Who is the Fool and what does he mean to us? Pre-1900 scholars thought him a Renaissance fashion, a continental import of note in the British Isles only between 1486 and the 1630s, per his appearances in Shakespeare's plays. However, as Sandra Billington shows in this pioneering study, the Fool has been with us from medieval times and has worn many guises: village idiot and sophisticated comedian, embodiment of Satan and God's own jester. He has managed, as Billington notes, 'to inspire or infect our thinking for at least eight hundred years'.
From the beloved Sandra Brown, whose "storytelling gift [is] surprisingly rare" (Toronto Sun), comes this New York Times bestselling novel, an exquisitely sensual tale of a young woman's sudden, irresistible affair with a stranger—a man whose secret could shatter her life.... 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, his only explanation a silent refusal to share the secrets of his heart. Alicia knows she can't give Pierce up without a fight. But how can she convince him that love is a risk worth taking?
A beautiful fashion buyer is still in love with someone from her past -- and now, she must choose between him and the man she's planning to marry. Kathleen, a smart and sophisticated woman, is ready to marry the man of her dreams -- but she's in love with someone else. Erik is a talented videographer who finds women easy to love but doesn't want to settle down. And Seth, the wealthy heir to a department store fortune, could give Kathleen everything she wants . . . except the one thing that would make her happy. All three of them are about to get caught up in a web of lies so fragile that one fateful encounter could tear it apart -- and force Kathleen to choose between her family and the needs of her own heart.
Hurt one too many times in the past, Sloan Fairchild isn't interested in love. Instead, she pours all her energy into running her elegant bed-and-breakfast inn. But when her best friend asks her to house her fiance 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. Sloan tries to ignore the feelings this handsome man stirs in her...tries to stop herself from dreaming dreams that can never be. Yet when Carter reveals his own desire, Sloan will find herself facing a heart-wrenching decision: to love for the moment, to walk away forever, or to fight to have it all.
When she hears that her younger brother Danny has committed suicide, Sayre Lynch relents from her vow never to return to Destiny, the small Louisiana town in which she grew up. She plans to leave immediately after the funeral, but instead soon finds herself drawn into the web cast by Huff Hoyle, her controlling and tyrannical father, the man who owns the town's sole industry, an iron foundry, and in effect runs the lives of everyone who lives there. As she feared, Sayre learns that nothing has changed. Her father and older brother, Chris, are as devious as ever, and now they have a new partner-in-crime, a canny and disarming lawyer named Beck Merchant, who appears to be their equal in corruption. Soon, Sayre is thrown in closer contact with Beck and becomes convinced that something more sinister is at play than her father's usual need to dominate people and events. As she sets out to learn just what did happen to Danny, she comes to realize that there are many secrets in Destiny -- secrets that hide decades of pain and anger, and that threaten at any moment to erupt and destroy not only her father and brother, but perhaps Sayre herself. Underneath the rigid control that the Hoyles exert over the town, trouble is brewing. Old hatreds foster plans for revenge, past crimes resurface, and a maverick deputy sheriff determines that Danny Hoyle's death was not suicide, but murder. As tensions mount, threatening to ignite a powder keg of long-held hostility, Sayre finds herself inextricably drawn into a struggle with striking laborers, her unscrupulous father, and her own emotions over the love/hate relationship that is growing with Beck, a man apparently with his own agenda, and mysteries of his own. As she has shown in the dozens of bestselling novels in which she has combined hard-edged suspense with intense emotion, Sandra Brown is a master storyteller, and in her new novel she is at her very best.
From the heat of an Acapulco night... Cyn McCall knew she could always count on her late husband's friend and business partner, Worth Lansing. He could make her laugh and forget her problems. She could tease him about his many romantic entanglements. The last thing Cyn expected was to find herself longing for a man who could never settle down.
