Tag: Contemporary Fiction

Before Billy Blessing was a five-star celebrity chef from New York City, before he was ever on TV, he lived another life under another name: Billy Blanchard, wily con man of the Windy City. Billy did time for his crimes, reinventing himself when he got out and leaving that part of his life far behind—or so he thought. But when he and Eddie Patton, a nosy ex-cop, are both guests on a popular Chicago talk show, the off-camera banter turns to blackmail.

But this is Chicago, and secrets have a way of getting out—and getting people killed. When Patton is found dead in his apartment hours after trying to shake Billy down, America’s beloved TV host finds himself scrambling to prove his innocence, before he becomes then next poster child for celebrity scandal. Throw in a bit of romance, and Billy may have found himself in one sticky situation not even he can talk his way out of.

Fast-paced, funny, and bubbling with the inside scoop on a business they call show, The Talk Show Murders is Al Roker at his best.

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Clive McCahon returns to his tiny Alaska hometown after a seven-year jail stint for dealing coke… He has a lot to make up to his younger brother, who has been taking care of their ailing mother.

But Clive doesn’t realize the trouble he’s bringing home. His vengeful old business partner is hot on his heels, a stick-in-the-mud State Trooper is dying to bust Clive for narcotics, and, to complicate everything, Clive might be going insane—lately, he’s been hearing animals talking to him.

Will his arrival in Cold Storage be a breath of fresh air for the sleepy, depopulated town? Or will Clive’s arrival turn the whole place upside down?

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Is it possible to write a sidesplitting novel about the breakup of the perfect marriage? If the writer is Nora Ephron, the answer is a resounding yes.

For in this inspired confection of adultery, revenge, group therapy, and pot roast, the creator of Sleepless in Seattle reminds us that comedy depends on anguish as surely as a proper gravy depends on flour and butter.

Seven months into her pregnancy, Rachel Samstat discovers that her husband, Mark, is in love with another woman. The fact that the other woman has "a neck as long as an arm and a nose as long as a thumb and you should see her legs" is no consolation. Food sometimes is, though, since Rachel writes cookbooks for a living. And in between trying to win Mark back and loudly wishing him dead, Ephron’s irrepressible heroine offers some of her favorite recipes.

Heartburn is a sinfully delicious novel, as soul-satisfying as mashed potatoes and as airy as a perfect soufflé.

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Welcome to a world made dangerous by the sea and by those who wish to profit from it. Where a young girl must find her place and her family while trying to survive in a world built for men.

As the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows, the sea is the only home seventeen-year-old Fable has ever known. It’s been four years since the night she watched her mother drown during an unforgiving storm. The next day her father abandoned her on a legendary island filled with thieves and little food. To survive she must keep to herself, learn to trust no one and rely on the unique skills her mother taught her. The only thing that keeps her going is the goal of getting off the island, finding her father and demanding her rightful place beside him and his crew. To do so Fable enlists the help of a young trader named West to get her off the island and across the Narrows to her father.

But her father’s rivalries and the dangers of his trading enterprise have only multiplied since she last saw him and Fable soon finds that West isn’t who he seems. Together, they will have to survive more than the treacherous storms that haunt the Narrows if they’re going to stay alive.

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A step-by-step guide to home repairs large and small from Popular Mechanics—the name that’s “synonymous with the ultimate in DIY knowledge.”

Got a squeaky floor or a rattling door? Is your grout a color you don’t recognize anymore? From quick fixes like linking broken chains and patching drywall to more involved projects like replacing a fuel line and bleeding your brakes, How to Fix Anything is the handy and reliable go-to guide for the most common household problems—offering a primer on plumbing; unexpected hacks like using a golf tee to fill a stripped screw hole; instructions for tuning up the garage door; and so much more.

Throughout the book Roy Berendsohn, Popular Mechanics’ senior home editor, answers questions about the trickiest fix-its, including how to deal with recurring ceiling cracks or get rid of that stench from the kitchen sink. And because it’s organized room by room, from basement to bathroom to bedroom, it’s simple to find the solution you need—so you won’t have to hire someone else to do the job.

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When the mother of a missing two-year-old girl is seriously injured in a suspected terrorist attack in Oslo, crime-fighting duo Blix and Ramm join forces to investigate the case, and things aren’t adding up…

Oslo, New Year’s Eve. The annual firework celebration is rocked by an explosion, and the city is put on terrorist alert.

Police officer Alexander Blix and blogger Emma Ramm are on the scene, and when a severely injured survivor is pulled from the icy harbour, she is identified as the mother of two-year-old Patricia Semplass, who was kidnapped on her way home from kindergarten ten years earlier… and never found.

Blix and Ramm join forces to investigate the unsolved case, as public interest heightens, the terror threat is raised, and it becomes clear that Patricia’s disappearance is not all that it seems…

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Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

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Dallas Calloway is desperate to find a bride. If the billionaire former rodeo champ’s not married by his birthday, his dreams for the D Bar C will end, thanks to his father’s will. So Paris Reynolds’s arrival at the ranch looks like the answer to his prayers.

