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This mesmerizing, poetic novel won the 2003 National Book Award for fiction and has earned universal acclaim. Set against the beautiful but tragic landscape of post-World War II Asia, The Great Fire tells a sweeping tale of the search for new beginnings in a world ravaged by tragedy.

The world’s sexiest firefighter is about to get a second chance with the virgin next door.... He’s bossy, arrogant, and so ridiculously hot that he should come with a warning label and a pair of flame-retardant coveralls. He’s also the boy who broke my heart when we were in high school. I want to move in next door to Ryan O’Dell the way I want to be the virgin gamer geek suddenly in charge of running my sister’s sex-toy factory. Too bad both are written in my stars.

We live in a world designed to make us hate our bodies. By the time children start school, most have learned that 'fat' is bad. As they get older, many pursue thinness to survive in a society that ties their value to their size. Meanwhile, multibillion-dollar industries thrive on our insecurities, and the medical system pushes weight loss at almost any cost. Talking to researchers, doctors, and activists, as well as parents and young people, Virginia Sole-Smith lays bare how diet culture has perpetuated a crisis of disordered eating and body hatred.

In her daring first novel, the youngest Brontë sister drew upon her own experiences to tell the unvarnished truth about life as a governess. Like Agnes Grey, Anne Bronte was a young middle-class Victorian lady whose family fortunes had faltered. Like so many other unmarried women of the 19th century, Bronte accepted the only "respectable" employment available - and entered a world of hardship, humiliation, and loneliness.

Jerry, Jimmy, and Kathleen can’t go home for their school holiday because their cousin is sick with measles there. Instead, they stay at Kathleen’s school with the French teacher. One morning, they set out to find adventure. Instead, they find an enchanted place - and magic, too! Walking through a nearby forest, they discover an enormous mansion, where a girl lies asleep in the garden. Although she pretends to be an enchanted princess, she is Mabel, the housekeeper’s niece. But she has a ring that really is magical. It can make the wearer invisible and grant wishes.

William Collins Books and Decca Records are proud to present ARGO Classics, a historic catalogue of classic fiction read by some of the world’s most renowned voices. Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly abridged and remastered stories are now available to download for the first...

She’s in a white dress that dances around her ankles, and her hair tumbles in a long sheet of curls down her back. A veil covers her beautiful eyes, and she smiles directly at him. Janie is everything Rafe’s ever imagined she would be on her wedding day. Breathtaking. Gorgeous. Perfect. The moment he sees her walking down the aisle toward him, he knows that she’s the one. Then, she passes him, making her way to the man she’s to marry.

I don’t know what love is anymore. Well, that’s not entirely true, but I’m going to tell you a little secret: I’ve lost the spark. You know the kind of spark I’m talking about? Where butterflies take flight in your stomach from two hands innocently colliding. Yeah, that spark. Except I haven't felt that feeling in forever; there is nothing left inside of me. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem - but I’m a writer on a serious deadline, and my editor is breathing down my neck for a romantic Nicholas Sparks-type love story.

I’ve known Gray Baldwin my entire life. He’s an arrogant frat boy with a red Solo cup permanently attached to his hand. And he’s my brother’s best friend. He’s made it his personal mission to annoy me, and when he sets his mind to something, he rarely fails. But when Gray and I end up at the same college, we can’t seem to stay away from one another. I’m supposed to hate him, but when I’m alone with Gray, everything changes. It turns out there is more to this boy than I ever knew. Our attraction is something that can’t be extinguished.

Torn apart from her mates, Red must discover the truth about her powers before a ruthless enemy conquers not only her, but all inhabitants of Crimson Hollow.   

The Capulets and Montagues have nothing on the Beauregards and Kingsleys. Our families have feuded for centuries, and Nate was always forbidden—which made fooling around with him that much more delicious. But then I fell for him, and he fell off the face of the earth, ghosting me without so much as a goodbye. Fast-forward two years: as an expert in romance, I’m a wedding planner to the rich and famous. I never expected Nate to show up at my office, least of all with a shiny new fiancée on his arm. She’s got money to burn, and she wants me to plan the most extravagant wedding of my career.

Acclaimed author Lori Wick is one of the best-selling Christian fiction authors in the world, with more than two and a half million copies of her books in print, including The Proposal. When Anne Gardiner slips off a ladder, she falls—quite literally—into the arms of a handsome stranger named Robert Weston. Anne’s father decides the couple must marry immediately, but Robert isn’t entirely fond of that plan.

Fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Bennet thought Fitzwilliam Darcy, her friend Georgiana's brother, was the most wonderful, handsomest man in the entire world. When he went to India to fight Britain’s enemies, she made him promise to write her along with Georgie regularly. There wasn't anything improper, since Georgiana and she had sworn to be sisters. When Elizabeth and Georgiana learned that Fitzwilliam was captured, they kept writing letters to him, so that when he was released, he would know that he had not been forgotten by those who loved him.

Coke Solomon has lived a full life. He’s a retired army drill sergeant, so he is more than used to getting his way. And if he can’t have it his way? Well, let’s just say that’s never happened before... At least not until Cora Maldonado walks into his life, demanding he fall in line, or she’ll find a way to make his life hell. It doesn’t matter that she’s younger than him, and has a father that would rather see him dead than have his baby girl anywhere near him. Nor does it matter that his ex-wife is highly offended that she’s been replaced with a much younger woman.

The witty, wily princess, Elizabeth Tudor has survived the turmoil of her formative years, and finally, is now Queen of England. Rising to the throne on a wave of popularity, Elizabeth is keen to avoid the mistakes of her siblings, and bring England to a new sense of unity and hope.

Tyler Cree has never been good at the whole "look and don’t touch" thing. From the moment he was old enough to walk on his own two feet, he’s been looking for trouble. Trouble comes in many forms...quite a few of those forms being the female persuasion. Tyler knows what girls want - a bad boy. And he has the bad boy image down pat. Ex-military - check. Hot cop - double check.

Sierra started writing to soldiers overseas through the soldier pen pal program when she was in high school. Years later, she had no idea that the one soldier that she’d been paired up with in the very beginning would be the one man that would change her world eight years down the road.

You’d think nearly dying trying to get out of a too-tight gown in a dressing room and being saved by a strong, competent man was a good thing. Not so much, though, when that strong, competent man is your ex. Your secret ex. And the reason you need a gown is because you’re part of a charity auction. The charity auction where he gets into a bidding war to win you. And now, because you’re one of few female coaches in professional baseball, and he’s the captain of the local professional hockey team, and he paid a ridiculous sum of money for you…

The most extraordinary learning experience of my life. - Emma Thompson, in the Guardian Do you want to be able to express yourself in French with confidence and fluency? Insider's Italian offers a genuine perspective on Italophone culture, opinions and language use so that you can speak...

When workaholic Boston attorney Deirdra de Messiéres is passed over for a well-deserved promotion, she takes a two-month hiatus to show her boss just how much he needs her and heads home to Silver Island. But beyond seeing her sisters happy, home is not where Deirdra’s heart is. She has no interest in their family restaurant, the Bistro, or reliving hurtful childhood memories, and absolutely no interest in spending a single second with Josiah “Jagger” Jones, the Bistro’s too-laid-back musician and chef. Sure, the hippie is hot, but he drives her nuts.