Of the lot, this man was still her best bet. He not only looked the most inebriated, but the most disreputable – lean and hungry and totally without principle. Once he was sober, he would no doubt be easy to buy. “Sister” Kerry Bishop got more than she bargained for when she entered the seedy bar seeking the services of a man, more particularly a mercenary. Linc O’Neal wasn’t the soldier of fortune Kerry mistook him for...but he proved to be just as dangerous and twice as unscrupulous. Linc agrees to help Kerry rescue a group of children from a ruthless dictator, but his motivation is far from noble. If they survive what appears to be a suicide mission, he plans to take Kerry’s promised fifty thousand dollars—in addition to her body—which she provocatively advertised in order to trick him, then withheld. With innocent lives at stake, malevolence and distrust all around, and forbidden desire simmering between them, the steamy atmosphere surrounding Kerry and Linc has little to do with the jungle they must penetrate. Struggling against all odds to stay alive, they discover that their real challenge is to fight the devil within.
All of my life, I have heard the saying that people aren't who they pretend to be. I have found that in the rhelm of love, lust, lies and free will, we can all find our place. This is Maria's story and she finds her place in this rhelm and wants to rise above it. Can she find what she's looking for? Will she learn to love and trust?
“...his eyes met hers in the mirror. They were dark and smoldering, like the purest of blue flame. And in her own eyes was the glassy sheen of desire.” Arden Gentry went to the lush island of Maui for the specific purpose of ingratiating herself into Drew McCasslin’s world. The dashing widower, who had bitterly grieved the death of his wife, is ready to tackle life again and believes that his meeting with Arden is fortunate happenstance. He and his young son, Matt, are drawn to Arden’s warmth and tenderness, and both open their wounded hearts to her. But even as the passion between Drew and Arden intensifies and points toward love, she’s harboring the secret of their inextricable bond...which could also rip them apart.
FREE PREVIEW OF THE FIRST 5 CHAPTERS From #1 New York Times bestselling author Sandra Brown comes a gripping story of family ties and forbidden attraction. A Texas Ranger, relegated to deskwork due to past recklessness, petitions to regain custody of his five-year-old daughter, and his case is assigned to a family court judge who is as attractive as she is ambitious. When a masked gunman barges in during the custody hearing with his sights on the judge, the Ranger reacts instinctually and goes after him. But authorities apprehend the wrong man, and the real gunman remains unknown, at large, and a threat. Will this take-charge lawman jeopardize his chances of custody by going after the would-be assassin? And will this unlikely pair be able to deny the forbidden attraction building between them?
Darkly handsome with an arrogant edge, architectural engineer Scout Ritland is the kind of American man who spells trouble. Chantal duPont should know, for she has experienced the best and worst of the country and its people—including one who broke her heart. Yet here she is, home on sultry Parrish Island, putting herself in the way of another bold Yankee. This time, however, it’s for a good cause: Scout is the one man who can help her village, and she’s not about to let him get the better of her—no matter how much she may want to. Fresh from completing his work on the island’s new luxury resort, Scout’s ready for a little recreation—though being kidnapped and shot isn’t on his agenda. But when he catches sight of an exotic beauty with electric blue eyes, events quickly spin out of control. Scout should be outraged to find himself held captive, but an abductor as alluring as Chantal makes it hard to stay angry. Soon Scout is swept up by Chantal’s need to help her people—and the role he is to play in her ambitious plan. With each passing day, the work and the woman present him with challenges he could never find at home. But as the project progresses, intrigue and adventure burn hotter than the island’s volcano—and two people who have met their match in each other face a future that could tear them apart....
In a vibrant New Mexico art community, a career-driven young teacher is irresistibly drawn to a sexy and mysterious TV star with a dark past. Lauri is a dedicated young teacher for the deaf. Her past conceals a wound still unhealed, her present is a facade, and she uses her career to hide her loneliness. Drake, daytime TV's most popular actor, has two secrets -- the dead wife he can't forget and his daughter Jennifer, a hearing-impaired child who may become a pawn between the man and the woman she needs most. Now, in a chic New Mexico arts community, the three are given a chance to be a family . . . but each of them must find a voice to express the deepest fears and greatest needs of the heart.
