Five Smooth Stones

Five Smooth Stones

Ann Fairbairn

Fiction / Historical / Historical Fiction

David Champlin is a black man born into poverty in Depression-era New Orleans who achieves great success and then sacrifices everything to lead his people in the difficult, day-by-day struggle of the civil rights movement. Sara Kent is the beloved and vital white girl who loved David from the moment she first saw him, but they struggle over David's belief that a marriage for them would not be right in the violent world he had to confront. First published in 1966, this epic has become one of the most loved American bestsellers.
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Sudden Mail-Order Bride

Sudden Mail-Order Bride

Regina Scott

Romance / Historical / Regency

What's a fellow to do when his mail-order bride shows up all of a sudden? The charming Jeremy Willets thought writing away for a mail-order bride a wise decision. He just had to find a way to break it to his family. They valued true love, after all. True love wasn't so easy to find in a frontier territory where men outnumbered the women eight to one. He never expected the woman with whom he was corresponding to show up at the door of his family's ranch, unannounced and ready for a wedding. Spunky Caroline Cadhill staked everything on finding a groom as far away from Cincinnati as possible. The letters Jeremy sent her seemed heartfelt and witty. Yet he hadn't made a commitment. With danger threatening and her brother vanished, her only choice had been to run, right into Jeremy's arms. Now she isn't sure which is more dangerous, the men chasing her or the smile of her cowboy would-be groom. Between a boisterous matchmaking family and a threat...
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Lovely War

Lovely War

Julie Berry

Young Adult / Historical / Historical Fiction

Read the novel New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network Kate Quinn called "easily one of the best novels I have read all year!" A sweeping, multi-layered romance set in the perilous days of World Wars I and II, where gods hold the fates—and the hearts—of four mortals in their hands.They are Hazel, James, Aubrey, and Colette. A classical pianist from London, a British would-be architect-turned-soldier, a Harlem-born ragtime genius in the U.S. Army, and a Belgian orphan with a gorgeous voice and a devastating past. Their story, as told by goddess Aphrodite, who must spin the tale or face judgment on Mount Olympus, is filled with hope and heartbreak, prejudice and passion, and reveals that, though War is a formidable force, it's no match for the transcendent power of Love. Author Julie Berry's critically-acclaimed writing has been called "haunting and unforgettable" by New York Times bestselling author of Salt to the Sea Ruta Sepetys and...
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Alex Mason and the Smoky forest 2-A new girl, a new journey

Alex Mason and the Smoky forest 2-A new girl, a new journey

Kate Leonard And Jessica Teixeira

Historical / Historical Fiction / Fiction

Alex Mason is back again, this time to go out of school! He is going to see some crazy, but true, things. He is going to ride on the back of a dragon and a giant eagle! This time hunting for a man and his deadly silver whistle, which could kill thousands of people in seconds...This is an 11 page short story:Steven just witnessed his beloved dog tear out the throats of his two best friends. It gets even more surreal when the dog explains to him why he did it.
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Between the Flowers: A Novel

Between the Flowers: A Novel

Harriette Simpson Arnow

Fiction / Historical / Historical Fiction

Between the Flowers is Harriette Simpson Arnow's second novel. Written in the late 1930s, but unpublished until 1997, this early work shows the development of social and cultural themes that would continue in Arnow's later work: the appeal of wandering and of modern life, the countervailing desire to stay within a traditional community, and the difficulties of communication between men and women in such a community.     Between the Flowers goes far beyond categories of "local color," literary regionalism, or the agrarian novel, to the heart of human relationships in a modernized world. Arnow, who went on to write Hunter's Horn (1949) and The Dollmaker (1952)—her two most famous works—has continually been overlooked by critics as a regional writer. Ironically, it is her stinging realism that is seen as evidence of her realism, evidence that she is of the Cumberland—an area somehow more "regional" than others.     Beginning with an edition of critical essays on her work in 1991 and a complete original edition of Hunter's Horn in 1997, the Michigan State University Press is pleased to continue its effort to make available the timeless insight of Arnow's work with the posthumous publication of Between the Flowers.
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Darker

