Affairs, deceit, scheming, murder, and sex—it’s all here in this spicy, suspenseful read that will have fans of bestselling author Allison Hobbs both fascinated and disturbed by one hot murderess. Fiery vixen Silk Moreaux will do anything to get what she wants. Lying, stealing, and even killing don’t weigh on her conscience. But when a prophetess, Big Mama, warns her that she’ll come to a tragic end if she doesn’t change her wicked ways, Silk moves to a small town in Pennsylvania to reinvent herself. With a sweet, loving, childlike temperament, Silk endears herself to the community—especially the men, who slyly compete for her affection, bearing gifts and offering money for just a little bit of her time. She becomes especially close with grieving widower Raymond Dixon, who expects a hefty insurance payout. When Raymond receives his windfall, Silk rushes him to the altar. But when the money begins to dwindle, she devises a scheme—involving a handsome hustler, Tate Simmons—to ensure that she maintains the comfortable lifestyle she’s become accustomed to. Together, Silk and Tate plot a callous murder that could be their biggest payday ever. Can Silk’s greed ever be satisfied or will the karmic scale finally tip, resulting in her prophesied destruction?

* Winner of Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Historical Sequel * Nominated for RWA’s Golden Choice Award for Best Romance of the year The Desert Flower At seventeen, fiery Juliet Cameron fell passionately in love and married the perfect companion for the adventurous life she wanted to lead. Lord Ross Carlisle is handsome, dashing, and as eager to explore the world as she is. But social constraints and fear of an all consuming love that threatens to engulf her independent spirit send Juliet fleeing to the distant land where she was raised as a diplomat’s child. Now, a dozen years later, a gentleman’s promise sends Lord Ross on a dangerous rescue mission to Central Asia—and to a shocking reunion with his long estranged wife. Warily they join forces to cross the merciless desert to Bokhara, where Juliet’s army officer brother has been imprisoned. The fierce attraction that drew them together so many years before has never died. But if they succumb to passion, can either of them survive if they cannot heal their broken marriage? "Silk and Secrets fulfills every dream of your heart, every yearning of your soul, as a pair of memorable lovers find their way back to each other's arms . . . This remarkable novel of high adventure and unquenchable love is a stunning reading experience, one you will remember and cherish forever." —Romantic Times "Sheer brilliance. Silk and Secrets' historical vibrancy and vitality bring to mind Dorothy Dunnett with a dash of Indiana Jones... Ms. Putney's descriptions convey both the romanticism and the harshness of the dunes and their nomads. Traveling with a desert caravan, Ross and Juliet talk and fight and laugh, sometimes as the only way out of a tight spot, and I loved every word of it. I also loved Ross, a Lawrence of Arabia (oh heavens, Peter O'Toole) sans homosexuality crossed with Francis Crawford sans self-destructiveness - a true gentleman, and super, super hot. And Juliet was such a vital, complex woman - proud but not blinkered, hot-tempered but not TSTL, and humorous to boot—that damned if I didn't wish she were a) my friend, b) running for president...." —Desert Island Keeper The Silk Trilogy: Book #1: Silk and Shadows Book #2: Silk and Secrets Book #3: Veils of Silk

When a Chinese monk broke into a hidden cave in 1900, he uncovered one of the world’s great literary secrets: a time capsule from the ancient Silk Road. Inside, scrolls were piled from floor to ceiling, undisturbed for a thousand years. The gem within was the Diamond Sutra of AD 868. This key Buddhist teaching, made 500 years before Gutenberg inked his press, is the world’s oldest printed book. The Silk Road once linked China with the Mediterranean. It conveyed merchants, pilgrims and ideas. But its cultures and oases were swallowed by shifting sands. Central to the Silk Road’s rediscovery was a man named Aurel Stein, a Hungarian-born scholar and archaeologist employed by the British service. Undaunted by the vast Gobi Desert, Stein crossed thousands of desolate miles with his fox terrier Dash. Stein met the Chinese monk and secured the Diamond Sutra and much more. The scroll’s journey—by camel through arid desert, by boat to London’s curious scholars, by train to evade the bombs of World War II—merges an explorer’s adventures, political intrigue, and continued controversy. The Diamond Sutra has inspired Jack Kerouac and the Dalai Lama. Its journey has coincided with the growing appeal of Buddhism in the West. As the Gutenberg Age cedes to the Google Age, the survival of the Silk Road’s greatest treasure is testament to the endurance of the written word.

