A joyful, engaging read from beginning to end...." Mark Ashton, Southbridge Evening News "If you love period pieces then this is the book for you..." Mary Haggerty, Goodreads.com Trolley Days is the story of an unlikely friendship between two boys growing up in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in its industrial heyday. Jack Bernard is the son of a mill worker who emigrated from Canada, Tom Wellington the son of the mill owner. Jack is shy and socially a bit awkward, Tom self-assured and smooth-talking. But for all their differences, the two boys have much in common. They love fishing, sports, and all manner of youthful tomfoolery. Each has suffered the loss of a sibling, tragedies that have affected both families deeply. In the opening chapter a blizzard is approaching as Jack boards a train for the long trip to Boston. He has received a cryptic letter informing him that Tom is in a Boston jail. Despite a recent falling-out between the two, Jack still considers Tom his best friend, and he refuses to allow a snowstorm to prevent him from going to Tom's aid. Soon Jack will be plunged into a mystery that calls on all his courage and determination to solve, even as his friend's life hangs in the balance. To save his friend, Jack will need the assistance of Tom's sister, Anne, but that will require Jack and Anne to reconcile their fractured relationship. Does friendship have its limits? Can bonds of trust, once broken, be repaired? Can we learn from life's tragedies and move on, or must we carry them like lead weights on our hearts forever? In "Trolley Days" it seems it is the young who bear the heaviest of life's burdens and must marshal the strength to free themselves and their parents.
Spring - 1917. War is raging in Europe and America has just cast its lot against the German war machine. Back home, the nation is reeling with social strife: workers marching for their rights, immigrants demanding fair treatment, suffragettes clamoring for the vote. In Holyoke, Massachusetts, seventeen-year-old Jack Bernard has a new job at one of the city’s largest textile mills, hoping to save money for college. Meanwhile, his friend, Tom Wellington, appears to have taken control of his demons and set himself on a new course. Soon the lives of both young men, their families and friends, will be torn asunder by forces and events far beyond their control. The Dyeing Room, Robert T. McMaster’s second novel, is an absorbing blend of adventure, mystery, and romance populated with characters so life-like they seem to leap from the pages and materialize before our very eyes. Readers young and old will be captivated by this story from a century past, the world of our forebears, an era that, however distant, still speaks to us across the generations.
A joyful, engaging read from beginning to end...." Mark Ashton, Southbridge Evening News "If you love period pieces then this is the book for you..." Mary Haggerty, Goodreads.com Trolley Days is the story of an unlikely friendship between two boys growing up in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in its industrial heyday. Jack Bernard is the son of a mill worker who emigrated from Canada, Tom Wellington the son of the mill owner. Jack is shy and socially a bit awkward, Tom self-assured and smooth-talking. But for all their differences, the two boys have much in common. They love fishing, sports, and all manner of youthful tomfoolery. Each has suffered the loss of a sibling, tragedies that have affected both families deeply. In the opening chapter a blizzard is approaching as Jack boards a train for the long trip to Boston. He has received a cryptic letter informing him that Tom is in a Boston jail. Despite a recent falling-out between the two, Jack still considers Tom his best friend, and he refuses to allow a snowstorm to prevent him from going to Tom's aid. Soon Jack will be plunged into a mystery that calls on all his courage and determination to solve, even as his friend's life hangs in the balance. To save his friend, Jack will need the assistance of Tom's sister, Anne, but that will require Jack and Anne to reconcile their fractured relationship. Does friendship have its limits? Can bonds of trust, once broken, be repaired? Can we learn from life's tragedies and move on, or must we carry them like lead weights on our hearts forever? In "Trolley Days" it seems it is the young who bear the heaviest of life's burdens and must marshal the strength to free themselves and their parents.
Spring - 1917. War is raging in Europe and America has just cast its lot against the German war machine. Back home, the nation is reeling with social strife: workers marching for their rights, immigrants demanding fair treatment, suffragettes clamoring for the vote. In Holyoke, Massachusetts, seventeen-year-old Jack Bernard has a new job at one of the city’s largest textile mills, hoping to save money for college. Meanwhile, his friend, Tom Wellington, appears to have taken control of his demons and set himself on a new course. Soon the lives of both young men, their families and friends, will be torn asunder by forces and events far beyond their control. The Dyeing Room, Robert T. McMaster’s second novel, is an absorbing blend of adventure, mystery, and romance populated with characters so life-like they seem to leap from the pages and materialize before our very eyes. Readers young and old will be captivated by this story from a century past, the world of our forebears, an era that, however distant, still speaks to us across the generations.
