Isadore Hargett, Jewish Lord of the Underworld — the man even the Mafia feared — the man even the Senate couldn't touch. His saga spans four decades — years in which a terrified peasant boy learned the art of murder–for–survival in the war torn fields of Brest–Litovsk. Years in which the bootleg industry ruled the country with rotgut and blood.Years in which the Vegas casino owners played a deadly game for ultimate control. Years in which Hargett inherited the syndicate of Nathan Beckstein...ordered the castration of Trigger Joe Magiunto...raised a daughter...attended his own funeral. Years in which he lived a story spattered in blood.

Four short stories of romance to warm your heart and keep you cozy.

When Michael Kirby's mother begins to create strangely unsettling personalities before the private audience of her three children, she bestows upon Michael a double-edged gift: the ability to see past the ordinary surface of the world. After her performances lead to catastrophe, Michael embarks on a redemptive journey to uncover the hidden languages of his family, his lovers, even strangers. Through Michael's eyes the reader discovers the unsuspected terrors of a bowling alley, the insinuating force of the daily horoscope, the secret poetry of insurance, and the startling revelations that are possible on a carousel ride. Even simple objects at yard sales and auctions contain stories waiting to be revealed, whether it's a tape recorder holding the contagiously powerful suicide songs of a doomed lover, or the bent plastic arm of a doll that a timid child once waved to ward off imagined dangers. At once exuberantly comic and darkly disturbing, How to Read an Unwritten Language is...

Are other people really having a lovely time on holiday or do they just look like they are, whilst you're in the middle of a row with your partner? This is a fly on the wall story about the lives of guests at the Hotel Valia, a small All Inclusive complex with a backdrop of mountains in Costa Adeje, Tenerife. Lucy Bromwich is the hotel rep. She has a bubbly personality, she's a good listener and enjoys her job, except for her pernickety supervisor Kath, who seems determined to make her life difficult. Amongst the guests who arrive at the Reina Sofia Airport is Paul Cooper, a hardworking car salesman, on holiday with his adored wife Cheryl and their two children, Annabelle and Jack. Paul will do anything to keep his family happy, even if it means going into debt for them, just as long as he can bask in the warmth of his wife's smile. Used to getting her own way, Cheryl manipulates her husband into granting her every whim... but is their marriage strong enough to withstand a hefty...

The second journal of Sir Roger Shallot sees a spy passing information to King Francis I of France. Shallot and his master, Benjamin Daunbey are sent to investigate, their only clue the spy's code name, Raphael. They are soon caught up in death, danger, treachery, and all with little thanks

WIDOWED AND WANTING Just yesterday, it seemed, Gideon Lowell was a contented family man. Now he was alone, with three children to raise and a ranch to run. His heart wasn't ready for courtship, but his kids needed a mother. And he needed a woman's touch to ease the hollow ache of loneliness. As a mail-order bride, Rennie Fortier was supposedly marrying a stranger. She knew that Gideon had no idea that he and his children had haunted her dreams. Now--she shared his home, his children, his bed--and emotions neither of them expected. They could live happily ever after--as long as Gideon never discovered who she really was ....

Jessica Conway is at the end of her rope. She desperately needs a few things that her moral values can't buy: food, shelter, a chance for a better life. Connor Montgomery is tortured with guilt and wants only one thing from Jessica and he'swilling to pay her for it. Setting her up as his mistress seems like the perfect idea. But how long can it last when it was a mistake from the beginning?

Nicholas Rathe is a pointsman, a watchman in the great city of Astreiant, the capital of the Kingdom of Chenedolle. It is the time of the annual trade fair, and the city is filled with travelers, and someone is stealing children. The populace is getting angry and frightened and is looking for someone to blame, especially some foreigner. Nicholas, in the midst of all this, must find the children and save the city.

Stella has a passion for planning that keeps her from taking too many risks. But when she opens her heart to a new love, she discovers that she will fight to the death to protect what’s hers.

Sold to pay off a debt to the rich owner of a casino. He locked her up in his penthouse for his exclusive use. He held her captive, and punished her when she resisted. She knew he was a bad man, who did bad things. She had to get away before he took more than she could give.

It was June 1916 when Sergeant Boots Adams of the Royal West Kents, together with his men, was billeted on the Descartes farm in Northern France. It was a short break from the turmoil and horror of the trenches, and Boots and his men, in return for their free billeting, were to help the farmer in his fields. It came as something of a surprise to discover that the land was being managed by a young French war widow, Cecile Lacoste and, to the distant sound of guns, a brief wartime friendship flared between Boots and Cecile. The friendship was cut brutally short when, once more, the West Kents were called back to the trenches and Boots suffered an injury that was to take him home to London, to Sammy and Chinese Lady, and all the valiant cockney friends of Walworth who were to help him through the darkest period of his life. It was to be many years before Boots' friend, Miss Polly Simms, visiting the old battle haunts of France, stumbled once more upon the Descartes farm, and the...