Opposites attract when a nude art model sets out to seduce a conservative minister who disapproves of her profession but can't seem to resist her. Renowned artist's model Shay Morrison thinks nothing of exposing her body to inspire great works of art. But hidden inside her, where no one can see, is the pain of a failed marriage. Then, while visiting a weekend cabin, she accidentally walks in on Ian Douglas as he steps out of the shower. Every gorgeous bit of him is immediately apparent -- as is his disapproval of Shay. What isn't so obvious is his profession: Ian is a minister in a straitlaced community. Challenged and hurt, Shay decides to seduce him. But waiting for her are the traps of her own weaknesses and the potent force of attraction . . . as a woman with a troubled past tries to understand a man different from anyone she has known before, and new feelings rise from her heart
Damn her. His body was still on fire. Damn her, why had she responded that way? So honestly. With no coyness. No affectation. Her mouth had been so receptive. Her kisses so generous. Her breasts so soft... Only two survive the small plane crash in the Canadian wilderness miles from civilization: Rusty Carlson, a real estate agent from Beverly Hills, who has never faced anything more perilous than L.A.’s rush hour traffic; and Cooper Landry, an embittered Vietnam veteran, who has endured the horrors of warfare and a POW camp. Rusty wouldn’t have believed herself capable of dragging her unconscious fellow passenger from the wreckage, but that was only the first challenge confronting her. The man himself is as hostile and unforgiving as the mountainous terrain in which they’re stranded. If they had a choice, they would go their separate ways. But they don’t. If they want to live, they must stay together. Teamed against the harsh elements, injury, and a pair of conniving cutthroats, Rusty and Cooper must rely on each other in order to survive. In a one room cabin they find shelter. . .but, as winter closes in, they have no protection against the sexual attraction that becomes the real test of their fortitude. Within those four rough walls, Rusty discovers that Cooper’s brusqueness arises from immeasurable heartache, and, to Cooper’s dismay, his credo of No romance, no love, no thanks becomes his desperate chant to ward against Rusty’s allure.
A young mother stranded on a Texas highway is rescued by a handsome hero in a pickup truck . . . and now, she must face the fears of the past or risk losing the greatest love she's ever known. Leigh is terrifyingly alone on a Texas road about to deliver her first child when a rugged stranger in a pickup truck stops to help her. Eight months ago, she lost her husband when he was tragically killed on the job. This fateful meeting on a lonesome highway has brought a new man into her life . . . but he's a man with secrets and the power to break her heart again. Chad is in a dangerous business and hides the mysteries of his past. He is determined to make Leigh care for him, but there are no guarantees that his love can protect her from disaster. Together, this young mother and mysterious stranger will discover the depths of their love . . . and face their worst fears.
Ria Lavender is the last woman in the world to be swept away by a smooth line and a seductive smile. Talented and sophisticated, she's just beginning to savor the fruits of her success in a prestigious architectural firm when she meets a man who will change everything. Mayor-Elect Taylor MacKensie is charming and charismatic. Still, Ria never imagines that she'll leave a Christmas party with him, a man she barely knows, or that she'll give in to desire. But eight weeks later, Ria knows she's carrying Taylor's child. Desperate to spare her baby the pain of illegitimacy, Ria decides to somehow persuade Taylor to agree to a temporary marriage. At first he meets Ria's news with anger and disbelief. But within hours, Taylor cools and insists they marry immediately. Living together, Ria sees a tenderness she never expected, and feels a passion she can't control. But afraid that Taylor's motives have more to do with protecting his career than his feelings for her, Ria will try to keep her distance...until tragedy strikes and teaches them both a lesson in miracles-and love" -- Front and back jacket flaps.
