Product Description
A gifted psychic detective on the abandoned Earth colony of St. Helen's, Amaryllis Lark follows a high-profile murder investigation and finds herself in the middle of a steamy love affair with business head Lucas Trent. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (35)

Paranormal romance done right
Once again, Krentz entertains with romance and suspense, and even elements of Science Fiction. On the futuristic world of St. Helens, the colonists have developed psychic powers. These powers are tempered by the fact that in order to use ones talents, one must have the services of another person, a Prisms. Prisms don't have talent themselves, but can focus for any talent. Both talents and prisms have levels of power and there exist (mostly in novels and movies) abnormally high talents, dubbed Psychic Vampires. Amaryllis is a 'full spectrum' (highly powered) prism and Lucas Trent is an off-the-scale talent. He hires her services for a security issue, but they get more than they bargained for when they detect a local politician focusing 'charisma' in order to gain votes and contributions. This discovery leads to an investigation into the recent death of Amaryllis' professor/mentor, which the police ruled an accident. As Amaryllis and Lucas get closer to the truth, those who'd like the truth to stay hidden are more motivated to injure or even kill them.
This author is highly skilled in the romance genre, writing as Amanda Quick (historical romance), Jayne Ann Krentz (contemportary) and now Jayne Castle (futuristic). Her characters are always compelling, her writing is always clean and well structured, and her love scenes are steamy without being either crude or trite. This story is particularly engaging as the beginning of a series with characters you care to know more about even after the book has ended.

Amaryllis
I just love this series and the Ghost Hunter series.I have them all and reread them often

Otherworldly Love
Jayne Castle is wonderful at bringing the reader to another world and taking them on an amazing adventure of suspense, mystery and love.

I'm sorry to have to say it but I was bored.
In many ways it seems almost unfair to judge this book (which was published in 1996) by the standards of science fiction/fantasy/romance books written today.These types of books and authors have moved in lightning fast style from what they were when the genre and sub-genre first began to be written.Nevertheless, I have to confess that I found myself bored while reading this first in the Castle series of "flower" books.

Amaryllis Lark, as a character, should have appealed to me since she is the type character I tend to want to read about.But even I found her TOO rigid, TOO prissy, TOO single-minded, TOO straight laced, TOO everything.She was not a psychic detective, as some reviews have stated, she simply fell into investigating the death of her academic mentor because she was too stubborn to let go of her idea that something MIGHT have been wrong in his death.No clear reason for her doubt ever stuck in my mind so I was constantly left wondering why she continued to think he might have been killed.She just went on and on and on insisting on investigating when there did not seem to be anything to investigate.Why?Give me some reason to believe that a mystery actually exists.(In fairness to the author, she did manage to hide the culprit very well, but by the time it was revealed, I just wanted to get it over with and be finished.)

Lucas Trent was a very good character for me.He was portrayed as the opposite of Amaryllis and Ms Castle did a very good job in making me see him as such.I do wish that she had given him more passion.He seemed to be rather lukewarm during situations where his emotions should have registered off the top of the scale.I have read in some of the reviews that this is a "steamy" romance.No, not by today's standards.If you read this book believing that, you are destined to be very disappointed.

I agree with another reviewer, if everything in this book is to be compared to Earth, why not just have the action take place on Earth using a time/dimension vehicle to move it out of our own world?All the descriptions are very shallow; as an example, at one point the characters eat a straw-peach pie.Not one single description of what that fruit looked like, smelled like or tasted like.Coff-tea.What was it?What did it smell like, taste like?Where did it grow?Did it grow?Give me some descriptions to tell me why this was not Earth.A fern-tree.Well, I know it was big but how big?How tall?How wide?Was it even green?

I have read all the Jayne Castle books about Harmony, AFTER GLOW, AFTER DARK, GHOST HUNTER and will receive the newest release in a few days.I just LOVE those books.I can envision the alien world of Harmony.I expected that these "flower" books would give me the same enjoyment level.I was wrong.As I said at the beginning, perhaps it is wrong to judge these too harshly because the writing has moved so far along since these early books were written.But the bottom line is:this book was too long, it did not excite me with any futuristic ideas, it was not a very intense romance and the mystery aspect seemed completely forced.Sorry!

****Comment added March 17, 2008 I have recently read another book in this series, "Zinnia", and absolutely loved it.All of the reasons I had for not really caring for this particular book were absent in the second.I definitely was not bored.Now I am looking forward to reading "Orchid" to complete the series.*****jel

Interesting concept, but world-building not credible
Summary -

First futuristic romance by Jayne Castle (also writes historicals as Amanda Quick, contemporaries as Jayne Anne Krentz and Stephanie James). Interesting mystery overshadows the romance between two psychics. World-building very weak and far from credible. Not recommended for those looking for SF romance (such as those written by Asaro), or for those wanting a romance-heavy plot. Will probably be enjoyed by those who like Quick's more recent historicals (with strong mystery and suspense elements).

