Two sisters, two very different lives... Victoria — a chubby little girl with blond hair, blue eyes and ordinary looks — has spent her whole life being second best to her perfect younger sister Gracie, being told that she is a disappointment to her parents, and unable to win their approval. While waging a ceaseless war against her weight, enduring her father's belittling comments about her appearance and seeing her academic achievements go unacknowledged, she knows that she has to get as far away from home as possible. Home is Los Angeles, where beauty and appearance are all. She moves to New York City, where she finds a job she loves — as a high school teacher — amongst the sleek and slinky of Manhattan. Her lifeline to her family is through Gracie — they couldn't be more different, but they love each other unconditionally. Victoria finds her own life in New York, while her battle with her weight continues. And then a chance encounter starts an incredible chain of events. But can Victoria really leave behind all the hurt, neglect and loss that she has tried to forget and step into a new and fulfilling future? And whatever the scales tell her, she is determined to cherish who she is.

In At Home, Bill Bryson applies the same irrepressible curiosity, irresistible wit, stylish prose and masterful storytelling that made A Short History of Nearly Everything one of the most lauded books of the last decade, and delivers one of the most entertaining and illuminating books ever written about the history of the way we live. Bill Bryson was struck one day by the thought that we devote a lot more time to studying the battles and wars of history than to considering what history really consists of: centuries of people quietly going about their daily business — eating, sleeping and merely endeavouring to get more comfortable. And that most of the key discoveries for humankind can be found in the very fabric of the houses in which we live.This inspired him to start a journey around his own house, an old rectory in Norfolk, wandering from room to room considering how the ordinary things in life came to be. Along the way he did a prodigious amount of research on the history of anything and everything, from architecture to electricity, from food preservation to epidemics, from the spice trade to the Eiffel Tower, from crinolines to toilets; and on the brilliant, creative and often eccentric minds behind them. And he discovered that, although there may seem to be nothing as unremarkable as our domestic lives, there is a huge amount of history, interest and excitement — and even a little danger — lurking in the corners of every home.

The cocaine industry is worth billions of dollars a year to the drug cartels who spread their evil seed across Western society. Its usage causes incalculable misery, poverty and death. Slowly, gradually, inexorably it is spreading... it is a blight which must be stopped. One man, Paul Devereaux, intellectual, dedicated, utterly ruthless and ex-CIA special ops, is given what seems like an impossible...

Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) thought motherhood would be a breeze and that having a daughter was a dream come true — a shopping friend for life! But it's trickier than she thought — two-year-old Minnie has a quite different approach to shopping. She can create havoc everywhere from Harrods to Harvey Nicks to her own christening. She hires taxis at random, her favourite word is 'Mine', and she's even started bidding for designer bags on ebay. On top of everything else, there's a big financial crisis. People are having to Cut Back — including all of Becky's personal shopping clients — and she and Luke are still living with Becky's Mum and Dad. To cheer everyone up, Becky decides to throw a surprise birthday party — on a budget — but then things become really complicated. Who will end up on the naughty step, who will get a gold star and will Becky's secret wishes come true?

The Cop Detective Sergeant Brant is tough and uncompromising, as sleazy and ruthless as the villains he's out to get. While his violent methods may be questionable, Brant always gets results. The Killer: a psychopath has started a killing spree across London. Calling himself 'The Blitz', his weapon of choice is a workman's hammer. And his victims are all cops. The Target: the police squad are desperate to catch the killer before he catches up with them. And Brant is top of his list...

It was Patrick's idea that they should have the tennis party. After all, he has the perfect setting — the White House, bought out of his bonuses as an investment banker. He hasn't actually told Caroline, his brash and beautiful wife, what the real reason for the party is. She is glad to welcome Stephen and Annie, their impoverished former neighbours, less glad to see newly wealthy Charles and his aristocratic wife Cressida, and barely able to tolerate the deadly competitive Don and Valerie. But as the first ball is served over the net it signals the start of two days of tempers, shocks, revelations, the arrival of an uninvited guest, and the realization that the weekend is about anything but tennis.

On a shimmeringly hot Sunday in May, Louise is at a neighbour's pool with her daughters — and glaring at her resentfully is her estranged husband Barnaby. While the children splash and shriek in the cool, blue waters, she lies blissfully back in the sun and dreams of Cassian, the charismatic new lawyer in her life. The day seems perfect. But suddenly the bliss is shattered. The consequences of a terrible accident develop into a drama of recriminations, jealousy and legal power-play. Friendships crumble, the village is split, and the needs of a child become secondary to the dangerous contest in which the grown-ups are engaged.

