Showing results by publisher "----RM Alexander" in City Life

England, 1940. Only given two days leave after barely escaping Nazi troops in Paris, Lily Baker visits her fiancé’s family and is dismayed to learn he’s still missing in action. And going from an exciting overseas telephonist post to a routine office assignment leaves her bored… until the Blitz begins. Joining the Air Raid Protection service, Lily’s perilous new role puts her on the chaotic frontlines of deadly shelling and scared crowds turning hostile. But despite her heroism, she is plagued by guilt when she starts feeling attracted to a fellow A.R.P. member.

England, 1941. Reunited briefly with her husband-to-be before he returns to fighting, Lily Baker now finds her mundane army office work dreary. But when her boss asks her to keep watch on the happenings at the depot, she quickly suspects a new weapons supplier of fraud. As she trains her sharp eye on the potential cheat, she agrees to help an unmarried colleague with an unexpected pregnancy. But when, without evidence, she is accused of being the one with child, she faces hard decisions.

1985. Uprooted from her home in Bangladesh, 18-year-old Nazneen is sent to London for an arranged marriage with a much older man. Her new life is strange and bewildering - the busy streets and crowded tower blocks of the East End are a world away from the rural village she grew up in, and she struggles to adapt to living with her self-important husband, Chanu. Back in Bangladesh, Nazneen's sister Hasina has eloped with the man she loves, and been disowned by her family.

Lottie and Nick once had a dream marriage, but a series of failed IVF attempts has left Lottie feeling insecure, and her paranoia is further stoked by the arrival of a new starter at Nick’s firm. Nuala is the spitting image of a younger, more attractive Lottie, and Nick is paying her a lot of attention. But then Lottie discovers she’s pregnant. A surprise getaway to their country cottage to celebrate Nick’s birthday will provide the perfect backdrop to give him the news and start to heal the rifts in their relationship.

Like Jim Sheridan’s acclaimed movie, In America, Me and Five Guys tells the story of a first-generation immigrant family’s life in New York, relating both the good and the bad events with bold, straightforward charm. The listeners first meets Frankie, the winsome narrator, in the birth canal on the day JFK is shot. Her Irish father is in the bar, drinking away his sorrow at the president’s murder. Her Italian mother, who is delighted to finally have a daughter, chooses an Italian name for her, Francesca.

Life can change in the blink of an eye. That's a truth Andy Slater learns as a young man in 1982, taking the Chicago "L" to work every morning. Andy's life is laid out before him: a good job, marriage to his female college sweetheart, and the white picket fence existence he believes in. But when he sees Carlos Castillo for the first time, Carlos’ dark eyes and Latin appeal mesmerize him. Flash forward to present day. Andy is comfortable but alone, and has never forgotten the powerful pull of Carlos’ gaze on the "L" train. He vows to find him once more, hoping for a second chance.

On the eve of the Occupy Wall Street protests, C is flat broke. Once a renowned textile artist, she’s now the sole proprietor of an arts supply store in Lower Manhattan. Divorced, alone, at loose ends, C is stuck with a struggling business, a stack of bills, a new erotic interest in her oldest girlfriend, and a persistent hallucination in the form of a rogue garden gnome with a pointed interest in systems collapse. Replaying recent history through a distorting glass, The Visitors charts the last days of a broken status quo as the path is cleared for something new.

Since moving to a new city, once-adventurous Steph is doing her best to prove to her friends and family back home that her life is as fulfilling and envy-inducing as ever. The truth? She is broke and has found that making new friends isn't as easy as she expected. Eric has lost his way in life since his breakup with perfect Clarissa. Now that all his friends are buying homes, getting married and starting families, Eric is still living in a house share, feeling left behind. Eric and Steph are strangers, but with one connection - they live on the same street, on either side of number 26.

The story opens in the shadow of the new World Trade Center, on July 4, 1976, when students George and Anna meet on the weed- and wine-fueled night of the nation’s Bicentennial celebration. George, haunted by his upbringing, instantly falls for the sensual, magnetic Anna. Soon, they couple up, dropping acid, swapping music, exploring the city and each other. Yet their romance is short-lived, and they go their own ways.

It’s October in Montreal, 2002, and winter is coming on fast. Past due on his first freelance gig and ensnared in lies to his family and friends, a graphic design student with a gambling addiction goes after the first job that promises a paycheck: dishwasher at the sophisticated La Trattoria. Though he feels out of place in the posh dining room, warned by the manager not to enter through the front and coolly assessed by the waitstaff in their tailored shirts, nothing could have prepared him for the tension and noise of the kitchen, or the dishpit’s clamor and steam.

