Sandra Brown: Three Complete Novels

Amazon.com

Three Southern settings, three unique adventures, three complete bestsellers make up this one satisfying volume.

When a plane crash leaves her disfigured beyond recognition, TV reporter Avery Daniels finds herself in the hospital, mistaken for a selfish Texas socialite, the wife of a famous senatorial candidate. Initially unable to communicate, Avery is given plastic surgery that makes her "good as new." Stripped of her identity and completely vulnerable, she learns of an insider's plot to assassinate her "husband"--and she's supposedly in on it. Reporter's instincts may be the initial reason for keeping up the charade, but soon other instincts kick in and Avery finds herself trapped in a world of power, politics, lies, and lust. Mirror Image is full-speed from the start, and doesn't ease up until the final, dramatic showdown.

"Before I'm finished, I'm going to know which one of you killed my mother," proclaims Alexandra Gaither, a striking young attorney out for revenge. Ignited by the cryptic words of her ailing grandmother, Alex storms into a dusty Texas town like a hired gun and reopens the 25-year-old murder case she's not even old enough to remember. Best Kept Secrets takes on the big business of small-town politics. Confronting the three most powerful men in the community, Alex attempts to find the flaw in their carefully constructed history. She's ready for almost every possible complication, every hidden danger except this: her growing desire for one of the prime murder suspects.

Schyler Crandall is back in Heaven--Heaven, Louisiana. The adopted daughter of the most powerful man in town, Schyler ran away years before, distraught over a broken engagement and painful betrayal. Now, with her father fighting for his life in a hospital bed, Schyler jumps back into a world of secrets and lies to salvage a family logging empire on the brink of disaster. Slow Heat in Heaven has been hailed for its "steamy prose," and won Brown the Waldenbooks Award for bestselling single title release. It's the perfect capper for this three-in-one pleasure-fest. --Sara Nickerson

Customer Reviews:

Always a happy ending.......2007-07-18

I enjoyed knowing that these love stories would always have a happy ending. This would be a wonderful relaxing read for the beach.

Not good at all.......2007-07-07

I normally like Sandra Brown's books, however this book of three novels must been very early work. It is so terrible I gave up in disgust and did not finish the last novel. I regret purchasing it.

Get it..it's great!!.......2005-01-21

I happened across this book in a used book store. I'm a fan of Sandra Brown, although I don't cut her any slack when I read one that isn't what I expected. Let's face it, we have to tell it like it really is. But all three of the stories in this one book happen to be some of Sandra's very best writing. Do yourself a favor and get it. I thought it was greeeaaatttttttt!!!!

Liked the first 2, the other was so-so.......2003-04-09

The 1992 edition of this book is riddled with spelling errors and poor punctuation. I found 10 errors alone in SHH. I enjoyed the first 2 novels. I like the mystery aspect of both. The third, SHH was sub-par. I lost interest half-way through. A great bargain overall. Smaller print than most hardcovers.

Sandra Brown is a literaray genius.......2002-01-29

I do not understand where all these bad reviews are coming form, I am a huge Sandra Brown fan, and I think that three stories in one was the perfect idea, by the time I have finished one, I'm ready to go to read all Sandra Browns books, and best kept secrets was one of my favorites, as for some of the other reviews, Sandra Brown writes fiction novels, so they are based soley on the creativity she finds within herself, and I think that she has done a dam good job at keeping us all entertain. No matter what she writes she does it in a way where I can not put the book down!

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms: "San Kuo Chih Yen-I"

Average customer rating:

A Book of three states battling control for China!
Flawed, but Outstanding
That's why it's called historic novel and not historic fact
This is 10000 times better when read in Chinese
Unfortunately, this is the best you can get in English.

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms: "San Kuo Chih Yen-I"
Guanzhong Luo
Manufacturer: Tuttle Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Chinese | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0804816492

Customer Reviews:

A Book of three states battling control for China!.......2003-06-25

The most amazing book you can read. It will awe you with it's amazing plot!

Flawed, but Outstanding.......2001-01-21

There will always be varying degrees of satisfaction when text is translated; I don't see this book as an exception.

I found the book to be very captivating, not poorly-written by any means. It has it's share of flaws, but only the most discriminating readers will be disturbed by them. Don't wait for a "perfect" translation of this great tale to come along; even the most harsh critics of these two volumes will acknowledge that an English translation doesn't get much better than this. A few errors shouldn't stop anyone from picking up this book.

My fascination with this epic tale began with playing the video games. I eventually discovered this book, and have purchased the VCD movie set since. I'm glad I read this book before seeing the series. The series is *superb* to see, but the English subtitles leave much to be desired. Therefore, I highly recommend this book to anyone who has experienced the series or video games. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves epic, classic literature.

