Heidi Perks is the Sunday Times bestselling author of Now You See Her, which was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick, Come Back for Me, Three Perfect Liars, The Whispers and The Other Guest. The Last Resort is her sixth novel. Heidi is a voracious reader of crime and thrillers and is fascinated by the darker side of our closest relationships. Heidi lives in Bournemouth with her husband and two children.

Heidi Perks

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Jo Thomas

'It's Christmas in a book!' Katie Fforde 
'Sprinkled with Christmas magic!' Milly Johnson 
'A scrumptious seasonal treat!' Heidi Swain 
 
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Residential-home caterer Connie has had one online-dating disaster too many. Hurt in the past and with her son to consider, now she's feeling hesitant. Then one of Connie's residents sets her up on a date at a beautiful German Christmas market - with the promise she'll take a mini-bus full of pensioners along with her... 
 
Amongst the twinkling lights and smell of warm gingerbread in the old market square, Connie heads off on her date with a checklist of potential partner must-haves. Baker Henrich ticks all the boxes, but when Connie meets Henrich's rival William, she starts to wonder if ticking boxes is the answer. 
 
Will Connie's wish for love this Christmas come true, and if so - with who? 
 
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Readers are feeling enchanted by Finding Love at the Christmas Market: 
 
'This book was a hot chocolate on a cold day, warming and satisfying.' 
'I could smell the gingerbread and spices, a real hug of a book.' 
'A beautiful book about finding what matters most at Christmas . . . such a heart-warming story.' 
 
If you loved Finding Love at the Christmas Market, pre-order Jo's newest Christmas novel, Countdown to Christmas, now!

Finding Love at the Christmas Market

Todd McCaffrey

Anne McCaffrey

After a vicious plague swept through the world of Pern, there are no longer enough dragons to fight off the current onslaught of Thread, the deadly spore that falls like rain from the skies and devours everything organic in its path. 
 
Pern's last best chance to rebuild the decimated dragon population lies with a group of young dragonriders and their dragons left stranded on an unexplored island. Leadership of these dragons and riders falls to Xhinna, female rider of a blue dragon, who, as the most experienced dragonrider in the new Weyr, must earn the respect of all who follow her, as not everyone is ready to accept a female wingleader. She must solve the problem of how to get sufficient numbers of dragon eggs, although her newfangled ideas, like letting green dragons mate and lay eggs to hatch new dragons, cause uproar. All the while she must protect her people and baby dragons from the predators and, worse, traitors or all hope for Pern will be lost!

Sky Dragons

Aramina's family were 'holdless'.Driven out of their home after the massacre at Ruatha, they were forced to roam the land, seeking shelter and protection wherever they could.And now, after a period in the Igen caverns, they had to flee yet again -for the evil Lady Holdless Thella had discovered Aramina's unusual gift - she could 'hear' dragons - and Thella planned to exploit this gift for her own ends.At dead of night the little family began their flight through the forests and mountains of Pern - pursued by Lady Thella.But this time the dragons were to play a part in Aramina's destiny. 
 
The Girl Who Heard Dragons and fourteen other stories of alien worlds and strange beings - from the magic pen of Anne McCaffrey.

The Girl Who Heard Dragons

Pern AL 50: the geneticist Wind Blossom is nearing the end of her long life and is painfully aware that the colonists are running out of the modern technology the settlers brought with them to Pern and that they are forgetting how to use what they do have. Society is beginning to revert to a feudal system and Wind Blossom is concerned that future generations may be hit by an illness they have no tools to fight and that mankind may subsequently be wiped off the face of Pern. 
 
AL 507: Lorana is training to be an animal healer but when she arrives at Benden Weyr she impresses a golden dragon and becomes a dragonrider. However, a deadly and mysterious plague begins to wipe out the dragons, leaving mankind no defence against the deadly Thread which has just begun to fall. Lorana has two firelizards who manage to travel Back in time to Wind Blossom's era. Wind Blossom discovers what is wrong with the dragons and comes up with a cure. She also devises a way to leave clues for Lorana so that she can discover the cure in her time and save the dragons, and thus the future of mankind on Pern.

