A fly-on-the-wall account of the smart and strange subcultures that make, trade, curate, collect, and hype contemporary art.The art market has been booming. Museum attendance is surging. More people than ever call themselves artists. Contemporary art has become a mass entertainment, a luxury good, a job description, and, for some, a kind of alternative religion.In a series of beautifully paced narratives, Sarah Thornton investigates the drama of a Christie's auction, the workings in Takashi Murakami's studios, the elite at the Basel Art Fair, the eccentricities of Artforum magazine, the competition behind an important art prize, life in a notorious art-school seminar, and the wonderland of the Venice Biennale. She reveals the new dynamics of creativity, taste, status, money, and the search for meaning in life. A judicious and juicy account of the institutions that have the power to shape art history, based on hundreds of interviews with high-profile players, Thornton's entertaining ethnography will change the way you look at contemporary culture.

A chance meeting, a sizzling rendezvous, a surprise visit... The next installment in the bestselling Penthouse series celebrates unexpected encounters. The Editors of Penthouse have handpicked letters about wild adventures involving unanticipated pursuit and capture.

Can it really be true that there's an ancient curse on the town of Lamonic Bibber? And you guessed it, that old roo-de-lally Mr Gum and his trusty sidekick Billy William the Third have something to do with it. But . . . our favourite heroes Polly and Friday and the gingerbread biscuit Alan Taylor (only 15.24 cm tall) are determined to save the town (sigh of relief).Hang on to your heads and prepare to chuckle like a chipmunk as you are whisked to the land of talking dogs, silly songs, Old Granny, and the best chase scene you've ever seen.

From Lisa Tucker, the critically acclaimed author of Once Upon a Day and The Song Reader, comes an extraordinary novel about the way we live now: the choices we make and the decisions we let life make for us.Matthew and Amelia were once in love and planning to raise a family together, but a decade later, they have become professional enemies. To Amelia, who has dedicated her life to medical ethics, Matthew's job as a high-powered pharmaceutical executive has turned him into a heartless person who doesn't care about anything but money. Now they're kept in balance only by Matthew's best and oldest friend, Ben, a rising science superstar -- and Amelia's new boyfriend.That balance begins to crumble one night when, coming home to his upscale Philadelphia loft, Matthew finds himself on a desolate bridge face-to-face with a boy screaming for help. Homeless for most of his life, ten-year-old Danny is as streetwise as he is world-weary, and his desperation to sa...

More amazing adventures with Mr Majeika, the ex-wizard, turned teacher, and his class at St Barty's School. This time there's a trip down a magic river, a battle to save St Barty's from the wrecking ball, and work experience for Class Three.

“This is a literary gem . . . one of the best books I’ve read this year.”—Ellen Hart"This raw and convincing first novel is narrated by a woman who can’t help testing the limits of her ability to endure pain in her intimate relationships with men and women... the vivid characters and potent emotions keep the pages turning."—The AdvocateOccasionally a debut novel comes along that rocks its readers back on their heels. Red Audrey and the Roping is one of that rare and remarkable breed. With storytelling as accomplished as successful literary novelists like Margaret Atwood and Sarah Waters, Jill Malone takes us on a journey through the heart of Latin professor Jane Elliot.Set against the dramatic landscapes and seascapes of Hawaii, this is the deeply moving story of a young woman traumatized by her mother’s death. Scarred by guilt, she struggles to find the nerve to let love into her life again. Afraid to love herself or anyone else, Jane falls in love with risk, pitting herself against the world with dogged, destructive courage. But finally she reaches a point where there is only one danger left worth facing. The sole remaining question for Jane is whether she is willing to accept her history, embrace her damage, and take a chance on love.As well as a gripping and emotional story, Red Audrey and the Roping is a remarkable literary achievement. The breathtaking prose evokes setting, characters, and relationships with equal grace. The dialogue sparks and sparkles. Splintered fragments of narrative come together to form a seamless suspenseful story that flows effortlessly to its dramatic conclusion.Winner of the Bywater Prize for Fiction, Red Audrey and the Roping is one of the most memorable first novels you will ever read.From BooklistMalone has lived in Hawaii, and in her first novel, the land and sea are as much characters as the heroine, Jane, and her cronies. The loss of her mentally unstable mother to suicide has left this thirtysomething university Latin instructor wracked with guilt, and fleeing the risk of intimacy, although as a long-board surfing enthusiast, she risks the biggest waves. Told from an accident survivor’s viewpoint from a hospital bed, Malone’s tale of love in the tropics is something of a wave itself. Luminescent writing swells with the heady rush of the past, with its rich tapestry of mournful mother yearning, mixed with lush sensuality experienced in the arms of her landlord, Emily; then crashing to an invalid’s grim reality of casts and IV drips. The roping, a linguistic holdover from the heroine’s years in Ireland, refers physically to the ties binding Jane to her sadist male lover, Nick, and figuratively as the entanglement of feelings. Finely tuned, daring, and perceptive, Malone’s auspicious debut leaves us wanting more. --Whitney Scott

Grandma Sal's Soup-To-Nuts Cooking Challenge is coming to town, and Skye Denison is entering. And though she can't solve the mystery of the perfect mousse, murder is another story. Because a cocky contestant has been found delectably drowned in a chocolate fountain...

High school sweethearts are reunited and old feeling resurface in this classic tale of love and overcoming the past from New York Times bestselling author Linda GoodnightOnly one person knows why Kat Thatcher left her Oklahoma hometown ten years ago. Why she ran to the city and became a workaholic doctor. Why she put off marriage...indefinitely. And that person is now staring her in the face on her first day back in town! Seth Washington is as handsome as ever. Way too available. And wanting to talk about the past—which Kat prefers to leave alone. Seth insists the Lord is on their side and always was. Kat's starting to believe, but will that be enough for love?Originally published in 2008

Get lost in the deeply passionate, darkly sensual new novel from Jackie Ashenden, Kidnapped by the Billionaire. He kissed her the way he'd run her down, conquering her, taking her...A priceless plan. An illicit attraction. Seven years ago, billionaire-turned-bodyguard Elijah Hunt lost everything he had—his family, his future—and now he wants revenge. But when he decides to kidnap the daughter of the man who ruined his life, Elijah gets a lot more than he bargained for. Violet Fitzgerald is nothing like her corrupt wealthy father. In fact, she's so disarmingly independent—and irresistible—that she just might be dangerous... And a love that's too good to be true. Violet never thought she'd feel a connection to her captor. But there's something beneath Elijah's steel-bodied exterior that makes her want to know him more deeply...and surrender to his every demand. But once Elijah's erotic...

The age old story or question, 'are we alone out there' has never been truly answered. Our main character likes being alone. A surprise inheritance waits when he's told if he embarks on a solo journey to Jupiter and back, a fortune lies at his feet. He takes up the challenge to venture alone in a space ship, which by today's standards, would take more than five years.

From the author of 'The Grafton Girls' comes the story of one Liverpool family preparing for the onslaught of World War Two, while trying not to fight among themselves.Jean and Vi are twins but couldn't be more different. Jean's proud of her honest, hardworking husband and their children, but there's never a penny to spare. Vi's equally proud of her husband's new role as a local councillor and their elegant new house, and has raised her children to expect the best. As war breaks out, agonising decisions must be faced. Should the oldest children enlist? Should the youngest be evacuated? All the traditional certainties are overturned. Then the twins' own younger sister, singer Francine, returns home unexpectedly and stirs up the past, even in the midst of present danger. This is a tremendous saga of fighting spirit and family closeness, and the belief that even though today is full of destruction and pain, there is hope for a better tomorrow.

Erotic Romance. 55888 words long.