{"product_id":"toxic-bachelors-isbn-9780385342520","title":"Toxic Bachelors","description":"Danielle Steel explores the perils of dating, relationships, and love in a novel  that takes us into the intoxicating, infuriating world of three charming single men,  also known as…\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eToxic Bachelors\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e They were the best of friends and the most daunting  of bachelors....Charlie Harrington, a handsome philanthropist, has such high expectations  for his perfect bride that no mortal need apply....Adam Weiss, a forty-something  celebrity lawyer, prefers his women very young, very voluptuous, and very short-term….And  for Gray Hawk, a gifted artist with a knack for attracting troubled relationships,  women are fine; it’s just the idea of family he can’t imagine (particularly the family  of the woman he’s dating). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Now the three friends, spending their annual summer  vacation cruising the Mediterranean aboard Charlie’s majestic yacht, are about to  have their bachelorhood rocked. By autumn all three will fall precipitously into  relationships they never saw coming. Charlie begins dating a crusading social worker  who couldn’t be further from his ideal–until he makes a stunning discovery about  her. Adam gets involved with his usual twenty-something bombshell–only this one has  a remarkable mind of her own. And Gray, who has avoided both business and family  like the plague, has managed to fall head over heels for a successful career woman– who just happens to be a mother as well.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e As another holiday on the yacht approaches,  and with it a turning point in each man’s life, the three bachelors are forced to  face the things that scare them most: their phobias about relationships, the wounds  of the past–and the kind of women who challenge their deepest terrors. What happens  next will spark big changes for Charlie, Adam, and Gray–and might just put an end  to their carousing days forever. For as the once-carefree trio is about to discover,  love is the most unpredictable adventure of all.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Filled with all the joy, complexity,  and unexpected surprises of life, \u003cb\u003eToxic Bachelors\u003c\/b\u003e is Danielle Steel at her poignant  and penetrating best.\u003cb\u003ePraise for Danielle Steel\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Steel is one of the best!”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Few modern writers convey the pathos of family and material life with such heartfelt empathy.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Philadelphia Inquirer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Steel pulls out all the emotional stops. . . . She delivers!”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“What counts for the reader is the ring of authenticity.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eDanielle Steel\u003c\/b\u003e has been hailed as one of the world’s most popular authors, with over 650 million copies of her novels sold. Her many international bestsellers include \u003ci\u003eCountry, Prodigal Son, Pegasus,\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Perfect Life, Power Play, Winners, First Sight, Until the End of Time, The Sins of the Mother, \u003c\/i\u003eand other highly acclaimed novels. She is also the author of \u003ci\u003eHis Bright Light,\u003c\/i\u003e the story of her son Nick Traina’s life and death; \u003ci\u003eA Gift of Hope, \u003c\/i\u003ea memoir of her work with the homeless; \u003ci\u003ePure Joy, \u003c\/i\u003eabout the dogs she and her family have loved; and the children’s book \u003ci\u003ePretty Minnie in Paris.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eChapter One\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e The sun was brilliant and hot, shining down on the deck of the motor  yacht Blue Moon. She was 240 feet, eighty meters, of sleek, exquisite powerboat,  remarkably designed. Pool, helipad, six elegant, luxurious guest cabins, a master  suite right out of a movie and an impeccably trained crew of sixteen. The Blue Moon—and  her owner—had appeared in every yachting magazine around the world. Charles Sumner  Harrington had bought her from a Saudi prince six years before. He had bought his  first yacht, a seventy-five-foot sailboat, when he was twenty-two. She had been called  the Dream. Twenty-four years later, he enjoyed life on his boat as much as he had  then.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e At forty-six, Charles Harrington knew that he was a lucky man. In many ways,  seemingly, life had been easy for him. At twenty-one, he had inherited an enormous  fortune and had handled it responsibly in the twenty-five years since. He had made  a career of managing his own investments and running his family's foundation. Charlie  was well aware that few people on earth were as blessed as he, and he had done much  to improve the lot of those less fortunate, both through the foundation and privately.  He was well aware that he had an awesome responsibility, and even as a young man,  he had thought of others first. He was particularly passionate about disadvantaged  young people and children. The foundation did impressive work in education, provided  medical assistance to the indigent, particularly in developing countries, and was  dedicated to the prevention of child abuse for inner-city kids. Charles Harrington  was a leader of the community, doing his philanthropic work quietly, through the  foundation, or anonymously, whenever possible. Charles Harrington was a humanitarian,  and an extremely caring, conscientious person. But he also laughed mischievously  when he admitted that he was extremely spoiled, and made no apologies for the way  he lived. He could afford it, and spent millions every year on the well-being of  others, and a handsome amount on his own. He had never married, had no children,  enjoyed living well, and when appropriate, took pleasure in sharing his lifestyle  with his friends.