Clare is a successful but newly divorced woman who battles various mental health issues. These include sex addiction, alcoholism, OCD, an eating disorder and depression. She juggles her demanding career and life as a single parent, all the while trying to hide her increasingly uncontrollable behaviour, which manifests itself as an alter ego called Roxy. At the dawn of a new digital age, Clare joins Facebook, a newly released social media website that has taken over from MySpace, where she connects and meets with a former flame. Following an emotionally sadomasochistic dalliance with this former lover, Clare then has a string of casual sex encounters with strangers. She has a growing drink problem that sees the alter ego Roxy take over the decision-making, often leading Clare into dangerous situations. Her growing dependency displays itself through obsessive-compulsive traits such as excessive cleaning, exercising and handwashing while, at night time, she has insomnia and often thinks about death. Clare spirals out of control and falls into a deep depression, but can she hope to find a way out?

Shadow's Embrace, a dark Romance Thriller. In the mist-laden city of Black Hollow, where secrets fester in the shadows, Evelyn Carter is a woman running from a past that refuses to let her go. Scarred by a tragic incident, she builds a quiet life as an investigative journalist, delving into cold cases that whisper of unfinished business. But when she crosses paths with Damian Voss, a dangerous and enigmatic businessman linked to a series of disappearances, her world teeters on the edge of obsession and peril. Damian is a man of many faces a philanthropist by day and a ghost of the underworld by night. His interest in Evelyn is far from coincidental. As their twisted attraction deepens, Evelyn finds herself ensnared in a deadly game where love and betrayal blur into one. The deeper she digs, the more she realizes that Damian isn't just part of the story he is the story. When Evelyn uncovers the truth about Black Hollow's darkest secret, she must decide expose Damian and risk losing herself in the process or succumb to the intoxicating pull of a love that might just consume her alive.

Helen Stoner goes to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. She is afraid that her stepfather, Dr. Grimesby Roylott, may be trying to kill her. Helen's sister died mysteriously two years earlier, right before her own wedding. Her last words, which Helen never managed to decipher were "The speckled band". Dr. Roylott's best friends are a band of gypsies. He also owns two dangerous animals, a cheetah and a baboon, as pets. He simply scares people, and everyone avoids him. But the great Sherlock Holmes cannot be scared away this easily, so he agrees to take the case and to protect Helen. Who is threatening Helen's life and who murdered her sister? Will Sherlock Holmes manage to find the murderer and protect the frightened woman at the same time? Will he be able to decipher Helen's sister's last words? Why is Dr. Roylott such an evil man and what is his plan? You can find all the answers in one of the best of Sir Conan Doyle's stories about Sherlock Holmes – "The Adventure of the Speckled Band".

Aranthur is a student. He showed a little magical talent, is studying at the local academy, and is nothing particularly special. Others are smarter. Others are more talented. Others are quicker to pick up techniques. But none of them are with him when he breaks his journey home for the holidays in an inn. None of them step in to help when a young woman is thrown off a passing stage coach into the deep snow at the side of the road. And none of them are drawn into a fight to protect her. One of the others might have realised she was manipulating him all along . . . A powerful story about beginnings, coming of age, and the way choosing to take one step towards violence can lead to a slippery and dangerous slope, this is an accomplished fantasy series driven by strong characters and fast-paced action. 'A stirring, gritty and at times quite brutal epic fantasy' Tor.com 'This series promises to be the standout epic fantasy for the ages' Fantasy Book Critic

Lady Evie Chesterfield is a darling of the ton who refuses to become engaged. She's been desperately in love with her brother's friend, Richard Maitland, Marquess of Westfall, since forever. But the dark, dangerous marquess only sees her as a friend and refuses to marry any woman. When circumstances change and Evie has no choice but to take a husband, she decides to convince London's most notorious gentleman to marry her by seducing the scoundrel. Richard Maitland decided long ago that he wanted nothing to do with love. So when the gorgeous, off-limits Evie asks him for lessons in seduction, Richard knows he's playing with fire. Despite Richard's determination to protect her from his dastardly reputation, he is tested at every turn by his need for the infuriating, but enticing, Lady Evie. Before too long he is faced with making an impossible choice... Each book in the Wedded by Scandal series is a standalone story that can be enjoyed out of order. Series Order: Book #1 Accidentally Compromising the Duke Book #2 Wicked in His Arms Book #3 How to Marry a Marquess