The ravishing interior designer is desperate for a job. And Dallas has a proposition he hopes she can’t refuse—marry him for one year, in name only, then get an annulment. But with the irresistible passion raging between them, how will they ever make it a year without sharing a marriage bed?

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"Evolution is one of the most powerful and important ideas ever developed in the history of science. Every question it raises leads to new answers, new discoveries, and new smarter questions. The science of evolution is as expansive as nature itself. It is also the most meaningful creation story that humans have ever found."—Bill Nye

Sparked by a controversial debate in February 2014, Bill Nye has set off on an energetic campaign to spread awareness of evolution and the powerful way it shapes our lives. In Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation, he explains why race does not really exist; evaluates the true promise and peril of genetically modified food; reveals how new species are born, in a dog kennel and in a London subway; takes a stroll through 4.5 billion years of time; and explores the new search for alien life, including aliens right here on Earth.

With infectious enthusiasm, Bill Nye shows that evolution is much more than a rebuttal to creationism; it is an essential way to understand how nature works—and to change the world. It might also help you get a date on a Saturday night.

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American Heiress Francine Shaw never dreamed she would become a governess! But desperate times call for desperate measures when Francine must flee to London to escape a scandal, save her reputation and… find a titled man to marry or risk losing her family.

But when her new employer turns out to be a “love ‘em and leave ‘em” rake, Fanny finds herself trapped in more ways than one. Stunned by the sizzling heat she finds developing between herself and the handsome and enigmatic Viscount Remington, she bravely makes him an offer he can’t refuse…

As it turns out, Francine is not the only one who is hiding her true identity. Despite his devilish reputation, Chance Allerton has a tender heart of gold—and has secretly vowed to marry for nothing less than love. When he learns he has a ward just before Christmastide, he seeks the aid of the Duchess Society in the hopes of finding a governess for the child. When a beautiful, clever American hellion shows up on his doorstep instead, Chance is soon in over his head.

Francine Shaw exceeds his every expectation…and soon Chance finds himself utterly infatuated.

Can a wicked viscount learn to love? Or is this dalliance with the governess merely a Christmas tryst destined to end in heartache?

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Now more than ever: Aldous Huxley’s enduring “masterpiece… one of the most prophetic dystopian works of the 20th century” (Wall Street Journal) must be read and understood by anyone concerned with preserving the human spirit in the face of our “brave new world.”

On the 90th anniversary of its publication, this outstanding work of literature is more crucial and relevant today than ever before.

Cloning, feel-good drugs, anti-aging programs, and total social control through politics, programming, and media: has Aldous Huxley accurately predicted our future? With a storyteller’s genius, he weaves these ethical controversies in a compelling narrative that dawns in the year 632 A.F. (After Ford, the deity). When Lenina and Bernard visit a savage reservation, we experience how Utopia can destroy humanity.

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How to Get Away with Murder in America is the extraordinary, true account of an FBI murder investigation of a top-ranking CIA officer and the pushback — from the highest reaches of government — to stop an investigation that threatened to rock the foundations of America’s national security establishment.

Prado is one of the most storied men to have served in the agency. To friends, he’s "Ric," a Cuban immigrant who became an American success story. Prado entered the CIA as a paramilitary, fighting the agency’s secret wars in Latin America, then rising through the ranks to serve presidents and lead some of the most sensitive programs of the War on Terror.

Ten years after joining the CIA, Prado was the target of a massive FBI investigation for his alleged role in my than a half dozen murders carried out on behalf of a major Miami cocaine trafficker — who also happened to be one of Prado’s closest childhood friends.

To the FBI task force investigating him, Prado’s story seemed like a true-life version of The Departed. They believed they’d caught a killer who’d penetrated the highest reaches of US intelligence. Federal agents interviewed Prado at CIA headquarters and believed they’d obtained his cooperation. But when they issued a subpoena for Prado to testify before a grand jury, the CIA had other plans…

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Newly divorced Quinn Gellar is rebuilding her life—something she never thought she’d be doing in her forties. A creature of habit, she’s trying to embrace change and go with the unexpected. But when the unexpected appears to her in the form of an alluring bartender, Quinn becomes uncertain of exactly how much change she’s ready to embrace.

Theo Harrington isn’t much of a planner. Still in her twenties, she’s more of a free spirit who sees an experience waiting to be had everywhere she turns. The lost-looking stranger, who shows up at her bar is no exception. But, Theo quickly realizes that Quinn isn’t just an experience she wants to have—she’s the experience Theo’s been unknowingly waiting for.

The connection between Quinn and Theo is immediate and undeniable. Possibly even too good to be true. After all, they do come from different worlds and their hearts bear different marks, but maybe they’re exactly what each other needs…or not.

Once these two women put their connection to the test, will they find that they’re better off without each other, or will they finally decide to close the gap between them?

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