One month, I fell for him. Two, I was a goner. Three, I was a daydreamer. But by the fourth, it was a nightmare. Everything came in beats. Beat one—fantasy. Beat two—admission. Beat three—love. But it’s the fourth beat that completely ruined me. Beat. Beat. Beat. With a shattered heart. He was my nightmare.

Carolyn Brown's first four cowboy/country music single title mass market romances have sold over 50,000 copies All Austin Lanier wants is to sell her inherited watermelon farm, slip on her stilettos and run back to corporate America. Until the drop dead sexy cowboy next door, Rye O'Donnell, decides he'll only take the farm if he can get the fiery woman who owns it as part of the deal... "Smart dialogue and unmistakable characters will leave readers wanting more." --Affaire de Coeur "The down home Texas feel comes through in spades in Brown's writing." --Leslie's Psyche

“There is not a single dud in this brilliant collection…crisp stories about marriage, blood, booze and death and the wayward passions fomented by them.”—Time Out From joyous moments to near insurmountable grief, National Book Award-winning author Ellen Gilchrist gives readers vignettes revealing the lives of some of her most memorable characters. In “Traceleen at Dawn,” we see the wealthy Miss Crystal finally give up drinking after a fire consumes her home. In “1941,” readers meet Rhoda Manning, a precocious nine-year-old facing off with the world of adults for the first time. In “The Last Diet,” a woman on a diet crashes her car into a doughnut shop. And murder takes center stage in “Memphis” and “The Emancipator.” Coming of age, heartbreak, death, and more permeate these brilliant snapshots of life from the author of the award-winning Victory over Japan, Acts of God, and other acclaimed works. “Smart, funny, moving, and elegantly written.”—Vogue “A writer with a distinctive voice and a considerable narrative gift.”—Publishers Weekly “There is not a single dud in this brilliant collection. The crisp stories about marriage, blood, booze and death and the wayward passions fomented by them.”—Time Out

Su Fan, who had just entered the workplace, was sent to the room of an old man by his superior. Su Fan, who had just entered the workplace, was sent to the room of an old man. What to do? This man had both power and power. The key was his looks and height. How was this an uncle? It was even stronger than fresh meat! Many years later, he would press her, who was wearing a gorgeous wedding dress, into the fitting room. The cold glass pierced her bones, and next to his ears, he could hear his charming voice, "Little darling, you have to pay back the debts you owe me slowly!" Heavens, did she even need a small body like this?

One of today's best young novelists, Ray Robertson is also one of its ablest critics. Mental Hygiene is a collection of his most entertaining, insightful, controversial, and funniest reviews and essays written over the last five years. Believing that ''writers have a responsibility to help maintain the mental hygiene of their time, '' Robertson, following in the footsteps of Mordecai Richler and other novelist-critics such as Anthony Burgess, Kingsley and Martin Amis and John Updike, is at the front line of contemporary literary debate. Whether castigating the bland cabal he refers to as McCanlit, poking fun at the trendy ephemera of intellectual fashion or arguing for his own unique fictional aesthetic, Robertson pulls no punches and suffers no fools