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BOOK EXCERPT: I walked quickly to the hotel. It was just two blocks away, but by the time I got there, I was struggling to catch my breath. Like Teo on that last day, the small voice inside whispered, gasping for air at the top of the loft ladder. In the apartment, Nonna was packing, a handwritten list on the bed beside her valise. She’d brought only a few things to Palermo—a blouse, a pair of bloomers and stockings, her prayer book and rosary. Too few items, I thought, to wa

BOOK EXCERPT Chapter 2 - Australia, 1939 - 1941 General Nursing and Obstetrics qualifications clutched firmly in gloved hand, Annie waited for Iris and Verna on Oxford Street, Paddington, so they could walk along to Victoria Barracks together. She smoothed down her waisted floral dress, then touched her hat. Not often intimidated, Annie felt a flutter of nerves. What had seemed an easy decision did not feel so comfortable now. “G’day.” Startled from her doubts, Annie turned a

BOOK EXCERPT April 1471: Dawn on Easter Day, Barnet Heath. Eighteen-year-old Richard of Gloucester, brother of Edward IV, takes confession and prepares for his first taste of battle. They wake, those who have dared sleep, to a grey and muffled world. Overnight, heavy mist has fallen, and the air of early dawn is like a breath of winter. Beneath his coif, Richard’s hair sticks to his skull like goose grease, his cheeks sore and clammy. Worse is the effect of the sodden grass;

Book Blurb: In the tradition of Wilbur Smith and Patrick O’Brian —a sweeping tale of men driven by empire and undone by conscience. A powerful novel of greed, loyalty, and survival in the brutal world of the seventeenth-century Dutch slave trade. West Africa, 1687. On the lawless edge of the Dutch colonial empire, the West India Company tightens its grip on the coast, its ships filled with gunpowder, muskets—and ambition. Skipper Aldemar Burghoutsz , a battle-hardened seaman

Book Blurb: A game that spread communism. A secret that spans generations. About the Book: A Barnes & Noble Top eBook & NOOK Indie Favorite In the early 1950s, ping pong wasn't just a pastime - it was propaganda. A quiet weapon in the battle for influence, power, and ideology. Alternating between the pivotal 1971 Ping-Pong Diplomacy - where a simple game of table tennis thawed the icy relations between the U.S. and China during the Cold War - and the present-day struggles of

Book Blurb: "If you love Michael Crichton, James Rollins, or Preston & Child, you'll dig Buzan." - Gin Coleman, author of Desert Bold Chenoa Winterhawk is a battle-hardened member of Oregon's elite U.S. Army Indian Scouts, sworn to protect travelers across treacherous mountain terrain and dark forests whispering of ancient terrors. As the daughter of legendary Civil War hero Chief Jolon Winterhawk, Chenoa is also a warrior bound by duty, struggling with injustices brought upo

Book Blurb: A poet haunted by grief. A lover marked by blood. A sister silenced behind asylum walls. In the decadent heart of fin de siècle Paris, Averill Charron makes a devil's bargain. To rescue his sister—locked away by their father—hejoins forces with the last man he should trust, Blaise Dancier, the crime lord who once ordered his death. No longer enemies. Now they are lovers. Together they descend into the underworld, searching cabarets and crypts, brothels and back al

Book Blurb: The world was catching its breath from a war that had redrawn borders and left too many empty chairs at too many tables. It was the 1950's. Girls donned poodle skirts; boys sported crew cuts. People sought comfort in familiar routines, traditional roles, and black-and-white images from a box called television. Not Cate Clark. Restless and searching for something more, Cate leaves behind an Ireland still scarred from its struggle for independence and steps into the

Book Blurb: A Love Affair Inspiring the World's Most Unforgettable Operas Experience the intense, lifelong love affair between Giuseppe Verdi and Giuseppina Strepponi, the brilliant and seductive soprano who shaped his legacy. As his muse, lover, and wife, Strepponi was the inspiration behind Verdi's most iconic works, including La Traviata and Aida. Her influence was pivotal, as she became the architect of his creative triumphs and the heart of his operatic genius. Set again

