Disillusioned journalist Tom Langdon must get from Washington D.C. to L.A in time for Christmas. Forced to travel by train, he begins a journey of rude awakenings, thrilling adventures and holiday magic. He has no idea that the locomotives pulling him across America will actually take him into the rugged terrain of his own heart, as he rediscovers people\'s essential goodness and someone very special he believed he had lost. The Christmas Train is filled with memorable characters who have packed their bags with as much wisdom as mischief ... and shows how we do get second chances to fulfill our deepest hopes and dreams, especially during this season of miracles.

The old powers try to come back, and the planet is plunged into chaos, and civilization is destroyed, and it gets all violent and evil...the old legends tell that a hero...with the sacred turtle, always... Los Angeles, California. Neddie Wentworthstein is the guy with the turtle. Sandor Eucalyptus is the guy with the jellybean. Sholmos Bunyip wants the turtle...and he'll stop at nothing to get it. This is the story of how Neddie, three good friends, a shaman, a ghost, and a little maneuver known as the French substitution determine the fate of the world.

Do you want to be a viscount?Adam is shocked when his employer unexpectedly becomes a viscount, but he is more shocked when his employer is murdered. When the killer spots Adam, there's only one thing Adam can do: flee. Fortunately, he has his employer's papers with him, including a boarding ticket to England. Less fortunately, everyone is eager to introduce him as a new viscount. If Adam is going to avoid imprisonment for impersonating a nobleman, he needs to convince people that he actually is one. The only problem... He doesn't know anything about being an aristocrat. She'll make a viscount out of you.Pretty, intelligent Lady Isla McIntyre knows everything about being an aristocrat. She was supposed to become a duchess, until her fiancé brazenly eloped with another woman. Now she has plenty of time on her hands and is eager to distract herself from her new status as an ostracized spinster.  Training Adam was supposed to be a diversion, but it was never supposed to involve her heart.

After saving Earth from the threat of V'Ger, James T. Kirk is called again to the final frontier with the mission to lead a valiant group of settlers to a distant world and explore the diverse mysteries and dangers of a strange new world in the Star Trek universe. Far from the Federation, a newly discovered M-class world has been eyed as a potential home by a group of hardy and determined colonists. Starfleet can spare only one starship to escort the would-be settlers on their perilous voyage, and that ship is none other than the legendary Starship Enterprise, commanded by the most well-known captain in the quadrant. Now Kirk finds himself responsible for the lives of 30,000 men, women, and children—a task that grows all the more difficult when the expedition is caught in the middle of an ancient feud between two dangerous alien races.

Meet Fen Churche, as she steps off the night train with the sun rising over Paris. Cat whisperer, crossword puzzler… accidental detective? Autumn, 1945. Fen cannot wait to see her beloved godmother Rose , who has invited Fen to stay with her in the city of lights. As she arrives, Fen is dreaming of strolls by the Seine, taking tea at the Eiffel Tower and above all French feasts with Rose where they can trade stories of how they survived the terrifying war years. But Fen has barely made friends with Rose’s bad-tempered poodle when she returns to the apartment to find her godmother murdered, a paintbrush stuck in her neck. Suddenly Fen is thrown into the middle of a truly puzzling mystery. Who on earth would want to murder Rose, a gentle artist and generous friend? A blackmail letter convinces Fen that the police have got everything wrong and Fen knows she has to solve the case just like one of her crosswords, one clue at a time. As she meets her godmother’s friends, she makes a surprising discovery: Rose was part of the Resistance during the war… When a second body turns up, another of Rose’s wartime contacts, Fen must act fast. But as the killer turns their sights on Fen, does she have what it takes to solve this mysterious murder and get justice for her darling godmother? You won’t be able to put down this utterly addictive historical cozy mystery! The absolutely perfect treat if you love Agatha Christie, Rhys Bowen and Jacqueline Winspear.

A bestseller in Europe and the United Kingdom, Slow Train to Switzerland is now in a new paperback edition! Diccon Bewes, author of the immensely popular Swiss Watching, follows Thomas Cook's groundbreaking tour from England to the Swiss Alps. Bewes uses traveler Jemima Morell's diary from 1863 to retrace the trip and explore the revolutionary affect the journey had on both Britain and Switzerland. In June 1863 an English lady set off by train on the trip of a lifetime: Thomas Cook's first Conducted Tour of Switzerland. A century and a half later, travel writer Diccon Bewes, author of the bestselling Swiss Watching, decided to go where she went and see what she saw. Guided by her diary, he followed the same route to discover how much had changed and how much hadn't. She went in search of adventure, he went in search of her, and found far more than he expected. Slow Train to Switzerland is the captivating account of two trips through the...

One of their own is missing, but Killers don't sleep. As the team divides, can they conquer? Boston Homicide Detective Shane Maguire is overworked with homicide cases and little sleep. When he's called out to the third train murders coming from Maine, he knows it's time to call in the FBI, though he would prefer not to involve them. Agent Mya Morgan has always been a quiet, independent person, who tries to keep the peace in the team, and do what's right. One of their own is missing and she must help them keep a clear head. When a potential serial killer case involving a train is assigned to her, she must leave her team and help Boston. When Mya meets Shane, the reception is cold, despite electricity teasing, but as the investigation heats up so do their feelings. With bodies turning up, can Mya and Shane find a way to conquer, or will the killer get the best of them?

When a body is discovered in a locked toilet cubicle on the late-night train to Bath, Ishmael Jones is faced with his most puzzling case to date. When Ishmael Jones and his partner Penny are asked to escort a VIP on the late-night train to Bath, it would appear to be a routine case. The Organisation has acquired intelligence that an attempt is to be made on Sir Dennis Gregson's life as he travels to Bath to take up his new position as Head of the British Psychic Weapons Division. Ishmael's mission is to ensure that Sir Dennis arrives safely. How could anyone orchestrate a murder in a crowded railway carriage without being noticed and with no obvious means of escape? When a body is discovered in a locked toilet cubicle, Ishmael Jones has just 56 minutes to solve a seemingly impossible crime before the train reaches its destination.

Hiccup Haddock Horrendous III was a truly extraordinary Viking hero. The warrior chieftain and awesome sword fighter was known as 'the Dragon Whisperer', on account of his power over these terrifying beasts. But it wasn't always like that, and this is the story of his rise to fame, in his own words.

The New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Exiles conjures her best novel yet, a pre-World War II-era story with the emotional resonance of Orphan Train and The Nightingale, centering on the Kindertransports that carried thousands of children out of Nazi-occupied Europe—and one brave woman who helped them escape to safety.In 1936, the Nazi are little more than loud, brutish bores to fifteen-year old Stephan Neuman, the son of a wealthy and influential Jewish family and budding playwright whose playground extends from Vienna's streets to its intricate underground tunnels. Stephan's best friend and companion is the brilliant Žofie-Helene, a Christian girl whose mother edits a progressive, anti-Nazi newspaper. But the two adolescents' carefree innocence is shattered when the Nazis' take control. There is hope in the darkness, though. Truus Wijsmuller, a member of the Dutch resistance, risks her life smuggling Jewish children out...