Dragonsblood

They were misfits, the outcasts, the murderers without Hold or Crafthall. Some were resentful, some sought vengeance, but it was not until Thella, Lady Holder of Telgar, began to weld them together into a terrifying and brilliantly evil clan that they became the Renegades of Pern. it was a time of great turmoil on the planet. The pass of the Red Star had brought a new terrible reign of Threadfall, and in the southern Hold, Toric was carving out an enormous empire for himself from lands as yet uncharted. And as the times of trouble grew, so did the ravages of Thella and her band, turning from theft to murder to vicious and insane revenge. 
 
Jayge Lilcamp, the young and roving trader, was one of the first to fall foul of the renegades, and as he saw what Thella had done to his family and his wagon train he began to seek his own revenge, a revenge which grew into a determination to destroy the most evil woman on Pern.

The Renegades Of Pern

(Dragonriders of Pern: 10): an awe-inspiring epic fantasy from one of the most influential fantasy and SF novelists of her generation

Jilly Cooper

Abigail Rosen, nicknamed Appassionata, was the sexiest, most flamboyant violinist in classical music, but she was also the loneliest and the most exploited girl in the world. When a dramatic suicide attempt destroyed her violin career, she set her sights on the male-dominated heights of the conductor's rostrum. 
 
Given the chance to take over the Rutminster Symphony Orchestra, Abby is ecstatic, not realising the RSO is in hock up to its neck and is composed of the wildest bunch of musicians ever to blow a horn or caress a fiddle. Abby finds it increasingly difficult to control her undisciplined rabble and pretend she is not madly attracted to the fatally glamorous horn player, Viking O'Neill, who claims droit de seigneur over every pretty woman joining the orchestra. And then Rannaldini, arch-fiend and international maestro, rolls up with Machiavellian plans of his own to sabotage the RSO. 
 
Effervescent as champagne, Jilly Cooper's novel brings back old favourites like Rupert and Taggie Campbell-Black, but also ends triumphantly with a rampageous orchestral tour of Spain and the high drama of an international piano competition.

Appassionata

A masterpiece of sex and drama from the Sunday Times bestseller Jilly Cooper

The most fun you can have under a Tenor

In Jilly Cooper's third Rutshire chronicle we meet Ricky France-Lynch, who is moody, macho, and magnificent. He had a large crumbling estate, a nine-goal polo handicap, and a beautiful wife who was fair game for anyone with a cheque book. He also had the adoration of fourteen-year-old Perdita MacLeod. Perdita couldn't wait to leave her dreary school and become a polo player.The polo set were ritzy, wild, and gloriously promiscuous.Perdita thought she'd get along with them very well. 
 
But before she had time to grow up, Ricky's life exploded into tragedy, and Perdita turned into a brat who loved only her horses - and Ricky France-Lynch. 
 
Ricky's obsession to win back his wife, and Perdita's to win both Ricky and a place as a top class polo player, take the reader on a wildly exciting journey - to the estancias of Argentina, to Palm Beach and Deauville, and on to the royal polo fields of England and the glamorous pitches of California where the most heroic battle of all is destined to be fought - a match that is about far more than just the winning of a huge silver cup...

Polo

As a librarian, Imogen read a lot of books, but none of them covered what she was to experience on the Riviera. 
 
Her holiday with tennis ace, Nicky, and the whole glamorous coterie surrounding Nicky, was a revelation - and so, ultimately, was she. A wild Yorkshire rose among the thorny model girls, Cable and Yvonne, with a rare asset that they'd mislaid years ago... 
 
But the path of a jet-set virgin in that lovely, wicked world was a hard one. 
 
Imogen began to wonder if virtue really was its own reward...