Details -
I read science fiction (and fantasy) as well as romances and mystery. While I haven't read equally extensively in all these genres (and their sub-genres) I think I have read enough to detect influences of one author upon another. In the past, the first historical romances (Jean Plaidy and Georgette Heyer) that I read were by Amanda Quick (alias Jayne Anne Krentz alias Jayne Castle alias Stephanie James). AMARYLLIS is the first Jayne Castle book of hers I have read.It also happens to be her first futuristic romance.

The problem I have with this book, among others, is that I read it well after I had read Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series (all written by her alone) and Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan series. So, compared to those books/series, Jayne Castle's world-building could not really match up. Bradley writes fantasy (her characters also have strong mental/psychic powers), Bujold writes what is called military space opera (although she is now writing fantasy).Both authors set their best known series - mentioned above - on worlds cut off from humanity by some mysterious collapse of communications and transport. In Castle's case it was the "Curtain", in Bujold's case, it was a wormhole, and in Bradley's case, I believe it was the total incapacitation of the spaceship on an unexplored and undiscovered planet. So, when I was reading this book, I was constantly comparing how Castle's world St Helens matched up to Darkover (Cottman Four) and Barrayar.This is probably not the perspective of most readers, so they might want to stop right here.

Castle is not a writer of science fiction or fantasy, but one of romance.I do expect, however, that a writer of romance (contemporary, futurististic, alternate-reality/ paranormal, or historical) will still make her world a credible one. Throughout this book, I could not figure out why Castle did not simply bother to set her book on Earth (in an alternate reality or timeline) or in the future.The book constantly told me about differences in the planet's way of life, but rarely showed me.For example, I never found any references to different flora and fauna.

Furthermore, Castle constantly used terms such as "coff-tea" for a beverage, "chick-turk" for some form of poultry, and so forth. [It sounds more likely to me that homesick colonists would call any drink similar to an American popular beverage by that name, using "corn" for anything like corn, "coffee" for anything like coffee.]
This became almost an irritant while I kept on reading.

The cities were named exactly for cities on the Western United States coast, the continental geography sounded nearly the same. So why bother to create a new world?Castle argues that nearly all the colonists came from the north-western part of the United States. Hmm... I might buy that, but not the curious resemblance in geography.

The social structure did not make a lot of sense to me. Marriage is apparently for life; affairs (if discreet) between married people (not married to each other) are condoned, but not an affair between a married man and an unmarried woman. Marriages are considered safer if arranged. These are all apparently based on rules set down by the original leaders (the Founders).There were constant hints that the Founders were more complex (and less decent) than they appeared to their descendants, but not one clue was thrown out to the reader.

The so-called psychic abilities seemed far from supernatural. There are technical talents, agricultural talents, diagnostic/ medical talents, and so forth. Not much different from today, I would think. [I have no green thumb, and clearly have no agricultural talent].People with talents need people who can focus those talents (called "prisms") to use those talents for a longer period or at a higher level, but the level of talent must be matched to the level of ability to focus those talents. AMARYLLIS (and perhaps its sequels) is about a man with high-level talent and a high-level "prism".The hero Lucas does have some unusual talents, notably the ability to create illusions (which he keeps secret) and the ability to detect others using their talents (which he has officially declared).Later, we learn of other people with unusual talents, not often declared to the authorities.

And the political structure? We meet a candidate campaigning for return to traditional values, but no sense of why this has suddenly become popular (his charisma aside). We have no real sense of how this planet is governed, policed, and otherwise organized on a day-to-day basis.All that is said is that the marriage laws are strict, and people have strong views about legitimate birth, lineage (and pedigree), and the like. St Helens sounds more like a tradition-bound society (where a person's status is determined wholly by his birth status and his family's status) than anything like the modern United States.

The story itself is more mystery than romance - the hero Lucas Trent, a loner like most of Castle/Quick/Krent's heroes, has to solve a case of industrial espionage (more whydunnit rather than whodunnit) initially, which escalates into his assisting the heroine to solve a suspicious death. We learn a little about the hero's past (his parents dying young, the pirate raids in the islands he called home, the deaths of his partner and his wife, and more).We also learn that the heroine Amaryllis Lark was born illegitimate and was rejected by her father's family (her parents too died young). While the romance develops, the mystery actually takes center stage (rather as in Quick's later and most recent historicals).The heroine is excessively naive, and very nearly stupid enough to get herself killed.The hero is smitten by the heroine, despite (or because of) her naivete. Rather like most of Quick's heroines....

And yes, I could tell that there would be stories about at least two other characters, former allies of Lucas Trent whom we meet briefly. Their appearance was not obnoxiously obvious (as in some novels where characters practically scream out "I am going to be in a sequel").

The real problem I had with this book was that I didn't buy the world-building at all.Although I don't dislike futuristic romances, I prefer what are sometimes called SF Romance (or romantic SF) such as those Skolian stories written by Catherine Asaro.And if I want to read about psychic characters, I would prefer to read a good old-fashioned paranormal romance or a Darkover book by Marion Zimmer Bradley.