Do you want to be a viscount?Adam is shocked when his employer unexpectedly becomes a viscount, but he is more shocked when his employer is murdered. When the killer spots Adam, there's only one thing Adam can do: flee. Fortunately, he has his employer's papers with him, including a boarding ticket to England. Less fortunately, everyone is eager to introduce him as a new viscount. If Adam is going to avoid imprisonment for impersonating a nobleman, he needs to convince people that he actually is one. The only problem... He doesn't know anything about being an aristocrat. She'll make a viscount out of you.Pretty, intelligent Lady Isla McIntyre knows everything about being an aristocrat. She was supposed to become a duchess, until her fiancé brazenly eloped with another woman. Now she has plenty of time on her hands and is eager to distract herself from her new status as an ostracized spinster.  Training Adam was supposed to be a diversion, but it was never supposed to involve her heart.

One of Bustle's Most Anticipated Books of Summer 2020 "The perfect riveting summer read!"—BookBub "Cleeton's beach reads are often lit by the sun of places like Florida and Cuba, and her latest doesn't disappoint."—OprahMag.comIn 1935 three women are forever changed when one of the most powerful hurricanes in history barrels toward the Florida Keys. For the tourists traveling on Henry Flagler's legendary Overseas Railroad, Labor Day weekend is an opportunity to forget the economic depression gripping the nation. But one person's paradise can be another's prison, and Key West-native Helen Berner yearns to escape. After the Cuban Revolution of 1933 leaves Mirta Perez's family in a precarious position, she agrees to an arranged marriage with a notorious American. Following her wedding in Havana, Mirta arrives in the Keys on her honeymoon. While she can't deny the growing...

Dusty Robbins lost everything. Packing everything he owned in a duffel bag, he heads out of town on foot,to find his life. He soon discovers the love of his life and an existence he can only imagine in his dreams; He takes the road to nowhere and finds he has ended somewhere. This is a life changing story of love and perseverance.Dusty Robbins lost everything. Packing every thing he owned in a duffel bag, he headed out of town on foot,to find his life. He soon discovered the love of his life and an existence he could only have imagined in his dreams; He took the train to nowhere and ended up somewhere,a new life filled with a love he never had known.

An unforgettable tale of what we owe to those we love, and those we have left behind In 1927, as Natalia Faber travels from Berlin to Prague with her mother, their train is delayed in Saxon Switzerland. In the brief time the train is idle, Natalia learns the truth about her father and meets a remarkable woman named Dr. Magdalena Schaefferová, whose family will become a significant part of her future.Shaken by these events, Natalia arrives at a spa on the shore of Lake Hevíz in Hungary. Here, she meets the journalist and writer Miklós Count Andorján. In time, they will marry, and Natalia will devote herself to life on a rural estate in Hungary. When war breaks out in Europe, Natalia loses contact with Miklós. She believes they are to meet in Prague, a city under Nazi occupation. She sets up shop as a fortune teller with a pack of Tarot cards. In this guise, she meets Magdalena Schaefferová's young daughter, Anna. Accused by the Nazis of...

Turning forty isn't for the faint of heart! My name's Florebelle Fairfield.I thought when you hit this age, your life's supposed to be sorted out?Nope! Mine fell apart!I've heard of midlife crises, but a whole magical destiny no one prepared me for?That requires reinforcements! Luckily, I have my childhood besties, Star and Amira, a couple of kick-ass witches, who've always got my back.If anyone can help me through this mounting magical mess, it's them.Hopefully, they can save my sanity, too.This isn't what I signed up for... Can I just skip to forty-one? Previously published in the Aged to Perfection limited time anthology.

An assistant curator of Munich's National Museum, Vicky Bliss is no expert on Egypt, but she does have a Ph.D. in solving crimes. So when an intelligence agency offers her a luxury Nile cruise if she'll help solve a murder and stop a heist of Egyptian antiquities, all 5'11" of her takes the plunge. Vicky suspects the authorities really want her to lead them to her missing lover, the art thief and master of disguises she knows only as "Sir John Smythe." And right in the shadow of the Sphinx she spots him. . . with his new flame. Vicky is so furious at this romantic stab-in-the-back, not to mention the sudden arrival of her meddling boss, Herr Dr. Schmidt, that she may overlook a danger as old as the pharaohs and as unchanging. . . a criminal who hides behind a mask of charm while moving in for the kill.

From the legendary author of Hatchet, a laugh-out-loud middle-grade romp about a boy, his free-thinking dad, and the puppy-training pamphlet that turns their summer upside down.Twelve-year-old Carl is fed up with his father's single-minded pursuit of an off-the-grid existence. His dad may be brilliant, but dumpster-diving for food, scouring through trash for salvageable junk, and wearing clothes fully sourced from garage sales is getting old. Increasingly worried about what schoolmates and a certain girl at his new school might think of his circumstances—and encouraged by his off-kilter best friend—Carl adopts the principles set forth in a randomly discovered puppy-training pamphlet to "retrain" his dad's mindset . . . a crackpot experiment that produces some very unintentional results.This is a fierce and funny novel about family and untangling some of the ties that bind from middle-grade master Gary Paulsen.

HUMANITY'S LAST HOPE It begins when a man delivers a message for former government agent Frank Compton--only to fall dead at his feet. The message is a summons from the Spiders, the exotic and mysterious creatures who run the Quadrail, an incredible transportation system connecting civilizations across the galaxy. The Spiders believe that someone or something is preparing to attack their entire network and the worlds it serves, by smuggling battleships through the Quadrail--something that should be impossible to do. Compton, with the aid of a beautiful but enigmatic agent of the Spiders, is their last hope. Because nobody else has been able to find the elusive enemy who seeks to enslave the entire galaxy…and Earth is its next target.

A roughish earl must fight using his honor and not his sword to win his lady's hand in How To Train Your Earl, the third book in the First Comes Love trilogy from bestseller Amelia Grey.Brina Feld has settled into a life devoted to helping others since the sinking of the Salty Dove left her widowed. She has no need for a man in her contented life. But when the notorious and handsome Lord Blacknight returns and awakens her desires, her peace and serenity vanish. If she agrees to an alliance with him, she knows she will have to battle her heart to keep from being snared under his spell. Zane, the Earl of Blacknight, was never supposed to inherit the earldom, so he didn't much care to lead a respectable life before then. Fistfights, card games, and drinking are the order of the day. Now he's determined to change his rakish ways and he knows the proper lady who can help him. There's just one problem: He's already bet he'll win her hand before the Season...