Give up while you’re ahead, ol’ boy. She doesn’t want you. Then he remembered the passion of her kiss, the taste of her mouth, the scent of her hair, the feel of her skin beneath his hands, and he knew he wasn’t about to give up. While serving his country, Trevor Rule experienced the wrenching heartache of losing his best friend in a brutal attack. His grief is coupled with guilt when he falls in love with that friend’s wife by reading letters she’d written to her husband. Kyla gave birth the same day she learned that her husband had been killed in a terrorist assault on Marine barracks. That was almost two years ago. Now, Kyla is struggling to rear her son alone...and wrestling with the longing generated by the handsome stranger who fortuitously enters their lives. Except Trevor’s entrance into Kyla’s life isn’t accidental. He has sought her out not only because he feels he owes her and her child a debt he can never repay, but also because he remembers the impassioned words she wrote to her husband. Which Trevor took to heart. Will her growing love be strong enough to forgive his deception?
In more than fifty New York Times bestselling novels, Sandra Brown has captivated her millions of readers with stories of charismatic love and tantalizing twists of fate. In this classic tale, a woman is reunited with the man she has loved for years—and must reveal the secret that will jeopardize her chance for happiness at last. He arrived out of the blue—a flesh-and-blood phantom from the past in a sports car as sleek and sexy as Law Kincaid himself. The world-famous astronaut was as devastatingly attractive as the first time Marnie Hibbs had laid eyes on him, seventeen years before. But she well knew the perils of falling for a ladies’ man like Law. And this time she had someone besides herself to protect. Law is determined to discover who is sending him anonymous letters claiming he’d fathered a son he knows nothing about. Showing up at the Hibbs’s return address from the letters seemed like a step in the right direction. Marnie swears she isn’t the guilty party, but when Law meets her son, it’s like a one-two punch to his solar plexus. The boy is nearly the spitting image of Law. Law can’t remember sleeping with Marnie—then again, he can’t remember much about his crazy past. But there’s more to it than that: Marnie claims the boy isn’t biologically hers. As the tension between them becomes unbearable and the attraction undeniable, Marnie is forced to reveal a long-held secret...one that might cause her to lose both the boy she loves more than anyone—and the man she desires more than anything.
LED ASTRAY And once he had kissed her, felt the responding warmth of her body beneath his hands, there had been no turning back. What he had done had been unforgivable. But what he was going to do was almost as bad. Cage and Hal Hendren are as unalike as two brothers can be. Preacher’s kids, Hal has taken the righteous path, while Cage is the unrepentant black sheep of the family. The only thing they have in common is their love for the same woman – Jenny Fletcher. Jenny loves Hal for his commitment to his calling, but deep in her heart of hearts she wishes his desire for her burned as hotly. Only on the eve of his departure for a dangerous mission trip to Central America, when he comes to her bed in darkness and secret, does he take her with unexpected passion. When tragedy strikes and Hal is lost to her, it’s that night that Jenny cherishes, that Hal she misses. She yearns for that lover whose unbridled sensuality more resembled. . . Cage. For Jenny, Cage is willing to give up his wild ways. But to get on the straight and narrow, he must sin again.
In this explosive New York Times bestselling thriller, a New York City-based book editor travels to a Southern island to meet a mysterious author -- but she's about to uncover a shocking truth about a carefully concealed crime. Maris Matherly-Reed is a renowned New York book editor, the daughter of a publisher and the wife of a bestselling author. It's rare for an unsolicited manuscript to pique her interest, but a new submission with blockbuster potential inspires her to search for the book's elusive author. On an obscure island off the Georgia coast, amidst the ruins of an eerie cotton plantation, Maris finds Parker Evans, a writer determined to conceal his identity as well as his past. Maris is riveted by his tale of two friends who charter a boat with a young woman for a night of revelry . . . an excursion from which only one person returns. Working with Parker chapter by chapter, Maris becomes increasingly convinced that his story is based on real-life events. Disturbed by this realization -- and her growing attraction to Parker -- she searches for clues relating to a crime that was committed long ago. When someone close to Maris suddenly dies, an evil presence looms even closer: a man who will use anything -- and anyone -- to get what he wants . . .