That's why it's called historic novel and not historic fact.......2000-06-26

I've just finished reading the whole book in Chinese for the XXth time. And everytime I read it, I get a different aspect of the book. I was first attracted by the television series on Romance of The Three Kingdoms, and started to read the book itself, it was fantastic, filled with action and tactics in military and politics. Then when I re-read the book again and again, it gave me a deep insight of the cunning of humans, and the philosophy of the Chinese at that time.

But the author Luo Kwang Chung wasn't being fair to every character. ChaoChau was written as an evil conspirator and LiuBei was potraited to be a great hero. But was it really that way? In real history, the time of the Three kingdoms didn't had a clear distinct between evil and good, but the author wrote it in this way as in his own sympathy to Liubei, which in ancient China was more popular for his loyal to the Han dynasty and sympathy to the peasants.

Nevertheless, that's why this is called a historic novel and not 'facts'. So any people reading this book: Read it as a novel and not a history textbook.

This is 10000 times better when read in Chinese.......1999-07-31

I am 14 years old and I've read this book a bizillion times in Chinese (it's also wicked long). It is written in "ancient prose" and I find it alot more attractive in theat style. I've also seen the TV series which I would recommend to anyone who understands chinese. You can find it in any local chinese video rental store. This is probably my favorite book. I'm a total fan.

Unfortunately, this is the best you can get in English........1999-03-10

The Story of the 3 Kingdoms is a great one, filled with memorable characters and events. However, this translation is aweful. Filled with numerous errors, starting with the title written in characters on the front! It's gone through a Japanese filter and is a corrupted translation of a great story. It's too bad that this is about the best you can get in English. My advice if you want to read this story? Learn Chinese. Brewitt-Taylor has no clue.

Charles Brockden Brown : Three Gothic Novels : Wieland / Arthur Mervyn / Edgar Huntly (Library of America)

Average customer rating:

Wieland . . . a wonderfully written story
Dark Patriarch
a seminal classic
Almost good enough
Almost good enough

Charles Brockden Brown : Three Gothic Novels : Wieland / Arthur Mervyn / Edgar Huntly (Library of America)
Charles Brockden Brown
Manufacturer: Library of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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Literature & Fiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
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ASIN: 1883011574

Amazon.com

O! What splendid fortune that the Library of America should be so generous as to rescue from the mists of oblivion such an author as Charles Brockden Brown (1771-1810). This son of Pennslyvania Quakers was sent forth to obtain an education in preparation for an eventual career in the law, but then he came upon the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Samuel Richardson, whose novels inspired Brown to embark upon a literary career of his own. Years of poverty and ill health--for young Brown was a consumptive--followed, and then, within a four-year period, he would produce seven novels, three of which have been gathered in this volume.

Here you will encounter a young man, newly arrived in the city of Philadelphia, caught in the grip of the yellow fever, whose employer is revealed as an adulterous, murderous fiend (Arthur Mervyn). You will be introduced to the protagonist of Edgar Huntly, whose efforts to unmask the killer of his best friend launch him into a somnabulent landscape drenched with the blood of cougars and Indians. And, in Wieland, you will confront, along with Clara, the dreadful threat posed by the master of ventriloquism! You may scoff at such terrors, O jaded reader, steeped in the demonic gore and Freudian underpinnings of contemporary horror and suspense, but know this--the outpourings of the fevered imagination of Charles Brockden Brown--who lived and wrote well before Poe, before Lovecraft--are a vital source of the power the Gothic continues to have over the American reader today. V.C. Andrews, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, James Patterson ... these and so many more (even, some whisper, Nobel laureate Toni Morrison) live under the gloomy shadow of Brown's melodramas. How long, reader, before you, too, have succumbed to their 18th-century charms?

Book Description

Prefiguring the work of Poe, Hawthorne, and Faulkner, as well as the entire tradition of American noir and horror, Brockden Brown was America's first professional novelist. This volume collects his most significant works: "Wieland; or The Transformation" (1798), about a religious fanatic preyed upon by a sinister ventriloquist; "Arthur Mervyn; Or, Memoirs of the Year 1793" (1799), with its devastating depiction of a yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia; and "Edgar Huntly; or Memoirs of a Sleep-Walker" (1799), which recasts traditional Gothic themes in the American wilderness.

Customer Reviews:

Wieland . . . a wonderfully written story.......2005-09-12

Out of the three novels, I have only read Wieland, but if the other two are as good as this one, I would definitely be willing to read them.