Nel dicembre del 1957 un lungo inverno di cenere e ombra avvolge Barcellona e i suoi vicoli oscuri. La città sta ancora cercando di uscire dalla miseria del dopoguerra, e solo per i bambini, e per coloro che hanno imparato a dimenticare, il Natale conserva intatta la sua atmosfera magica, carica di speranza. Daniel Sempere - il memorabile protagonista di "L'ombra del vento" è ormai un uomo sposato e dirige la libreria di famiglia assieme al padre e al fedele Fermín con cui ha stretto una solida amicizia.

Die kleinen Dinge, das sind der Streifen auf einem Wespenflügel, roter Nagellack auf den Fingern eines Schreiners, die geballte Faust auf einer Motorhaube. Die großen Dinge dagegen lauern unausgesprochen im Innern. Das wissen die siebenjährigen Zwillinge Rahel und Estha, und sie wissen auch, dass sich alles an einem einzigen Tag verändern kann. Und sie werden recht behalten. Als Rahel nach vielen Jahren zurückkehrt in ihr Heimatdorf im südindischen Kerala, ist nichts mehr, wie es einst war. Die Konservenfabrik der Familie verfallen, die geliebte Mutter tot, der Zwillingsbruder verstummt.

Organised. Neat. Lonely. Kathy Simmonds is alone at Christmas this year, after her beloved husband John passed away a few months ago. She keeps her home spick and span, struggling with her grief for a family she has lost or lost touch with. But a chance phone call from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home opens the door to something new. She meets Scruff, a messy Jack Russell with a heart of gold who has been left for dead on the streets of London.

Helen Clapp is a physics professor. She doesn't believe in pseudoscience or time travel and especially not in ghosts. So when she gets a missed call from Charlie, her closest friend from university with whom she hasn't spoken in over a year, Helen thinks there must be some mistake. Because Charlie died two days ago. Then when her young son, Jack, claims to have seen Charlie in their house just the other day, Helen begins to have doubts.

Phoebe and Sam meet by chance at St Pancras station. Heading in opposite directions, both seeking their own adventures, meeting the love of their lives wasn’t part of the plan. So they make a promise: to meet again in the same place in 12 months' time if they still want to be together. But is life ever as simple as that? This is a story of what-ifs and maybes - and how one decision can change your life forever....

Audrey Wade longs to escape her domineering father and the bleak streets of post-war Yorkshire. Hollywood glitters with glamour, freedom, and the promise of a life with her best friend Freddie. But when Freddie abandons her, Audrey is left to chase her dreams alone. Rex Trent is more than Hollywood’s leading man. Charismatic and dangerously handsome, he’s adored by millions and watched by powerful enemies in a paranoid 1950s America. One wrong move could destroy him. When Rex proposes, Audrey is swept into Hollywood’s glamour and high-stakes secrets.

Self-proclaimed hot mess Scout Myers is determined to prove she’s got her act together. Raised by grandparents who saw her as her wayward mother’s wayward daughter, Scout’s used to being written off. So when the opportunity for a promotion arises at Paws in the City, the talent agency where she works, Scout is desperate to rise to the occasion. With shared custody of her little sister also on the line, Scout can’t afford a single mistake…like suddenly needing a canine stand-in for an important photoshoot. Luckily (or not) she knows the owner of the perfect pup replacement....

The Trimmed Lamp and Other Stories of the Four Million by O. Henry includes "The Trimmed Lamp", "A Madison Square Arabian Night", "The Rubaiyat of a Scotch Highball", "The Pendulum", "Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen", "The Assessor of Success", "The Buyer from Cactus City", "The Badge of Policeman O'Roon", "Brickdust Row", "The Making of a New Yorker", "Vanity and Some Sables", "The Social Triangle", "The Purple Dress", "The Foreign Policy of Company 99", "The Lost Blend", "A Harlem Tragedy", "The Guilty Party—An East Side Tragedy", "According to Their Lights", and more.

It’s 2003, and artist Dawn Levit is stuck. A bookbinder who works in conservation at the Met, she spends her free time scouting the city’s street art, hoping something might spark inspiration. Instead, everything looks like a dead end. And art isn’t the only thing that feels wrong: wherever she turns, her gender identity clashes with the rest of her life. Her relationship, once anchored by shared queerness, is falling apart as her boyfriend Lukas increasingly seems to be attracted to Dawn only when she’s at her most masculine.

When Nora landed an editorial assistant role at Parsons Press she thought it would be The Dream Job. But after five years of admin and taking lunch orders, Nora has come to the conclusion: Dream Jobs do not exist. With her life spiralling and unable to afford her rent, Nora does the only thing she can think of and starts freelancing for a rival publisher. But when Andrew Santos, a bestselling author (who also happens to be quite attractive), is thrown into Nora’s life, she must decide where her loyalties lie, and whether she’s ready to choose herself and her future over her job.