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A Very Dangerous Woman: The Lives, Loves and Lies of Russia’s Most Seductive Spy
by Jeremy Dronfield Deborah McdonaldIn January 1918, the British adventurer, diplomat and secret agent Robert Bruce Lockhart arrived in Revolutionary Russia. His official mission: Britain's envoy to the new Bolshevik government. His true mission: to create a network of agents, plot the assassination of Lenin and overthrow the Bolsheviks. A dashing charmer, he soon got to know the aristocratic socialite, hedonist and notorious seductress Moura Zakrevskaya. The two feel in love and began a passionate affair. But what Lockhart didn't know was that that Moura was spying on him for the Bolsheviks. What Moura didn't know was that as Lockhart's plot unravelled and he was seized she would sell herself to save him from the firing squad.Fleeing to England, what followed was a life of exile, a string of new lovers - including Maxim Gorky and H. G. Wells - and playing off the Russian and British governments as she spied for both. Through all this she clung to the hope that Lockhart would finally be able to return to her.Deborah McDonald's sensational retelling of Moura's extraordinary life opens up a world of revolution and espionage where survival means sacrificing more than just love and loyalty.
A Very Different Age: Americans of the Progressive Era
by Steven J. DinerThe early twentieth century was a time of technological revolution in the United States. New inventions and corporations were transforming the economic landscape, bringing a stunning array of consumer goods, millions of additional jobs, and ever more wealth. Steven J. Diner draws on the rich scholarship of recent social history to show how these changes affected Americans of all backgrounds and walks of life, and in doing so offers a striking new interpretation of a crucial epoch in our history.
A Very Different War: RAAF Operations in the Korean War
by Owen ZuppThe Korean War lies between the enormity of the Second World War and the controversy of Vietnam. Although it often slips through the cracks of history, it represented a global shift as two opposing ideologies clashed and the Cold War heated up. The fledgling United Nations was called to act, and Australia joined the 21 nations committed to supporting South Korea. Within days of the North Koreans crossing the 38th Parallel, the RAAF was flying missions from its base in Japan. In the ensuing three years, the RAAF gained respect among its peers and the attention of the opposing military powers. When the war reached a crisis point, with UN forces pinned down and threatened with being pushed off the peninsula into the sea, the RAAF was at the epicentre. During the war, the RAAF entered the jet age, and the transition was not without challenges and losses. Ultimately, a generation of RAAF leaders emerged from the ranks of sergeant pilots and junior officers who underwent their baptism of fire on the Korean Peninsula. Using No 77 Squadron operations as a timeline, this concise history of the RAAF involvement in the war examines the roles of the transport unit, nurses, ground crews, prisoners of war and those who still have no known resting place.
A Very Dutiful Daughter
by Elizabeth MansfieldMiss Letitia Glendenning has done the unthinkable, turning down a proposal from the most eligible bachelor in England. Why did she do it? The lady has her reasons, and it's up to the dashing lord to find out exactly what they are.
A Very English Agent
by Julian RathboneDwarfish Charlie Boylan carries a loaded pistol into the House of Commons. A can of worms waiting to be opened, he was a police spy for nearly forty years. He wants a pension and what he knows will get it! Did he, between Waterloo and Wellington's funeral, cause the Peterloo riot to happen? Was it Charlie who fingered the Cato Street Conspirators? Did Shelley really drown by accident? And at the opening of the Great Exhibition was it he who saved the Queen from being blown up?With dark undertones in its revelations of the orchestrated state repression that followed the Napoleonic Wars, A Very English Agent drives a horse, well, a donkey and cart, through the early years of the nineteenth century in a rumbustious, funny, sexy, teeming novel, worthy of the times it describes.
A Very English Agent
by Julian RathboneDwarfish Charlie Boylan carries a loaded pistol into the House of Commons. A can of worms waiting to be opened, he was a police spy for nearly forty years. He wants a pension and what he knows will get it! Did he, between Waterloo and Wellington's funeral, cause the Peterloo riot to happen? Was it Charlie who fingered the Cato Street Conspirators? Did Shelley really drown by accident? And at the opening of the Great Exhibition was it he who saved the Queen from being blown up?With dark undertones in its revelations of the orchestrated state repression that followed the Napoleonic Wars, A Very English Agent drives a horse, well, a donkey and cart, through the early years of the nineteenth century in a rumbustious, funny, sexy, teeming novel, worthy of the times it describes.
