This well-written and sumptuously illustrated book is filled with surprises that add texture and richness to life in the Big Apple. Wild peacocks, parrots, and raccoons rather than the Bronx Zoo; cricket, lawn bowling, surfboarding, and pistol shooting rather than the Yankees and the Mets; a Japanese pagoda-inspired house and a Frank Lloyd Wright house rather than a Brooklyn brownstone or the Empire State building; wineries, rolling ladder manufacturers, and fishing tackle businesses rather than the New York Stock Exchange; key lime pies not seltzer; fragments of the Berlin Wall and Gaudi-like mosaic benches rather than the Guggenheim or the Met; a statue of Lenin rather than the Statue of Liberty. Unexpected New York is about places, activities, events, and entities in New York City that surprise. These are not secret or hidden, nor necessarily off the beaten track, just not what the words New York City immediately call to mind. But perhaps the unexpected aspects of New York are what truly make its world-class diversity. If not quintessential New York, nonetheless, essential.

Written for urban ramblers who want to explore fascinating but less familiar sites in the city. Discover -- and sometimes rediscover -- secluded gardens, idiosyncratic museums, little shops here and there, and the occasional well-known place with distinctive treasures.

Offers ten stories that provide a look into adventures of discovery.

Clare Moorhouse, the American wife of a high-ranking diplomat in Paris, is arranging an official dinner crucial to her husband's career. As she shops for fresh stalks of asparagus and works out the menu and seating arrangements, her day is complicated by the unexpected arrival of her son and a random encounter with a Turkish man, whom she discovers is a suspected terrorist. Like Virginia Woolf did in Mrs. Dalloway, Anne Korkeakivi brilliantly weaves the complexities of an age into an act as deceptively simple as hosting a dinner party.

“Say YES! to Lori Foster.” —Elizabeth Lowell WHO’S PROTECTING WHO? Eli Conners expected hired mercenary Ray Vereker to be a tank of a guy with forty tattoos—not the feminine ideal with lethal combat skills. While Eli certainly needs Ray’s help, the rest of him is thinking he might have something to offer her . . . Ray’s as good as any man when it comes to storming enemy compounds and loading an AK-47, but who could blame a girl for succumbing to mind-blowing temptation in the steamy jungle? But now it’s back to business. If only Ray wasn’t feeling hot, bothered, dizzy . . . Suddenly, Ray’s precise, no-nonsense mission is veering wildly off course, derailed by raging hormones, out-of-control desire, and a delirious love that is completely unexpected . . . “Filled with Foster’s trademark wit, humor, and sensuality.” —Booklist “Foster’s pages sizzle.” —Christine Feehan

When a scandal surrounding her father upsets all her carefully laid plans for her future, Andie must learn to accept a new relationship with her father and to embrace a little chaos in her life.

Actress and New York Times bestselling author Roma Downey returns with an uplifting and life-affirming devotional celebrating the power of God’s love that will comfort your heart and nourish your soul. Inspired by her New York Times bestseller Box of Butterflies, Roma Downey presents a beautiful 90-day devotional that guides you to savor God’s blessings. Featuring some of the most moving content from her previous book, along with new ​heartwarming material, Unexpected Blessings combines scripture with insight and prayer, helping you enjoy a moment of calm and encouragement as you reflect on God’s love for you. This is the perfect gift for anyone looking to be reminded that when we open our hearts, we discover blessings surrounding us in every circumstance of our lives.