Trial by Fire

Don't get burned... Lieutenant Howard Six-Pack Paxton loves three things: being a firefighter, riding his Harley, and his bachelorhood. That is, until the curvaceous Kat McKenna falls into his arms at the scene of a fire--and melts the six-foot-six tower of bronze muscle But just as passion ignites between them--and they explore new heights of ecstasy--a ruthless arsonist with a deadly secret and a thirst for vengeance becomes their worst nightmare.

Don't get burned... Lieutenant Howard Six-Pack Paxton loves three things: being a firefighter, riding his Harley, and his bachelorhood. That is, until the curvaceous Kat McKenna falls into his arms at the scene of a fire--and melts the six-foot-six tower of bronze muscle But just as passion ignites between them--and they explore new heights of ecstasy--a ruthless arsonist with a deadly secret and a thirst for vengeance becomes their worst nightmare.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - In this inspiring novel from bestselling author Danielle Steel, the life of a Parisian woman changes in a heartbeat when she's trapped by wildfires in Napa Valley. Born to a French mother and American father, graceful Dahlia de Beaumont has been sole owner and CEO of the venerable family perfume business based in Paris since her early twenties, following the death of her parents. For twenty-five years, after losing her young skier husband in an avalanche, her life has centered on running Lambert Perfumes and being a devoted single mother to her four now-adult children: indecisive Charles, volatile Alexa, kind-hearted business visionary Delphine, and dreamy artist Emma. Now fifty-six, she has an "arrangement" with a married French man but has been questioning that relationship. Dahlia comes to San Francisco on a routine business trip to check on her stores in the States. But shortly after her arrival, brush fires ignite in Napa Valley. Watching the sweeping devastation on the news, Dahlia is moved to help. But doing so will bring unforeseen consequences that endanger not only her life, but her entire future. Forced to remain in San Francisco in the aftermath, she will make unexpected connections while also fighting to protect all she has worked for. What Dahlia learns will provide a new perspective of her life, forever changing what really matters to her and what comes next for her journey. With this uplifting novel, Danielle Steel beautifully dramatizes how life's unforeseen challenges can sow the seeds for growth and a fresh chance at love--if one is willing to take the risk.

Trial by Fire is a beautiful, inspiring novel about the courage it takes to open your heart again, set against the backdrop of devastating California wildfires, from the billion-copy bestseller Danielle Steel. Dahlia de Beaumont is the CEO of a high-end perfume and cosmetics company based in Paris. Cruelly widowed at thirty, she brought her four children up alone. Now aged fifty, she guards her heart by burying herself in work, motherhood, and a long-term yet casual relationship with a married man. Travelling for business, Dahlia is left stranded in San Francisco when terrible wildfires break out, causing widespread death and destruction. Moved by the tragic stories of injured animals, Dahlia volunteers at a pet rescue centre in Napa Valley, where she meets Mark Hamilton, a handsome lawyer who has also been wounded by love in the past. When Dahlia seeks Mark’s legal counsel, they grow close, feeling a spark that both thought they never would again. But as black smoke fills the air, and the raging fires move ever closer to San Francisco, their lives remain in grave danger. With everything at stake, is Dahlia willing to take a risk, and put all her cards on the table once more?

Trial by Fire is a beautiful, inspiring novel about the courage it takes to open your heart again, set against the backdrop of devastating California wildfires, from the billion-copy bestseller Danielle Steel. Dahlia de Beaumont is the CEO of a high-end perfume and cosmetics company based in Paris. Cruelly widowed at thirty, she brought her four children up alone. Now aged fifty, she guards her heart by burying herself in work, motherhood, and a long-term yet casual relationship with a married man. Travelling for business, Dahlia is left stranded in San Francisco when terrible wildfires break out, causing widespread death and destruction. Moved by the tragic stories of injured animals, Dahlia volunteers at a pet rescue centre in Napa Valley, where she meets Mark Hamilton, a handsome lawyer who has also been wounded by love in the past. When Dahlia seeks Mark’s legal counsel, they grow close, feeling a spark that both thought they never would again. But as black smoke fills the air, and the raging fires move ever closer to San Francisco, their lives remain in grave danger. With everything at stake, is Dahlia willing to take a risk, and put all her cards on the table once more?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - In this inspiring novel from bestselling author Danielle Steel, the life of a Parisian woman changes in a heartbeat when she's trapped by wildfires in Napa Valley. Born to a French mother and American father, graceful Dahlia de Beaumont has been sole owner and CEO of the venerable family perfume business based in Paris since her early twenties, following the death of her parents. For twenty-five years, after losing her young skier husband in an avalanche, her life has centered on running Lambert Perfumes and being a devoted single mother to her four now-adult children: indecisive Charles, volatile Alexa, kind-hearted business visionary Delphine, and dreamy artist Emma. Now fifty-six, she has an "arrangement" with a married French man but has been questioning that relationship. Dahlia comes to San Francisco on a routine business trip to check on her stores in the States. But shortly after her arrival, brush fires ignite in Napa Valley. Watching the sweeping devastation on the news, Dahlia is moved to help. But doing so will bring unforeseen consequences that endanger not only her life, but her entire future. Forced to remain in San Francisco in the aftermath, she will make unexpected connections while also fighting to protect all she has worked for. What Dahlia learns will provide a new perspective of her life, forever changing what really matters to her and what comes next for her journey. With this uplifting novel, Danielle Steel beautifully dramatizes how life's unforeseen challenges can sow the seeds for growth and a fresh chance at love--if one is willing to take the risk.

