Showing titles in Contemporary

In the small town of Innocence, Mississippi, days are long, nights are fragrant, and secrets are hard to keep. But when a brutal killer starts claiming the lives of the town's most attractive women, lifelong neighbors are forced to wonder if the culprit is a stranger lurking in the bayou...or someone right next door. World-famous concert violinist Caroline Waverly knows nothing of the murders when she arrives in Innocence. Burned out from a childhood lost to endless rehearsals and an all-too-public breakup, Caroline is looking for a little peace and some time to think.

A forensic sculptor with the rare gift for reconstructing the identity of the dead from their skulls, Eve Duncan is made an offer she can't financially refuse: to reconstruct the face of an adult murder victim. It's a simple bargain, yet its' the most dangerous one she'll ever make.

Rita Lavender is the last woman to be swept away by a smooth line and a seductive smile. And she's just beginning to savor the fruits of her success when she meets a man who will change everything. Mayor-Elect Taylor MacKensie is handsome, charming, and charismatic. Still, Rita never imagines that she'll leave a Christmas party with him, or that, caught up in the magic of a snowfall and a bottle of champagne, she'll give in to desire. Eight weeks later, Rita knows she's carrying Taylor MacKensie's child.

Plain, soft-spoken Nell Calder isn't the type of woman to inspire envy, lust - or murderous passions. Until one night on an exotic island in the Aegean Sea, at an elegant gathering that should have cemented her husband's glorious career in finance, the unimaginable happens...and Nell's life is shattered by a spray of bullets and the razor edge of a blade.Though badly hurt, Nell emerges from the nightmare a woman transformed. Delicate surgery gives her an exquisitely beautiful face, and rehabilitation gives her a strong, lithe body. Nicholas Tanek, a mysterious stranger who compels both fear and fascination, gives her a reason to go on living: revenge - at any price.With his shadowy past and more secrets than Nell could ever imagine, Tanek knows far more about the attack than he's willing to confess. Yet when he divulges the identity of her assailant, he makes the biggest mistake of his life. For as Nicholas gets closer to his quarry, he'll find his carefully laid plans jeopardized at every turn by a bold woman daring to strike out on her own. And Nell will find her mission imperiled by Tanek - a temptation to which she cannot afford to surrender.

To Hawk O'Toole, she was a pawn in a desperate gamble to help his people. To Miranda Price, he was a stranger who'd done the unthinkable: kidnapped her and her young son off a train full of sight-seeing vacationers. Now, held hostage on a distant reservation for reasons she cannot at first fathom, Miranda finds herself battling a captor who is by turns harsh and tender, mysteriously aloof and dangerously seductive.

Hurt one too many times in the past, Sloan Fairchild is convinced that she will never be able to trust her heart to a man again. Instead, she pours all her energy into making a success of her elegant San Francisco bed and breakfast inn. But when her best friend asks her to house her fiancé for a month, Sloan opens the doors of Fairchild House to Carter Madison...and meets a man who turns her world - and her concept of herself - upside down.

Since the death of her husband, Alicia Russell has struggled to take care of her two young sons alone. But when a sudden storm threatens to ruin a family camping trip, Alicia must rely upon a stranger for help. Before long, the man offers much more than shelter from the storm. Handsome, sensual, and slightly mysterious, Pierce Reynolds showers much-needed attention on Alicia's sons - and reminds her how it feels to be desired. But even as Pierce tempts Alicia to explore her newly reawakened longings, he holds her at arm's length....

For the past few years, Lilah Mason has watched her sister find love, get married, and have children, while she's been more than content to channel her energies into her career. A physical therapist with an unsinkable spirit and unwavering compassion, she's one of the best in the field. But when Lilah takes on a demanding new case, her patient's life isn't the only one transformed. Her new patient, Adam, challenges her methods and authority at every turn. Yet Lilah is determined to help him recover the life he's lost.

Simon Brett's oldest and most beloved character, Charles Paris, is back. Paris, the often out-of-work actor, has a good part for a change, playing Sir Toby Belch in a summer festival production of "Twelfth Night." But when the director takes ill and then Paris' friend in the production is the apparent victim of intentional food poisoning meant for Paris, it's not long until the bodies start to turn up. Paris is forced to deal with a wild young director whose idea of Shakespeare the bard himself would hate.

Blair Simpson embraced a life most merely dream about. Nearly 30-years-old, she devoted her nights as well as her days to dancing in the chorus line of Broadway musicals and in an occasional high-paying TV commercial. She'd never considered another career, believing that this was what she'd been born for. But when an injury sends her to a small town for 6 months of recuperation, she finds herself surrounded by couples her own age, raising families and building dreams together. And there she meets a man who forces her to come to terms with a part of herself she has long denied.