This is not a discommendation for lovers of futuristic romance. Just be warned that if you want a strong romantic element in your book, this book has a stronger mystery and suspense element than a romantic element (it is pretty obvious that Lucas and Amaryllis are attracted to each other quite early on).If on the other hand, you want a strong world-building element in your book, you might want to pass this up.I am not sorry that I read AMARYLLIS, since I had read Castle in her other alter egos.On the other hand, I will stop right here, and stick to re-reading her early historicals.

-- Reviewed by bookjunkiereviews 18 February 2006 ... Read more

Product Description
In this sequel to A Man's Worth, the feisty, hot to trot, and unsaved Amaryllis Price continues to wreak havoc.

After witnessing Randall Loomis drive off into the sunset with his new wife and family, Amaryllis starts a new chapter in life and moves to Las Vegas to live with her sister, Attorney at Law Michelle Denise Price.

Michelle is saved and sanctified, and she's also engaged to Minister James Bradley. It doesn't take long for Amaryllis to set a new goal. Envying the attention and affection James showers on her sister, Amaryllis puts a plan in motion to destroy Michelle's fairy tale relationship and claim James as her own. But will God's plan intervene? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Great Read!!!
Two thumbs up for Ms. Nikita Nichols!!! She tells a great story filled with drama, love, and forgiveness. I like the way this author puts African American women and men in a positive light! Great storyteller and writer! She is definitely one of the finest in christian fiction!!

Thanks Ms. Nichols for having someone properly edit your books!!!

Overall rating: 5.0

*Love book cover*

OUTSTANDING!!
This book is definitely a good read!! The author gets your attention and keeps it from the first page.Amaryllis is like no other and hopefully none of us know people like her!!

Awesome...
I have read A Man's Worth, Amaryllis & A Womans's Worth all in days......GREAT READS......TEARS, LAUGHS, JOY PAIN.....GOD IS SO GOOD!

Amazing!
I loved both of Ms. Nichols books..."A Man's Worth" and "Amaryllis."Both are excellent reads, keeping your eyes open wondering what Amaryllis is up to next.She is truly a piece of work! I usually take my time and enjoy a book, but with these, I couldn't wait to turn the next page.Captivating; Interesting story line; an ending you didn't expect...Ms. Nichols is an amazing, truly spiritual and uplifting author, Keep up the good work and I can't wait for "Crossroads."

What a page turner
I picked up the book while I was in the bookstore and read the first few pages.When I looked up I was on page 69.I could not put the book down.I ended up reading though page 169 and then had to purchase the book.I could not leave the store without finishing the book.Had the store not been closing I would have finished that book right there in the store.It really held my interest.I'm buying the next book. ... Read more

Product Description
The amaryllis—elegant, tropical, and breathtakingly beautiful—is the most majestic of all the flowering bulbs. Its distinctive look, long-lasting blooms, and ease of cultivation have made it a favorite of plant lovers and a fixture in their homes around the world throughout the winter months. Now, award-winning photographer Starr Ockenga brings us Amaryllis, a comprehensive exploration of the beauty, history, and cultivation of this singular flower.

A unique photographic record of a diverse and alluring plant, Amaryllis is a document of the season that Ockenga spent growing more than ninety varieties in her upstate New York greenhouse. From the papery surface of the bulb to glorious flower to spent bloom, Ockenga’s remarkable photographs capture all the sensuality and drama of the amaryllis. Her images demonstrate the flower’s extraordinary range of color and form, from the iridescent velvety-red ‘Basuto’ to the brilliantly striped ‘Jaguar’ and the awkward grace of ‘Giraffe’s’ long stem and delicate flower.

More than a collection of stunning flower portraits, Amaryllis offers practical wisdom on growing these plants. Gardeners will appreciate Ockenga’s expert insights on storage, propagation, and hybridization, and new plant enthusiasts will learn how simple it is to grow amaryllis from the bulb or to display its cut flowers. With fascinating information on the historical background of the amaryllis, details on its horticultural requirements, and an illustrated glossary of almost 100 varieties, Amaryllis is the authoritative guide to the queen of flowering bulbs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Excellent for amaryllis lover
This is an excellent gift for someone who typically forces amaryllis indoors each winter, and especially for those who are then able to plant the amaryllis outside for further enjoyment.

give me a break!!
This might have been a good magazine article although it's been done a 1000 times before.But,a book and at that price.Check out the used book prices.That's what this book is worth.

It's about time
It's about time that a book comes out devoted solely to this most beautiful of flowering bulbs.Starr does an excellent job of photographing the flowers and other aspects/parts of the bulb.I have not seen in my travels such an extensive coverage of Amaryllis and I have searched far and wide.The pictures are all clear and some are very unique (i.e. a close up of a bud opening or flowers withering etc).The information she gives is comprehensive enough but the only thing I found missing, oddly enough, was the aspect of light.When the plant is growing indoors, how much light does it need after it flowers?Puzzling but otherwise good.

With invaluable, practical growing tips
This specialized gardening guide provides a set of full-color photos of different varieties of amaryllis, and represents the author's world journey in an effort to acquire as many varieties as amaryllis as she could. She grew each plant herself, documenting its growth pattern, blooms, and demise: Amaryllis is thus far more than a picturebook, providing gardeners with invaluable, practical growing tips.