A Very English Scandal: Sex, Lies, and a Murder Plot at the Heart of the Establishment
by John PrestonA behind-the-scenes look at the desperate, scandalous private life of a British MP and champion manipulator, and the history-making trial that exposed his dirty secrets As a Member of Parliament and Leader of the Liberal Party in the 1960s and 70s, Jeremy Thorpe's bad behavior snuck under the radar for years. Police and politicians alike colluded to protect one of their own. In 1970, Thorpe was the most popular and charismatic politician in the country, poised to hold the balance of power in a coalition government. But Jeremy Thorpe was a man with a secret. His homosexual affairs and harassment of past partners, along with his propensity for lying and embezzlement, only escalated as he evaded punishment. Until a dark night on the moor with an ex-lover, a dog, and a hired gun led to consequences that even his charm and power couldn't help him escape. Dubbed the "Trial of the Century," Thorpe's climactic case at the Old Bailey in London was the first time that a leading British politician had stood trial on a murder charge, and the first time that a murder plot had been hatched in the House of Commons. And it was the first time that a prominent public figure had been exposed as a philandering gay man, in an era when homosexuality had only just become legal. With the pace and drama of a thriller, A VERY ENGLISH SCANDAL is an extraordinary story of hypocrisy, deceit, and betrayal at the heart of the British Establishment.
A Very Expensive Poison: The Assassination of Alexander Litvinenko and Putin's War with the West
by Luke HardingA real-life political assassination story--complete with KGB, CIA, MI5, and Russian mobsters--that reverberates from the streets of London to the deadly halls of today's Kremlin. A Vintage Original.On November 1, 2006, journalist and Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned in London. He died twenty-two days later. The cause of death was Polonium--a rare, lethal, and highly radioactive substance. This is the inside story of the life and death of Litvinenko. And it is the story of the aftermath: a decade of geopolitical disruptions still felt today. In A Very Expensive Poison, Luke Harding guides readers through a maze of spies, intrigue, organized crime, and political power players to uncover the truth about Litvinenko's murder. In doing so, not only does he also become a target, but he also unearths a chain of corruption and death leading straight to Vladimir Putin, which sheds terrifying light on Russia's secret war with the West.
A Very Fine Class of Immigrants: Prince Edward Island's Scottish Pioneers, 1770-1850
by Lucille H. CampeyScots who opted for pioneer life in Prince Edward Island are the subject of this book. Being the first of the "northern" colonies to be sold off in its entirety to proprietors in the late eighteenth century, P.E.I. acquired its Scots earliest, doing so even before the start of the American War of Independence in 1775. The colonization of Prince Edward Island by Scots takes us back to a period when the process of emigration and settlement were in their infancy. The Pioneer Scots of Prince Edward Island should command our respect. They showed tremendous courage and determination and most were successful. Previous studies of early Scottish emigration to the New World have tended to concentrate on the miseries of evictions and the destruction of old communities. In this groundbreaking study of the influx of Scots to Prince Edward Island, the widely held assumption that emigration was solely a flight from poverty is challenged. By uncovering previously unreported ship crossings, as well as a wide range of manuscripts and underused sources such as customs records and newspaper shipping reports, the book provides the most comprehensive account to date of the influx of Scots to the Island. "A Very Fine Class of Immigrants" is essential reading for individuals wishing to trace family links or deepen their understanding of how and why the Island came to acquire its distinctive Scottish communities. And by accessing, for the first time, shipping sources like Lloyd’s List and the Lloyd’s Shipping Register, the author brings a new dimension to our understanding of emigrant travel. Lucille H. Campey demonstrates that far from sailing on disease-ridden leaky tubs, as popularly imagined, the Island’s Pioneer Scots usually crossed the Atlantic on the best available ships of the time.
