Skinnydipping

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Danielle Steel

Here is the drama behind the creation of Manhattan, a first-of-its-kind prime-time television series produced by Melvin Wechsler. Tempered by tragedy, seasoned by success, a man with a Midas touch, Mel Wechsler will assemble a dazzling cast: Sabina Quarles at forty-five has managed to maintain--by dint of spunk and surgery--the body of an eighteen-year-old. Tough, spirited, and self-sufficient, she has survived twenty years in Hollywood, never marrying, never quite succeeding, never deigning to work in television. Yet Manhattan may bring her both the stardom she craves--and the security her very special needs require. Jane Adams is an earthy thirty-nine-year-old beauty. Devoted to her children, dominated by her abusive and violent husband, forced to choose between her husband and her acting career, Jane may find that her role in Manhattan has cost her everything that matters most. Zack Taylor, the leading man, is a paragon of professionalism. Yet beyond the smooth good looks, the easy warmth, and the slick charm of the eligible bachelor, he remains an enigma. The charming ingenue, Gabrielle Thornton-Smith, seems to have appeared out of the blue. Beautiful, talented and on the brink of success at twenty-five, what can she have to hide? And Bill Warwick, plucked from the ranks of struggling young actors, is now slated to be the nation's new heartthrob. But he has lied about one issue in his background. Not only will Bill's future hang in the balance, but the success of the whole series may be jeopardized when he is forced publicly to confront the consequences of his little white lie. Set in Los Angeles and New York, Secrets carries the reader behind the scenes into the making of a major television series. Probing even deeper beneath the polished surfaces, Danielle Steel explores the dilemmas both men and women, in and out of the searchlight of the media, confront today. She paints a vivid, compelling picture of a sophisticated world and the surprisingly real problems of the people who inhabit it.

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Karen Kingsbury

Ryan Kelly spends plenty of time at The Bridge--the oldest bookstore in historic downtown Franklin, Tennessee--remembering the times he and Molly Allen--who moved to Portland--once spent there, and now, with the bookstore in deep financial trouble, it will take a miracle to keep tragedy from unfolding.

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Karen Kingsbury

In this mass market edition, #1 bestselling author Karen Kingsbury weaves a powerful story of a young couple whose love must face the ultimate challenge.Cody Gunner has no use for real love. Abandoned as a child by the person he needed the most, he swears he will never allow himself to love again. Ali Daniels denies love as well. Carrying a terrible secret, she lives life to the fullest, taking risks and refusing relationships. When Cody and Ali meet, their first instincts are to hide behind their emotional walls, seemingly doomed to repeat the patterns they have established for most of their lives. But their attraction is too strong, and soon they're doomed in another way, for neither can avoid falling in love, regardless of the consequences. Only after three years--a thousand tomorrows later--do they realize at what cost their relationship comes. In the end, they must decide if love is worth the ultimate price.

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Danielle Steel

Danielle Steel takes us beyond the dazzle of Hollywood in her compelling new novel--the story of one woman's journey from suburban mom to award-winning screenwriter...and all the joy, heartbreak, and challenges along the way. Bungalow 2The phone call came on a hot July day--a day like any other for Marin County mom and freelance writer Tanya Harris. But this call--from Tanya's agent--was anything but ordinary, offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: the chance to write a major Hollywood screenplay, a dream she had put aside long ago to devote her energies to her family. This time, Tanya knows she cannot refuse, even though she's torn about leaving her husband and their daughters. From the moment she steps into her lush bungalow at the fabled Beverly Hills Hotel, Tanya is thrust into an intoxicating new world where she feels reborn--energized by the creativity swirling around her--yet the pull of her family at home is strong. Suddenly she's working alongside A-list actors and a Hollywood legend: Oscar-winning producer Douglas Wayne, a man who always gets what he wants--and who seems to have his sights set on her. Flying home between shoots, struggling to reconnect with a family that seems to need her less and less, Tanya watches helplessly as her old life is pulled out from under her in the most crushing of ways.As her two lives collide, as one award-winning film leads to another, Tanya begins to wonder if she can be a wife, a mother, and a writer at the same time. And just as she confronts the toughest choice she has faced, she is offered another dazzling opportunity--one that could recast her story in an amazing new direction, complete with an ending she never could have written herself.In Bungalow 2, Danielle Steel takes us into a world few ever see--a world of fame and fortune, celebrity and genius--daring to show us the real lives, real dreams, and real struggles hidden beneath the flash and glitter of Hollywood.From the Hardcover edition.