Stunningly Beautiful and Truly Informative.
I am an avid grower of amaryllis and have been collecting every article and tip I could find on this lovely bulb for over 10 years. There has been no book exclusively on the amaryllis available. I was skeptical that a book just 95 pages long, including the extensive bibliography, could fill the gap. Starr Ockenga's book will not need another to supplement it. The photographs are extrordinary. Her instructions for planting are thorough. For culture of the bulb she presents prevailingwisdom and states what she herself did, allowing the reader to choose their own course. I was impressed that a beautiful garden book included a pests and diseases page.One minor quibble is that the Glossary of Hippeastrum Hybrids has closely cropped photos. This gives wonderful color depiction but very little info as to how the overall shape and size of the flower as it relates to the plant. I have purchased a second copy of the book to donate to my local library. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (17)

Great reading
This book is a must read, it is exciting throughout. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a mystery and a beautiful love story.

Gripping tale for middle readers
Reviewed by Linda Lee

Jenny Reade is visiting her grandmother at her beach house. Geneva Reade is only known to her granddaughter through Christmas visits, but when the woman breaks her ankle her namesake comes to help. Never having seen the ocean before, the child is willing to do her grandmother's bidding and walk the beach at high tide in search of some sign from the grandfather she never knew.

Thirty years ago he went down with his ship, the Amaryllis, within sight of his home. Geneva has looked every day for those thirty years for a sign of her husband's love for her. Although her only son refuses to visit the place where he lost his father, his mother refuses to leave it and move in with his family. She has waited patiently for a sign she knows is coming. Real love doesn't drown, isn't overcome by an ocean.

While scouring the beach, Jenny meets a man who is also looking for signs from the capsized ship, a man who may be dead. No one else can see him but Geneva, and now Jenny. Geneva is determined this man won't cheat her out of her gift from the sea.

Natalie Babbitt wastes no words in the telling of this gripping tale. Love story for sure, ghost story, maybe, but a story sure to entertain and haunt 10 to 12-year-old readers.

The Sea, a love, and loss...

"Your grandfather and I- what we felt for each other just doesn't stop."

Jenny (named Geneva after her grandmother) must go to live with her grandmother while a broken leg is on the mend. She uproots herself from a quiet life in Springfield to relocate to the seaside, in an old house that her father was raised in that has remained unchanged since an eventful date 30 years prior. Her feisty, yet stubborn, grandmother has only one thing in mind, to reconnect in some way with her husband who perished at sea 3 decades earlier.

At first Jenny is ambivalent about her grandmother and the home, knowing that her father left after his father's death has left some presupposed opinions of the life she leads here. Daily Geneva makes Jenny search the tide, desperately seeking some sign from her long dead husband that he is coming for her. Soon rumours of men who walk the shore and other oddities reach Jenny's ears and she begins to wonder if her stubborn grandmother has a good reason to be so, especially when a storm brings exactly what Geneva has been longing for, a sign from her husband.

Written by Newbery Honoree Natalie Babbitt "Amaryllis" is a wonderful tale of longing and the human heart. I still prefer "Tuck Everlasting", but I am quickly becoming such a fan of Babbitt's that I believe every child should read her work. She has wonderful tidbits of morality and the human condition peppered throughout her narratives, and morality tales have always been a huge favourite of mine. I recommend the "Amaryllis" to anyone who enjoys tales of the sea, of love, and a life devoted to loss.

"Do you believe in things you can't explain?"
"Like things in fairy tales?"
"No, child. I mean - that all the daily things we do, and all the things we can touch and see in this world, are only one part of what's there, and that there's another world all around us all the time that's mostly hidden from us."
- the two Geneva Reades, herein

"'A brig, [the Amaryllis] was, a big two-master. A beautiful thing to see. Your grandfather owned her, and he was her captain, too. He sailed her up and down the coast from Maine to the Caribbean.'
'Did you ever go along?'
'No, I never did. Women aren't welcome on trading ships, you know...and yet in a way I did go along. Look more closely there. Do you see the figurehead? ...It's a likeness of me. That's an amaryllis I'm holding. A big red lily from the islands.'"
- the two Geneva Reades, herein

"Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it."
- Song of Solomon 8:7

For thirty years, Jenny Reade's grandmother has lived alone, refusing all her son's offers to make a new home with him, away from the sea that swallowed his father's ship, the _Amaryllis_, within sight of the house when he was only a boy. For the elder Geneva Reade wanted no other life than the one she'd had with the Captain, and she couldn't accept that it was over. She has kept vigil alone, walking the beach at every high tide, waiting for some relic of the _Amaryllis_ to be washed ashore. But it isn't just chance she puts her faith in...

The week before the story opens, Gran broke her ankle, and now her granddaughter Jenny is finally being allowed to spend a few weeks by the sea her father still fears as an ever-present reminder of his father's death. Gran finally lets Jenny into her confidence, because although she can still look after herself, she can't keep up her twice-daily searches without help.