Imogen

the deliciously funny and upbeat novel from the inimitable multimillion-copy bestselling Jilly Cooper

Shortly after Fiona's return to Fort Weyr, three Turns older and wiser, her queen, Talenth, is infected with the dreaded sickness that has consumed so many of Pern's precious fire-breathing dragons. Talenth's recovery and the recovery of all the other dragons of Pern is delivered by the unflagging efforts of Lorana and Kindan at Benden Weyr - but their one vital clue is only bought with the loss of all the dragons of Telgar Weyr. 
 
Fiona is sent to relieve the distressed weyrfolk of the now-dragonless Weyr. When her queen, Talenth, rises to mate, Fiona finds herself not only Telgar's senior Weyrwoman but in the center of the dilemma that confronts all Pern - how can the one thousand fighting dragons do the job of three thousand? And, if they can't, how long will it be before all of Pern is consumed by Thread?

Dragongirl

Kindan is an apprentice harper at the Harper Hall but he is finding the lessons very difficult and although he has his friends, Nonala, Kelsa and Verilan, he also has enemies, such as the bully Vaxoram. Things begin to improve for Kindan when he beats Vaxoram in a duel and Vaxoram becomes first his servant and then gradually his trusted friend. Then Kindan impresses a fire-lizard and becomes the proud owner of the magnicent Valla. At the hatching he meets Koriana, daughter of Lord Holder Bemin of Fort Hold. She also impresses and she and Kindan fall in love, but her parents disapprove and she has to return to Fort Hold. Then a plague begins to spread across Pern, killing nearly everyone infected. Kindan and his friends search the harper records to see if they can find a cure, but all they can find is mention of a similar plague over a hundred Turns past. As the plague gets worse Kindan and Vaxoram are sent to Fort Hold to help tend the sick. Kindan will be reunited with Koriana, but will she be free of the plague, and will he be able to find a cure before more people die?

Dragon Harper

Some fourteen hundred turns after men first came to Pern rode Moreta, on her great golden dragon, Orlith. It was towards the end of the Pass of the Red Star -- a time when every living creature on Pern was threatened by Threadfall -- when the courage and daring of dragons and their riders was all that kept the planet from extinction. And then, at the height of the battle against Thread, came a new and terrible evil. 
 
Moreta, in one last superhuman endeavour, was to save her people, and become the greatest legend of dragonlore until the end of time.

Moreta - Dragonlady Of Pern

the compelling and moving tale of a Pern legend... from one of the most influential SFF writers of all time

Danielle Steel

Time to blow out the candles, say goodbye to the past, and make a wish for the future! 
 
For April Wyatt, turning thirty is not what she had expected. She’s single, with no interest in changing that. Her successful restaurant in downtown New York consumes every ounce of her passion and energy. Ready or not, though, April’s life is about to change, in a tumultuous discovery on the morning of her milestone birthday. 
 
April’s mother Valerie is a popular TV personality. Since her divorce, she has worked tirelessly to reach the pinnacle of her career. But she’s having trouble equating her age with how she feels, and all the hours with personal trainers, top hairdressers and plastic surgeons can’t hide the fact that she is turning sixty – and the whole world discovers it on her birthday. 
 
It is also Jack Adams’ birthday – the most charismatic sports announcer and hall-of-fame football star on TV, a man who has his pick of desirable younger women. But he fears his age may finally be catching up with him when he wakes up on his fiftieth birthday needing an emergency visit to the chiropractor… 
 
As these three very different people celebrate their birthdays, they discover that life itself is a celebration – and that its greatest gifts are always a surprise…

Happy Birthday

When Masterharper Zist takes over as Harper for Natalon's coal-mining camp, he takes with him his apprentice, the orphaned, mute Pellar, and Pellar's fire-lizard Chitter. Pellar has become a gifted tracker and Zist gives him his own mission - to find out if the recent thefts of coal are the work of the Shunned, criminals condemned to a life of wandering and hardship. Halla is one of the children of the Shunned. Though innocent of their parents' crimes, these children have inherited their cruel punishment. With no shelter when the lethal Thread falls again they will have no protection against it. Life is even tougher for Halla, all her family are dead and she must fend for herself. Yet Halla is kind and gentle, devoted to helping those more helpless than she, unlike Tenim, a fellow child of the Shunned. Tenim is in league with Tarik, a crooked miner from Camp Natalon, who helps him steal coal in exchange for a cut of the profit. But Tenim soon realizes there is a lot more to be made from firestone, the volatile mineral that enables the dragons of Pern to burn Thread out of the sky. Tenim doesn't care what he has to do, or whom he has to kill, in order to corner the market. Cristov is Tarik's son. Dishonored by his father's greed and treachery, he decides he must make amends somehow... even if it means risking his life by mining the volatile firestone, which blows up at contact with the slightest drop of moisture. 
 