From the collection Dreamin’ Dreams; A short thriller in 2,ooo words.The letter said; You knew in your heart that this day would come, and I only hope that we can part with dignity. By the time you get this letter I’ll be far away, starting a new life somewhere else. I want nothing from you, so you’ll never hear from me again.'Unfortunately, Richard Mann didn't know how fatally true that was!When the twins' pen-friends Gerry and Laura arrive for a week in not-so-sunny South England, the responsibility is once again Harley's. Her mum and stepdad are far too busy preparing for the new baby, and even Charlie is up to just about anything other than chores and orientation.At the same time, Kitty runs wild in the house with older brother Zak away at the study centre, and Aimee is a continual gale of emotions. Harley's almost glad to be one hyperactive sibling down for the week.Will she check her priorities before he realises?

This short story by Harvey captures the enigmatic relationship of two brothers from Ghana. Listen in as Elijah tells his story to a Reporter who has come for a story on an elaborate burial coffin. Humor, irony, and bitterness all intermingled in this short piece.The people of Ghana are known for their elaborate coffins. Check it out on Google as you read The Blue Train to Heaven.Bonus StoryUnder the backdrop of the wacky world of of Ghana coffin makers, comes this tale of two brothers, Elijah and Ashong.Humor masks the subtle undertones of envy, jealousy, and mockery as Elijah tells the story of how his brother comes to be buried in the elaborate train coffin.Excerpt:Ha! Yes my friend, you want to know what I thought of the train carrying Ashong to heaven.Oh I don’t know, he may be in heaven in the sky. I heard he said his prayers before he died. As his only brother, it was my duty to inspect whatever he was to be buried in whether pine box or big train. So Dede Nunu comes to me—him and his crafty men dress like train conductors and pull what looks like big chunks of blue sky to my house here. The whole village clucked and fluttered like guinea hens with their necks outstretched trying to get a good look. Ha! Then I heard a howl of laughter. Here comes the train with the caboose in front. In front! I said, “Dede, I know Ashong loved the caboose on a train and a woman, but what is this? And you’ve painted everything the color of the sky.”Now featuring a bonus story--The Geegaws. This story is told from the point of view of one of the coffin makers. Paa Joe and Dede Nu Nu race to build Mr Ashong on of the "finest" coffins money can buy. Promise to make you guffaw.Excerpt from The GeegawsMr. Ashong is not a stupid man. Near death, he thought of ways to line his pockets for the hereafter. Most of us carry to our graves a few shells and trinkets. Mr. Ashong was thinking of French Francs. He knew people would be coming from miles and miles away to see what could top Chief Okwonko’s Skyline of Accra. Ashong quickly constructed several leaning Motel complexes and a large concession stand. He knew his Islam would not let him sell beer, so he sent a donation to Minister Oral Roberts and received a Certificate of Christianity by Fed-Ex. He renounced Islam that afternoon. Who would waste a fatwah on a dying man, he reasoned. He had the Council to pass a law that said the only food or drink to be consumed had to come from the Ashong concessions. Hah! That was a foolish law. Three days before March 15 (Ashong picked that day because his daughter had read to him on his sick bed the story of Julius Caesar), People began to assemble a few at a time. Before you could bat your eyes it was multitudes. Women in head wraps carried large pots of warm banana and coconut stew, pea soup, and lamb. Some brought their own goats to sell milk. The Christians roasted pigs over low burning coals. Ashongs men with sapling switches tried to enforce his law about what to eat.“What law is that, that says you can only eat food from Ashong’s boxes?” people yelled. They threw hot peanut oil at Ashong’s men, burning one on the nose. The goons retreated.Bonus Video at End of Story

Short story, 18 pages approximately. One night, while working on the inner-city circle of StateRail, Sydney, Bob Johnson is hit by a train, In the last seven minutes of his life, before his brain shuts down, he believes he has finally reached the mythical kingdom of Parthenia. 7,250 wordsShort story, 18 pages approximately. One night, while working on the inner-city circle of StateRail, Sydney, Bob Johnson is hit by a train. In the last seven minutes of his life before his brain shuts down, he believes he has finally reached the mythical kingdom of Parthenia. Here, he rescues the young queen L'Etoile from the clutches of the wizard Yogoroth and is all set to become king of Parthenia when he marries her. 7.250 words

Eddie Griffin, a 23-year-old ex-con, is working to put his life back together. Late one evening he witnesses a local businessman committing a murder. His life is spared, but he will be killed if he talks to the police. Everything he has worked for falls apart as he becomes caught between rival criminal and legal organizations.“I’ve seen things you would never believe. I know things that most people would never consider. I’ve experienced things that your worst nightmares don’t even come close to. And that is something that you never want to get involved in.”Ailia has been missing out on a lot of things in life. She’s never experienced those little things – happiness, friendship, love. In the need of a new beginning, she moves to Scotland. The plan was to find those things. Get a good job, make some friends and hopefully meet a man who would love her. She never expected to meet someone like Egan. Egan’s different. He’s mysterious, secretive and doesn’t trust anyone. He doesn’t want Ailia anywhere near him. It’s too dangerous.But when a dark creature becomes obsessed with Ailia, she is forced to walk the line between life and death, and Egan may be the only person who can save her.In a world where danger is real, love and friendship are the most valuable things a person can have. The question is: who can you trust?

Jack-Jack, the world's coolest dog, shares his secrets of how to train his human in his second adventure.Humans may think they train us, but I reveal us dogs are the ones training you humans, especially when gravy bone treats are involved. My human has a lot to learn. If he really does want that stick, why does he insist on throwing it away every time I return it to him when we're having walkies? Weird behaviour! We won't be playing 'Fetch' again!

Japanese fairy tales - enchanting, enigmatic stories of animals, human beings and the great natural world. Dark and innocent, sublime and whimsical, Miyazawa's stories have the ageless feel of the best fairy tales. There are animal allegories such as 'The Ungrateful Rat' where a rude rodent insults all the objects he meets - until he meets the Rat Trap/ There are morality tales such as 'The Restaurant of Many Orders', where two hunters become the hunted. There are also transcendent stories of childhood and mortality like Miyazawa's best-known 'Night Train to the Stars', where a magical steam train carries children through the night and up to the heavens.These stories reveal the unique brilliance of one of Japan's most beloved early twentieth-century writers.WITH A FOREWORD BY DAVID MITCHELL AND AN INTRODUCTION BY KAORI NAGAI'Kenji Miyazawa fables are international-class' David Mitchell'For readers who relish the...

