One guy, one mystery, one very wrong conclusion ...Luca has walked out on his band in the middle of their American tour and headed off to New Orleans. Disgraced gossip columnist Gaby is determined to find out why, while her sister Pris is equally determined to have the best holiday ever.The Accidental Proposal is just under 10,000 words and should take you about 30 minutes to read.Tales from Parker Road (Death, Barbecues and a Toast Rack) consists of four short stories loosely linking residents of Parker Road:Mike and Jenny need to find somewhere to bury a body.Greg and Kate have an argument about the useless stuff Greg insists on buying.Susan tries to keep Roger calm, which isn’t easy, as everything winds him up.Pete accidentally kills Linda's cat. He could confess, or try and cover it up. He decides on a cover-up.

“Remember the first time you read Le Guin’s Earthsea novels or Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings? All that timeless magic and wisdom is just as powerful in Marley’s latest—an instant classic.”—Paul Goat Allen, Explorations On Nevya, summer comes once every five years, and to be outside after nightfall is fatal. Its people rely on their Cantors and Cantrixes, men and women with the ability to channel psi energy through music, creating heat and light. Mreen is possibly the most talented Cantrix on Nevya—but she is unable to make a sound. When she travels to her first posting at the house of Tarud, she is accompanied by a younger Singer, Emle, who will help the Cantrix, teach Tarus’s Housemembers the Cantrix’s finger-symbol alphabet, and try to come to terms with her own flawed Gift, her inability to channel her psi. The two young women then find out about Gwin, a young girl whose abusive stepfather...

When Megan sees a photo of her rock star boyfriend Ryan with another girl, she dumps him and heads off to Sorrento on holiday. Unfortunately Ryan’s had exactly the same idea…When Megan sees a photo of her rock star boyfriend Ryan with another girl, she dumps him and heads off to Sorrento on holiday. Unfortunately Ryan’s had exactly the same idea…The Indecent Proposal is an 8,000 word short story which should take about thirty minutes to read. It is a romantic comedy.

Two young women of two different times are bound by a passion for the ethereal music of a glass harmonica in this compelling novel that mixes science fiction, mystery, and romance.Eilish Eam is an orphan, living in 1761, London. She stands on an icy corner and plays her instrument: water-filled glasses. Fingers raw from the cold, her only comfort is the place her music takes her...to visions of a young girl, much her own age, but with odd short hair. Eilish survives on pennies and applause, and nothing more. Until the night Benjamin Franklin stops to listen, awe-struck by her gift—and with plans for her future...   Erin Rushton is a musical prodigy, living in Seattle, 2018. She stands in the orchestra, consumed by the music of her own instrument: the glass harmonica. Like a current of electricity, the music moves from her fingers to her lips and hands. And the only thing that alters the rhythm are the visions that haunt her…of an odd...

In this brilliant novel from the author of Sing the Light, a talented medicant defies the rule of men-and changes the lives of every woman on the planet. "A dark, richly imagined tale...a thoughtful meditation upon the dangers of fanaticism and the strength of the human spirit."-Sharon Shinn"Rich with alien atmospherics."-Publishers WeeklyFrom BooklistOn Irustan, a planet settled long ago by humans, the Book of Second Prophet painstakingly details the proper way of being. Despite space travel and advanced technologies, men are the absolute decision makers. Women, draped in shapeless silks, their faces heavily veiled, are chattel. Only a select few get a glimpse at independence by becoming medicants, who are trained in the medical sciences. Such work is regarded as too distasteful for men. The beautiful Zahra is a young wife, a talented medicant, and a murderer. Sickened by a world of abusive husbands, Zahra's choice to kill is believably righteous, but it is fraught with treacherous subsequent ramifications. Marley realizes Irustan in dynamic detail, and she manages real, consistent character development so that not only does Zahra mature, but secondary characters subtly grow as situations demand. Throughout, Marley's acclaimed, exquisite prose and her universal themes of feminist heroism light the book brightly. Karen SimonettiFrom Kirkus ReviewsFeminist science fiction from the author of the paperback Receive the Gift, etc. According to planet Irustan's inflexible religious code, women must be secluded and veiled, and are given away at the whim of the household's chief male. Nearly all men work in the rhodium mines, where they unavoidably inhale dust and become susceptible to a fatal disease; despite wearing masks, they require regular treatment. Their religion, however, bids them disregard their bodies, so men cannot be doctors. Zahra IbSada, the wife of Qadir, chief director of mines, is a ``medicant,'' Irustan's nearest equivalent to a doctor, diagnosing and treating with the help of machines imported from Earth. Despairingly, Zahra treats wives battered by their husbands, certifies as healthy 14-year-old girls being forced into marriage, and, disregarding Qadir's prohibition, patches up prostitutes injured by their clients. Then her friend Kalen, whose daughter Rabi will be given to the brutal Binya Maris, asks Zahra to intervene. She refuses, but secretly helps Kalen administer a fatal disease-causing agent. Zahra becomes friendly with offworld deliveryman Jin-Li Chung, who turns out to be a woman. When another friend begs for help against her adamant husband, Zahra again intervenes. Jin-Li's Earth boss, suspicious of the two unexplained deaths, orders him/her to spy on Zahra. But the brutality continues. Should Zahra persist with her covert terrorism, thereby risking detection, or join with her friends and start a revolution? Thoughtful and effective, despite the familiar backdrop and obvious developments. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