When the last remaining firestone mine explodes in flames, a desperate race begins to find a new deposit of the deadly but essential mineral, for without it there can be no defence against Thread. But Tenim has a murderous plan to turn the tragedy to his own advantage, and only Pellar, Halla and Cristov can stop him - and ensure that there will be a future for all on the world of the Dragonriders.

Dragon's Fire

Let Anne McCaffrey, storyteller extraordinare and New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author, take you on a journey to a whole new world: Pern. A world of dragons and other worldly forces; a world of mighty power and ominous threat. If you like David Eddings, Brandon Sanderson and Douglas Adams, you will love this. 
 
'Anne McCaffrey, one of the queens of science fiction, knows exactly how to give her public what it wants' -- THE TIMES 
'Mesmerising and totally unputdownable' -- ***** Reader review 
'Staggeringly good' -- ***** Reader review 
'Another story of Pern I simply couldn't put down' -- ***** Reader review 
'Just brilliant!!!' -- ***** Reader review 
*********************************************************************************** 
 
Here are five gripping episodes of early Pern -- from the very first space survey recommending colonisation, to the last, where the early world, its young dragon culture undetected, is condemned to be isolated in space. 
 
Here is the saga of the mass evacuation from the volcanic southern continent, an entire group of people moved across the dangerous seas, guarded and guided by a flotilla of dolphins. 
 
Here, too, is the story of the creation of Ruatha Hold -- a mammoth undertaking in the early days of Pern. 
 
And here is one of the most fascinating dragon tales ever written by Anne McCaffrey, when Fort Weyr was the only weyr, and when dragonriders and dragons were overcrowded to danger point. As the news broke of three fresh weyrs to be established, a young girl, Torene, came to realize that her dragon could be the next Queen of the newly formed Benden Weyr...

The Chronicles Of Pern: First Fall

(Dragonriders of Pern: 12): five fascinating epic fantasy scenes from one of the most influential fantasy and SF novelists of her generation.

Although Lorana cured the dragons' sickness so many died from the disease that there are no longer enough dragons to fight the deadly Thread, and more dragons and their riders die each Threadfall. With their numbers dwindling, Lorana made the decision to fly forward in time in a desperate bid to bring dragons from the future to fight Thread. She knew that jumping so far in time would result in her losing her baby, but without her jump all life on Pern is doomed. 
 
Back at Telgar Weyr Fiona, Kindan and T'mar realise what Lorana has done. They are desperately sad, but two things give them hope. The first is that Fiona is expecting twins, and the second the fact that all the dragonriders are exhausted, a sign that they are Timing it - existing elsewhere in space and time - which gives them hope that Lorana has found a way through time to help them. 
 
Sure enough, led by messages left for them by Lorana, they fly through space to the Dawn Sisters, the ships hanging in space that brought their ancestors to Pern. From there they look down at the beautiful planet and see a previously undiscovered continent - this is where they are Timing it and where they are reunited with Lorana. Now they can increase the number and strength of the dragons before going back to their own time to fight Thread. Although Lorana found she couldn't break time, she has found a way to cheat it.

Dragon's Time

Young Kindan has no expectations other than joining his father in the mines of Camp Natalon on Pern. Mining is fraught with danger, but fortunately the camp has a watch-wher, a creature distantly related to dragons and uniquely suited to specialized work in the dark, cold mineshafts. 
 
