Juliana drew the line at becoming a harlot. She had already begun the week as a bride...and ended it as a murderess. She was sure no one would believe that she'd hit her elderly groom with a bed warmer and knocked him dead quite by accident. So she did the only thing she could-she ran. Yet now she was in no position to turn down a shocking proposition from the dangerously handsome Duke of Redmayne: that she become one man's wife and another man's mistress-his mistress. Could she play such a role? Could she live up to such a bargain? And once she had tasted the pleasures of Redmayne's bed, would she ever want anything else?

Существует много историй про то, как Герои побеждают злого-презлого стр-р-рашного Повелителя Тьмы. Вот только Повелителями Тьмы не рождаются, ими становятся… КНИГА ЗАКОНЧЕНА

Это фанфики. Не претендую, не имею, не привлекалась

Esta obra ha obtenido el Premio Primavera 2006, convocado por Espasa Calpe y Ámbito Cultural, y concedido por el siguiente Jurado: Ana María Matute, Ángel Basanta, Antonio Soler, Ramón Pernas y Pilar Cortés. En el ambiente enrarecido y falsamente triunfante de Vichy, la ciudad-balneario donde se instauró un gobierno colaboracionista tras el armisticio franco-alemán de 1940, reina el mariscal Pétain. Un grupo de valientes inexpertos próximos a él crea en la capital la primera célula de la Resistencia. En su seno nacerá una intensa historia de amor entre Manuel de Sá, ex diplomático español maduro y desencantado, y Marie, joven parisina de raíces judías apasionada y profundamente vital. Cuando la cruda realidad y la oscura situación política venzan al optimismo y al arrojo de sus ideales de justicia, se verán obligados a tomar una difícil decisión: elegir entre éxito o fracaso, vida o libertad, amor o compromiso. Fernando Schwartz recrea, con su prosa directa, brillante, el mundillo del entorno de Pétain, hecho de arribistas, oportunistas y felones, la vida del cuerpo diplomático, la brillantez de las recepciones y la suciedad de los habitáculos ocupados por cuantos han acudido a Vichy en busca de prebendas o de simple aprovechamiento, a medio camino entre el disimulo y la sordidez. Una historia donde el amor se sobrepone a la hipocresía, que nos habla del sacrificio de héroes anónimos, de la generosidad de su lucha y de que ésta, finalmente, pese a todo, contra todo, nunca fue en balde

Following in the footsteps of megasellers Neil Gaiman and Jim Butcher, comic book writer Mike Carey presents his second hip supernatural thriller featuring freelance exorcist Felix Castor. Castor has reluctantly returned to exorcism after the case of the Bonnington Archive ghost convinced him that he really can do some good with his abilities ('good', of course, being a relative term when dealing with the undead). But his friend, Rafi, is still possessed; the succubus, Ajulutsikael (Juliet to her friends), still technically has a contract on him; and he's still—let's not beat around the bush—dirt poor. Doing some consulting for the local constabulary helps pay the bills, but Castor needs a big, private job to really fill the hole in his overdraft. That's what he needs. What he gets, good fortune and Castor not being on speaking terms, is a seemingly insignificant 'missing ghost' case that inexorably drags himself and his loved ones into the middle of a horrific plot to raise one of Hell's fiercest demons. When Satanists, sacrifice farms, stolen spirits and possessed churches all appear on the same police report, the name of Felix Castor can't be too far behind

Being a witch doesn't pay the bills, but Persephone Alcmedi gets by between reading Tarot cards, writing her syndicated newspaper column, and kenneling werewolves in the basement when the moon is full — even if witches aren't supposed to mingle with wolves. She really reaches the end of her leash, though, when her grandmother gets kicked out of the nursing home and Seph finds herself in the doghouse about some things she's written. Then her werewolf friend Lorrie is murdered…and the high priestess of an important coven offers Seph big money to destroy the killer, a powerful vampire named Goliath Kline. Seph is a tough girl, but this time she bites off more than she can chew. She needs a little help from her friends — werewolf friends. One of those friends, Johnny, the motorcycle-riding lead singer for the techno-metal-Goth band Lycanthropia, has a crush on her. And while Seph has always been on edge around this 6 2" leather-clad hunk, she's starting to realize that although their attraction may be dangerous, nothing could be as lethal as the showdown that awaits them

When you're staring evil in the eye, don't forget to watch your back . . . For the first time in forever, Jayné Heller's life is making sense. Even if she routinely risks her life to destroy demonic parasites that prey on mortals, she now has friends, colleagues, a trusted lover, and newfound confidence in the mission she inherited from her wealthy, mysterious uncle. Her next job might just rob her of all of them. At Grace Memorial Hospital in Chicago, something is stirring. Patients are going AWOL and research subjects share the same sinister dreams. Half a century ago, something was buried under Grace in a terrible ritual, and it's straining to be free. Jayné is primed to take on whatever's about to be let loose. Yet the greatest danger now may not be the huge, unseen force lurking below, but the evil that has been hiding in plain sight all along — taking her ever closer to losing her body, her mind, and her soul

