The year is 1982. Duran Duran tops the charts, the internet isn't a thing yet, and young Hilary Baxter is employed as an au pair halfway around the world. Her charge Hasiba happens to be a beautiful, exotic woman nearly her own age, and heir to the throne of her tiny island nation. Hilary's only job is to keep her out of trouble. After some time on the local party circuit, Hilary discovers keeping Hasiba out of trouble may not be as easy as it first seemed. To make matters worse, Hilary finds herself falling in love with her charge, while all Hasiba seems to be interested is flirting with the eligible bachelors on the island. Things come to a head one night when Hasiba's partying takes her too far. Hilary steps in with her own special set of rules -- and punishments -- to correct a situation that's gotten out of hand. But will Hasiba accept Hilary's new, sterner stance? How will an heir to the throne take to being disciplined? And will Hilary's feelings for Hasiba allow her to do what needs to be done?

All six books in Davina Lee's best-selling series, Miss Baxter's Girls. Hilary Baxter is a retired dominatrix who runs a boarding house for young women. Equal parts loving mother and strict disciplinarian, her hope is to help each of her boarders live up to her full potential. Contains the stories: Book 1: Julie the Pianist: When new boarder Julie falls for Miss Baxter’s sexy assistant, Anise, it’s lust at first sight. And when Anise’s shirt rides up, exposing her bruises, Julie enters another world where she learns that not everything that hurts is necessarily bad. Book 2: Anise the Snowboarder: When her first boarder, Anise, turns out to be a bit of a handful, Miss Baxter finds herself falling back on old techniques to keep Anise on the straight and narrow. The two mix like oil and water. Harsh words are spoken, apologies are made, and a new special therapy regime is agreed upon. Book 3: Chef Margo: Her new chef, Margo, quickly develo...iss Baxter pairs Moona with Jessica, another of her boarders. It’s lust at first sight, and things get even hotter as Moona confesses her alien abduction fantasy, in this tender and kinky story that will leave you breathless. Book 5: Hilary the Au Pair: The year is 1982. Young Hilary Baxter is an au pair in a far away land, looking after Hasiba, an exotic and attractive woman, nearly her own age. It’s an easy assignment, until Hasiba proves to be a handful. Hilary proposes a strict system of rules and punishments to correct the situation, but will Hasiba agree to Hilary’s terms? And will Hilary’s growing feelings for Hasiba spoil the dynamic? Book 6: Hasiba the Lost Love: When the mother of one of her boarders comes to town for a visit, Miss Baxter seems not quite her usual self. Picking up on the dynamic, two of her boarders decide to put the situation right. A little late night eves dropping, with a swat and a moan, lets them know they’ve done their job.

Adrian Mole's first love, Pandora, has left him; a neighbor, Mr. Lucas, appears to be seducing his mother (and what does that mean for his father?); the BBC refuses to publish his poetry; and his dog swallowed the tree off the Christmas cake. "Why" indeed.

Secrets, betrayal and shocking revelations await in Sweden’s stunning holiday islands . . . The Hidden Beach is the addictive page-turner by bestselling author, Karen Swan. Two’s a love story. Three’s a crowd. In Stockholm’s oldest quarter, Bell Everhurst loves her job working as a nanny for the rich and charming Hanna and Max Mogert, caring for their three children. But one morning, everything changes. A woman from a clinic Bell has never heard of asks her to pass on the message that Hanna’s husband is awake. But the man isn’t her husband Max. As the truth about Hanna’s past is revealed, the consequences are devastating. As the family heads off to spend their summer on Sweden’s idyllic islands, will Bell be caught in the crossfire? ‘Deliciously glamorous, irresistibly romantic!’ - Hello! Enjoy more of Karen Swan's captivating seasonal novels: The Greek Escape and The Rome Affair.

The Japanese believe that until the age of three, children, whether Japanese or not, are gods, each one an okosama, or "lord child." On their third birthday they fall from grace and join the rest of the human race. In Amelie Nothomb's new novel, The Character of Rain, we learn that divinity is a difficult thing from which to recover, particularly if, like the child in this story, you have spent the first tow and a half years of life in a nearly vegetative state. "I remember everything that happened to me after the age of two and one-half," the narrator tells us. She means this literally. Once jolted out of her plant-like , tube-like trance (to the ecstatic relief of her concerned parents), the child bursts into existence, absorbing everything that Japan, where her father works as a diplomat, has to offer. Life is an unfolding pageant of delight and danger, a ceaseless exploration of pleasure and the limits of power. Most wondrous of all is the discovery of water: oceans, seas, pools, puddles, streams, ponds, and, perhaps most of all, rain-one meaning of the Japanese character for her name. Hers is an amphibious life. The Character of Rain evokes the hilarity, terror, and sanctity of childhood. As she did in the award-winning, international bestesller Fear and Trembling, Nothomb grounds the novel in the outlines of her experiences in Japan, but the self-portrait that emerges from these pages is hauntingly universal. Amelie Nothomb's novels are unforgettable immersion experiences, leaving you both holding your breath with admiration, your lungs aching, and longing for more.

One of the greatest classics of modern theater concerns a willful young aristocrat's seduction of her father's valet during a Midsummer's Eve celebration. Complete with Strindberg's highly-regarded critical preface.

Scotland Yard detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James are on the case in Deborah Crombie’s The Sound of Broken Glass, a captivating mystery that blends a murder from the past with a powerful danger in the present. When Detective Inspector James joins forces with Detective Inspector Melody Talbot to solve the murder of an esteemed barrister, their investigation leads them to realize that nothing is what it seems—with the crime they’re investigating and their own lives. With an abundance of twists and turns and intertwining subplots, The Sound of Broken Glass by New York Times bestselling author Deborah Crombie is an elaborate and engaging page-turner.