Showing results by author "Amanda" in All Categories

Los Angeles, 1920s: Socialite Mirielle West's days are crowded with shopping, luncheons, and prepping for the myriad glittering parties she attends with her actor husband, Charlie. She's been too busy to even notice the small patch of pale skin on the back of her hand. Other than an occasional overindulgence in gin and champagne, which helps to numb the pain of recent tragedy, Mirielle is the picture of health. But her doctor insists on more tests, and Mirielle reluctantly agrees. The diagnosis - leprosy - is devastating and unthinkable.

Erica Marsden’s son, an artist, has been imprisoned for homicidal negligence. In a state of grief, Erica cuts off all ties to family and friends, and retreats to a quiet hamlet on the south-east coast near the prison where he is serving his sentence. There, in a rundown shack, she obsesses over creating a labyrinth by the ocean. To build it - to find a way out of her quandary - Erica will need the help of strangers. And that will require her to trust and to reckon with her past.

Disaster can come in many forms, from earthquakes and avalanches to catastrophic machine failure and acts of terror. And afterwards, when the dust settles and the survivors emerge, we can't help but wonder: why them? Why did they live when so many others perished? In The Unthinkable, Prize-winning journalist Amanda Ripley, who has covered some of the most devastating disasters of our age, sets out to find the answers.

High conflict is what happens when discord distills into a good-versus-evil kind of feud, the kind with an us and a them. In this state, the brain behaves differently. We feel increasingly certain of our own superiority, and everything we do to try to end the conflict, usually makes it worse. Eventually, we can start to mimic the behavior of our adversaries, harming what we hold most dear. In this book, New York Times bestselling author and award-winning journalist Amanda Ripley investigates how good people get captured by high conflict—and how they break free.

The idea of seeking a wife to salvage our family’s reputation starts as a joke…until it spirals into a desperate reality. Before I know it, I’m lying my way into a marriage of convenience with a woman who is everything I’m not.

Being the oldest Ravage brother means I've always been the fixer, handling everyone else's mess. But the one problem I can't solve? Keeping my hands off Zoe, my best friend's daughter. Hidden away in my remote cabin, writing is my escape until duty thrusts her into my life. Over the years, Zoe evolves into a tempting taboo—the one person I crave but can never claim, despite what she tells me about her inclinations. I vowed protection at any cost—even if it's from myself.

Elizabeth Gaskell was one of Victorian England's pre-eminent female novelists. Admired by Charles Dickens, who described her as his 'dear Scheherazade', she mingled storytelling and social realism to superb effect in her highly acclaimed fiction. This comprehensive collection comprises dramas and readings of her finest works and some lesser-known pieces.

Wendy Everly is facing an impossible choice. The only way to save the Trylle from their deadliest enemy is by sacrificing herself. If she doesn’t surrender to the Vittra, her people will be thrust into a brutal war against an unbeatable foe. But how can Wendy leave all her friends behind… even if it’s the only way to save them?

From the moment I met Nathan, a widower with two small children, I knew I would do anything for him. Sam and Sienna were both desperate for a mother and I knew I was perfect for them. I would raise them as my own, love them like my own. I would die for them. So when a missing teenager is found lying on the side of the road, my first through is for my precious kids. Are they home? Are they safe?

Catalia Fisa, Lost Princess, has been running from destiny her whole life. Yet deep down, she has always believed that the prophecy shadowing her every step is inescapable: her unimaginable power will bring unfathomable disaster. But now her newfound loved ones are caught between the shadow of Cat's tortured past and the threat of her world-shattering future. Although it may be that this, even with all her power, is still the one battle she cannot win, Cat's determined not to go down without a fight.

When her father auctions her off to pay his gambling debts, Melissa Seacourt vows that she will be no man's bought bride. Desperate to escape her fate shackled to someone she could never love, Melissa instead is forced to honor and obey the seductive stranger who comes to her rescue.

When her husband returns from war, the Marchioness of Hawkstone battles for her independence. Less than two weeks after their wedding, Gavin Colporter, Marquess of Hawkstone, left his lovely wife Mollie at home and went off to war with Lord Wellington. Four years later, Mollie has become accustomed to running the estate and doing as she pleases. It's quite a shock when Hawkstone returns and immediately begins to assume his rights and responsibilities as lord of the manor. Can she learn to submit to his authority? What will he say when he hears certain scandalous rumors about her activities in his absence?

When Sidonie's guardian dies, she flees Paris rather than submit to a forced marriage, seeking sanctuary in the home of her estranged aunt in Dole. Apolline left behind a violent and troubled past, hoping for a new life with her husband, where she can sell her herbs and assist women from the privacy of her forest home. But it is dangerous to be different, and as Sidonie and Apolline's lives become intertwined, they are soon both being hunted.

As Nora and her British Army officer husband, Gordy, pack up yet another home and leave the sun of Cyprus for the drizzle of England, she can’t shake a feeling of regret—at her failure to follow her own dreams, but also, if she’s honest, at having ended up an officer’s wife at all, drifting through a life of temporary homes and temporary relationships.

The scandal would rip through English society - but how can they resist falling recklessly, irreversibly in love? A series of disasters in Eleanor Lindale’s well-to-do family kept her out of the social whirl where she might have attracted suitors. Now, at age 25, she believes she is irretrievably on the shelf. But her quiet life in Brighton abruptly changes when she’s asked to chaperone her beautiful seventeen-year-old niece, Lady Aurora Crossways, for a brief season before Aurora’s wedding to Philip Radford, Earl of Huntley.

Kingmaker. Soothsayer. Warrior. Mage. Kingdoms would rise and fall for her...if she is ever found. In the icy North, where magic is might, an all-powerful elite ruthlessly guided by a glacial Queen have grown to dominate the world. Now rebellion is stirring in the rough, magic-poor South, where for the first time in memory a warlord has succeeded in uniting the tribal nations. Stuck in the middle is Cat - circus performer and soothsayer - safely hidden behind heavy makeup, bright colours and the harmless illusion of the circus. Until someone suspects she's more than she seems....

When Wendy Everly first discovers the truth about herself—that she's a changeling switched at birth—she knows her life will never be the same. Now she’s about to learn that there’s more to the story…. She shares a closer connection to her Vittra rivals than she ever imagined—and they’ll stop at nothing to lure her to their side. With the threat of war looming, her only hope of saving the Trylle is to marry a powerful royal. But that means walking away from Finn, her handsome bodyguard who’s strictly off limits… and Loki, a Vittra prince with whom she shares a growing attraction.

Christmas Eve, 2019. Ninety-four-year-old Molly lies in her hospital bed. A stroke and a fall may have broken her body - but her mind is alive with memories. London, 1940s. Molly is a bright young woman, determined to help the war effort and keep her head up despite it all. Life becomes brighter when she meets and falls in love with a man who makes her forget everything with one dance. But then war forces her to make an unforgettable sacrifice.

Proud Highlander Diana Maclean refused to yield to the English king... or to any member of her family's enemy: the treacherous Clan Campbell. Instead, determined to free her imprisoned mother, she steals into a castle dungeon right under the nose of handsome, powerful Rory Campbell... only to become an outlaw of the British Crown.

Accompanied by her chaperone, her dresser, and her adored pet monkey, Lady Letitia Deverill comes to London to serve as maid of honor to the young Queen Victoria. An impassioned Tory in a sea of Whigs, Letty has no intention of changing her political views. The headstrong noblewoman soon discovers she has enemies at court, and none more formidable than the powerful - and irresistible - Viscount Justin Raventhorpe. Justin, a staunch Whig, is enchanted by this outspoken woman.