"You'll eat up every word of this spicy historical novel." — Real SimpleAuguste Escoffier (1846–1935) was the renowned French chef and restaurateur who gave birth to the way we eat today. The heart of Escoffier's story, however, lies in his love for two very different women: the beautiful, reckless actress Sarah Bernhardt and his wife, the poet Delphine Daffis. This lushly imagined novel transports us into Escoffier's private world, weaving a sensual tale ...

Take a slasher-movie actress, a Scottish circus clown, an FBI school dropout, a blind heiress, a junk-food-loving millionaire developer, and a Buddha-quoting bluesman, add a couple of murders in a normally sedate retirement community in south Florida, and you get an irresistible tale that’s part Carl Hiaasen and part Gabriel García Márquez. It all goes down as easy as a Key lime pie martini, the signature drink of the Bad Girl’s Bar & Grill.N. M. Kelby’s last three novels have rece...

The Fiction Writer's Guide to Creative SuccessFrom that first story idea to publication and beyond, being a novelist is an evolving process. The Constant Art of Being a Writer helps you discover the mindset and skills you need to confidently approach each aspect of writing and publishing.Award-winning novelist and short story writer N.M. Kelby explores core fiction writing techniques like idea generation, outlining, character devel...

One Christmas Eve, Whale Harbor is visited by a man who thinks he’s Jesus and claims to be looking for a game of poker. But, as usual, things are not quite what they seem. Having some version of the Lord in town for his birthday creates a strange effect on the locals: unlikely couples are breaking up and making up and making out; a luxury mobile home that belonged to an elderly couple from New Jersey (until they disappeared after a run-in with “the Lord”) is won by a down-on-his-luck gambl...

This compilation features a wonderful selection of travel stories from public radio's Selected Shorts, an award-winning series of classic and contemporary short fiction read by distinguished stage and screen actors and recorded live at Peter Norton Symphony Space in New York City. Hilarity, suspense and high drama are offered up in this new mix of tales of travel to locales familiar and exotic. Take a trip in a time machine with Madame Bovary, join a father and son on a sailing voyage that...

One Christmas Eve, Whale Harbor is visited by a man who thinks he’s Jesus and claims to be looking for a game of poker. But, as usual, things are not quite what they seem. Having some version of the Lord in town for his birthday creates a strange effect on the locals: unlikely couples are breaking up and making up and making out; a luxury mobile home that belonged to an elderly couple from New Jersey (until they disappeared after a run-in with “the Lord”) is won by a down-on-his-luck gambl...

A breathtaking novel, rare and moving, about the world's greatest chef and his unruly heart.WHITE TRUFFLES IN WINTER imagines the world of the remarkable French chef Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935), who changed how we eat through his legendary restaurants at the Savoy and the Ritz. A man of contradictions—kind yet imperious, food-obsessed yet rarely hungry—Escoffier was also torn between two women: the famous, beautiful, and reckless actress Sarah Bernhardt and his w...

Monsieur Perdu can prescribe the perfect book for a broken heart. But can he fix his own?Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can't seem to heal through literature is himself; he's still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappe...

A daring young woman will risk her life to find her destiny in this atmospheric, beautifully drawn historical debut novel—a tale of love, hope, and danger set during the First World War.Lady Elizabeth Neville-Ashford wants to travel the world, pursue a career, and marry for love. But in 1914, the stifling restrictions of aristocratic British society and her mother’s rigid expectations forbid Lilly from following her heart. When war breaks out, the spirited young woman seizes her ch...

This award-winning novel from the author of Memory Piece is a moving story of how a boy comes into his own when everything he loves is taken away, and how a mother learns to live with the mistakes of the past.One morning, Deming Guo’s mother, Polly, an undocumented Chinese immigrant, goes to her job at a nail salon—and never comes home. No one can find any trace of her.With his mother gone, eleven-year-old Deming is left mystified and bereft. Event...

He calls himself Alvin Limardo, and the job he has for Kinsey is cut-and-dried: locate a kid who's done him a favor and pass on a check for $25,000. Stiffed for the retainer, Kinsey finds out Limardo's real name is John Daggett...ex-con, ex-liar, ex-alchy, currently dead.The cops call it an accident but Kinsey differs. Look at his life! A lot of people hated him, from much-abused wives, to drug dealers out big money, to the families of five people he killed driving drunk. In short,...

“Spellbinding. Another outstanding novel by Kimberly Belle, masterfully written to lure you in and never let go.” — Samantha Downing, USA Today bestselling author of My Lovely WifeWhen Charlotte married the wealthy widower Paul, it caused a ripple of gossip in their small lakeside town. They have a charmed life together, despite the cruel whispers about her humble past and his first marriage. But ...