "Know what I wish we women had? A Girlfriend's Network!" Her brown eyes sparkled with excitement as she continued, still pacing. "Whenever one of our girlfriends got mistreated by some heartless guy, we'd spring into action. Maybe he'd be at a cocktail party and a gorgeous woman would walk up to him and ask, "Is your name Derrick Scott?" He'd smile roguishly, because like most men, he'd think he was about to score. "Yes," he'd proudly say, flashing a sexy smile while he confidently popped a shrimp puff into his mouth. All of a sudden, the babe would pimp-slap him! The shrimp puff would fly in one direction and his smug face would turn in the other. By the time his eyes got uncrossed, the anonymous babe would be gone, lost in the crowd. A drive-by pimp-slapping! Girl, that would be so cool!"</p><p>When Erica finished, Elise was laughing so hard tears were rolling down her face. </p><p>"I'd pay good money to see that," she said.</p><p>"You and your girlfriends never got even with him?" Erica wanted to know.</p><p>"My cousin, Mariel, wanted to slash his tires," Elise said, smiling at the memory. </p><p>Mariel always had her back. "But I talked her out of it. I was satisfied just being divorced from him. I felt as if the life was slowly coming back into me."</p><p>"He was a soul-sucker, huh?"</p><p>"The worst kind of soul-sucker. He was so good at it he could make you think you deserved every mean, vile thing he said to you. I pity the woman who's with him now."</p><p>Erica sat on the bed. "Do you ever see him?"</p><p>Elise groaned. "Unfortunately, yes. He lives in San Francisco, and we still have mutual friends. Most of the time, though, we're not invited to the same parties. Our friends have learned to keep us apart as much as possible. But, maybe once a year, I still see him. When we spot each other either I'll leave if I got there last, or he'll leave if he got there last."</p><p>"Sort of a silent agreement?"</p><p>"Yes. I don't think he really wants to be in the same room with me for too long. I might explode and embarrass him. He hates public spectacles. Thinks they're beneath him."</p><p>She finished sewing the seam, and handed the dress to Erica. "Go ahead,... </p></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>As Miami's most celebrated vet, Dusty Warren can have his pick of <em>any</em> woman. But growing up on the road still makes him feel like an outsider in the city's elite circles. Then Mikayla Shroeder shows up at his ranch with her mangy mutt, and Dusty feels the white-hot spark of attraction. He knows Mikayla feels it, too, but the bestselling author is determined to stay aloof....  </p><p>Mikayla left her traumatic past behind to start over in a new town. She isn't prepared for the charismatic and compassionate animal doctor...or the untamed passion that takes them both by surprise. Animal attraction is one thing. But to allow this man into her heart as her protector, her lover, her soul mate? That's a wild sanctuary she never thought was possible--until now.  </p></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Shayna Kenyon <em>knows</em> heartbreak. After she catches her fiancé cheating on her the night of their wedding, a reality break in Jamaica is just the pick-me-up this romance author needs. Especially when Shayna arrives at the exclusive resort...and notices the seriously sexy brother checking her out.  </p><p>In the Caribbean for a wedding, Donovan Deval isn't thinking about making a love connection. But it's time to move on with his life--and that means pursuing Shayna, the exotic beauty who's making his libido leap off the charts! Shayna wants to take it slow, but Donovan's ready to turn up the heat. As passion ignites, he vows to turn their sizzling island paradise into the real thing.  </p></div>


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<p>Can family ties bind deep-seated wounds?Indigo Burns is excited. Her wedding preparations to the man of her dreams are under way, her photography career is a success, and her family seems to be doing better than ever--all except her brother Reuben, who nobody has seen in years. But that's about to change.When Reuben decides to move back home to Jubilant, Texas, he hopes to find healing with his sisters. But Indigo isn't so sure their relationship can be mended. And when younger sister Yasmin makes a life-altering choice, it seems like only a miracle can put the Burns family back together.Will they ever be able love unconditionally and release each other to live their dreams?"Adams writes with verve, humor, and poignancy."--Adriana Trigiani, bestselling author Stacy Hawkins Adams is a bestselling author whose books illuminate the themes of faith, forgiveness, and women's friendships. She is the author of several books, including Speak to My Heart, the Essence bestseller The Someday List, and Worth a Thousand Words. She and her family live in Virginia. Stacy welcomes readers to visit her at stacyhawkinsadams.com.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Anna Marie has spent too long trying to please everybody else. Now, thanks to an unexpected inheritance, she's got a new lease on life. Her first step? Accepting the invitation to the Black Stockings Society. Still, the scandalous fishnets she receives in her first package must be a mistake. Anna Marie would never wear something so outrageously sexy to a meeting with her lawyer…would she?In high school, Desmond Rockwell was a rebel barely aware of Anna Marie's existence, or the fact that she had a major crush on him. But he can't ignore the bold, seductive woman who has come to him seeking legal advice, unleashing a sizzling attraction that proves that some things are definitely worth the wait….</p>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Adina's beauty and wiles have enabled her to adopt the fast-lane lifestyle of the rich and fabulous...until she learns there's a contract out on her life. She flees Brooklyn to start over in the upscale suburbs, living among the pampered and polished women she's always envied. But beyond the mansions and manicured lawns lies a world she never would have guessed at...a world of desire, seduction and scandal. Sybil's exclusive catering business disguises her lucrative sideline: she's Delectable, the dominatrix who entertains at bachelor parties. Karla lives on a multimillion-dollar estate, and she and her husband enjoy an open marriage...but her need for male attention is about to get out of control. And as Adina is drawn into the sizzling reality beyond her new friends' perfect facades, she's also dealing with a man who's blissfully unaware of her not-so-innocent past. Now, each woman is about to discover that every passion has a price...and that some secrets are impossible to keep. </p></div>


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<div><div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Acclaimed for their dynamic characters and inventive storylines, three authors team up for a sexy, page-turning anthology filled with lust, love, and drama sure to appeal to fans of short-story collections like "On the Line."</p></div><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  4/13/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 4428 (97%)
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 <br><b>Location 1311 • Note</b><br> 5 stars<br><b>Location 2865 • Note</b><br> 1 super dull<br></div></div>


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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>"Playful banter between characters sets the tone for a humorous, passionate love story."</p><p>-- RT Book Reviews on COMFORT OF A MAN </p><h3>Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.</h3><p>Brooklyn Douglas sat mute in a crowded New York restaurant while a group of her closest friends discussed her life as though she weren't there. This wasn't the first time such a discussion had occurred—far from it; however, Brooklyn noticed they happened with more regularity than she liked.</p><p>"Okay, okay." She leaped into the conversation. "Can we please change the subject?"</p><p>Toni turned her suspicious gaze toward Brooklyn. "When was the last time you even got laid?"</p><p>Brooklyn's eyes bulged. "Excuse you?"</p><p>Toni rolled her eyes, undaunted by her friend's reaction. "Just what I thought."</p><p>Brooklyn's other three girlfriends, Ashley, Maria, and Noel, snickered while dodging Brooklyn's lethal gaze.</p><p>"What on earth does my getting laid have to do with anything?"</p><p>Maria's thick accent sliced into the conversation. "If you don't know, then you're worse off than we thought."</p><p>Another round of snickering ensued.</p><p>A smile bloomed on Brooklyn's face. "Come on, girls. You know I don't have time for a relationship. With my new career, dealing with Evan's crap, and Jaleel's growing pains—"</p><p>"Who said anything about a relationship?" Noel brushed back a wisp of her blond hair as her green eyes twinkled. "Haven't you heard of baby steps?"</p><p>"A one-night stand?" Brooklyn concluded in shock. "Me? A one-night stand? You've lost your mind."</p><p>Ashley leaned over and draped an arm around Brooklyn's shoulders. "Where is your sense of adventure? "</p><p>"An adventure is a trip to Africa, not playing Russian roulette with sexually transmitted diseases."</p><p>"No one said anything about unprotected sex," Toni reasoned with a dismissive wave. "We're just saying that you need to do something to relax."</p><p>"I thought that was the purpose of our trip up here to New York. We came to take in a few Broadway plays and enjoy the city."</p><p>"Look," Maria said, smiling. "There's relaxing and then there's <em>relaxing.</em> And the kind that you need requires an extra appendage." She wiggled her brows. "Are you catching my drift? "</p><p>"Unfortunately."</p><p>Maria shook her head. "I don't know why we're bothering. You'll never do it. You're such a prude."</p><p>"A prude?" Brooklyn's hands flew to her hips. "That's not true."</p><p>Maria raised her hands in surrender. "I don't mean to upset you, but you have to admit you've changed a lot since college."</p><p>"Well, who hasn't?" Brooklyn's gaze shifted to each of them. "Noel drank her way through college. Toni was on a mission to sleep with each member on the football team. Ashley—"</p><p>"What about me?"</p><p>"You—" Brooklyn swiveled in her direction "—you were a walking, talking chimney stack. What was your peak, three packs of cigarettes a day?"</p><p>Ashley blanched contritely and slumped back in her chair.</p><p>"And you." Brooklyn's attention jerked back to Maria. "I don't think you went on a single date the entire time we were there—including graduate school."</p><p>Maria simply shrugged. "What can I say? I was a late bloomer."</p><p>"You never bloomed. You didn't get any action until you ran out and bought those silicone twins of yours in Los Angeles."</p><p>The other women at the table squealed.</p><p>Maria cupped her breasts. "And they were worth every penny."</p><p>The laughter escalated.</p><p>Brooklyn rocked back in her chair with her hand covering her mouth. It felt good to be out with her friends. In her opinion they didn't get together enough. Life had a strange and powerful way of bringing different people together and then scattering them across the map.</p><p>Maria was a big shot at Paramount Pictures out in Los Angeles. Ashley worked at the American embassy in England. Noel resided in New York, working for a record label and being "the only white girl in rap" as her friends liked to tease her.</p><p>Brooklyn and Toni lived in Atlanta, a few miles apart; however, they rarely saw each other. But the women were never too far away in their hearts. As close as they were, one member was missing from the group: Macy Patterson.</p><p>Macy and Brooklyn were roommates in college. Both were business majors and came from startlingly similar backgrounds. They shared everything: clothes, money—you name it. Then, Macy took sharing too far the day Brooklyn came home early and found her husband in bed with Macy.</p><p>"What time is it?" Brooklyn asked, suddenly feeling as though they'd been in the restaurant too long.</p><p>Toni looked at her watch and then tossed the napkin from her lap onto the table. "It's seven-thirty. We better get going if we're going to make the eight o'clock show."</p><p>The girls stood and donned their coats in preparation for the December wind outside. Each left money for their bill on the table. Nearing the front door, three of them made a sudden turn in the opposite direction.</p><p>"We're just going to make a quick trip to the rest room," Noel announced to Brooklyn and Toni. "We'll be right back."</p><p>Brooklyn nodded. "Let's just stand over here and wait for them," she said, indicating a small bench in the waiting area. She sat down and Toni tugged her arm. Brooklyn turned toward her.</p><p>Toni gave a slight nod over her shoulder. "Do you see what I see?" She nodded again.</p><p>Brooklyn's gaze shifted to over her friend's shoulder and to an incredible specimen: a six-foot-three brother with beautiful toffee-colored skin and a physique that caused an instant heat to generate in the core of Brooklyn's body.</p><p>The man smiled at the hostess, displaying a stunning set of white teeth, while his shadowy goatee showcased a pair of perfectly arched full lips. His gaze slid toward Brooklyn, and her breath caught at the sight of his clear gray eyes. He smiled and nodded in her direction.</p><p>Unable to think of anything else, she mimicked his action before the hostess regained his attention and led him away.</p><p>"Ooh, girl," Toni crooned in her ear. "Did you see the way he checked you out? Are you sure you don't want to go do a panties check before we head over to the theater?"</p><p>Brooklyn cut her eyes over at her friend and swatted her on the arm. "Very funny."</p><p>"Who's trying to be funny? Hell, I may need to do one myself."</p><p>Their three friends sauntered around the corner.</p><p>"Are you two ready?" Maria asked. Her gaze bounced from Toni to Brooklyn and like always her keen senses zeroed in. "What did we miss?"</p><p>"Nothing," Brooklyn hurried to answer in a vain attempt to cut off any explanation from Toni.</p><p>Toni laughed as she stood. "You missed a good one, girl. Brooklyn had a seriously fine brother checking her out a few minutes ago."</p><p>The other girls perked up as all eyes darted in Brooklyn's direction and a barrage of questions flew her way.</p><p>"Did you get the digits?" Ashley asked. "Did you give him your number?" Maria countered.</p><p>"How fine was he?"</p><p>Brooklyn held up her hand, which immediately silenced them. "No, no, and he was just all right. Can we go now? "</p><p>"Just all right?" Toni barked with laughter, and then shook her head. "Girl, you're hopeless."</p><p>The girls' exuberant faces quickly turned sour as they bobbed their heads in agreement.</p><p>"Well, let's get going. We're already running late."</p><p>Everyone headed toward the door.</p><p>Brooklyn brought up the rear, but as she neared the door, she felt as though she was being watched. She glanced over her shoulder and her gaze collided with those sparkling gray eyes from across the room.</p><p>The man's lips curled into a smile as he lifted his wineglass and nodded toward her.</p><p>She smiled back a second before Noel clamped on to her wrist.</p><p>"Will you come on? " Noel said, and pulled her through the door.</p><p>Isaiah Washington forced his attention away from the door and the stunning woman who'd walked out of it. He had laughed at but never experienced love at first sight—until now. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Okay, maybe love was overstating it a bit, but there had been something there—a spark, an attraction?</p><p>"Isaiah?" his companion inquired. "Are you listening to me?"</p><p>With an apologetic smile, Isaiah turned his attention to Yasmine. "Sorry. What were you saying?"</p><p>Yasmine shook her head as she lowered her menu. "I have to write this date down for the history books. Something other than work has grabbed your attention. I thought I'd never see the day."</p><p>Uncomfortable for having been caught, Isaiah flashed Yasmine a tight smile. "Pouring it on a bit thick, don't you think?"</p><p>"Hardly." She crossed her arms and stared at him. "We've been working together for what—six or seven years?"</p><p>He shrugged. "Something like that."</p><p>"And in that time, I've never seen you react to a woman like that—not even toward Cadence. I was beginning to think—"</p><p>"Don't you dare."</p><p>A wide smile crept across her delicate features. "What? A fine brother like you, a neat freak who loves the arts—I'm just saying it's highly suspect."</p><p>"Not funny. You just want someone to crawl into the closet with."</p><p>"No closet needed here. I blew the door off that sucker a long time ago." She eyed him. "Maybe I should wait here while you run after her."</p><p>"Not necessary."</p><p>"You need a woman."</p><p>He smiled. "And you need to stay out of my business."</p><p>"I tell you about my dates all the time." His features turned into a comical deadpan. "I know."</p><p>She leaned over and swatted him on the arm. "Very funny. Be serious, will you? I worry about you. All work and no play make Isaiah a lonel... </p></div>


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<div><h3 class="productDescriptionSource">Product Description</h3>
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  <i>Is love worth the risk…</i><p>An unhappy marriage taught Terri 
Powers never to trust again. Instead, she put all her energy into 
developing her inner strength and independence—creating the successful 
New York advertising agency she'd always dreamed of. Then she meets 
handsome, strong–willed businessman Clinton Steele. Try as she might, 
Terri can't fight the sensual attraction between them—or the desperate 
hunger that fires her deepest passions…</p><p><i>…when everything is at stake?</i></p><p>Neither
 Terri nor Clinton can ever imagine just how much is at risk. But when a
 stranger appears from Terri's forgotten past who calls himself a 
friend—his deception could destroy everything Terri has fought so hard 
to build. Now two wary hearts have to persevere, as long–buried secrets 
put Terri and Clinton's love to the most perilous test of all…      </p></div></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Lawrencia DeZhabi never dreamed her desire to craft a career of her own would land her a job as "the face" for one of the industry's leading cosmetics companies. Her husband Ivan was none too thrilled and the once in a lifetime opportunity created problems the couple could never have imagined. Ivan and Lawrencia will fight to reclaim their love when separation, betrayal and the loss of a child have kept them apart and dimmed their path to love. </p></div>


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<div><div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>New York is having a summer heat wave and three women are feeling it-and dealing with it-each in their own steamy way....</p><p><strong>Summer Fever by Donna Hill</strong></p><p>Nina Forbes is excited to house sit in the Hamptons-but her handsome neighbor, Barbados native Ian Harrison, excites her even more. Soon the two are sharing conversation, kisses...and sizzling sleepovers. Ian promises to keep in touch after he returns home in the fall. But as the days pass, Nina fears their passion was just summer fever...</p><p><strong>One Hot Summer by Niobia Bryant</strong></p><p>After a high-profile divorce, event planner Simone "Love" Lovey swears off dating famous people...until sexy star athlete Maleek Trenton enters her life. Their romance is bliss, but Love again finds herself amid paparazzi, groupies-and calls from a woman who claims she's involved with Maleek, and has intimate details to prove it... </p><p><strong>Too Hot To Handle by Zuri Day</strong></p><p>Choice McKinley gets stuck in an elevator during a blackout, on the hottest July 4th ever. That she’s locked in with gorgeous Trey Scott only adds to the heat. Soon, relief from the high temperature requires clothing removal and sultry kisses. But Trey doesn’t know Choice is his boss’s off-limits daughter-and Choice doesn’t know Trey is a wanted man. All that will come after the doors open to reality… </p></div><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  11/2/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 2807 (68%)
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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>A globetrotting supermodel takes a break in small-town Montana and finds herself vying for the attention of a former television news journalist. Original.</p>


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  Superstition and crazy stories…that's how Zoe Beaumont views the 
unlucky-in-love history of her family. On their thirtieth birthday, the 
Beaumont women are said to come into a mysterious "sixth sense." And if 
they choose to give themselves fully to the wrong man, they lose not 
just their powers, but the family's good fortune.<p>Despite her doubts, 
Zoe has started having strange, intensely passionate dreams. Her 
fantasies feature a man who seems too perfect, too sexy, too mesmerizing
 to be real. Until, one rainy Atlanta evening, Zoe runs into Jackson 
Tremé. Their attraction is as overwhelming in person as it is in her 
dreams. Though all of her ancestors have tried and failed, can she 
overturn a legacy of heartache?      </p></div></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>After a dramatic weight loss catapults her to the cover of <em>People</em> magazine, Tangela Howard becomes an overnight celebrity. But the transformed flight attendant doesn't want to become America's next Bachelorette. Then, in walks a blast from her past....  </p><p>Warrick Carver is just as sexy and irresistible as he was when they broke up two years ago. Once, the serious, studly architect was the love of Tangela's life. She may have had a makeover, but Warrick has always loved her as she was-- sensual, voluptuous. All woman. And all his.  </p><p>Back then they were consumed with their careers. Now they're consumed with each other. It's their second chance. All they have to do is take it....  </p></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Joy Newhouse is the diva of the airwaves, a relationship expert who scores big with listeners for her jaw-dropping, scathing commentary on men, women, sex--no subject is taboo for this provocative radio shock jock. When she's fired suddenly by new management, Joy isn't happy off the air and out of the spotlight. So she writes a book that features her most titillating calls and letters, a bestseller ripe with the kind of gossip intended to put Joy back where she belongs: on top.Soon, however, negative and righteous feedback from those listeners she exploited in her book stirs up a media scandal, giving Joy a crisis of conscience--and a taste of payback. Perhaps it wasn't so wise of her to hitch her star to her readers' most personal stories--tales of secret affairs, office romances, baby-daddy drama, cheaters, swingers, sibling rivalries, job infighting and more. Perhaps there's a better way to reinvent herself?</p>


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Is obsession required to experience the ultimate in sexual fulfillment? Dickey searches for the answer to that question in his latest steamy romance (after <em>Waking with Enemies</em>) via Nia Simone Bijoux, a ghostwriter recently moved to Atlanta. A devout Anaïs Nin fan, Nia's in hot pursuit of the perfect lay. Enlivened by sometimes catchy narration (Self-pleasuring was popcorn.... My body was telling me it needed steak), Nia's adventures with identical sins, twins Mark and Karl, introduce her to the dubious delights of threesomes and more, leading eventually to a showdown with Mark's wife, Jewell Stewark, a TV anchorwoman. Marred somewhat by Nia's pretentious airs (her self-involvement can be crippling to the narrative), this erotic potboiler still delivers its message that saying yes to pleasure can also lead to self-enlightenment. <em>(Apr.)</em> <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3><br></h3></div>


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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>"[The] personalities are strong, making the author's task of bringing them together a daunting one. But Washington tackles the challenge easily and with finesse. There's great tension and maturation of the characters." - RT Book Reviews on The Doctor's Private Visit (4.5 stars) </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>AlTonya Washington's first contemporary novel, “Remember Love” BET/Arabesque 2003, was nominated by <em>Romantic Times</em> as Best 1st Multicultural Romance. Her novel “Finding Love Again” won the <em>Romantic Times</em> Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Multicultural Romance 2004. Her fourth novel “Love Scheme” was nominated as Favorite Steamy Novel for the prestigious EMMA Award of Romance Slam Jam. She presently resides in North Carolina. </p></div>


