The War of the Spider Queen begins here.While their whole world is changing around them, four dark elves struggle against different enemies. Yet their paths will lead them all to the most terrifying discovery in the long history of the drow and set them on a quest to save not only Menzoberranzan but the entire dark elf race from Dissolution...

DISCOVER WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A VERY PROPER DUCHESS DECIDES TO MISBEHAVE. A DUKE IN RETREAT Gina was forced into marriage with the Duke of Girton at an age when she'd have been better off in a schoolroom than a ballroom. Directly after the ceremony her handsome spouse promptly fled to the continent, leaving the marriage unconsummated and Gina quite indignant. A LADY IN THE MIDDLE Now, she is one of the most well-known ladies in London ... living on the edge of scandal --- desired by many men, but resisting giving herself to any one. A DUCHESS IN LOVE Finally, Camden, the Duke of Girton, has returned home, to discover that his naive bride has blossomed into the toast of the ton. Which leaves Cam in the most uncomfortable position of discovering that he has the bad manners to be falling in love --- with his own wife!

Familiar Here are stories of everyday life, as familiar as a piece of rope and ... as haunting as fear: Mike knows that he can't swing over the river on the knotted rope, but with everyone watching him, he has to try. ... as haunting as a stranger: Who is the frightened-looking girl stealing plums from Nicky's grandparents' precious tree? ... as haunting as cruelty: How can Joe escape from his mean cousin Dicky during a family reunion?Haunting And here are stories with a supernatural twist, as haunting as the eerie whistling from the hill above Burnt House in the middle of the night and ... as familiar as guilt: A boy forgets the mysterious bottle his cousin loaned him, but when he sneaks out at night to retrieve it, the shadowy whistlers close in on him. ... as familiar as loneliness: A ghost who's unbearably lonesome makes his neighbors suffer until a girl with a sense of the absurd shows him how things could be different. ... as familiar as love: The ghost of a boy comes back to save his father from dying in a ferocious storm. Peopled with vivid, unforgettable characters, this collection of thirty-seven stories is by turns mysterious, humorous, strange, and sad, but it is always familiar, always haunting, and always surprising.

She's called "the Bridemaker", but Hester Poitevant prefers to think of herself as the gentle facilitator of marital union. Hester's popular Mayfair Academy has helped teach many the awkward society miss how to find her way to the altar with the eligible bachelor of her choice. But while her students flirt and mingle, Hester possesses as a prim widow--rather than reveal herself as the never-been married beauty she truly is...He made his fortune in America. Now the dashing, scandalously sired Adrian Hawke is in London, determined to fight off the season's most wily debutants. Adrian isn't fooled by Hester's thin disguise--for she possess the soft, womanly curves no somber gown can hide. The question is, why does she dress like a schoolmarm when she could easily make a better match than any of her student? Adrian vows to reveal Hester's most precious secrets. But what he discovers is a woman with a past more complicated than he could ever imagine--and whose beauty is not just skin-deep...From Publishers WeeklyWith this sparkling romance between a highly regarded widow and a thoroughly charming rake, Becnel (The Troublemaker, etc.) breathes life into the rigid Regency-era romance genre. Hester Poitevant, mistress of the popular Mayfair Academy, has developed a reputation for transforming shy, awkward girls into good marriage material. Known as the Bridemaker, she hides behind her widow's weeds and ugly spectacles in order to appear respectable without outshining her students and their paying mamas. The disguise also ensures that no man will look twice at her and threaten her hard-earned independence. But when her favorite student sets her sights on Adrian Hawke, a rich but untitled American, Hester confronts the unconventional rogue and, to her horror, begins to fall for him. Though Adrian is initially put off by Hester's standoffish demeanor, he senses the feisty widow is concealing more than just a fine body, and he's willing to use whatever means necessary, even seduction, to uncover her secrets. The protagonists' ideals are at times too modern for the period, but Hester's spirited personality and Adrian's devil-may-care attitude will appeal to a broad readership. Playful in tone and rich in character, this book is fun, breezy entertainment.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. From BooklistFrom a background that left her on her own and fearful of men, Hester Poitevant has created a career for herself at a time when a woman on her own had few choices. She runs the Mayfair Academy, dedicated to preparing young girls of the ton for their season. So far, every one has made a suitable match, but Hester herself remains an enigma. She hides her beauty behind the serviceable accoutrement of a governess or nanny, and pretends to be a widow. When one of her students becomes enamored with a newcomer to the social scene, Hester finds herself in the uncomfortable position of being attracted to this same man. Adrian Hawke has come to London from America, and at first associates Hester with all that he hates about the English aristocracy, but he soon sees beyond her plain facade and is intrigued enough to seek out her secrets. It is a real treat to see how Hester and Adrian overcome their flaws and insecurities to end up happily together. Maria HattonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

SUMMARY: As the War of Souls continues, the shield over the elven kingdom of Silvanesti falls. Mina leads her forces triumphantly into that conquered nation, only to face danger from friends and foes alike. Meanwhile, Goldmoon follows the river of the dead, which threatens to engulf them all. "Dragons of a Lost Star" expands on the War of Souls saga and forms the point around which subsequent novels will revolve.

