Kirjahaku

"Readers fascinated with the Romanovs and this tumultuous period in Russian history will be enthralled by this deliciously dark and memorable novel." --Publishers WeeklyInspired by real characters, this transporting historical fiction debut spins the fascinating story of two princesses in the Romanov court who practiced black magic, befriended the Tsarina, and invited Rasputin into their lives--forever changing the course of Russian history.As daughters of the impoverished King of Montenegro, Militza and Stana must fulfill their duty to their father and leave their beloved home for St. Petersburg to be married into senior positions in the Romanov court. For their new alliances to the Russian nobility will help secure the future of the sisters' native country. Immediately, Militza and Stana feel like outcasts as the aristocracy shuns them for their provincial ways and for dabbling in the occult. Undeterred, the sisters become resolved to make their mark by falling in with the lonely, depressed Tsarina Alexandra, who--as an Anglo-German--is also an outsider and is not fully accepted by members of the court. After numerous failed attempts to precipitate the birth of a son and heir, the Tsarina is desperate and decides to place her faith in the sisters' expertise with black magic.Promising the Tsarina that they will be able to secure an heir for the Russian dynasty, Militza and Stana hold s ances and experiment with rituals and spells. Gurus, clairvoyants, holy fools, and charlatans all try their luck. The closer they become to the Tsarina and the royal family, the more their status--and power--is elevated. But when the sisters invoke a spiritual shaman, who goes by the name of Rasputin, the die is cast. For they have not only irrevocably sealed their own fates--but also that of Russia itself.

The manager of an exclusive boutique hotel (who shall remain nameless) exposes the low-life styles of the rich and famous in this titillating expos . The anonymous author has encountered lavish drug parties, gorgeous call girls, naked guests falling out of windows, $9,000 bottles of wine, astronomical telephone porn bills, bathtubs of Evian, and on more than one occasion, dead sheep. And every dirty word of it is true. This is a trawl through the decadence and debauchery of the ultimate service industry--where money not only talks, but gets guests the best room, the best service, and also entitles them to behave in any way they please.

'Something strange occurs to guests as soon as they check in. Even if in real life they are perfectly well-mannered, decent people with proper balanced relationships, as soon as they spin through the revolving hotel doors the normal rules of behaviour no longer seem to apply.'All of the following is true.Only the names have been changed to protect the guilty. All the anecdotes, the stories, the characters, the situations, the highs, the lows, the scams, the drugs, the misery, the love, the death and the insanity are exactly as was told by Anonymous - someone who has spent his whole career working in hotels at the heart of London's luxury hotel industry. However, for legal reasons, the stories now take place in a fictitious hotel known as Hotel Babylon. More than a decade is compressed into a day. Everything else is as it should be. The rich spend money, the hotel makes money and the chambermaids still fight the bellboys over a two-pound coin.It's just another twenty-four hours in an expensive London hotel.

Heard the one about the airline that has introduced 'corpse cupboards' on new planes to cope with the number of people who die in the air? Heard the story about the First Class air hostess who got fired for sitting on the face of a passenger during a long haul flight? Heard about the amount of knickers and false teeth that are left behind in the body of the plane? Heard how pissed-off stewards put laxatives in your drinks? Heard about the pilot who ran out of runway? Heard of the disabled passengers who miraculously walk again?No? Then you haven't read Air Babylon.Do you know the best place to have sex on a plane? Do you know how to dress for an upgrade? Do you know that one drink in the air equals three on the ground? Do you know who is checking you in? Who is checking you out? Do you know exactly what happens to your luggage once it leaves your sight? Is it secure? Are you safe? Do you really know anything about the business that you entrust your life to several times a year?Air Babylon is a trawl through the highs, the lows, and the rapid descents of the travel industry. It catalogues the births, the deaths, the drunken brawls, the sexual antics, and the debauchery behind the scenes of the ultimate service industry - where the world is divided into those who wear the uniform and those who don't...