Mort (geddit?) Vickers is a CORPorate Security Executive (i.e., a company hitman) in a near-future America wherein the Corporations have usurped most of the functions of Government and are a law unto themselves. We first meet him on a return Shuttle flight from an orbiting space station, where he has just eliminated a potential troublemaker. On arrival, Vickers learns that his own Corporate employer has "lost" an entire underground nuclear command facility to a megalomanic executive, who is on the point of sealing the bunker against the outside world and running it as his own personal domain. Through a number of violent subterfuges, Vickers is inveigled into the bunker with the mission: get it back and kill those responsible. Excellently bleak and savage, the first of a series of ‘80s/’90s "realist" works which claw America’s decadent corporate inhumanity

In Vicky Swanky Is a Beauty, Diane Williams lays bare the urgency and weariness that shape our lives in stories honed sharper than ever. With sentences auguring revelation and explosion, Williams's unsettling stories — a cryptic meeting between neighbors, a woman's sexual worries, a graveside discussion, a chimney on fire — are narrated with razor-sharp tongues and naked, uproarious irreverence. These fifty stories hum with tension, each one so taut that it threatens to snap and send the whole thing sprawling — the mess and desire, the absurdity and hilarity, the bruises and bleeding, the blushes and disappointments and secrets. An audacious, unruly tour de force, Vicky Swanky Is a Beauty cements Diane Williams' position as one of the best practitioners of the short form in literature today

The bodies are found in towns and cities around Kitsap County, Washington. The victims had nothing in common – except the agony of their final moments. But somebody carefully chose them to stalk, capture, and torture – a depraved killer whose cunning is matched only by the depth of his bloodlust. But the dying has only just begun. And next victim will be the most shocking of all!

The critically acclaimed, award-winning author of the classic historical novel Segu, Maryse Condé has pieced together the life of her maternal grandmother to create a moving and profound novel. Maryse Condé's personal journey of discovery and revelation becomes ours as we learn of Victoire, her white-skinned mestiza grandmother who worked as a cook for the Walbergs, a family of white Creoles, in the French Antilles. Using her formidable skills as a storyteller, Condé describes her grandmother as having "Australian whiteness for the color of her skin…She jarred with my world of women in Italian straw bonnets and men necktied in three-piece linen suits, all of them a very black shade of black. She appeared to me doubly strange." Victoire was spurred by Condé's desire to learn of her family history, resolving to begin her quest by researching the life of her grandmother. While uncovering the circumstances of Victoire's unique life story, Condé also comes to grips with a haunting question: How could her own mother, a black militant, have been raised in the Walberg's home, a household of whites? Creating a work that takes readers into a time and place populated with unforgettable characters that inspire and amaze, Condé's blending of memoir and imagination, detective work and storytelling artistry, is a literary gem that readers won't soon forget

A previously unrelated incident from The Gardella Vampire Chronicles

With King George III under lock and key suffering from perceived insanity and the Prince Regent in ill health, all eyes are on the Regent’s pregnant daughter. Unfortunately, the unthinkable happens and both Charlotte and her baby die in childbirth, leaving the age old problem of succession. For though King George III has many children, all are middle-aged and none have legitimate heirs to secure the Hanoverian dynasty. The death of Charlotte causes a sudden enthusiasm for marriage among the sons of George III, as they compete to have children and secure their line of succession. William marries Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen while Edward marries Victoria Mary Louisa of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Another son, Ernest, is already married and he too hopes to be the one to provide necessary children. King George dies, to be replaced by an ailing George IV, and Edward and Victoria succeed in having a daughter, also named Victoria. She waits patiently to become Queen, avoiding the plots, intrigue and danger that threaten to prevent her reaching maturity

Princess Victoria knows from a young age that she will almost certainly become Queen of England. Her mother, also acutely aware of Victoria's destiny, keep the princess under a watchful eye against dangers of scheming uncles—always, she constantly reminds her daughter, working for the good of Victoria. But during this protective (but stifling) custody it is the company of Victoria's sister Feodore, her governess Baroness Lezhen, and visits to her revered Uncle Leopold that makes life bearable as she waits impatiently for her eighteenth birthday, when she will be free. In fact, not long after this milestone, Victoria is crowned queen, beginning the longest reign that England's throne has ever known with the heartfelt promise, “I will be good.” The affectionate and energetic Victoria is instantly beloved by the English people and delighted with her prime minister, and she adapts to her new role during the early years of her reign. But the greatest change is yet to come. When Uncle Leopold's favorite nephew, Albert, becomes Victoria's husband, one of history's great romances begins. The mirthful Victoria and the serious, studious Albert become a devoted pair, and Victoria comes to be guided by Albert's political advice and his high moral standards. As the government changes leadership, the empire expands, and Victoria and Albert's family grows, we see Victoria evolve from a headstrong young princess into one of the world's great monarchs and, eventually, into a reclusive widow, as well. She struggles throughout her life to subdue her quick temper, protect her family, and keep her trusted advisers close at hand, but it is always the great warmth of their “little queen” that endears her to her subjects and her loyalty and honesty that she relies on to guide her reign

Mission accomplie. « Black Jack » Geary a rèussi l’impossible : ramener la flotte perdue chez elle après avoir infligé à l’ennemi une succession de défaites. C’est en héros qu’il est revenu. Un héros dont le Sénat de l’Alliance se méfie. Son objectif ne sera-t-il pas de s’emparer du pouvoir ? Que faire de lui ? Geary, pour sa part, estime les conditions réunies pour mettre un terme à la guerre qui ravage l’humanité depuis un siècle ; et il ya urgence car aux frontières des mondes syndiqués guette une menace inconnue. Si les moyens lui en sont accordés, c’est donc un retour décisif au coeur du territoire ennemi qui l’attend, ainsi, peut-être, qu’une première confrontation directe avec les mystérieux aliens. Victorieux clôt le cycle de « La flotte perdue ». La romance contrariée de son héros y trouvera-t-elle aussi son compte ?