THE EYES OF THE AMARYLLIS is set in the nineteenth century, in the age of sail, although since it is so taken up with that timeless element, the sea, the story doesn't date much except when Gran and Jenny sometimes go through Gran's treasures, small and sometimes gaudy things brought from ports far away by the Captain long ago, or the occasional intrusions from the outside world.

I've always liked this story, and now that I pause to consider *why* I like it, there are a number of reasons that I can't always explain. The writing is beautiful, while being very clear. The characters and their relationships are complex, with shades of grey that Jenny can't help noticing. Her Gran's fierce love and deep faith in her husband are very fine, and her strength and determination are like rock itself, but she chose to let her son go when he couldn't handle living with the sea as an ever-present reminder of witnessing his father's death. They love each other, but have a troubled relationship.

Also, this isn't a simple, linear plot - there's also the story of Nicholas, who was like a surrogate elder son to the Reades, the sculptor who carved the _Amaryllis_' figurehead, and was lost at sea not long after the ship went down. His story, too, is a bit of fine characterization when Gran finally tells it - and Jenny, being young, sees it as a romantic tragedy, while Gran sees it simply as a terrible, foolish waste.

And not least, there's the open question of what to believe about Gran's long vigil by the sea, and what mysteries the sea might hold. The mysterious human guardian of the sea, Seward - will he interfere? It's a particularly good touch that Seward isn't painted as either good or evil, and neither is the sea - they're both mysterious forces, not properly understood, and in some ways perhaps beyond understanding.

"This place, this house - she saw more clearly than ever, now, that it stood at the edge of another world, at the edge where the things she understood and the things beyond her understanding began to merge and blur. That other world - it brought on transformations, and its blurring edge was marked by the hemline of the sea."
- herein

Mysterious fathoms below
Before reading "The Eyes of the Amaryllis", I'd harbored the secret suspicion that Natalie Babbitt's best known work, "Tuck Everlasting", was a fluke.I don't mean to say that the great writing found in that book was of a fluke-like nature.I mean that I thought of Babbitt as a children's author who preferred to write realistic fiction and once, in the case of "Tuck", wrote something fantastical.I don't know where I got that idea.Maybe it came from "Tuck" itself.There's something about that book that feels a little too natural.Like the author would much rather be writing about hardcore issues and is just using the whole "living forever" thing as a metaphor.So when I picked up "The Eyes of the Amaryllis", I thought I'd know what to expect.A straightforward story about a girl and her grandmother by the sea.What I got instead was a supernatural thriller in which two mortal souls go head to head with forces they cannot hope to understand.Thrilling?You don't know the half of it.

Though named after her father's mother, Jenny Reade has never visited the old woman at her house by the sea.This is mostly because Jenny's father is afraid of that cruel old ocean.Years ago, when he was just a teen, her dad watched in horror as his father's ship, the Amaryllis, went down in a catastrophic storm.Since that time he has been afraid of the vastness of the ocean while his mother, the hardened woman Geneva Reade, has waited patiently for a sign from her drowned husband.When Jenny comes to stay with Geneva for a couple weeks, she thinks she's just going to do some chores and play by the seaside.Instead, she becomes enmeshed in a wild adventure.For while Geneva's husband does indeed send his wife a sign, the sea is not happy with the gift and demands it back.By force, as it happens.

Reading this book, I found it was rather similar to "Daughter of the Sea" by Berlie Doherty.Both books praise the ocean to no end, but if I were to choose the stronger of the two, "The Eyes of the Amaryllis" wins hands down. Babbitt's in fine form here.The reader begins the tale with as much healthy skepticism as Jenny herself, and ends up believing her grandmother's wild stories just as the heroine does.There are beautiful descriptive passages here and a wonderfully exciting climax with a hurricane.There are ghosts, drowned men, and mysterious presents that are never meant to be kept.I've little doubt that Babbitt herself has spent a lot of time with the ocean.This book is a love story to a powerful, dangerous thing.

For those readers who enjoyed "Tuck Everlasting" and wouldn't mind a little more Babbitty weirdness in their reading diet, "The Eyes of the Amaryllis" is a fine follow-up.It's not particularly long (so reluctant readers will rejoice) and the plot is fast-paced without ever feeling stilted.For any kid who hungers for tales of ghosts and mysteries, go no farther than this fog-swept tale.
... Read more

Product Description
The hybrids of Hippeastrum, also known by gardeners as amaryllis, have long been popular indoor plants, their flamboyant blooms bringing cheer during the dark winter months. This book for gardeners describes the astonishing range of hybrids now available and explains how to get the best results from these rewarding plants whether grown indoors, outdoors, or under glass.

The large-flowering single with its flamboyant blooms remains a favoured classic, but it is now joined by majestic doubles, distinguished, smaller-flowering Hippeastrum 'gracile' hybrids, exotic-looking Cybisters with their delicate, wispy blooms and miniature Japanese hybrids small enough to grow in a coffee cup. The long-flowering, multistemmed Klisters create a sensational display through the winter months while the elegant Sonatinis are prized for their glamour as cut flowers.