The moving exploration of a young boy's loss of innocence 'The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there...' When one long, hot summer, young Leo is staying with a school-friend at Brandham Hall, he begins to act as a messenger between Ted, the farmer, and Marian, the beautiful young woman up at the hall. He becomes drawn deeper and deeper into their dangerous game of deceit and desire, until his role brings him to a shocking and premature revelation. The haunting story of a young boy's awakening into the secrets of the adult world, The Go-Between is also an unforgettable evocation of the boundaries of Edwardian society. It was adapted into an internationally-successful film starring Julie Christie and Alan Bates. Edited with an introduction and notes by Douglas Brooks-Davies 'Magical and disturbing' Independent 'On a first reading, it is a beautifully wrought description of a small boy's loss of innocence long ago. But, visited a second time, the knowledge of approaching, unavoidable tragedy makes it far more poignant and painful' Express

OVER 4 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE Shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Guardian First Book Award; longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 'Unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last seventy years ... Funny, moving, scary, otherworldly, practical and magical' NEIL GAIMAN The year is 1806. centuries have passed since practical magicians faded into the nation's past. But scholars of this glorious history discover that one remains: the reclusive Mr Norrell, whose displays of magic send a thrill through the country. Proceeding to London, he raises a beautiful woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician: the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange. Young, handsome and daring, Strange is the very antithesis of Norrell. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men which overwhelms that between England and France. And their own obsessions and secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine.

A deluxe paperback edition of Oro's story from #1 New York Times bestselling author and #BookTok sensation Alex Aster, featuring stunning illustrated sprayed edges and a full-color art insert True love knows no bounds. Oro Rey was never meant to be king. As the second-born son with a rare and dangerous ability, his upbringing was an endless winter of training and control. When his entire family perishes and the realms are cursed, suddenly the people of Lightlark are his responsibility-and he will do whatever it takes to protect them. Then Oro meets Isla, the person who turns his winter into summer, and she changes everything... Told from Oro's perspective, this Lightlark companion book offers a window into his complex identity: that of a king torn between a desire for justice and passion for the woman he loves more than anything.  This paperback edition boasts a suite of deluxe features: -Brand-new cover design -Four pages of full-color illustrations -Full-color illustrated sprayed edges Pair with GRIM: DUELING CROWNS EDITION to reveal a continuous pattern on the books' edges!

Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera, first published in 1910, remained a perennial favorite throughout the twentieth century and into the early 2000s. It was adapted to several popular motion pictures and into one of the most successful stage musicals of all time. Its main character, Erik, is a romantic figure whose appeal reaches across different cultures and times. He is a sensitive soul, an accomplished composer and musician whose great unfinished work, Don Juan Triumphant, is described as breathtakingly beautiful by the one person he allows to hear it; he is an object of pity, whose face has been disfigured from birth, causing him to hide behind a silk mask; and he is hopelessly in love with a young woman whom he can never seriously hope will love him back. At the same time, he a dangerous, menacing figure, lurking in the hidden catacombs beneath the opera house and blackmailing those who will not bow to his whims. He can hear things said in privacy and can create catastrophes that might or might not be the accidents that they seem to be.

'Doyle is as good as everyone - from John Boyne to Colm Tóibín - says he is' Daily Mail A young man in a dark depression roams the vast, formless landscape of a Dublin industrial park where he meets a vagrant in the grip of a dangerous ideology. A woman fleeing a break-up finds herself taking part in an unusual sleep experiment. A man obsessed with Nietzsche clings desperately to his girlfriend's red shoes. And whatever happened to Killian Turner, Ireland's vanished literary outlaw? Lost and isolated, the characters in these masterful stories play out their fragmented relationships in a series of European cities, always on the move; from rented room to darkened apartment, hitchhiker's roadside to Barcelona nightclub. Rob Doyle, a shape-shifting drifter, a reclusive writer, also stalks the book's pages. Layering narratives and splicing fiction with non-fiction, This is the Ritual tells of the ecstatic, the desperate and the uncertain. Immersive, at times dreamlike, and frank in its depiction of sex, the writer's life, failed ideals and the transience of emotions, it introduces an unmistakable new literary voice.

