Short Century

Rose McIlroy poses as a young man for safety in the rough mining fields. Jackson Westin fishes her out of a creek and immediately knows his newspaper readers will love a story of a young man helping his injured father to keep their claim going. But how long can this charade last, especially when Jackson discovers Rose's true identity?

A young girl in the 1930s traveling across from L.A. to New York on the 20th Century Limited train to Grand Central Station is abandoned by her drunken father, makes friends with a kindly porter, and then the train has a fateful accident.

Millions of readers around the world have relished Jeffrey Archer's short stories. Taking inspiration from his favourite short story writers - F. Scott Fitzgerald, Maupassant, H. H. Munro, W. Somerset Maugham, and O. Henry - Jeffrey Archer has written five best-selling collections over the years, and Macmillan are proud to announce the publication of a sixth volume of stories in May 2010.

1885 Arkansas City girl, Leah Ellison has big dreams but soon finds out that teaching in a backwards Ozark Mountain community is far different than what she’d imagined. Leah arrives in the Ozarks only to find out she had no ride to her destination. Suitcase in hand, she starts walking and discovers her ride has broken down. Cotton farmer, Luke Canfield, is amused when he sees the lovely woman dressed in ruffles and bows dragging a suitcase behind her. He’s even more intrigued when the little spitfire sets him in his place for not arriving to fetch her despite his wagon breaking down. It...

These stories were carefully chosen to reflect what life was once like for women—before the fight for rights was won. Let these stories reveal to this new generation, how it felt to live with oppression and fear, with no hope of real freedom. Take a journey from 1892 to 1921 through fictional stories, to understand the need for constant vigilance in striving for equal rights for all. Through the voices of Virginia Woolf, Willa Cather, Katherine Mansfield, Susan Glaspell, Charlotte P. Gilman, and Kate Chopin, let us never forget from whence we came.

True beauty isn't found at the Miss Idaho pageant but in a deserted ghost town in the mountains of Idaho. Though a Christian, Luke Chamberlain ignored his values and indulged in his beautiful fiancé's world of alcohol, parties, and nights at her apartment. After rededicating his life to the Lord, he vows never to fall into the lifestyle again. When the state of Idaho's Tourism Department offers his construction company the contract to renovate Silver Cliff, an 1890's silver mining ghost town, he accepts. Janie Littleton studied history in college because life in the past is simpler than ...

Love is not enough. Irish immigrant Katherine Murphy has learned that lesson the hard way. Despite her fiercely independent nature, she opened her guarded heart to city boy Jonathan Schoon, who gave up the lucrative New York City future he was groomed for to court Katherine and make a permanent home in his uncle’s tight-knit Iowa farming community. When Jonathan is called home to New York City after his mother’s carriage accident, Katherine’s familiar fears surface. She vows not to be the reason he is separated from his New York family. When he returns at Christmas to re-claim their ...

Lost in grief, she can’t find her way back. Despite the tender care Alice Patterson receives from her husband, Paul, and her best friend JayNell, Alice’s grief from an early pregnancy loss consumes her. In this 20th-century love story, Alice’s heartache affects everything and everyone she touches. But if she doesn’t come to terms with her grieving, Alice risks losing her husband, her best friend, and her sanity. Paul tries to understand Alice’s depth of grief while dealing with his own. He seeks advice from JayNell about how to reach Alice and pull her back to him. But their ...

"The Shortstop" is a novel by Zane Grey a baseball insider about a 17 years old boy, who fights his way to success, and saves his mother and brother out of poverty. Excerpt from the book: "I am going to be a baseball player." He waited quietly for her refusal, her reproach, her arguments, ready to answer them one by one. "I won’t let you be a ball player." "Mother, since father left us to shift for ourselves I’ve been the head of the house. I never disobeyed you before, but now - I’ve thought it out. I’ve made my plan."

