Showing results for "Second" in Literature & Fiction

Dru Rae gave up everything to get away from her mafioso family. All she wanted was a quiet life with a few friends and the woman she knew in her heart was out there. Marina Summit was an uber successful realtor in a thriving housing market, and she was too busy for love. As a house stager on the first day of her new job, Dru was waiting to meet the realtor for a final walk through. Marina was set to approve a new listing when she went to check on the house staging. She wasn't prepared for what happened to her heart when she saw the woman at the top of the stairs.

Auctioneer Rilke has been trying to stay out of trouble, keeping his life more or less respectable. Business has been slow at Bowery Auctions, so when an old friend, Jojo, gives Rilke a tip-off for a house clearance, life seems to be looking up. The next day Jojo washes up dead. Jojo liked Grindr hook-ups and recreational drugs - is that the reason the police won't investigate? And if Rilke doesn't find out what happened to Jojo, who will?

Aoife Brennan could blame karma for her lack of a love life. Payback for the once-in-a-lifetime love that she let slip through her fingers ten years ago. In reality, it’s The Albert, the bistro-by-day, bar-by-night success, that keeps her too busy to think about her aching, empty heart. Most of the time.

Nate and his teenage daughter need a fresh start, so they move back to the village where he grew up. Nate’s transgender and not used to disclosing his history, so it’s hard living where people knew him before. When Nate reconnects with Jack - his best friend from school and unrequited crush - his feelings return as strong as ever.

Oona, a slave beaten and tortured, is saved from certain death by a pirate queen. Nurtured and nursed back to health by Red Meera, Oona becomes the Second Queen of the Westermen, the largest fighting force in the known world. When Meera falls near death from poison, Oona becomes First Queen. Will she use her newfound power to avenge herself on her former master? Indeed, she will - him and those who originally took her. The wrath of the Westermen is about to fall on the slave masters. There will be no mercy.

Bad childhood memories start to resurface when Hannah Hall’s daughter Rosie begins school. To make matters more complicated, Hannah has been steadfastly ignoring the obvious truth that Rosie is intellectually gifted and wise beyond her years. In the crumbling old school, she meets Rosie’s new teacher, Alice Spencer, who has moved from the city to teach in the small coastal town of Fairlight. Alice immediately sees Rosie’s potential and embarks on developing an educational curriculum to suit Rosie’s needs, to Hannah’s dismay.

Twenty years ago, I made a promise. If anything ever happened to Marc - my best friend - I'd step up and take care of his wife and baby son. I never thought I'd have to honor it. Never even dreamed that something would happen to him. He was an unyielding presence in my life. Always solid. Always there. And now he's dead. Murdered in cold blood. His wife, Lindy, is hanging in there. But his son, Mason, isn't coping very well at all. It's gotten so bad that he may have to postpone his final semester of university.

I don’t think I deserve a second chance. Eight years ago, my best friend Griff walked out of my life. It wasn’t his fault. He came out of the closet and his parents told him to get lost. He was looking to me for a plan, some support - but I let him down. I gave up hoping that he would get in touch, even just to let me know he was alright. So when I saw him back in town scoping out real estate for his art gallery, I was shocked - and so damn hopeful I couldn’t think straight. I’ll do anything it takes to stand up for him - even if it costs me my job.

As Hurricane Katrina ravages New Orleans, attorney Tully Badeaux's life follows suit when betrayal leads to heartbreak. Tully Gaston Badeaux might be successful in the courtroom but at home her relationships with her partner, Dr. Jessica Badeaux, and their children are falling apart.

When his best friend overdoses, Christie resolves to take a break from the city. He heads to a small house in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to rest, recoup, and reflect. But life in the country is boring despite glimpses of the hunky silver fox next door. When Christie's creativity latches onto cooking, he decides to approach his widower neighbor with a plan to share meals and grocery expenses. David agrees, and soon the odd couple finds they really enjoy spending time together.