NEBULA AWARD FINALIST and sequel to national bestseller, Nebula Award finalist, and Compton Crook Award winner Fire with Fire. Science fiction adventure on a grand scale. When reluctant interstellar diplomat and intelligence operative Caine Riordan returns from humanity's first encounter with alien races, sudden war clouds burst. With Earth's fleet shattered by a sneak attack and its survivors fighting for their lives, Caine must rely upon both his first contact and weaponry skills to contend with the non-humanoid enemy. And when the technologically-superior attackers sweep aside the solar system's last defenses, and traitorous corporations invite the invaders to land 'security forces, ' humanity fights back with its best weapons: cunning, inventiveness, and guts. But as Earth hurtles towards a final trial by fire that is certain to scar its collective memory, Caine discovers that there may also be large and disturbing gaps in that memory. Clues point to a much earlier inter-species apocalypse, buried in humanity's own prehistory. Which raises a terrifying possibility: what if the aliens' invasion of Earth is not one of conquest, but preemption? And what if their harrowing memories of a long-past cataclysmic war makes them willing to do anything to keep it from reigniting? Even if that means exterminating the human race. A bout Trial by Fire : "Gannon's whiz-bang second Tales of the Terran Republic interstellar adventure delivers on the promise of the first ( Fire with Fire ). . . . The charm of Caines harrowing adventure lies in Gannons attention to detail, which keeps the layers of political intrigue and military action from getting too dense. The dozens of key characters, multiple theaters of operations, and various alien cultures all receive the appropriate amount of attention. The satisfying resolution is enhanced by the promise of more excitement to come in this fascinating far-future universe."-- Publishers Weekly Starred Review " . . . offers the type of hard science-fiction those familiar with the John Campbell era of Analog Science Fiction will remember.Gannon throws his readers into an action-packed adventure. A sequel to Fire With Fire , it is a nonstop tale filled with military science-fiction action." -- Daily News of Galveston County " A] white-knuckle adventure . . . with real stakes, and sets up the next challenge for the newly named Terran Republic. Gannon is making it easy for me to meet my goal of reading more military SF this year."-- Fantasy Literature Review About Compton Crook award winner for best first novel, Fire with Fire: "Chuck Gannon is one of those marvelous finds--someone as comfortable with characters as he is with technology, and equally adept at providing those characters with problems to solve. Imaginative, fun, and not afraid to step on the occasional toe or gore the occasional sacred cow, his stories do not disappoint."-- David Weber "If we meet strong aliens out there, will we suffer the fate of the Aztecs and Incas, or find the agility to survive? Gannon fizzes with ideas about the dangerous politics of first contact."-- David Brin "The plot is intriguing and then some. Well-developed and self-consistent; intelligent readers are going to like it."-- Jerry Pournelle " T]he intersecting plot threads, action and well-conceived science kept those pages turning."-- SF Crowsnest About Starfire series hit, Extremis , coauthored by Charles E. Gannon: "Vivid. . . Battle sequences mingle with thought-provoking exegesis . . ."- Publishers Weekly "It's a grand, fun series of battles and campaigns, worthy of anything Dale Brown or Larry Bond ever wrote." - Analog About Charles E. Gannon: " A] strong writer of] . . . military SF. . . much] action going on in his work, with a lot of physics behind it. There is a real sense of the urgency of war and the sacrifices it demands." - Locus