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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>"Fans of the romantic suspense of Iris Johansen, Linda Howard, and Catherine Coulter will enjoy this . . ." -- <em>Library Journal</em></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p><strong>From national bestselling author Rochelle Alers comes a sizzling, sensuous story of three diverse thirty-something women whose lives are forever changed when they are invited to join the exclusive world of the Pleasure Seekers.</strong></p><p>Ilene is a captivatingly beautiful supermodel, Faye is an award-winning advertising executive and Alana is a brilliant editor for today's hottest fashion magazine. Now all three women are caught in the whirlwind of the super rich and famous. They find themselves the objects of the desires of every man -- from movie stars, politicians, CEOs and rock stars to European royalty -- men for whom there are no limits, nothing is too expensive, nothing is forbidden. </p><p>From Manhattan to Paris to Southampton, their new worlds are a torrent of sensual delights and unlimited luxuries. But ultimately they realize that there's only one thing more satisfying than money and power . . . love. </p></div>


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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>"Hot and steamy sex scenes and undeniable passion will leave readers panting and eager to read this book from cover to cover in one night." -RT Book Reviews on EVERY CHANCE I GET </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p><em>Music was her whole life…until he came along</em></p><p>Former child prodigy Kianti Lawrence has struggled hard to become a major force in the performing arts world. Music is her life…until the beloved, world–renowned pianist meets a man who shows her what she']s been missing. Something about handsome, powerful ex–Ambassador Therin Rucker strikes a harmonious— and seductive—chord.</p><p>When Therin connected with Kianti, all the notes suddenly came together. He's more in tune with her than with any other woman he's ever known. But first he has to persuade Kianti not to be afraid of life…or love. Can he make her see that the passion they're making is the truest music there is? </p></div>


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<div><h3>From Booklist</h3><p>Married to one of Washington, D.C.'s, most powerful African American attorneys, mother of two wonderful grown children, and owner of an elegant bridal gift shop, Morgana Johnson-Wells seems to have it all until her mother suddenly passes away and she learns that her husband has been unfaithful. Desperate to escape, Morgana returns to her mother's home in Salvation, Georgia, where she visits with her kind Uncle Julian and discovers her mother's journals. Soon Morgana learns that her mother also suffered deeply, and harbored destructive secrets of her own. She also meets sexy photographer and painter Erick Wilson and is instantly attracted to his zest for life and art. The two share a passionate affair that begins to heal Morgana's damaged spirit and to give her hope again. But eventually Morgana must choose between her husband of 20-plus years and the man who reawakened her heart. Alers' engaging tale is rich in family secrets, lost love, and women who never forget their strength, or their roots. <em>Megan Kalan</em><br><em>Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved</em></p><h3>Review</h3><p>Connie Briscoe <em>New York Times</em> bestselling author An unforgettable tale of love, and betrayal, marriage and infidelity. I was hooked from page one. </p></div>


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  China Braxton is ready for some serious relaxation when she arrives at
 the legendary Whispering Lakes Resort in Texas. But the workaholic L.A.
 nurse is soon enjoying a lot more than the breathtaking scenery. It 
seems her vacation came with an added perk—Zaire Kingdom, the ranch's 
owner and irresistible corporate cowboy with seduction on his mind….<p>The
 hundred acres of horseback trails, exotic wildlife and lush woodlands 
has been in the Kingdom family for decades. Now the captivated alpha 
male wants to share his special legacy with China. With romance blooming
 beneath the western sky, is Zaire finally ready to give up his bachelor
 life? What will it take to persuade the sensuous city girl to make her 
permanent home on the ranch—with him?      </p></div></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Julia Kelley's abusive husband has been murdered…and she's afraid she might be next. Penniless, she hits the road with her six-year-old daughter only to have her car give out in the middle of a small town. Julia's sure her luck has turned from bad to worse…until handsome mechanic Carson Webber comes to her rescue.Carson suspects that a broken-down car is the least of Julia's problems, and he knows he could help her with whatever is troubling her—if she wasn't in such a hurry to leave. He's also convinced that with a little bit of stalling as he repairs her car—and a whole lot of tenderness—he just might find a way to win her trust…and her love.</p>


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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>"...a heartwarming, romantic love story about what happens when the offspring of longtime friends unwillingly fall for each other, as their parents had planned." - RT Book Reviews on Forsaking All Others (4 stars) </p><h3>Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.</h3><p>As the mid-August sun peeked through the slightly opened slats of the white shutters in Lanier Watson's loft bedroom, she turned over on her back. Looking up at the ceiling, she closed her eyes.</p><p>Today wasn't just another ordinary day. It was the day Lanier was to meet with her parents, Barbara and Joseph, whom she hadn't seen in years. At the age of twelve, she had been placed into protective custody when her parents had gotten into a vicious physical struggle fueled by substance abuse. Lanier had entered the foster care system on that frightening night and had remained there until the age of eighteen. An academic scholarship got her into college, where she graduated at the top of her class. She'd then gotten a job as a social worker and continued her academic studies until she received a master's degree and became a medical social worker.</p><p>Lanier opened her eyes. The ability to relax and let go of her troubles felt good. With all the pain she had endured in her youth and adulthood, she hadn't found a lot to be happy about. How great she felt now indicated how committed she was to achieving a full mental recovery. It had taken her a long time to come to terms with her troubled life, but she'd done it.</p><p>A warm smile curved on Lanier's full lips. Thinking of Dallas Carrington, the tall, sexy man she loved with every ounce of her strength, always brought a smile to her face. He was one of a set of gorgeous triplets, a member of the prestigious Carrington family. Dallas, the second-born triplet, played baseball, a shortstop for the National Baseball League's Texas Hurricanes. Austin, first-born triplet, was starting quarterback for the NFL's Texas Wranglers, and Houston played power forward for the NBA's Texas Cyclones. These superstar athletes loved playing professional sports before the hometown crowds in their native Houston.</p><p>Lanier had met Dallas over three years ago on a Valentine's Day cruise. He was instantly attracted to her, but she had quickly pegged him as a man with roving eyes. As he hotly pursued her, unwilling to accept no for an answer, Lanier had eventually given in to his indelible charms. Because of her parents' volatile marriage, she had shied away from long-term commitments. Fear of abandonment was at the crux of her complex problems regarding love and romance. Dallas had been more than patient with her, but she feared his patience would run out long before she had conquered all of her insecurities.</p><p>Dallas would be at Lanier's side for the luncheon date with her estranged parents. His presence would shore her up. Even if he hadn't been able to attend, she'd made up her mind to go through with it. Putting the reunion off for another day wasn't in anyone's best interest.</p><p>Slipping out of bed, Lanier put on her robe and made her way out into the hallway. The bounce in her step made her smile. Before heading to the winding staircase, she glanced back at the clock radio. Right on schedule, she thought. Getting her routine started at the same time every day was once very challenging. Lanier now looked forward to the comfort of the routine.</p><p>Without knocking on the adjacent bedroom door, Lanier opened it slowly and peeked inside. Not so long ago, three sleeping figures would've been lying in the empty beds.</p><p>Sisters Lauren and Stephanie Liggins were only ten months apart in age. They had occupied two of the three twin beds, which was a step up from their old bunks. Tina Rodgers would've been curled up in a ball in the third bed. The girls had just turned eighteen and would leave for college in the fall. They were now at summer camp. Their departure was hard for Lanier, but there was currently a long waiting list for foster placement at Haven House.</p><p>Although the owners of Haven House preferred teenagers, they'd accept most school-age females. No males had resided at Haven House thus far. Former foster children themselves, Lanier and her best friend, Ashleigh Ayers-Carrington, thought they could best serve teenage females.</p><p>It didn't matter that the young women had to move on. The two female social workers would always be there for the girls. They loved the young women as if they were their own sisters. After Ashleigh had married and become pregnant, Lanier's duties had doubled. It had taken her a long time to hire help when Ashleigh started working part-time. It had taken even longer for Lanier to fully trust the new employees.</p><p>"Rise and shine," Lanier would've sung out cheerfully, followed by an enthusiastic, "You all know the drill." The teenagers would pop out of bed and drowsily greet Lanier. Once they had begun their morning rituals, Lanier would go back upstairs and shower and dress for the day. There was always plenty to do around Haven House. With two other employees to help out, the daily grind had finally become a lot easier for everyone to bear.</p><p>Dressed in a chic white linen pantsuit and gold silk top and white pumps, Lanier looked fabulous. Her mahogany skin glowed. Not one for too much makeup, she had only dusted her face with loose powder to combat any shine. She loved lipstick and glosses. The rich Bordeaux shade she wore was a perfect match for her skin tone.</p><p>As Lanier entered the empty kitchen, a lump formed in her throat, making it difficult for her to swallow. It was getting harder for her to hide her emotions as of late. All she could think about was the girls who would soon leave for college. There was an endless list of others who needed foster placement, but these young girls had been the first to reside at Haven House. That alone made them very special to Lanier and Ashleigh.</p><hr><p>Lanier licked her lips in anticipation of Dallas's sweet kiss. Tall, with a toffee-brown complexion and too sexy to be legal, he made her pulse quicken just by stepping into her line of vision. His ebony eyes encompassed her in a way that calmed her fears. Ever since she'd first met the hottest shortstop for the National Baseball League's Texas Hurricanes, he'd had a drugging effect on her senses. Although Dallas had had roving eyes on the Valentine's Day cruise where she'd first met him, she still had ended up falling hard.</p><p>Their relationship had developed quickly, and they had lots of fun getting to know one another. After a few months of exclusive dating, Dallas began to make sexual moves on Lanier. The all-of-a-sudden fast pace in which he'd come at her had Lanier repeatedly slowing down his intimate advances. When heated moments escalated to heights she was uncomfortable with, she had to put on the brakes to remain in control.</p><p>Although Dallas had grown sexually frustrated, none of her attempts to keep him at arm's length had chased him away. He eventually made Lanier see that he was an exceptionally good guy and that she should hold on to him. Nothing about her past or her family's issues had put him off. He had remained beyond supportive.</p><p>Lowering her lashes, Lanier moved into Dallas's warm embrace. Tilting her head back, she gave him easy access to her lips, which were hungry for the sweet taste of his. His mouth pressed down over hers, making her body melt like hot candle wax. As his tongue coiled around hers, her insides fluttered.</p><p>Holding Lanier slightly away from him, Dallas looked down into her eyes. "No matter what happens today, don't forget I'll be there for you. No one will ever hurt you again."</p><p>Lanier's heart skipped a beat. "How can I ever forget it? And I'll be just fine, Dallas. I'm fully prepared to handle this meeting."</p><p>The surprised look in Dallas's eyes was easy enough for her to read—he hadn't expected her to be so confident.</p><p><em>If only he knew…and he would definitely come to know if she had her way.</em></p><p>If Lanier Watson had her way, Dallas was in for a super treat. As he got acquainted with the new and improved her, she hoped the bad memories of how she once was would fade from his memory bank. Before the first time they'd made love, she'd lost count of the times she had put him off or had attempted to break up with him. Always spoiling for a fight, her angry attitude and sullen ways would've had the average guy dropping her like a hot potato.</p><p>Lanier's memory of her countless horrendously bad moods hurt her the most because they'd injured Dallas emotionally. Still, he'd stayed by her side, blaming her past for her presiding issues. Their rockiest times had actually made her a better person. Dallas had been her catalyst for change. Her love for him had her wanting their relationship to work, but she had to make some more adjustments in her flippant attitude and negative mind-set.</p><p>Getting help from a therapist hadn't gone well, but Lanier had gained enough courage to try to move past old devastations. Dallas didn't know the Lanier she wanted to be, and she couldn't wait to introduce him to the brand-new lady in his life. She had all sorts of grandiose ideas to show off her new self to him. Nothing was as important as proving to him that she was ready to receive his love, all of it. No more ducking, dodging and running. Lanier had been enchantingly tempted by a Carrington triplet—and now she was ready to be captured.</p><p>The elder Watsons hadn't yet arrived at the Golden Dragon, one of Dallas's favorite Chinese restaurants. The bold reds, bright gold and ebony and alabaster hues were perfect tones for an authentic Asian space.</p><p>Glancing at her watch, Lanier had mixed emotions about her parents' tardiness. Instead of making a big deal out of it, like the old her would've done, she tried to be grateful for the extra time to make sure she had herself pulled together. The hostess had already seated them at a spacious yet private table.</p><p>"Do you want a drink while we wait?" Dallas asked.</p><p>Lanier smiled. "A cup of hot tea would be nice."</p><p>Leaning toward Lanier, Dallas kissed her cheek. "You got it." He summoned the waiter.</p><p>Before the server could return with the order, a hostess ushered Ba... </p></div>


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<p class="description">When literary agent Chante Campbell, her heart filled with poetry and her life empty of romance, gets an all-expense paid vacation for her birthday, she never expects to spend it with her fiance--since she doesn't know she has one. As it turns out, her grandfather impersonated Chante on an Internet dating site, accepted a marriage proposal, and arranged a romantic rendezvous! Thank goodness Chante's son spills the beans, and Chante is headed to Philadelphia to send the online Romeo back to his computer. Then Chante meets Dr. Antonio Marks--and like a lightning strike in a summer storm, she's hit by blazing attraction. She should tell this gorgeous widower and pediatrician the truth. But Chante fears that even if he overlooks the matchmaking mishap, he'll never forgive the bigger lie she's hiding. Now, trapped by deception, Chante is desperately seeking a solution--and life is about to send one that will test the awesome power of love.</p>


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<div><div>He'll leave you begging for more...<br><br>THE BEST MAN<br><br>Brenda Jackson's "Strictly Business"<br>Houston
 freelance writer Gina Grant Farrell just got a job offer too good to 
refuse-a week on a Texas ranch to interview the ruthless, ambitious, and
 very handsome millionaire Mitch Farrell, who happens to be none other 
than her ex-husband! Is Mitch's proposal strictly business? Or is he 
planning a sizzling seduction and nights filled with strictly 
pleasure...?<br><br>Kayla Perrin's "Kidnapped!"<br>Nia Copeland's 
wedding in Fort Lauderdale is just perfect until her gorgeous, hardbody 
ex-boyfriend Jamal Simpson races in on his motorcycle and carries her 
off to prove he's the better lover. Now they're on the way to Key West 
headed toward the most irresistible passion-and maybe even true love...<br><br>Felicia Mason's "Promises and Vows"<br>Elise
 Gregory's marriage is cold as ice with her husband Jerome sleeping in 
the guestroom. Then his favorite aunt, a high priestess of New Orleans 
voodoo, arrives for a prolonged visit. That means Jerome has to move 
back to their bed. With the help of some magic, it's not long before the
 sparks are ignited, and desire is rediscovered...  <br><br>Cindi Louis' "Catch Me If You Can!"<br>At
 6'2" and a player for the Dallas Cowboys, no one can miss sexy Lonzell 
Jenkins, the best man at the wedding, especially wedding planner Leesa 
Fairchild. She shared an intense affair with Lonzell before he left 
without even a goodbye. Now, after four long years, she intends to show 
him what he's been missing-a searing passion that only she can 
fulfill...</div><hr class="annotations_divider"><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  6/2/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 1873 (23%)
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 <br><b>Location 1803 • Note</b><br>dex's son and nettie's triplet soms<br><b>Location 1873 • Bookmark</b><br><b>Location 3823 • Bookmark</b><br><b>Location 6189 • Bookmark</b><br></div></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Born to live a life of intrigue and adventure, beautiful Secret Service agent Lia Charles has never met a challenge she can't overcome. That is, until she receives her latest assignment—rescue the brilliant, boldly charismatic and bona fide hottie Armand Magliore, a revolutionary leader of a war-ravaged Caribbean republic. Lia will need all of her special-ops training and all of her professional objectivity to get Armand to safety, and to keep their relationship from heating up. Even so, it isn't long before Lia discovers that extracting the handsome revolutionary from the dark, treacherous jungles will be the easy part. Guarding her heart from a darkly handsome rebel will test her to her limits. </p><h3>Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.</h3><p><em>Friday, September 5, 2008 </em></p><p>1900 hours </p><p>Muwaiti </p><p>West of the Dominican Republic </p><p>Day 1 </p><p>Secret Service Agent Lia Charles lay in a thicket of mangrove trees surrounding a ramshackle cabin thirty miles off the coast. The cabin had a palm thatch roof that sloped low over the porch, so at night it blended with the surrounding jungle. The building served as the base of operations for a small cadre of rebel soldiers led by political revolutionary Armand Magliore. </p><p>Though night had fallen, the oppressive heat and humidity had not. Lia inhaled; the air was hot, heavy and thick, pushing its way down her throat and into her lungs. Sweat ran down her sides, back and arms, causing her camouflage BDUs to stick to her skin. She briefly fantasized about an air-conditioned hotel room with a shower, a clean bed and a mini-fridge stocked with ice-cold beers.</p><p><em>First things first, </em>she reminded herself. </p><p>From the deep cover of jungle, she observed the cabin through her military-issue night-vision goggles. The base camp had been under surveillance by her special ops team for the past six days. During that time, they had observed approximately nineteen soldiers armed with enough AK-47s and Uzis and RPG-2 grenade launchers to fortify a small army. From sunup to sundown, the men had arrived in dusty, open-topped jeeps and departed in what appeared to be four-hour shifts. </p><p>But on this particular night, the camp was deserted. </p><p>Conspicuously so. </p><p>"Damn it," Lia swore softly under her breath. </p><p>There was a faint rustling in the bushes behind her. She tensed, then relaxed as she was joined by Matt "Dutch" Connelly, one of the six members of her team, returning from his reconnaissance of the lowland area of the jungle. </p><p>Dutch, a Navy SEAL, was built like an NFL linebacker— big, burly, but surprisingly quick and agile. He and Lia had worked together for five years. Dutch, unlike many of his ex-military comrades, didn't subscribe to the mind-set that women don't belong on the front lines of battle. He'd always treated Lia as an equal. If he had any reservations about her role as team leader, he hid them well. </p><p>Lia began her Secret Service career as an anti-counterfeiting grunt in Financial Crimes. After distinguishing herself in there, she had been transferred to the protection detail, where she became responsible for protecting foreign heads of state and other visiting dignitaries. Her fluency in six foreign languages—Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, Italian and Spanish— made her a natural choice for these assignments. It hadn't hurt that she also possessed a black belt in aikido and had graduated at the top of her class from an elite military academy for girls. </p><p>At twenty-eight, Lia was already considered one of the best agents ever to be recruited by the Secret Service. Her superior fighting skills combined with a razor-sharp mind and the innate ability to remain cool under pressure had earned her the respect of agents twice her age. </p><p>But what her colleagues didn't know about her was that she could also read minds. </p><p>Lia had spent most of her life trying to avoid physical contact with others to keep from invading their private thoughts—which meant her love life was virtually nonexistent. But she had to admit that the gift had its perks. For example, she didn't have to speculate about whether or not the grinning auto mechanic was trying to rip her off. All she had to do was shake his hand and intercept his thoughts. She didn't have to wonder if a rude waitress had spit in her food to get even with her for sending it back as unsatisfactory; she'd know the moment she "accidentally" brushed against the waitress's bare arm as she set the plate on the table. And nowhere had Lia's psychic ability proved more useful than in her line of work. In some cases, being able to read a suspect's mind during an interrogation had made the difference between setting a guilty man free or detaining an innocent one. </p><p>Lia's military training gave her the clearance to participate in clandestine assignments that took her beyond the scope of the protection detail. One week ago, she had been summoned to the office of Bill McManus, assistant director of the Office of Protective Operations. She was briefed on her latest assignment, which was to lead a covert special operations unit into the jungles of Muwaiti, a war-ravaged Afro-French province in the Caribbean. Her mission was to extract revolutionary leader Armand Magliore from Muwaiti and escort him safely to the U.S., where, in ten days, he was scheduled to testify before the United Nations about a high-level assassination plot devised by his government. </p><p>Magliore had been a fearless, loyal soldier in the Muwaitian army until the assassination of the much-beloved president ushered in a new regime. President Alexandre Biassou had wasted no time establishing himself as a corrupt, ruthless dictator who disposed of anyone who dared to defy him. From innocent civilians to members of his own political party, no one was spared from his brutality. </p><p>Which made Armand Magliore something of a legend among his people. </p><p>He'd not only risked death and dismemberment by defecting from the Muwaitian army two years ago, but then he'd formed an underground resistance movement. Over the past year, he had led demonstrations and violent revolts against the government, amassing powerful enemies who would stop at nothing to keep him from leaving the country alive. </p><p>Which was what made the utter stillness of the base camp that night so unsettling to Lia. </p><p><em>Where are Magliore's men? </em>she wondered. </p><p>When Magliore first brokered a deal with the United States—political asylum for his family in exchange for his testimony before the UN—he'd been instructed not to alter his routine in any way that would arouse the suspicion of President Biassou and his mercenaries, who'd been vigilantly monitoring the revolutionary leader. On the date of his extraction, Magliore and his resistance fighters were to report to the remote cabin as usual and remain there until the arrival of Lia and her tactical unit. Once Magliore was safely in custody, his men were to disband and go into hiding for their own protection. </p><p>But where the hell were they? Had Biassou's hired assassins gotten to them first? </p><p>"All clear," Dutch whispered, as he resumed his position on the muddy forest floor beside Lia. Dressed in identical camo gear, he trained his night-vision binoculars on the silent cabin. "Any movement yet?" </p><p>Lia shook her head. "It's quiet." She frowned. "Too quiet." </p><p>"Think we're walking into an ambush?" </p><p>Lia's frown deepened. Without answering, she scanned the thick jungle canopy shrouded in darkness and mist. The four remaining members of her team were strategically hidden in the surrounding brush, watching the camp's perimeter, awaiting her signal to advance. </p><p>During childhood hunting trips, Lia's father, a retired foreign service officer, had taught her to look from the corner of her eye for improved night vision, as well as to "see" with her other senses. </p><p><em>Reading minds won't help you much out here in the wild, </em>he'd told her. <em>It's just you against nature. </em></p><p>Lia listened now for the approach of enemy footsteps, swift and stealthy, but all she heard were the distinct night calls of exotic birds and the raucous wing-beats of mosquitoes and other nocturnal insects. Nearby a large snake curled around the lower branches of a tree eyed them suspiciously, but made no move to attack. </p><p>Not that Lia was concerned. The only kind of predators she needed to worry about were on foot. </p><p>Keeping her gaze trained on the cabin, Lia reached inside her field pack and pulled out a satellite phone and her GPS tracking device. Three earlier attempts to connect with the command post had failed, so she was relieved when at last she heard a crisp, familiar voice on the other line. </p><p>"We've been waiting for your call." </p><p>"I couldn't get a good signal," Lia said. </p><p>"What is your position?" </p><p>Lia rattled off the latitude and longitude coordinates from her GPS. </p><p>The high-tech surveillance systems used by the U.S. military, CIA, Secret Service and other intelligence agencies had been designed to minimize casualties in dangerous rescue missions such as these. From a height of 40,000 feet and a distance of 150 miles, the radar systems could detect a human being under cloud cover on the forest floor or inside an underground bunker. </p><p>"We have one body inside the cabin," came the report. </p><p>"Just one?" </p><p>"Yes. And you may have company soon. I count twenty bodies moving in your direction." </p><p>"On foot?" </p><p>"Negative. Judging by the rate of approach, I'd say there are three vehicles." </p><p>"How close?" </p><p>"Fifteen miles. You'd better—" </p><p>The satellite connection fizzled. </p><p>But Lia was already on her feet and hefting her M16 rifle. As Dutch followed her lead, she clicked her three-way radio. "It's showtime, boys." </p><p>They erupted from the deep cover of jungle and sprinted across the clearing toward the dark cabin. Lia led the way up to the porch. Beneath the sheltering overhang of the palm thatch roof, she held up two fingers, signaling that two of her men should stand guard outside. </p><p>Dutch kicked the locked front door, and with a loud splintering crack, it crashed inward. Leading with her M16, Lia swept into the cabin. It was pitch-black and as silent as a tomb. </p><p>At her signal, Dutch and the others separated to search the premises, moving soundlessly from room to room to check for trouble from alternate vantage points. Lia figured that Magliore was hiding somewhere, keeping himself out of sight just in case Biassou's mercenaries arrived before her team. </p><p><em>Or maybe he's not hiding. Maybe he's hurt, or dead. </em></p><p>Moving slowly and stealthily, Lia advanced farther inside the cabin. Her night-vision goggles transformed everything into a world of green phosphor and shadows. The timber walls were covered with old maps, charts and diagrams, and a shortwave radio sat on a small table near the window, the lone item of furniture in the main room. </p><p>As Lia rounded the corner to another room, she fel... </p></div>