When Maisie accepts a celebrated author's invitation to mentor her, she finds herself leaving Cornwall behind on train tracks bound for the glitter city of Paris. Instead of making beds and serving coffee at the Penmarrow hotel in Cornwall, she's making notes on her manuscript while sitting in a French cafe, meeting famous writers at private dinner parties, and trying to ferret the secrets behind the author's unfinished future novel. It's glamorous, it's breathtaking ... but it's also an ocean channel away from the place that she loves, and, more importantly, the person to whom she just recently confessed her deepest feelings. Separated from Sidney by distance and circumstances, Maisie fears that their connection will be lost despite her words to him – and maybe because of those words, and the ones she didn't allow him to say in return.Meanwhile, there are plenty of things in her new life trying to distract her – the professional editor hired to critique her...

This doesn't matter. This doesn't matter. This doesn't matter. This doesn't matter. This doesn't matter.

Night Train to Lisbon follows Raimund Gregorius, a 57-year-old Classics scholar, on a journey that takes him across Europe. Abandoning his job and his life and travelling with a dusty old book as his talisman, he heads for Lisbon in search of clues to the life of the book's Portuguese author, Amadeu de Prado. As he gets swept up in his quest, he finds that the journey is also one of self-discovery, as he reencounters all the decisions he has made - and not made - in his life, and faces the roads not travelled.

The only one who can help her is the man who broke her heart. Four years ago, Lady Caroline Astley took one look at Henry Greville, Viscount Thetford, and fell horribly in love, in that particular way you can only fall in love at the age of fifteen. He didn't just reject her. He humiliated her. But now, in a stroke of rotten luck, he's the only one who can help her. It turns out that the "paste" pendant she borrowed from her sister, Anne, was no fake. It's actually an ancient Egyptian amulet, and now Anne wants to auction it off to save hundreds of widows and orphans. What Caro can't bear to tell her sister is that the necklace was stolen from right around her neck. Caro has a few clues, but she doesn't know an amulet from an obelisk, and the trail has gone cold. Guess who grew up in a house stuffed with Egyptian artifacts? Caro may despise Henry, but she needs him if she's going to track down the thieves. Which begs...

For all Theroux travel writing fans and particularly the legions of lovers of Dark Star Safari and Eastern Star. Acclaimed travel writer Paul Theroux resumes the African trip recounted in his brilliant Dark Star Safari, from Cairo to Capetown down the right-hand of Africa. For ten years he longed to return Capetown, and travel up the the left-hand side to Congo. After 50 years of travel and past retirement age, this is the last trip of this kind the author will take, and this is the story his fans have been waiting for.

After the sickness and quarantine almost destroyed the city, the traders arrived creeping out from the sea to live off the memories of those people left behind; getting them addicted to the serum these strange creatures manufacture in return. But now it's been more than five days since they have come for their daily visit. And Lucy is determined to find out why.At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

She's the Hellion of Hyde Park...A foolproof plan to avoid marriage:1. Always carry at least three blades.2. Ride circles around any man.3. Never get caught in a handsome duke's arms.Wild Highlander Mary Elizabeth Waters is living on borrowed time. She's managed to dodge the marriage banns up to now, but even Englishmen can only be put off for so long...and there's one in particular who has her in his sights.Harold Percy, Duke of Northumberland, is enchanted by the beautiful hellion who outrides every man on his estate and dances Scottish reels while the ton looks on in horror. The more he sees Mary, the more he knows he has to have her, tradition and good sense be damned. But what's a powerful man to do when the Highland spitfire of his dreams has no desire to be tamed...Broadswords and Ballrooms:How to Seduce a ScotHow to Wed a WarriorHow to Train Your...

    CLAYBURN WOULD NEED ALL HIS WITS AND A LOT OF BULLETS-TO GET THIS WAGON TRAIN THROUGH.     First a stretch of desert, then the badlands, and after that mountains just crawling with Apache war parties-that was the trail to the gold rush town of Bannock. And if the early snows didn't stop Clayburn, Adler intended to.     Adler was determined to have only one supply train to reap the huge profits from Bannock-his. And Adler was a man used to winning. Trouble was, so was Clayburn.

Jascha and Lilka separately fled from the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942. Reunited years later, they live in London where Jascha has become a celebrated writer, feted for his dark tales about his war adventures. One day, forty years after the war, Jascha receives a letter inviting him to give a reading in Warsaw. He tells Lilka that nothing remains of the city they knew and that wild horses couldn't drag him back. Nostalgic for the city of her childhood, Lilka prevails; together, traveling by train through a frozen December landscape, they return to the city of their past. When they unwittingly find themselves back in what was once the ghetto, they will discover that they still have secrets between them.A riveting story of the nature of desire and the cost of survival, The Train to Warsaw is a haunting and unforgettable portrait of a man and a woman who cannot escape their past.

Copenhagen is a mysterious city where strange and sinister things often happen. Menacing and at times darkly humourous there are echos of Roald Dahl and Daphne du Maurier in these stories, many of which have been commissioned for Radio 4

In 1860, having traveled with his young sister from New York to a foster home on a farm near St. Joseph, Missouri, ten-year-old Danny plots to get his newly-widowed foster father to send for and marry his mother

A train that travels through impossible places. A boy trapped in a snow globe. And a girl who’s about to go on the adventure of a lifetime.The Impossible Postal Express is no ordinary train. It’s a troll-operated delivery service that runs everywhere from ocean-bottom shipwrecks, to Trollville, to space.But when this impossible train comes roaring through Suzy’s living room, her world turns upside down. After sneaking on board, Suzy suddenly finds herself Deputy Post Master aboard the train, and faced with her first delivery—to the evil Lady Crepuscula.Then, the package itself begs Suzy not to deliver him. A talking snow globe, Frederick has information Crepuscula could use to take over the entire Union of Impossible Places. But when protecting Frederick means putting her friends in danger, Suzy has to make a difficult choice—with the fate of the entire Union at stake.

Another great story from Marsha Jardine portraying intimate sex that is graphic and sensual, but never crude. The story revolves around Bill Douglas who is not happy with his life and his marriage. It all changes when he meets the love of his life on a train. Not all is easy for Bill and he has to sacrifice a great deal to get the woman he wants.

Award-winning journalist Peter Millar jumps aboard a railway system that was once the pride of Latin America – and now a crippled casualty case – to undertake a railway odyssey the length of Cuba in the dying days of the Castro regime. Starting in the ramshackle but romantic capital of Havana, once dominated by the US mafia, he travels with ordinary Cubans, sharing anecdotes, life stories and political opinions, to the far end of the island, where it meets a more modern blot of American history, the Guantánamo naval base and detention camp. Millar may not have all the answers but he asks the right questions on an anarchic, entertaining and often comic adventure. This is a journey about which everyone will want to read – but no one in their right mind would want to follow!

