Who was the mysterious Hector Lightfoot? What was he up to when he disappeared, and who were the two ghosts once seen in his house? School friends Jamie and Todd are destined to find out when they go to London to spend a weekend with Jamie's Uncle Simon, who now lives in that very house. Soon after they arrive, Jamie has a frightening encounter with the two ghosts. Hector, a veteran from the First Afghan War, joined a covert expedition to China, and afterwards worked on a secret Government project in an underground lab at the British Museum. He vanished suddenly, and was never heard from again. Simon takes the boys to the lab, where they find a strange contraption - which, unknown to any of them, is a time-travel device. When the building is struck by lightning, the device is energised, and sends the boys back in time to the year 1862. There, surrounded by danger and exposed to disease, they are sucked into a life of crime in order to survive. Only if they can find Hector will they have any chance of getting home again. But why has he gone into hiding? Who is the man after him and what does he want? As the boys struggle to escape back to their own time, Jamie becomes convinced that the two ghosts he saw earlier are following them...

Fifty Shades of Pink will turn you another colour altogether. Pink is most definitely the new grey. From frollicking in the orchard to grinding in the sty, this book will leave you hungry for more pork than you can handle...

Queen's Ford, built in the reign of Queen Elizabeth and home to the noble Forde family for centuries, is crumbling into ruin. Devastated by the reduced circumstances in which he finds himself due to the outlandish spending of his late father, the current Lord Fordcombe simply cannot afford to repair it. With only a few loyal servants to serve the family, even the once beautiful gardens and stables are shabby and unkempt. In fact the Forde family, blue-blooded and aristocratic, who have entertained more than one English Monarch during their illustrious past, are now so poor that they struggle to find money for food. Driven beyond endurance and crushed by the monotony of poverty, Jeremy, the handsome twenty-one year old son of Lord Fordcombe decides that something desperate must be done. Artfully persuading his eldest sister, Mariota, to sacrifice her principles and go along with his daring plan, she joins him in holding up a coach masquerading as highwaymen. But as the usually honest and kind Mariota catches a glimpse of the terrified woman they are robbing, she knows that this is something she should never have allowed. About to call off Jeremy, who is wild-eyed with excitement and oblivious to the upset he is causing, she suddenly sees a gentleman taking aim with his gun behind her brother. In a split second she fires, blinded to the consequences of her actions through her love for her brother. As the dust settles on the lonely road she realises that the handsome Earl of Buckenham is injured and, eager to avoid the gallows, the subdued siblings bring him to their home to heal. Desperately sorry by the trouble they have caused, Mariota proceeds to nurse him better, praying for forgiveness and willing the Earl to improve. But the unforeseen dramas that arise from that one action alter the lives of everyone involved forever.

Motivated solely by the desire for material gain Diana lives her life careless and oblivious of the feelings of others. Her harsh and loveless childhood spent with her twisted and tyrannical mother has shaped and moulded her into a cold, callous, soulless, amoral monster. Diana manipulates everyone she comes into contact with, using every means at her disposal and all purely for selfish gain, but so skilfully that most are unaware of her selfish and sinister motives; humanity has been brainwashed out of her, or so it seems. Indomitable of spirit in business and daily life she gives no quarter and expects none. She sheds no tears and shows no weakness. However deep inside her lurk feelings she cannot understand; feelings which occasionally but fleetingly show themselves, she however sees tender emotions as an aberration and a flaw in her character, a weakness to be suppressed at all cost, and eventually it seems she has killed all such emotions, until one day someone comes into her life and awakens the aberration. It is true love which has brought Diana to her knees, therefore she cast her lover away from her because she see's such emotion as weakness, and then begins an inner struggle which eventually brings her to the point of madness, and she watches her life falling apart and her acquired riches rapidly diminishing, while she it seems is powerless to stop it.

Eating the Cheshire Cat lures us into a world of perfectly planned parties and steep social ladders, where traditional rites of passage take unpredictable and horrifying turns as three girls and their overbearing mothers collide. In Tuscaloosa, Alabama, beauty is as beauty does, with axes and knives and killer smiles.