A Very Fine Commander': The Memories of General Sir Horatius Murray GCB KBE DSO
by John DonovanThe contrast between soldiering in peace and war is well illustrated by Nap Murrays experiences. It took him 16 years to reach the substantive rank of Major in 1938 but by 1944 he was an acting Lieutenant General.His fascinating memoirs, skillfully edited by his nephew, cover an extraordinary career from young officer service in India, China and Egypt, his experiences with the German Army in 1937 before the dramas of WW2. His accounts of action and injury in the early war years in France, North Africa, Sicily and Normandy, prepare the reader for Murrays long and distinguished record as a Divisional commander in Italy, Palestine, Catterick and finally the Commonwealth Division in Korea. It was Monty himself who described Murray as A Very Fine Commander praise indeed, a memoir can be very revealing about the character of its author. Entirely free of self-aggrandisement or pride this book leaves the reader unsurprised at the success and popularity of its author.
A Very Gothic Christmas: Two Novellas
by Melanie George Christine FeehanFrom the &“magnificent storyteller&” (Romantic Times) Christine Feehan and USA TODAY bestselling author Melanie George comes two wickedly sexy novellas just in time for the holiday season! In Christine Feehan&’s After the Music, Jessica Fitzpatrick is terrified by mysterious threats. Determined to keep her twin wards safe, she flees to the remote mansion of their reclusive, widowed father. With Christmas approaching, the spark between him and Jessica might light the future, but there are those whose evil machinations may plunge the family into darkness—unless a Christmas miracle occurs. In Melanie George&’s Lady of the Locket, the echoes of history and romance lure Rachel Hudson to Glengarren, the Scottish castle where her parents met many Christmases ago. But it is the portrait of fierce Highlander Duncan MacGregor that sparks a deep desire inside her. On a storm-tossed night, as lightning cracks across the castle&’s turrets, Rachel finds herself face-to-face with MacGregor himself, astride a mighty stallion. Now, stepping into Rachel&’s time—and her heart—the warrior from the past is pursued by an ancient, evil enemy.
A Very Long Engagement
by Sebastien JaprisotSet during and after the First World War, A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT is the tale of a young woman's search for her fiance who she believes might still be alive despite having officially been reported as "killed in the line of duty." Unable to walk since childhood, fearless Mathilde Donnay is undeterred in her quest as she scours the country for information about five wounded French soldiers who were brutally abandoned by their own troops. A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT is a mystery, a love story, and an extraordinary portrait of life in France before and after the War.
A Very Mutinous People: The Struggle for North Carolina, 1660-1713
by Noeleen McilvennaHistorians have often glorified eighteenth-century Virginia planters' philosophical debates about the meaning of American liberty. But according to Noeleen McIlvenna, the true exemplars of egalitarian political values had fled Virginia's plantation society late in the seventeenth century to create the first successful European colony in the Albemarle, in present-day North Carolina. Making their way through the Great Dismal Swamp, runaway servants from Virginia joined other renegades to establish a free society along the most inaccessible Atlantic coastline of North America. They created a new community on the banks of Albemarle Sound, maintaining peace with neighboring Native Americans, upholding the egalitarian values of the English Revolution, and ignoring the laws of the mother country. Tapping into previously unused documents, McIlvenna explains how North Carolina's first planters struggled to impose a plantation society upon the settlers and how those early small farmers, defending a wide franchise and religious toleration, steadfastly resisted. She contends that the story of the Albemarle colony is a microcosm of the greater process by which a conglomeration of loosely settled, politically autonomous communities eventually succumbed to hierarchical social structures and elite rule. Highlighting the relationship between settlers and Native Americans, this study leads to a surprising new interpretation of the Tuscarora War.
A Very Old Machine: The Many Origins of the Cinema in India (SUNY series, Horizons of Cinema)
by Sudhir MahadevanIn A Very Old Machine, Sudhir Mahadevan shows how Indian cinema's many origins in the technologies and practices of the nineteenth century continue to play a vital and broad function in its twenty-first-century present. He proposes that there has never been a singular cinema in India; rather, Indian cinema has been a multifaceted phenomenon that was (and is) understood, experienced, and present in everyday life in myriad ways. Employing methods of media archaeology, close textual analysis, archival research, and cultural theory, Mahadevan digs into the history of photography, print media, practices of piracy and showmanship, and contemporary everyday imaginations of the cinema to offer an understanding of how the cinema came to be such a dominant force of culture in India. The result is an open-ended and innovative account of Indian cinema's "many origins."
