In the autumn of 1558, church bells across England ring out the joyous news that Elizabeth I is the new queen. One woman hears the tidings with utter dread. She is Amy Dudley, wife of Sir Robert, and she knows that Elizabeth's ambitious leap to the throne will draw her husband back to the center of the glamorous Tudor court, where he was born to be. Elizabeth's excited triumph is short-lived. She has inherited a bankrupt country where treason is rampant and foreign war a certainty. Her faithful advisor William Cecil warns her that she will survive only if she marries a strong prince to govern the rebellious country, but the one man Elizabeth desires is her childhood friend, the ambitious Robert Dudley. As the young couple falls in love, a question hangs in the air: can he really set aside his wife and marry the queen? When Amy is found dead, Elizabeth and Dudley are suddenly plunged into a struggle for survival. Philippa Gregory's The Virgin's Lover answers the question about an unsolved crime that has fascinated detectives and historians for centuries. Intelligent, romantic, and compelling, The Virgin's Lover presents a young woman on the brink of greatness, a young man whose ambition exceeds his means, and the wife who cannot forgive them. From Publishers Weekly Bestseller Gregory captivates again with this expertly crafted historical about the beautiful young Virgin Queen, portrayed as a narcissistic, neurotic home-wrecker. As in her previous novels about Tudor England (The Queen's Fool, etc.), Gregory amasses a wealth of colorful period detail to depict the shaky first days of Elizabeth I's reign. The year is 1558, an especially dangerous time for the nation: no bishop will coronate Henry VIII's Protestant daughter, the treasury is bankrupt, the army is unpaid and demoralized. Meanwhile, the French are occupying Scotland and threatening to install "that woman"—Mary, Queen of Scots—on the throne. Ignoring the matrimonial advice of pragmatic Secretary of State William Cecil, the 25-year-old Elizabeth persists in stringing along Europe's most eligible bachelors, including King Philip of Spain and the Hapsburg archduke Ferdinand. It's no secret why: she's fallen for her "dark, saturnine" master of horse, Sir Robert Dudley, whose traitorous family history and marriage to the privately Catholic Amy make him an unsuitable consort. Gregory deftly depicts this love triangle as both larger than life and all too familiar; all three characters are sympathetic without being likable, particularly the arch-mistress Elizabeth, who pouts, throws tantrums, connives and betrays with queenly impunity. After a while the plot stagnates, as the lovers flaunt their emotions in the face of repetitious arguments from Amy, Cecil and various other scandalized members of the court. But readers addicted to Gregory's intelligent, well-researched tales of intrigue and romance will be enthralled, right down to the teasingly tragic ending.

I saved his life . . . and I had much to demand in return.When he washed up on shore, I knew my prayers had been answered, and that I, Lady Chelsea Campion, need no longer fear poverty and heartbreak. To secure my family's estate, all I needed was a child. Handsome, clearly noble-born, and with no memory of his previous life, the mysterious man was perfect. All I had to do was visit his bedchamber and seduce him. I had expected him to be a skillful, scandalously wonderful lover, but once in his arms I was overcome by something more than mere passion. I had fallen hopelessly, desperately in love.My plan has gone shockingly awry. But I will not give up a man who makes me feel such wicked ecstasy. No matter his true identity, no matter the secrets he struggles to remember, I will do anything in this world to make this stranger love me.

More determined than ever to focus on their hard-earned relationship, Vincent and Catherine attempt to celebrate their marriage with a romantic getaway, far from the city and the stresses of work, family, and anything else that could keep them apart. No cell phones, no guns, no beasting out—just each other. But when their tranquil cruise ship is transformed into a crime scene, there's no escape, and Cat and Vincent are submerged in chaos. Can they bring down the threat before it brings down the ship?

In time for the one-year anniversary of the Trump Inauguration and the Women's March, this provocative, unprecedented anthology features original short stories from thirty bestselling and award-winning authors—including Alice Walker, Richard Russo, Walter Mosley, Joyce Carol Oates, Alice Hoffman, Neil Gaiman, Michael Cunningham, Mary Higgins Clark, and Lee Child—with an introduction by Pulitzer Prize–winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen.When Donald Trump claimed victory last November, the US literary world erupted in indignation. Many of America's leading writers and artists openly resist the current administration's dogma and earliest policy moves, and they're not about to go gently into that good night. In It Occurs to Me That I Am America, more than thirty of the most acclaimed modern writers consider the fundamental ideals of a free, just, and compassionate democracy—through fiction. Featuring artwork by some of today's best known...

Piers Cuyper wants London Rhymes and he's a man who gets what he wants. She doesn't date when it interferes with work and this would be a large interference. Can Piers convince her otherwise?

Science Fiction/Fantasy. 90337 words long.

Peter Tremayne is the alias used by Celtic scholar Peter Berresford Ellis (b. 1943) for his mystery and weird fiction. The author of over sixty books, Tremayne is currently best known for his series of historical mystery novels featuring Sister Fidelma, which began with Absolution by Murder (1994). Fidelma is both an Irish princess and a qualified dálaigh, or advocate, of the law courts of Ireland under the ancient Brehon Law system. In addition to the series of novels, earlier Fidelma stories will be found in the collection Hemlock at Vespers (2000). The following brand-new story (from The Mamoth Book of More Historical Whodunnits (2001) ) is set in the year 667.

District Attorney Kathryn Mackay finds herself the prime murder suspect in this mesmerizing thriller by New York Times bestselling author and real-life prosecutor Christine McGuire.Judge Jemima Tucker has been brutally murdered in her chambers at the Santa Rita County courthouse -- and Kathryn Mackay vows to bring her friend's killer to justice. But when both Tucker's husband and another judge become suspects, Kathryn ends up walking a minefield of deadly accusations. Meanwhile, Kathryn and her newly reconciled lover, Sheriff Dave Granz, bring an old enemy, Robert Simmons, back into custody. But when Simmons dies unexpectedly under Kathryn's sole supervision -- and the cause of death is found to be homicide -- Kathryn finds herself fighting for her job, her family, and her life.A shocking novel of murder and betrayal, Until the Final Verdict is suspense at its finest.

After six years in jail for a crime he didn't commit, ex-mobster Danny Gates was ready for a new life, and hoped to find it helping troubled kids at the local rec center. But when sassy, sexy Molly French showed up, Danny knew playtime was over. Officer Molly French was a handcuff-toting, law-abiding lady cop -- the most beautiful one he'd ever seen. Still, ex-cons and cops went together like oil and water, didn't they? However, when Molly uncovered evidence of a police conspiracy behind the Lone Star Country Club bombing, Danny was the only one Molly could trust. Could Danny help Molly discover the bomber's identity, before their attraction became an affair of the heart?

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. Master and apprentice. Chosen by fate. Destined for conflict. How do you defeat an enemy whose riches buy unlimited power? How do you defeat an enemy who is a master of disguise? How do you defeat an enemy you cannot find? Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi are facing a very real threat from a very elusive adversary, who is as cunning as he is evil. He will stop at nothing to draw others to the dark side and undermine the Republic. If the Jedi do not stop him, it will mean danger for the whole galaxy.