This was a detour worth taking . . . For as long as she can remember, Meilin Wu has had her life mapped out, and she's well down her chosen path--which had no warning signs about a tall, golden Brit who would bowl her over the night before her arranged marriage . . . Drew Robinson has nearly finished his formal education and is ready to face the world when he meets Meilin, an exquisite beauty with Chinese ancestry. He doesn't mind she's ten years older, and the fact she knows Mandarin only makes her that much more a perfect fit for his upcoming adventures in China. He just has to get her to dump her fiancé and convince her that a trip in China will only enhance her established design business. Easy for a guy who's known for seeing sunshine wherever he goes. Right?
The awe-inspiring story of explorer David Thompson, whose expeditions helped shape western North America In this true story of adventure, author Jack Nisbet re-creates the life and times of David Thompson—fur trader, explorer, surveyor, and mapmaker. From 1784 to 1812, Thompson explored western North America, and his field journals provide the earliest written accounts of the natural history and indigenous cultures of the what is now British Columbia, Alberta, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. Thompson was the first person to chart the entire route of the Columbia river, and his wilderness expeditions have become the stuff of legend. Jack Nisbet tracks the explorer across the content, interweaving his own observations with Thompson’s historical writings. The result is a fascinating story of two men discovering the Northwest territory almost two hundred years apart.
The circus was in town and they had a new clown. Tackey QJohn was dominating the center ring of the Barnum and Gates Interstellar Circus now touring the fringes of the Milky Way spiral arm. It was the opening of the Greatest Show in the Galaxy and some idiot was trying to ruin his walk on. QJohn had just walked into the spotlight in his show master's tailed jacket, multi-colored Afro, red nose, and ultra-tall top hat when another clown stepped up onto the ring row, pulled out a gun, and fired at Tacque Q. Fortunately Trixsey had seen the assassin, raced Pegasus in the air acrossed the ring, lassoed the killer clown from above, and spoiled his aim. QJohn felt a sting in his left biceps, but had enough sense to pulled the long barreled prop gun from his right-side clamp holster, aimed at the killer clown, and pulled the trigger. There was an massive explosion of smoke and sound as QJohn stumbled backwards across the ring and landed on his bottom. The crowd roared in laughter and applauded as the remaining clowns rushed in to the ring and into their acts. Above the laughter, the voice of a child ran out, "Look, Mama! He's bleeding.
Join USA Today bestselling author, Bec McMaster, on a thrilling ride through a steam-fuelled London in this three-book boxset. TO CATCH A ROGUE An impossible heist. A thief and a rogue. But will she steal his heart, instead? The Company of Rogues finally knows the identity of the mastermind behind a plot against the queen—but their enemy is still one step ahead of them. When he kidnaps one of theirs, the Rogues plan a daring rescue mission that will lead them into the heart of the bloodthirsty Crimson Court. It's a job for a master thief, and there's nothing Charlie Todd likes more than a challenge. To pull off the impossible, Charlie needs a crew, including the only thief who's ever been able to outfox him. Lark's spent years trying to forget her past, but the one thing she can't ignore is the way a single smile from Charlie still sets her heart on fire. When he proposes they work together again, it feels just like old times, but she has one rule: this is strictly business. DUKES ARE FOREVER A compromising situation forced him into marriage. But has his wife been working for the enemy all along? The Duke of Malloryn knows his nemesis has finally returned to enact his plans of revenge. Malloryn can trust no one, and when incriminating photographs surface—of an enemy agent stealing a kiss from his wife—he is forced to question just why Adele trapped him into marriage. Is she an innocent pawn caught up in a madman's games, or is she a double agent working against him? The only way to discover the truth is to seduce her himself... FROM LONDON, WITH LOVE With London finally at peace, there is only one threat remaining to the stability of the monarchy…. The queen is without an heir. Queen Alexandra is done with marriage, but as always, the Duke of Malloryn has a plan. With Malloryn insisting upon an heir for the realm, Alexandra reluctantly agrees to accept a husband. But who? Alexandra’s feelings for her dearest friend Sir Gideon have always been warm, but a stolen kiss pushed a friendship into dangerous waters. How can she explain that she has never known desire before? How can she stand to be in the same room as Gideon, without betraying her feelings? And how can she marry someone else? But there’s an assassin on the loose, and while she may currently be at odds with Sir Gideon, he’s the only man who can save both her wounded heart—and the future of the realm. Foreign princes and meddling dukes, bedamned. Download this sexy paranormal romance trio filled with explosive secrets, diabolical devices and breathtaking romance today!