The only way therapist Victoria Lake can think to protect her estranged son, Jack, from a case turned deadly is to make a complete break from the past. As painful as it is, it's safer for him if he - and her enemies - think she's dead. Jack never wanted to believe in his mother's psychic abilities. Yet he can't deny his own conviction that she's alive, despite the meticulous police investigation and the somber funeral. To survive, Victoria knows she has to reinvent herself completely. She can't even listen to her beloved Puccini. But without the music in her ears, eerie dreams invade her sleep. Lush with the sounds and sights of 19th-century Tuscany, they're also loaded with a present-day warning she can't afford to ignore...ReviewRomantic Times: Marley's latest is a poetic blend of historical fiction and suspense. Readers are kept waiting anxiously in the dark for details behind Tory's escape . . . Marley also awards readers with a book-within-a-book, a glimpse into the life of the composer Puccini. Beautifully written and intimate . . .--Sarah Eisenbraun"SciFi Magazine: Louise Marley's latest is a slipstream offering . . . The tone is literary, the language rich, and the feelings wrapped up in Tory's intense love of music--and her unresolved relationship with the estranged son.--Adam-Troy CastroNocturne Romance Reads: Marley's novel could be classified as a mystery; however such a perspective would minimize the intensity of the emotional elements. . . Marley excels at setting rich and colorful scenes. The tension and suspense surrounds Tory, Jack and their friends, as well as the antagonist.The Seattle Times: Seattle-based opera singer/novelist Louise Marley knits together two related plot lines -- a contemporary story about a therapist in deadly peril from a patient, and a domestic drama in the life of opera composer Giacomo Puccini -- into a gripping novel about obsession and its consequences.--Melinda Bargreen From the AuthorShopping once in an antiques store--in Cannon Beach, Oregon, in fact, where this novel is set--it struck me that it would be possible to construct a whole new life out of the things in that store. Old photos, old linens and glassware, books and papers and keepsakes, all turn up for sale. What became of the people who once treasured them? It's impossible to know.The story within a story of this novel concerns a young girl who worked for the Puccini family in Italy. History tells us one side of her story. The Glass Butterfly explores a different interpretation, and proposes that a keepsake of hers connects her story to that of Tory Lake. It is both a comfort and a warning, an omen of the threat that hangs over her and her son.

Sing the Light, Sing the Warmth, and Receive the Gift comprise the trilogy of The Singers of Nevya, completed in 1997. A follow-up novel, Singer in the Snow, was published in 2004. These novels, unlike my other works, are science fantasy, which is to say they are soft science fiction with one fantastic element, in this case, the psi, or telepathic powers of the Singers who create warmth and light for their people. Nevya is an ice world, a planet under a binary star system (see, a little science sneaks in), where summer comes only once every five years, and the ground is frozen so that metal is impossible to obtain.From Publishers WeeklyThough this omnibus volume of opera singer Marley's 1990s science fantasy trilogy gets off to a rocky start, overloading the reader with fabricated words and poorly elucidating its system of psionics, it soon settles into a rich story of cultural revolution. The singers of the ice planet Nevya use their musical psi-powers to hold back the deadly cold. In Sing the Light, young singer Sira loses faith in doctrine after a violent encounter with power-hungry politicians. She sets out on her own in Sing the Warmth, spending years gathering and training like-minded individuals. Her attempt at peaceful cultural change is nearly ended when the mad carver Cho attempts to take over Nevya in Receive the Gift. This tale of duty, loss, self-sacrifice and standing up for one's beliefs is occasionally gritty, often suspenseful and always emotionally gripping. (Nov.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. ReviewThough this omnibus volume of opera singer Marley's 1990s science fantasy trilogy gets off to a rocky start, overloading the reader with fabricated words and poorly elucidating its system of psionics, it soon settles into a rich story of cultural revolution. The singers of the ice planet Nevya use their musical psi-powers to hold back the deadly cold. In Sing the Light, young singer Sira loses faith in doctrine after a violent encounter with power-hungry politicians. She sets out on her own in Sing the Warmth, spending years gathering and training like-minded individuals. Her attempt at peaceful cultural change is nearly ended when the mad carver Cho attempts to take over Nevya in Receive the Gift. This tale of duty, loss, self-sacrifice and standing up for one's beliefs is occasionally gritty, often suspenseful and always emotionally gripping. (Nov.) --Publishers Weekly

In her highly intriguing new novel, Louise Marley masterfully intertwines the past and present with a mystery surrounding one of the world's greatest composers...The Brahms DeceptionMusic scholar Frederica Bannister is thrilled when she beats her bitter rival, Kristian North, for the chance to be transferred back to 1861 Tuscany to observe firsthand the brilliant Johannes Brahms. Frederica will not only get to see Brahms in his prime; she'll also try to solve a mystery that has baffled music experts for years.But once in Tuscany, Frederica's grip on reality quickly unravels. She instantly falls under Brahms' spell-and finds herself envious of his secret paramour, the beautiful, celebrated concert pianist Clara Schumann. In a single move, Frederica makes a bold and shocking decision that changes everything...When Frederica fails to return home, it is Kristian North who is sent back in time to Tuscany to find her. There, Kristian discovers that Frederica indeed...

Louise Marley weaves a compelling story of a woman whose faith may be the only thing that can save a girl from certain doom.**