Then disaster strikes, leaving Kindan orphaned and the camp without a watch-wher. Grieving, Kindan is taken in by the camp's new Harper and finds a measure of solace in a burgeoning musical talent . . . and in a new friendship with the mysterious Nuella. It is Nuella who assists Kindan when he is selected to hatch and train a new watch-wher, a job that forces him to give up his dream of becoming a Harper; and it is Nuella who helps him give new meaning to his life. 
 
Meanwhile, long-simmering tensions are dividing the camp. As warring factions threaten to explode, Nuella and Kindan begin to discover hidden talents in the watch-wher - talents that could very well save an entire Hold and which show them that even a seemingly impossible dream is never completely out of reach ...

Dragon's Kin

Fantasy

Rachel Gibson

Chelsea Ross knows she's a great actress. Which is lucky, as she's just got the toughest role of her life! 
 
Washed up from Hollywood and in serious need of some cash, Chelsea jumps at the $10,000 opportunity to act as 'carer' to famous hockey player Mark Bressler, currently injured after a car crash. After all, how hard can it be to play nice and pick up after an incredibly hot invalid in need of her tender loving care? Just three months of playing nurse and the cash is hers. 
 
But Mark Bressler doesn't need help. The moody hockey player's glory days may be over, but he has no intention of letting anyone aid his recovery, least of all the maddeningly cheerful Chelsea. He's determined to get her to quit - and Mark isn't the type to give in. But then again, neither is Chelsea...

Nothing but Trouble

Andy McNab

They say before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves. 
 
For James Mercer, the financial ruin of his family by the institutions they trusted can never be undone. It shattered everyone, leaving him with a burning need to right the wrongs they suffered. He will stop at nothing to recoup what they are owed. It’s not theft, it’s payback. 
 
Until his solo crusade falls foul of the very people he seeks to rob – the one per centers, the people who own the bulk of the world’s wealth. Soon he is putting together a crew to carry out one last robbery, to undertake one last job. Success will restore his family’s fortunes, but failure will destroy them forever. 
 
Packed with relentless action and the sort of riveting authenticity only Andy McNab can provide, Whatever it Takestells the story of one man’s extraordinary pursuit of justice against devastating odds, a story as hard and real and controversial as any of today’s headlines, which will show the world as it really is...

Whatever It Takes

The thrilling new novel from bestseller Andy McNab

Sarra Manning

Hope Delafield hasn't always had an easy life. 
 
She has red hair and a temper to match, as her mother is constantly reminding her. She can't wear heels, is terrified of heights and being a primary school teacher isn't exactly the job she dreamed of doing, especially when her class are stuck on the two times table. 
 
At least Hope has Jack, and Jack is the God of boyfriends. He's sweet, kind, funny, has a killer smile, a cool job on a fashion magazine and he's pretty (but in a manly way). Hope knew that Jack was The One ever since their first kiss after the Youth Club Disco and thirteen years later, they're still totally in love. Totally. They're even officially pre-engaged. And then Hope catches Jack kissing her best friend Susie... 
 
Does true love forgive and forget? Or does it get mad... and get even?

Nine Uses For An Ex-Boyfriend

Let Anne McCaffrey, storyteller extraordinare and New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author, take you on a journey to a whole new world: Pern. A world of dragons and other worldly forces; a world of mighty power and ominous threat.. If you like David Eddings, Brandon Sanderson and Douglas Adams, you will love this. 
 
"Anne McCaffrey, one of the queens of science fiction, knows exactly how to give her public what it wants" - THE TIMES 
"Do yourself a favour and read ANYTHING by this Author, you won't be sorry" -- ***** Reader review 
"A real page turner" -- ***** Reader review 
"Delightful reading, well written, and wonderful characters, and Dragons! Lots of Dragons! Bliss!" -- ***** Reader review 
"A brilliant read" -- ***** Reader review 
******************************************************************************* 
 
A YOUNG GIRL'S DESTINY AWAITS... 
 
