Hiding inside the hollow pedestal of the statue standing just outside the castle walls, sixteen-year-olds Lavinia and her visiting-for-the-summer cousin, Beatrice, develop a crush on one of the night sentries patrolling the perimeter. When, by chance, they learn of the debilitating illness of the sentry's ten-year-old son, Benjy, they resolve to bring secret medical help to the family after the Duke, Lavinia's father, refuses their pleas. At the same time, it is summer in the Midlands and the two young ladies begin to flirt with two lads their own age that they meet in the forest. The working class lads, who serve as apprentice milliners – hat-makers – in town, do not suspect at first anything more than romance is involved with these privileged daughters of English nobility. But they both soon become swept up in something more, an ill-fated scheme to kidnap a sick lad from his home while a doctor is deceived by the disguised-as-servants cousins into treating the boy on a moonlit forest trail. The plan takes an unpredictable, tragic turn when the mother of the boy is awakened in the middle of the night to find her son missing. She takes the news directly to her husband walking his rounds at the castle, and, still bearing the sentry's sword upon his hip, he flies on horseback after the two milliners responsible. Set in Elizabethan England around 1600, the book mixes adventure and romance in equal measure with the text in the form of a Hollywood script.

When you’re caught in a traffic jam, you’ve got nowhere to go… Val Delton’s life is spiraling and there’s nothing she can do to stop it. Her dad lost his job, her mom works fourteen hour days to pay the bills and yet somehow there are high-end shopping bags and an iPod in her older sister’s room. Naturally, Val becomes suspicious but her sister’s lips are sealed. Then by accident, she uncovers a dark, dangerous secret hidden behind her sister’s bright smiles and cool indifference. Val has no idea how far and how deep the repercussions of her sister’s secret will reach but she’ll do whatever it takes to keep her family safe. Will she succeed before her sister’s secret destroys everyone she loves?

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.