Daily Archives: September 2, 2017

The Call of the Wildby Jack London

Jack London's novels and ruggedly individual life seemed to embody American hopes, frustrations, and romantic longings in the turbulent first years of the twentieth century, years infused with the wonder and excitement of great technological and historic change. The author's restless spirit, taste for a life of excitement, and probing mind led him on a series of hard-edged adventures from the Klondike to the South Seas. Out of these sometimes harrowing experiences — and his fascination with the theories of such thinkers as Darwin, Spencer, and Marx — came the inspiration for novels of adventure that would make him one of America’s most popular writers.
The Call of the Wild, considered by many London's greatest novel, is a gripping tale of a heroic dog that, thrust into the brutal life of the Alaska Gold Rush, ultimately faces a choice between living in man's world and returning to nature. Adventure and dog-story enthusiasts as well as students and devotees of American literature will find this classic work a thrilling, memorable reading experience

The Secrets of Married Womenby Carol Mason

When Jill’s husband discovers he can never have children, it tears a hole in their marriage that Jill doesn’t know how to repair. Frustrated, she seeks comfort in her friends: fierce Leigh, with her high-powered career and doting family, and sweet, uncomplicated Wendy, who has a rock-solid marriage any woman would envy.

Leigh and Wendy’s lives seem perfect. But beneath the surface are secrets that could tear their friendship apart.

Leigh has grown tired of her stay-at-home husband and is looking for excitement–outside of the marriage bed. And after seventeen years of marriage, Wendy can’t shake the sense that there is something missing in her life.

As Jill is drawn deeper into her friends’ relationships, she is confronted by a temptation of her own: an intriguing stranger whose good looks and charm spark an instant connection.

Full of the realities of modern-day marriage, The Secrets of Married Women asks the question: how well can we ever know our husbands, our friends, or even ourselves?

The Brave Ones: A Memoir of Hope, Pride and Military Serviceby Michael J. MacLeod

How does the US Army mold a video-game generation with its thumbs on the joystick into a proud fighting force with its fingers on the trigger–and lives on the line–in America’s War on Terror? Michael J. MacLeod, already an accomplished professional photographer and journalist, decided to find out the hard way: by enlisting in the armed forces at age forty-one. What he observed and experienced as an embedded reporter and a serving soldier makes for an unflinching and inspiring portrait of endurance, sacrifice, discipline, and courage.

From the trials of basic training on the home front to the ranks of the legendary 82nd Airborne Division to taking fire in the hot zones of Iraq and Afghanistan, MacLeod chronicles the soldier’s evolution as only one who’s been in those boots can. Candid, wise, and powerful, his memoir takes readers on an unforgettable journey through war and allows them to witness bravery firsthand.

Last Chance Mate: Tannerby Anya Nowlan

Even death isn’t enough to keep them apart.

Nicole Malcolm is a woman of her word. She made a deal for everything to save someone she loves and now it’s time to pay the price. Never could she have imagined that she’d find a wolf who’d change her life, and make her regret the promises she made, on her last few days.

Tanner Hall is a wolf who has lost more than he’s willing to remember. He’s done with love, because if you don’t love, you can’t lose. But the right woman can change it all and one look at the curvy, spirited Nicole makes him reconsider everything he knows.

Maybe there is a life after death… and maybe he can make it happen.

Tune Up: The Secrets of Mylin – Book Iby Joe Klingler

On their second case, Qigiq and Kandy are loaned to the Traffic Division to investigate an early morning accident. Hit and run. By a motorcycle. The victim is an elderly Asian woman. A young witness in a nearby dry cleaner and a truck driver suggest all “accidents” aren’t created equal. Then the Captain drops a new assignment on their desk: an affluent Bay Area lawyer is missing. The man’s wife stomps into their office screaming about a contract she found hidden in the backups of their home computer. A contract with a seven-figure payout, and an incriminating Exhibit A.

Following the trail of both the motorcycle rider and the lawyer with Kandy complaining, “We’re homicide detectives, there should be a body,” leads to a vintage motorcycle club called the Ton Up where lips are sealed, a yacht harbor on the coast where riddles run deep, and a midnight roadside confrontation that ends with a splash. As the trails twist they soon find that these people and places have one thing in common:

A violist named Mylin. Who plays in an all-female orchestra called The Girls of the Orient. And, unbeknownst to her, is the subject of a fine-art photographer’s latest collection.

From San Francisco to Mexico, the treacherous cliffs of the Pacific coast to the desolation of Nevada’s high desert, Tune Up moves like Kandy’s turbocharged Mini through a foggy landscape of false identities, fake romance, and frenzied chases, as Qigiq realizes one picture really can reveal more than 1,000 words.

Heart of Honorby Alexa Aston

1375 A.D. – When Sir Christopher “Kit” Emory’s beloved mother falls ill, he decides to seek the help of someone he met briefly at the royal court years ago–Lady Alys de Montfort, a renowned healer despite her young age. While traveling to her home at Kinwick Castle, Kit is accosted by a band of highwayman, who beat and rob him, leaving him to die. Fortunately, an escort party comes across him and Lady Alys insists they take the stranger home so she can use her skill in the healing arts to save his life.

The man awakens and has no memory of his identity, but Alys believes he might be Kit Emory, a young man she’d met once when she was a young girl. Kit comforted her when the queen died and Alys never forgot his kindness to her. Alys does what she can to jog Kit’s memory, even as she struggles with her growing attraction to him, knowing Kit was betrothed and must now be wed. Kit also finds his desire deepening for Alys, but he doesn’t know his own name, much less if he has a wife or family. Until he recalls who he is, he refuses to commit his heart to Alys.

Once Kit regains his memory and realizes he is free to pursue Alys, their road to love is anything but smooth.

Join Kit and Alys as they overcome events that continue to tear them apart and threaten the love they have for one another.

Each book in the Knights of Honor series is a standalone story that can be enjoyed out of order.

Series Order:
Book #1 Word of Honor
Book #2 Marked by Honor
Book #3 Code of Honor
Book #4 Journey to Honor

Captain Rourkeby Helena Newbury

Captain Rourke. A brooding Scottish treasure hunter who carries a sword, lives on his boat and bears the scars of a shark attack on his muscled torso. He’s the only man who can help me. A mystery disease is attacking my family and the only cure lies on a pirate ship that sank three hundred years ago. Rourke’s a loner, determined to push everyone away…but when he looks at me, he melts my clothes right off my body.

I’m a small-town girl from Nebraska. But to save my family I’ll have to take to the sea with Rourke and enter a whole new world of smugglers, sunken gold and deadly storms. In the close confines of his boat, there’s no way I can ignore that smoldering gaze, or the way my legs go weak whenever he takes hold of me. He claims he’s no hero yet he protects me like no other…can I save him from the pain that’s tearing him apart? I’m from the prairies; he’s from the sea. But I need to learn his world, fast, because others want what’s on that sunken ship…and they’ll kill both of us to get it.