Every two hundred years or so, shimmering Threads fall from space, raining death and black ruin on Pern. The great dragons of Pern hurl themselves through the beleagured skies, flaming tongues of fire to destroy deadly Thread and save the Planet. 
 
But it was not Threadfall that made young Menolly unhappy. It was her father who betrayed her ambition to be a Harper, who thwarted her love of music. Menolly had no choice but to run away. 
 
When, suddenly, she came upon a group of fire lizards, wild and smaller relatives of the fire-breathing dragons, she let her music swirl around them and taught nine of them to sing. 
 
Suddenly Menolly was no longer alone -- she was Mistress of Music and Ward of the dazzling fire dragons. 
 
The Dragonriders of Pern series continues in Dragonsinger.

Dragonsong

(Dragonriders of Pern: 4)

Let Anne McCaffrey, storyteller extraordinare and New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author, take you on a journey to a whole new world: Pern. A world of dragons and other worldly forces; a world of mighty power and ominous threat. If you like David Eddings, Brandon Sanderson and Douglas Adams, you will love this. 
 
'Anne McCaffrey, one of the queens of science fiction, knows exactly how to give her public what it wants' -- THE TIMES 
'Brilliantly conceived, written and researched' -- ***** Reader review 
'Never fails to enthral me' -- ***** Reader review 
'BRILLIANT. BRILLIANT. BRILLIANT' -- ***** Reader review 
'LOVED THIS BOOK - JUST COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN' -- ***** Reader review 
****************************************************************** 
MasterSinger Merelan and Harper Petiron were a brilliant and devoted couple. Merelan was the most outstanding soprano ever heard on Pern and was often the only one who could master Petiron's technically accomplished compositions. When, after a long and difficult birth, Robinton was born to them, it should have been the culmination of a unique partnership. 
 
But Petiron, almost from the first day, had no time for his son, refusing to see the incredible talent the boy possessed, ignoring his achievements and maintaining a strict and disapproving vigilance over him at all times. 
 
Carefully, secretly, the Harper Hall took over, training the greatest talent Pern had ever seen - a talent that was more than just musical - for Robinton was able to talk to the dragons of Pern. 
 
As constant sadness beset his personal life, so a startling career sent him like a meteor through the Holds and Weyrs of Pern until, as MasterHarper, he became part of the great plan to rescue Lessa from the brutal rule of Holder Fax - Lessa, who was to be the saviour of the dragons of Pern.

The Masterharper Of Pern

(Dragonriders of Pern: 15): an outstanding and awe-inspiring epic fantasy from one of the most influential fantasy and SF novelists of her generation

Sweet, bookish Neve Slater always plays by the rules. And the number one rule is that good-natured fat girls like her don't get guys like gorgeous, handsome William, heir to Neve's heart since university. But William's been in LA for three years, and Neve's been slimming down and re-inventing herself so that when he returns, he'll fall head over heels in love with the new, improved her. 
 
So she's not that interested in other men. Until her sister Celia points out that if Neve wants William to think she's an experienced love-goddess and not the fumbling, awkward girl he left behind, then she'd better get some, well, experience. 
 
What Neve needs is someone to show her the ropes, someone like Celia's colleague Max. Wicked, shallow, sexy Max. And since he's such a man-slut, and so not Neve's type, she certainly won't fall for him. Because William is the man for her... right? 
 
Somewhere between losing weight and losing her inhibitions, Neve's lost her heart - but to who?

You Don't Have to Say You Love Me

Catherine Cookson

Even in the heat of battle, Geoff Fulton, a professional soldier, would always carry with him the memory of the night he was on leave, when his timely intervention rescued fourteen-year-old Lizzie from the oldest of perils for a young girl, and thereby began to change her life. Lizzie came from a desperately poor home, ruled by a slatternly stepmother only too ready to profit from setting the girl along the same sordid road as her elder sister had been made to take. 
 