The 20th anniversary edition of the fantasy classic, with an introduction by V E Schwab Over 4 million copies sold ' The book I wish I'd written ' R F Kuang 'Susanna Clarke writes with an intelligence and beauty that seems at times miraculous' Katherine Rundell 'A modern masterpiece ' Spectator 'One of my all-time favourite books ' Ann Patchett 1806. England is beleaguered by the long war, and centuries have passed since magicians faded from view. But one remains: the reclusive Mr Norrell. Proceeding to London, he raises a woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician. Young, handsome and daring, Jonathan Strange is his very antithesis. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men - which overwhelms that between England and France. And soon their own secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine. 'Like Hilary Mantel, Clarke has made the very notion of genre seem quaint' Guardian

The 20th anniversary edition of the fantasy classic, with an introduction by V E Schwab Over 4 million copies sold ' The book I wish I'd written ' R F Kuang 'Susanna Clarke writes with an intelligence and beauty that seems at times miraculous' Katherine Rundell 'A modern masterpiece ' Spectator 'One of my all-time favourite books ' Ann Patchett 1806. England is beleaguered by the long war, and centuries have passed since magicians faded from view. But one remains: the reclusive Mr Norrell. Proceeding to London, he raises a woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician. Young, handsome and daring, Jonathan Strange is his very antithesis. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men - which overwhelms that between England and France. And soon their own secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine. 'Like Hilary Mantel, Clarke has made the very notion of genre seem quaint' Guardian

'Storytelling at its best. I was enthralled' Sarah Winman (on Inga Simpson's Willowman) 'We haven't always lived like this . . .' Fin grew up by an observatory, learning about telescopes and planets, inspired by the passions of her parents, then leaders in their fields of astrophotography and astronomy. Those days are long over. Now Fin, her mother, Dianella, and a band of outliers live deep off the grid, always on amber alert and always ready to run. In the outside world, things are not good: extinctions and a loss of diversity threaten what's left of the environment. With a new disaster looming, Fin finds herself thrust into an unlikely partnership with a stranger who has appeared in their camp - one of a new breed of evolved humans, the Incompletes, who are widely distrusted. But the pair will need to work together during a dangerous journey if they are to play their part in an audacious plan to help restore the natural world - and humankind. The Thinning is both an exquisitely written novel of nature and urgent thriller by the bestselling and acclaimed author of Willowman and The Last Woman in the World.

They set a Slamhound on Turner's trail in New Delhi, slotted it to his pheromones and the colour of his hair. When the Maas Biolabs and Hosaka zaibatsus fight it out for world domination, computer cowboys like Turner and Count Zero are just foot soldiers in the great game: useful but ultimately expendable. When Turner wakes up in Mexico - in a new body with a beautiful woman beside him - his corporate masters let him recuperate for a while, then reactivate his memory for a mission even more dangerous than the one that nearly killed him: the head designer from Maas Biolabs says he wants to defect to Hosaka, and it's Turner's job to deliver him safely. Count Zero is a rustbelt data-hustler totally unprepared for what comes his way when the designer's defection triggers war in cyberspace. With voodoo gods in the Net and angels in the software, he can only hope that the megacorps and the super-rich have their virtual hands too full to notice the amateur hacker with the black market kit trying desperately to stay alive . . .

They set a Slamhound on Turner's trail in New Delhi, slotted it to his pheromones and the colour of his hair. When the Maas Biolabs and Hosaka zaibatsus fight it out for world domination, computer cowboys like Turner and Count Zero are just foot soldiers in the great game: useful but ultimately expendable. When Turner wakes up in Mexico - in a new body with a beautiful woman beside him - his corporate masters let him recuperate for a while, then reactivate his memory for a mission even more dangerous than the one that nearly killed him: the head designer from Maas Biolabs says he wants to defect to Hosaka, and it's Turner's job to deliver him safely. Count Zero is a rustbelt data-hustler totally unprepared for what comes his way when the designer's defection triggers war in cyberspace. With voodoo gods in the Net and angels in the software, he can only hope that the megacorps and the super-rich have their virtual hands too full to notice the amateur hacker with the black market kit trying desperately to stay alive . . .

