Each chapter is bonne bouche, possessing its own particular flavour, from sweet to acrid-bitter. Hobson's characters are often wonderfully quixotic and so is the spirit she finds everywhere at this crux in Russia's history. She drinks with derelicts, hangs out with gypsies, and watches investigators go about the grim business of exhuming purge victims, and giving them the Christian burial they have been denied for seventy years. Her style is deft: she manages to render the scenes through which she passes with needle-sharp precision.' Financial TimesThis witty and yet deeply moving, acutely observed tale of Charlotte Hobson's year in Russia takes us to the heart of a country many of us continue to be fascinated by and struggle to understand. Or as the TLS put it: 'Hobson writes with such beguiling directness that it is hard not to feel intimate with her and her characters. Few books evoke so much of Russian life, with so little effort.

He'll do whatever it takes to protect her... Sexy biker Vasily Krachenko has just been given an assignment other men would kill for. Protect the mafia boss’ daughter and become the gang's new leader. Easy. Ignoring the way he burns with desire for her? Not so easy. Anya Romanov doesn’t know that the rugged outlaw keeping her safe was sent by her father. What she does know is that he’s dangerous, wild, and red-hot. And he’s made it his goal to own her... Even if it means putting his life and reputation on the line. Note: Biker Outlaw's Princess is 50k of sensual mafia passion between a dominant, sexy biker and a feisty, Russian princess. It includes 1 steamy 30k bonus mafia romance novella, Stolen by the Mob Boss.

"When she awoke as a cat, Dolores Tremayne saw no immediate advantage in having four paws instead of two arms and two legs..." A brilliant, funny novel of love, marriage and modern life.When the cat's away, the mice will play – but who will oversee the cat? When Dolores Tremayne, a successful business executive, travels overseas, part of her remains mysteriously behind in X, the family's indoor cat. Through feline eyes, Dolores witnesses the shocking behavior of her errant husband, the stalled novelist Gerald Tremayne. Far away in Germany, the human Dolores is conducting high-powered negotiations with a prestigious auto-maker, but back at home, her husband's liaisons force him into ever more drastic exploits. Meanwhile, Dolores begins to wonder about the strange words and images that have begun to pop into her head, as if from nowhere.Funny and memorable, Alan S. Cowell's Cat Flap will appeal to all fans of clever satire.

Thanks to the Sherlockian historian George Piliev and translator Alex Auswaks, this remarkable collection of seven Russian Sherlock Holmes stories is now available in English for the first time. Piliev tells the fascinating story of how these tales came to be written, in the context of the Sherlockian phenomenon in Russia. He explains how Holmes reached an even greater audience when Russian writers decided to transport him and Watson from Baker Street to Russia, on the premise that they traveled widely in the country and became fluent in the language. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson traveled the length of Russia solving the most difficult and unimaginable cases and pursued all the while by an implacable Russian Moriarty. Instead of mainly dealing with murders, these stories are more diverse, covering kidnapping, a strange problem in a shop, theft, and corruption.

She’s his princess—a delicious cherry who needs to be popped again… and again… Sasha is a mountain who could crush a man’s skull. He’s a heartbreaker and a troublemaker. And now that he’s the boss, no one will defy him. But when he’s forced to marry a rival’s daughter, Sasha’s the one who drops to his knees in submission. The young, virgin-like beauty becomes the apple in his dark garden. Maria didn’t ask for a husband, and she loathes mobsters. But the lascivious pull towards Sasha is undeniable, and soon he’s the whispering snake to her inquisitive Eve. The temptation reaches boiling point, and they become each other’s original sin. His devilishly handsome looks, badass authority, and muscle-chiseled body set Maria’s skin on fire. But when Maria pokes her nose in the wrong place and ends up in deep water, will Sasha save her in time? And what will happen when a wild card is thrown into the mix, binding their marriage in more ways than one? Note: Russian Bad Boy's Princess is 50k of steamy, passionate mafia romance between a dominant mobster and an innocent, young female. It contains one exclusive 60k mafia romance novella, Russian Don's Baby.

The more you watch Moscow, the more it looks like a huge chameleon that keeps changing its face—and it isn’t always pretty. Following Akashic Books’ international success with London Noir , Delhi Noir , Paris Noir , and others, the Noir series explores this fabled and troubled city’s darkest recesses. Features brand-new stories by: Alexander Anuchkin, Igor Zotov, Gleb Shulpyakov, Vladimir Tuchkov, Anna Starobinets, Vyacheslav Kuritsyn, Sergei Samsonov, Alexei Evdokimov, Ludmila Petrushevskaya, Maxim Maximov, Irina Denezhkina, Dmitry Kosyrev, Andrei Khusnutdinov, and Sergei Kuznetsov. Natalia Smirnova was born in 1978 in Moscow. In 2006, together with Julia Goumen, she founded Goumen & Smirnova Literary Agency, representing Russian authors worldwide. Julia Goumen was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1977. She holds a PhD in English and has worked in publishing since 2001.