The year was 1937 and the place a rural enclave of County Durham, where Geoff had been born and raised in the old farmhouse that remained the home of his parents, even though most of its land had been sold off to neighbouring Low Tarn Hall. There his father still worked as estate manager for the demanding Ernest Bradford-Brown, self-made owner of this and many another property. Anxious about his increasingly handicapped mother and seeing in Lizzie a girl of spirit, Geoff concluded that she might, with care and training, solve his problem and benefit herself. So, after a quick visit to outface the protesting Mrs Gillespie, he was soon back home with his willing protegée. 
 
Then, in 1943, when Geoff returned wounded from the desert war, it was to find a Lizzie he hardly recognised - mature and highly attractive. For her part, she soon came to realise that he too had changed. Embittered by his experiences at war and rejected by Ernest Bradford-Brown's daughter Janis after a lengthy relationship long opposed by her irascible father, to Lizzie he now showed a ruthless streak that was at considerable odds with the caring man who had, all those years ago, rescued her from poverty and deprivation.

A Ruthless Need

Let Anne McCaffrey, storyteller extraordinare and New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author, take you on a journey to a whole new world: Pern and discover not only its flora, fauna, population and cultural hierarchy, but the history of an entire civilization. If you like David Eddings, David Gemmell and Douglas Adams, you will love this. 
 
**Finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Novel** 
** Winner of the HOMer Award for Science Fiction** 
**Finalist for the Locus Award for Best Novel** 
 
'Anne McCaffrey, one of the queens of science fiction, knows exactly how to give her public what it wants' - THE TIMES 
 
'You have many hours of happy reading ahead.' - ***** Reader Review 
 
'Would certainly recommend to anyone looking for a story to lose yourself in and come out the other end replete.' - ***** Reader Review 
 
******************************************************************** 
 
A science fiction classic from a master of the genre. 
 
When AIVAS -- the Artificial Intelligence Voice Address System -- was first discovered at Landing, the entire planet of Pern was awed at the knowledge it divulged. 
 
All the history of the people of Pern was there. Dragonholders, Lord Holders and Craftmasters crowded into the tiny inner room to learn the secrets of their beginnings. Ana AIVAS had other gifts to offer -- stored information of old crafts that had been forgotten, of medicine, music and technology. 
 
But the greatest promise AIVAS offered was the chance to rid Pern of Thread forever. All the great ones of Pern began the long and arduous task of learning just how to operate the incredible plan. 
 
This was a plan of such daring and epic proportions that both dragons and riders would be put at risk...

All The Weyrs Of Pern

(Dragonriders of Pern: 11): this is where it all began and could be where it all ends… from one of the most influential SFF writers of all time

The latest hot and funny love story from New York Times bestselling author Rachel Gibson, author of RESCUE ME and NOTHING BUT TROUBLE. 
 
It's been years since Vivian last saw Henry. She was scrubbing houses for a living, he was the gorgeous son of rich parents, not fit for the likes of her. 
 
She had vowed to get out of Charleston, become a big Hollywood star and stick it to the snooty girls who made her cry. Vivian got what she wanted – and more – but why does her glamorous life seem so trivial? 
 
Henry got out too . . . making it all the way to Wall Street, until his life took an unexpected twist and he traded in his cufflinks for carpentry back in Charleston. 
 
But escaping his heritage is nearly impossible. And now he’s come face-to-face with the one who got away. He’s not looking for love. He’s not even looking for sex . . . so why is resisting her the hardest thing he’s ever done? 
 
The one that got away just came back . . .

Just Kiss Me

Annie Ferguson was one of Manhattan's brightest young architects. But overnight she became mother to her sister's three orphaned children. It wasn't the life she'd planned, but one that rewarded her tenfold for every sacrifice she'd had to make. 
 
Now, at forty-two, with a satisfying career and a fulfilling family life, Annie has reconciled herself to being single. With the children now grown into young adults and confronting major challenges of their own, she is navigating a parent's difficult passage between lending them a hand and letting them go. 
 
Then, an accident leads Annie to a man who will tempt her to reconsider her belief that it isn't too late to fall in love, after all...