Wieland is one of my all-time favorite books. This novel looks at how religion, the unexplainable (or seemingly unexplainable), and madness affect ordinary people. There are no monsters lurking in the shadows, but the novel does look at how people deal with horror in "real" situations.

Dark Patriarch.......2001-02-16

I was pleased to see that the editorial review of this (typically gorgeous) Library of America series entry stole my breath. Brockden Brown's fascinating and brutal gothic novels are the true foundation of what's dark about American literature. Perhaps even more irresponsible than Poe in his fascination with the grotesque (spontaneous combustion, anyone?), Brockden Brown long anticipates Poe and Freud (and Faulkner and Jackson and ...) in his bleak explorations of our most terrible fears, and our worst secrets. Without scenes like the axe murder in "Wieland," would we have King's (or Kubrick's) "The Shining"? Impossible. Let's hope that the Library of America will add a Volume 2 to this one, including Brockden Brown's lesser known (and impossible to find) works like "Ormond."

a seminal classic.......2000-10-01

Charles Brockden Brown is known as the "Father of the American novel" and is considered to be our first professional author. At least by those who do consider him at all. To be perfectly frank, I'd never really heard of the guy before now. But this excellent gothic tale, which was based on the true story of a farmer who thought that angels had commanded him to kill his own family, is so clearly the forerunner of the fiction of everyone from Hawthorne and Melville to Poe and Henry James to H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard right on up to Shirley Jackson and Stephen King, that it is hard to believe that his work is not better known nor taught more often.

Wieland, his first novel, tells the story of a religious fanatic who builds a temple in the seclusion of his own farm, but then is struck dead, apparently by spontaneous combustion. Several years later, his children, in turn, begin to hear voices around the family property, voices which alternately seem to be commanding good or evil and which at times imitate denizens of the farm. Are the voices somehow connected to a mysterious visitor who has begun hanging around? Are they commands from God? From demons? Suffice it to say things get pretty dicey before we find out the truth.

This is a terrific creepy story which obviously influenced the course of American fiction. Brown develops an interesting serious theme of the role that reason can play in combating superstition and religious mania, but keeps the action cranking and the mood deliciously gloomy. The language is certainly not modern but it is accessible and generally understandable. It's a novel that should be better known and more widely read, if not for historical reasons then just because it's great fun.

GRADE: A

Almost good enough.......1999-03-13

The Library of America is providing a valuable service to all devotees of American literature by providing reliable texts of so many important American writers. Here, they have done an excellent job of presenting the three best novels of America's first professional novelist. However, Brown only wrote six novels altogether, and anyone who cares about "Wieland," "Edgar Huntly," and "Arthur Mervyn" will probably also want "Ormond" in the package, as well as the fragments "Memoirs of Stephen Calvert" and "Memoirs of Carwin, the Biloquist."

Almost good enough.......1999-03-13

Average customer rating:

'The Best Bargain I've Ever Purchased'!
Magnificent!!

Heather Graham: Three Complete Novels
Heather Graham
Manufacturer: Random House Value Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

ASIN: 0517101718
Release Date: 1994-04-04

Customer Reviews:

'The Best Bargain I've Ever Purchased'!.......2000-02-04

This is the best buy I've purchased. Three books in one for the price of $1.00 at a library sale. Excellent hardback, original wrapper included. All exciting, spellbinding (capturing the readers and holding their interest with an intense of having to finish the book in one reading) and sensual in the Heather Graham fashion. The heros are similar yet unique in their individuality, exuding strength, leadership, integrity, compassion, and devotion to causes and loved ones. The three heros represent the founders of our great nation, while the heroines represent the women whom stood beside him, fought with and against him and provided the wind beneath his wings. If you enjoyed reading these three novels, continue to read about their great, great, great offsprings, the Camerons of 'One Wore Blue, One Wore Gray and One Rode West' and you will understand why the Camerons are one of my favorite 'Graham' families

Magnificent!!.......1999-09-17

This is the best buy I've purchased. Three books in one for the price of $1.00 at a library sale. Excellent hardback, original wrapper included.

Customer Reviews:

Great read with terrific imagination!.......2004-03-03

This book is actually 4 1/2 stars!

Customer Reviews:

Early Gothic Novels by Walpole, Beckford, and Polidori.......2004-03-20

I was new to the Gothic genre when I first encountered this Dover publication some years ago. At that time I considered the plot for The Castle of Otranto (1764) by Horace Walpole to be farfetched, almost ludicrous. The mystical Oriental tale, Vathek (1782), by William Beckford seemed endless. Only the short story titled The Vampyre (1819, by John Polidori) met my expectations.