Diamonds may be a collector's best friend, but for Dante Rocco, a courier for precious stones and metals, the next delivery could mean death.Someone is robbing and killing couriers of precious gems and metals in Europe. Global Diamond Couriers in New Orleans assigns their human Italian, Dante, to make a major delivery in Venice. Although pickpocketing is the usual crime there, a wary Alexandros, Dante's vampire lover, insists he and Malcolm, the other staff immortal, go along as bodyguards.In Rome, they board the Orient Express to Venice, and Malcolm is welcomed by Nick, a human steward whom he'd met years earlier. The hot, younger man seduces him into a whirlwind romance. But when Nick appears unannounced in their secret Venetian hotel, he's sucked into a maelstrom of danger and deceit none of them may survive.This story has been previously published.

Fans of Alice Sebold and John Green will be transfixed by this sophisticated, edgy debut novel packing dark humor, biting wit, and a lot of Jack Daniels.Who put the word fun in funeral? I can't think of anything fun about Rachel's funeral, except for the fact that she won't be there.Aubrey Glass has a collection of potential suicide notes—just in case. And now, five years—and five notes—after leaving her hometown, Rachel's the one who goes and kills herself. Aubrey can't believe her luck.But Rachel's death doesn't leave Aubrey in peace. There's a voicemail from her former friend, left only days before her death, that Aubrey can't bring herself to listen to—and worse, a macabre memorial-turned-high-school reunion that promises the opportunity to catch up with everyone . . . including the man responsible for everything that went wrong between Aubrey and Rachel.In the days leading up to the funeral and infamous after party,...

It is 1977 and seventeen-year-old Mona Manoliu has fallen in love with Mihai, a mysterious boy who lives in the romantic mountain city where she spends her summers. She can think of nothing and no one else. But life under Ceausescu's Romania is difficult. Hunger, paranoia and fear infect everyone. One day Mona sees Mihai wearing the black leather jacket favoured by the secret police. Is it possible he is one of them? As food shortages worsen and more of her loved ones disappear, Mona comes to understand that she must leave Romania. She escapes in secret -- narrowly avoiding the police -- through Yugoslavia to Italy, and finally to Chicago. But she leaves without saying a final goodbye to Mihai. And though she struggles to bury her longing for the past, many years later she finds herself compelled to return, determined to learn the truth.

It all starts when a man comes to deliver a message to Frank Compton—only to fall dead at his feet. What follows is a suspenseful thriller that only Timothy Zahn, a master of hard SF adventure, could have written. More than two hundred years from now, the Quadrail transportation system run by the enigmatic Spiders connects civilizations throughout the galaxy. But someone is threatening the entire system and the worlds it serves with a military force that could wreak interstellar havoc. Worse yet, a more subtle and sinister threat lurks: the Modhri, whose unique coral is prized throughout the galaxy, but which has properties that may create addiction—or worse. Compton, a sharp investigator, lost his job with Earth’s security forces when he exposed a corrupt scheme that had roots in high places. Enlisted by the Spiders to find out who’s trying to take over the Quadrail, he’s got his hands full, because he’s got beings of many races gunning for him to keep him from discovering a far-flung conspiracy that could destroy every civilization in the galaxy. The result is one of Zahn’s most memorable and compelling novels in years.

At nineteen years of age, Julia Weston fancies herself a capable woman, far too old to require a traveling companion. But at the insistence of her overprotective father, Julia finds herself aboard the Orient Express in the care of an approved escort. In an ill-advised demonstration of independence, Julia leaves the train on a quick errand and then re-boards and sleeps away her exhaustion. Upon awakening, however, she realizes her plan went terribly awry: she boarded the wrong train and is now stranded alone in the French countryside of Provence.Now she must rely on the help of Luc Paquet, a young French farmer who offers her accommodations with his aunt while Julia awaits the next train to Paris in five days' time. As she settles into the rhythms of the household alongside Luc and his aunt, Julia learns more than she ever dreamed she would about France, farm life, and her handsome rescuer. There is more to Luc than meets the eye, and their chemistry is undeniable. But Julia...

The hot, urgent passion of an immortal for his human lover, the vengeful vampire who wants to kill them, and the world of precious stones.After seven-hundred years, Alexandros Nicolaides has adjusted to life as an immortal. Employed by a New Orleans diamond courier, the gemologist travels to Italy in the hope of gaining a new customer for that business. On the night train from Rome to Naples, he confirms what he's suspected—someone is following him.Human Dante Rocco has his reasons for tailing the tall blond. Unaware he follows an immortal, he's in for a bad shock. When Alex rescues him from thugs, a hot, urgent sexual bond flares between these two rivals for the courier account. As they struggle with the reality of their relationship, they discover they're now the ones being pursued—by an unstable, vengeful vampire.This work has been previously released.

North East India, 1923. On the broiling Night Mail from Calcutta to Jamalpur, a man is shot dead in a first class compartment. Detective Inspector Jim Stringer was sleeping in the next compartment along. Was he the intended target? Jim should have known that his secondment to the East Indian Railway, with a roving brief to inspect security arrangements, would not be the working holiday he had hoped for. The country seethes with political and racial tension. Aside from the Jamalpur shooting, someone is placing venomous snakes - including giant king cobras - in the first class compartments of the railway.Jim also has worries on the home front: his daughter has formed a connection with a Maharajah's son, who may in turn have a connection to Jim's incredibly rude colleague, the bristling Major Fisher. Jim must do everything he can to keep his family safe from harm, as he unravels the intrigues that surround him...

At nineteen years of age, Julia Weston fancies herself a capable woman, far too old to require a traveling companion. But at the insistence of her overprotective father, Julia finds herself aboard the Orient Express in the care of an approved escort. In an ill-advised demonstration of independence, Julia leaves the train on a quick errand and then reboards and sleeps away her exhaustion. Upon awakening, however, she realizes her plan went terribly awry: she boarded the wrong train and is now stranded alone in the French countryside of Provence. Now she must rely on the help of Luc Paquet, a young French farmer who offers her accommodations with his aunt while Julia awaits the next train to Paris in five days’ time. As she settles into the rhythm of the household alongside Luc and his aunt, Julia learns more than she ever dreamed she would about France, farm life, and her handsome rescuer. There is more to Luc than meets the eye, and their chemistry is undeniable. But Julia and Luc are from different worlds, and all too soon, the train will bear Julia back to a life that suddenly feels incomplete.