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Smith's latest (after <em>Weapon of Seduction</em>) follows a serial killer who marks his victims with a spider tattoo before brutally murdering them. Det. Sebastien Durand of San Antonio is assigned to the initial murder case, and soon seeks the help of entomology professor Francesca Purnell to help him identify the type of spider tattooed on the victim. Francesca identifies the spider as a Mexican arachnid that is "supposed to be cursed." When an acquaintance of Francesca's falls victim to the killer, Sebastien and Francesca are drawn closer together, and soon the intensity of the murder investigation gives way to romance. Danger and unexpected familial complications follow, as do a barrel of red herrings and a host of likely suspects. With a deft touch and solid cast of characters, Smith gives equal credence to spicy romance and nail-biting suspense on her way to an explosive conclusion. <em>(June)</em> <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p></div>


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<div><p>Harvard professor Clayton M. Christensen demonstrates in the most revolutionary business book in years why outstanding companies that did everything right -- were in tune with the competition, listened to customers, and invested aggressively in new technologies -- still lost their market leadership when confronted with disruptive changes in technology and market structure ... and he tells how to avoid a similar fate as business races online into the twenty-first century. The Innovator's Dilemma eloquently demonstrates a shattering paradox: that the best of conventional good business practices can ultimately weaken a great firm. There is a certain type of technological innovation that Christensen labels disruptive technology, which mainstream customers initially reject. Following these customers causes well-managed firms to allow strategic innovations to languish. The solution? Create a subsidiary entirely focused on the emerging market, one that is free to be visionary while courting an unorthodox customer base and staying poised to catch the next great wave of industry growth. Sharp, cogent, and provocative, The Innovator's Dilemma is one of the most talked-about business books of our time -- and something that none of today's executives will dare to be without. </p><p>Sharp, cogent, and provocative, The Innovator's Dilemma is one of the most talked about business books of our time -- and something that none of today's executives will dare to be without. </p></div>


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<div><div><p>Maritza Morales and Terrill Carter may be partners in a mega-successful L.A. music company, but Maritza has no intention of making their personal relationship permanent. Even if the gorgeous, supremely arrogant record label exec is the most passionate lover she's ever known—and her best-kept secret....</p><p>The flamboyant ex-video girl isn't the type of woman who kisses and tells, but Terrill wants to shout his happiness to the world. Doesn't Maritza know he doesn't care about her past? Mixing business with pleasure may be a risky proposition unless he can prove he's the only one for her. A wedding with all the trimmings is what Terrill has in mind. Because he's in love...and ready for anything!</p></div><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  10/17/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 1979 (99%)
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<div><div><h3></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;">Product Description</span></font></h3><h3><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 19px; ">The sexy King brothers own a successful bachelor-party-planning business and a string of upscale clubs across the country. What could be better than living the single life in some of the world's most glamorous cities?</span></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Finding a woman worth giving it up for…</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">A promise of ecstasy…</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Bartender Cheryl Shepherd has just done the unthinkable—she has shot down Xavier King. Repeatedly. Now the handsome club owner is on a mission to seduce her. And when he finally succeeds, he's blown away by their wild chemistry.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">For a notorious player, a sexy, confident woman like Cheryl is a risky proposition.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Xavier has no idea how right he is. An undercover cop, Cheryl is really investigating alleged criminal activity in his club. Yet every time she's alone with her boss, Cheryl starts to lose her head along with all her inhibitions. But when the case grows dangerous, can Xavier be trusted with her heart…and her life?</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Welcome to The Dollhouse Atlanta," Xavier King exclaimed, sweeping his huge, muscular biceps toward the newly renovated club. The enormous white stone building looked more like a high-end shopping mall than a gentlemen's club smack dab in the middle of downtown Atlanta. "So what do you think?"</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">This latest renovation of the Atlanta club started off as a small-scale repair project, much of which resulted from the damage done by an old-fashioned bar fight involving a patron who had tried his best to permanently rearrange his cousin Q's face. But once Xavier got started, the project got bigger and bigger, to the point that the once modest-size club now rivaled the infamous Cheetah Lounge in square footage.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">A little-known fact was that Atlanta was the strip-club capital of America. So Xavier took the attitude that The Dollhouse needed to go big or go home. He went big.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Really big.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Quentin Hinton, Xavier's best friend and cousin, stepped out of his black Mercedes and cocked his head so that he could get a better view of the exterior. "Hmm."</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Climbing out of the backseat of the car, Xavier's younger brother Jeremy took one look at the place and declared, "I love it!"</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Xavier's chest swelled with pride as his pearly white smile stretched from ear to ear. "I knew you would. C'mon inside. Let me show you what else I've done." He waved for them to follow him.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Once they entered through the glass doors, they walked across the black marble floors of the lobby.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">"Niiiice," Quentin finally said, bobbing his head as he took in some of the erotic artwork hanging on the walls in gilded frames. "Took it old school, did you?"</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">"Just a little bit." Xavier winked and then turned. "Here is where the club's concierge/hostess will be," he said, pointing to a matte-gold podium. "This will also be where the limo service will check in or out when bringing in clients from Bachelors Adventures or patrons from any of the surrounding hotels." He waved them on to follow him through the lobby and through the club's main arched entryway.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">There, both Quentin and Jeremy gave a low whistle of approval. The first thing that caught their eyes was the long U-shaped runway in the middle of the main floor with elevated seating along the side. The next thing that drew their attention was the two forty-five-foot-long bars surrounded by cushioned leather bar stools that flanked two lighted side-by-side dance stages. The rest of the seating on the main floor consisted of stationary counter-height tables with chairs.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">"You're a genius," Q praised as a smile crept up his face. "If you tell me that you've added a loft upstairs, then you've just built my fantasy dream house."</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Cocky as ever, Xavier raised his hand to his lips, blew on his nails and then buffed them on his chest. "Well, I don't like bragging. But—yes, I am a bit of a genius."</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">"And the head swells bigger," Jeremy joked with the appropriate eye roll.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">They all laughed as the three continued to tour the redesigned club.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">"See, the way I figure it, every evening the girls will descend the staircase leading to the main runway stage. That way, they can fill the room for a showcase revue and a two-for-one dance special. Off to the far right, we have a mini VIP area, which is where the customers can have a more private lap dance. And of course upstairs we have the main VIP room for private parties like Bachelors Adventures."</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Xavier watched the two take it all in. Their opinions were important. Not only because they were family, they were business partners, as well. Until recently, there had been four owners. Quentin, the initial investor, and the three King brothers: Eamon, Xavier and Jeremy.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Eamon jumped ship after falling in love with billionaire heiress Victoria Gregory. It was a love that had almost fell apart after Xavier put his foot in his mouth by mentioning how much Victoria looked like Eamon's first love, Karen, who'd been killed by a drunk driver. It was definitely the wrong thing to say to a woman. The hardest part for Xavier was having to come clean to his older brother, and telling him what he had done. It was a good thing he had a strong bond with his brothers. Eamon never once blamed him for being dumped by Victoria and hightailing it back to New York. That was when Eamon made the decision that he wanted the rest of them to buy him out of the business.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Ever since then, guilt gnawed at Xavier. He couldn't shake the idea that somehow he was responsible for his brother tossing in the towel to become a full-time restaurateur… and husband. Turned out that chasing after Victoria was just the thing he needed to do in order to win her back. But the four musketeers were now down to three.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">"Well. I gotta hand it to you, cuz. You outdid yourself on this one," Q said, patting him on the back. "This calls for a celebration."</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Xavier's forehead wrinkled as he folded his arms. "Who are you kidding? Your getting out of bed is cause for celebration."</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Quentin held up a finger. "This is true. But seeing as how this swanky new shindig is going to make us a whole lot more money, I'm going to take you two out for dinner."</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Jeremy's brows hiked. "You paying?"</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">"No. I was just going to drive."</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">"Figures. You cheap bastard."</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Feigning shock, Q pressed a hand over his heart. "I'm offended."</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Jeremy rubbed his index finger and thumb together. "I've got the world's smallest violin playing for you right now." Xavier shook his head while he listened to them carry on.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">"Excuse me?" a soft voice floated from behind them. The men spun around.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Xavier experienced a Mike Tyson punch to the gut when his eyes landed on a maple-brown sister with jaw-dropping Jessica Rabbit curves. How he managed to keep his tongue inside his mouth while his gaze roamed over her ripe cantaloupes that were posing as breasts and stretching the hell out of a black T-shirt with a decal that said Got Milk was a Sherlock Holmes mystery. Equally mystifying was how she managed to get her painted-on jeans over a red-beans-and-rice booty that at the right angle looked like an upside-down question mark.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">All in all, those were just a few of the questions that he was more than happy to get to the bottom of.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">"I'm sorry," she said, pushing up her designer shades and flashing a smile that would make a Hollywood starlet green with envy. "I didn't mean to interrupt, but is this where I apply for the bartending position that was listed?"</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Xavier was struck by the way her voice seemed a little older than she appeared, mainly because it had a sexy huskiness to it and a slight Caribbean lilt. His lips widened. It had been a while since he'd had an island girl.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Jeremy stepped forward first. "Actually—"</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Xavier grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back. "Yes. This is the place, but I'm afraid the interviews are tomorrow from four to seven. Not today."</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">The woman looked down at the folded newspaper and read the classified ad again. When she saw that she did indeed have the wrong day her shoulders collapsed and she huffed out a frustrated breath. "Just great! I went through all that trouble to arrange a makeup lab test to come here today." She slapped her forehead with the newspaper and then turned around. "All right, thanks! I guess it's a sign that it just wasn't meant to be."</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">It was the sight of that thick butt walking away and possibly never returning that sprung Xavier into action.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">"Whoa! Wait," he called after her.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">She stopped and turned back around. "Yes?"</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Again, he felt that punch to the gut, and when he caught his breath he smiled. "Well, since you're already here, why don't you let me see that resume?"</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">"Great!" She quickly reached into the bag dangling off of her shoulder and handed over a single piece of paper. "I really appreciate this. It's crazy trying to rearrange my schedule during the day—I'm in school. Med school, actually. Over at Emory, which is why working nights really fits my schedule."</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Xavier bobbed his head while she rambled on nervously.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">"Cheryl Shepherd," he read. "Twenty-seven… You're clearly a med student like you said…but I don't see a lot of bartending experience."</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">"Well, I usually do a lot of small parties. Plus, I have an uncle who has a bar in Alabama. I used to help out there during the summers when I was in college." She tossed in. "I probably should've added that."</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Xavier smiled, his gaze still caressing her curves. "Maybe we should give you a little audition behind the bar? See if you really know your stuff?"</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">"All right." She nodded her head. "I'm down with that."</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">He stepped back and extended his arm. "Right this way."</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Cheryl looked in the direction of the bar and strolled ahead of him, giving him a bird's-eye view of all that her mama blessed her with.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Q leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Any chance we can talk her into putting all that into a thong?"</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Jeremy shook his head. "I don't know if even the three of us together can handle all of that. Humph. Humph. Humph."</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">"Speak for yourself," Q said, moving Jeremy out of the way and straightening his shoulders. But before he could activate his pimp walk, Xavier cut his stride off by stepping in front of him and taking the lead behind Cheryl.</span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br></span></span></font></h3><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">In her immediate wake, Xavier recognized the sweet raspberry nectar and magnolia scent of Givenchy's Hot Couture and his interest climbed a few more degrees. For some time now, it had been an abstraction of Xavier's to pair women's personalities with their choice of fragrance. What popped into his head as he followed her down the club's new staircase was…sophisticated, sensual and bewitching. Those were his favorite qualities...</span></span></font></h3></div><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Expanded from a story that first appeared in Robert Silverberg's anthology Legends (1998), Jordan's eagerly awaited prequel to The Wheel of Time, the first of a projected three, more than lives up to its high expectations. For three days, battle has raged around the city of Tar Valon. In the White Tower two young Accepted attend the Amyrlin Seat and her Keeper as they await word of the outcome. Purely by chance, Moiraine Damodred and Siuan Sanche are on duty when the Keeper foretells the rebirth of the Dragon, the world's only hope of winning the fight against the Dark One. Written with all the skill that has made Jordan one of the grand masters of fantasy, it's accessible enough for new readers, while the inside information is sure to captivate longtime fans. Far from the coldly self-possessed Aes Sedai who arrives in Emond's Field in The Eye of the World, the first Wheel book, Moiraine is a fun-loving, prank-playing and naïve Accepted, one who slowly grows into a determined and resourceful character. Even better, the narrative is flush with answers to mysteries only hinted at in Wheel (what was the test for Aes Sedai, what was "the Vileness") and with little details aimed at those in the know. Jordan buffs will be especially pleased to find the novel moves quickly, not at the glacial pace of recent books in the saga.<br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From Booklist</h3><p>Jordan's best-selling Wheel of Time stands at 10 volumes and counting, and now he starts a prequel series by expanding his contribution to <em>Legends</em> (1998), an anthology of stories set in the worlds of their authors' novel-series. Basically, the new tale is about how two Wheel protagonists--the soldier Lan Mandragoran, claimant to the throne of a kingdom long defunct; and Moiraine of the royal house of Cairhien, an initiate of the sorceresses known as Aes Sedai--met. The momentous event comes early in the search for the infant boy who, grown up, may save the perpetually warring Wheel world from the Dark One. It doesn't occur, however, until this book is winding down. The preceding pages, after an opening in which Lan and his command are reprieved from certain death when the enormous army they are about to engage turns and marches away, focus on Moraine's and her friend Siuan's last days as wanna-be, and first as new-fledged, Aes Sedai. Both take their new status as license to look for the child of destiny, and they have inside dope, thanks to having heard a senior Aes Sedai announce the child's birth with her dying breath. The term <em>padding</em> comes to mind soon and often as <em>New Spring</em> blooms. Perhaps it should have been left a short story, and perhaps only Wheel of Time junkies will genuinely enjoy it. Said habitues are by now legion; acquire accordingly. <em>Ray Olson</em><br><em>Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved</em></p></div>


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<div><div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The award-winning author of A Delight Before Christmas and When it Rains brings readers a delightfully erotic romance that will kick off the Sinfully Sweet Series.  </p><p>Can you Put a Price Tag…On Love?  </p><p>St. Louis caterer Christina Holloway only dates men capable of providing her with the finer things in life. But despite putting her best foot forward, her relationships have all ended in disappointment. It isn’t until she attends her sister’s wedding that she begins to wonder if maybe it’s time to reevaluate her choice in men. Her cousin agrees, and offers a challenge: if she lowers her standards and dates a man with a more humble career, a butcher, a baker, even a candlestick maker, for five consecutive dates, she’ll give Christina the priceless family heirloom she so craves.   </p><p>From the moment she meets Dereon Sanders, Christina is attracted to the sexy bad boy in ways she can’t explain. With one touch, Dereon has the ability to make her forget who she is, and the material things that were once so important no longer seem to matter. What was supposed to have been only five dates develops into an insatiable relationship with a man who challenges everything she was raised to believe was important.   </p><p>Christina’s all set to prove to her family that she and Dereon are meant to be together. But there’s one problem—Dereon is hiding something. Uncovering the truth will require Christina to put her creative skills to use…  </p><p>"She has a knack for bringing to the forefront heroines that are sassy and independent." RT Book Review on Time is of the Essence  </p><p>Angie Daniels has released over twenty-three novels. She has won numerous awards including a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for When it Rains, and an Emma Award for Favorite Erotic Romance for A Delight Before Christmas. She began her road to publication in 2001 when she was offered a four-book deal with Genesis Press. In 2002 she signed with BET/Arabesque which was purchased by Harlequin/Kimani Romance in 2005. Angie joined Kensington Publishing in 2003. She has a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Columbia College. For more information about upcoming releases, and to connect with Angie on facebook, please visit her website at www.angiedaniels.com.   </p></div><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  8/19/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 4201 (99%)
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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>These 21 Christmas Holiday Beverage Recipes will be a big hit at your holiday family gatherings. You'll enjoy all these punch recipes and more as we approach this holiday season with open hearts, hugs, kisses and smiles. Included in my collection Christmas beverage punch recipes are:<br>Christmas Punch <br>Custard Eggnog<br>Peachy Spiced Cider<br>Cranberry Punch<br>Buttered Rum Spiced Cider<br>Glorious Christmas Punch<br>Cider Club<br>Creamy Eggnog Punch <br>Candy Cane Cocoa<br>Yuletide Spiced Tea Mix <br>Hot Caramel Apple Drink<br>Holiday Mock Champagne<br>And Many More...<br>Hope these Christmas Holiday Beverage recipes delight you and your family this holiday season as it has done for me and my family. Happy Holidays to you and your!...<br>Hazel I Sponili<br></p></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Detox, Detox, Detox, who doesn't need a detox in this day an age. We put so many unhealthy things in our bodies and dont even know it and over time these things build up in our body. These things are no good for us and they can really cause health problem or even make you feel sluggish, not focused, and etc. A detoxification of the body will make you feel like a brand new person. you'll feel refreshed and you'll have more energy. A detox makes such a difference in how you feel. With this book You'll learn tons of info about toxins, how they get in our body, the ways they get in, and even how our body naturally gets rid of them, but sometime we take in so many toxins that our bodies need help eliminate the toxins and this where a detoxification come into to play. This book also has plenty of different detox diets your can try, so why wait to feel brand new. </p></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Everyone wants to look great all year round, but each season can bring new challenges to the health and radiance of your skin. In this report, the authors give you top tips on how to keep your skin healthy no matter what the weather, through winter, spring, summer and fall.<br></p><p>Winter and summer usually pose the most problems for keeping skin healthy, from the cold, dry air and chilly temperatures on the one hand, to the heat, humidity and harmful rays of the sun on the other. <br></p><p>Even the relatively milder spring and autumn can leave your skin looking less than its best if you don't deal with allergies and other skin problems these seasons can bring. <br></p><p>You will learn:<br></p><ul><li>The structure of your skin and what each section does for your body<br></li><li>The main reasons for changes in the appearance of your skin<br></li><li>Everyday habits that age your skin prematurely<br></li><li>The best ways to start improving the appearance of your skin<br></li><li>The best natural ingredients to use at home to care for your skin no matter what the season.<br></li></ul><p>Start reading this report now and discover:<br></p><ul><li>The best ways to keep your skin safe during the long cold winter<br></li><li>Top tips to keep your skin safe in summer<br></li><li>The difference between sunscreen and sunblock and which you might want to choose<br></li><li>The best home remedies for sunburn<br></li><li>The best home remedies for poison ivy (and did you know you can get it any time of year?)<br></li></ul><p>The skin is the largest organ of your body. If you want to stay looking great and keep your skin healthy no matter what the season, this report will help you protect your skin from the elements and help you ward off signs of premature aging. Download this report today, and get started with a natural skin care routine that will help you stay looking great no matter what the season. <br></p><h2>Word Count=16,570</h2><p>TABLE OF CONTENTS<br></p><p>INTRODUCTION<br>CHAPTER 1: THE ANATOMY OF THE SKIN<br>CHAPTER 2: REASONS FOR CHANGES IN THE SKIN<br>CHAPTER 3: CHANGING YOUR HABITS FOR BETTER SKIN<br>CHAPTER 4: TAKING CARE OF YOUR SKIN ALL YEAR ROUND<br>CHAPTER 5: SUMMER SKIN HEALTH AND SAFETY<br>CHAPTER 6: NATURAL PRODUCTS FOR YOUR SKIN ALL YEAR ROUND<br>CONCLUSION<br>FURTHER READING<br>APPENDIX 1: CHOOSING SUNBLOCK OR SUNSCREEN<br>YOUR HEALTHY SKIN CHECKLIST <br></p><hr><p>ABOUT THE AUTHORS<br></p><p>Annabelle Stevens and Carolyn Stone are two of the main writers and editors for the popular health website Healthful-Goddess.com, and the authors of over two dozen health and self-help guides.<br></p></div>


