Boots And Bedlam

This holiday season, dive into a whirlwind of love, laughter, and a dash of chaos in the picturesque Lowcountry. Sam Sweeney's dream is simple: a Christmas Eve wedding surrounded by the people she loves. But life has other plans, from comedic mishaps to unexpected obstacles that could upend her big day. Between juggling a booming seafood market, untangling family traditions, and navigating the trials of teenage angst, even a forecasted white Christmas threatens to be more blizzard than blessing. With the clock ticking down from Thanksgiving to Christmas, family support isn't just appreciated—it's essential. But can the power of love and community overcome the mounting complications, or will Sam's carefully laid plans unravel just in time for the holidays? Join the unforgettable Sweeney sisters for a season filled with surprises and find out if love truly conquers all in this heartwarming, page-turning saga that will leave you cherishing the chaos of your own family's holiday traditions. It's a rollercoaster of emotion you won't want to miss this Christmas season.

Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill are the biggest names in the urban fantasy subgenre-where elves, banshees, trolls, and even stranger creatures walk modern city streets, their presence, and even their existence unsuspected by the human inhabitants. Now these two present a volume of all new urban fantasy, with a stellar lineup of the best new fantasy writers, such as Roberta Gellis, Dave Freer and Eric Flint, Diana Paxton, and more-including two new stories and an afterword by Mercedes Lackey herself, as well as a story by Rosemary Edghill. This is an indispensable volume for fans of urban fantasy in general, and the thousands of fans of Mercedes Lackey in particular. At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).

It was 1940, and many of the younger members of the Adams family were caught up in the war in France. Boots, now a Major and on the staff of General Sir Henry Simms, was one of the thousands of British troops trying to escape in the armada of little boats from Dunkirk. His son Tim and nephew Bobby were also struggling to reach the coast and safety, while Eloise was with the ATS awaiting the homecoming soldiers at Portsmouth with a comforting cup of tea and a ticket home. Boots and Tim both made it safely back, but of Bobby there was no sign, and the family all feared the worst. In a farm some miles from Dunkirk, however, Bobby was alive but injured, and trapped by the advancing Germans. The farmer and his wife offered him refuge but Helene, the farmer's independent-minded daughter, was scathing about the retreating British army and gave the brave, joking young sergeant a hard time. Working in the fields, dodging the German soldiers, Bobby was desperately looking for a way to escape and Helene, despite her hostility, found herself increasingly anxious to help the Englishman to get back home. Their adventures were to thrill the Adams family when they came to hear about it.

Kristen was the bad twin. It was Gilly’s job to lie to their parents for her. Kristen cut up small animals when she thought no one was watching. It was Gilly’s job to make sure she didn’t do anything worse. Until one night, Kristen disappeared. Now Gilly is a cop, finally out from under her sister’s shadow. But her mother’s deathbed request is to see Kristen one more time. Gilly is the good twin, so it’s her job to find her sister. But letting Kristen into her life again might cost her everything. This short story is 10,100 words long. It can also be found in With Friends Like These, a psychological thriller short story collection.

The beginning of a wonderful saga telling the story of a Cockney family in peace and war from multi-million copy seller Mary Jane Staples. Perfect for fans of Kitty Neale, Maggie Ford and Katie Flynn. PRAISE FOR THE ADAMS FAMILY SERIES! "Mary Jane Staples makes you care about her characters, which explains why her books have enjoyed so much popularity" -- Take a Break "Forget Eastenders, this it the London of old, when people knew each other's names and communities really pulled together." -- Woman's Realm "Mary Jane Staples completely capture the feel of the period and the essence of the people...has warmth, humour and charm. An ideal book for you holiday reading." Finesse "I get so engrossed in the stories I feel like one of the family." - ***** Reader review. "The story of the Adams family is just wonderful, I can't put this book down. You feel part of the family as you read all about them." -- ***** Reader review. ********************************* ON THE EVE OF WAR, CAN SHE AND HER FAMILY PULL THROUGH? The Adams family were poor, cheerful and, above all, respectable. There was Mrs Adams, a widow having lost her husband in the Boer War; Boots, the bright one; Tommy, the quiet one; Sammy, a wheeler dealer in the making; and Lizzy. Lizzy was a real pearl - one of the prettiest girls in Walworth. When Lizzy falls in love it is 1914. War is coming and everyone is going to be affected. Will the Adams family - gutsy, tough and cheeky - pull through? Down Lambeth Way is the first in Mary Jane Staples's Adams Family series. Their story continues in Our Emily.

A young girl finds herself—and so much more—during a summer stay with her grandparents in this “sweet, evocative” (Kirkus Reviews) novel from Newbery Award–winning author Patricia MacLachlan. When Louisa (short for Louisiana) is sent to stay with her grandparents for the summer, she’s not looking forward to it. While her brother is determined to find a way to stay on Deer Island forever, Louisa would rather be off having adventures with their globetrotting ornithographer parents. She’s a writer, and there’s nothing on all of Deer Island to write about—right? Louisa quickly discovers that small doesn’t necessarily mean quiet, and the island has plenty of scope for the imagination. It also has George, the boy who helps her see the world in a whole new light. The end of summer is coming fast, and Louisa must decide what she really wants: travel the world with her parents, or stay on Deer Island with the people she’s only just learning to love?

In this lush new novel, Bertrice Small has created a moving story of consuming passion and undeniable love set against the noble splendor of Georgian England. . . . As the daughter of the richest man in England, Allegra Morgan attracts a number of fortune hunters willing to overlook her flawed pedigree to gain her enormous wealth. Her most ardent suitor is the arrogant but impoverished Quinton Hunter, duke of Sedgwick, who has little to offer a prospective wife except his grand title. Allegra decides that if she must marry, she might as well be a duchess. So she agrees to the match with one condition: her husband must never ask for her love. She has seen the misery love can cause and has vowed to give her heart to no man--especially a dangerously alluring duke. Quinton is dazzled by his new wife's grace and fortitude, as well as the fierce desire that rages between them. Despite his best intentions, he finds himself falling in love with her. Then the terrors of the French Revolution hit close to home, and the two of them set off on a treacherous adventure that could cost them everything . . . including their final chance at happiness.

His epic masterwork Speaks the Nightbird, a tour de force of witch hunt terror in a colonial town, was hailed by Sandra Brown as "deeply satisfying...told with matchless insight into the human soul." Now, Robert McCammon brings the hero of that spellbinding novel, Matthew Corbett, to eighteenth-century New York, where a killer wields a bloody and terrifying power over a bustling city carving out its identity—and over Matthew's own uncertain destiny. The unsolved murder of a respected doctor has sent ripples of fear throughout a city teeming with life and noise and commerce. Who snuffed out the good man's life with the slash of a blade on a midnight street? The local printmaster has labeled the fiend "the Masker," adding fuel to a volatile mystery...and when the Masker claims a new victim, hardworking young law clerk Matthew Corbett is lured into a maze of forensic clues and heart-pounding investigation that will both test his natural penchant for detection and inflame his hunger for justice. In the strangest twist of all, the key to unmasking the Masker may await in an asylum where the Queen of Bedlam reigns—and only a man of Matthew's reason and empathy can unlock her secrets. From the seaport to Wall Street, from society mansions to gutters glimmering with blood spilled by a deviant, Matthew's quest will tauntingly reveal the answers he seeks—and the chilling truths he cannot escape.