International bestseller by one of Turkey’s most beloved authorsAs the daughter of one of Turkey’s last Ottoman pashas, Selva could win the heart of any man in Ankara. Yet the spirited young beauty only has eyes for Rafael Alfandari, the handsome Jewish son of an esteemed court physician. In defiance of their families, they marry, fleeing to Paris to build a new life. But when the Nazis invade France and begin rounding up Jews, the exiled lovers will learn that nothing—not war, not politics, not even religion—can break the bonds of family. For after they learn that Selva is but one of their fellow citizens trapped in France, a handful of brave Turkish diplomats hatch a plan to spirit the Alfandaris and hundreds of innocents, many of whom are Jewish, to safety. Together, they must traverse a war-torn continent, crossing enemy lines and risking everything in a desperate bid for freedom. From Ankara to Paris, Cairo, and Berlin, Last Train to Istanbul is an uplifting tale of love and adventure from Turkey’s beloved bestselling novelist Ayşe Kulin.**

From the moment that he first shook up the world in the mid 1950s, Elvis Presley has been one of the most vivid and enduring myths of American culture.Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley is the first biography to go past that myth and present an Elvis beyond the legend. Based on hundreds of interviews and nearly a decade of research, it traces the evolution not just of the man but of the music and of the culture he left utterly transformed, creating a completely fresh portrait of Elvis and his world.This volume tracks the first twenty-four years of Elvis' life, covering his childhood, the stunning first recordings at Sun Records ("That's All Right," "Mystery Train"), and the early RCA hits ("Heartbreak Hotel," "Hound Dog," "Don't Be Cruel"). These were the years of his improbable self-invention and unprecedented triumphs, when it seemed that everything that Elvis tried succeeded wildly. There was scarcely a cloud in sight through this period...

COULD YOU FIND A MUSEUM FOR A MONSTER?OR A JAZZ BAR FOR A JABBERWOCK?Zoe Norris writes travel guides for the undead. And she's good at it too — her new-found ability to talk to cities seems to help. After the success of The Sbambling Guide to New York City, Zoe and her team are sent to New Orleans to write the sequel. Work isn't all that brings Zoe to the Big Easy. The only person who can save her boyfriend from zombism is rumored to live in the city's swamps, but Zoe's out of her element in the wilderness. With her supernatural colleagues waiting to see her fail, and rumors of a new threat hunting city talkers, can Zoe stay alive long enough to finish her next book?

To commemorate the involvement of Scots Regiments in WWI "Last Train to Waverley" is set in France during one week in March 1918. The Germans launched their final major offensive of the war and pushed the British back thirty miles. One unit of the 20 Royal Scots were cut off. This book follows the fortunes of this unit, and the personal dilemmas of Douglas Ramsay, the officer in charge. Lieutenant Ramsay returns from hospital to the front line in March 1918. Before he has time to get to know his men, the Germans attack and break through the British lines. He is left in an isolated position with a handful of men. Most of his men are very young but he has two veterans in Sergeant Flockhart and Corporal McKim. Unfortunately Ramsay and Flockhart have a bad history, the details of which come out in a series of flashbacks throughout the book. Ramsay leads the survivors of the 20th Royal Scots back through the German lines to try and reach the always moving British positions. He is...

Autumn 1908 finds Caroline Fremont Jones and her partner in love and work, Michael Kossoff, traveling incognito, riding the rails from San Francisco to Boston. The railroad hired the sleuthing couple to investigate a series of accidents. But before they can solve the mystery, they become victims of the worst mishap yet when their train blows up near Salt Lake City. Was it a callous act of vandalism-or something even more sinister? Michael isn't about to let his injuries slow down his search for answers...or for Fremont, who has not been seen since the accident-dead or alive.Fortunately, the badly injured Fremont was rescued from the train's wreckage. But her unlikely savior, the leader of a breakaway Mormon sect, has hidden her away in his remote wilderness community. It seems that Melancthon Pratt has big plans for Fremont...not the least of which is for her to become his sixth wife. Now Fremont's only hope is that her genius for artifice will help her devise an...

Gay-Lesbian Romance, Erotic Romance

Meet Fen Churche, as she steps off the night train with the sun rising over Paris. Cat whisperer, crossword puzzler… accidental detective? Autumn, 1945. Fen cannot wait to see her beloved godmother Rose , who has invited Fen to stay with her in the city of lights. As she arrives, Fen is dreaming of strolls by the Seine, taking tea at the Eiffel Tower and above all French feasts with Rose where they can trade stories of how they survived the terrifying war years. But Fen has barely made friends with Rose’s bad-tempered poodle when she returns to the apartment to find her godmother murdered, a paintbrush stuck in her neck. Suddenly Fen is thrown into the middle of a truly puzzling mystery. Who on earth would want to murder Rose, a gentle artist and generous friend? A blackmail letter convinces Fen that the police have got everything wrong and Fen knows she has to solve the case just like one of her crosswords, one clue at a time. As she meets her godmother’s friends, she makes a surprising discovery: Rose was part of the Resistance during the war… When a second body turns up, another of Rose’s wartime contacts, Fen must act fast. But as the killer turns their sights on Fen, does she have what it takes to solve this mysterious murder and get justice for her darling godmother? You won’t be able to put down this utterly addictive historical cozy mystery! The absolutely perfect treat if you love Agatha Christie, Rhys Bowen and Jacqueline Winspear.

When Will accepts a dare at a party and dresses as a girl, it incites confusion in Charlie, and Charlie lashes out. He never meant to hurt Will. Can they sort out their relationship in a shared sleeper car on a school trip?

Rose Manon, an American daughter of the mountains of Nevada, working as a journalist in New York, is awarded her dream job, foreign correspondent.  Posted to Paris, she is soon entangled in romance, an unsolved murder, and the desperation of a looming war.  Assigned to the Berlin desk, Manon is forced to grapple with her hidden identity as a Jew, the mistrust of her lover, and an unwelcome visitor on the eve of Kristallnacht.  And . . . on the day before World War II is declared, she must choose who will join her on the last train to Paris.This is a carefully researched historical novel that reads like a suspense thriller.  Colette and Janet Flanner are only two of the well-known figures woven into the story. The parts they play will surprise readers. Last Train to Paris will enthrall the same audience that made In The Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson and Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky bestsellers.

Having taken control of the Kingdom of Bartavia, Casimir’s only decision was who he would take as his queen.  Perhaps it would be the Princess Christine, or perhaps the equally beautiful but also very rich Lady Emily, heiress to the wealthiest and most powerful estate in Bartavia.It would not be an easy decision.  The answer was to send them to the dungeons for training and assessment by Master Harkness, whose speciality was obtaining confessions from prisoners.  He, no doubt, could teach the young women to be properly submissive and test their potential for sexual servitude…

Italy, 1980s. The unnamed narrator and her English friend Liz are booksmart but inexperienced 18-year-old students on a budget traveling around Northern Italy by train. As they share adventures and conversation, their edgy friendship not surprisingly begins to deepen. But it's on their final nocturnal train trip back to Florence that they go beyond friendship into an act of bold sexual experimentation... This short story was first published in the Cleis Press anthology Hot Ticket: Tales of Lesbians, Sex, and Travel.