As war continues to rage between the Alliance and Syndicate Worlds, Captain “Black Jack” Geary is promoted to admiral—even though the ruling council fears he may stage a military coup. His new rank gives him the authority to negotiate with the Syndics, who have suffered tremendous losses and may finally be willing to end the war. But an even greater alien threat lurks on the far side of the Syndic occupied space

Wars come to an end. But then new ones begin. Just weeks after Hitler's suicide, Cletus Frade and his colleagues in the OSS find themselves up to their necks in battles every bit as fierce as the ones just ended. The first is political-the very survival of the OSS, with every department from Treasury to War to the FBI grabbing for its covert agents and assets. The second is on a much grander scale-the possible next world war, against Joe Stalin and his voracious ambitions. To get a jump on the latter, Frade has been conducting a secret operation, one of great daring-and great danger-but to conduct it and not be discovered, he and his men must walk a perilously dark line. One slip, and everyone becomes a casualty of war

The fifth adventure of Captain William Laurence and his extraordinary fighting dragon, Temeraire, as they travel from the shores of Britain to China and Africa. Laurence and Temeraire have betrayed the British. They have foiled their attempts to inflict death upon the French dragons by sharing the cure they found in Africa with their enemy. But following their conscience has a price. Laurence feels he must return to face the consequences, and as soon as they land they are taken into custody. Laurence is condemned to the gallows and Temeraire faces a life of captivity in the breeding grounds. None of their friends or allies can come to their aid, for every hand is needed elsewhere. Britain is completely unprepared for Bonaparte invasion and the advanced tactics of his own celestial dragon -- Temeraire's mortal enemy -- Lien

Новый роман современного русскоязычного украинского писателя, местами игровой, местами пугающе пророческий, удачно комбинирует сюжетную увлекательность беллетристики и метафорику высокой литературы. Действие происходит в конце 1980-х годов в Киеве, точнее, в одном из его районов, Парке «Победа». Где-то далеко идет афганская война, коррумпированная власть уже не справляется с управлением, страна скоро рассыплется, но пока каштаны цветут, жители южной столицы шутят и влюбляются, празднуют дни рождения и проводы в армию, устраивают жизнь и достают по блату то, чего, как им кажется, не хватает для счастья. Роман еще в рукописи попал в лонг-лист премии «Национальный бестселлер» и в финал Русской премии

Пейринг: Новый Женский Персонаж/Сириус Блэк Гарри Поттер Северус Снейп Гермиона Грейнджер Рон Уизли Панси Паркинсон Рейтинг: PG-13 Жанр: Angst/Drama/Romance/Adventure События: Седьмой курс, Времена Мародеров, Путешествие во времени, Чистая романтика, Фик об оригинальных героях, Сокрытие магических способностей, Много оригинальных героев Саммари: Каково вдруг обнаружить, что мир совсем не такой, каким виделся вначале? И что ты тоже отличаешься от той, к которой привыкли окружающие. Что это? Сказка? Сон? Нет, мрачная реальность… Коментарий автора: Прошу не относиться к данному фику серьезно, это просто мой бред:) POV со второй части. Действия, происходящие в прошлом, начинаются далеко не сразу!

A number-one international bestseller reminiscent of the works of Roberto Bolaño, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, and Edward Rutherford — a page-turning historical epic, set in early eighteenth-century Spain, about a military mastermind whose betrayal ultimately leads to the conquest of Barcelona, from the globally popular Catalonian writer Albert Sánchez Piñol. Why do the weak fight against the strong? At 98, Martí Zuviría ponders this question as he begins to tell the extraordinary tale of Catalonia and its annexation in 1714. No one knows the truth of the story better, for Martí was the very villain who betrayed the city he was commended to keep. The story of Catalonia and Barcelona is also Martí’s story. A prestigious military engineer in the early 1700s, he fought on both sides of the long War of the Spanish Succession between the Two Crowns — France and Spain — and aided an Allied enemy in resisting the consolidation of those two powers. Politically ambitious yet morally weak, Martí carefully navigates a sea of Machiavellian intrigue, eventually rising to a position of power that he will use for his own mercenary ends. A sweeping tale of heroism, treason, war, love, pride, and regret that culminates in the tragic fall of a legendary city, illustrated with battle diagrams, portraits of political figures, and priceless maps of the old city of Barcelona, Victus is a magnificent literary achievement that is sure to be hailed as an instant classic