A Very Principled Boy: The Life of Duncan Lee, Red Spy and Cold Warrior
by Mark A. BradleyDuncan Chaplain Lee was an unlikely traitor. A Rhodes Scholar, patriot, and descendent of one of America’s most distinguished families, he was also a communist sympathizer who used his position as aid to intelligence chief #147;Wild Bill” Donovan to leak critical information to the Soviets during World War II. As intelligence expert Mark A. Bradley reveals, Lee was one of Stalin’s most valuable moles in U. S. intelligence, passing the KGB vital information on everything from the D-Day invasion to America’s plans for postwar Europe. Outwitting both J. Edgar Hoover and Senator Joseph McCarthy, he escaped detection again and again, dying a free man before authorities could prove his guilt. A fast-paced cat-and-mouse tale of misguided idealism and high treason, Perry's book draws on thousands of previously unreleased CIA and State Department records to reveal the riveting story of one of the greatest traitors of the twentieth century.
A Very Private Diary: A Nurse in Wartime
by Mary Morris'Mary is a talented writer and a humane observer of her remarkable experiences. Her diary is full of vivid, sometimes shocking vignettes ... [A] fascinating and deeply moving book' DAILY MAIL'We know so much about Mary's war because she broke the rules. Keeping a diary was strictly forbidden while on active service, which makes Mary's remarkably complete account all the more exceptional' DAILY EXPRESSThe newly discovered diary of a wartime nurse - a fascinating, dramatic and unique insight into the experiences of a young nurse in the Second World War.'I always seem to be saying good-bye to men whom I might have loved had there been enough time...'1939: 18-year-old trainee nurse Mary Mulry arrives in London from Ireland, hoping for adventure. Little did she know what the next seven years would bring.In her extraordinary diary, published now for the first time, Mary records in intimate detail her life as a nurse, both on the Home Front and on the frontline. From nursing children during bombing raids in London to treating Allied soldiers in Normandy, Mary's experiences gave her vivid and unforgettable material for the private diary she was dedicated to keeping.Filled with romance, glamour and inevitably sadness, too, these are the rich memories of an irrepressible personality, living through the turbulent years of the Second World War.
A Very Private Diary: A Nurse in Wartime
by Mary MorrisMary Mulry was eighteen years old when she arrived in London from Ireland to begin training as a nurse. The year was 1939. She had hoped for an adventure and a new start; she could not have predicted what the next seven years would bring.In this extraordinary diary Mary recorded in intimate detail her experiences as a nurse on the Home Front and later working on the frontline in Europe. In London, she nursed critically ill children during bombing raids and narrowly escaped with her life in one the worst nights of the Blitz. In Normandy, arriving on the heels of the D-Day invasion, she tended to Allied soldiers and German prisoners of war. In war-torn Belgium, she witnessed harrowing casualties from the Battle of Arnhem.Yet romance, glamour and adventure were never far away for Mary, even if her relationships often had to be cut short. 'I always seem to be saying good-bye to men whom I might have loved had there been enough time,' she writes.Nurses were not allowed to keep diaries on active service, but Mary - fortunately for us - was not one for following rules. Her rebellious spirit, sharp wit and irrepressible personality shine through the pages of her 'very private diary', published now for the first time.Read by Lara Hutchinson(p) 2014 Orion Publishing Group
A Very Pukka Murder: The First Maharaja Mystery (The Maharaja Mysteries #1)
by Arjun Raj Gaind"Set in the tiny princely state of Rajpore, Indian comic book writer Gaind's first novel is both a satisfying locked-room mystery and a keenly observed comedy of manners." —Publishers WeeklyFrom the borders of icy Kashmir to the shark-infested shores of the Malabar Coast, Major William Russell, the English Resident of the small, princely state of Rajpore, is renowned as a straitlaced man of rigorous habit. When his valet knocks on his bedroom door the morning after the 1909 New Year's Ball and receives no response, he and the Resident's elderly secretary eventually task the English Commandant of Cavalry with breaking it down. The Resident is dead in his bed.His Highness Farzand-i-Khas-i-Daulat-i-Inglishia Mansur-i-Zaman Maharaja Sikander Singh, Light of Heaven, Sword of Justice, Shield of the Faithful, sole ruler of Rajpore, is slow to rise after the night of revelry. But news of the murder galvanizes him. The fabulously wealthy Maharaja, who perforce has surrendered much of his authority to the British, is a man of indolent habit although he keeps himself thoroughly fit. A lover of luxury cars and beautiful women, his deepest passion is for mysteries. He cannot resist an enigma, relishing a riddle and the rush of resolving it. Like August Dupin and Sherlock Holmes, Sikander wields careful and deliberate logic to crack puzzles that leave less intelligent men confounded. Here is such an opportunity, and well timed—for the Maharaja, resigned to another year of indolence, is almost fatally bored.Abandoning the lavish comforts of his ornate palace, Sikander orders his massive manservant Charan Singh into his Silver Ghost and speeds to the insular English settlement. Despite the objections of the local Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police, he works the crime scene and deduces that Resident was poisoned by a massive dose of strychnine.As a clock starts ticking—the British authorities dispatch their own investigator from Simla—Sikander overcomes obstacles, false trails, and the growing hostility of the English Establishment, while learning that Major Russell was not as pukka, as proper, as he liked to pretend. Will the Maharaja work through a surplus of suspects and motives before the British shut him down and cover up the truth about the Major's death?Arjun Gaind's clever, fascinating debut introduces an elegant new detective in the tradition of Lord Peter Wimsey, while painting a scathing portrait of the British Raj.