I met a man, a wonderful man. He kissed me, touched me like no other man ever has. I think I’ve fallen in love. What am I going to do about it? That’s the dilemma confronting Keely Preston upon meeting dashing Congressman Dax Devereaux. The attraction between them was like a lightning strike – hot and unexpected. But also terribly inconvenient. Keely is in Washington D.C. to appeal to a congressional committee on behalf of families of soldiers Missing In Action. Serving on that committee is Dax. Both are under close scrutiny. What has sparked between them is difficult to keep secret. After twelve years of living in limbo, married but alone, Keely is reawakened to desire by Dax’s passion. But he also touches her heart, where she has preserved the sweet memory of her husband. One love represents her past; another her future. Will clinging to one mean having to sacrifice the other?
Ella Barron runs her Texas boarding house with the efficiency of a ship's captain and the grace of a gentlewoman. She cares for her ten-year-old son, Solly, a sweet but challenging child whose busy behavior and failure to speak elicits undesired advice from others in town. Ella's plate is full from sunup to sundown. But when a room in her boarding house opens up and the respected town doctor, Dr. Kincaid, brings Ella a new boarder--the handsome and gallant Mr. David Rainwater--Ella is immediately resistant to opening up her home to this mysterious stranger.
When a determined doctor meets the rebellious heir to a Texas oil dynasty, sparks fly . . . but the flames of passion blazing between them could destroy an empire. No one knows why Dr. Lara Mallory opened up her medical practice in the rowdy Texas town controlled by Tackett Oil. But everyone remembers her role in the well-publicized scandal that caused the downfall of White House hopeful Senator Clark Tackett. Now the iron-fisted matriarch of Tackett Oil intends to use her money and power to drive Lara out of town . . . especially when Lara meets Key, the hell-raising -- and handsome -- youngest Tackett son. Following a cataclysmic meeting, this determined doctor and brash, daring pilot find themselves hurtling on a dangerous quest for the one secret that can destroy the Tackett empire -- and anyone who dares to challenge its power. But Lara decides to find the truth behind the corruption in town, even if it costs her everything.
A woman searching for her long-lost brother teams up with a government agent to track him down, but they're about to discover shocking lies . . . and an undeniable chemistry that tempts them both. Erin: After years of searching for the brother she's never known, Erin O'Shea has finally found his San Francisco address. She stands on the doorstep, unaware that she's about to experience a shocking drama of family lies -- and meet an intriguing, infuriating man who will change her life. Lance: He's a G-man for the government's toughest cases -- like the big-money scam involving Erin's long-lost brother. But although Lance is immediately attracted to her, he could never predict that his feelings will drive him to break every rule in the book -- and put his career and even Erin's future on the line.
2-in-1 reissue from Sandra Brown: 'The Devil You Know' and 'The Thrill Of Victory'. In a terrifying race to save nine children, Kerry Bishop prepared for the fight of her life. But she wasn't prepared for a passion almost as dangerous as the mission she had undertaken. At first, Linc O'Neil appeared to be exactly the kind of man Kerry needed: strong, ruthless and definitely too drunk to care about helping her steal a truck to get past the guards. Then she discovered her mistake. Linc was not a hardened mercenary; the heavy gear he carried was not guns but cameras. She had hijacked a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist. Now he was their last hope. Dependent on a stranger, Kerry refused to let unexpected desire complicate their mission. Survival was all they could think about. But if they succeeded, what then? Could Kerry tell him the truth: that she was no more a woman sworn to chastity than she was immune to the powerful effect he had on her? That she desired him more and more? If freedom came, would they be free to love?
After the death of her wealthy husband, a young widow must settle the estate with his son -- the same man who once broke her heart. Caroline Dawson survived the town gossips who whispered behind her back. She survived the slow death of her husband, Roscoe Lancaster, the richest man in the county and her senior by three decades. But she feared she might not survive Rink Lancaster, her husband's son. Years before she married, when she and Rink were teens, he introduced Caroline to her first tremulous taste of love -- and then broke her heart. Now he's back. Rink says he wants to settle his father's estate, but his storm of emotions is undeniable and more dangerous than ever -- and what he really wants is to settle the score with Caroline.
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