How did this happen? Georgie York, once the costar of America's favorite television sitcom, has been publicly abandoned by her famous husband, her film career has tanked, her father is driving her crazy, and her public image as a spunky heroine is taking a serious beating.

What should a down-on-her-luck actress do? Not go to Vegas . . . not run into her detestable former costar, dreamboat-from-hell Bramwell Shepard . . . and not get caught up in an ugly incident that leads to a calamitous elopement. Before she knows it, Georgie has a fake marriage, a fake husband, and maybe (or not) a fake sex life.

It's a paparazzi free-for-all, and Georgie's nonsupporting cast doesn't help. There's Bram's punk-nightmare housekeeper, Georgie's own pushy parent, a suck-up agent, an icy studio head with a private agenda, and her ex-husband's new wife, who can't get enough of doing good deeds and saving the world—the bitch. As for Georgie's leading man, Bram's giving the performance of his life, but he's never cared about anyone except himself, and it's not exactly clear why.

Two enemies find themselves working without a script in a town where the spotlight shines bright . . . and where the strongest emotions can wear startling disguises.

The blaze that night at her family's pizzeria changed young Reena Hale's life. Neighbors and relatives would help the Hales rebuild. The Baltimore authorities would arrest the arsonist responsible. But as Reena beheld the fire's brutal beauty and destructive power, her destiny began to take shape. She would understand and master its terrible force-and one day become an investigator herself. But she is not the only one fascinated by the flames. Someone else sees their power-and is obsessed not with conquering the fire but with controlling it, owning it, using it to exact vicious revenge . . . When Reena finally joins the arson unit, her strength and wits are constantly tested-although sometimes the job seems like a snap compared to her love life. But she can't always blame the men-after all, a soot-caked woman barking orders and smelling of smoke isn't the biggest turn-on in the world. Then she meets Bo Goodnight, who seems different. He's been trying to find Reena for years, and now that she is close enough to touch, he has no intention of letting go. Nor does the man who has begun to haunt Reena's life-with taunting phone calls and a string of horrifying crimes. And as Reena tries desperately to trace the origins-of the calls, the fires, the hatred aimed in her direction-she will step into the worst inferno she has ever faced. From the incomparable Nora Roberts, Blue Smoke is a tale of gut-level fear, human triumph, and the bonds that carry us through our darkest times.

Nora Roberts is truly a publishing phenomenon. With over 250 million copies of her novels in print, she has come a long way since she wrote her first novel in a spiral notebook using a No. 2 pencil. Now she has published over 150 novels and her work has been optioned and made into films, excerpted in national magazines and translated in over twenty-five different countries. ""I always have stories running around in my head,"" she explains. ""Once I start putting them down on paper, I just keep going; I just keep writing."" In addition to her amazing success in mainstream fiction, Nora Roberts remains committed to writing for her category romance audience that took her to into their heart in 1981 with her very first book, a Silhouette romance. Nora Roberts continues to write futuristic romantic suspense as J.D. Robb, and her characters Eve Dallas and Roarke have become two of her most popular creations ever. Her J.D. Robb titles are hailed as ""a perfect balance of suspense, futuristic police procedure and steamy romance...truly fine entertainment"" by Publishers Weekly. Reviewers agree that Nora Roberts deserves praise. The Los Angeles Daily News describes her as ""a word artist, painting her story and her characters with vitality and verve."" Kirkus Reviews comments on True Betrayals saying ""Roberts' style has a fresh, contemporary snap."" Roberts is said to be ""reminiscent of Jacqueline Briskin and Sidney Sheldon"" by Booklist, and Rex Reed lauds her saying, ""Move over Sidney Sheldon: the world has a new master of romantic suspense, and her name is Nora Roberts."" Publishers Weekly claims ""Roberts keeps getting better...[her] prolificness shows no sign of abating."" They add, ""When Roberts puts her expert finger on the pulse of romance, legions of fans feel the heartbeat."" USA Today calls Nora ""a consistently entertaining writer."" The remarkable Ms. Roberts did not become a success overnight. By the time her first novel, Irish Thoroughbred, was published in 1981, she already had three years of hard work behind her and several rejected manuscripts languishing in drawers. Today, according to Entertainment Weekly, ""her stories have fueled the dreams of twenty-five million readers."" One of America's leading novelists, her books are published around the world. She is frequently invited to promote her novels in other countries. Her recent travels took her to England, Italy, Australia and Japan to meet fans, fellow authors and aspiring writers. Sanctuary was made into a television movie which aired in 2001 on CBS as ""Nora Roberts' Sanctuary."" The cast includes Melissa Gilbert, Emmy-winner Kathy Baker and Costas Mandylor. CBS has also optioned The Reef for another television movie. Montana Sky has been optioned by TriStar Television for a two-hour television movie. Her book This Magic Moment became the television film ""Magic Moments"" starring Emmy-winner John Shea and Jenny Seagrove. Sacred Sins has been optioned for film by Kaleidoscope, and Private Scandals has been optioned by Burt Reynolds Productions. Reflections and The Law is a Lady were selected by Good Housekeeping magazine for presentation as condensed novels. Honest Illusions and Private Scandals were featured as Readers Digest's Condensed Books. The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, People Magazine and Entertainment Weekly have all featured or mentioned Nora Roberts in articles about writing and the romance genre. She has appeared on ABC-TV's Good Morning America and Cable News Network, and has been featured on the television programs To Tell the Truth, Entertainment Tonight, and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. She has been interviewed by local television and radio programs across the country, and she has been featured in dozens of newspapers, including the Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, Toronto Star, The Toronto Sun, Washington Times, Detroit Free Press, Chicago Tribune, and Atlanta Constitution. H

A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author, Mary Jo Putney is a graduate of Syracuse University with degrees in eighteenth-century literature and industrial design. She has won numerous awards for her writing, including two Romance Writers of America RITA awards, four consecutive Golden Leaf awards for Best Historical Romance, and the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Historical Romance. The author of twenty-seven novels, Ms. Putney lives near Baltimore, Maryland, with her nearest and dearest, both two-and four-footed.


From the Paperback edition.

Jane Austen's perfect comedy of manners--one of the most popular novels of all time--features splendidly civilized sparring between the proud Mr. Darcy and the prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet as they play out their spirited courtship in a series of eighteenth-century drawing-room intrigues. "Pride and Prejudice seems as vital today as ever," writes Anna Quindlen in her introduction to this Modern Library edition. "It is a pure joy to read." Eudora Welty agrees: "The gaiety is unextinguished, the irony has kept its bite, the reasoning is still sweet, the sparkle undiminished. [It is] irresistible and as nearly flawless as any fiction could be."

Museum curator Summer Hawthorne considered the exquisite ice-blue ceramic bowl given to her by her beloved Japanese nanny a treasure of sentimental value —until somebody tried to kill her for it.

The priceless relic is about to ignite a global power struggle that must be stopped at all costs. It's a desperate situation, and international operative Takashi O'Brien has received his directive: everybody is expendable. Everybody. Especially the woman who is getting dangerously under his skin as the lethal game crosses the Pacific to the remote and beautiful mountains of Japan, where the truth can be as seductive as it is deadly…