A Reluctant Hero is the first biography of Captain Robert Ryder V.C. Royal Navy (1908-1986) one of the greatest naval heroes of the Second World War. Ryder led the audacious raid on St Nazaire in March 1942 which completely destroyed the ports dry dock depriving the Germans mighty pocket battleships of its use for the remainder of the war. The raid was one of the most brilliantly-executed combined operations of the war much of the credit for which must go to Ryders outstanding planning & courageous leadership. He received one of five Victoria Crosses awarded for the operation. Although Ryders name will be forever linked with the raid on St Nazaire the rest of his war service was no less distinguished. Torpedoed in a Q ship in 1940 he was rescued after clinging to a piece of wreckage for four days. After St Nazaire he was heavily involved in the planning of combined operations & took part in the ill-fated raid on Dieppe. On D Day he lead a naval assault party in the first wave of the invasion. For the rest of the war Ryder commanded a destroyer on the Arctic convoys. Ryders naval career before the war was as The Times put it on his death unorthodox. In 1933-34 he as captain & four other young naval officers sailed the Tal-Mo-Shan a 54 food ketch from Hong Kong to England via the Panama Canal in a voyage lasting exactly a year an outstanding achievement. Recently there has been press speculation that the voyage was a cover for naval espionage in Japanese waters. The Tal-Mo-Shan herself has now acquired international celebrity as a result of her sail-on part in the Abba film Mamma Mia. Between 1934 & 1937 Ryder served in the Antarctic as captain of the Penola the base ship of the British Graham Lane Expedition. His formidable navigation & seamanship was largely responsible for the Penola which was ill-adapted to polar conditions surviving her ordeal intact. Ryder also took part in some of the earliest ocean yacht races including the second Fastnet race in 1926. ...

It's been months since Rafel ventured over Barl's Mountains into the unknown in a desperate bid to seek help. With his father's Weather Magic exhausted & Lur ravaged by polluting magics there seemed no other hope. Now this too has died. Only Deenie believes Rafel still lives sensing her brother in tortured dreams. She also knows she must try to find him as only Rafel's talents could heal their l&. The prospect terrifies Deenie yet she sees no other choice. But she finds the lands beyond Lur blighted with lawlessness & chaos
- & here Deenie & her companion Charis find the dark sorcerer Morg's deadly legacy. As they travel they learn of a dangerous new power in the l&. Deenie comes to suspect that not only is her brother involved but that the evil their father destroyed is somehow reborn. & if she can't save Rafel then through him Morg's vast power could once again command their world. THE RELUCTANT MAGE is the sequel to THE PRODIGAL MAGE & set in the same world as Karen Miller's bestselling debut THE INNOCENT MAGE. With her cast of unforgettable characters & masterful storytelling Karen Miller has once again created an irresistible drama of political intrigue & magical adventure.
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Harper lost his lifemate Jenny during her turn & has blamed himself for her death ever since so hes rather happy for the distraction when Tiny & Mirabeau arrive with a young immortal in tow. Stephanie Mc Gill is a young newly turned immortal who is being hunted by a mad no-fanger named Leonius. When Anders & Drina Argenis (Argeneau) arrive to help Harper finds himself working with the beautiful young Spanish woman. But things get interesting when Stephanie decides to take on the role of cupid & bring Drina & a reluctant Harper together. How much trouble could a newly turned teenage vamp be? ...

Stepping into the wrong carriage at a Sussex village Elinor Rochdale is swept up in a thrilling & dangerous adventure. Overnight the would-be governess becomes mistress of a ruined estate & partner in a secret conspiracy to save a family's name. By midnight she is a bride by dawn a widow. A typically thrilling & sweeping tale of romance & tragedy The Reluctant Widow is Georgette Heyer at her best
- the undisputed queen of historical romance.
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Like many people Carla Mc Kay thought that yoga was for health nuts only. Things changed however when a friend persuaded her to give it try for a laugh. She did laugh
- throughout the class. But the practice was also different from what she had expected. In The Reluctant Yogi she describes how she got hooked over time & asks experts what yoga does for us. She discovered that research shows yoga has something for everyone of every shape & size young to old: it will tone your body calm your mind make you sleep better strengthen your bones boost your immune system & even make you lose weight. Learning her asanas from her pranayama Carla finds along the way how you too can change your life with yoga.
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Merrily Watkins parish priest single mum & Deliverance Consultant to the Diocese of Hereford heads for the Malvern Hills to investigate an alleged paranormal dimension to a spate of road accidents in the sleepy village of Wychehill. Merrily is called in when two people are killed in a head-on crash that is also linked to the revamped local pub which it seems has injected the valley with a shattering strobing surge of inner-city nightlife.. .and drugs. When a dealer is found savagely murdered below the great earthen hillfort of Herefordshire Beacon police ask: is it a ritual killing a gangland disposal or a cry of outrage? As Merrily & the police follow separate paths towards the truth Merrilys teenage daughter Jane faces the consequences of her own obsession with a possibly prehistoric site in their home village of Ledwardine. Until on a night of frenzied violence in a place at the centre of an ancient universal mystery the final shocking connections are made. ...

The Calder valley west of Halifax was the last ditch of Elmet the last British Celtic kingdom to fall to the Angles. For centuries it was considered a more or less uninhabitable wilderness a notorious refuge for criminals a hide-out for refugees. Then in the early 1800s it became the cradle for the Industrial Revolution in textiles & the upper Calder became the hardest-worked river in England. Throughout my lifetime since 1930 I have watched the mills of the region & their attendant chapels die. Within the last fifteen years the end has come. They are now virtually dead & the population of the valley & the hillsides so rooted for so long is changing rapidly". (Ted Hughes Preface to " Remains of Elmet" (1979). Ted Hughes remarkable pennine sequence celebrates the area where he spent his early childhood. It mixes social political religious & historical matter
- a tapestry rich in the personal & poetic investment of a landscape that both creates & is inured to its people whose moors Are a stage for the performance of heaven. Any audience is incidental. " Remains of Elmet" is one of Hughes most personal & enduring achievements."
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A stunning novel of female friendship forbidden love & evolution from the bestselling author of Girl with a Pearl Earring. ...

Eliza is ousted by her new stepmother from her family & finally makes her way to London
- only to be thrown straight into prison
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In this inspiring look at the lives of women in the Bible bestselling author Elizabeth George reveals refreshing models of faith for today. Stories about Eve Deborah Sarah Ruth Mary & other women from Scripture offer testimonies of changed lives & reflections on the remarkable strengths God cultivates in women who love Him
- Jocebed is an example of a remarkable mother Deborahs life is an illustration of wisdom Ruth & Naomi model pure devotion & Hannah demonstrates sacrifice. Conveying the assurance of Gods love The Remarkable Women of the Bible" provides nourishment from a womans point of view & connects todays woman with the source of fulfillment that sustained her sisters in Bible times
- a relationship with God. It is adapted from " Women Who Loved God"."

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