Mister Tidwell is a scholarly Oxford professor snatched out of his bookish world and pressed into service aboard Lord Nelson’s legendary British fleet - in the position of schoolmaster. Such is the life of the land-loving, seafaring Mister Tidwell, Gunner. Thrust into service at the height of the Napoleonic Wars, Tidwell soon finds himself directly in the line of fire and way out of his depth. Fate has cast him into a terrible and terrifying spot - alone on deck to face the fearsome approach of a French man-o’-war.

When Clare picks up an odd stone, she never expects to be...transported? Hundreds of years in the past and thousands of miles away, Clare is lost. Will her new friends Andrew and Harold Marshall help her to find the way back, even if they do not believe her? And more importantly, can she trust these strangers?

In Love and War is the moving story of two young people in love at the cusp of adulthood and America’s entry into WW II. Inga, a German girl, and Mack, an American pilot, have fallen in love, but the war threatens to separate them forever. From the tranquil citrus groves of Florida to the shrapnel-filled skies over Europe, Mack only wants to see Inga again. Inga longs for Mack amid the wartime carnage of Germany. One fateful day, the families of both will be changed forever.

1966 proves to be the "make it or pack up and go home" year for The Aspirations. They are four high school students whose favorite extracurricular activity is playing the Top 40 hits of the day at parties and dances and getting paid to do what they love. Their leader Frank has the highest hopes. The other three -- Sy, Chris, and Ralph -- chafe under Frank's demands. Will they rise above the other more mediocre garage bands and hit success? "1966" is Book 4 n the Americana Series, which takes a look at America during different phases of its history. Each book in the series can be read as a ...

In the twelve unforgettable tales of Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, the strange is made familiar and the familiar strange, such that a girl growing wings on her legs feels like an ordinary rite of passage, while a bug-infested house becomes an impossible, Kafkaesque nightmare. Each story builds a new world all its own: a group of children steal a haunted doll, a runaway bride encounters a sea monster, a vendor sells toy boxes that seemingly control the passage of time, an insomniac is seduced by the Sandman.

Millions of readers around the world have relished Jeffrey Archer's short stories. Taking inspiration from his favourite short story writers - F. Scott Fitzgerald, Maupassant, H. H. Munro, W. Somerset Maugham, and O. Henry - Jeffrey Archer has written five best-selling collections over the years, and Macmillan are proud to announce the publication of a sixth volume of stories in May 2010.

1838 proves to be the turning point in Dan "Beaverman" McDaniel's life. At first, he thinks he is always a day late when he misses fighting in The Battle of the Alamo. But tragedy then makes him think life's burdens have been dumped on him at too early of an age to endure them. He seeks comfort by retreating to the wilderness and life as a mountain man. "1838" is Book 3 in the Americana Series, which takes a look at America during important phases of its history. Each book in the series can be read as a stand-alone.

Can love last for decades? Can it survive even after you haven’t seen the person for over fifty years? Find out in this romantic short story about a man and woman’s relationship that lasted for decades. This short interracial romance is only 2,200 words, but it is full of emotion and love. Note that there are racial slurs in the story. Enjoy.

From ‘The Manchester Marriage’, in which a husband, supposedly drowned at sea, returns to find his daughter, to the two sisters who are comically adrift after the death of their domineering father in ‘The Daughters of the Late Colonel’, and a young girl who enlists the help of a sorceress to win back her boyfriend in ‘The Goodness of Saint Rocque’, Standing Her Ground showcases nine groundbreaking women writers.

Discover the timeless beauty of love through a masterfully curated collection of romance short stories that span across generations. This anthology captures the essence of love in its many forms, weaving together tales from different eras that reveal how love has been a guiding force throughout history. From the tender innocence of first love to the deep bonds of lifelong commitment, each story offers a glimpse into the heart's journey across time, proving that love’s power remains unshaken by the passage of years.

When her mother dies, her father raises her alone in this 15th century tale of love and greed. Katheryn wants to marry for love but when her father mysteriously dies, she is forced to marry the viceroy to save her heritage. Now, how will the viceroy win her favor and still keep his secret? Enjoy this expanded outtake from the Mystery Along the Danube about life and marriage in the fifteenth century. Updated 4/29/23