A USA TODAY BESTSELLER! "A powerful debut that proves the threads that interweave our lives can withstand time and any tide, and bind our hearts forever."—Susanna Kearsley, New York Times bestselling author of Belleweather and The Vanished Days A historical novel inspired by true events, Kelli Estes's brilliant and atmospheric debut is a poignant tale of two women determined to do the right thing, highlighting the power of our own stories. The smallest items can hold centuries of secrets... While exploring her aunt's island estate, Inara Erickson is captivated by an elaborately stitched piece of fabric hidden in the house. The truth behind the silk sleeve dated back to 1886, when Mei Lien, the lone survivor of a cruel purge of the Chinese in Seattle found refuge on Orcas Island and shared her tragic experience by embroidering it. As Inara peels back layer upon layer of the centuries of secrets the sleeve holds, her life becomes interwoven with that of Mei Lein. Through the stories Mei Lein tells in silk, Inara uncovers a tragic truth that will shake her family to its core—and force her to make an impossible choice. Should she bring shame to her family and risk everything by telling the truth, or tell no one and dishonor Mei Lien's memory? A touching and tender book for fans of Marie Benedict, Susanna Kearsley, and Duncan Jepson, The Girl Who Wrote in Silk is a dual-time period novel that explores how a delicate piece of silk interweaves the past and the present, reminding us that today's actions have far reaching implications. Praise for The Girl Who Wrote in Silk: "A beautiful, elegiac novel, as finely and delicately woven as the title suggests. Kelli Estes spins a spellbinding tale that illuminates the past in all its brutality and beauty, and the humanity that binds us all together." —Susan Wiggs, New York Times bestselling author of The Beekeeper's Ball "A touching and tender story about discovering the past to bring peace to the present." —Duncan Jepson, author of All the Flowers in Shanghai "Vibrant and tragic, The Girl Who Wrote in Silk explores a horrific, little-known era in our nation's history. Estes sensitively alternates between Mei Lien, a young Chinese-American girl who lived in the late 1800s, and Inara, a modern recent college grad who sets Mei Lien's story free." —Margaret Dilloway, author of How to Be an American Housewife and Sisters of Heart and Snow

Victoria has a secret... Reclusive designer Victoria Andrews hasn't gone outside in five years, though she yearns to escape the prison of her house. She designs sensual lingerie for the most exclusive dressmaker in London, although she has never known a man's touch. A Duke in disguise... Wounded and stranded in Scotland, Jonathan Nottoway, the Duke of Worthingstone, is avoiding the murderous scandal that darkened his family name. As his wounds heal, he spends several sensual nights with the beautiful seamstress who knows nothing of his true identity. A passionate awakening... Can a woman trapped by her emotional scars be able to love a duke, when it means abandoning her safe world to embrace the life of a duchess?

This gorgeously illustrated oversized book brings the history and cultures of the Silk Road alive -- from its beginnings to the present day -- covering more than 5000 years.

Four young Englishwomen retrace the ancient Silk Road--4,500 miles in eight months by horse and camel.

One of the world's most popular writers on pets and wildlife takes us on an exhilarating journey through the animal kingdom and shows how the domestication of animals transformed the entire course of civilisation.

"Insects are seldom mentioned in history texts, yet they significantly shaped human history. The Silken Thread: Five Insects and Their Impacts on History tells the stories of just five insects, tied together by a thread originating in the Silk Roads of Asia, and how they have impacted our world. Silkworms have been farmed to produce silk for millennia, creating a history of empires and cultural exchanges; Silk Roads connected East to West, generating trade centers and transferring ideas, philosophies, and religions. The western honey bee feeds countless people, and their crop pollination is worth billions of dollars. Fleas and lice carried bacteria that caused three major plague pandemics, moved along the Silk Roads from Central Asia. Bacteria carried by insects left their ancient clues as DNA embedded in victims' teeth. Lice caused outbreaks of typhus, especially in crowded conditions such as prisons and concentration camps. Typhus aggravated the effects of the Irish potato famine, and Irish refugees took typhus to North America. Yellow fever was transported to the Americas via the trans-Atlantic slave trade, taking and devaluing the lives of millions of Africans. Slaves were brought to the Americas to reduce labor costs in the cultivation of sugarcane, which was itself transported from south Asia along the Silk Roads. Yellow fever caused panic in the United States in the 1700s and 1800s as the virus and its mosquito vector migrated from the Caribbean. Constructing the Panama Canal required defeating mosquitoes that transmitted yellow fever. The silken thread runs through and ties together these five insects and their impacts on history"--