English Renaissance

Beautiful Catrienne Lyly vowed to avenge herself on the powerful magistrate who had destroyed her noble family. Even if it meant that she must match wits with Nicholas D'Avenant, Queen Elizabeth's most mysterious agent. And even if his bold swordplay and seductive cunning drew her into a far deadlier game—and more dangerous passion. For Nicholas, the man Cat sought was his only link to the traitors who would bring England to war. And even as he found himself yielding to Cat’s fiery innocence, he moved to discover all her secrets—even if the price might be more than he’d ever dare lose.

The Prince is a 16th-century political treatise by the Italian diplomat and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli. Machiavelli wrote The Prince in 1513, after he was forced to leave Florence as a political exile. Dedicated to Lorenzo de’ Medici, the work is Machiavelli’s advice to the ruler of Florence on how to stay in power.

New York City in the Jazz Age was host to a pulsating artistic and social revolution. Uptown, an unprecedented explosion in Black music, literature, dance, and art sparked the Harlem Renaissance. While the history of this African-American awakening has been widely explored, one chapter remains untold: The story of a group of women collectively dubbed “Miss Anne.” Kaplan’s formidable work remaps the landscape of the 1920s, and alters our perception of this historical moment.

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." -Henry David Thoreau, Walden. This is a new audiobook of Thoreau's masterpiece, expertly read by Daniel Adam Day.

Henry IV is not famous except for the plays that bear his name: He is not even a "much-maligned" king. He is normally overshadowed by his far more famous son, Henry V, despite his many achievements. Shakespeare is partly to blame for Henry's diminution and his son's exaggerated stature but not completely; we just don't know what to make of a man who took the throne from the rightful king.

In this powerful sequel to Reconstructed—where Abraham Lincoln survives his assassination and successfully rebuilds the nation—President Martin Luther King Jr. now leads a transformed America. Following JFK’s tragic death, King steps into the presidency, determined to end the Vietnam War and redefine America’s role on the global stage. Pressured by Cold War fears and inner opposition, he dares to challenge traditional power with his unwavering commitment to nonviolence and diplomacy.

Jane Popyncourt was brought to the court as a child to be ward of the king and a companion to his daughters - the princesses Margaret and Mary. With no money of her own, Jane could not hope for a powerful marriage, or perhaps even marriage at all. But as she grows into a lovely young woman, she still receives flattering attention from the young men flocking to serve the handsome new king, Henry VIII, who has recently married Catherine of Aragon. Then a dashing French prisoner of war, cousin to the king of France, is brought to London, and Jane finds she can't help giving her heart to a man she can never marry.

It's been two months since the Kaplan family hunted down the Serpens relic. But when the evil Galina Krause suddenly and violently reappears, Wade, Darrell, Lily, and Becca have no choice but to face her again.

The hunt for the first relic in Copernicus' legacy has sent Wade, Darrell, Lily, and Becca to the far reaches of the world and put them in serious danger. But they never imagined joining this quest would come at such a high cost. Sara Kaplan - Darrell and Wade's mother - has been kidnapped by the conniving Galina Krause. Which means the stakes couldn't be higher for the Kaplan family as they race across cold, desolate landscapes, speedboat through narrow canals, and sprint through busy city streets in search of the sought-after relic called the Serpens.

Elle Newmark's richly seductive prose brings to life the color and scandal of 15th-century Venice. Through Luciano, a street urchin apprenticed to a great chef in the palace of the doge, Newmark tells a wicked tale of political and papal intrigue. In Venice where every whisper is a secret or a lie, Luciano's initiation into the chef's spicy world makes for deliciously suspenseful listening.

In 16th-century Europe, as countries extend their global reach, an Anglo-Dutch allegiance sets out to undermine and bring down the Spanish Empire.

Rival. Sister. Barmaid. Whore. Meg Henshawe has been a lot of things in her life, and few of them good. As proprietress of The Rose and Crown in Restoration Southwark, she has squandered her life catering to the comfort of workmen and thieves. Famous for her beauty as much as her reputation for rage, Meg has been coveted, abused, and discarded more than once. She is resigned to fighting alone until a passing boxer offers a helping hand.

Sally Green is about to die. She sees Death in the streets. She can taste it in her gin. She can feel it in the very walls of the ramshackle brothel where she is kept to satisfy the perversions of the wealthy. She had come to London as a runaway in search of her Cavalier father. Instead, she found Wrath, a sadistic nobleman determined to use her to fulfill a sinister ambition. As the last of her friends are murdered one by one, survival hinges on escape.

After saving the life of the glamorous Marquise de Harfleur, painfully shy barmaid Alice Henshawe is employed as the lady’s companion and whisked away to Versailles. There, she catches King Louis’ eye and quickly becomes a court favorite as the muse for Charles Perrault’s Cinderella. The palace appears to be heaven itself, but there is danger hidden beneath the façade and Alice soon finds herself thrust into a world of intrigue, murder, and Satanism at the heart of the French court.

August 1556. Jack Blackjack is on a simple mission: make it back home to his beloved London. It should be simple, right? Wrong. He's made it as far as Exeter, but before he can secure a fresh steed in that hellish city, he's faced with a dead priest, ruthless thieves, and a devious Dean who's determined to see the back of Jack. That suits Jack just fine - he wants to leave! So when wealthy merchant Wolfe, offers passage to London via sea, Jack jumps at the chance...and unwittingly into further danger!

1505: Pregnant and reunited with the love of her life, artist Mira survives a harrowing journey to the city of her dreams. But Bayonne is nothing like she imagined. Navigating a dangerous world ruled by merchants and bishops, she struggles to reignite her painting career. 2016: Scholar Zari seizes the chance to return to Europe as a consultant for an art dealer. Overwhelmed by her job, she has little time to hunt for clues about Mira. But when art experts embrace a theory that Mira’s paintings are the work of a famous man, Zari must act.

What would you think if, in your old age, the doctors tell you that you only have a couple years left to live, and even ultra-modern medical technology is powerless to help? Some may spend their remaining years at the bottom of a bottle, others may choose to spend it quietly, with family...But there are also those who are ready to leave everything behind. Volper is one of those who has decided to have one last hurrah and immerse himself in a virtual reality.

Dubbed the “joy goddess of Harlem’s 1920s” by poet Langston Hughes, A’Lelia Walker, daughter of millionaire entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker and the author’s great-grandmother and namesake, is a fascinating figure whose legendary parties and Dark Tower salon helped define the Harlem Renaissance. After inheriting her mother’s hair care enterprise, A’Lelia would become America’s first high profile black heiress and a prominent patron of the arts.

Fighting for success in 17th century Amsterdam, a female artist must risk everything - and make enemies along the way. Defying convention, gifted artist Clara becomes a pupil to the renowned painter Osias Beerts. But when the highly prized patronage won from the powerful Burgomeister Fabritius turns to hostility, Clara has to make sacrifices and risk everything to pursue her craft. Together with her fellow pupil, Nico, she finds herself surrounded by dangerous secrets and powerful enemies. But in the face of so much past pain, can something as fragile as love survive?

The story that inspired the famous Twilight Zone episode! "People Are Alike All Over" (which starred Roddy McDowall) became one of the most famous episodes of that classic television series. That memorable script was adapted from veteran science fiction author Paul W. Fairman's story for Fantastic Adventures magazine, where it was published under it's original title "Brothers Beyond the Void".