When I was a teenager, I thought you could get pregnant from sitting in a jacuzzi. Not that I'm sure I even knew what a jacuzzi was, but I knew they were racy places where racy things happened. Men, as far as I remember, didn't even have to be there. So long as they'd been in the water in some sort of excitable state, pregnancy was inevitable - even if you kept your pants on. You see pregnancy was that easy, that dangerous and it could ruin your life.Almost 20 years later and pregnancy could still ruin my life. Although now it is not the threat of what having a baby would do, but of not having a baby at all. I have been trying to get pregnant for two years and have not even come close to hearing the pitter-patter of tiny feet...'So begins The Stork Club, Imogen Edwards-Jones' very personal, very moving and very funny memoir of her (and her husband's) trials and tribulations with IVF. Poked and prodded by endless doctors, pumped full of an exotic cocktail of drugs and forced to try to have sex at the most inopportune moments, Imogen pulls no punches in her account of this process. In her words, 'The fertility game is like a marathon, where you just have to keep on running. No matter how many times the finishing line is moved, no matter how increasingly heavy the going or unpleasant the terrain, you pick yourself up and, ever more determinedly, keep on going. Until one day, you pray, you might just make it...

What is fashion? What is fashionable? Who decides what is in? What is out? Why is it green one year, and blue the next? Why is one little black dress worth three thousand pounds and another thirty quid? Is the catwalk that catty? Is everyone high on drugs and full of champagne? What makes a supermodel so super? And a designer too hot to touch? Who is making the money? Who owns who? Who hates who? And who's in each other's pocket?Following in the glamourous footsteps of Hotel Babylon and Air Babylon, Fashion Babylon will get under the well-cut skin of the fashion industry. Using a world renowned source, Fashion Babylon will take you through six months in a designer's life. Starting at the end of one catwalk show, it will explain how a collection is put together - from the rail of found objects, to how it gets on to the catwalk, into the shops and onto the covers of a magazine. It will tell you who goes to the shows, where they sit and whose backside one needs to kiss to get there. It will introduce you to a host of places and characters, it will take you into a world where women get paid tens of thousands for getting dressed in the morning and where a wrong shirt length can cost you your career.Witty, naughty and full of gripping detail Fashion Babylon will explain the mark -ups, talk you through fashion's two seasons and discuss the money and commerce behind one of the most international, lucrative and secretive of businesses. With something for the simple follower of fashion as well as the hardcore fashionista, Fashion Babylon will change the way you sashay into Top Shop, flick through the pages of Vogue and enter the portals of Harvey Nichols forever.

How does it feel to live and work in the world's most beautiful and luxurious tropical island resort, surrounded by white sandy beaches and aquamarine seas? And when the guests are some of the richest and most demanding people in the world, where do you find the energy every day to smile, smile and smile again?

How do you make it as a pop star? Why does one boy band make it big and another disappear off the pages of the magazines altogether? Why do girls cost more than boys? And who should you sleep with to get to number one?Packed with scandal and intrigue, Pop Babylon takes you to the dark heart of one of the world's most wicked and secretive industries. It's a world where money talks, bullshit walks and drugs are a way of life. And where talent isn't always at the top of the list of priorities...Tracking a year in the making of a brand-new boy band, Pop Babylon is pure, unadulterated reading pleasure - stuffed with stories about pop's most demanding divas, which jocks do shock and just how long you can chop a line of cocaine. Disgraceful, revelatory and great down-and-dirty fun, it's essential reading for anyone who wants to know what it really takes nowadays to be top of the pops.

Following a week in the life of a busy wedding planner, and based entirely on true but anonymous stories, Wedding Babylon takes you to the heart of an industry where emotions run high, money flows like champagne and �£3,000 cakes are made of polystyrene.

It will take the reader on a journey through the various departments and wards where babies are made, thighs are reduced, noses straightened and spare kidneys are flown in from the Indian subcontinent. We will meet doctors who sleep with nurses. Doctors who suck fat, pump up breasts, plump lips and lengthen penises.

In Restaurant Babylon, Imogen Edwards-Jones and her anonymous industry insider lift the lid on all the tricks of the food trade and what really makes this �£90 billion a year industry tick.