A Very Remarkable Sickness: Epidemics in the Petit Nord, 1670 to 1846 (Manitoba Studies in Native History #14)
by Paul HackettThe area between the Great Lakes and Lake Winnipeg, bounded on the north by the Hudson Bay lowlands, is sometimes known as the "Petit Nord." Providing a link between the cities of eastern Canada and the western interior, the Petit Nord was a critical communication and transportation hub for the North American fur trade for over 200 years.Although new diseases had first arrived in the New World in the 16th century, by the end of the 17th century shorter transoceanic travel time meant that a far greater number of diseases survived the journey from Europe and were still able to infect new communities. These acute, directly transmitted infectious diseases – including smallpox, influenza, and measles – would be responsible for a monumental loss of life and would forever transform North American Aboriginal communities.Historical geographer Paul Hackett meticulously traces the diffusion of these diseases from Europe through central Canada to the West. Significant trading gatherings at Sault Ste. Marie, the trade carried throughout the Petit Nord by Hudson Bay Company ships, and the travel nexus at the Red River Settlement, all provided prime breeding ground for the introduction, incubation and transmission of acute disease. Hackettís analysis of evidence in fur-trade journals and oral history, combined with his study of the diffusion behaviour and characteristics of specific diseases, yields a comprehensive picture of where, when, and how the staggering impact of these epidemics was felt.
A Very Ruby Christmas: A Bound and Determined Novel
by Lavinia KentA winter storm stirs passions long denied in this sensual Yuletide romance, a short novel featuring the characters who once led Library Journal to declare, "Ruby and Derek's chemistry is just as explosive during their unbridled trysts as with their slow, ardent lovemaking." Madame Rouge--Ruby to her intimates--always makes the secret desires of her clients a priority. Now the time has come to fulfill her own fantasy, one so private it brings a rare blush to her cheeks. When Captain Derek Price returns from his service to the sea, Ruby will sell London's elite house of pleasure, leaving behind her very home to marry the sailor who has mastered every surging crest of her body. Pity, then, the ill-timed arrival of Ruby's estranged half-sister, Jasmine, desperate for a warm bed and a sympathetic ear. Ruby is loath to marry the poor girl off to a stranger or, even worse, entrust her to the ignoble lord who has bid on the brothel. She has no other choice than to shelter Jasmine herself. As much as Ruby's heart races at the thought of a future with Derek, she now faces the possibility that, once again, her happy ending has been delayed--unless a Christmas miracle makes all their dreams come true. A Very Ruby Christmas is intended for mature audiences. This ebook includes a special message from the editor, as well as an excerpt from another Loveswept title. Praise for Lavinia Kent's Bound and Determined series "[A] tale of sexual exploration and liberation . . . the hottest historical romance story I've ever read."--Heroes and Heartbreakers, on Mastering the Marquess "Sexy, steamy . . . an entertaining read."--Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews, on Mastering the Marquess "A refined, sophisticated and tasteful historical romance . . . The mood is very seductive but still playful, and the sex scenes are scorching hot. . . . Revealing Ruby is superbly written, moves along quickly; it's a very enjoyable read."--Fresh Fiction, on Revealing Ruby "Ruby and Derek's chemistry is just as explosive during their unbridled trysts as with their slow, ardent lovemaking."--Library Journal, on Ravishing Ruby
A Very Short History of Western Thought
by Stephen TrombleyA masterly distillation of two-and-a-half millennia of intellectual history, and a readable and entertaining crash course in Western philosophyShort, sharp, and entertaining, this survey covers the development of all aspects of the Western philosophical tradition from the ancient Greeks to the present day. No major representative of any significant strand of Western thought escapes the author's attention: the Christian Scholastic theologians of the Middle Ages, the great philosophers of the Enlightenment, the German idealists from Kant to Hegel; the utilitarians Bentham and Mill; the transcendentalists Emerson and Thoreau; Kierkegaard and the existentialists; the analytic philosophers Russell, Moore, Whitehead, and Wittgenstein; and—last but not least—the four shapers-in-chief of our modern world: Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud, and Albert Einstein.