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Every year, without fail, Charlie and his two closest friends,  Adam Weiss and Gray Hawk, spent the month of August on Charlie's yacht, floating  around the Mediterranean, stopping wherever they chose. It was a trip they had taken  together for the past ten years. It was one they all looked forward to, and would  have done just about anything not to miss. Every year, come hell or high water, on  August first, Adam and Gray flew to Nice and boarded the Blue Moon for a month—just  as they had done on her predecessors every year before that. Charlie was usually  on the boat for July as well, and sometimes didn't return to New York until mid—or  even late September. All his foundation and financial matters were easily handled  from the boat. But August was devoted to pure fun. And this year was no different.  He sat quietly eating breakfast on the aft deck, as the boat shifted gently, at anchor,  outside the port of St. Tropez. They had had a late night the night before, and had  come home at four a.m.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In spite of the late night, Charlie was up early, although  his recollections of the evening before were a little vague. They usually were when  Gray and Adam were involved. They were a fearsome trio, but their fun was harmless.  They answered to no one, none of the three men were married, and at the moment none  had girlfriends. They had long since agreed that, whatever their situations, they  would come aboard alone, and spend the month as bachelors, living among men, indulging  themselves. They owed no one apologies or explanations, and each of them worked hard  in his own way during the rest of the year, Charlie as a philanthropist, Adam as  an attorney, and Gray as an artist. Charlie liked to say that they earned their month  off, and deserved their annual trip.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Two of the three were bachelors by choice.  Charlie insisted he wasn't. His single status, he claimed, was by happenstance and, so  far, sheer bad luck. He said he wanted to get married, but hadn't found the right  woman yet, despite a lifetime of searching. But he was still looking, with meticulous  determination. He had been engaged four times in his younger days, although not recently,  and each time something had happened to cause the wedding to be called off, much  to his chagrin, and deep regret.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e His first fiancee had slept with his best friend  three weeks before the wedding, which had caused a veritable explosion in his life.  And of course he had no choice but to call off the wedding. He had been thirty at  the time. His second bride-to-be had taken a job in London as soon as they got engaged.  He had commuted diligently to see her, while she continued to work for British Vogue,  and could hardly make time to see him while he waited patiently in the flat he'd  rented just so he could spend time with her. Two months before the wedding, she admitted  that she wanted a career, and couldn't see herself giving up work when they got married,  which was important to him. He thought she should stay home and have kids. He didn't  want to be married to a career woman, so they agreed to part company—amicably of  course, but it had been an enormous disappointment to him. He had been thirty-two  at the time, and ever more determined to find the woman of his dreams. A year later  he was sure he'd found her—she was a fantastic girl, and was willing to give up medical  school for him. They went to South America together, on trips for the foundation,  to visit children in developing countries. They had everything in common, and six  months after they met, they got engaged. All went well, until Charlie realized his  fiancee was inseparable from her twin sister, and expected to take her everywhere  with them. He and the twin sister had taken an instant dislike to each other, which  turned into heated debates and endless arguments each time they met. He felt certain  that they would continue to dislike each other in alarming ways. He had bowed out  that time too, and his would-be bride agreed. Her sister was too important to her  to marry a man who genuinely despised her twin. She had married someone else within  a year, and her twin moved in with them, which told Charlie he'd done the right thing.  Charlie's last engagement had come to a disastrous end five years before. She loved  Charlie, but even after couples counseling with him, said she didn't want children.  No matter how much she said she loved him, she wouldn't budge an inch. He thought  at first he could convince her otherwise, but he never did, so they parted friends.  He always did. Without exception. Charlie had managed to stay friends with every  woman he had ever gone out with. At Christmastime, he was deluged with cards from  women he had once cared about, decided not to marry, and who had since married other  men. At a glance, if one looked at the photographs of them and their families, they  all looked the same. Beautiful, blond, well-bred women from aristocratic families,  who had gone to the right schools, and married the right people. They smiled at him  from their Christmas cards, with their prosperous-looking husbands at their side,  and their towheaded children gathered around them. He was still in touch with many  of them, they all loved Charlie, and remembered him fondly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e His friends Adam and  Gray kept telling him to give up on debutantes and socialites and go out with a \"real\"  woman, the definition of which varied according to their respective descriptions.  But Charlie knew exactly what he wanted. A well-born, well-heeled, well-educated,  intelligent woman who would share the same values, same ideals, and had a similarly  aristocratic background to his. That was important to him. His own family could be  traced back to the fifteenth century, in England, his fortune was many generations  old, and like his father and grandfather, he had gone to Princeton. His mother had  gone to Miss Porter's, and finishing school in Europe, as had his sister, and he  wanted to marry a woman just like them. It was an archaic point of view, and seemed  snobbish in some ways, but Charlie knew what he wanted and needed, and what suited  him. He himself was old-fashioned in some ways, and had traditional values. He was  politically conservative, eminently respectable, and if he had a fling here and there,  it was always done politely, with the utmost discretion. Charlie was a gentleman  and a man of elegance and distinction to his very soul. He was attentive, kind, generous,  and charming. His manners were impeccable, and women loved him. He had long since  become a challenge to the women in New York, and the many places where he traveled  and had friends. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Everybody loved Charlie, it was hard not to.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Marrying Charles  Harrington would have been a major coup for anyone. But like the handsome prince  in the fairy tale, he had searched the world, looking for the right woman, the perfect  one for him. And instead he met lovely women everywhere, who seemed delightful and  appealing at first, and always had a fatal flaw that stopped him in his tracks just  before he got to the altar. As much as it was for them, it was disheartening for  him. His plans to marry and have children had been thwarted every time. At forty-six,  he was still a bachelor, through no fault of his own, he said. Wherever the right  woman was hiding these days, he was still determined to find her, and Charlie felt  sure he would, one day. He just didn't know when. And for all the impostors masquerading  as the right women, he was able to detect their fatal flaws every time. The one thing  he consoled himself with was that he hadn't married the wrong one. He was determined  not to let that happen. And he was grateful that so far he hadn't. He was ever vigilant  and relentless about those fatal flaws. He knew the right woman was out there somewhere,  he just hadn't found her yet. But one day he knew he would.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Charlie sat with his  eyes closed and his face to the sun, as two stewardesses served him breakfast, and  poured him a second cup of coffee. He had drunk a number of martinis, preceded by  champagne the night before, but after a swim before he sat down to breakfast he felt  better. He was a powerful swimmer, and a skilled windsurfer. He had been the captain  of the swimming team at Princeton. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Despite his age, he was fiercely athletic. He  was an avid skier, played squash at every opportunity in the winter, and tennis in  the summer. It not only improved his health, but he had the body of a man half his  age. Charlie was a strikingly handsome man—tall, slim, with sandy blond hair that  concealed whatever gray he'd acquired over time. He had blue eyes and, after the  last month on the boat, a deep tan. He was a stunning-looking man, and his preference  in women ran to tall, thin aristocratic blondes. He never thought about it particularly,  but his mother and sister had both been tall blondes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e His mother had been spectacularly  beautiful, and his sister had been a tennis star in college when she dropped out  to take care of him. His parents had both been killed in a head-on collision while  on vacation in Italy when he was sixteen. His sister had been twenty-one, and had  left Vassar in her junior year, to come home and take on the responsibilities of  running the family, in the absence of their parents. It still brought tears to Charlie's  eyes when he thought about his sister. Ellen had said she would go back to finish  college when he went to college two years later. It was a sacrifice she was more  than willing to make for him. She had been an extraordinary woman, and Charlie adored  her. But by the time he left for college, although he didn't know it, and she said  nothing to him, Ellen was ill. She had managed to keep the seriousness of her illness  from him for nearly three years. She said she was too busy working at the foundation  to go back to college, and he had believed her. In fact, she had a brain tumor, and  fought a valiant battle. They had determined early on that the tumor was inoperable  because of its location. Ellen died at twenty-six, just months before Charlie graduated  from Princeton. Charlie had no one to see him graduate. With his sister and parents  gone, he was virtually alone in the world, with a vast fortune, and a great sense  of responsibility for all they left him. He bought his first sailboat shortly after  he graduated and for two years he sailed around the world. There was barely a day  that went by that he didn't think about his sister and all she had done for him.  She had even given up college for him, and had been there for him in every way until  she died, just as his parents had been before. Their family life had always been  harmonious and loving. The only thing that had gone wrong in his early life was that  everyone who had loved him, and whom he loved, had died, and left him alone. His  worst fear was of loving someone else, and having them die too.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e When he'd come back  from traveling the world on his yacht, he was twenty-four years old. He had gone  to Columbia Business School and gotten an MBA, and learned about his investments,  and how to run the foundation. He had grown up overnight and become responsible for  everything in his world. Charlie had never let anyone down in his life. He knew that  neither his parents nor Ellen had abandoned him intentionally, but he was alone in  the world, without family, at a very young age. He had remarkable material benefits,  and a few well-chosen friends. But he knew that until he found the right woman, he  would be alone in important ways. He wasn't going to settle for anything less than  what he felt he deserved, a woman like his mother and Ellen, a woman who would stand  by him till the end. The fact that they had ultimately left him alone and terrified  wasn't something he admitted to himself, not often anyway. It hadn't been their fault.  It was simply a rotten turn of fate. Which made it all the more important for him  to find the right woman, one he knew he could count on, who would be a good mother  to his children, a woman who was nearly perfect in every way. That was vital to him.  To Charlie, that woman was worth the wait.","brand":"Dell","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304496484581,"sku":"NP9780385342520","price":14.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780385342520.jpg?v=1767742870","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/toxic-bachelors-isbn-9780385342520","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}