Veronica Read has devoted the last ten years of her life to perfecting the art of growing Hippeastrum and here she shares her expertise and understanding of these plants. A wealth of practical advice accompanies her plant descriptions including a specially formulated growing medium used by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, an effective hot water treatment for pests, step-by-step propagation instructions on how to chip and twin scale, and essential advice on feeding, watering and lighting.

More than 100 beautiful photographs complete this tantalizing book that will bring enthusiasts right up-to-date with the latest developments, tempt all growers to extend their collections and encourage novices to experiment with these dramatic plants. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Hippeastrums
Books on Hippeastrums are very few and far between.Veronica Read has attempted a comprehensive description of her knowledge and understanding of the genus as it applies to cultivation in the United Kingdom.The illustrations are good but unfortunately do not cover many of the more important cultivars, mentioned in her narrative.Genetic information is unfortunately almost non existant, which is not altogether surprising as very little genetic information has been published anywhere concerning Hippeastrums. Generally speaking Veronica Read has gathered together much of the more general information which has been published around the world and has presented it in a manner which is very suitable for the average gardener.Those of us who may have been looking for a more technical tretise on Hippeastrums must unfortunately look elsewere.

Excellent writing and beautifully illustrated
Well done book.I hope a second edition is in the works with updated material, and of course more illustrations/photos.

A nice book, though not a photo catalog
This book is a nice book for those who like Hippeastrums. I ordered it hoping to get a photo catalog of all hybrids (as they were listed in the index). However, for each of hybrids there is only text information (though rather full), but no photos. There are also some nice photos in the colourful middle of the book with some rare varieties and hybrids.

In Depth coverage of Amaryllis species
I read this book through in one sitting.As a new Amaryllis enthusiast, I needed help in identifying a mislabeled bulb that I had received in the mail.The excellent pictures and detailed discriptions, in this book, answered my identification question, and many more questions that I had about the proper culture of this beautiful plant. The book identifies many of the more unusal cultivars which are now becoming available through mail order catalogs. The author's enthusiasm and love of Amaryllis is evident on every page.

More (and less) than you want to know
Timber Press's horticultural books always present beautifully: glossy paper, colored plates, and densely-packed text that makes you think you'll learn all you ever wanted to know about a particular plant family. Many appear to be written by British horticulturalists associated with some Royal garden or another. And, many appear to be written FOR other British horticulturalists of some Royal garden or another. I was excited to get this book, because I love hippeastrums; but I found many pages that I needn't spend much time on, such as long descriptions of research and researchers in countries around the world. As for learning more about how to grow them, you'll glean a few ideas, but unless you have a tissue culture laboratory, a climate-controlled greenhouse, and access to all the soil and chemical products that are available in the UK (or only given by their UK name or description), you'll probably not do much with the rest of the cultural information.

I've looked over a number of the Timber Press plant guides, and this one seems to be typical of their presentation. The pictures are a joy to look at. But these books are often heavy on varieties and products that the average person will never come across, even in the age of the internet. I'm not saying they'll not be valuable to someone; only that I find they don't live up to their promise to me, and I suspect to most average plant lovers. ... Read more

Product Description
From a gripping new author comes the haunting story of Calla Gentry, a trial consultant determined to discover the truth about her sister's brutal rape.A trial consultant in Tucson, Arizona, Calla Gentry devotes her time and energy to victims in civil cases rather than criminal trials. The rape and near murder of her sister Amaryllis has done much more than affect Calla's career; she hides behind locked doors and jumps at shadows, a veritable victim by proxy after Amaryllis is left in a coma following a failed suicide attempt.When Calla is assigned against her will to the trial of Raymond Cates, a wealthy landowner's son accused of rape and first degree murder, she cannot help but note the parallels between the crime he stands accused of and her sister's assault. Determined to uncover the truth, Calla begins an investigation of Cates and the events of that fateful night. But things are seldom what they seem-and her investigation leads Calla to buried lies and a whole new world of violent rage. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Story Telling at Its Best in this Engaging Novel
Forcing Amaryllis by Louise Ure steps outside the formulaic mystery with a touching and engaging story about a sister's determination to find justice for her sister, Amaryllis, a rape and attempted murder victim.Calla Gentry is assigned to work as a jury consultant as part of the defense team of an accused rapist and murderer.Calla see eerie similarities to her sister's case, but then must reconcile the differences in Amaryllis's account of her account and the facts of the current case.Amaryllis's comatose state as a result of a suicide attempt make her unavailable to help with the case.Calla's discoveries take her on a path that uncovers a string of victims that haunt her.Calla's search jeopardizes her job, her relationships, her sense of self, and her life.Ure creates a character in Calla who is searching to regain her strength and sense of self.Her struggle will leave the reader wanting to know her better and who will stay with the reader well beyond the final page of the book.

Forcing Amaryllis
Book arrived quickly and in good condition as described.I am very pleased with the transaction.