A Very Short History of the Israel–Palestine Conflict
by Ilan PappeAn indispensable guide to understanding the Israel–Palestine conflict, and how we might yet still find a way out of it. 'Ilan Pappe is the most original, radical and hard-hitting of Israel&’s "new historians".' Avi Shlaim, author of Three Worlds The devastation of 7 October 2023 and the horrors that followed astounded the world. But the Israel–Palestine conflict didn&’t start on 7 October. It didn&’t start in 1967 either, when Israel occupied the West Bank, or in 1948 when the state of Israel was declared. It started in 1882, when the first Zionist settlers arrived in what was then Ottoman Palestine. Ilan Pappe untangles the history of two peoples, now sharing one land. Going back to the founding fathers of Zionism, Pappe expertly takes us through the twists and turns of international policy towards Israel–Palestine, Palestinian resistance to occupation, and the changes taking place in Israel itself.
A Very Small Remnant
by Michael Whitney StraightA novel of honor, based on the events leading to the infamous Sand Creek Massacre of the Cheyenne Indians near Fort Lyon in 1864.A Very Small Remnant by Michael Whitney Straight is a poignant and thought-provoking novel that delves into the complexities of identity, heritage, and the pursuit of belonging in a world marked by division and change. Through richly drawn characters and an evocative narrative, Straight weaves a tale that is both deeply personal and universally resonant.The story centers on a man who grapples with the weight of his ancestry and the burden of expectations as he navigates a society shaped by historical injustices and evolving cultural landscapes. As he uncovers long-buried truths about his family’s past, he is forced to confront questions of loyalty, love, and the sacrifices necessary to preserve what is most important.Through its lyrical prose and profound themes, the novel invites readers to reflect on the enduring power of memory, the resilience of the human spirit, and the enduring quest for connection in the face of adversity. Straight masterfully blends intimate character studies with broader social commentary, creating a narrative that lingers long after the final page.Perfect for readers who appreciate deeply introspective and emotionally rich stories, A Very Small Remnant is a testament to the enduring complexities of the human condition and the courage it takes to find one’s place in an ever-changing world.
A Very Social Time: Crafting Community in Antebellum New England
by Karen V. HansenKaren Hansen's richly anecdotal narrative explores the textured community lives of New England's working women and men—both white and black—n the half century before the Civil War. Her use of diaries, letters, and autobiographies brings their voices to life, making this study an extraordinary combination of historical research and sociological interpretation.Hansen challenges conventional notions that women were largely relegated to a private realm and men to a public one. A third dimension—the social sphere—also existed and was a critical meeting ground for both genders. In the social worlds of love, livelihood, gossip, friendship, and mutual assistance, working people crossed ideological gender boundaries.The book's rare collection of original writings reinforces Hansen's arguments and also provides an intimate glimpse into antebellum New England life.
A Very Tudor Christmas (Undone!)
by Amanda McCabeEngland, 1571A brief but passionate flirtation with the dashing Sir Robert Erroll had Margaret Clifford dreaming they would be wed-until Robert left for the continent without a word, breaking her heart.Robert never forgot Meg, or gave up hope that she would wait for him to make his fortune. But after three years abroad, he has returned to court to discover a cold, distant woman in place of the innocent maiden he left behind.Yet Robert can sense the desire that still burns within her. And when a snowstorm forces them to take refuge for the night, he is determined, come Christmas morn, to have melted the ice that has built up around Meg's heart....