Sarina Summers and her mother will stop at nothing to have it all. Nicole Hicks harbors a fierce obsession with Sarina, which repeatedly undermines Mrs. Hicks's ambitious goals. Bitty Jack Carlson, a nice girl from the wrong side of the tracks, is caught in the crossfire but struggles to succeed outside the confines of this outrageous yet eerily familiar Southern community. It's survival of the fittest. Which girl will come out on top?

Covering everything from summer camp to the University of Alabama's Homecoming game, this fast-paced and unforgettable novel will keep readers guessing until the bitter end.

Die driejarige seuntjie van Elias en Barta van Rooyen raak spoorloos weg in die Knysna-bos. In die Lange Kloof, anderkant die berg, ontferm Fiela Komoetie haar oor ’n weggooilam wat een nag voor haar deur kom huil. Die een kind is Lukas, die ander Benjamin. Is dit dieselfde kind? Dié raaisel word nege jaar later oopgekrap deur twee sensusmanne wat die wit kind met die blou oë by ’n bruin gesin in die Lange Kloof kry.

Fiela se kind is ’n boek met ’n warm hartklop, dit is ’n boek oor moederliefde, oor liefde wat oor alle grense heen strek.

“Hierdie roman bevestig op skitterende wyse dat min mense by Dalene Matthee kan kers vashou as dit by die vertelkuns op sy eerste en onderhoudendste kom.” - André P. Brink, Rapport

Five great stories of the adventures of two young beige chinchillas: how they escape from their cage in the shed in which they live and how they explore their garden and the Scottish village in which they live, with their owner Mary. Be aware they get into lots of trouble, both frightened Charles and his naughty but brave, sister Camilla. How they meet the school children, other animals and when they nearly get squashed by a timber lorry. How later the Minister at the Church comes to their rescue. Charles meets the vet and how they both fall into a very icy pond.

Have you ever wondered why a parent puts a hand on their child's head; or why we pat our own heart when we speak of our self; or why some people rub their little finger when anxious? We all display behavioural routines at times that can give comfort to ourselves or others in times of stress. 'I Still Love Me' offers a comfort routine for young children growing up in our fast paced world. The routine of 'patting 'offered here is a simplification of meridian tapping techniques, already in use to maintain, regain and enhance health in adults. It was inspired by the fact that the author, as a clinician, could trace many of the chronic problems presenting in her patients to childhood trauma. Thus, by helping to alleviate stress in the young, the author aims to promote health in future generations of adults.

Father John was born to a woman with ordination on her mind, capturing his early days and taking the reader through a minefield of this great romance falling apart, then picking up and taking off like no one has ever seen, like the tidal wave lashing the stones against the rocks, and in unbending fury calming down under the influence of the cellular glory of the Heavens, where fear is unknown and all the space between the sky and the earth is waiting to be reclaimed by our Heavenly Father, the creator of all things. This love affair that lasted a lifetime saw many new moons and many changes that from day to day determine our lives' efforts and seals our worth. There has never been a love affair like this and there will never be another one. Rosaleen has looked down all the leafy highways, adorned with the sound of musical theatre in the form of birdsong, observing the scene that was so gloriously set when Father John fell in love with Nurse Lynda.

NOW A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES Frustrated at the path her life has taken, Alice decides to take control of her personal life using astrology as her guide in this quirky, steamy, and hilarious romantic comedy. Alice Bassi is (a little) over thirty, single (not by choice), and she can't help but feel that she is failing at this whole adulthood thing. She's stuck in a dead-end job, just found out her ex-boyfriend is engaged to his pregnant girlfriend, and Richard Gere hasn't shown up with flowers and a limo to save her from it all. On one particularly disastrous morning-when Alice would much rather have stayed home, curled up with her favorite rom-coms-she meets Davide Nardi. Handsome yet indecipherable, Davide would be the leading man of Alice's dreams-if only he weren't the "hatchet man" brought in to help streamline production and personnel at the small television network she works for. In the midst of all this, Alice runs into Tio-an actor and astrology expert who is convinced he can turn her life around with a little help from the stars. Skeptical but willing, Alice decides to take Tio's advice and only date men whose Zodiac signs are compatible with hers. Unfortunately, it turns out that astrological affinity doesn't always guarantee a perfect match, nor prevent a series of terrible dates, disappointments, and awkward surprises. It also doesn't keep Davide from becoming more attractive every day. Perfect for fans of Bridget Jones's Diary and Star-Crossed, An Astrological Guide for Broken Hearts is a witty, sexy, and relatable portrait of a modern woman's search for love and a dream job, only to discover that your destiny isn't always written in the stars.