An early bestseller from the author of the fabulous Shopaholic series. Fleur is beautiful, unscrupulous, and has a large wardrobe of black designer suits. With the help of The Times announcements page she gatecrashes the funerals and memorial services of the wealthy, preying on rich, vulnerable men. She charms her way into their lives and onto their platinum credit cards, takes what she can, and then moves swiftly on. When Richard, a dull but wealthy businessman, meets Fleur at his wife's memorial service, he's bowled over. Gradually Fleur works her spell on Richard's family — transforming their lives while she moves in on their wealth. But she finds herself lingering longer than she meant to.

A tale of love, courage and family, interweaving the lives of two extraordinary women — a writer working in the heart of modern academia, and a daring young Sioux on an unforgettable journey in the eighteenth century. Someday is Brigitte Nicholson's watchword. Someday she and the man she loves, Ted, will clarify their relationship. Someday she'll have children. Someday she'll finish writing her book. Someday she'll stop playing it so safe... Then something happens that changes Brigitte's life completely. Struggling to plot a new course, Brigitte agrees to help her mother on a genealogy project — and makes a discovery that reaches back to the French aristocracy. How did Brigitte's ancestor, Wachiwi, a Dakota Sioux, travel from the Great Plains to the French court of Marie Antoinette? How did she come to marry into Brigitte's family? Brigitte decides to travel to South Dakota and Paris to follow the path of this exceptional young woman who lived so long ago. And as she begins to solve the puzzle of Wachiwi's Journey, her quiet life becomes an adventure of its own. A chance meeting and a new opportunity put Brigitte back at the heart of her own story. And with family Legacy coming to life around her, someday is no longer in the future. Instead, someday is now.

Forced by circumstance to seek refuge with Fleur, her young daughter, in the remote abbey of Sainte Marie-de-la-Mer, Juliette reinvents herself as Soeur Auguste under the tutelage of the kindly Abbess. But times are changing: the murder of Henri IV becomes the catalyst for massive upheaval in France. A new appointment is made, and Juliette's new life begins to unravel. For the new Abbess is Isabelle, the eleven-year-old child of a corrupt, noble family. Worse, Isabelle has brought with her a ghost from Juliette's past, masquerading as a cleric, a man she has every reason to fear...

Product Description It’s a hot, crowded train. Helen Summers is on her way to see her sister Jill to tell her an awful secret. Another passenger, Kerm, is on his way back from his grandfather’s funeral.They are strangers, jammed against each other in a crowded carriage. Noisy school kids fill the train — and three of them are about to cause a whole heap of trouble. In the chaos, Helen and Kerm are thrown together in a way they never expected.Catching a train? Read Strangers on the 16:02 and you’ll never feel the same way about your fellow passengers again. From the Back Cover It’s a hot, crowded train. Helen Summer is on her way to see her sister Jill to tell her an awful secret. Another passenger, Kerm, is on his way back from his grandfather’s funeral. They are strangers, jammed against each other in a crowded carriage. Noisy school kids fill the train — and three of them are about to cause a whole heap of trouble. In the chaos, Helen and Kerm are thrown together in a way they never expected. Catching a train? Read Strangers on the 16:02 and you’ll never feel the same way about your fellow passengers again.

Liz and Jonathan are in trouble. They can't sell their old house. Here they are, stuck with two mortgages, mounting debts and a miserable adolescent daughter who hadn't wanted to move anyway. Then it seems Marcus Witherstone will solve all their problems. He knows the perfect tenants from London who will rent their old house — glamorous PR girl Ginny and almost-famous Piers. Everything is going to be OK. Or is it? As Marcus starts to become involved with Liz, while her teenage daughter develops a passion for the lodgers, it seems that some deceptions are too close to home...

Swiss-born Hugues Martin has worked for the world's most prestigious hotels, so when he purchases a small, run-down place in New York, everyone thinks he must be crazy! He alone sees it for the rough diamond it is, transforming it into a beautiful boutique hotel of impeccable elegance, run with the precision and attention to detail he learnt through his hotelier training in Europe. The Hotel Vendome soon becomes renowned for its unparalleled service, and is the ideal New York refuge for the rich and famous, as well as a perfect home for Hugues' beautiful wife and their young daughter. But when his wife tires of his obsession for the hotel, she walks out on him for a notorious rock star, leaving Hugues a single parent to four-year-old Heloise. And so the kind hotel staff quickly embrace the little girl, becoming Heloise's family and she has a happy upbringing, adored by the fascinating milieu of high-profile guests. Hugues' commitment to his work has heavily influenced his daughter, so he is delighted when she decides she wants to follow in his footsteps — hotelier training in Switzerland. But for a father and daughter who have always relied solely on each other, how is Hugues going to cope with his daughter so far away? Will Heloise ever be able to accept another woman in her father's life? And will Hugues have to choose between them? As life marches quickly on, the close-knit unit at Hotel Vendome is forced to form new bonds, face the often bitter sweetness of life, and work out the true meaning of love and family against the backdrop of a glamorous hotel.