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<p>Anne watched as her best friend since grade school drove down the street and away to college. She’d miss her something terrible, but at least she still had Mr. Booth. He always treated her like a second daughter and she had always thought of him as her other daddy. That is until she stops in for a visit and sees him working in the hot summer sun without a shirt. His glistening muscles fire Anne’s sexual awakening, and when his nude picture falls out of an old photo album, it only feeds the flame. The deliberate drop of his towel only begins to satisfy her curiosity. It will take much more than that to quench the inferno that’s building in her body, is he up for the challenge. <strong><em>This tale is graphic in nature and is meant for adults only. All characters depicted are 18 or above</em></strong> 6000 words in total.</p>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>From Amazon Best-selling author JT Holland:<br></p><p>Scott Taylor is an average high-school senior; smart, introverted, headed to college in the fall. He's had a few girlfriends over the years, even slept with a couple of them, but for the most part, is very inexperienced in bed. But all that's all about to change . . .<br></p><p>You see, three days ago, Scott's next door neighbors went on vacation. And their 19-year old daughter, Heather Phillips, has arrived to take care of the house while they're gone. But Heather is no ordinary girl. She's got a wealth of experience, and she's more than willing to share it with Scott, if he's game . . . <br></p><p>The Pornstar Next Door is a 17,000 word novella. It contains graphic sex and adult situations and dirty talk (among other things) and is intended for adults only.<br></p><p>FROM THE AUTHOR: The Pornstar Next Door is a bit of a departure for me. Sure, it contains everything you’ve come to expect from one of my stories, but it also has some stuff that hasn’t been in earlier ones. <br></p><p>Contrary to the vignettes of my Confessions of an Escort Addict Series, The Pornstar Next Door has characters that actually develop, a story that actually progresses, even some real, actual human emotions. It is an attempt to write about a relationship that includes graphic sex and a little bit of romance, not just a series of sex scenes. <br></p><p>For fans of my other stuff, hopefully you’ll like this too. For those who aren’t into my other stuff because of it’s perceived shortcomings, please give The Pornstar Next Door a shot. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. </p></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>With a disastrous marriage behind him, Wyatt Kent has no interest in getting involved with any woman, let alone his ex-wife's younger sister. But when Calliope Andrews hires him to build an addition onto her day care center, Wyatt can't help but notice she's a desirable woman, as warm and funny as his ex was cold and aloof. </p><p>Calliope fell hard for Wyatt the first time he walked through the door of her family's home, and can't believe her sister let him get away. He's still the star of all her fantasies, and she's determined to prove to him she's nothing like his manipulative ex. Wyatt may be all business, but Calliope sees the way he looks at her when he's supposed to be working...</p><p>It's not long before Wyatt and Calliope are keeping each other warm on cold December nights. But it's going to take a Christmas miracle for Wyatt to put his trust in love a second time. </p><p>28,000 words</p></div>


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<div><p><em>In</em> Love &amp; Scandal, <em>Collette Jardiniere is outraged when notorious roué Charles Jameson appears to take credit for</em> The Last Days of a Rake, <em>a novel she wrote under the pseudonym Colin Jenkins to satisfy Victorian convention.</em></p><p>Can a rake be true to himself, yet remain free from sin?</p><p>Edgar Lankin has lived the life of rake, a man who cares for nothing but the pleasures of the flesh. But it is the seduction—and abandonment—of a gentle maiden that turns him from mere gadabout to immoral cad. Too late, Lankin realizes his self-centered ways have left him incapable of finding enjoyment in anything. Now on his deathbed, he relates the shocking tale of his wasted life to John Hamilton, a school chum who chose a different path.</p><p>In telling his story, can Lankin find redemption for the trail of ruined lives he leaves behind?</p><p><em>Companion piece to</em> Love &amp; Scandal <em>by Donna Lea Simpson</em><br></p></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Romance can be a hairy business--especially when you're a werewolf. <br></p><p>As the owner of Get a Mate Dating Service, Rylie is more than happy to step in and lend a hand to lonely lycanthropic hearts all over town. No matter how hopeless Rylie might be in finding her own soul mate, she has a knack for helping others find theirs. <br></p><p>Convinced that she is stuck with a family curse, Rylie is positive she will never find her true love. But when drool-worthy Jack Chandler shows up at her door, Rylie wonders if maybe the curse is finally broken. <br></p><p>But Rylie's life is about to become complicated courtesy of the after-dark crowd. When she begins receiving strange notes and harassment from a jilted client, events careen out of control. <br></p><p>Jack knows she's more hassle than he can handle. What he doesn't know is whether she's seriously in trouble . . . or simply delusional.<br></p><p>More books available now by Rose Pressey:<br></p><p>How to Date a Vampire (Rylie Cruz Series, Book 2)<br>Me and My Ghoulfriends (Larue Donavan Series, Book 1)<br>Ghouls Night Out (Larue Donavan Series, Book 2)<br>No Shoes, No Shirt, No Spells (Mystic Cafe Series, Book 1)<br>Rock 'n' Roll is Undead (Veronica Mason Series, Book 1)<br></p><p>Coming soon:<br></p><p>Untitled (Mystic Cafe, Book 2)<br>Untitled (Larue Donavan, Book 3)<br>Spells, Demons, and Rock 'n' Roll (Veronica Mason, Book 2)<br></p><p>Say hello on Facebook and Twitter!<br>rosepressey.com<br>twitter.com/rosepressey<br>facebook.com/rosepressey </p></div>


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<div><span id="reviewTextContainer199013677" class="readable" style=""><span id="freeText3467140137326993819" style="">It takes place between Book 1, <em>Slave to Sensation</em>, and Book 2, <em>Visions of Heat</em>. In this short story, Ms. Singh gives us a little glimpse into  Lucas and Sascha's life together. 
<br><br>I adored the twin cubs, Julian and Roman, in <em>Slave to Sensation</em>, and this is a cute story with them in it.  </span></span><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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<div><div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Hailed as a major new talent in paranormal romance, Nalini Singh takes us deeper into the world of the Psy and the changelings in her latest extraordinary novel, where a gifted woman sees passion in her future-a passion that is absolutely forbidden by her kind... Used to cold silence, Faith NightStar is suddenly being tormented by dark visions of blood and murder. A bad sign for anyone, but worse for Faith, an F-Psy with the highly sought after ability to predict the future. Then the visions show her something even more dangerous-aching need...exquisite pleasure. But so powerful is her sight, so fragile the state of her mind, that the very emotions she yearns to embrace could be the end of her. Changeling Vaughn D'Angelo can take either man or jaguar form, but it is his animal side that is overwhelmingly drawn to Faith. The jaguar's instinct is to claim this woman it finds so utterly fascinating and the man has no argument. But while Vaughn craves sensation and hungers to pleasure Faith in every way, desire is a danger that could snap the last threads of her sanity. And there are Psy who need Faith's sight for their own purposes. They must keep her silenced-and keep her from Vaughn... </p></div><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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  11/18/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 4762 (99%)
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<div><div><div><div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Earth of 2080 continues a cold war with the chilling aliens the Psy in Singh's fourth fierce installment of the Psy-Changeling series (after <em>Caressed by Ice</em>). Half-human, half-leopard changeling Clay Bennett is shocked when lovely Talin McKade, wracked with illness and similarly half-changeling, returns to his life, having disappeared from his childhood 20 years before. Talin works at San Francisco's Shine Foundation, dedicated to helping gifted but needy children, and a growing number of her missing charges have been turning up sans brains. There's plenty of purring passion to keeps things hot as the Leopard shape-shifters Clay and Tally fall breathlessly in love, while the Psy continue to use children as guinea pigs for developing a hive mind. While this is paranormal romance at its best, newcomers are advised to check out the earlier adventures first. <em>(Feb.)</em> <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>Nalini Singh was born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand. She spent three years living and working in Japan, and travelling around Asia before returning to New Zealand where she now lives. She has worked as a lawyer, a librarian, a candy factory general hand, a bank temp and an English teacher, not necessarily in that order. Some people might call that inconsistency, but she calls it grist for the writer's mill.</p><p><br></p><p></p><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations"><span style="font-weight: bold; ">12/14/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 5395 (99%) </span></div></div></div></div></div>


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<div><div><h3>Review</h3><p>"This is a spicy boy-meets-girl tale that will keep you turning the pages. It's an unlikely premise, but it works." - RT Book Reviews on WHATEVER </p><h3>Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.</h3><p>Dr. Tamara St. John was feeling murderous.</p><p>It was too bad she'd taken an oath to do no harm. Otherwise, Victor Aguilar Garcia would be a dead man. A gorgeous one, but a corpse nevertheless.</p><p>They squared off in the hallway outside the room of a patient who'd been readmitted to the hospital after developing a postoperative wound infection. The two interns had struck combative poses, hands on hips, lab coats spread open as they argued with each other. Tamara hated that Victor's six-two frame forced her to angle her head back to meet his flashing gaze, and she hated that the dark blue color of his eyes reminded her of the most beautiful sapphire she'd ever seen.</p><p>"You're not listening to me," he said, the words gritted through straight white teeth. "Naphtomycin—"</p><p>"—is still in the clinical trial stage," Tamara interrupted sharply. "So that means the jury's still out on the drug's safety and effectiveness. Unlike you, I don't like hedging my bets on a wildcard. I think we need to administer another course of antibiotics—"</p><p>"Because that's been working so well, right?" Victor countered mockingly.</p><p>Tamara bristled. "Let's not forget that this is <em>my</em> patient—"</p><p>"—who's been readmitted twice for a postoperative sternal wound that won't heal. It's time to pursue more aggressive treatment options."</p><p>"Naphtomycin isn't an option," Tamara said unequivocally.</p><p>"Well, it should be."</p><p>"I disagree. Until it's been approved by the FDA—" Victor interrupted, "German physicians are already using Naphtomycin on their patients, with proven results."</p><p>"That doesn't matter," Tamara said obstinately.</p><p>"What do you mean it doesn't—" He broke off, shaking his head in angry exasperation. "Look, St. John, you have the potential to be a good cardiothoracic surgeon one day, but if you want to be the best, you're gonna have to start thinking outside the damn box."</p><p>"How dare you?" Tamara hissed furiously. "I don't need career advice from you! Last I checked, we <em>both</em> graduated from top medical schools, and we're <em>both</em> finalists for the same research grant—"</p><p><em>"Me importa un carajo!"</em> Victor swore in Spanish, striking his fist against the wall. "Why does everything have to be a damn competition with you? This isn't about you and your egotistical need to be right—"</p><p><em>"My</em> egotistical need?" Tamara sputtered in outrage.</p><p>"What about you? Every decision you make is based on the false assumption that you can never be wrong. You take risks with patients' lives like you're rolling dice on a craps table. Don't you <em>dare</em> lecture me about my ego when <em>you're</em> the one with the God complex!"</p><p>Victor scowled blackly. "I don't have a—"</p><p>"Like hell you don't!"</p><p>He glared at her another moment, then scrubbed his hands over his face and shook his head at the ceiling, as if he were petitioning God for a flood that would sweep her away. He needed a shave and a haircut, Tamara noted irritably, eyeing his stubble-roughened jaw and the thick dark hair that brushed his collar. He always looked like he'd just rolled out of bed, tossed on some clothes and hopped on to his Harley to ride to work. Tamara supposed that the rumpled, sexy look worked for some women. But not her. Everything about the man grated on her damn nerves.</p><p>She felt an unwelcome jolt as his strikingly blue eyes suddenly returned to hers. "Look, St. John," he said in a low, controlled voice, "I don't have time to stand here arguing with you, and the patient sure as hell can't afford any more delays in her treatment. Before you rule out administering Naphtomycin, just ask yourself what you would do if Mrs. Gruener were your mother."</p><p>"I wouldn't endanger her life by giving her a drug that hasn't even been approved by the FDA!" Tamara snapped.</p><p>"How do you know?" Victor shot back. "Until you're in that situation, you have <em>no</em> idea what measures you'd take to help your mother."</p><p>"I don't deal in hypotheticals. I deal with hard, cold facts, which is something you seem incapable of—"</p><p>"Why am I standing here talking to you?" Victor cut her off. "You're an intern just like me, so ultimately, it's not your call whether or not Mrs. Gruener receives Naphtomycin. And thank God for that!"</p><p>Tamara's eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't <em>dare</em> go over my head."</p><p>"Think I wouldn't? Let me tell you something. Mrs. Gruener's recovery is more important than your stubborn need to be right."</p><p>"You think I don't know that?"</p><p>"Sure as hell could have fooled—"</p><p><em>Beep, beep, beep!</em></p><p>The two combatants glanced down at the pagers clipped to their waists. When they saw the familiar code that signaled a crisis requiring all available medical personnel, they turned and rushed downstairs to the emergency room.</p><p>They were greeted by pandemonium as several stretchers bearing injured victims were wheeled into the hospital, where a triage had been set up to evaluate the new arrivals. Those who were most seriously injured were already being tended to.</p><p>Tamara and Victor hurried over to fellow intern Jaclyn Campbell, who was examining the bloody head wound of a teenager who was moaning in pain.</p><p>"What happened?" Tamara asked anxiously.</p><p>Jaclyn grimaced. "School bus accident. At least thirty students were on board, not to mention the driver and several other motorists involved in the collision."</p><p>"Shit," Tamara and Victor swore in unison.</p><p>"Let's go, people!" shouted Dr. Lucien De Winter, the new head of the E.R. at Hopewell General. He strode through the bustling emergency room, calling out authoritatively, "All hands on deck!"</p><p>Alerted by the wail of an approaching ambulance, Tamara and Victor raced outside to greet the arriving EMTs, who had just removed a stretcher bearing a teenage biracial girl covered with blood and multiple lacerations.</p><p>"She's hypotensive," one of the EMTs informed them as he and Victor quickly wheeled the gurney toward the entrance to the hospital. "Blood pressure's eighty-three over forty-two, pulse is one-thirty-six."</p><p>Moments after they rolled the new patient into the E.R., she went into cardiac arrest.</p><p>"She needs to be opened up!" Victor said urgently.</p><p>Tamara was already sprinting ahead, adrenaline pumping through her veins as she frantically searched for an attending physician to assist them. To her dismay, none could be found.</p><p>Victor and the EMT had wheeled the patient into an available trauma bay and were using a defibrillator on her. As Tamara raced in after them, Victor called over his shoulder, "We're gonna have to open her up!"</p><p>Tamara stared at him. "We can't!"</p><p>"Why the hell not?"</p><p>"We're interns, Victor! We're not supposed to be operating on patients!"</p><p>"If we don't help this girl ASAP," he barked, "she's going to die!"</p><p>Tamara knew he was right. The teenager had suffered blunt chest trauma during the traffic accident, so time was of the essence. Surely she and Victor wouldn't be punished for taking matters into their own hands in order to save the girl's life, she reasoned.</p><p>After casting one last glance around the chaotic emergency room, Tamara sprang into action, setting up the ultrasound machine as Victor hurriedly unpacked a tray containing the necessary equipment for an emergency resuscitative thoracotomy. They didn't have time to get the patient transported to an operating room. They'd have to perform the procedure right there in the E.R.</p><p>After intubating the patient and donning protective equipment, Tamara and Victor went to work cutting open her chest cavity to gain access to her heart. With the hospital's medical staff stretched perilously thin that morning, she and Victor had to rely on each other's training and instincts to ensure a successful operation. Like a precisely choreographed ballet, they passed the scalpel, scissors and forceps back and forth, and moved out of each other's way without being told. As Victor massaged the patient's heart with his gloved hands, Tamara murmured encouragements to him.</p><p>Suddenly their personal differences and grievances didn't matter. All that mattered was the single goal they shared—to save a young girl's life.</p><p>So that's what they focused on doing until an attending physician arrived to take over.</p><p>Later that evening—after their young patient had been transported to the intensive care unit for recovery, and the other accident victims had been stabilized or discharged—Tamara and Victor found themselves alone in the interns' locker room. It had been a long, exhausting day. All Tamara craved was a hot shower and a soft bed, though part of her was so wired from today's events that she wondered whether sleep would elude her tonight.</p><p>She was tying her sneakers when the deep, masculine timbre of Victor's voice came to her from the other side of the lockers. "You did a great job today."</p><p>Tamara straightened slowly from the floor. She was surprised by the unexpected compliment. And undeniably pleased.</p><p>"Thanks," she said. "So did you."</p><p><em>"Gracias."</em> Victor paused for a moment. "We make a good team."</p><p>Something foreign fluttered in her belly. "Yeah," she agreed softly, "we do. Shocking, isn't it?"</p><p>He gave a low chuckle. "Yeah."</p><p>A long silence fell between them.</p><p>Tamara found herself holding her breath, waiting for him to say more. When he didn't, she rose from the bench, grabbed her backpack from the locker and swung the door shut. As she started from the room, she tossed over her shoulder, &amp;#... </p></div><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations">
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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Here are a few of the recipes that you will learn how to make:<br></p><p>Lemon squid salad<br>Koong rad sauce ma-kam<br>Pla meuk pad kai kem<br>A wide rice noodles in a creamy sauce with seafoods<br>plah koong<br>Sweet and Sour Prawns<br>Tom yum po-tak ta-lay<br>Poo ja<br>Pla-meuk Yang (Thai Grilled Squid)<br>Pad Cha Ta-lay (Seafood Spicy Stir-Fry)<br>Pla-meuk Pad Nam Prik Pao (Stir-Fried Squid with Roasted Chili Paste)<br>Yam Talay (Seafood Salad)<br>Koong Pad Kra-Tiam (Prawns Stir with Garlic)<br>Poo Neung (Steamed Crabs)<br>Goong Tod Kra Thiam Phrik Thai(Shrimp with garlic pepper)<br>Hor Mok Tal-e (Steamed Seafood Custard)<br>Poo Pad Hua Hom Yai ( Crab and Onion)<br>Poo Ob Woon Sen(Crabs with Glass Noodles in Claypot)<br>Poo Pad Pong Karee(Curried Crab Claws)<br>Tom Yum Gung (Spicy Thai Shrimps Soup)<br></p><p>and more </p></div>