In her lively and accessibly written book, Juliet McMaster examines Jane Austen’s acute and frequently uproarious juvenile works as important in their own right and for the ways they look forward to her novels. Exploring the early works both collectively and individually, McMaster shows how young Austen’s fictional world, peopled by guzzlers and unashamed self-seekers, operates by an ethic of energy rather than the sympathy that dominates the novels. A fully self-conscious artist, young Jane experimented freely with literary modes - the epistolary, the omniscient, the drama. Early on, she developed brilliantly pointed dialogue to match her characters. Literary parody impels her creativity, and McMaster’s sustained study of Love and Friendship shows the same intricate relation of the parody to the work it parodies that we later see with Northanger Abbey and the Gothic novel. As an illustrator herself, McMaster is especially attuned to the explicit and sometimes hilarious descriptions of bodies that preceded Austen’s famous reticence about physicality. Rather than focusing on the immaturities of the juvenilia, McMaster maps the gradual shifts in tone and emphasis that signpost Austen’s journey as a writer. She shows, for instance, how the shameless husband-hunting in The Three Sisters and the vigorous partisanship of The History of England lead on to Pride and Prejudice. Her book will appeal to Austen’s critics and to passionate general readers, as well as to scholars working in the fields of juvenilia, children’s literature, and childhood studies.
Welcome to the McMasterverse. Escape the ordinary with these six steamy first-in-series fantasy and paranormal romances, all contained in one amazing box set! From wicked fae princes to powerful dreki shifters, dangerous vampires, cursed alpha shifters, demons and sorcerers, there’s a McMaster hero to whet every fantasy romance reader’s appetite. If tales of fated mates, epic quests, fairy tales, forbidden romance, and enemies-to-lovers make you weak at the knees, then this box set is for you! Find the following in Flames and Fated Mates: PROMISE OF DARKNESS (Dark Court Rising #1) A fairy tale twist inspired by the Hades and Persephone myth. He was supposed to be a wicked prince. The enemy. But from the moment my mother was forced to gift me to him as part of a peace treaty, I knew he was meant to be mine.... When the Queen of Thorns sends her daughter, Iskvien, as war prize to an enemy prince, she puts a knife in Vi’s hand and tells her she could end the war between their two countries with one strike. But one look into this wicked fae prince’s eyes and Vi knows she’s no assassin. THIEF OF DREAMS (Court of Dreams #1) Twenty brides. One prince. Who will survive when the competition turns deadly? When Prince Keir of the Court of Dreams sends out a summons in search of a bride, the Wraith King sees a chance to steal the powerful Dragon's Heart. He sends his best thief, Zemira Az Ghul, to penetrate the court as one of the potential brides. Get in. Steal the relic. Don’t get chosen as his bride. Should be easy, right? HEART OF FIRE (Legends of the Storm #1) The old eddas speak of dreki—fabled creatures who haunt the depths of Iceland's volcanoes and steal away fair maidens. Prince Rurik intends to claim Freyja, but to do so he must take mortal form. It's the only time dreki are vulnerable, and with a dragon-hunter arriving on the shores of Iceland, he can barely afford the risk—but lonely Freyja, with her elf-cursed eyes and pragmatic soul, tempts him in ways he's never felt before. MISSION: IMPROPER (London Steampunk: The Blue Blood Conspiracy #1) He promised her vengeance. She threatened to steal his heart instead…. Caleb Byrnes works best alone. The cold and brooding blue blood is the best tracker the Guild of Nighthawks has, and he rules the vampiric craving within him with an iron hand. Nobody escapes him. Nobody gets the better of him. And nobody has ever come close to unleashing the hunger within him. Until now…. Ingrid Miller is the one who got away. The passionate and fiery verwulfen bounty hunter once worked a case with him—and left him tied to his bed. Naked. When they’re partnered together on a new case, Byrnes finally sees his chance to have his revenge. He will have her in his bed and he will ruin her with his kisses, and vengeance will be so, so sweet. SHADOWBOUND (Dark Arts #1) When a powerful relic goes missing from a secret society, Ianthe Martin is charged with finding it at all costs. She needs help, but all clues point to someone on the inside being the thief. The only sorcerer she knows that can't possibly be involved is the very man she saw locked in Bedlam a year ago... When the seductive Miss Martin appears in his cell, Lord Rathbourne fears he's finally lost his mind. The devilish sorceress played a hand in his incarceration, and now she comes asking for help? Perhaps she should begin by begging for mercy... NOBODY’S HERO (Burned Lands #1) Cursed alpha shifter, Lucius Wade, lives only for revenge. But when he kidnaps Riley in order to lure an old friend into a trap, suddenly the tables are turned. Riley has no intentions of being bait, and she tempts him in ways he hasn't felt for a long time. He's never played the hero, but suddenly a part of him wants to…. One click now to dive into six seductive worlds and escape the ordinary!