We are born with the instinct to create and invent. Indeed our ability to do so is what separates we humans from the rest of the animal world. The moment man first converted a stone to a useful tool set him on a relentless path toward greater control and power over his environment. But have our creative ideas always produced desirable results in line with their original good intention? How many ill-effects and dangers have they brought about along the way? And have they really served us well? Bad Ideas? traces the fascinating history of our attempts at self-improvement but also questions their value. The dubious consequences of the development of weaponry, for example, is self-evident from the primitive but lethal sling to the devastating nuclear bomb. But what of apparently more innocuous inventions such as farming, writing or medicine? All were initiated for the greater good but have nonetheless produced unforeseen fallout that continues to this day. What are their undesirable side-effects, how did they emerge over the years and where will they take us in the future? Written against a huge historical canvas, we join Robert Winston on a thrilling and inspiring journey from our earliest days to the present. We learn about the history of modern science, engineering, IT and much more, following the unexpected twists and turns of their progress. We meet the individuals who played a key role in their development, and share quirky anecdotes about their lives and brainwaves. Inspiring, unusual, and at times controversial, Bad Ideas? enables us by appreciating the past to look forward to the technological opportunities and ethical challenges of the future. In so doing it celebrates man's extraordinary capacity for achievement whilst warning us that his good intentions can sometimes end up as thoroughly bad ideas.

Frustrated with her stalled career as a broadcast journalist and uninspired by dating naive and needy guys her own age, Helen Croydon joins a website to seek an older man. She expects it to be just a few fun dates in some fancy bars but finds herself propelled into a world of Prada shopping trips, fine dining, first-class travel and fascinating, powerful men. Helen's soul-searching dating adventures take her to New York, Malaysia, highbrow sex parties, top ski resorts and London's finest hotels. When one of her dates alludes to a monthly allowance, she is shocked, but how long will her resistance to the idea last? Sugar Daddy Diaries is a confessional true story that questions modern ideals about relationships, examines the attraction of power and asks if money can ever be the currency of love.

The last thing Gwen Cooper wanted was another cat. She already had two, not to mention a phenomenally underpaying job and a recently broken heart. But Homer was no ordinary cat. He was a three week old, abandoned, eyeless kitten and Gwen was unable to resist his charm. It was love at first sight. Homer, tagged as an 'underachiever' from day one, quickly proved his doubters wrong revealing himself to be a tiny dare devil with a giant heart and a passion for adventure. The kitten they said would never be as independent or as playful as the other cats eagerly made friends with every human who crossed his path, scaled seven foot bookcases with ease and chased off an intruder in the middle of the night. He even survived being trapped alone for days after 9/11 in an apartment near the World Trade Centre. Homer's Odyssey is the story of one cats unswerving loyalty, his infinite capacity for love, his constant happiness in the face of all obstacles and his ability to inspire and transform Gwen's life. He kept her company through the ups and downs of daily life and by the time she had met the man she would marry Gwen realised Homer had taught her the most valuable lesson of all: love isn't something you see with your eyes.

There's a fine line between saving lives — and taking them. Nursing is everything to Ruth. Having lost her beloved grandmother to cancer, it breaks her heart to see a terminally ill patient suffering in the same way. So when the old lady begs Ruth to end her life, Ruth knows it is the kindest thing to do. But what she doesn't realize is that someone in the hospital has been watching her. Someone who is intent on making her pay for what she's done. Wracked with guilt, Ruth struggles to meet her tormentor's demands. But she is already way out of her depth. And things are about to take a very sinister turn...

When Lulu wakes up one morning and realises that she's in crisis, she knows she must rethink her life completely. She just needs more time — time to relax, time to have fun with her friends and, most importantly, time to find the perfect man who's eluded her for far too long. So she packs in her job as a therapist, ditches the swanky apartment, waves goodbye to her soft-top car and embraces a simpler life. But then a terrible tragedy strikes and Lulu realizes that it isn't that easy to escape the past after all. Can she deal with her unfinished business and make the perfect life she longs for?