A thrilling fantasy adventure for younger readers. With the young King of Estelliana mysteriously ill, the kingdom is placed under the harsh rule of a starkin regent, Lord Zavion. One day a hearthkin boy, Durrik, has a vision telling him that the regent is planning to kill the new king and take over Estelliana, and that he must go on a quest to find a cure for the King and save the kingdom. He and his best friend Pedrin set out on their journey and are soon joined by a noble girl, Lisandre, and a servant girl called Briony. On their travels they meet with soldiers, wildkin, pirates and monsters before they reach their final destination - the magic Starthorn Tree - which may hold the miraculous cure...

Don't breathe the air... They are tiny, genetically engineered blue seeds that mature quickly into trees that literally suck all the oxygen out of the air. They're the twisted experiment of the earth-friendly but highly secretive Congress of Concerned Scientists, and now they've been snatched by its head, Dr. Hubert St. Clair. Having killed off all but one of his scientific team, he's leading Remo and Chiun on a chase through the proverbial forest. He's got enough seeds to choke off the world's oxygen supply, and the ability to create environmental disasters at will. Battling everything from acid rain to blistering heat to frigid cold, the Destroyer races to thwart double disaster in the Amazon rainforest: St. Clair is planting seeds like a maniac and a U.S. President prepares to nuke Brazil into oblivion.Breathlessly action-packed and boasting a winning combination of thrills, humour and mysticism, the Destroyer is one of the bestselling series...

When a mummy in the Museum of Albion is unpacked it is found to contain a bundle of curious objects and documents which tell of the wanderings of an unknown woman, Leto. On the run, in a far-off era of civil strife, Leto gives birth to twins, shelters with wolves, survives in a desert stronghold as the lover of its commander, stows away on a ship loaded with plundered antiquities and then works as a maid in a war-torn city. She loses her son but saves her daughter during a long siege. As the novel sweeps from mythological times and the Middle Ages to the treasure-hunting of Victorian Europe and into the present day, Leto reappears in different guises. Eventually she becomes a servant to a rock singer, and begins to search for her son.

Phyllis Rose embarks on a grand literary experiment — to systematically read her way through a random shelf of books in the library, LEQ-LES, "fairly sure that no one in the history of the world has read exactly this series of novels." An original take on literary taste and habits by the acclaimed author of Parallel Lives.Rose, after a career of reading from syllabuses and writing about canonical books, decided to read like an explorer. She "wanted to sample, more democratically, the actual ground of literature." Casting herself into the untracked wilderness of the New York Society Library's stacks, she chose a shelf of fiction almost at random and read her way through it.What results is a spirited experiment in "Off-Road or Extreme Reading." Rose's shelf of roughly thirty books has everything she could wish for—a remarkable variety of authors and a range of literary ambitions and styles. The early-nineteenth-century Russian classic A Hero of...

The Boxcar Children have entered the Ruby Hollow Gem Mine’s annual gem-hunting competition. With a little instruction and the right gear, the Aldens have everything they need to become real rock hounds! They have a natural talent for rock-finding, and it’s not too long before Jessie makes a fabulous find. But before she can enter her ruby in the competition, it disappears! Could there be a thief at the mine? Now, instead of digging for rocks, the Aldens are digging for clues. Who wants to win the contest so much that they are willing to steal from the Aldens? The children don’t know, but they are determined to find out!

Joe Simpson has experienced a life filled with adventure but marred by death. He has endured the painful attrition of climbing friends in accidents, calling into question the perilously exhilarating activity to which he has devoted his life. Probability is inexorably closing in. The tragic loss of a close friend forces a momentous decision upon him. It is time to turn his back on the mountains that he has loved. Never more alive than when most at risk, he has come to see a last climb on the hooded, mile-high North Face of the Eiger as the cathartic finale. In a narrative which takes the reader through extreme experiences, from an avalanche in Bolivia, ice-climbing in the Alps and Colorado and paragliding in Spain - before his final confrontation with the Eiger - Simpson reveals the inner truth of climbing, exploring both the power of the mind and the frailties of the body. The subject of his new book is the siren song of fear and his struggle to come to terms with it.

She had a perfect life. Then she got a real life.... For nearly twenty years, quiet, unassuming Lillian Manville has devoted herself to her self-made billionaire husband -- and enjoyed a luxurious life of splendid homes, trips, jewels, and clothes. But when James Manville dies in a plane crash, Lillian's grief is compounded by a shocking mystery: all that Jimmie has left to her is an old farmhouse in tiny Calburn, Virginia. Now, Lillian's unexpected circumstances are leading her to a made-over life in Calburn, an exciting businessŠand a sweet new love with a handsome local man. But will she have the courage to unveil the truth surrounding a past scandal and the loss of her husband? The answers may be as close as the mulberry tree in her yard -- and Lillian must dig deep within herself to Wght the secrets and lies that threaten to uproot the past she cherished and the future she treasures....This lush bestseller shines with the passion, intrigue, and warmth that is Jude Deveraux at her best.