'Sumptuous, sexy and haunting. I adored this novel' SANTA MONTEFIORE. Starving men and women stalk the streets of St. Petersburg. Revolution is brewing. Yet in the Imperial court of Nicholas II and the lavish palaces of the aristocracy, there is unimaginable luxury and extravagance. Into this world of stifling splendour come two sisters. Princesses Anastasia and Militza from Montenegro are famed for their wild beauty and mystical powers. They befriend the isolated Tsarina Alexandra and use their psychic gifts to help in her increasingly desperate quest to produce a male heir. In one doomed last throw of the dice, the princesses introduce Rasputin to the Russian court. Forgotten by history, these extraordinary sisters played a frustrating role in the fate of the Romanov family – a true story of love, lust, power and betrayal. 'I couldn't put it down' CLAUDIA WINKLEMAN. 'Brilliant' CANDACE BUSHNELL. 'A rip-roaring read' DAISY GOODWIN. 'Sumptuous... Intrigue and black magic in the time of Rasputin' iNewspaper. 'Glamour, scandal and Russian princesses... A rollicking read' Good Housekeeping.

'The funniest take on love and marriage I've read in years - possibly ever' - SANTA MONTEFIORE'Social satire at its finest' - CANDACE BUSHNELL 'I fell over laughing' CLAUDIA WINKLEMAN ___________Have You Got Anything Stronger? is a sharp and furiously funny novel about being married with two children.We follow a year in the life of four best friends as they navigate careers, friendship, love, sex, money, children, and question their harassed realities.Why did they get married? Do they like their children? Does lemon in your vodka and tonic count as one of your five a day? Does life ever, you know, slow down?Between running late, meetings, pick-ups and drop- offs, it's clear the hamster wheel never really stops turning and the question eventually must be asked . . .Is this it?For fans of Why Mummy Drinks, this next-generation Bridget Jones's Diary will resonate with women who, between running late for playdates, meetings and Ocado deliveries, have realised that the hamster wheel never stops turning, and it may be too late to crash out.Reviews for Have You Got Anything Stronger?:'This rollicking, moving comedy of contemporary urban family life is reminiscent of I Don't Know How She Does It. Except that it's bolder, wilder, swearier and even funnier . . . Fabulous' - Daily Mail'Painfully relatable and funny' - Heat'A hilarious new satire' - Hello'A sort of midlife Bridget Jones with less drinking shame' - Sunday Times

‘A spellbinding tale of love, lust, magic and betrayal in Imperial Russia... I couldn't put it down' Santa MontefioreA city burning. A revolution raging. A woman on the run.Nadezhda has never wanted to be a witch. But the occult is in her blood. Her mother, Militza, conjured Rasputin and introduced him into the Romanov court, releasing the devil himself. Now he is dead, but Militza still dreams of him – stalking her sleep and haunting her waking hours.As Petrograd burns and the Russian Empire crumbles, Nadezhda escapes through the capital, concealing a book of generational magic. But as danger grows closer, she may be forced to embrace her heritage to save what she loves most...Based on a true story, The Witch’s Daughter is an epic tale of women rising from the ashes of an empire, perfect for fans of Elodie Harper's The Wolf Den and Madeline Miller’s Circe.Praise for Imogen Edwards-Jones: 'Richly imagined.' Daisy Goodwin'Razor-sharp... brilliant.' Candace Bushnell 'I couldn't put it down.' Claudia Winkleman

‘A spellbinding tale of love, lust, magic and betrayal in Imperial Russia... I couldn't put it down' Santa MontefioreA city burning. A revolution raging. A woman on the run.Nadezhda has never wanted to be a witch. But the occult is in her blood. Her mother, Militza, conjured Rasputin and introduced him into the Romanov court, releasing the devil himself. Now he is dead, but Militza still dreams of him – stalking her sleep and haunting her waking hours.As Petrograd burns and the Russian Empire crumbles, Nadezhda escapes through the capital, concealing a book of generational magic. But as danger grows closer, she may be forced to embrace her heritage to save what she loves most...Based on a true story, The Witch’s Daughter is an epic tale of women rising from the ashes of an empire, perfect for fans of Elodie Harper's The Wolf Den and Madeline Miller’s Circe.Praise for Imogen Edwards-Jones: 'Richly imagined.' Daisy Goodwin'Razor-sharp... brilliant.' Candace Bushnell 'I couldn't put it down.' Claudia Winkleman