Cosy crime series. Episode 5 of 12: Cherringham is devastated. Otto Brendl, the likeable old man who had hosted the classic Punch-and-Judy show for the kids each summer, died suddenly of a heart attack. But while the memorial service is being planned, Jack becomes suspicious that Otto wasn't just the friendly man next door. Maybe there's more behind the heart attack? Soon Jack and Sarah are on the trail of a particularly sinister murderer - and together they will find that there's not only one kind of justice. — Cherringham is serial novel à la Charles Dickens, with a new mystery thriller released each month. Set in the sleepy English village of Cherringham, the detective series brings together an unlikely sleuthing duo: English web designer Sarah and American ex-cop Jack. Thrilling and deadly - but with a spot of tea - it's like Rosamunde Pilcher meets Inspector Barnaby. Each of the 12 self-contained episodes is a quick read for the morning commute, while waiting for the doctor,...

RetailThe dramatic and never-before-told story of a secret FDR-approved American internment camp in Texas during World War II, where thousands of families—many US citizens—were incarcerated.From 1942 to 1948, trains delivered thousands of civilians from the United States and Latin America to Crystal City, Texas, a small desert town at the southern tip of Texas. The trains carried Japanese, German, Italian immigrants and their American-born children. The only family internment camp during World War II, Crystal City was the center of a government prisoner exchange program called “quiet passage.” During the course of the war, hundreds of prisoners in Crystal City, including their American-born children, were exchanged for other more important Americans—diplomats, businessmen, soldiers, physicians, and missionaries—behind enemy lines in Japan and Germany.Focusing her story on two American-born teenage girls who were interned, author Jan Jarboe Russell uncovers the details of their years spent in the camp; the struggles of their fathers; their families’ subsequent journeys to war-devastated Germany and Japan; and their years-long attempt to survive and return to the United States, transformed from incarcerated enemies to American loyalists. Their stories of day-to-day life at the camp, from the ten-foot high security fence to the armed guards, daily roll call, and censored mail, have never been told.Combining big-picture World War II history with a little-known event in American history that has long been kept quiet, The Train to Crystal City reveals the war-time hysteria against the Japanese and Germans in America, the secrets of FDR’s tactics to rescue high-profile POWs in Germany and Japan, and how the definition of American citizenship changed under the pressure of war.

Originally published in 2004 and called Nothing to Lose, New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne brings readers a thrilling story of a sister desperate to save her brother's life and the true crime writer who may be the only man who can help!Crime expert Wyatt McKinnon has built his career by turning high-profile cases into bestsellers. His most recent project—investigating the murders that landed a detective on death row—has reunited him with Taylor Bradshaw, the inmate's fiercely protective sister. Wyatt plans to help her exonerate her convicted sibling.Wyatt insists his attraction to the captivating redhead won't distract him, but he does concede that the recent attempts on Ms. Bradshaw's life have caused unexpected emotional complications.FREE BONUS STORY! How to Train a CowboyA cowgirl desperate to prove herself takes a Marine under her wing in this heartwarming story by USA TODAY bestselling author Caro...

The breathtaking memoir by a member of “Nicky's family," a group of 669 Czechoslovakian children who escaped the Holocaust through Sir Nicholas Winton's Kindertransport project, My Train to Freedom relates the trials and achievements of award-winning humanitarian and former Episcopal priest, Ivan Backer.As Backer recounts in his memoir, in May of 1939 as a ten-year-old Jewish boy, he fled Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia for the United Kingdom aboard one of the Kindertransport trains organized by Nicholas Winton, a young London stockbroker. The final train was canceled September 1 when Hitler invaded Poland. The 250 children scheduled for that train were left on the platform and later transported to concentration camps and presumably perished.Detailed in this page-turning true story is Backer's dangerous escape, his boyhood in England, his perilous 1944 voyage to America, and his mantra today. Now he is an eighty-six-year-old who remains an activist for peace...

How To Train Your Knight, A Romance Book by Stella Marie Alden

She’s the Jezibaba, not the Jezibooboo. Sleeping with Professor Hottie is out of the question… or is it? After three hundred years of keeping the magical peace in the world, she's a hundred years past being ready to hang up her Jezibaba witch’s hat. The Council of Witches still can’t be trusted but she will happily step aside to leave their treachery to her successors to punish.Two new witches—two Baba Yaga—have been chosen as potentials to take her place. Yet before she can thank Morgana The Red for helping her survive long enough to retire her wand, she uncovers one major snafu in the cauldron’s prediction. The Chosen Ones are still children.  Carol and Hildy are only ten years old and neither has mastered any real magic. Does everyone expect her to babysit in between her normal work of chasing down magic abusers? Child care isn’t in her job description, and Goddess knows, she has enough other problems on her magical plate.  Because she refused to die on their command, the Fates are laughing while assassins line up to take their turn trying to kill the girls. Professor Hottie—the caring and way too sexy dragon headmaster of Witchery U—is turning out to be the biggest distraction she’s ever encountered. Finding out the Goddess she’s trusted all this time has been lying to her about her origins? Well, that’s simply the last straw. Everyone is about to get a don’t-mess-with-the-Jezibaba life lesson.  One way or the other, she’s going to protect the girls, kill their would-be killers, and then she’s going to torture each member of the Council until she discovers the traitor funding the attempts on their lives. What she is not going to do is sleep with the sexy dragon. She and Professor Hottie have way more in common than the magical world is ready to know.  keywords: paranormal romance, dragons, witches wizards warlocks, magic mischief mayhem, shifters, mythology, action and adventure

Last Train to Paradise is acclaimed novelist Les Standiford's fast-paced and gripping true account of the extraordinary construction and spectacular demise of the Key West Railroad--one of the greatest engineering feats ever undertaken, destroyed in one fell swoop by the strongest storm ever to hit U.S. shores. In 1904, the brilliant and driven entrepreneur Henry Flagler, partner to John D. Rockefeller and the true mastermind behind Standard Oil, concocted the dream of a railway connecting the island of Key West to the Florida mainland, crossing a staggering 153 miles of open ocean--an engineering challenge beyond even that of the Panama Canal. "The financiers considered the project and said, Unthinkable. The engineers pondered the problems and from all came one verdict, Impossible. . . ." But build it they did, and the railroad stood as a magnificent achievement for twenty-two years. Once dismissed as "Flagler's Folly," it was heralded as "the Eighth Wonder of...

LESSONS IN LASSOING Though marine hero Benjamin Graham doesn't know the first thing about ranching, his new job is the lifeline he desperately needs. Without the help of feisty cowgirl Emily Davis, though, he's lost—in more ways than one. But as their attraction turns combustible, the hardened battle vet turns away from the gorgeous college coed. She might know every inch of her family's homestead, but Graham doesn't want her to know his pain. Even if the world is Emily's oyster, all she's ever wanted is the family ranch. And though rugged new ranch hand Graham seems like an unlikely trainee, he is taking her dreams of running the ranch more seriously than anyone else. As they grow closer during hot days—and nights—working the range, Emily starts to think that maybe the ranch is only a piece of her dream...