Deadlines, the first in Chris Dunn's Contango series, traces the bid of raw young City reporter, Tom Stone, to crack the secret of a spectacular City swindle mounted by Wolf de Boys, the brilliant young financier. Tom has big problems: his relationship with his upwardly mobile girlfriend, under pressure from her snobbish parents, is dying a slow death; a mysterious caller, whose deep voice somehow sounds familiar, and who keeps dropping hints about de Boys; and his fight to keep his job on the Daily Standard. Writing the 'splash' is never easy in Fleet Street. Can Tom Stone crack his story and pull it off...? Fast-moving and exciting, Deadlines reveals the squalor of Fleet Street in the seventies, and the connection between the city and its scandals and the workings of the press.

In the cut-and-thrust world of banking, a private bank can be the most dangerous place in the City to work, especially if a very rich and determined family owns a quarter of it and decides things aren't being done to their liking. Joe, Head of Trading and Investment, a very private character with a colourful past, finds out to his cost that he stands in the way of the Maitlands. Once his colleague Gina is brutally raped and murdered, and Locke, Head of Personnel, is run down in the street, left for dead, he finds he cannot prevaricate any longer. Having always looked after number one, he now finds his loyalties to the head of the bank, plucky old Johnny, confuse his options. But what of his own safety? And what will happen to Emma, the first woman he has been able to open up to? A racy thriller set in the City, Domus, number two in the series, is packed full of action and intrigue.

As the US army storms into Baghdad, Saddam Hussein's treasure leaves town secretly in lorry convoy, en route for Europe's banks across the hills by night. Awaiting the hoard's arrival eagerly in Venice is a motley bunch of conmen, hoods, card sharps and inevitably, a London stock-broker, Patrick the Beautiful. In tow, playing his bridge innocently each night with the gang, is Joe, former British Intelligence agent and ex-banking supremo. Strenuous efforts are made to blackmail Joe, master of the adroit side-step, into joining the heist. But Joe has other ideas. Meanwhile in London, British Intelligence supremo Annie is embroiled in the Foreign Office's attempt to rig the succession at the European Central Bank. To her chagrin, she discovers that her preferred but incompetent choice to supervise intelligence in Venice has very different ideas about loyalty and service. With massive consequences for Annie's career as the in-house betrayal begins..."Foible", no. 8 in the "Contango" espionage thriller series, boils to an astonishing climax as the Curse of Saddam's Gold strikes simultaneously - and tragically - in London and Venice.

Joe is back. A member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England no less. Having taken up Emma's offer of sanctuary in Pelham Crescent when under threat, is he still in danger? He quickly realises he is again operational and that his position is highly precarious - who can he trust? Annie and Gamma are in play, but is Joe on their side? And will ex-Governor Stobart discover his past with Perdita and Pugh Park? What of Rivers Pugh? Whilst for those with eyes to see the financial markets foretell doom, the financial institutions sail on, ignoring the danger signals. But who is pulling the strings? In the final novel on the "Contango" series, Chris Dunn weaves the characters and plots with consummate mastery bringing all the threads to a final hair-raising conclusion.

Matthew Stent is an unconventional therapist, whose insight into the damaged lives of his clients has become unhealthily voyeuristic. As he charts his life and the lives of others through a series of often brutal encounters and acerbic observations, his dubious moral compass leads him further and further from accepted normality and towards an altogether darker, unprofessional and more dangerous path. When he becomes infatuated with Terri, the wife of his latest client, Matthew's life takes an unexpected twist that leads him on a journey to the mystic heart of England to meet the enigmatic Wiccan High Priest Tobias Greylock, and the shocking discovery that reality is more fragile than anything he could have ever imagined.