Family Ties

A compelling story of love and family from the billion copy bestseller

As soon as Octavia catches a glimpse of Jeremy in the nightclub, she knows she just has to have him. It doesn't matter that he's just got engaged to an old school friend of hers: good-natured Gussie. His look suggested bed rather than breakfast, and made her weak at the knees... 
 
Rich and stunning, Octavia is used to men falling in love with her at a moment's notice and an invitation to join Gussie and Jeremy for a cozy weekend on a canal barge comes like a gift from the gods. How can she fail to hook Jeremy? 
 
But the other part of the foursome is whizz-kid business tycoon Gareth Llewellyn, a swarthy Welshman with all the tenderness of a scrum-half...definitely not Octavia's type! 
 
And one way and another, he certainly manages to thwart her plans...

Octavia

Hey, pretty lady, haven't we met? 
 
Yes, beautiful thirty-something Autumn Haven has definitely met hockey-superstar Sam LeClaire before. Several years ago she had a passionate, Vegas-inspired fling with him involving getting hitched in an Elvis-themed wedding chapel and ending with her waking up in a hotel room: alone, heartbroken... and pregnant. 
 
So these days, reminding her ex-husband that she even exists isn't high on Autumn's to-do list. But they have a child, Conner, and suddenly Sam claims to have grown up, wanting to be more involved with his son. And handsome, drop-dead sexy Sam always gets what he wants. Being a good dad to Conner is one thing, but to her horror, Autumn realises she still finds it practically impossible to be around Sam without falling for his charms once again. And that's the last thing she wants... isn't it? 
 
Sexy, funny, unputdownable - there's no one quite like Rachel Gibson.

Any Man of Mine

Coco Barrington is the black sheep of her unusual Hollywood family. Having dropped out of law school, she works as a dog walker in North California. Her widowed mother, mega-bestselling author Florence Flowers, has just begun a secret romance with a man twenty-four years her junior, and her sister, Jane, one of Hollywood's top producers has lived with her partner, Liz, for 10 years 
 
When Coco reluctantly agrees to house-sit in Jane's luxurious home, she discovers how much things can change in just a matter of days. Jane's house comes complete with an unexpected houseguest: Leslie Baxter, a dashing but down-to-earth British actor who's fleeing his psycho ex-girlfriend. Their attraction is immediate. 
 
Suddenly Coco is seeing things differently...

One Day at a Time

Let Anne McCaffrey, storyteller extraordinare and New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author, take you on a journey to a whole new world: Pern. A world of dragons and other worldly forces; a world of mighty power and omnious threat.. If you like David Eddings, Brandon Sanderson and Douglas Adams, you will love this. 
 
"Anne McCaffrey, one of the queens of science fiction, knows exactly how to give her public what it wants" - THE TIMES 
"Do yourself a favour and read ANYTHING by this Author, you won't be sorry" -- ***** Reader review 
'I couldn't put it down!' -- ***** Reader review 
'A wondrous, spellbinding story!' -- ***** Reader review 
'This lady is the most amazing writer, once I start reading one of her books I'm completely drawn into the story and can't bear to put it down till it's finished' -- ***** Reader review 
 
******************************************************************************************************* 
For two hundred years there had been peace on Pern - but now the signs were ominous. Violent weather storms and erupting volcanos heralded the coming of the second Pass of Thread, when the red planet would rain down its horrifying harvest. No human or dragon or animal or plant was safe from the hideous death inflicted by Thread. 
 
Weyrs and Holds tried to prepare, but they had serious problems. Over the generations much of the old technology had been lost. AIVAS, the giant information bank, was buried under tons of volcanic ash, and valuable and skilled men and women had succumbed to disease and old age, taking with them the knowledge of a great civilization. 
 
They had to prepare as best they could, training the great flights of dragons and ensuring that the Lord Holders did their part by protecting their people in every possible way. Only Lord Chalkin, Holder of Bitra, refused to co-operate, not believing in Threadfall: he would do nothing to protect Bitra or its people. 
 
The Lord Holders and Weyrleaders were of one accord. Chalkin must be impeached and removed from his lands if the planet was to be made safe.

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