NEBULA AWARD FINALIST and sequel to national bestseller, Nebula Award finalist, and Compton Crook Award winner Fire with Fire. Science fiction adventure on a grand scale. When reluctant interstellar diplomat and intelligence operative Caine Riordan returns from humanity's first encounter with alien races, sudden war clouds burst. With Earth's fleet shattered by a sneak attack and its survivors fighting for their lives, Caine must rely upon both his first contact and weaponry skills to contend with the non-humanoid enemy. And when the technologically-superior attackers sweep aside the solar system's last defenses, and traitorous corporations invite the invaders to land 'security forces, ' humanity fights back with its best weapons: cunning, inventiveness, and guts. But as Earth hurtles towards a final trial by fire that is certain to scar its collective memory, Caine discovers that there may also be large and disturbing gaps in that memory. Clues point to a much earlier inter-species apocalypse, buried in humanity's own prehistory. Which raises a terrifying possibility: what if the aliens' invasion of Earth is not one of conquest, but preemption? And what if their harrowing memories of a long-past cataclysmic war makes them willing to do anything to keep it from reigniting? Even if that means exterminating the human race. A bout Trial by Fire : "Gannon's whiz-bang second Tales of the Terran Republic interstellar adventure delivers on the promise of the first ( Fire with Fire ). . . . The charm of Caines harrowing adventure lies in Gannons attention to detail, which keeps the layers of political intrigue and military action from getting too dense. The dozens of key characters, multiple theaters of operations, and various alien cultures all receive the appropriate amount of attention. The satisfying resolution is enhanced by the promise of more excitement to come in this fascinating far-future universe."-- Publishers Weekly Starred Review " . . . offers the type of hard science-fiction those familiar with the John Campbell era of Analog Science Fiction will remember.Gannon throws his readers into an action-packed adventure. A sequel to Fire With Fire , it is a nonstop tale filled with military science-fiction action." -- Daily News of Galveston County " A] white-knuckle adventure . . . with real stakes, and sets up the next challenge for the newly named Terran Republic. Gannon is making it easy for me to meet my goal of reading more military SF this year."-- Fantasy Literature Review About Compton Crook award winner for best first novel, Fire with Fire: "Chuck Gannon is one of those marvelous finds--someone as comfortable with characters as he is with technology, and equally adept at providing those characters with problems to solve. Imaginative, fun, and not afraid to step on the occasional toe or gore the occasional sacred cow, his stories do not disappoint."-- David Weber "If we meet strong aliens out there, will we suffer the fate of the Aztecs and Incas, or find the agility to survive? Gannon fizzes with ideas about the dangerous politics of first contact."-- David Brin "The plot is intriguing and then some. Well-developed and self-consistent; intelligent readers are going to like it."-- Jerry Pournelle " T]he intersecting plot threads, action and well-conceived science kept those pages turning."-- SF Crowsnest About Starfire series hit, Extremis , coauthored by Charles E. Gannon: "Vivid. . . Battle sequences mingle with thought-provoking exegesis . . ."- Publishers Weekly "It's a grand, fun series of battles and campaigns, worthy of anything Dale Brown or Larry Bond ever wrote." - Analog About Charles E. Gannon: " A] strong writer of] . . . military SF. . . much] action going on in his work, with a lot of physi

Set against the backdrop of devastating California wildfires, Trial by Fire is a powerful novel about the courage it takes to open your heart again, from the billion-copy bestseller Danielle Steel. Dahlia de Beaumont is the CEO of a high-end perfume and cosmetics company based in Paris. Cruelly widowed at thirty, she brought her four children up alone. Now aged fifty, she guards her heart by burying herself in work, motherhood, and a long-term yet casual relationship with a married man. Travelling for business, Dahlia is left stranded in San Francisco when terrible wildfires break out, causing widespread death and destruction. Moved by the tragic stories of injured animals, Dahlia volunteers at a pet rescue centre in Napa Valley, where she meets Mark Hamilton, a handsome lawyer who has also been wounded by love in the past. When Dahlia seeks Mark’s legal counsel, they grow close, feeling a spark that both thought they never would again. But as black smoke fills the air, and the raging fires move ever closer to San Francisco, their lives remain in grave danger. With everything at stake, is Dahlia willing to take a risk, and put all her cards on the table once more?

Trial by Fire is a beautiful, inspiring novel about the courage it takes to open your heart again, set against the backdrop of devastating California wildfires, from the billion-copy bestseller Danielle Steel. Dahlia de Beaumont is the CEO of a high-end perfume and cosmetics company based in Paris. Cruelly widowed at thirty, she brought her four children up alone. Now aged fifty, she guards her heart by burying herself in work, motherhood, and a long-term yet casual relationship with a married man. Travelling for business, Dahlia is left stranded in San Francisco when terrible wildfires break out, causing widespread death and destruction. Moved by the tragic stories of injured animals, Dahlia volunteers at a pet rescue centre in Napa Valley, where she meets Mark Hamilton, a handsome lawyer who has also been wounded by love in the past. When Dahlia seeks Mark’s legal counsel, they grow close, feeling a spark that both thought they never would again. But as black smoke fills the air, and the raging fires move ever closer to San Francisco, their lives remain in grave danger. With everything at stake, is Dahlia willing to take a risk, and put all her cards on the table once more?

Trial by Fire is a beautiful, inspiring novel about the courage it takes to open your heart again, set against the backdrop of devastating California wildfires, from the billion-copy bestseller Danielle Steel. Dahlia de Beaumont is the CEO of a high-end perfume and cosmetics company based in Paris. Cruelly widowed at thirty, she brought her four children up alone. Now aged fifty, she guards her heart by burying herself in work, motherhood, and a long-term yet casual relationship with a married man. Travelling for business, Dahlia is left stranded in San Francisco when terrible wildfires break out, causing widespread death and destruction. Moved by the tragic stories of injured animals, Dahlia volunteers at a pet rescue centre in Napa Valley, where she meets Mark Hamilton, a handsome lawyer who has also been wounded by love in the past. When Dahlia seeks Mark’s legal counsel, they grow close, feeling a spark that both thought they never would again. But as black smoke fills the air, and the raging fires move ever closer to San Francisco, their lives remain in grave danger. With everything at stake, is Dahlia willing to take a risk, and put all her cards on the table once more?