My opinion today is quite different. I have gradually become familiar with Gothic literature, and I now appreciate just how innovative these three stories were, and to how great an extent these tales influenced later writers. I give four stars to this collection.

The eighteenth century was clearly a period of philosophical and scientific progress. And yet, many readers were immediately intrigued and entertained by the supernatural, bizarre elements in The Castle of Otranto. Hundreds of authors subsequently imitated Walpole's Gothic style. Although many of these later stories had little literary merit, the Gothic novel remained immensely popular for the following century.

Today, it is true that the supernatural aspects in The Castle of Otranto may be overworked, the dialogue is often stilted, and the plot relies too much on coincidences. Nonetheless, The Castle of Otranto remains quite entertaining and suspenseful. The lengthy introduction by Sir Walter Scott (included in the 1811 edition) illustrates the remarkable impact of "this new species of literary composition".

William Beckford's Vathek is so original that it hardly fits even the Gothic genre. Beckford, a noted scholar of early Arabian literature, provided more than fifty pages of explanatory end notes. For some reason he first published Vathek in French. Later it was translated and published in English without his approval. I still find Vathek to be overly long, but this time I was intrigued with its mystical Arabian Nights motif, its chilling characters, and its vivid portrayal of evil.

In an introduction to The Vampyre the author John Polidori claimed (possibly to increase sales) that Lord Byron had created the plot at the same literary soiree in Geneva in which Mary Shelley produced Frankenstein. Lord Byron disputed Polidori's claim and produced his own notes from that famous gathering. Regardless, The Vampyre is fascinating short story.

E. F. Bleiler edited this collection and provided a lengthy, interesting introduction to three authors that were instrumental in developing the Gothic novel.

Gothick Terror, Oriental Decadence, Romantic Vampyres..........2002-05-09

This volume is an excellent introduction to four
works of the Gothic mindset, which hit England at
the end of the 1700s and lasted on into the early
Romantic period, all the way up to the late decadence
of the 1890s, winding up in Robert Louis Stevenson's
THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1886),
Oscar Wilde's THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (1891), and
Bram Stoker's DRACULA (1897).
These are four of the earliest of this Gothic genre.
The volume includes Horace Walpole's THE CASTLE OF
OTRANTO (Christmas Eve, 1764); William Beckford's
VATHEK (1786); John Polidori's VAMPYRE (1819); and
a Vampire Fragment by Lord Byron (1819), "which was
published at the end of MAZEPPA in 1819."
The list of Gothic NOVELS (rather than stories)
in chronological order which make the grade are:
Horace Walpole's CASTLE OF OTRANTO (1764), Clara
Reeve's THE CHAMPION OF VIRTUE (1777), William
Beckford's VATHEK (1786), Ann Radcliffe's THE
MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO (1794), Matthew Gregory Lewis's
THE MONK (1795), Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN (1818),
John Polidori's VAMPYRE (1819), Charles R. Maturin's
MELMOTH THE WANDERER (1820).
There are excellent introductions to each of the
writers and their works at the beginning of the book.
In speaking of THE CASTLE OF OTRANTO, Bleiler says:
"This novel has been called one of the half-dozen
historically most important novels in English. The
founder of a school of fiction, the so-called Gothic
novel, it served as the direct model for an enormous
quantity of novels written up through the first
quarter of the 19th century.... It was probably
the most important source for enthusiasm for the
Middle Ages that suddenly swept Europe in the later
18th century, and many of the trappings of the early
19th century Romantic movement have been traced to
it. It embodied the spirit of an age."
There is included a series of impressive "Notes"
to the novel VATHEK: An Arabian Tale. The novel
begins in an interesting fashion: "Vathek, ninth
caliph of the race of the Abassides, was the son
of Motassem, and the grandson of Haroun al Raschid.
From an early accession to the throne, and the talents
he possessed to adorn it, his subjects were induced to
expect that his reign would be long and happy. His
figure was pleasing and majestic: but when he was
angry, one of his eyes became so terrible, that no
person could bear to behold it; and the wretch upon
whom it was fixed instantly fell backward, and
sometimes expired. For fear, however, of depopulating
his dominions and making his palace desolate, he but
rarely gave way to his anger."
And here is a sample bite from John Polidori's
VAMPYRE: "There was no colour upon her cheek, not
even upon her lip; yet there was a stillness about
her face that seemed almost as attaching as the life
that once dwelt there: --upon her neck and breast
was blood, and upon her throat were the marks of teeth
having opened the vein: -- to this the men pointed,
crying, simultaneously struck with horror, "A
Vampyre! a Vampyre!"