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<div><div><h3>Review</h3><p>"It is an action packed, erotic romance. If this is your kind of reading, then go for it!" British Fantasy Society </p><h3 class="productDescriptionSource">Product Description</h3><h3><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Ashaya Aleine was separated from her son, forced to create a neural 
implant that will forever enslave her psychically gifted Psy race. After
 fighting a desperate battle to save her child and escape the PsyNet, 
she’s lead not to safety, but into the lethal danger of a sniper’s 
embrace.  </span>    </h3></div><div><br></div><div><hr class="annotations_divider"><div class="user_annotations"><span style="font-weight: bold; ">12/17/2011<br>Last Page Read: Location 5261 (99%) </span></div></div></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>If variety is the spice of life, TASTE IT!!!!!! by exploring the variety of recipes in this book.This a book of everyday great and tasty recipes. A book that will drive your taste buds wild. This book contains a wide variety of dishes for everyone, it even contains a few vegeterian meals. </p></div>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>As the author of twenty bestselling books, John Grisham has set the standard for legal thrillers since the debut of <em>The Firm</em> in 1991. Enjoy this Q&amp;A--as well as a personal note to Amazon readers--from John Grisham. </p><p><strong>1. Your new novel starts off where most courtroom dramas end--with the verdict. Where did you get the idea to reverse the usual order of events this time around?</strong><br />The actual trial is not a terribly significant part of the story. Most all of the action and intrigue begins after the trial is over, with the verdict and the subsequent appeal. <br /></p><p><strong>2. <em>The Appeal</em> overtly suggests that elected judges can be bought. If the novel is meant as a cautionary tale, what's next--the Presidential primaries?</strong><br />Why not? Over one billion dollars will be spent next year in the Presidential primaries and general election. With that kind of money floating around, anything can be bought. <br /></p><p><strong>3. Speaking of electoral politics, you've been more vocal recently about your political views ... first supporting Jim Webb for Senate and now endorsing Hillary Clinton for the White House. Have you given any thought to running for office yourself?</strong><br />No. I made that mistake 25 years ago, and promised myself I would never do it again. I enjoy watching and participating in politics from the sidelines, but it's best to keep some distance. <br /></p><p><strong>4. This is your first legal thriller in three years. How did it feel to get back to the genre that started it all, and can fans expect another thriller from you next year?</strong><br />I still enjoy writing the legal thrillers, and don't plan to get too far away from them. Obviously, they have been very good to me, and they remain popular. I plan to write one a year for the next several years. <br /></p><p><strong>5. Your nonfiction book <em>The Innocent Man</em> continues to be a bestseller in paperback. In your ongoing work with The Innocence Project, have you come across another story of the wrongfully convicted that begs to be written as nonfiction?</strong><br />There are literally hundreds of great stories out there about wrongfully convicted defendants. I am continually astounded by these stories, and I resist the temptation to take the plunge again into non-fiction. <br /></p><p><strong>6. What's on your bedside reading list at the moment?</strong><br />1. <em>The Nine</em> by Jeffrey Toobin<br />2.  Eric Clapton's autobiography<br />3.  <em>East of Eden</em> by John Steinbeck. <br /></p><hr /><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>A Mississippi jury returns a $41-million verdict against a chemical company accused of dumping carcinogenic waste into a small town's water supply. The company's ruthless billionaire CEO is thwarted and the good guys (a courageous young woman who lost her husband and child and her two lawyers who've gone half a million dollars in debt preparing her case) receives its just reward. This sounds like the end of a Grisham legal thriller, but instead it's the beginning of a book-length lesson in how greed and big business have corrupted our electoral and judicial systems. Grisham's characters are over-the-top. The CEO and the other equally overdone villains—his venal trophy wife, a self-serving senator and a pair of smarmy political fixers—as well as the unbelievably good-hearted, self-sacrificing lawyers and an honorable state judge, are one dimensional. Michael Beck, with his natural Southern drawl, does a fine job of adding credibility and nuance to the large cast. But his efforts are for naught. In fact, the more he makes us feel for these characters, the less apt we are to be satisfied with the sourball moral of Grisham's downbeat discourse. <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p>


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<p>If you thought Mitch McDeere was in trouble in The Firm, waituntil you meet Kyle McAvoy, THE ASSOCIATEKyle McAvoy grew up in his father’s small-town law office in York, Pennsylvania. He excelled in college, was elected editor-in-chief of The Yale Law Journal, and his future has limitless potential. But Kyle has a secret, a dark one, an episode from college that he has tried to forget. The secret, though, falls into the hands of the wrong people, and Kyle is forced to take a job he doesn’t want—even though it’s a job most law students can only dream about.Three months after leaving Yale, Kyle becomes an associate at the largest law firm in the world, where, in addition to practicing law, he is expected to lie, steal, and take part in a scheme that could send him to prison, if not get him killed.With an unforgettable cast of characters and villains—from Baxter Tate, a drug-addled trust fund kid and possible rapist, to Dale, a pretty but seemingly quiet former math teacher who shares Kyle’s “cubicle” at the law firm, to two of the most powerful and fiercely competitive defense contractors in the country—and featuring all the twists and turns that have made John Grisham the most popular storyteller in the world, THE ASSOCIATE is vintage Grisham.</p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>With <em>Bleachers</em> John Grisham departs again from the legal thriller to experiment with a character-driven tale of reunion, broken high school dreams, and missed chances. While the book falls short of the compelling storytelling that has made Grisham a bestselling author, it is nonetheless a diverting novella that succeeds as light fiction. </p><p>The story centers on the impending death of the Messina Spartans' football coach Eddie Rake. One of the most victorious coaches in high school football history, Rake is a man both loved and feared by his players and by a town that relishes his 13 state titles. The hero of the novel is Neely Crenshaw, a former Rake All-American whose NFL prospects ended abruptly after a cheap shot to the knees. Neely has returned home for the first time in years to join a nightly vigil for Rake at the Messina stadium. Having wandered through life with little focus since his college days, he struggles to reconcile his conflicted feelings towards his former coach, and he assays to rekindle love in the ex-girlfriend he abandoned long ago. For Messina and for Neely, the homecoming offers the prospect of building a life after Rake. </p><p>Physically a narrow book, <em>Bleachers</em> is a modest fiction in many respects. The emotional scope is akin to that of a short story, with a single-minded focus on explorations of nostalgia and regret. The dialogue, especially that of Neely's friend Paul Curry, is sometimes wooden as characters recall Messina history in paragraphs that were perhaps better left to the narrator. But Grisham has otherwise written a well-made, entertaining--if a bit sentimental--story. <em>--Patrick O'Kelley</em></p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Grisham demonstrated he could produce bestsellers without legal aid with The Painted House and Skipping Christmas, and he'll undoubtedly do so again with this slight but likable novel of high school football, a legendary coach and the perils of too early fame. Fifteen years after graduation, Neely Crenshaw, one-time star quarterback of the Messina Spartans, returns home on hearing news of the impending death of tough-as-nails coach Eddie Rake. Neely knows the score: "When you're famous at eighteen, you spend the rest of your life fading away." It's a lesson he's learned the hard way after destroying his knee playing college ball and drifting through life in an ever-downward spiral. He and his former teammates sit in the bleachers at the high school stadium waiting for Rake to die, drinking beer and reminiscing. There is a mystery involving the legendary '87 championship, and Neely has unfinished business with an old high school sweetheart, but neither story line comes to much. Readers will guess the solution to the mystery, as does the town police chief when it's divulged to him (" `We sorta figured it out,' said Mal") and Neely's former girlfriend doesn't want to have anything to do with his protestations of love ("You'll get over it. Takes about ten years"). The stirring funeral scene may elicit a few tears, but Neely's eulogy falls curiously flat. After living through four hard days in Messina, the lessons Neely learns are unremarkable ("Those days are gone now"). Many readers will come away having enjoyed the time spent, but wishing there had been a more sympathetic lead character, more originality, more pages, more story and more depth.<br />Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>


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<p>They call themselves the Brethren: three disgraced former judges doing time in a Florida federal prison.</p><p>One was sent up for tax evasion. Another, for skimming bingo profits. And the third, for a career-ending drunken joyride.</p><p>Meeting daily in the prison law library, taking exercise walks in their boxer shorts, these judges-turned-felons can reminisce about old court cases, dispense a little jailhouse justice, and contemplate where their lives went wrong.</p><p>Or they can use their time in prison to get very rich — very fast. And so they sit, sprawled in the prison library, furiously writing letters, fine-tuning a wickedly brilliant extortion scam ... while events outside their prison walls begin to erupt.</p><p>A bizarre presidential election is holding the nation in its grips — and a powerful government figure is pulling some very hidden strings. For the Brethren, the timing couldn't be better. Because they've just found the perfect victim...</p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Before he was sent to federal prison for treason (among other things), Joel Backman was an extremely powerful man. Known as "the broker," Backman was a high roller--a lawyer making $10 million a year who could "open any door in Washington." That is, until he tried to broker a deal selling access to the world's most powerful satellite surveillance system to the highest bidder. When caught, Backman accepted prison as the one option that would keep him safe and alive, since the interested parties (the Israelis, the Saudis, the Russians, and the Chinese) were all itching to get their hands on his secrets at any cost. Little does he know that his own government has designs on accessing that information--or at least letting it die with him. Now, six years after his incarceration, the director of the CIA convinces a lame duck president to pardon Backman, and the broker becomes a free man--and an open target.</p><p><em>The Broker</em> marries the best of John Grisham's many talents--his ability to immerse himself in the culture of small town life (in this case, Bologna, Italy), and his uncanny mastery of the chase. The first half of the book focuses on Backman's transformation from infamous power broker to helpless victim in his own game. Upon his release from prison, Backman is taken into "protective custody" and whisked off to Italy where he is assigned a new identity, and a tutor to help him blend in. Sure he is on the run, but some readers may feel that Backman's time spent in Bologna is a bit too leisurely--readers join him on an almost cinematic tour through the Italian town, complete with language and history lessons. Impatient readers will be happy to know that the final half of the novel is classic Grisham--a fast-paced, thrilling cat and mouse chase pitting Backman against the numerous agencies that want him dead--as the broker makes a move to take back his life. <em>--Daphne Durham</em></p><p><strong>Exclusive Video Interview with John Grisham</strong></p><ul><li><em>Watch the interview (high bandwith)</em></li><li><em>Watch the interview (low bandwith)</em></li></ul><p><strong>Grisham: The Books</strong></p><ul><li><em>A Time to Kill</em>, 1989</li><li><em>The Firm</em>, 1991</li><li><em>The Pelican Brief</em>, 1992</li><li><em>The Client</em>, 1993</li><li><em>The Chamber</em>, 1994</li><li><p><em>The Rainmaker</em>, 1995</p></li><li><p><em>The Runaway Jury</em>, 1996</p></li><li><em>The Partner</em>, 1997</li><li><em>The Street Lawyer</em>, 1998</li><li><em>The Testament</em>, 1999</li><li><em>The Brethren</em>, 2000</li><li><p><em>A Painted House</em>, 2001</p></li><li><p><em>Skipping Christmas</em>, 2001</p></li><li><em>The Summons</em>, 2002</li><li><em>The King of Torts</em>, 2003</li><li><em>Bleachers</em>, 2003</li><li><em>The Last Juror</em>, 2004</li><li><em>The Broker</em>, 2005</li></ul><p><strong>Essential Grisham</strong> <br /><em>Amazon Editor Favorites</em></p><p><em>A Time to Kill</em></p><p><em>The Firm</em></p><p><em>A Painted House</em></p><p><em>The Client</em></p><p><em>The Rainmaker</em></p><p><em>The Pelican Brief</em></p><p><strong>Bestselling Grisham</strong> <br /><em>Amazon Customer Favorites</em></p><p><em>The Last Juror</em></p><p><em>Skipping Christmas</em></p><p><em>Bleachers</em></p><p><em>The Testament</em></p><p><em>The Partner</em></p><p><em>The King of Torts</em></p><p><strong>If You Like Grisham, You'll Love...</strong></p><ul><li>John Lescroart</li><li>Richard North Patterson</li><li><p>David Baldacci</p></li><li><p>Lisa Scottoline</p></li><li>Robert Crais</li><li><p>Michael Crichton</p></li><li><p>Harlan Coben</p></li><li>Dennis Lehane</li><li>Ken Follett</li></ul><p><strong>Best Grisham Books on DVD</strong></p><p><em>A Time to Kill</em></p><p><em>The Pelican Brief</em></p><p><em>The Client</em></p><p><em>The Firm</em></p><p><em>The Rainmaker</em></p><p><em>The Chamber</em></p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Readers will find an amiable travelogue to Italy and its charms in Grisham's latest. What they won't find are the suspense and inspired plotting that have made the author (The Last Juror, etc.) one of the world's bestselling writers. Yet Grisham remains a smooth storyteller, and few will fail to finish this oddball tale of what happens to ruined D.C. powerbroker Joel Blackman, 52, when he's suddenly released from federal prison after six years. Teddy Maynard, legendary CIA director, has engineered the release in order to put Joel into a variant of the witness protection program and then see who kills him. Many want him dead—the Saudis, the Israelis, especially the Chinese—because of his role in trying to sell a global satellite spy system that would alter the world's balance of power; that was what got Joel imprisoned, and the CIA hopes that whoever kills him will clue them in to who may have access to the satellites. Joel is relocated to Bologna, and much of the narrative consists of his touring that city, its historic sights and its many restaurants, and learning Italian ways from his male handler, Luigi, and his language tutor, Francesca—a middle-aged woman with whom he falls in love. A major subplot concerns Joel's secret dealings with his stateside son to prepare for escape from Bologna if necessary. Eventually, the CIA leaks Joel's whereabouts to his enemies, who dispatch killing teams. Can Joel broker his way to safety? There's some depth to the troubled relationship between Joel and his tutor, but otherwise the novel reads like a contented afterthought to a memorable Italian vacation, with little action or tension, plastic characters and plot turns that a tricycle could maneuver. Still, anyone wishing to learn how and why Bologna built its famed porticos, why to be wary of most Italian desserts and how to send an encrypted wireless message using a global cell phone will find that information cheerfully given here. (Jan. 11) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>"The decision to bomb the office of the radical Jew lawyer was reached with relative ease." So begins Grisham's legal leviathan <em>The Chamber</em>, a 676-page tome that scrutinizes the death penalty and all of its nuances--from racially motivated murder to the cruel and unusual effects of a malfunctioning gas chamber. </p><p>Adam Hall is a 26-year-old attorney, fresh out of law school and working at the best firm in Chicago. He might have been humming Timbuk 3's big hit, "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades," if it wasn't for his psychotic Southern grandfather, Sam Cayhall. Cayhall, a card-carrying member of the KKK, is on death row for killing two men. Knowing his uncle will surely die without his legal expertise, Hall comes to the rescue and puts his dazzling career at stake, while digging up a barnyard of skeletons from his family's past. Grisham fans expecting the typical action-packed plot should ready themselves for a slower pace, well-fleshed-out characters, and heavy doses of sentimentalism. </p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>The chamber in question is the gas chamber at the Mississippi State Penitentiary--and for 69-year-old Sam Crayhall, the road thence has been many years long. Sam was twice tried and twice acquitted for murder after a 1967 Ku Klux Klan scare bombing accidentally killed the twin sons of the intended target; 14 years later he was tried a third time, convicted and sentenced to death. Now, in 1990, a young Chicago lawyer, employed by the firm that represented Sam but which he has just unceremoniously dumped, wants Sam as a client. Adam Hall, the 26-year-old rookie, is Sam Crayhall's grandson. Adam's efforts to save this splendid curmudgeon from death form the center of Grisham's quietly compelling novel, a hub from which the far-reaching spokes of personal dramas extend. The despair of prison life has rarely been so grippingly evoked--no riots or dazzling escapes here, just a drab, pervasive dailiness. And the gradually revealed dysfunctions of the Crayhalls prove both surprising and affecting. This ranks as top-notch Grisham and reveals new dimensions to his talent: the focus on character, the credible emotion and the simple moments of human connection bear comparison to Grisham's work in A Time to Kill . The prose, too, has more subtlety and texture than Grisham has previously exhibited. Though the countdown to an execution is a well-worn plot device, it has seldom been as effective, especially in the novel's last 100 pages. Readers can almost hear the cogs of justice turning ever faster--or is that the sound of Grisham's fans stampeding the bookstores for this riveting read? 2.5 million first printing; Literary Guild main selection; audio rights to BBD audio; major ad/promo. <br />Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Mark Sway, age 11 but years wiser thanks to a drunken dad who abused his mom, is out in the woods behind his Memphis trailer park teaching his kid brother, Ricky, how to smoke Virginia Slims heisted from Mom's purse. He's a pretty upright kid--he's determined to protect his brother from drugs, and he once defended his mom with a baseball bat. </p><p>The dangers of smoking rapidly escalate when Mark glimpses a guy trying to commit suicide by carbon monoxide in his car nearby and tries to stop him. The guy is Jerome, a lawyer who tells Mark that his Mafia client has murdered Senator Boyd Boyette and buried him in the concrete under his garage in New Orleans. Then Jerome puts a bullet in his own head. Little Ricky flips out, and so does Barry the Blade Muldanno, who doesn't want blustery U.S. attorney Reverend Roy Foltrigg to find the corpse and bust him. Caught in a ruthless game between the Mob and the amoral authorities, Mark's family has no defense in the world except Reggie Love, a 50ish divorcée who has just turned her life around by becoming a lawyer. Does she have what it takes to help Mark beat the system? The life-or-death chase is on! </p><p>Mark has seen a lot of movies, and he sees life in cinematic terms. So does Grisham. Even if this novel had never been filmed, it would still be a really good, fast-paced movie. Its literary limitation is also its filmlike virtue: <em>The Client</em> is a rush. </p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Fans of the bestselling Grisham will be pleased to note that he is once more on Firm ground: his latest legal thriller offers a clever, compelling plot coupled with two singular protagonists sure to elicit readers' empathy. Eleven-year-old Mark Sway, taking his kid brother for a smoke behind their Memphis trailer park, witnesses the suicide of a lawyer "driven crazy" by a lethal secret. Before he dies, the man confides to Mark where the body of a recently murdered U.S. senator lies buried, and the game's afoot. Trailed by the police, the FBI and assorted Mafia types (the deceased politico was the victim of "a successful New Orleans street thug"), Mark retains--for one dollar--the services of Reggie Love, a 50ish female lawyer. This uncommon attorney-client relationship adds an affecting, unusually humanistic layer to the novel's tension-filled events. Mark, raised by a divorced mother and wise beyond his years, thinks chiefly in terms of movies and TV; Reggie, a street-smart survivor of an acrimonious divorce, is often unsure whether to hug or slug her precocious client. True to form, Grisham employs just enough foreshadowing to keep the suspense rolling ("Neither of them could know that . . . "), and propels his action at the requisite breakneck pace. Occasional plot improbabilities and stylistic quibbles--a few fuzzy characterizations; overstatement of already obvious points; Mark's sporadic adult phraseology--will not deter readers from enjoying a rousing read. 950,000 first printing; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selections; Reader's Digest Condensed Book selection. <br />Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Grisham's recent slump continues with another subpar effort whose plot and characters, none of whom are painted in shades of gray, aren't able to support an earnest protest against the death penalty. In 2007, almost on the eve of the execution of Donté Drumm, an African-American college football star, for the 1998 murder of a white cheerleader whose body was never found, Travis Boyette, a creepy multiple sex offender, confesses that he's guilty of the crime to Kansas minister Keith Schroeder. With Drumm's legal options dwindling fast and with the threat of civil unrest in his Texas hometown if the execution proceeds, Schroeder battles to convince Boyette to go public with the truth--and to persuade the condemned man's attorney that Boyette's story needs to be taken seriously. While the action progresses with a certain grim realism, Schroeder's superficial responses to the issues raised undercut the impact. As with The Appeal, the author's passionate views on serious flaws in the justice system don't translate well into fiction. (Oct.) <br />(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. </p><h3>Review</h3><p><em />"<em>The Confession</em> is the kind of grab-a-reader-by-the-shoulders suspense story that demands to be inhaled as quickly as possible. But it's also a superb work of social criticism in the literary troublemaker tradition of Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle....Brilliant"--<em>Washington Post<br /></em><br /></p><p>"Grisham is the master of the legal thriller."--<em>USA Today</em><br /></p><p>NO ONE KEEPS YOU IN SUSPENSE LIKE AMERICA’S FAVORITE STORYTELLER <em /><br /><br />“The secrets of Grisham’s success are no secret at all. There are two of them: his pacing, which ranges from fast to breakneck, and his Theme—little guy takes on big conspiracy with the little guy getting the win in the end.” <em>—Time</em> magazine<br /><br />“The law, by its nature, creates drama, and a new Grisham promises us an inside look at the dirty machineries of process and power, with plenty of entertainment” —<em>Los Angeles Times</em><br /><br />“With every new book I appreciate John Grisham a little more, for his feisty critiques of the legal system, his compassion for the underdog, and his willingness to strike out in new directions.” —<em>Entertainment Weekly </em><br /><br />“John Grisham is about as good a storyteller as we’ve got in the United States these days.” —<em>The New York Times Book Review</em><br /><br />“Grisham is a marvelous storyteller who works readers the way a good trial lawyer works a jury.” —<em>Philadelphia Inquirer</em><br /><br /> “A mighty narrative talent and an unerring eye for hot-button issues.” —<em>Chicago Sun-Times</em><br /><br />“A legal literary legend.” —<em>USA Today</em><br /></p><p><em>From the Hardcover edition.</em></p>