Ever wondered what Mr Darcy was really thinking? His secrets are revealed in this utterly convincing and captivating novel of love and pride, passion and prejudice. Perfect for fans of BRIDGERTON 'As moving and enjoyable as could be wished ... Mr Darcy fans everywhere will welcome his Diary to the canon' Wendy Holden, DAILY MAIL 'Mr Darcy's Diary boldly goes where Jane Austen never does' FINANCIAL TIMES This intimate diary tells us of his entanglements with women, his dangerous friendship with Byron, his daily life in Georgian London, his mercurial mood swings calmed only by fisticuffs at Jackson's - and, most importantly, his vain struggles to conquer his longing for Elizabeth. For the first time we discover what really happened between his sister and the dastardly Wickham. How did he distract his friend Bingley from pining for his beloved Jane? Why did he propose to another young woman? Only to his diary does he tell the full story. At last we see Darcy as he really is: and, beneath his polite facade, we find a sensitive, private and passionate man.

A woman on the run must trust her family's sworn enemy in this thrilling tale by one of the best in cowboy romance. The cowboy she can't have . . . is the one she can't resist. Annie Dempsey has two rules for her new life in Devil's Door, Wyoming: no romance and no drama. Fresh off a bad breakup, she's already avoiding love. And as long as she steers clear of the Merrick clan-her family's sworn enemies-avoiding drama won't be a problem. But when a charming stranger steps in to protect Annie from a sudden threat, both her rules fly out the door. Because Annie's mystery hero . . . is a Merrick. ​ Jonah Merrick won't allow anyone-even a Dempsey-to be harmed on his watch. It doesn't hurt that sweet, gorgeous Annie makes his heart beat like never before. Against his family's objections, Jonah insists Annie hide out with him at his ranch while they try to outwit a dangerous pursuer. But as the days turn into weeks, Jonah realizes he'll stop anyone who tries to harm Annie . . . or the loving future they're building together.

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Mary Balogh's The Secret Mistress. New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh sweeps us back in time to an age of scandal and glittering society-and brings to life an extraordinary family: the daring, passionate Huxtables. Katherine, the youngest sister-and society's most ravishing innocent-is about to turn the tables on the irresistible rakehell sworn to seduce her, body and soul.... In a night of drunken revelry, Jasper Finley, Baron Montford, gambles his reputation as London's most notorious lover on one woman. His challenge? To seduce the exquisite, virtuous Katherine Huxtable within a fortnight. But when his best-laid plans go awry, Jasper devises a wager of his own. For Katherine, already wildly attracted to him, Jasper's offer is irresistible: to make London's most dangerous rake fall in love with her. Then Jasper suddenly ups the ante. Katherine knows she should refuse. But with scandal brewing and her reputation in jeopardy, she reluctantly agrees to become his wife. Now, as passion ignites, the seduction really begins. And this time the prize is nothing less than both their hearts.…

Take the ride of your life with the Torpedo Ink motorcycle club in this thrilling romance novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan. Torpedo Ink is Aleksei "Absinthe" Solokov's whole life. They're his brothers, his family-his everything. But that doesn't stop him from wanting something that only belongs to him. That's why the tough biker has spent the last six weeks at the library, reading every book he can get his hands on and watching the prim and proper librarian who makes his blood rush. For the past six weeks, Scarlet Foley has been fantasizing about the handsome, tattooed man whose eyes follow her every move. She senses he's dangerous. She wants him to get close enough to touch. She wishes she could let him know the real woman, not the one she pretends to be. But Scarlet has a plan to carry out, and she can't afford any distractions. Absinthe is well aware that Scarlet is hiding something. She's a puzzle he intends to solve, piece by intoxicating piece….

"With her patented page-singeing sensuality" (Booklist), New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Ashley returns to the primal and passionate world of her Shifters Unbound series as a woman is lured into the shadows of a dangerous manhunt... For twenty years, Kendrick, a white tiger Shifter, has been the Guardian of un-Collared Shifters who spend their lives living in secret-and in fear of being shunted into Shiftertowns. When Kendrick's group is discovered and forced to flee, Kendrick is more desperate than ever to protect them In a diner in the middle of nowhere, lonely waitress Addison Price has seen a lot of unusual drifters come and go, but none has ever captivated-and intimidated-her like the imposing fugitive who wields a broadsword with incredible skill. But when he risks all to protect her, Addison's fear turns to empathy-and empathy to desire as she learns more about her savior. Soon she's more than willing to help the crushingly sensual white tiger and his cubs in a passionate bid for freedom. Whatever the cost.