A great primer for those interested in early Gothic fiction.......2000-06-21

This is a fabulous collection representing the beginning of Gothic fiction. Otronto is the very first such work, and is a perfect illustration of the basic themes and plotlines predominant in Gothic. Although not the most polished work of fiction, it's often so bad it's funny, and definitely worth reading. The other stories are much more professional, albeit a bit drier reading. I'm especially fond of Vathek, as it more clearly represents fear fiction as it was to become. Dr. Polidori's piece is particularly intersting as he was a physician and present at the famous ghost-story-telling session(s) of Byron and the Shelley couple.

Book Description

The Hellion, Separate Beds and Hummingbird. First time ever in hardcover! Three passionate romance novels in one volume from the New York Times bestselling "Gatekeeper of Romance". Her fans adore her and keep her sitting pretty on the bestseller lists.

Customer Reviews:

Three great stories.......2006-04-21

I loved this book! All three stories were great. THE HELLION was heart breaking, Rachel's father was so domineering and caused people 20 years of unhappiness. SEPARATE BEDS was the most interesting to me, I thought it took Clay a long time to figure out what is really important to make a good marriage, that similar life styles and backgrounds are not it. Catherine had to learn that she was a good person, how to show love and except the fact that she was loveable. I really liked the humor that was in HUMMINGBIRD, and what a man Jesse was! Abigail was so "up-tight", it was such fun to see Jesse make her loose her control. But in the end, it was Jesse that had to admit she had got to him too.

Great book.......2004-02-27

If you are a LaVyrle Spencer fan, you'll love these stories!

Hummingbird.......2002-10-02

I haven't read this compilation of 3 books. But I have the book Hummingbird. It is 1 of my favorite books... one that I could never part with. I have already read it several times. I can't really comment on the other 2 books but for the Hummingbird book alone it is well worth it.

Three great stories!.......2000-04-04

This book contains three wonderful novels by LaVyrle Spencer. The Hummingbird is one of the most well written books I have had the pleasure of reading. Abbie's character unfolded gradually and I felt myself really identifying with her. Jessie was such a devil, but I absolutely fell for him. The Hellion makes you think about lost love and what it would be like to rekindle the romance of yesteryear. It took me a while to warm to Rachel. Tommy Lee was pretty much a diamond in the rough. I really empathized with him. I liked Separate Beds, but it was my least favorite of the three. Catherine frustrated me throughout much of the story. She was just so darn stubborn! It kept me reading, though. All in all, a very enjoyable read. Each time I started one of the new books, I was reluctant to leave behind the characters from the previous story.

Barbara Delinsky, Three Complete Novels: A Woman Betrayed / Within Reach / Finger Prints

Average customer rating:

THIS BOOK IS AWESOME AND WORTH EVERY DOLLAR!

Barbara Delinsky, Three Complete Novels: A Woman Betrayed / Within Reach / Finger Prints
Barbara Delinsky
Manufacturer: Wings
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Romance | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0517093839
Release Date: 1993-08-04

Customer Reviews:

THIS BOOK IS AWESOME AND WORTH EVERY DOLLAR!.......1999-11-18

I'M SHORT OF WORDS. I CAN ONLY SAY THAT IT'S SUPERB AND WONDERFUL

Three Complete Novels : Bygones / November of the Heart / Family Blessings

Average customer rating:

Classic and Timeless

Three Complete Novels : Bygones / November of the Heart / Family Blessings
LaVyrle Spencer
Manufacturer: Putnam Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Contemporary | Romance | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0399141812

Customer Reviews:

Classic and Timeless.......2000-06-21

As always Lavyrle Spencer takes your breath away with her modern and days gone by portrayal of romance. This is a winning compilation that highlights the best of Spencer who though not actively publishing at the moment is still the true "Gatekeeper of Romance" for 21st century readers. November of the Heart is perhaps the most striking of these novels because it gives us much historical insight into such subjects as John Phillip Sousa, Gibson Girl styling, and the evolution of yachting in America. Thus this is no ordinary romance novel of boy meets girl-girl meets boy, but rather it is rich in texture and time as the backdrop for romance. Spencer has done her research well and is true to time, place, and architecture as her native Minnesota roots qualify her to weigh in on the geography and landscape of this novel. For those of you who have never tried Spencer, it's not too late to lose yourself in the wealth of novels she has produced (even a made for tv movie....) The true pity is there will be no more. And for those like me sad to see her leave us, collections like this offer a threefold chance to enjoy, savor, and cry again for the bittersweet beauty of romance across the decades.

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