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<p>At the top of his class at Harvard Law, he had  his choice of the best in America. He made a deadly  mistake. When Mitch McDeere signed on with  Bendini, Lambert &amp; Locke of Memphis, he thought he  and his beautiful wife, Abby, were on their way.  The firm leased him a BMW, paid off his school  loans, arranged a mortgage and hired him a  decorator. Mitch McDeere should have remembered what his  brother Ray — doing fifteen years in a Tennessee  jail — already knew. You never get nothing for  nothing. Now the FBI has the lowdown on Mitch's  firm and needs his help. Mitch is caught between a  rock and a hard place, with no choice — if he  wants to live.</p><p>LA Law meets The Godfather in the most talked about thriller of the year. A Harvard Law graduate joins a wealthy tax firm, only to find out it is owned by the most powerful Mob family in Chicago, and that they're laundering vast sums of money through dummy corporations around the world. And the FBI is pressuring him to become their informant . . . but perhaps there is one way out. Film rights sold to Paramount Pictures. </p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p><strong>Amazon Exclusive: Pat Conroy Reviews *Ford County</strong>* <br /></p><p><strong>Pat Conroy is most recently the author of the #1 <em>New York Times</em> bestseller <em>South of Broad</em>, as well as eight previous books: <em>The Boo</em>, <em>The Water Is Wide</em>, <em>The Great Santini</em>, <em>The Lords of Discipline</em>, <em>The Prince of Tides</em>, <em>Beach Music</em>, <em>My Losing Season</em>, and <em>The Pat Conroy Cookbook: Recipes of My Life</em>. He lives on Fripp Island, South Carolina. Read his exclusive Amazon guest review of <em>Ford County</em>:</strong> <br /></p><p>In the mail last week, I received a copy of John Grisham’s latest fiction. It surprised me that the book was comprised of seven short stories. From the time I first began publishing at Doubleday, they have always made sure that I received a copy of a Grisham book long before it went on sale in the bookstores. He has written 22 books, and I’ve read them all as soon as they were available in crisp review copies.</p><p>I have loved the Grisham books for the same reason that I love the works of John Irving, Richard Russo, or Anne Rivers Siddons: I get hooked by an early page, and pure habit forces me to read until I am issued my walking papers and can return to my normal life. These writers are all wish-bringers who cast spells with the bright enchantment of their stories, and the power of story has retained its glamour and necessity for me. I’ve always liked it when Grisham took a sabbatical from his impressive fiction to romp in the field of sports or non-fiction.</p><p>John surprised me by entering the ring of danger that the short story represents for all writers. In the world of writing, the poets come first as they finger the language like worry beads and wonder where their next meal is coming from. The art of the short story writer is one of economy, concision, and the genius of trying to craft a whole world inside a mason jar. The modern world punishes the short story writer with inattention. The literary reviews keep the short story alive and finger-popping in America today, while the <em>New Yorker</em> tries to strangle the form with its bare hands. But a great short story is a source of joy, and the reading of Chekhov, de Maupassant, Flannery O’Connor and others offer pleasures unmatched by any other form. Since I’m incapable of writing the short story form, I wanted to see how Grisham fared, knowing the critics would sharpen their swords against him no matter how accomplished his stories might be.</p><p><em>Ford County</em> is the best writing that John Grisham has ever done. One of the many things I’ve admired about his books is his intimate chronicle of Mississippi life in the generations following William Faulkner and Eudora Welty. Grisham writes equally well about the plantation south, the black south, and white-cracker south. Over the years he has used the legal system as an instrument to illuminate the world of mansions and sharecroppers and everything in between as he not only defined Mississippi but also staked it out as his home fictional territory. His short stories were a surprise to me. All of them are very good; three of them, I believe, are great. Grisham has always had a rare gift for breaking hearts when he invokes unforgettable images of the broken, hopeless South. Some of the stories are hilarious, and Grisham’s gift of humor has never found a showcase like this. One of these stories should find its way into the anthologies of the best short stories of 2009. It might not happen, but I for one think the stories in <em>Ford County</em> are that damned good.<em>--Pat Conroy</em></p><p>(Photo © David G. Spielman) </p><hr /><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Returning to the setting of his first novel, A Time to Kill, longtime bestseller Grisham presents seven short stories about the residents of Ford County, Miss. Each story explores different themes-mourning, revenge, justice, acceptance, evolution-but all flirt with the legal profession, the staple of (former attorney) Grisham's oeuvre. Fans will be excited to settle back into Grisham's world, and these easily digestible stories don't disappoint, despite their brevity. Full of strong characters, simple but resonant plotlines, and charming Southern accents, this collection is solid throughout; though his literary aspirations may seem quaint, Grisham succeeds admirably in his crowd-pleasing craft while avoiding pat endings or oversimplifying (perhaps best exemplified in "Michael's Room," which finds a lawyer facing the consequences of successfully defending a doctor against a malpractice suit). As always, Grisham balances his lawyerly preoccupations with a deep respect for his undereducated and overlooked characters. <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p>


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<p>The partners at Finley &amp; Figg—all two of them—often refer to themselves as “a boutique law firm.” Boutique, as in chic, selective, and prosperous. They are, of course, none of these things. What they are is a two-bit operation always in search of their big break, ambulance chasers who’ve been in the trenches much too long making way too little. Their specialties, so to speak, are quickie divorces and DUIs, with the occasional jackpot of an actual car wreck thrown in. After twenty plus years together, Oscar Finley and Wally Figg bicker like an old married couple but somehow continue to scratch out a half-decent living from their seedy bungalow offices in southwest Chicago.</p><p>And then change comes their way. More accurately, it stumbles in. David Zinc, a young but already burned-out attorney, walks away from his fast-track career at a fancy downtown firm, goes on a serious bender, and finds himself literally at the doorstep of our boutique firm. Once David sobers up and comes to grips with the fact that he’s suddenly unemployed, any job—even one with Finley &amp; Figg—looks okay to him.</p><p>With their new associate on board, F&amp;F is ready to tackle a really big case, a case that could make the partners rich without requiring them to actually practice much law. An extremely popular drug, Krayoxx, the number one cholesterol reducer for the dangerously overweight, produced by Varrick Labs, a giant pharmaceutical company with annual sales of $25 billion, has recently come under fire after several patients taking it have suffered heart attacks. Wally smells money.</p><p>A little online research confirms Wally’s suspicions—a huge plaintiffs’ firm in Florida is putting together a class action suit against Varrick. All Finley &amp; Figg has to do is find a handful of people who have had heart attacks while taking Krayoxx, convince them to become clients, join the class action, and ride along to fame and fortune. With any luck, they won’t even have to enter a courtroom!</p><p>It almost seems too good to be true.</p><p>And it is.<br /><em><br />The Litigators</em> is a tremendously entertaining romp, filled with the kind of courtroom strategies, theatrics, and suspense that have made John Grisham America’s favorite storyteller.</p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Grisham continues to impress with his daring, venturing out of legal thrillers entirely for A Painted House and Skipping Christmas (the re-release of which this past fall was itself a bold move) and, within the genre, working major variations. Here's his most unusual legal thriller yet--a story whose hero and villain are the same, a young man with the tragic flaw of greed; a story whose suspense arises not from physical threat but moral turmoil, and one that launches a devastating assault on a group of the author's colleagues within the law. Mass tort lawyers are Grisham's target, the men (they're all men here, at least) who win billion-dollar class-action settlements from corporations selling bad products, then rake fantastic fees off the top, with far smaller payouts going to the people harmed by the products. Clay Carter is a burning-out lawyer at the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) in Washington, D.C., when he catches the case of a teen who, for no apparent reason, has gunned down an acquaintance. Clay is approached by a mysterious stranger, the enigmatic Max Pace, who says he represents a megacorporation whose bad drug caused the teen--and others--to kill. The corporation will pay Clay $10 million to settle with all the murder victims at $5 million per, if all is accomplished on the hush-hush; that way, the corporation avoids trial and possibly much higher jury awards. After briefly examining his conscience, Clay bites. He quits the OPD, sets up his own firm and settles the cases. In reward, Pace gives him a present--a mass tort case based on stolen evidence but worth tens of millions in fees. Clay lunges again, eventually winning over a hundred million in fees. He is crowned by the press the new King of Torts, with enough money to hobnob with the other, venal-hearted tort royalty, to buy a Porsche, a Georgetown townhouse and a private jet, but not enough to forget his heartache over the woman he loves, who dumped him as a loser right before his career took off. Clay's financial/legal hubris knows few bounds, and soon he's overextended, his future hanging on the results of one product liability trial. The tension is considerable throughout, and readers will like the gentle ending, but Grisham's aim here clearly is to educate as he entertains. He can be didactic (" <code>Nobody earns ten million dollars in six months, Clay,' " a friend warns. "</code>You might win it, steal it, or have it drop out of the sky, but nobody earns money like that. It's ridiculous and obscene' "), but readers will applaud Grisham's fierce moral stance (while perhaps wondering what sort of advance he got for this book) as they cling to his words every step along the way of this powerful and gripping morality tale.<br />Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>Review</h3><p>“Rousing . . . Another pedal-to-the-metal crowd-pleaser.”—<em>People</em><br /></p><p>“Offers everything one expects from Grisham . . . delivers with a vengeance.”<em>—The Seattle Times</em><br /></p><p>“Satisfying . . . a lot of fun . . . When you finish it, you’re ready to dash on to the next Grisham.”<em>—Entertainment Weekly</em><br /><em> </em><br />“A thrill ride of twists and turns.”<em>—The Philadelphia Inquirer</em><br /></p><p><em>From the Paperback edition.</em></p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>In 1970, small town newspaper <em>The Clanton Times</em> went belly up. With financial assistance from a rich relative, it's purchased by 23-year-old Willie Traynor, formerly the paper's cub reporter. Soon afterward, his new business receives the readership boost it needs thanks to his editorial efforts and coverage of a particularly brutal rape and murder committed by the scion of the town's reclusive bootlegger family. Rather than shy from reporting on the subsequent open-and-shut trial (those who oppose the Padgitt family tend to turn up dead in the area's swampland), Traynor launches a crusade to ensure the unrepentant murderer is brought to justice. When a guilty verdict is returned, the town is relieved to find the Padgitt family's grip on the town did not sway the jury, though Danny Padgitt is sentenced to life in prison rather than death. But, when Padgitt is released after serving less than a decade in jail and members of the jury are murdered, Clanton once again finds itself at the mercy of its renegade family.</p><p>When it comes, the dénouement is no surprise; <em>The Last Juror</em> is less a story of suspense than a study of the often idyllic southern town of Clanton, Mississippi (the setting for Grisham's first novel, <em>A Time to Kill</em>). Throughout the nine years between Padgitt's trial and release, Traynor finds acceptance in Clanton, where the people "don't really trust you unless they trusted your grandfather." He grows from a long-haired idealist into another of the town's colorful characters--renovating an old house, sporting a bowtie, beloved on both sides of the color line, and the only person to have attended each of the town's 88 churches at least once. <em>The Last Juror</em> returns Grisham to the courtroom where he made his name, but those who enjoyed the warm sentiment of his recent novels (<em>Bleachers</em>, <em>A Painted House</em>) will still find much to love here. <em>--Benjamin Reese</em></p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Grisham has spent the last few years stretching his creative muscles through a number of genres: his usual legal thrillers (The Summons, The King of Torts, etc.), a literary novel (The Painted House), a Christmas book (Skipping Christmas) and a high school football elegy (Bleachers). This experimentation seems to have imbued his writing with a new strength, giving exuberant life to this compassionate, compulsively readable story of a young man's growth from callowness to something approaching wisdom. Willie Traynor, 23 and a college dropout, is working as a reporter on a small-town newspaper, the Ford County Times, in Clanton, Miss. When the paper goes bankrupt, Willie turns to his wealthy grandmother, who loans him $50,000 to buy it. Backed by a stalwart staff, Willie labors to bring the newspaper back to health. A month after his first issue, he gets the story of a lifetime, the murder of beautiful young widow Rhoda Kasselaw. After being raped and knifed, the nude Rhoda staggered next door and whispered to her neighbor as she was dying, "Danny Padgitt. It was Danny Padgitt." The killer belongs to an infamous clan of crooked highway contractors, killers and drug smugglers who live on impregnable Padgitt Island. Willie splashes the murder all over the Times, making him both an instant success and a marked man. The town is up in arms, demanding Danny's head. After a near miss (the Padgitts are known for buying themselves out of trouble), Danny is convicted and sentenced to life in prison. As he's dragged out of the courtroom, he vows revenge on the jurors. Willie finds, to his consternation, that in Mississippi life doesn't necessarily mean life, so in nine years Danny is back outâ€"and jurors begin to die. Around and through this plot Grisham tells the sad, heroic, moving stories of the eccentric inhabitants of Clanton, a small town balanced between the pleasures and perils of the old and the new South. The novel is heartfelt, wise, suspenseful and funny, one of the best Grishams ever. <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Ever since he published <em>The Firm</em> in 1991, John Grisham has remained the undisputed champ of the legal thriller. With <em>A Painted House</em>, however, he strikes out in a new direction. As the author is quick to note, this novel includes "not a single lawyer, dead or alive," and readers will search in vain for the kind of lowlife machinations that have been his stock-in-trade. Instead, Grisham has delivered a quieter, more contemplative story, set in rural Arkansas in 1952. It's harvest time on the Chandler farm, and the family has hired a crew of migrant Mexicans and "hill people" to pick 80 acres of cotton. A certain camaraderie pervades this bucolic dream team. But it's backbreaking work, particularly for the 7-year-old narrator, Luke: "I would pick cotton, tearing the fluffy bolls from the stalks at a steady pace, stuffing them into the heavy sack, afraid to look down the row and be reminded of how endless it was, afraid to slow down because someone would notice."</p><p>What's more, tensions begin to simmer between the Mexicans and the hill people, one of whom has a penchant for bare-knuckles brawling. This leads to a brutal murder, which young Luke has the bad luck to witness. At this point--with secrets, lies, and at least one knife fight in the offing--the plot begins to take on that familiar, Grisham-style momentum. Still, such matters ultimately take a back seat in <em>A Painted House</em> to the author's evocation of time and place. This is, after all, the scene of his boyhood, and Grisham waxes nostalgic without ever succumbing to deep-fried sentimentality. Meanwhile, his account of Luke's Baptist upbringing occasions some sly (and telling) humor: </p><blockquote><p>I'd been taught in Sunday school from the day I could walk that lying would send you straight to hell. No detours. No second chances. Straight into the fiery pit, where Satan was waiting with the likes of Hitler and Judas Iscariot and General Grant. Thou shalt not bear false witness, which, of course, didn't sound exactly like a strict prohibition against lying, but that was the way the Baptists interpreted it. </p></blockquote><p>Whether Grisham will continue along these lines, or revert to the judicial shark tank for his next book, is anybody's guess. But <em>A Painted House</em> suggests that he's perfectly capable of telling an involving story with nary a subpoena in sight. <em>--James Marcus</em></p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Who needs lawyers? Not Grisham, in his captivating new novel, now between hardcovers after serialization in the Oxford American. Here there are hardscrabble farmers instead, and dirt-poor itinerant workers and a seven-year-old boy who grows up fast in a story as rich in conflict and incident as any previous Grisham and as nuanced as his very best. It's September 1952 in rural Arkansas when young narrator Luke Chandler notes that "the hill people and the Mexicans arrived on the same day." These folk are in Black Oak for the annual harvest of the cotton grown on the 80 acres that the Chandlers rent. The three generations of the Chandler family treat their workers more kindly than most farmers do, including engaging in the local obsession--playing baseball--with them, but serious trouble arises among the harvesters nonetheless. Most of it centers around Hank Spruill, a giant hillbilly with an equally massive temper, who one night in town beats a man dead and who throughout the book rubs up against a knife-wielding Mexican who is dating Hank's 17-year-old sister on the sly, leading to another murder. In fact, there's a mess of trouble in Luke's life, from worries about his uncle Ricky fighting in Korea to concerns about the nearby Latcher family and its illegitimate newborn baby, who may be Ricky's son. And then there are the constant fears about the weather, as much a character in this novel as any human, from the tornado that storms past the farm to the downpours that eventually flood the fields, ruining the crop and washing Luke and his family into a new life.Grisham admirers know that this author's writing has evolved with nearly every book, from the simple mechanics that made The Firm click to the manifestations of grace that made The Testament such a fine novel of spiritual reckoning. The mechanics are still visible here--as a nosy, spying boy, Luke serves as a nearly omnipresent eye to spur the novel along its course--but so, too, are characters that no reader will forget, prose as clean and strong as any Grisham has yet laid down and a drop-dead evocation of a time and place that mark this novel as a classic slice of Americana. Agent, David Gernert. (One-day laydown, Feb. 6)FORECAST: Will Grisham's fans miss the lawyers? Not hardly. This is a Grisham novel all the way, despite its surface departures from the legal thrillers, and it will be received as such, justifying the 2.8-million first printing. (For more on Grisham, see Book News, p. 178)</p><p>Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.</p>