Chilling Debut Novel
Years earlier, Calla's sister Amaryllis was brutally raped and left for dead. Amaryllis refused to say much about the attack, tried to commit suicide soon after, and has been in a coma ever since. Calla works as a trial consultant for civil cases, but is forced by her unsympathetic boss to work for the law firm representing a man accused of a rape and murder. The new case has enough similarities with her sister's rape to shock Calla out of her torpor and into an investigation of the seven-year old crime against her sister. With the help of a friend in the Arizona police department and a private detective, Calla tracks down other rape victims and begins to build a tenuous theory that may identify the man behind the crimes. This chilling novel won the 2006 Shamus Award for Best First Novel.
[...]

Taut suspense with realistic characterization
Amaryllis' sister makes impulsive decisions that end up nearly costing her her life in this readable novel set in the western part of the United States. An unsuspected twist near the end of the novel keeps the pages swiftly turning until our tenacious heroine ultimately solves this very personal and poignant mystery.

what is auhor is author trying to be?
Had the potential, all the elements to be a good story, but the outline falls apart as you read on. Plot is implausible. This is a vulgur story, tormenting and sad because it's discussion of serial rape and not a "mystery". Seems the author had a finale she was shooting for and the plausibility of the actions that lead up to it are of secondary importance. Is she trying to be Patricia Cornwell? ... Read more

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Jimmy and his older brother Frank share a love of surfing and their problems with a drunken father, until Frank turns eighteen and goes to Vietnam. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

I Was Their in 1968-1969...
I found the little things like the F-U lizards funny. They really sounded like that. I remember the 1st time I heard one. It was on a cold dark rainy night (can't see your hand in front of you even if you are touching your noise) on guard duty at a fire base 40 miles out in the middle of knowwhere. There were a few junkies in my units. Probably more than I knew. I remember one guy named Walker. Guys would start junkie pools and put in a $1 and pick a date when you thought he'd O.D. by. I never really thought of all the families that had kids killed and what they went through. I had a brother 10 years younger than me. Had I been KIA or MIA it would have effected my brother the same way it did Jimmy. My brother & I are very close and talk to each other every day. The Vietnam war was a real waste of time and lives. It is a sad part of US history. To bad we can't learn from history.

Excellent Book
I loved Amaryllis!!! I also remember the Vietnam era. I felt I could hear Franks voice in his letters to Jimmy. Craig Crist- Evans captured the helpless feeling of Franks questioned existance while fighting his demons.
Hopefully, a POW story will follow!!!!

Amaryllis
Growing up in the time of the Vietnam war and growing up in Florida, I can totally relate to this book. It was, indeed, a time of great turmoil in this country and also brought to the surface many family's individual struggles.Crist-Evans gives us a touching insight into one family's attempts to wrestle with their own personal demons as well as the demons of their country and times. Got a little misty at the end.

Intriguing Book About the Relationship Between Brothers!
This book is a great read for teens and their parents! Both will get hooked on the writing style and the communication between father and son. It's great how the two brothers stay in contact through the troubles and confusions! I would definately recommend this book to you!

Intriguing Book About Family!
This book caught my attention when I saw the title. I read the first page and I was hooked! This author has a great writing style. He also attracts people of my age with his writing style. If you want to read other books by Craig Crist-Evans please check out Moon Over Tennessee! ... Read more

Product Description
The first time Peter Diggs saw Amaryllis she was at a bus stop where the street sign said Balsamic, although there was nothing vinegary about the place. The bus was unthinkably tall, made of yellow, orange and pink rice paper, lit from within like a Japanese lantern. That was a dream, but where this romance goes as the dream begins to intersect reality is nothing that a reader can be prepared for. 'Trust me, I'm a weirdo,' says Amaryllis as she and Peter embark on their nocturnal experimentation, which leaves no one, on quite the same footing with reality. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

you wont put it down - quirky
fabulous, feel good factor = 8/10 the end was not at all obvious and oh that bus and its passengers, sadly I lent my copy out to a friend.. darned if I can recall who, I'd love to read it again ... Read more

Product Description
In the stirringtradition of The Secret Life of Bees andThe Poisonwood Bible, Amaryllis in Blueberry explores the complexity of human relationships setagainst an unforgettable backdrop. Told through the haunting voices of Dick andSeena Slepy and their four daughters, Christina Meldrum's soulful novelweaves together the past and the present ofa family harmed--and healed--by buried secrets.

"Maybe,unlike hope, truth couldn't be contained in a jar..." 

Meet the Slepys: Dick, the sterndoctor, the naive husband, a man devoted to both facts and faith; Seena, thestoryteller, the restless wife,  a motherof four, a lover of myth.  Andtheir children, the Marys:  MaryGrace, the devastating beauty; Mary Tessa, the insistent inquisitor; MaryCatherine, the saintly, lost soul; and finally, Amaryllis, Seena's unspokenfavorite, born with the mystifying ability to sense the future, touch the pastand distinguish the truth tellers from the most convincing liar of all.
 
When Dick insists his family movefrom Michigan to the unfamiliar world of Africa for missionary work, he can'tpossibly foresee how this new land and its people will entrance and change his daughters--andhimself--forever.
 
