Returning to England many years after a murder had taken away her adoptive family, Carmel March searches her memory for the truth behind her past and wonders about the role played by her childhood friend, Lucian.

West Virginia teens Emma and Brody, are on a mission to help their neighbor, Mr. M, find new samples of his famed rock and mineral collection that were destroyed in a vicious robbery. Little did they know that collecting the rare samples would sending them traveling through time in a magical crystal cave. Determined to find the perfect Black Opal, Emma and Brody with the help of Mr. M’s granddaughter Max, travel to Lightning Ridge, Australia in 1925. As they navigate a herd of stampeding kangaroo, goat cart races, and flying boomerangs, the kids meet Rose, a young girl whose mysterious secret will rock their world forever. When their attempts to collect the perfect opal anger the locals, the kids flee and accidentally land over 2000 years in the future in South Carolina. Can the kids figure out how to return to their own state and time? Will Rose’s secret stop them from helping Mr. M? Will Max finally figure out who destroyed her Grandfather’s prized rock and mineral collection and why? The answers are all inside but may leave you with a new mystery to solve. Black’s Opal is the third book in the middle-grade adventure/sci-fi series Crystal Cave Adventures. If you like a little excitement thrown in with your science, then you'll love Tracy Diane's fast-paced and exciting series.

Valerio Marchioni Six years ago, I got the job I never wanted—being the head of the Italian Mafia. There’s no room to take my position lightly. I do whatever is required of me, according to the rules passed down from my father, including marrying someone I’m not in love with. I hold respect for her as the mother of my children and a former member of another Italian family. It only takes one night for us to be split apart forever. One vulnerable moment when I leave for a business trip gives someone the chance to attack my family. Now my pregnant wife is gone without a trace to be found. I will find who’s responsible and make sure their blood runs through the streets of New York City. First, I have to send all the women I find in the process, home. Except for her, the woman with nowhere to go. ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍ Her It only takes one night for me to be taken. I should’ve been safer than anyone. Yet I end up on the circuit, bounced around from place to place. It’s only on the day I decide to escape that I’m rescued by him, Valerio Marchioni. A man I should hate with every fiber in me. But then I get to know him. I see him for who he really is. And by then, it’s too late. I can never leave, not even if I wanted to. If he discovers who I really am, I’ll be dead before the men who took his wife.

"Well, here I am, Lorry! Now tell me what on earth is the meaning of your mysterious message! Why, man, how serious you look! What's up? Anything wrong?" Thus spoke, or rather shouted, Ralph Playfair, a tall, muscular youth, with a bright, good-looking face, and merry eyes, as he came bursting in upon his chum. Even while speaking his eager eyes roved about scrutinising everything around, as if he thought he might gather some notion of what was "up" by scanning the furniture. The one addressed as Lorry was also tall and athletic-looking, with a handsome face and a splendid figure. The two young fellows had been at school together, where they had left behind them "records" in athletics, by the performance of feats which were likely to live as traditions in the school so long as it remained in existence.