BOOK EXCERPT: Frankfurt November 1938 Gustav carefully navigated the streets to the shop. It was normally a five-minute walk, but broken glass was everywhere and Gustav needed to be careful. To complicate matters, Nazi brownshirts were still in the streets, looking to inflict more damage. Everywhere Gustav looked, there were broken windows and defaced storefronts. They lived in the East End of Frankfurt – often called the Jewish section – and the hoodlums knew where to focus

Book Blurb: London Oxford was prepared to do whatever it took to get to the promised land, but can he get his family safely across the border? Young Abner Oxford has kept something of his mother's. Something else needs what he has. It's patient, can be quite disarming, and has a monstrous, fierce appetite. Abner and his family, along with a caravan of sleighs, are moving north. The frigid cold and the blinding white have made the adults slow, weary, and numb. Very few questio

BOOK EXCERPT: Alex found himself in a small formal room off the main portego, talking to a group of masked women, all seemingly competing for his attention and laughing eagerly at his every word although he said very little. They pressed upon him endless information regarding the delights of Venice, the best shops, the best coffee places, and of course more invitations to visit their own Palazzos and their upcoming soirees as part of the Season’s festivities. Eager to distrac

Book Blurb: In the founding of Rome, Romulus was guided by the gods and his visions. Centuries later, Augustus, Rome's first emperor, calls upon those same forces to navigate civil war, assassination attempts, and his own inner demons. But when he crosses paths with Kamala, an oracle from India, their unexpected bond alters the course of history. Mask of Romulus is a tale of love and destiny, of warriors and rulers, battling not just for the empire's future, but for their ve

Book Blurb: "Deus Lo Vult!" Gilles is the natural son of the Earl Waltheof, executed by William the Conqueror for supposed treachery. Raised in Normandy by Queen Matilda of England, Gilles is a young servant of Robert, Duke of Normandy, when the first call for a Holy War against the infidel and for the liberation of Jerusalem is raised in Christendom. Along with thousands of others, inspired by a variety of motives, intense piety mixed with a sense of adventure and the prospe

BOOK EXCERPT Rome, September 1644 As soon as Mia opened the door Donna Olimpia came straight in, looking side to side as if to check no-one could see her. Mia extended a hand in greeting. ‘This way, honoured Signora.’ ‘What’s that smell?’ ‘Lavender, Signora. For making the linen smell sweet.’ She indicated the stairs and the woman went ahead of her, heavy feet and thick ankles under her richly embroidered black skirts. At the top Mia pointed to the door off the piano nobile

BOOK EXCERPT: Suzanne and Adrian accepted the contessa’s invitation to dinner for the first week in January. She said there were people she wanted them to meet. Adrian speculated they were people of influence who might be able to help him locate Simon. He looked forward to the dinner. Paul met them in the lobby and rode them up to the contessa’s apartment. When they got off the elevator, Paul took their coats and led them into the parlor. A group of six surrounded the contess

BOOK EXCERPT While she hovered, still in the doorway, bright white light illuminated mountain, cloud and town. Jagged sheets of lightning cast their glow through the doorway, through the high window, through even the gaps beneath eaves and between bricks, invading the furthest reaches of the space before her. Bringing each figure into startling clarity. The light drew both men’s gazes towards the doorway. Her husband saw her first; his eyes widened. His lips formed words. She

Book Blurb: Moving among generations of a German-Jewish-American family, "Red Anemones" is a poignant exploration of the intricate bonds, untold secrets, and unspoken legacies our ancestors bestow upon us. Natalie Barlow's journey of self-discovery begins when her estranged mother's sudden death releases a storm of unrevealed family secrets reaching back to pre-WWI Germany. As Natalie navigates the complexities of her newly discovered Jewish identity and her ancestral heritag