Darker

James A. Brakken

Historical / Historical Fiction

The middle third of the book, DARK. Contains the next 15 of 56 original, eerie poems and delightfully frightening stories--some morbidly amusing, others downright disturbing. Darkly evocative engravings add to the macabre nature of this collection. For all readers, DARKER contains no excessive profanities nor sexual content. Perfect fireside reading on stormy nightsAbout DARKER:Imagine you are a mind reader—a voyeur who can steal dreams. It happens in the book, DARK. Now, DARKER, the midsection of DARK you are “The Thief of Dreams,” allowing you to purloin many dreadful, occasionally humorous, and sometimes downright disturbing dreams--fantasies and nightmares of others. All are expressed as poetry and short stories, each designed to make you laugh, shudder or cringe, or all three.For example, all SIX parts of “The Zombie Apocalypse” series (two in DARK, one in DARKER and 3 more in DARKEST) drew that title from a recent admission by Google® that this was their most-searched term in June, 2012. Many believe the Z A will happen. Brakken explains, in his Z A series, that, thanks to recent scientific innovation, this idea, this threat, is, indeed, plausible. Those who initially thought this term laughable may find themselves reconsidering. As we all know, science can be wonderful—or terrible—depending on the final outcome. (In DARKER, there is an invitation to new authors to submit their own Z A episodes for an upcoming anthology.)Brakken's poems such as “In Gloomy Wood” and “The Parson Joshua Black” tell stories that will tingle the spine. Others like “Something in the Shadows” and “Bedtime Story” may lead to the bedroom light being left on until morning. “Gramma’s Noggin” will elicit a laugh while helping readers pronounce Namakagon correctly. Brakken's earlier book is THE TREASURE OF NAMAKAGON.) A sonnet, “The Count,” will beg readers for restraint regarding releasing evil upon the land. There are so many more.Brakken included “Nevermore” a poetic tribute to Edgar Allen Poe and a favorite of many. “Nevermore” answers Poe’s question about the final resting place of the spirit of the deceased maiden in Poe’s, “The Raven.”A number of poems, including “The Ballad of Ole Johnson” and “A Pinery Tale” found inspiration in actual deaths that occurred during northern Wisconsin’s 19th century timber harvest, giving them the western texture akin to the cowboy poetry of Baxter Black. Several mysterious excerpts from Brakken’s 19th century“lumberjack” era novel, THE TREASURE OF NAMAKAGON, complement the poems nicely. And, if dragons are to your liking, you’ll savor the author’s “Three Dragons” series.Beware! Although this large collection of Brakken’s macabre writings will delightfully scare the reader and sometimes stimulate nervous laughter, the author advises us that some of these works are utterly disturbing. His advice? Beware! Read at your own risk: Here there be dragons.Perhaps that is why, for visual relief, the author included many darkly evocative engravings by long-dead master artists from ancient times. Gustave Dore and Albrecht Durer are among the artists who now, long after their death, add mystery and macabre charm to Brakken’s work. Note that these images are not intended to illustrate the writings. Rather, they simply add to the enigmatic, bone-chilling nature of DARK.THE AUTHOR ADVISES READING DARK IN THE ORDER PRESENTED. Jumping ahead may spoil the twisting, turning plots of some sequential works.Sneak peeks of both DARK and THE TREASURE OF NAMAKAGON are at BadgerValley.com.Enter DARKER at your own risk. Then, if you dare, find DARKEST at Smashwords.com. Step into DARKER -- We've been waiting for you.Contents of DARKER (Second of 3 sections):Thief of Dreams IIINevermoreLike MagicThief of Dreams IVThe Ballad of the Ne’er Do Well BoysThe Great MakwaaOh, Shanty BoyThat’s OneBeneath the ClayThe WidowmakerBeastly FeastingsThe Zombie Apocalypse Part IIIGramma’s NogginThree Dragons Part II: The Second DragonDeath’s Dreadful ScheduleOver 20 more poems and short stories await you in DARKEST. Muster all your courage and seek them out at amazingly discounted prices!
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