Love Afloat

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Carolyn Hart

Annie Darling's murder mystery cruise in the waters off her not-always-idyllic isle of Broward's Rock is going swimmingly -- until one of the revelers plunges overboard. And despite hubby Max's courageous rescue attempt, faux murder turns all too quickly into real-life death. As the body count rises over the next few days, the popular proprietress of the Death on Demand bookstore begins to suspect that all the victims were murdered most foully, and that they are all connected in some unknown way. But what intrepid crime solver Annie does not realize is that the killer she seeks is more ingeniously efficient than most -- and the puzzle she wishes to unravel is, in reality, a time bomb packed with an explosive mix of arson, assault, kidnapping, robbery ... and homicide, naturally. One false step and Annie, Max, and their canny cohorts will be blown off Broward's Rock for good.

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India Grey

Italian tycoon Angelo Emiliani wants to buy Anna's French château, but it seems she'll do anything to stop him. So he'll take Anna captive on his yacht, and show her he's not to be toyed with. But as cabin fever sets in, passions erupt, and Anna realizes the price of stopping Angelo has just gotten higher. Now there's more at stake than saving the château—Anna's at risk of losing her virginity, and more!

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Lawrence Norfolk

En febrero de 1516, un barco portugués se hundió a una milla de las costas de Italia y perecieron todos sus tripulantes. La Nossa Senhora da Ajuda había navegado 14.000 millas desde el reino indio de Gujarat con una misión: hacer entrega de un rinoceronte al Papa. "El rinoceronte del Papa" narra las historias que culminan en este extraño incidente. Salvestro, un antiguo mercenario y desertor de las guerras que devastan las regiones al sur de los Alpes es el protagonista del relato. Ha regresado a su terruño natal, en la isla báltica de Usedom, donde un grupo de enigmáticos monjes planea realizar su primera peregrinación en dos siglos: un viaje que los llevará, a ellos y a Salvestro, cruzando los Alpes, hasta la misma Roma, donde reina León X, «el Papa amante de todos los placeres». En su corte compiten por el favor de su santidad los reinos de Portugal y de España, que aguardan expectantes el arbitraje por el que se repartirán el recién descubierto Nuevo Mundo. Un rinoceronte, animal jamás visto en Europa desde la Antigüedad, parece el regalo perfecto para granjearse las simpatías del caprichoso Papa. Pero... ¿dónde encontrar semejante animal casi mítico? Llevándonos desde los bancos de arenques del mar Báltico a un fuerte desmantelado en la India, desde una tribu perdida en la selva de África occidental a las atrocidades cometidas en una oscura ciudad de la Toscana, la segunda novela de Lawrence Norfolk reconstruye la historia real de aquel rinoceronte como un espejo de las fantasías y obsesiones del Renacimiento. ¿Por qué añadió Durero a su rinoceronte, en la xilografía de 1515, un segundo cuerno ficticio? ¿Cómo fue que una fístula anal permitió a Giovanni de Medici ser elegido papa y reinar como León X? La respuesta implica a Salvestro, a los curiosos monjes, a los corruptos cardenales y cortesanas de Roma, a sus intrigantes embajadores y a su decadente nobleza, pero también a antiguos pueblos de Europa, de África y de la India. Todos ajenos a sus respectivos destinos y todos sus destinos ligados al rinoceronte. Fechada en las vísperas de la Reforma, "El rinoceronte del Papa" es la parábola de una era que se precipita a su crisis.

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Barbara Cartland

Bertilla's mother was a society beauty, who didn't want anyone to know she had a grown daughter, and decided send her away to her aunt in Sarawak. When she was fleeing a persistent suitor, she runs into handsome Lord Saire at the train station and later on board ship. Lord Saire, who was known, because of his success with the ladies, as the Love Pirate, finds himself in charge of this girl when they shipwrecked. As Bertilla approached the veranda, she heard her name mentioned by her hostess and a lady guest. "I cannot help thinking it is funny," the visitor said, "that Lord Saire-- the Love Pirate -- had to be shipwrecked with no one more exciting than an immature girl. Such a tiring encumbrance as she will certainly interfere with the many alluring ladies he plans to see in Singapore." Bertilla suddenly felt her cheeks burning with humiliation. She knew that she must leave before Saire returned--even if by so doing she left her whole heart behind with him. Better she disappeared into anonymity than be a burden to the man she loved. Hot tears cascaded down her cheeks as she returned to her room to pack.