Nor can he predict how Africa willspur his wife Seena toward an old but unforgotten obsession.   In fact, Seena may be fallinginto a trance of her own. . . . ... Read more

Product Description
Subjects: FictionNotes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

4 & 1/2 star mystery set in Japan
This is one of a series of mysteries set in Japan but usually concerning expatriates from different countries.The main character, Superintendent Otani is a traditionalist in many ways, but very likable overall as is his wife who participates in the 5 books I've read so far.The series is intriguing not only in the mysteries presented and solved, but also in the depiction of life in Japan at the time and the relationships among the various nationalities involved.This book differs from the others I've read in that there is a bit more action--mostly they're armchair mysteries more or less.Also, the plot is a bit more involved.The books are all rather short (about 150 pages or so), very easy reading, and very enjoyable.It's quite easy to appreciate the delightful characterizations (even if they're a bit simplistic) of the primary characters such as Inspectors Ninja and Kiumura).I plan to read the entire series. ... Read more

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Fifteen-year-old Tracy and her Mormon family move to California to be near her grandfather, whose illness and religious faith help Tracy through a difficult time in her life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A beautiful story for young and old alike.
I thouroughly enjoyed this book.The characters are three dimensional and the book is emotianally powerful.I whole-heartedly recommend it! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

I loved it
This has to be one of my all time favourite books. I picked it up at the library once and have borrowed it several times since. The heroine is spunky and the hero is gorgeous! I really enjoyed the storyline - of a young English girl making her own way through Victorian London using her own wit and intelligence. I found this a very sexy and humourous book! ... Read more

Product Description
Is there a flower more mesmerizing than the graceful and gorgeously hued amaryllis? Renowned author and photographer Starr Ockenga captures the beauty of this stunning flower in these vibrant thank-you cards.

12 cards, 1 design, with 13 envelopes, 4 x 5 1⁄2 inches, in clear-lidded packaging ... Read more

Product Description
Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "Amaryllis," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have Amaryllis in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with Amaryllis when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name Amaryllis, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. ... Read more

Product Description
Amaryllis Fleming was born in secret on 10 December 1925 and grew up believing herself to be the adopted daughter of Eve Fleming, the widowed mother of the writers Peter and Ian. It came as a profound shock when, at the age of 23, she learned that Eve was her real mother, that she did after all have a father, and that he was Augustus John. She also discovered that she had about 12 half-brothers and sister from very differing family backgrounds. Amaryllis became particularly close to Ian Fleming and makes an appearance in his story "The Living Daylights", in which James Bond is captivated by a girl cellist. Having decided to learn the cello at the age of nine, Amaryllis won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in 1943 and went on to study with Pierre Fournier, Guilhermina Suggia and Pablo Casals. She rose to become England's leading solo cellist of the 1950s, making her debut in a 1953 Promenade Concert with Sir John Barbarolli. She has since become renowned for her performances of Bach's Cella Suites, playing the sixth Suite on the instrument it was written for, the rare five-string cello.Her beauty and Celtic temperament ensured that her emotional life would be as dramatic as her professional. Today she is a professor at the Royal College of Music and, is still performing. ... Read more

Product Description
Chosen by a dying alien to take her spacecraft back to the planet Amaryllis, Melanie Ross must conquer her fears amid a superior race. Her husband, an undercover cop, has been killed, and she fears for her life. Escorting the craft gives her a means of escape.

Ahead of her are shocks and surprises. Reve, commander of the planet's Starship bears an inexplicable resemblance to her dead husband. Melanie feels a strong attraction for the alien, and the passion that flares between them transports her far beyond what she has ever known. Reve literally transports her to the stars and beyond ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

strong outer space romance
Melanie Ross is in shock unable to accept that that someone murdered her husband, an undercover law enforcement official.Not long afterward, the flu is killing Irena, a planetary visitor from Amaryllis on the other side of the universe.Irena knows she must be left behind to die, as the clock is running out on her people.Irena's sensory powers bring her to a cemetery in Sydney, Australia where she telepathically observes a lonely figure mourn even as her husband's killer threatens her life.Irena offers a deal that if Melanie delivers her craft to her planet, she will insure Reve returns to punish her husband's murderers.Melanie agrees so Irena prepares her for the trek before she herself dies.

However Commander Reve of Starship Victus is unhappy that this inferior being has replaced his mate Irena.He reads her mind and finds her passionate nature quite thrilling, which bewilders him.Melanie is also confused as Reve could have been Chris' identical twin and the Amaryllisans look like doppelganger of famous earthlings.As Reve and Melanie become better acquainted, they fall in love, but neither trusts the other though Reve can read her mind, which he has no ethical qualms in doing even as Melanie wonders what the Amaryllisans are hiding behind their masks.

AMARYLLIS is a strong outer space romance starring two delightful star-crossed lovers (literal and figurative).The story line is loaded with earthly and solar action.The support cast enables the audience to understand decisions made especially those by Melanie.Tricia McGill provides readers with a cogent romantic science fiction that is sure to gain her fans from both genres.

Harriet Klausner ... Read more