Long years ago, as India made its tryst with destiny and the soul of a nation long suppressed was torn asunder, a story of love and compassion ensued...Sahitya Akademi awardee Shiv K. Kumar brings us a Partition novel that will delight readers with its fast-paced and humorous storytelling. Join Gautam Mehta as he converts to Christianity to divorce his wife, falls in love with a kidnapped Muslim beauty, and revels in adventures full of midnight swigs, enamelled snuffboxes, and quiet bouts of love-making. Join our stout-hearted, quick-witted protagonist as he hobnobs with the remaining Raj-era relics and, despite being hung-over, defeats the ruddy kidnappers of his romantic, timid little thing—his adversaries have not a whiff of a chance!Shiv K. Kumar's memorable novel takes you on a journey to the twilight of the Raj, to the pains of Partition, and to a love story that will heal the scars left in the wake of history.

World-famous duck-tective Miss Mallard works to solve the case of a missing prankster in this engaging Aladdin QUIX mystery.Miss Mallard sets out to explain the disappearance of George Buddy Duck, a prankster who has aggravated all of the passengers on a train. Will she find him before he has the chance to cause more mayhem?

Vicky Bliss is the first to admit she doesn't know a thing about Egyptology. But her familiarity with criminality brings an intelligence agency to her office with an offer she can't refuse: they want her as an undercover operative on a luxury Nile cruise because certain information has come their way that a major theft of Egyptian antiquities is in the works.Vicky suspects the man they are seeking is her occasional lover and frequent adversary, Sir John Smythe.Then, on the first day of her Nile cruise, she spots him - with a beautiful woman clinging to his arm.Stunned and furious, Vicky is too preoccupied with her own feelings to concentrate on crime on the cruise - but then one of the crew is brutally murdered and Vicky finds she must put all her emotions aside and join forces with her duplicitous lover if she wants to solve the case...

In New Orleans, the killer still stalks, and confusion and passion heat up the reunion of human and vampire lovers.In this sequel to /Night Train To Naples,/confusion, danger and passion heat up the reunion of Italian diamond courier Dante Rocco and his once business rival, then lover—the vampire Alexandros Nicolaides. Alex has never wavered in what Dante means to him, but Dante arrives in New Orleans suddenly unsure of his feelings and the impulsive promise he'd made to leave Italy and move to America. In the historic richness of the French Quarter, Dante must decide how he really feels about Alex even as the powerful ruler of the Louisiana vampires complicates their lives, and Giacomo, an unstable vampire, arrives with their murders on his mind.This title has been previously published.

When Elsinore Cosgrove escapes a ballroom in search of adventure, she has no idea it will lead to a hasty marriage. The youngest daughter of a duke, all she wants is to make her own choices. Now she's engaged to an infuriating, handsome Scottish baron who doesn't even know her name! Using all her feminine wiles, along with advice gleaned from a training guide for hunting hounds, Elsinore is determined to mold her baron into the husband she wants. Quin Graham is a man with many secrets. If another scandal can be avoided with a sham marriage, so be it. Only his fiancée isn't at all what he's expecting, and the clumsy, curious, and clever Elsinore refuses to be set aside. For reasons he's unwilling to explain, the last thing Quin needs is to fall for his wife.

Moving to a new area and a new school, Louis is horrified to discover his parents changing into ultra-competitive parents, wanting him and his younger brother to get straight As at school and join all sorts of after-school clubs and activities like the other kids in the area. Suddenly Louis's life is no longer his own - until he meets Maddy, who claims to have trained her parents to ignore her- But does Louis really want to be ignored? A truly contemporary tale with characters kids will recognize instantly!

Amara, a young Italian journalist, is sent to report on the growing political divide between East and West in post-war central Europe. She also has a more personal mission: to find out what happened to Emanuele, her soul mate from before the war when both were children in Florence. From Auschwitz to Budapest, a journey into the bleeding heart of the twentieth century.

From School Library JournalGrade 3-5–Cowell is getting a great deal of mileage from her pseudomemoirs of the delightfully alliterative Viking. She retains her touch in this latest volume, which relates Hiccup's quest to find the Vegetable-That-No-One-Dares-Name, namely a potato that is the only thing that can prevent his friend Fishlegs from dying of Vorpentitis. The potato, you see, is an imaginary vegetable that comes from a place that doesn't really exist: America. When Hiccup realizes that he has only until 10 o'clock the next morning to find the mythical vegetable, it is a race against time and against the wishes of his father. It also requires traveling with the charming bog-burglar Camicazi, breaking into the headquarters of Norbert the Nutjob and his Hysteric tribe, and stealing the frozen potato while they sleep, all the while trying to avoid a fearsome sea predator. The result is an irresistible concoction. As with all the Hiccup books, this one is full of amusing illustrations, clever design that includes inkblots scattered throughout the pages, and an occasional explanation of hibernating dragons and venomous vorpents. This action-filled and compelling story will draw readers along. It's a must for libraries that have the previous books in this series, which is probably most.–Tim Wadham, Maricopa County Library District, Phoenix, AZ Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review'Outrageously funny and inventive ... a novel with huge appeal ... It's hard to beat this story for sheer entertainment and larger than life, distinctive - and differentiated characters.' -- Books for Keeps 'Fiercely exciting and laugh-aloud funny, it is as full of joy for children of 7+ who have given up reading as for those who love it.' -- Amanda Craig, The Times PRAISE FOR HICCUP:Irresistably funny, exciting and endearing -- Amanda Craig, The Times CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEK: This book is great fun and has a Blackadderish sense of humour ... full of the sort of jokes that will make schoolboys snigger. -- Nicolette Jones, The Sunday Times How to Train Your Dragon is a delightful narrative caper... It offers a challenging read to 11-year-olds, and rewards reading aloud, especially for those who relish an element of theatre at story time. -- Sunday Herald, Glasgow ... raucous and slapstick ... liberally illustrated with [Cressida Cowell's] riotous drawings, notes and maps. -- The Financial Times [Cressida Cowell] puts a contemporary spin on the old brains over brawn moral and brings the story to a climax with a thrilling dragon duel. Lots for lots of different readers to enjoy. -- Books for Keeps Bulging with good jokes, funny drawings and dramatic scenes, it is absolutely wonderful. -- Independent on Sunday Rollicking fun with a whiff of the past. -- The Guardian 20061125 'Rollicking fun with a whiff of the past.' -- The Guardian 20061125 'If you haven't discovered Hiccup yet, you're missing out on one of the greatest inventions of modern children's literature.' -- Julia Eccleshare, Guardian children's editor 20061125

Captain James T. Kirk responds once again to the call of the final frontier­on a mission to lead a valiant group of settlers to a newly discovered M-class world. Starfleet can spare only one starship to escort them on their perilous voyage, the legendary Starship Enterprise. Now, Kirk finds himself responsible for the lives of 30,000 men, women, and children­a task that becomes more formidable as the expedition is caught in the crossfire resulting from an ancient feud between two alien races.