The Aloysius Chronicles is a collection of 3 novels and 3 short stories of the adventures of the Royal wishing Pig of Northumber/Bothamly. Aloysius lives in a universe where magic works; his kingdom parallels Scotland and England. Aloysius is a 15th Century forest pig gifted with the ability to speak and to grant wishes, neither of which he wants, but must use to keep the bacon out of the fire, his personal. Book 1- Wishing Pig relates his efforts to escape from people who demand his wishes. He flees a greedy king, travels the world, and eventually returns to rescue his kingdom from invasion. Trying to go home, he finds that a badger has taken his den and decides that a job in the palace might be acceptable. Book 2 ? Power Pig. Aloysius is companion to Ritchie, the 9 yr, old heir to the throne, a royal wishing resource, and defender of the kingdom. The prince is kidnapped, Aloysius goes to rescue him, and the kingdom is invaded from within. The Pig and Prince flee seeking aid to save the kingdom. Aloysius learns the flavors of magic and understands that an enemy magician is blocking his magic. They go in search of a third from of magic to overcome the opposition. In a magic duel at the end all magic is lost. Book 3 - Sir Pig. Aloysius, Ritchie, and Meg are seeking allies to build a coalition army to re-invade and restore the kingdom to the King. They fight off intrigue and assassination attempts, while a star-crossed romance complicates matters. Eventually they successful save the kingdom and Ritchie comes to the throne.
Although they only flew for twelve seconds, Wilbur and Orville Wright accomplished what man had only dreamed of for centuries. On December 17th, 1903, at Kitty Hawk the brothers became the first to fly a powered airplane. What they accomplished changed the world forever.
McMaster has made an extensive identification and detailed study of the many kinds of allusions to be found in The Newcomes. There are allusions to classical, foreign-language, and English literature, as well as to the Bible, fables, theatre, opera, popular songs, nursery rhymes, newspapers, art, English and French history, and the topography of London. These allusions saturate the text of The Newcomes and appeal to several different readerships. McMaster specifies what Thackeray's contemporaries would have recognized and responded to and suggests interactions between the text and its readers. The cultural density of The Newcomes is identified by McMaster as textual, intertextual, and, to a degree, parodic. He shows that Thackeray exploited the dynamics of allusion -- through doubleness and ironic juxtaposition -- to achieve several ends. Not only does Thackeray present an archetypal and cyclical vision of life, he questions the status and value of diverse fictions and blurs the traditional distinctions between fiction and history, originality and convention, and nature and artifice. In his account of allusion, McMaster has used a simple and straightforward style, avoiding unnecessary jargon and cumbersome definitions. Thackeray's Cultural Frame of Reference reveals a Thackeray particularly amenable to a post-modern, and especially to an intertextual, approach to literature.
Rosalind, going by the name of Mercury, leads a humanist movement in Victorian London, and risks her life when she goes undercover as a secretary for Sir Jasper Lynch, the leaer of the Nighthawks and the sworn enemy of Mercury.
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