“You're ridiculous…” I muttered, watching him chuckle with amusement. “Perhaps, but your body gives way to my touch so easily.” There was no denying the way he made me feel, but at the same time, if I wasn’t careful, he would eventually break my heart. *** Raquel of the Crimson Blade has been waiting for this opportunity her entire life: to be a member of the infamous King's Guard. Unfortunately for Raquel, the good King Tiberius was taken by the Yellow Blight last fall, leaving his only remaining heir—Prince Regulus—to inherit the throne. He’s ill-tempered, foul-mouthed behavior is a problem and Raquel hates him with a passion. But when a failed assassination has trapped the pair behind enemy lines, the two must learn to put aside their differences if they want to survive. Courting the Prince of Moonlit Shadows is created by Claire Wilkins, an eGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.
APPARENT HEIRS Lady Catherine Gordon was born to George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly and his Countess Elizabeth Hay. He was the High Chancellor of Scotland, and with that title and position, came influence. That influence served the family well, as her cousin, King James IV of Scotland needed to ally himself with a claimant to the throne of England. In this story, Lady Catherine has arrived at a time of matched marriages, dowries, forged political ties, alliances, and anticipated heirs. She finds herself on the cusp of royal title, wealth, and political elevation, only to end up seemingly lost in the annals of history. Was her betrothed truly one of the lost `Princes in the Tower' - Richard of Shrewsbury or was he indeed a pretender dubbed `Perkin Warbeck' by King Henry VII? Travel back in time and discover the perils of a Scottish lass who sought to live, love, and leave her mark on the world. This is a tale of courage, faith, and the strength of one woman and her family.
Literary critiques of Murasaki Shikibu's eleventh-century The Tale of Genji have often focused on the amorous adventures of its eponymous hero. In this paradigm-shifting analysis of the Genji and other mid-Heian literature, Doris G. Bargen emphasizes the thematic importance of Japan’s complex polygynous kinship system as the domain within which courtship occurs. Heian courtship, conducted mainly to form secondary marriages, was driven by power struggles of succession among lineages that focused on achieving the highest position possible at court. Thus interpreting courtship in light of genealogies is essential for comprehending the politics of interpersonal behavior in many of these texts. Bargen focuses on the genealogical maze—the literal and figurative space through which several generations of men and women in the Genji moved. She demonstrates that courtship politics sought to control kinship by strengthening genealogical lines, while secret affairs and illicit offspring produced genealogical uncertainty that could be dealt with only by reconnecting dissociated lineages or ignoring or even terminating them. The work examines in detail the literary construction of a courtship practice known as kaimami, or “looking through a gap in the fence,” in pre-Genji tales and diaries, and Sei Shōnagon’s famous Pillow Book. In Murasaki Shikibu’s Genji, courtship takes on multigenerational complexity and is often used as a political strategy to vindicate injustices, counteract sexual transgressions, or resist the pressure of imperial succession. Bargen argues persuasively that a woman observed by a man was not wholly deprived of agency: She could choose how much to reveal or conceal as she peeked through shutters, from behind partitions, fans, and kimono sleeves, or through narrow carriage windows. That mid-Heian authors showed courtship in its innumerable forms as being influenced by the spatial considerations of the Heian capital and its environs and by the architectural details of the residences within which aristocratic women were sequestered adds a fascinating topographical dimension to courtship. In Mapping Courtship and Kinship in Classical Japan readers both familiar with and new to The Tale of Genji and its predecessors will be introduced to a wholly new interpretive lens through which to view these classic texts. In addition, the book includes charts that trace Genji characters’ lineages, maps and diagrams that plot the movements of courtiers as they make their way through the capital and beyond, and color reproductions of paintings that capture the drama of courtship.
Trained in the magical art of shadow-weaving, sixteen-year-old Suzume, who is able to re-create herself in any form, is destined to use her skills to steal the heart of a prince in a revenge pot.
The battle over the fate of sixteenth-century England continues as the evil Unseleighe Sidhe, under the dark leadership of Vidal, continue their plans to prevent Elizabeth's rise to the throne.
He's a Fae prince, and I'm the girl with a knack for chaos. Now, in the Sun Court's twisted drama, we're not just fighting for our freedom; we're fighting to keep our love alive. I’m Gracie Smith, the messed-up advertising assistant who managed to dodge a bullet and stop a Fae plot to mess up the mortal realm. Victory? Sure, but life's got a wicked sense of humor. Now, Hawk and I, my unlikely lover - him being a Fae prince and me a regular mess - find ourselves trapped in the hostile Sun Court. And it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Beneath the dazzling exterior of the Sun Court, there's trouble brewing – and we’re right in the thick of it. They’ve got us pinned as the culprits in a robbery and aren’t in the mood for mercy. Hawk's Fae senses are in overdrive, and my knack for landing in hot water has never been more reliable. Together, we have to find a way to unravel the twisted threads of this crime and expose the real troublemakers, because if we don't, freedom's just a pipe dream. And our fledgling relationship will be over before it’s begun. The Sun Court might be dazzling, but beneath the surface, it's a game of shadows, and we're playing for keeps. Will we crack the case, break free from this golden prison, and come out on top? Stick around, and let the games begin.
Sanchez Travers seemed more scoundrel than scientist, but Dr. Annie Parrish needs the help of the Harvard-educated ethnobiologist to head up the Amazon in search of an extraordinary discovery.
NANCY GIDEON CONTINUES HER COMPELLING, SENSUAL NEW SERIES WITH A SEDUCTIVE TALE OF FORBIDDEN ALLEGIANCE AND REDISCOVERED LOVE. His town. Susanna Duchamps came to New Orleans to settle a debt and to temporarily escape the controlled constraints of her life among the Chosen. What she finds is an opportunity to make miraculous strides with her research into Shifter genetics . . . and an unexpected, but never forgotten, man from her complicated past. Her rules. Shifter club owner Jacques LaRoche is fiercely protective of his freedom. Stripped of his memories of a former life, he longs for the mate he lost . . . until the enticingly familiar presence of a mysterious stranger from the north ignites a primal, nearly uncontrollable need to release the untamed beast inside him. Their last chance. Susanna dares not tell Jacques it was she who sacrificed his past and her future years ago, to protect him and the secret she carried. But her arrival in New Orleans comes with consequences. When a bloody confrontation erupts between their enemy clans, will she betray her lover once again—or throw her own life on the line so they can finish what they started?
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Meet Merry Gentry, paranormal P.I., and enter a thrilling, sensual world as dangerous as it is beautiful, full of earthly pleasures and dazzling magic, and ruled by the all-consuming passions of immortal beings once worshipped as gods . . . or demons. Merry Gentry, princess of the high court of Faerie, is posing as a human in Los Angeles, working as a private investigator specializing in supernatural crime. But now the queen’s assassin has been dispatched to fetch her—whether she likes it or not. Suddenly Merry finds herself a pawn in her dreaded aunt’s plans. The job that awaits her: enjoy the constant company of the most beautiful immortal men in the world. The reward: the crown—and the opportunity to continue to live. The penalty for failure: death. BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Laurell K. Hamilton’s A Shiver of Light. Praise for Laurell K. Hamilton and A Kiss of Shadows “One of the most inventive and exciting writers in the paranormal field.”—Charlaine Harris “Sexy . . . Merry’s adventures are engaging and keep the reader turning the pages.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch “Stunning . . . steamy . . . an exciting and original world.”—San Jose Mercury News “I’ve never read a writer with a more fertile imagination.”—Diana Gabaldon