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<p>They hired him.  They trusted him.  Now they don't want justice--they want revenge....For four years, Patrick had often wondered how it would feel if they caught him.Now he was terror-stricken.  Practically naked and strapped down like an animal, he knew the next few hours would be insufferable....Once he was a well-liked, well-paid young partner in a thriving Mississippi law firm.  Then Patrick Lanigan stole ninety million dollars from his own firm--and ran for his life.  For four years, he evaded men who were rich, powerful, and would stop at nothing to find him.  Then, inevitably, on the edge of the Brazilian jungle, they finally tracked him down.Now Patrick is coming home.  And in the Mississippi city where it all began, an extraordinary trial is about to begin.  As prosecutors circle like sharks, as Patrick's lawyer prepares his defense, as Patrick's lover prays for his deliverance and his former partners wait for their revenge, another story is about to emerge.  Because Patrick Lanigan, the most reviled white-collar criminal of his time, knows something that no one else in the world knows.He knows the truth....</p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>John Grisham's head was full of movies when he wrote <em>The Pelican Brief</em>, which is such a brisk page-turner you could use it to dry your hair. He had Julia Roberts in mind for the heroine, Darby Shaw, a brilliant Tulane law student who comes up with an ingenious theory to explain the baffling assassinations of two Supreme Court justices in one day. They were shot and strangled by ace international terrorist Khamel, who loves the film <em>Three Days of the Condor</em>, but government gumshoes don't get what connects the deaths. Silly government guys! They died so the conservative president, who just wants to be left alone to play golf, will appoint new, conservative justices who will help out a case involving an industrialist who is the enemy of pelicans and other living things. It's all spelled out for them in Darby's brief. She likes to do legal feats to impress her boyfriend, her boyish law prof Thomas (who, like Grisham, prefers to shave at most once a week, and is cool, smart, and antiauthoritarian). The prof likes to paint her toes red, in homage to Susan Sarandon in <em>Bull Durham</em>. (Sarandon also starred in the film version of Grisham's <em>The Client</em>.)</p><p>But when Thomas gets splattered by a car bomb meant for Darby, she escapes the hospital and hooks up with a <em>Washington Post</em> reporter, Gray Grantham, who sleuths like the guys in <em>All the President's Men</em>. </p><p>Grisham wishes he hadn't written <em>The Pelican Brief</em> quite so quickly (his first novel, <em>A Time to Kill</em>, went through dozens of drafts), but <em>Pelican</em>'s very breathlessness contributes to its dreamy, cinematic chase-o-rama atmosphere. </p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>In this tale of the aftermath of the assassinations of two Supreme Court justices, Grisham delivers a suspenseful plot at a breakneck pace, although his characters are stereotypes. The hardcover was on the PW bestseller list 48 weeks and the mass market was No. 1 last week. <br />Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p><strong>*Playing for Pizza: * A Q&amp;A with John Grisham</strong></p><p><strong>Q: </strong>American football in Italy seems like an unlikely subject for a John Grisham novel. What was the inspiration for <em>Playing for Pizza</em>? </p><p><strong>A: </strong>Three years ago when I was in Bologna researching "The Broker", I discovered American football. One of my guides in the area played football for the Bologna Warriors for 10 years. I couldn't believe that American football actually existed there, but the more I heard about it the more intrigued I became. </p><p><strong>Q: </strong>There is some great football writing in this novel. What kind of research was involved in capturing how this American institution is played in small town Italy? </p><p><strong>A: </strong>The only way to research the book was to go to Parma and watch a game. The coach is an American who played at Illinois State, and he proved to be extremely valuable. I met many of the Italian players and the story simply unfolded. </p><p><strong>Q: </strong>Speaking of research, you write lovingly of Italian food and wine in this book. What's your idea of the perfect Italian meal? </p><p><strong>A: </strong>First course: prosicutto and melon; second course: stuffed tortellini; third course: roasted stuffed capon, all served with a great Barolo wine. </p><p><strong>Q: </strong>Without giving away too much of the plot, your protagonist falls in love by the novel's end. Did you know when you started writing that Rick would get the girl? </p><p><strong>A: </strong>Of course. </p><p><strong>Q: </strong>You have a new legal thriller coming in January 2008. Can you give us any hints about what to expect? </p><p><strong>A: </strong>I really don't like to talk about a book until it's finished. Sorry. But it will not be another work of non-fiction, nor will it be about football. Lots of lawyers in the next one. <br /></p><hr /><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Third-string Cleveland Browns quarterback Rick Dockery becomes the greatest goat ever by throwing three interceptions in the closing minutes of the AFC championship game. Fleeing vengeful fans, he finds refuge in the grungiest corner of professional football, the Italian National Football League as quarterback of the inept but full-of-heart Parma Panthers. What ensues is a winsome football fable, replete with team bonding and character-building as the underdog Panthers challenge the powerhouse Bergamo Lions for a shot at the Italian Superbowl. The book is also the author's love letter to Italy. Rick is first baffled and then enchanted by all things Italian-tiny cars! opera! benign corruption!-and through him Grisham (The Firm) instructs his readership in the art of gracious living, featuring sumptuous four-hour, umpteen-course meals. The writing sometimes lapses into travel-guide ("most Italian cities are sort of configured around a central square, called a piazza") and food porn ("[the veal cutlets are beaten with a small bat, then dipped in eggs, fried in a skillet, and then baked in the oven with a mix of parmigiano cheese and stock until the cheese melts"), but it's invigorated by appealing characters and lively play-by-play. The result is a charming fish-out-of-water story. <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Rudy Baylor, a new law school graduate, once dreamed of the good life as a corporate attorney. Now he faces joblessness and bankruptcy--unless he can win an insurance case against a heavyweight team of lawyers, a case that starts small but mushrooms into a frightening war of nerve and legal skill that could cost Rudy not only his future, but also his life. </p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Grisham's intricate, spellbinding sixth novel differs from his last few?it's his only book with first-person narration and his first since his debut to be set in a courtroom?but the trademark Grisham touches are in place. Rookie attorney Rudy Baylor is the customary David fighting a legal Goliath (here a multibillion-dollar insurance company), and the suspense builds with impeccable pacing despite workaday prose. When the modestly sized law firm that contracted for his future services unexpectedly merges with a tony Ivy League firm, Rudy finds himself without a job and bankrupt. Filing a $10 million lawsuit takes away some of the sting, as does a lonely elderly woman's offer of low rent on a small apartment in exchange for rewriting her will. To make a living, Rudy finds himself chasing ambulances for a racketeering shyster, leading to his becoming enthralled with a beautiful young woman hospitalized by her husband's murderous attack. When Rudy agrees to represent the parents of a dying 22-year-old denied insurance coverage for a bone-marrow transplant, he finds that he is up against the firm that broke contract with him. Melding the courtroom savvy of A Time to Kill with the psychological nuance of The Chamber, imbued with wry humor and rich characters, this bittersweet tale, the author's quietest and most thoughtful, shows that Grisham's imagination can hold its own in a courtroom as well as on the violent streets outside. Major ad/promo; large-print edition, ISBN 0-385-47512-8; audio rights to BDD Audio. <br />Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Millions of dollars are at stake in a huge tobacco-company case in Biloxi, and the jury's packed with people who have dirty little secrets. A mysterious young man takes subtle control of the jury as the defense watches helplessly, but they soon realize that he in turn is controlled by an even more mysterious young woman. Lives careen off course as they bend everyone in the case to their will. </p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Grisham is either remarkably prescient or just plain lucky; because with public concerns about the tobacco companies heating up, and two major nonfiction books currently garnering a lot of attention, he has come up with a tobacco-suit novel that lights up the courtroom. In a Mississippi Gulf Coast town, the widow of a lifelong smoker who died prematurely of lung cancer is suing Big Tobacco. Enter Rankin Fitch, a dark genius of jury fixing, who has won many such trials for the tobacco companies and who foresees no special problems here. Enter also a mysterious juror, Nicholas Easter, whom Fitch's army of jury investigators and manipulators can't quite seem to track-and his equally mysterious girlfriend Marlee, who soon shows Fitch she knows even more about what's happening in the jury room than he does. The details of jury selection are fascinating and the armies of lawyerly hangers-on and overpaid consultants that surround such potentially profitable (to either side) cases are horribly convincing. The cat-and-mouse game played between Nicholas, Marlee and Fitch over the direction of the jury quickly becomes hair-raising as the stakes inch ever higher. As usual with Grisham, the writing is no more than workmanlike, the characterizations are alternatively thin and too broad, but all is redeemed by his patented combination of expertise and narrative drive. What makes The Runaway Jury his most rewarding novel to date is that it is fully enlisted in an issue of substance, in which arguments of genuine pith are hammered out and resolved in a manner that is both intellectually and emotionally satisfying. It's a thriller for people who think, and Jesse Helms won't like it one bit. First printing of 2.8 million; major ad/promo; Literary Guild main selection. (May) ~ Mystery<br />Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>


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<p>BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from John Grisham's The Confession. Luther and Nora Krank are fed up with the chaos of Christmas. The endless shopping lists, the frenzied dashes through the mall, the hassle of decorating the tree... where has all the joy gone? This year, celebrating seems like too much effort. With their only child off in Peru, they decide that just this once, they'll skip the holidays. They spend their Christmas budget on a Caribbean cruise set to sail on December 25, and happily settle in for a restful holiday season free of rooftop snowmen and festive parties. But the Kranks soon learn that their vacation from Christmas isn't much of a vacation at all, and that skipping the holidays has consequences they didn't bargain for... A modern Christmas classic, Skipping Christmas is a charming and hilarious look at the mayhem and madness that have become ingrained in our holiday tradition.</p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>John Grisham is back with his latest courtroom conundrum, <em>The Street Lawyer</em>. This time the lord of legal thrillers dives deep into the world of the homeless, particularly their barely audible legal voice in a world dominated by large, all-powerful law firms. Our hero, Michael Brock, is on the fast track to partnership at D.C.'s premier law firm, Sweeny &amp; Drake. His dream of someday raking in a million-plus a year is finally within reach. Nothing can stop him, not even 90-hour workweeks and a failing marriage--until he meets DeVon Hardy, a.k.a. "Mister," a Vietnam vet with a grudge against his landlord--and a few lawyers to fry. Hardy, with no clear motive, takes Brock and eight of his colleagues hostage in a boardroom, demanding their tax returns and interrogating them with a conviction that would have put perpetrators of the Spanish Inquisition to shame. Hardy, a man of few words and a lot of ammunition, mumbles cryptically, "Who are the evictors?" as he points a .44 automatic within inches of Brock's face. The violent outcome of the hostage situation triggers an abrupt soul-searching for the young lawyer, and Hardy's mysterious question continues to haunt him. Brock learns that Hardy had been in and out of homeless shelters most of his life, but he had recently begun paying rent in a rundown building; that means he has legal recourse when a big money-making outfit such as Sweeny &amp; Drake boots him with no warning. When Brock realizes that his profession caters to the morally challenged, he sets out on an aimless search through the dicier side of D.C., ending up at the 14th Street Legal Clinic. The clinic's director, a gargantuan man named Mordecai Green, woos Brock to the clinic with a $90,000 cut in pay and the chance to redeem his soul. Brock takes it--and some of the story's credibility along with it; it's hard to believe that a Yale graduate who sacrificed everything--including his marriage--to succeed in the legal profession would quickly jump at the opportunity for low-paying, charitable work. However, Brock's search for corruption in the swanky upper echelons of Sweeny &amp; Drake (via the toughest streets of D.C.) is filled with colorful characters and realistic, gritty descriptions. In the <em>The Street Lawyer</em>, Grisham once again defends the voiceless and powerless. In the words of Mordecai Green, "That's justice, Michael. That's what street law is all about. Dignity." </p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>America's most popular author is arguably its most popular crusader as well, tilting his pen against myriad targets, including big law (The Firm, etc.), big tobacco (The Runaway Jury), big insurance (The Rainmaker) and now, in perhaps his sweetest, shortest novel, against anyone, big or little, who treats the homeless as less than human. The expected powerhouse opening involves the hostage-taking?by an armed, homeless man who calls himself Mister?of nine attorneys of a huge law firm headquartered in D.C. Among the nine is narrator Michael Brock, an antitrust lawyer who receives a faceful of blood when a police sniper blows away Mister's head. "I'm alive! I'm alive," Michael cries like Ebenezer Scrooge, but, like Scrooge, this greedy hotshot is ripe for a moral awakening. The next day, Michael visits the shabby offices of Mister's attorney, Mordecai Green, who explains that Mister and others had been illegally evicted from makeshift housing on orders from a real-estate development company represented by Michael's firm. Inspired by Green and shaken by his firm's complicity, Michael volunteers at a homeless shelter. When a family he meets there dies on the street, and turns out to have been among the evictees, Michael quits his job, goes to work for Green and, using as evidence a file he steals from the firm, aims to sue his former employer on behalf of the evictees. In turn, the firm places Michael in its crosshairs, pressuring him to give up the file through legal maneuvers, having him arrested and hints of darker means. The cat-and-mouse between Michael and the firm is vintage Grisham, intricately plotted, but the emphasis in this smoothly told, baldly manipulative tale is less on action and suspense, which are moderate, than on Michael's change of heart and moving exploration of the world of the homeless. Dickens would be well pleased, and so will Grisham's fans. 2.8 million first printing. <br />Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Law professor Ray Atlee and his prodigal brother, Forrest, are summoned home to Clanton, Mississippi, by their ailing father to discuss his will. But when Ray arrives the judge is already dead, and the one-page document dividing his meager estate between the two sons seems crystal clear. What it doesn't mention, however, is the small fortune in cash Ray discovers hidden in the old man's house--$3 million he can't account for and doesn't mention to brother Forrest, either.</p><p>Ray's efforts to keep his find a secret, figure out where it came from, and hide it from a nameless extortioner, who seems to know more about it than he does, culminate in a denouement with an almost biblical twist. It's a slender plot to hang a thriller on, and in truth it's not John Grisham's best in terms of pacing, dramatic tension, and interesting characters (except for Harry Rex, a country lawyer who was the judge's closest friend and in many ways is the father Ray wishes he'd had. He's so vivid he jumps off the page). But Grisham's legions of fans are likely to enjoy <em>The Summons</em> even if it lacks the power of some of his classic earlier books, like <em>The Firm</em>, <em>The Brethren</em>, and <em>The Testament</em>. <em>--Jane Adams</em></p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Last year's historical family drama A Painted House and the Christmas satire Skipping Christmas demonstrated that Grisham is willing to take risks. But fans of his legal thrillers already knew that, with his last three, particularly The Testament, making Play-Doh of the rules of the genre. Sometimes Grisham's friskiness works, and sometimes it doesn't. There's much to admire in his newest thriller, particularly his colorful evocation of a Deep South legal setting, his first use of this milieu since his debut novel, A Time to Kill, and some finely drawn characters. Even so, this isn't one of his most satisfying books, for while the narrative engages, it never catches fire. The setup is prime Grisham: Ray Atlee, a professor of law at the University of Virginia, is summoned home to Clanton, Miss., to the deathbed of his father, legendary judge Reuben V. Atlee; also summoned is Ray's younger brother, Forrest, a chronic drug abuser. Ray arrives home first, to find the judge dead and more than $3 million stored in boxes in a cabinet cash not mentioned in the judge's will and whose source baffles Ray. Grisham does a wonderful job of digging into Ray's increasingly frazzled head as, stunned, the professor decides to keep the money a secret, even from Forrest, and to safeguard it until he figures out what to do. Greed, frayed nerves and fear plague Ray during the coming weeks, as he investigates, scrambling from one hideout to the next, becoming ever more aware that someone dangerous is following him and wants the money. Several scenarios Ray's indulging his passion for flying small planes; his playing some of the cash at casinos to test it for counterfeiting; his dealings with screwed-up Forrest and his father's cronies, notably an ex-mistress and a wily old attorney propel the story, and Ray, forward to the source of the money, a revelation that allows Grisham to take his usual swipes at big lawyerism but which will register for many as anticlimactic though there's a final twist that as nifty and unexpected as anything Grisham has wrought. Grisham's writing is silky smooth here, his storytelling captivating; but the novel's lack of action a stone thrown through a window is as violent as it gets and the dissipation of all tension too far from the end make this, while a clever tale, one that's just too quiet. Grisham's fans might as well trim their nails while reading this, because they sure won't be biting them. <br />Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. </p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Troy Phelan, a 78-year-old eccentric and the 10th-richest man in America, is about to read his last will and testament, divvying up an estate worth $11 billion. Phelan's three ex-wives, their grasping spawn, a legion of lawyers, several psychiatrists, and a plethora of sound technicians wait breathlessly, all eyes glued to digital monitors as they watch the old man read his verdict. But Phelan shocks everyone with a bizarre, last-gasp attempt to redistribute the spoils, setting in motion a legal morality tale of a contested will, sin, and redemption.</p><p>Our hero, Nate O'Riley--a washed-up, alcoholic litigator with two ruined marriages in his wake and the IRS on his tail--is dispatched to the Brazilian wetlands in search of a mysterious heir named in the will. After a harrowing trip upriver to a remote settlement in the Pantanal, he encounters Rachel Lane, a pure-hearted missionary living with an indigenous tribe and carrying out "God's work." Rachel's grave dedication and kindness impress the jaded lawyer, so much that a nasty bout of dengue fever leads him to a vision that could change his life.</p><p>Back in the States, the legal proceedings drag on and Grisham has a high time with Phelan's money-hungry descendents, a regrettable bunch who squandered millions, married strippers, got druggy, and befriended the Mob. The youngest son, Ramble, is a multi-pierced, tattoo-covered malcontent with big dreams for his rock band, the Demon Monkeys. Will Nate get straight with Rachel's aid? Do the greedy heirs get theirs? What's the real legacy of a lifetime's work? <em>The Testament</em> is classic Grisham: a down-and-out lawyer, a lot of money, an action-packed pursuit, and the highest issues at stake. It's not just about great characters; it's about the question of what character is. <em>--Rebekah Warren</em></p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>A traditional gangbuster Grisham opening?in which an aged billionaire outfoxes his greedy heirs by signing a bombshell will, then jumps to his death?gives little clue how this seductive tale will develop. The novel also features the usual attorney hero and legal action, but Grisham confounds expectations by sweeping readers into adventure in the Brazilian wetlands and, more urgently, into a man's search for spiritual renewal. Nate O'Riley, 48, is a drunk. He's also a top D.C. attorney who, winding up his fourth rehab stint in 10 years, is asked by his firm to find one Rachel Lane. The illegitimate daughter to whom the firm's client, tycoon Troy Phelan, has left his entire $11 billion fortune, Rachel is a missionary-physician tending Indians somewhere in Brazil's Pantanal region. Nate's experiences there prove nightmarish, including fierce storms, a plane crash, dangerous animals, hunger and, finally, dengue fever, which nearly kills him. But as Grisham crosscuts from Brazil to D.C. and the sleazy machinations of Phelan's other children and their lawyers to negate Phelan's will, readers will wonder which is the real jungle; never has Grisham revealed so nakedly his contempt for the legal profession. What Grisham holds dear is made clear in his unforgettable portrait of Rachel, whose serenity and integrity stun Nate, while inspiring him to forsake forever his lust for booze, power and money and to turn toward God. The message (which isn't entirely new to Grisham; see The Street Lawyer) and the storytelling that conveys it aren't subtle, but Grisham's smart use of the suspense novel to explore questions of being and faith puts him squarely in the footsteps of Dickens and Graham Greene. Sincere, exciting and tinged with wonder, this novel is going to sell like an angel, and deservedly so. Agent, David Gernert. 2.8 million first printing. (On-sale date: Feb. 1)<br />Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>


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<p>Before <em>The Firm</em> and  <em>The Pelican Brief</em> made him a superstar,  John Grisham wrote this riveting story of  retribution and justice — at last it's available in a  Doubleday hardcover edition. In this searing courtroom  drama, best-selling author John Grisham probes the  savage depths of racial violence...as he delivers  a compelling tale of uncertain justice in a small  southern town...Clanton, Mississippi.  </p><p>The life of a ten-year-old girl is shattered by two  drunken and remorseless young man. The mostly  white town reacts with shock and horror at the inhuman  crime. Until her black father acquires an assault  rifle — and takes justice into his own outraged  hands.</p><p>For ten days, as burning crosses  and the crack of sniper fire spread through the  streets of Clanton, the nation sits spellbound as  young defense attorney Jake Brigance struggles to save  his client's life...and then his own...</p><p>Available for the first time in a hardcover edition, this riveting novel of rape, murder, retribution, and justice set in rural Mississippi was Grisham's first novel and led to his subsequent bestsellers The Firm, The Pelican Brief, and The Client. </p>


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Starred Review. <em>Reviewed by</em> Megan Whalen Turner <br>If there really are only seven original plots in the world, it's odd that boy meets girl is always mentioned, and society goes bad and attacks the good guy never is. Yet we have <em>Fahrenheit 451</em>, <em>The Giver</em>, <em>The House of the Scorpion</em>—and now, following a long tradition of Brave New Worlds, <em>The Hunger Games</em>. Collins hasn't tied her future to a specific date, or weighted it down with too much finger wagging. Rather less <em>1984</em> and rather more <em>Death Race 2000</em>, hers is a gripping story set in a postapocalyptic world where a replacement for the United States demands a tribute from each of its territories: two children to be used as gladiators in a televised fight to the death.Katniss, from what was once Appalachia, offers to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, but after this ultimate sacrifice, she is entirely focused on survival at any cost. It is her teammate, Peeta, who recognizes the importance of holding on to one's humanity in such inhuman circumstances. It's a credit to Collins's skill at characterization that Katniss, like a new Theseus, is cold, calculating and still likable. She has the attributes to be a winner, where Peeta has the grace to be a good loser.It's no accident that these games are presented as pop culture. Every generation projects its fear: runaway science, communism, overpopulation, nuclear wars and, now, reality TV. The State of Panem—which needs to keep its tributaries subdued and its citizens complacent—may have created the Games, but mindless television is the real danger, the means by which society pacifies its citizens and punishes those who fail to conform. Will its connection to reality TV, ubiquitous today, date the book? It might, but for now, it makes this the right book at the right time. What happens if we choose entertainment over humanity? In Collins's world, we'll be obsessed with grooming, we'll talk funny, and all our sentences will end with the same rise as questions. When Katniss is sent to stylists to be made more telegenic before she competes, she stands naked in front of them, strangely unembarrassed. They're so unlike people that I'm no more self-conscious than if a trio of oddly colored birds were pecking around my feet, she thinks. In order not to hate these creatures who are sending her to her death, she imagines them as pets. It isn't just the contestants who risk the loss of their humanity. It is all who watch. Katniss struggles to win not only the Games but the inherent contest for audience approval. Because this is the first book in a series, not everything is resolved, and what is left unanswered is the central question. Has she sacrificed too much? We know what she has given up to survive, but not whether the price was too high. Readers will wait eagerly to learn more.<br><em>Megan Whalen Turner is the author of the Newbery Honor book</em> The Thief <em>and its sequels,</em> The Queen of Attolia <em>and</em> The King of Attolia<em>. The next book in the series will be published by Greenwillow in 2010.</em> <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From School Library Journal</h3><p>Grade 7 Up -In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives. Collins's characters are completely realistic and sympathetic as they form alliances and friendships in the face of overwhelming odds; the plot is tense, dramatic, and engrossing. This book will definitely resonate with the generation raised on reality shows like 'Survivor' and 'American Gladiator.' Book one of a planned trilogy.<em>Jane Henriksen Baird, Anchorage Public Library, AK</em> <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p></div>


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<div><p class="description"> with Peter de Jonge</p><p class="description">Travis McKinley is an ordinary man living an ordinary life - he has a job that he despises, a marriage that has lost its passion, children from whom he feels disconnected, and at age fifty, a sense that he has accomplished nothing of consequence with his life. But on Christmas Day, he goes out to play a round of golf, and for the first time, he finds himself in the "zone." He sees the putting line that has eluded him for years. Always a fairly good golfer, he finds himself playing like a pro and is so caught up in his excitement that he continues to play, sinking putt after putt, missing Christmas dinner with his wife and family. It is too much for his already troubled marriage. His family collapses - but Travis is soon too busy living his dream to notice. His amazing new golf skills catapult him into the PGA Senior Open at Pebble Beach, where he advances to the final round with two of his heroes, Jack Nicklaus and Raymond Floyd. And with his wife, children, and a live television audience watching, a miracle takes place on the 17th green that will change Travis, and his family, forever.</p></div>