As the host of a new prime-time magazine show, Kelly Douglas is on the brink of realizing her dream of becoming a news anchor. A modern-day Cinderella, she has overcome her unhappy childhood in rural Napa Valley, leaving behind her abusive, alcoholic father and transforming herself from the "four-eyed and fat" Lizzie Dougherty into the chic, successful Kelly Douglas.

International art dealer Louis Dubose has been murdered, and the police are certain that they've got their man. Ben Robinson, recently fired by Dubose, has a motive backed by a convincing trail of evidence, and it looks like an open-and-shut case. But one woman, who knows Ben all too well, isn't convinced. Sharon Robinson is about to gamble her own well-being on Ben's innocence, even though her personal indictment against him is almost as bitter as murder.

This rape case is different from most: the victim is more than willing to testify and there's ample evidence to put the suspect behind bars. But one thing gnaws at Detective Larry Millsaps - young and beautiful Melissa Nelson knows too much about the evidence needed to convict her attacker. Millsaps's investigation unearths the suspect's brutal track record, but also some stunning revelations about Melissa's own past. Caught in a deadly conflict between the ironies of the law and the demands of his Christian convictions, the detective finds himself protecting Melissa - even as evidence mounts that could imprison not only an inhuman criminal, but also the woman Millsaps has come to love.

Noah and Allie fell in love as teenagers, with the purest sort of love, only to be kept apart by Allie's mother. Their feelings survived in spite of everything - and they recounted their romance in the pages of a notebook. Now, years later, Allie suffers from Alzheimer's, and her memory has been wiped clean. By reading the story of their relationship and the passion they shared, Noah hopes to break through the barrier of his wife's illness. This poignant first novel from Nicholas Sparks rivals any love story ever written.

In the last innocent days of pre-World War II Honolulu, two people meet almost by chance: Keo, a gifted jazz trumpeter native to the islands, and Sunny, a fiercely independent beauty of Hawaiian and Korean heritage. As their love grows, youth and ambition propel them into a world that is spiraling into madness. From New Orleans to Paris to Shanghai, through the horrors of Pearl Harbor, Nazi occupation in Europe, Japanese prison camps, and beyond to Hawaii's struggle toward statehood.

Delaney Westcott is a beautiful career woman in a man's world. Owner and chief asset of a personal security business, where she guards the rich and famous from the unwanted attention of friends and enemies, she can take care of herself. Except for the one time she didn't: when she fell headlong for handsome cowboy Jared McCallister, a man she couldn't have.

Behind Harry Strand is a career in American intelligence that he wishes he could forget and a wife, killed in a car accident, who he can't stop thinking about. In spite of his past, Harry has managed to start a new career as a successful art dealer in Houston. Then, mysterious, exotic Mara Song enters his life, sharing the lap pool of an exclusive club where Harry swims alone every morning. For weeks they swim together, never speaking, never actually meeting - until she disappears. A month later Mara walks into his office with a business proposition: she wants Harry to help her sell an extraordinary portfolio of drawings by modern masters. The allure of the cache and of Mara herself is something he can't resist. Even after he discovers in Mara's apartment conclusive evidence that she was involved in the murder of his wife. The Cold War may be over, but Harry's war has just begun.

Herotica 3 is the third in the ground-breaking series of sensual stories written by, for, and about women. By helping women to "claim the erotic frontier," Susie Bright explores a territory where sexuality is limited only by the imagination. In Michelle Handelman's "Blood Past," things heat up when an American tourist in Spain has a surprising encounter with a male glass eater and a female sword swallower. In Carol Queen's "Sweating Profusely in Mérida," a woman fulfills a longtime fantasy of exploring the men's baths with her bisexual boyfriend. In "Something Special," by Aurora Light, one woman seduces her twin's lover, who has no clue that the woman he's sharing pleasure with is not his usual partner! Other stories include: "My Date with Marcie," "Erotoplasmic Orgasmic," "Sileni," "Hope," and "Look What the Cat Dragged In." Adult listening. For Adults Only: Explicit language. Must be 18 years of age to purchase.

Meet Stephanie Plum, a bounty hunter with attitude. Desperate for work, with her Miata repossessed and her refrigerator empty, she cons her way into a job as an "apprehension agent" for a bail bondsman. This best selling debut earned Evanovich nominations for the Edgar, Anthony, Agatha, Shamus, and Macavity awards.

Sit back, turn down the lights, and listen to Ear Candy, a sampler of sensual audio delights. In Strangers on a Train, a woman steps onto a crowded rush hour train in Tokyo, never imagining the erotic encounter she will embark upon with a handsome stranger...