There are two things in this world I know to be true: I have terrible taste in men, and all alphas are jerks. You’d think my own pack kicking me out would’ve been a clue to stay away from alphas. Omegas are rare. We’re smaller, weaker, can’t usually get pregnant...all valid reasons for disowning your own family, right? But it only took one night for stupidly handsome Troy Miyu to make me forget all the reasons I should’ve known better. One night to start falling for him, to realize it wasn’t just amazing chemistry we shared, but a true mate bond.

Ella Gallaher wants to be taken seriously. She has lived a privileged life, but there's more to her than shopping all day and partying all night. She wants a second chance at life to show she can make a difference. The owners at Make It Easy Designs recognize the promise in Ella and ask her to join them. She is well on her way to a meaningful career when Gia Augustino comes to live with her Aunt Dru. Ella finds a friend in Gia who sees her for the woman she wants to be. However, Gia's determined to put a little fun back into Ella's too-serious life.

Missy’s life was at a crossroads. Divorced, alone, and needing a fresh start, she took a position at a small college in the California mountains as an associate theater professor. Yet, her future still felt very uncertain. The last thing on her mind was finding love again, and she never expected to find it with another woman.

The Charted Systems are in pieces. Mercy's Pledge is destroyed, and her captain dead. With no homes to return to, the remaining crew sets off on a journey to find the mythical planet of Ardulum - a planet where Emn might find her people, and Neek the answers she's long sought. Finding the planet, however, brings a host of uncomfortable truths about Ardulum's vision for the galaxy and Neek's role in a religion that refuses to release her.

Success for Marc Ryder means riding out eight seconds on the back of an angry rodeo bull and avoiding getting roped into a relationship with the pretty women she meets along the way. She's exactly the type of wild and reckless person artist Bridgette LeRoy has avoided since the senseless death of her brother. But circumstances throw them together, and Bridgette is drawn into a tumultuous ride of attraction, passion, and denial.

It was like in the movies: Their eyes met from across the room, and they fell in love. Nine years later, Chess and André are the envy of all their friends. But this is real life...and things are never what they seem. Still, waters run deep - the better to hide Chess’s ugly past. He’s worked hard to bury the troubled teen he once was and is living a life he never imagined possible. André’s love is a gift that makes him believe in second chances.

Reformed gangster Luis falls hard for his boss. When friendship turns to love, it’s up to Paolo to convince him second chances are worth the pain. Luis Pope is back on the street after a six-year stretch in prison, but life on the outside seems just out of reach, especially when the whole neighborhood knows his face for all the wrong reasons. Paolo’s temper makes it hard to keep staff, and he knows Luis’ rep all too well. But his nonno believes in redemption, and Luis isn’t the tough guy Paolo remembers.

Lieutenant Jazz Perry finds a young girl wandering the downtown streets alone late at night. As the child becomes attached to her, Jazz is reminded of her own experiences in foster care and takes a personal interest even when she knows she should maintain professional distance. Social worker Emory Blake is good at her job helping children in challenging situations. She believes in the system and knows it works if you let it. When Jazz starts interfering in the case and bypassing the rules, Emory is torn between her responsibilities and an unwelcome attraction she can’t deny.

Elliot Hansen never falls in love with the right guy, so his friends have decided to take that over. Meet Elliot's perfect man: 1. Those abs. 2. That V. But a boyfriend should be more than the sum of his parts. Shouldn't he? Elliot's not so sure once sexy NYPD Detective Win Rogers bursts into his bedroom to apprehend a criminal. A new series with a touch of angst and a whole lot of swoon.

Malachi has made a choice. Meadow, the enigmatic magi and mentor in plant magic, is now Malachi's full-time teacher. Under her guidance, Malachi is ready to advance his magic and begin learning the spells to help himself transition. As he works to grow his power and achieve this goal, he finds himself facing off against opposition arranged by a mysterious force. Old enemies and rivals raise their heads, while new ones rise up, and Malachi finds himself facing new challenges. All the while, the Idyll-Flume, a competition for the best of the best young mages, looms on the horizon.