The three brothers planned the importation of cocaine with great care. If the plan worked out they would become the biggest drug importers in the United Kingdom, able to inflate prices of the drug to whatever level they wanted. They would make millions! Standing in their way is Detective Constable John Ridge. He has just returned to duties within the same Intelligence Unit after a three year absence and is finding that his day-to-day Intelligence gathering work style is hampered by his two immediate supervisors who seem determined to get rid of him. When one of the brothers offers Ridge the chance of recovering a lorry load of cocaine as it enters the Port of Dover, he gladly accepts the offer, not realising the price he will have to pay. Everything goes horribly wrong, when Ridge is suspended from duty and his granddaughter, Sasha, is kidnapped by the gang. Sasha later escapes from the gang and is found wandering in Essex by local police officers who take her to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge. Ridge meets up with her there and during a conversation with Sasha discovers the full extent of the brothers' plan. With the original police and Customs plan now in tatters, Ridge tries desperately to recover momentum and get the job back on track.

A special edition of E L James's #1 New York Times bestselling novel, Fifty Shades Darker, that includes her own photos and caption commentary from the making of the film-and an excerpt from her forthcoming book, Fifty Shades Darker, As Told by Christian Grey. Daunted by the dark secrets of the tormented young entrepreneur, Christian Grey, Anastasia Steele has broken off their relationship. But desire for Grey still dominates her every waking thought, and when he proposes a new arrangement, she cannot resist. They rekindle their searing, sensual affair, and soon Ana is learning more about the harrowing past of her damaged, driven and demanding Fifty Shades than she ever thought possible. But while Christian wrestles with his inner demons, Ana must make the most important decision of her life. A decision she can only make on her own ...

A vibrant and dramatic novel, Elusive Liberty takes the reader from the splendour of the Great Paris Exhibition of 1867 to the Pyramids of Egypt, from the Siege of Paris to the lavish Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. Above it all towers the statue with mystery at its heart, the statue that will transcend its origins to become the most recognised symbol in the world.

Mai toata lumea scrie despre lucruri frumoase. Noii alchimisti, cautatorii in stele precum si profetii New Age iti spun cu multa jovialitate ce trebuie sa faci ca sa depasesti hotarat banalitatea cotidianului. Multi le citesc ca pe o duioasa poezie, la care viseaza o vreme, ca apoi sa vibreze tot mai surd la ea, iar in cele din urma o uita cu totul. Altii ii confera insa statutul de ultim adevar si incearca sa-si constranga viata in tiparele cu care acesta ii imbie. Toata lumea vorbeste cu dezinvoltura despre lucruri minunate, mai ales cele de pe taramurile Nestiutului. Cartea aceasta este in primul rand o marturisire despre cei care se lupta cu orice chip sa se rupa de ei insisi si a caror viata se transforma intr-un cosmar in calatoria autoimpusa catre lumile de dincolo, pururea fericite. Despre toti cei care se balbaie naclait sau din contra, disperat, la usa Spiritului, eternii orbi la Dumnezeire.

Amor uprooted herself from the good life in the business capital of India to the fashion capital of the world, to find marital bliss. This was a leap into the unknown which was exciting for her adventurous self. But it was actually a disaster just waiting to happen. The same hands that caressed her for hours also went straight for her jugular not once but twice. Her estranged husband spoilt her rotten in the eclectic revolving restaurant in the mountains of Switzerland. Soon after he and his family poisoned her food which left her brain dead and helpless. They had champagne wishes and a beer budget. She was healed gradually but completely by a man who lives close to the Egyptian Pyramids. Those who you cannot kill, you can only make them stronger - This passionate tale of an indecent proposal and a heartfelt disposal will keep you fascinated, wondering what will happen next in a story of intrigue. Her constantly threatened existence was a living nightmare but somewhere down the line her husband fell madly in love with her. Was he sending her mixed signals? Was she oblivious to the treacherous path ahead? She had absolutely no idea what was in store for her a few continents away.

As the summer season gets into full swing at Duntisbourne Hall, it looks as if love is in the air again for Max Black but life is getting complicated. His daughter, Charlotte, has decided to spend the summer with her father and the arrival of Hector Schofield, an author on a mission to find Lord Rochester's famous monkey, threatens Max's future happiness. When a momentous discovery at the Hall propels Hector from confidante to suitor, Max thinks things couldn't get much worse until a mindless prank by one of the students puts him, his daughter and his colleagues in danger of losing everything they hold dear.