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<div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"> with Martin Dugard</span></font><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Since 1922, when Howard Carter discovered Tut's 3,000-year-old tomb, 
most Egyptologists have presumed that the young king died of disease, or
 perhaps an accident, such as a chariot fall.<br><br>But what if his fate was actually much more sinister?<br><br>Now,
 in THE MURDER OF TUT, James Patterson and Martin Dugard chronicle their
 epic quest to find out what happened to the boy-king. They comb through
 the evidence--X-rays, Carter's files, forensic clues--and scavenge for 
overlooked data to piece together the details of his life and death. The
 result is a true crime tale of intrigue, betrayal, and usurpation that 
presents a compelling case that King Tut's death was anything but 
natural. </span></font></div></div>


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<div><div>with Andrew Gross</div><div><br> When a little girl is shot on the steps of a San Francisco church, 
Detective Lindsay Boxer know's it's time to reconvene the "Women's 
Murder Club". Reporter Cindy Thomas, assistant DA Jill Bernhardt and 
medical examiner Claire Washburn, along with Lindsay soon track down a 
mystifying killer.<br></div></div>


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<div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">with Andrew Gross</span></font><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Detective Lindsay Boxer and Assistant District Attorney Jill Bernhardt 
are enjoying a quiet afternoon in San Francisco when a townhouse across 
the street explodes in flames. A sinister note signed "August Spies" is 
found at the scene of the disaster, and the body of an infant who was 
asleep in the house at the time of the explosion cannot be found. Soon a
 wave of violent incidents, all with links to political terrorism and 
involving "August Spies," sweeps through the city. An upcoming economic 
summit of the world's most powerful nations will surely be a target. And
 it's up to the Women's Murder Club to get to the bottom of the violence
 before it's too late. Delivering the breakneck pace and 
never-saw-it-coming plot twists that have made James Patterson the most 
addictive writer at work today, 3rd Degree is another searing and 
unforgettable thriller from the nation's #1 bestselling suspense writer.</span></font></div></div>


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<div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">with Maxine Paetro</span></font><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">The members of the Women's Murder Club face an unspeakable menace in the
 most suspenseful hospital drama since Coma. Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer is
 shopping with the newest member of the Women's Murder Club, lawyer Yuki
 Castellano, and Yuki's mother, Keiko, when suddenly Keiko collapses. 
She's rushed to San Francisco Medical Center where her condition 
stabilizes. Yet days later, the hospital calls Yuki with devastating 
news. Keiko was given the wrong medication and it brought on a fatal 
heart attack.  Even more astonishing, this is not the first time SFMC 
has made this mistake. Just as patients are about to be released with a 
clean bill of health, their conditions take a mysterious turn for the 
worse. As the hospital comes under scrutiny, Lindsay and the Women's 
Murder Club investigate for themselves. Is there a maniac at work, 
playing God with people's lives? And has Lindsay somehow made him--or 
her--even worse? The newest addition to the top-selling new mystery 
series takes the Women's Murder Club into the most terrifying situation 
they have yet to encounter.</span></font></div></div>


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<div>
<p>Lauren Stillwell is not your average damsel in distress. When the NYPD 
cop  discovers her husband leaving a hotel with another woman, she 
decides to  beat him at his own game. But her revenge goes dangerously 
awry, and she  finds her world spiraling into a hell that becomes more 
terrifying by the  hour.  <br><br>In a further twist of fate, Lauren 
must take on a job that threatens  everything she stands for. Now, she's
 paralyzed by a deadly secret that  could tear her life apart. With her 
job and marriage on the line, Lauren's  desire for retribution becomes a
 lethal inferno as she fights to save her  livelihood--and her life.  <br><br>Patterson
 takes us on a twisting roller-coaster ride of thrills in his most  
gripping novel yet. This story of love, lust and dangerous secrets will 
 have reader's hearts pounding to the very last page.</p></div>


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<div><p class="description">with Peter De Jonge</p><p class="description">Jack Mullen's life is working out perfectly. A Harvard law student, he's loving his summer job in a Boston law firm, and the weekends spent at Martha's Vineyard. Until he arrives home, and his father greets him with the news that his brother, Peter, is dead. The police believe Peter committed suicide, but Jack senses a darker, dangerous truth, and is determined to bring a killer to justice…</p></div>


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<p>Alex Cross's first case since joining the FBI has his new colleagues stymied. Across the country, beautiful women are being kidnapped-to be bought and sold as slaves. Behind this depraved scheme stands a shadowy figure known only as The Wolf, a master criminal who has brought a new reign of terror to organized crime. With Alex's personal life in chaos because of his ex-fiancée's return and with the FBI's caution testing his patience, Alex has to go out on his own. For to stalk a ruthless predator without a name or a face, Alex Cross must become a lone wolf himself...</p>


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<div><div><b>Edited by James Patterson</b></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Be prepared to be thrilled as you've never been before <br><br>Featuring North America's foremost thriller authors, Thriller is the first collection of pure thriller stories ever published. Offering up heart-pumping tales of suspense in all its guises are thirty-two of the most critically acclaimed and award-winning names in the business. From the signature characters that made such authors as David Morrell and John Lescroart famous to four of the hottest new voices in the genre, this blockbuster will tantalize and terrify. <br><br>Lock the doors, draw the shades, pull up the covers and be prepared for Thriller to keep you up all night.</div>


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<div>A child killer is stalking the inner city of Washington, D.C., his 
latest victim Shanelle Green, an adorable first grader from Sojourner 
Truth School. This killing is especially unsettling to Detective Alex 
Cross. Sojourner Truth is the school his son Damon attends, just four 
blocks from his home. <p>  While the death of an inner-city black child 
doesn't garner much media attention, another murder is making big 
headlines. The same day that Shanelle was beaten to death, Senator 
Daniel Fitzpatrick was found handcuffed to a bed and shot execution 
style. The only clue the police have to go on is a bizarre rhyme, signed
 "Jack and Jill," promising more high-profile executions, ultimately 
targeting the president of the United States. When Cross is called in to
 help protect the president, he begins to suspect that the two cases are
 somehow related. As he races to put all the pieces together, the 
killers continue their bloody rampage, paralyzing the city.</p><p>   Like <i>Along Came a Spider</i> and <i>Cat &amp; Mouse</i>, <i>Jack &amp; Jill</i> is a rapid-fire thriller from start to finish, with enough plot twists to satisfy even the most jaded mystery fan. </p></div>


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<p class="description">A stunningly brilliant psychopathic killer who has skillfully eluded the police from London to Paris to New York. A beautiful woman journalist suddenly in grave danger. An unorthodox New York detective whose motive for stopping the killer couldn't be more personal or emotional. Bestselling author James Patterson weaves a suspenseful tale of a powerful mobster who runs up against a very determined cop and his faithful crime fighters.</p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Themes from Patterson's popular adult titles <em>When the Wind Blows</em> and <em>The Lake House</em> waft through this YA thriller, the author's first in the genre. Wood stars as Maximum Ride, 14-year-old leader of a band of kids who have escaped the lab where they were bred as 98% human and 2% bird (wings being a key component) and developed a variety of other-worldly talents. In Patterson's unusual universe, Max and her young cohorts are soon forced to rescue one of their own—a girl named Angel—from a pack of mutant wolf-humans called Erasers. Wood nails Patterson's often adult-beyond-their-years dialogue with a jaded tone. But the result of this pairing makes Max sound more off-putting than cool or intriguing. The listening experience is stalled in the starting gate, keeping the action-adventure earthbound rather than high-flying. Ages 12-up. <em>(Apr.)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From School Library Journal</h3><p>Grade 7 Up–A group of genetically enhanced kids who can fly and have other unique talents are on the run from part-human, part-wolf predators called Erasers in this exciting SF thriller that's not wholly original but is still a compelling read. Max, 14, and her adopted family–Fang and Iggy, both 13, Nudge, 11, Gazzy, 8, and Angel, 6–were all created as experiments in a lab called the School. Jeb, a sympathetic scientist, helped them escape and, since then, they've been living on their own. The Erasers have orders to kill them so the world will never find out they exist. Max's old childhood friend, Ari, now an Eraser leader, tracks them down, kidnaps Angel, and transports her back to the School to live like a lab rat again. The youngsters are forced to use their special talents to rescue her as they attempt to learn about their pasts and their destinies. The novel ends with the promise that this journey will continue in the sequel. As with Patterson's adult mystery thrillers, in-depth characterization is secondary to the fast-moving plot. The narrative alternates between Max's first-person point-of-view and that of the others in the third person, but readers don't get to know Max very well. The only major flaw is that the children sound like adults most of the time. This novel is reminiscent of David Lubar's <em>Hidden Talents</em> (Tor, 1999) and Ann Halam's <em>Dr. Franklin's Island</em> (Random, 2002).<em>–Sharon Rawlins, Piscataway Public Library, NJ</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p>


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<h3>About the Author</h3><p>James B. Patterson (born March 22, 1947) is an award-winning American author. Formerly an advertising executive for J. W. Thompson in the early 1990s, Patterson came up with the slogan "Toys R Us Kid". Shortly after his success with Along Came A Spider he retired from the firm and devoted his time to writing. The novels featuring his character, Alex Cross, a black forensic psychologist formerly of the Washington, D.C. Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation, now working as a private psychologist and government consultant, are the most popular books among Patterson readers. James Patterson has been criticized by Stephen King, who called Patterson's books "dopey thrillers".[citation needed] Patterson shrugged off the comments, stating that he wants to be the "thrillingest thriller writer of all time".[citation needed] James Patterson has also been put as one of Forbes magazine's top 100 celebrities. </p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Pop a bowl of popcorn, settle into a comfy chair and you might finish this combination thriller and tearjerker before the popcorn. Bestseller Patterson (<em>Cross</em>) and Ledwidge (<em>The Narrowback</em>) spin a fantastic tale of an audacious mass kidnapping and the unlikely detective thrust into the primary role of negotiator, sleuth and hero. Michael Bennett, a senior NYPD homicide detective, has a wife dying of cancer and 10 adopted children of various ethnic origins. When St. Patrick's Cathedral, site of the celebrity-packed funeral of a former first lady, is seized by a dozen ruthless men, Bennett ends up as point man for the hastily assembled negotiating team. From then on, the tale requires the reader to go with the flow as Bennett alternates visits to his wife's hospital bedside, brief trips to check on how his kids are managing and tense dealings with the well-prepared kidnappers. Short on credibility on the crime front, long on sentimentality on the home front, this book would be a good candidate for adaptation as a one-hour TV movie. <em>(Feb.)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From Booklist</h3><p>Patterson and Ledwidge introduce a new hero in an exciting thriller set in the heart of Manhattan. NYPD detective Michael Bennett is concentrating on getting his family through a particularly difficult Christmas: he and his 10 adopted children are facing the loss to cancer of his brave wife, Maeve. But a major crisis calls him away: the funeral of a former First Lady at St. Patrick's Cathedral goes horribly awry when men storm the church and take hundreds of attendees hostage. Michael is asked to try to reason with a sinister man named Jack. Jack releases all but the most famous people, and makes his demands: he wants several million dollars from each celebrity hostage, including the mayor, a popular comedic actor, a beloved talk show host, and a pop starlet. Once Jack starts killing, Michael realizes he's up against a truly diabolical foe. Patterson has a knack for creating genuinely likable heroes, and Michael fits the bill. As readers rapidly turn the pages to learn how the tense hostage drama plays out, they will also be sympathizing with Michael as he faces the agonizing loss of his wife. Totally gripping and downright impossible to put down, this is a promising start to a potential new series. <em>Kristine Huntley</em><br /><em>Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved</em></p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Bestseller Patterson shows signs of having gone to the well too often in this slapdash collaboration with de Jonge, his coauthor on <em>The Beach House</em> (2002). Tom Dunleavy, a former professional basketball player and local East Hampton legend, is getting by as an underworked and unmotivated attorney. His sports glory days and his one true love are long in the past, but he gets second chances at personal and professional redemption when three locals are gunned down, apparently in the aftermath of racial tensions arising from a heated pickup game of hoops. The police seize on Dante Halleyville, the country's best high school star, as their suspect, and Dunleavy must dust off his old courtroom skills and enlist his lost love, Kate Costello, as his partner. Patterson readers know to expect a surprise ending, but he leaves too few possibilities for many to be genuinely fooled. Fans can only hope that Patterson soon returns to the level he achieved with his Alex Cross series. <em>(May)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From Booklist</h3><p>The gripping <em>Beach Road</em> returns to the world of the Hamptons, where Patterson set <em>The Beach House</em> (2002). Tom Dunleavy is a small-time lawyer who lands a big case when three young men he plays basketball with are found shot to death execution-style at a billionaire's basketball court. The evidence points to a rising high-school basketball star, Dante Halleyville, who scuffled with one of the other young men earlier on the day of the murder and who apparently was seen disposing of the gun used to commit the murders. Tom reluctantly takes the case, convincing his ex-girlfriend, Kate Costello, a high-powered lawyer in Manhattan, to help him prove Dante innocent. The novel races toward a conclusion so shocking that even longtime Patterson devotees won't see it coming. <em>Kristine Huntley</em><br /><em>Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved</em></p>


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<p>The author of the #1 bestseller <em>Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas</em> returns with a magical story of a love that's too perfect to be real.</p><p>AN IMAGINARY FRIEND</p><p>Jane Margaux is a lonely girl. Her mother, a powerful Broadway producer, makes time for her only once a week, for their Sunday trip to admire jewelry at Tiffany's. Jane has only one friend: a handsome, comforting, funny man named Michael. He's perfect. <em>But only she can see him.</em> Michael can't saty forever, though. On Jane's ninth birthday he leaves, promising her that she'll forget him soon.</p><p>AN UNEXPECTED LOVE</p><p>Years later, in her thirties, Jane is just as alone as she was as a child. And despite her own success as a playright, she is even more trapped by her overbearing mother. Then she meets a man, a handsome, comforting, funny man. He's perfect—</p><p>AN UNFORGETTABLE TWIST</p><p><em>Sundays at Tiffany's</em> is a heartrending love story that surpasses all expectations of why these people have been brought together momentum and gripping emotional twists that have made James Patternson a bestseller all over the world, <em>Sundays at Tiffany's</em> takes an altogether fresh look at the timeless and transforming power of love.</p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Talk about a change of pace! Renowned suspense writer and Edgar Award winner James Patterson, author of such bestsellers-turned-blockbuster-movies as <em>Along Came a Spider</em> and <em>Kiss the Girls</em>, exposes his sensitive side in his new novel, <em>Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas</em>. Katie Wilkinson's boyfriend Matt dumps her; not a total cad, he leaves her a gift, a diary kept by Suzanne, his first wife, for their son Nicholas. Though it's not exactly the diamond ring Katie was hoping for, she's unable to make herself destroy the diary--against her better judgment, Katie begins to read.</p><p>Drawn against her will into the other woman's world, Katie learns of physician Suzanne's heart attack at age 35 and her decision to slow down, accomplished by a move to Martha's Vineyard and a new job as a simple country doctor. When love comes knocking, in the form of housepainter-cum-poet Matt Harrison, Suzanne is ready to listen to her newly repaired heart. Though painful for Katie, she begins to know and like Suzanne and her infant son Nicholas. Suzanne's devotion to Matt and their son shines through, as well as her plainspoken wisdom. While the journal helps Katie understand Matt, whether they can write a future together remains in question. <em>--Alison Trinkle</em></p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Say what? A women's weepy from the megaselling author of the hard-boiled Alex Cross mysteries? Yes, and it's not the stretch some might imagine. Patterson has demonstrated his flair for female POV and characters in the stand-alone When the Wind Blows and in his current bestseller, 1st to Die and Cross himself has his gooey side. So how good is the novel? Good enough to lightly pluck the heartstrings and to impress with its craft and its calculation. As usual, Patterson mixes first- and third-person narration. Katie Wilkinson is a Manhattan book editor who's been inexplicably left by her lover and star author, a Martha's Vineyard poet named Matt. After he splits, Matt mails Katie the diary kept by his wife, Suzanne, for their young son. Katie reads it (the novel's extensive first-person passages) and reacts to it (briefer third-person interludes). The diary details how physician Suzanne, recovering from a heart attack at age 35, forsakes the rat race, moves to Martha's Vineyard and finds bliss with Matt, a housepainter who reads Moby-Dick and writes strong poems, and with their newborn son, Nicholas. The novel sloshes with sentiment (some of it quite icky) and simple spiritual truths, while acknowledging the reality of pain and loss: rose bushes galore, with thorns. Patterson sustains suspense through clever plotting and by Katie's wondering about the fate of Suzanne and Nicholas; what's finally revealed pushes her, and the novel, to a bittersweet conclusion. Patterson is one smart author (here, he dazzles with his use of refrains, stories-within-stories and romance novel tropes); this jump into another genre won't hurt his reputation as a master of popular lit. (July)Forecast: A lovely dust jacket featuring a title in violet script trumpets this as a love story. Will Patterson's fans buy it? Some mostly women yes. And a 12-city author tour and major print and TV publicity will draw in enough new fans, most of them also women, to float the title onto bestseller lists though not at Alex Cross numbers.</p><p>Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.</p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>While Patterson's thriller is slightly out-of-date with its Cold War setting, it remains dramatically contemporary in its vision of a stock market thrown into chaos when a group of saboteurs blows up several Wall Street institutions. Actor Fernandez's mellow reading allows the story to unfold unhurriedly, though too slowly for the first half. Arch Carroll, head of the CIA's antiterrorist division, and Caitlin Dylan, director of enforcement for the SEC, team up professionally, and later romantically, to locate the Wall Street terrorists before they strike again. Arch travels to Paris and back (unfortunately, Fernandez, who capably reproduces other accents, has a poor grasp of French pronunciation), as he finds himself on the trail of former colonel David Hudson and his ragtag band of vengeance-seeking Vietnam veterans. Based on the Warner mass market paperback (originally published as Black Market in 1987). <br />Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>Review</h3><p>"Patterson, among the best novelists of crime stories ever, has reached his pinnacle."</p><p>-- USA TODAY </p>


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<p>This year Valentine's Day isn't for romance. It's for murder. Mega rich restaurant owner Jack Barnes and his second wife Zee are very much in love. However, their plans for Valentine's Day are about to be torn apart by the most violent murder. Who is the strange figure plotting this sick crime? Who hates Jack that much? There are plenty of suspects living in Jack's fancy block of flats. Is it them, or could it be the work of an outsider with a twisted mind? One thing's for sure, the police have got their work cut out solving this bloody mess.</p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>A serial killer with an urge to break into print propels this thriller from bestseller Patterson and collaborator Paetro (4th of July). Ben Hawkins, a former L.A. cop turned reporter and author, travels to Hawaii to look into the disappearance of model Kim McDaniels, who has fallen victim to a sadistic fiend who calls himself Henri Benoit. Ben meets with Kim's distraught parents, but the investigation soon runs into dead ends, even as the body count rises. Back in Los Angeles, Henri gets in touch with Ben, and offers the story of his life and the reasons he continues with his murderous spree. As part of the deal, Henri asks the reporter to write his tell-all book. Ben can't refuse given the killer's threat to his life as well as his girlfriend's. In just one of many clever twists, Henri proves to be the consummate storyteller. Patterson fans will devour this one in a single sitting. <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>Review</h3><p>"Patterson never, and I mean never, disappoints." (<strong>USA TODAY</strong> <strong><em>Larry King</em></strong> )<br /></p><p>"James Patterson is king of the bestseller hill." (<strong>Publishers Weekly</strong> )<br /></p><p>"Patterson has mastered the art of writing page-turning bestsellers." (<strong>Chicago Sun-Times</strong> )<br /></p><p>"The Man Who Can't Miss." (<strong>Time</strong> <strong><em>Lev Grossman</em></strong> )<br /></p><p>"When it comes to construction a harrowing plot, author James Patterson can turn a screw all right." (<strong>New York Daily News</strong> )<br /></p><p>"America's #1 storyteller." (<strong>Forbes</strong> ) </p>


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<h3>About the Author</h3><p>James B. Patterson (born March 22, 1947) is an award-winning American author. Formerly an advertising executive for J. W. Thompson in the early 1990s, Patterson came up with the slogan "Toys R Us Kid". Shortly after his success with Along Came A Spider he retired from the firm and devoted his time to writing. The novels featuring his character, Alex Cross, a black forensic psychologist formerly of the Washington, D.C. Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation, now working as a private psychologist and government consultant, are the most popular books among Patterson readers. James Patterson has been criticized by Stephen King, who called Patterson's books "dopey thrillers".[citation needed] Patterson shrugged off the comments, stating that he wants to be the "thrillingest thriller writer of all time".[citation needed] James Patterson has also been put as one of Forbes magazine's top 100 celebrities. </p><h3>From AudioFile</h3><p>With a steel guitar twanging blues in the background, Will Patton performs this reissue of Patterson's 1976 debut novel, which won an Edgar Award for best first mystery. The complex plot intertwines a reporter's relentless pursuit of the killer of Nashville's first black mayor and the path of the assassin himself as he prepares for the biggest murder since Martin Luther King, Jr. Will Patton uses a bluegrass drawl and the soft sound of a New York drug-world hustler, helping the listener understand the complexity of the characters. Patterson's observations are masterfully transformed into critical insights with Patton's skillful pacing. K.A.T. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- <em>Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine</em></p>


