In this the bind up of The Initiation & The Captive Part 1 is the start of Cassies story. Forced to move from sunny California to gloomy New England Cassie is homesick
- until she forms a bond with a group of teenagers at her school. This clique rules the school
- no one dare cross them
- but Cassie feels a strange kinship with them & when she is initiated into their secret circle she is both terrified & thrilled to be part of a coven of witches that have controlled New Salem for hundreds of years... But then Cassie falls in love. Now she has a tough decision to make: does she walk away or does she step over to the dark side?


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This fascinating book provides a rare glimpse into a world where fairies & elves fauns & wraiths & other ethereal beings were considered to be as real as any man or woman of the times. Written by a Scottish clergyman in 1692 (and later edited by the great folklorist Andrew Lang) the book has long interested scholars & charmed general readers alike. With the text newly edited & enhanced with appropriate illustrations this new edition makes a wonderful gift book for anyone fascinated by the magical world of fairies & their kin. ...

Anna a young countess has lived in the glittering city of St Petersburg all her life in an ice-blue palace overlooking the River Neva. But when revolution tears Russia apart her now-penniless family is forced to flee to Engl&. Armed with an out-of-date book on housekeeping Anna determines to become a housemaid & she finds work at the Earl of Westerholmes crumbling but magnificent mansion. The staff & the family are sure there is something not quite right about their new maid -- but she soon wins them over with her warmth & dedication. Then the young Earl returns home from the war -- & Anna falls hopelessly in love. But they can never be together: Rupert is engaged to the snobbish & awful Muriel -- & anyway Anna is only a servant. Or so everybody thinks.. . ...

Ben has been saving for weeks to buy the Mongolian fighting fish hes seen in the local pet shop. But on entering Mr Dodds Pet Emporium a small cat hooks his claws into Bens jumper & begs to be bought. The cat tells Ben that Mr Dodds is importing rare magical beasts into this world & he needs his help to save them. Like fish out of water they are dying in this world away from their magical l&. A parallel world Eidolon exists as a neighbour to our own & is filled with magic & magical creatures like dragons selkies sabre-toothed tigers & faeries. With his new friend Iggy the talking cat Ben travels between the worlds & helps some of these amazing creatures return home. On his journey he makes loyal friends encounters danger & adventure & discovers his own royal lineage in the Secret Country... ...

Bavaria 1886 King Ludwig II infamous for his eccentric behavior is declared insane by his government & removed from his throne. A day later Ludwig's corpse washes up in the shallows of Lake Starnberg. Rumours about the cause of the tragedy abound but few people know why Ludwig was really killed. Or what secret was silenced by his death. Germany present day.. . Hidden among the crates in a newly discovered Nazi bunker are documents stamped with a black swan the insignia of the murdered king. As a favour to a friend Jonathon Payne & David Jones fly to Bavaria to protect the documents but soon face a life-or-death battle against an unknown enemy. From the depths of the Black Forest to the water canals underneath Ludwig's castles the duo must solve the mystery behind the king's death or share his tragic fate. ...

Loss Phyllis Kimber's entire future is called into question after her father is killed in Earl Redfern's employ. But the earl knows something about Phyllis that means she will always be looked after. Lies As lady's maid to Martha Phyllis is the American heiress's only confidant in England: she knows Martha doesn't love the recently widowed Lord Melton the man Martha's socially ambitious father is determined she marries but there's another secret
- a secret that makes Phyllis give up everything to protect her friend. Loyalty Martha begins making preparations to return to America with Phyllis her father & new husband on the Titanic but the burden of deception eclipses Phyllis's hope for a new future. As she struggles to protect Martha Phyllis must decide where her loyalties lie unaware of the undiscovered secrets in her own past & of the tragedy that is about to unfold on that fateful crossing.
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The Bletchley Park memoir of Lord ASA Briggs will be one of the most important documents to be published in 2010. Lord Briggs has long been regarded as one of Britains most important historians. He has never however written about his time at Bletchley Park. The publication which will coincide with Lord Briggs 90th birthday is a meticulously researched account of life in Hut Six written by a codebreaker who worked there for five years alongside Alan Turing & Gordon Welchman. In addition to discussing the progress of the Alliescode-breaking efforts & their impact on the war Lord Briggs considers what the Germans knew about Bletchley & how they reacted to revelatory memoirs about the Enigma machine which were not published until the 1970s. Briggs himself did not tell his wife about his wartime career until the 1970s & his parents died without ever knowing their sons contribution to the wartime effort. The book will be launched at Bletchley in May 2011 in the presence of other Hut 6 veterans & part of the proceeds will be donated to the fund to restore Hut 6 to its former glory. ...

1 March 1811. Today I fell in love. At the age of ten Miss Miranda Cheever showed no signs of ever becoming a Great Beauty. Her hair was lamentably brown her eyes the same muddy colour & her legs which were uncommonly long refused to learn anything which might remotely be called grace. Only in 1811 the nineteen-year-old Viscount Turner
- eldest brother of Miranda's closest friend
- had kissed the hand of an awkward ten-year-old girl & promised her that one day she'd be as beautiful as she was smart. Now eight years later Miranda is a woman grown & Turner an embittered widower. But she has never forgotten his kindness. Indeed it is only in her diary that she confides the truth: she has never stopped loving Turner & she has never stopped hoping that one day he will see her as more than a nave girl.

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It feels like only yesterday I was the youngest person in the room I had my whole life in front of me. I had time to burn I spent my whole day snogging boys & backcombing my hair. I was a young thing with a lovely body life was fun & I hadnt a care in the world. Now
- it feels like two minutes later
- Im a little bit old. OK Im not in elasticated stockings or on Meals on Wheels whizzing down the stairs on my stairlift but my life is more than half over. Ive been there done that got the packamac. Im so old that I remember dances with drum solos the arrival of unisex hairdressers & had a crush on Ilya Kuryakin. I am up at the top of the hill & over the other side again. What all this means is that I am grumpy. But Ive earnt it...I lived through Boney M & leg warmers & the Crossroads Motel. Obviously in a book this size I wouldnt be able to share with you ALL of my grumps. But Ive decided to write down some of the secret thoughts that beset a woman of a certain age some of the wicked things that occur to a woman who takes a lot of things to the dry cleaners has to have her roots done every four weeks & finds it hard to wear high heels. & guess what: they still fancy people still have silly little crushes on people at work still
- shock horror
- have sex. You will discover that women of a certain age are just as provocative & turned on as women in their twenties. Probably more so. So get over it. Middle-aged women are sexy funny & infinitely lovable. They are also taking over the world.



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