Inspired by real characters, this transporting historical fiction debut spins the fascinating story of two princesses in the Romanov court who practiced black magic, befriended the Tsarina, and invited Rasputin into their lives--forever changing the course of Russian history.As daughters of the impoverished King of Montenegro, Militza and Stana must fulfill their duty to their father and leave their beloved home for St. Petersburg to be married into senior positions in the Romanov court. For their new alliances to the Russian nobility will help secure the future of the sisters' native country. Immediately, Militza and Stana feel like outcasts as the aristocracy shuns them for their provincial ways and for dabbling in the occult. Undeterred, the sisters become resolved to make their mark by falling in with the lonely, depressed Tsarina Alexandra, who--as an Anglo-German--is also an outsider and is not fully accepted by members of the court. After numerous failed attempts to precipitate the birth of a son and heir, the Tsarina is desperate and decides to place her faith in the sisters' expertise with black magic. Promising the Tsarina that they will be able to secure an heir for the Russian dynasty, Militza and Stana hold s ances and experiment with rituals and spells. Gurus, clairvoyants, holy fools, and charlatans all try their luck. The closer they become to the Tsarina and the royal family, the more their status--and power--is elevated. But when the sisters invoke a spiritual shaman, who goes by the name of Rasputin, the die is cast. For they have not only irrevocably sealed their own fates--but also that of Russia itself.Brimming with black magic, sex and intrigue, The Witches of St. Petersburg is an exquisite historical fiction debut novel filled with lush historical details from the Romanov era.Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Inspired by real characters, this transporting historical fiction debut spins the fascinating story of two princesses in the Romanov court who practiced black magic, befriended the Tsarina, and invited Rasputin into their lives--forever changing the course of Russian history.As daughters of the impoverished King of Montenegro, Militza and Stana must fulfill their duty to their father and leave their beloved home for St. Petersburg to be married into senior positions in the Romanov court. For their new alliances to the Russian nobility will help secure the future of the sisters' native country. Immediately, Militza and Stana feel like outcasts as the aristocracy shuns them for their provincial ways and for dabbling in the occult. Undeterred, the sisters become resolved to make their mark by falling in with the lonely, depressed Tsarina Alexandra, who--as an Anglo-German--is also an outsider and is not fully accepted by members of the court. After numerous failed attempts to precipitate the birth of a son and heir, the Tsarina is desperate and decides to place her faith in the sisters' expertise with black magic. Promising the Tsarina that they will be able to secure an heir for the Russian dynasty, Militza and Stana hold s ances and experiment with rituals and spells. Gurus, clairvoyants, holy fools, and charlatans all try their luck. The closer they become to the Tsarina and the royal family, the more their status--and power--is elevated. But when the sisters invoke a spiritual shaman, who goes by the name of Rasputin, the die is cast. For they have not only irrevocably sealed their own fates--but also that of Russia itself.Brimming with black magic, sex and intrigue, The Witches of St. Petersburg is an exquisite historical fiction debut novel filled with lush historical details from the Romanov era.Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Inspired by real characters, this transporting historical fiction debut spins the fascinating story of two princesses in the Romanov court who practiced black magic, befriended the Tsarina, and invited Rasputin into their lives--forever changing the course of Russian history.As daughters of the impoverished King of Montenegro, Militza and Stana must fulfill their duty to their father and leave their beloved home for St. Petersburg to be married into senior positions in the Romanov court. For their new alliances to the Russian nobility will help secure the future of the sisters' native country. Immediately, Militza and Stana feel like outcasts as the aristocracy shuns them for their provincial ways and for dabbling in the occult. Undeterred, the sisters become resolved to make their mark by falling in with the lonely, depressed Tsarina Alexandra, who--as an Anglo-German--is also an outsider and is not fully accepted by members of the court. After numerous failed attempts to precipitate the birth of a son and heir, the Tsarina is desperate and decides to place her faith in the sisters' expertise with black magic. Promising the Tsarina that they will be able to secure an heir for the Russian dynasty, Militza and Stana hold s ances and experiment with rituals and spells. Gurus, clairvoyants, holy fools, and charlatans all try their luck. The closer they become to the Tsarina and the royal family, the more their status--and power--is elevated. But when the sisters invoke a spiritual shaman, who goes by the name of Rasputin, the die is cast. For they have not only irrevocably sealed their own fates--but also that of Russia itself.Brimming with black magic, sex and intrigue, The Witches of St. Petersburg is an exquisite historical fiction debut novel filled with lush historical details from the Romanov era.Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.