INTRIGUE. TENSION. LOVE AFFAIRS: In The Historical Romance series, a set of stand-alone novels, Vivian Stuart builds her compelling narratives around the dramatic lives of sea captains, nurses, surgeons, and members of the aristocracy. Stuart takes us back to the societies of the 20th century, drawing on her own experience of places across Australia, India, East Asia, and the Middle East. Ann was unperturbed by old Doctor Aneas MacDiarmid's obvious disapproval. She prided herself on being sensible about such matters and would do her job despite any hostility she encountered. It was a shock to suddenly realize that her emotions were no longer under control – that she was falling in love with Doctor MacDiarmid's son!

THE WICKEDEST SECRET . . . Major Nathaniel Grey is free to bed whomever he wants, whenever he chooses, and that's exactly how he likes it. His only loyalties are to country and the two friends he served with-brothers he'd do anything for. So when one of them is gravely injured and asking for his little sister, Grey will move heaven and earth to bring her home. He's greeted not by the gangly girl he remembers, but a stunningly beautiful woman holding a loaded musket. And he's utterly captivated by her . . . IS A SECRET SEDUCTION Once upon a time, Emily would have loved nothing more than a stolen hour with her brother's best friend, the dashing officer who captured her heart and soul. But things are different now--and so is she. Gone is the eager young woman who believed in love. In her place is a widow weighed down with secrets who desperately needs to disappear before they're revealed. But Grey's sinfully sexy smile offers protection unlike anything she's ever known, tempting her to risk everything . . . even her heart.

In a time when children were meant to be seen and not heard, along came Coco, a small French orphan with an eye for style, a talent for sewing, and a big imagination. Coco grew up in an orphanage run by very strict nuns, but she wasn’t very good at following rules. At a time when girls were told to brush their hair 100 times until their arms were sore, Coco promised herself that one day she would snip away her locks so that she wouldn’t have to be so fussy—girls needed time for other things, and they needed some of the comforts that boys enjoyed. Why shouldn’t girls have pockets? And why did they have to wear corsets all the time? An exploration of Coco’s early life and a celebration of her creativity, Along Came Coco †‹shows the ways in which Coco Chanel’s imaginative spirit led her to grow into one of the world’s most beloved fashion icons.

*WATERSTONES WELSH BOOK OF THE MONTH* My Family and Other Animals meets The Secret Life of Cows: this rediscovered gem tells the charming tale of how a baby llama transformed a Welsh farming family forever (with a foreword by John Lewis-Stempel). Things llamas like: Snaffling cherry brandy, Easter eggs, and the Radio Times. Fluttering movie star eyelashes at surprised visitors. Curling up in 'tea-cosy' position by the fire. Orbiting, helicoptering, and oompahing. Humming along to classical music. Locking victims in the lavatory. Things llamas dislike: Having toenails trimmed by a visiting circus. Being adopted mother to an orphaned lamb. Invitations to star on Blue Peter. Accidentally swimming. Snowdonia's rainfall. The dark. Ruth Ruck's family live on a Welsh mountain farm, no strangers to cow pats on the carpet and nesting hens in the larder. When dark days strike, they embark on a farming experiment to cheer them all up - but raising a baby llama proves more of an adventure than expected .

"The year is 1939 and the Great Depression still plagues the small, Midwestern, college town of Warrensburg. A young coeds body is found in a lake, on the edge of town, by two young lads fi shing for perch. Buck Pettit, Police Chief, is notifi ed, and a search to fi nd the killer is launched. He gathers the same group of friends together who had helped him find the killer of a school teacher just three years before. They are; Harry Foster - Johnson County Sheriff. Ann Pettit - Bucks beautiful, charming and intelligent wife. Rudolph Eisenstein - an elderly, but brilliant, lawyer. Elizabeth Breckenridge -a widow, Beth, as she is known to her friends, is the principal stockholder and president of he Breckenridge State Bank. Like Ann Pettit, Beth, as she is known by her friends, is a very beautiful, intelligent and charming woman. She is also a crack shot with the small .25 caliber hand-gun she carries in her purse, as Buck fi nds out at a critical moment in the investigation. The last two members of the investigation team are Irv Hodges and Will Cox, two precocious 13 year old lads who became friends when Will, or Bill as Irv was want to call him, moved to town with his parents in the summer of 1938. Buck had picked Irv to help because he had been instrumental in catching and convicting the murderer of Margaret Wilson, just three years prior, and at the insistence of Irv had allowed Will (Bill) to come along. Along Came Bill, is a fast moving thriller that will keep you wanting more. It is a sequel to Gotcha! and most of the same characters help out in solving the murder of Shirley McBride."

In a neighborhood sharply divided by crime, poverty, and gang violence, the McElhaney Christian Center is a haven for those seeking refuge. The pastor in charge of the community center is proud of his work, but he's feeling his years and finds himself more and more overwhelmed by the demands of social service. The political maneuvering of his fellow board members, coupled with the financial strain of running a non-profit, threaten the future of the organization. When the tensions between rival gangs reach a breaking point in the neighborhood, a fire is set and lives are lost. In the wake of tragedy, the pastor must team up with Detective Michaels, an old college friend, to find out who's responsible-and stop them before they strike again. Little do they know an ancient and sinister force is working against them, manipulating events behind the scenes. When no one is quite who they seem, who will they trust?

An incisive history of the controversial Google Books project and the ongoing quest for a universal digital library Libraries have long talked about providing comprehensive access to information for everyone. But when Google announced in 2004 that it planned to digitize books to make the world's knowledge accessible to all, questions were raised about the roles and responsibilities of libraries, the rights of authors and publishers, and whether a powerful corporation should be the conveyor of such a fundamental public good. Along Came Google traces the history of Google's book digitization project and its implications for us today. Deanna Marcum and Roger Schonfeld draw on in-depth interviews with those who both embraced and resisted Google's plans, from librarians and technologists to university leaders, tech executives, and the heads of leading publishing houses. They look at earlier digital initiatives to provide open access to knowledge, and describe how Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page made the case for a universal digital library and drew on their company's considerable financial resources to make it a reality. Marcum and Schonfeld examine how librarians and scholars organized a legal response to Google, and reveal the missed opportunities when a settlement with the tech giant failed. Along Came Google sheds light on the transformational effects of the Google Books project on scholarship and discusses how we can continue to think imaginatively and collaboratively about expanding the digital availability of knowledge.