As pack Beta, Dane Raines has seen far too much pain and death. But with war on the horizon yet again, thanks to the new Alpha of Onyx, Dane will have to work twice as hard with the other Ashwood Falls leaders to ensure the safety of his pack. The last thing he needs at a time like this is a complication like Jasmine. Jasmine Russel’s life is chaos. Between her first full-time job running the family bar, and her second full-time job caring for her trouble-making twin brothers, she never slows down and she’s always on edge. The prospect of another war only adds to her life of turmoil. She’s determined to keep what’s left of her family safe no matter what the future holds, and that means keeping Dane as far away as possible. Yet the unavoidable truth for all wolves is that once a mate is found, the bond cannot be denied. Dane is tired of waiting, standing on the sidelines with nothing more than Jasmine’s excuses to keep them apart. With everything on the line, he’s prepared to claim his rightful mate once and for all, even if that means mating chaos.
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • Is love between equals possible? This modern classic is a delightful intellectual love story that explores the deepest canyons of romantic love even as it asks large questions about society, geopolitics, and the mystery of what men and women really want. “Luminous…Few books evoke the state of love at its apogee.” —The New York Times Book Review “The best rendering of erotic politics…since D.H. Lawrence…The voice of Rush’s narrator is immediate, instructive and endearing.” —The New York Review of Books The narrator of this splendidly expansive novel of high intellect and grand passion is an American anthropologist at loose ends in the South African republic of Botswana. She has a noble and exacting mind, a compelling waist, and a busted thesis project. She also has a yen for Nelson Denoon, a charismatic intellectual who is rumored to have founded a secretive and unorthodox utopian society in a remote corner of the Kalahari—one in which he is virtually the only man. What ensues is an exhilarating quest and an exuberant comedy of manners: “A dryly comic love story about grown-up people who take the life of the mind seriously.” —Newsweek
Every chess player loves to win with a devastating attack. But even beginners know the importance of early castling, so the most significant attacking strategies are those against a castled king. Danny Gormally sheds light on this vital area of the game, arguing that pattern recognition is key to improvement. This book strips away the mystique surrounding successful attacking play, and identifies several recurring motifs which can be applied to specific pawn structures and scenarios. Well-chosen model examples and test positions are complemented by the author's lively writing style and original terminology. Clobber your opponents with motifs such as the "Shotgun" and the "Tower of Terror"!
Capitalism in Chaos explores an often-overlooked consequence and paradox of the First World War—the prosperity of business elites and bankers in service of the war effort during the destruction of capital and wealth by belligerent armies. This study of business life amid war and massive geopolitical changes follows industrialists and policymakers in Central Europe as the region became crucially important for German and subsequently French plans of economic and geopolitical expansion in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Based on extensive research in sixteen archives, five languages, and four states, Máté Rigó demonstrates that wartime destruction and the birth of "war millionaires" were two sides of the same coin. Despite the recent centenaries of the Great War and the Versailles peace treaties, knowledge of the overall impact of war and border changes on business life remains sporadic, based on scant statistics and misleading national foci. Consequently, most histories remain wedded to the viewpoint of national governments and commercial connections across national borders. Capitalism in Chaos changes the static historical perspective by presenting Europe's East as the economic engine of the continent. Rigó accomplishes this paradigm shift by focusing on both supranational regions—including East-Central and Western Europe—as well as the eastern and western peripheries of Central Europe, Alsace-Lorraine and Transylvania, from the 1870s until the 1920s. As a result, Capitalism in Chaos offers a concrete, lively history of economics during major world crises, with a contemporary consciousness toward inequality and disparity during a time of collapse.
My wolf hid my fated mates—until the moon goddess forced our mating. As Alpha of the Central Pack, I know we are the weakest link in the alliance, but I will stop at nothing to prove our worth and rebuild from our shameful and brutal past. Along the way I fell for Adalyn and Nico, but stayed away, thinking they were fated for each other—and never me. When a mating bond is forced on us, our worlds collide and now we must survive in this new fated life where rules break and the heat between us boils over. Only Valac’s revenge over losing his mate in our previous battles take danger to a new level and if I’m not careful, I’ll lose my two mates before I even get a chance to make them fall for me like I have for them. And if we’re not careful, the darker danger hiding in the shadows might break us all. As Valac’s master is waiting. And he’s closer than we think. ~~~~~~~~ Read what others are saying about New York Times bestselling author, Carrie Ann Ryan: “Count on Carrie Ann Ryan for emotional, sexy, character driven stories that capture your heart!” – Carly Phillips, NY Times bestselling author “Carrie Ann Ryan’s romances are my newest addiction! The emotion in her books captures me from the very beginning. The hope and healing hold me close until the end. These love stories will simply sweep you away.” ~ NYT Bestselling Author Deveny Perry “Carrie Ann Ryan writes sexy emotional romances that'll make you cry and fan yourself from the heat, especially because of all that sexy ink.” –#1 NYT Bestselling Author Lauren Blakely “Once I started reading, I couldn’t stop! This is definitely going in my re-read pile!” –NYT Bestselling Author Susan Stoker "Carrie Ann Ryan writes the perfect balance of sweet and heat ensuring every story feeds the soul." - Audrey Carlan, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author “Carrie Ann Ryan never fails to draw readers in with passion, raw sensuality, and characters that pop off the page. Any book by Carrie Ann is an absolute treat.” – New York Times Bestselling Author J. Kenner “Carrie Ann Ryan knows how to pull your heartstrings and make your pulse pound! Her wonderful Redwood Pack series will draw you in and keep you reading long into the night. I can’t wait to see what comes next with the new generation, the Talons. Keep them coming, Carrie Ann!” –Lara Adrian, New York Times bestselling author of CRAVE THE NIGHT "With snarky humor, sizzling love scenes, and brilliant, imaginative worldbuilding, The Dante's Circle series reads as if Carrie Ann Ryan peeked at my personal wish list!" – NYT Bestselling Author, Larissa Ione "Carrie Ann Ryan writes sexy shifters in a world full of passionate happily-ever-afters." – New York Times Bestselling Author Vivian Arend “Carrie Ann’s books are sexy with characters you can’t help but love from page one. They are heat and heart blended to perfection.” New York Times Bestselling Author Jayne Rylon Carrie Ann Ryan's books are wickedly funny and deliciously hot, with plenty of twists to keep you guessing. They'll keep you up all night!” USA Today Bestselling Author Cari Quinn "Once again, Carrie Ann Ryan knocks the Dante's Circle series out of the park. The queen of hot, sexy, enthralling paranormal romance, Carrie Ann is an author not to miss!" New York Times bestselling Author Marie Harte More from the Aspen Pack series: Etched in Honor Hunted in Darkness Mated in Chaos ___ Topics: Wolf, Werewolf, Shifter, Romance, Series, Fantasy, Paranormal, Dominant, Paranormal Series, werewolf romance, shapeshifter romance, fantasy romance, alpha male, series and saga, magic, witch, demon, sexy, heartwarming, heart-warming, family, love, love books, kissing books, emotional journey, contemporary, contemporary romance, romance series, long series, long romance series, sassy, strong heroine, captivating romance, hot, hot romance, forbidden love, sparks, loyalty, swoon rescue, kidnap, claiming, defending, protect Other readers of Carrie Ann Ryan’s books enjoyed books by: Kate Rudolph Felicity Heaton, JR Ward, Kresley Cole, Nalini Singh, Thea Harrison, Ilona Andrews, Jennifer L Armentrout, Lynsay Sands, Grace Goodwin, Lora Leigh, Jessie Donovan, Shelly Laurenston, Donna Grand, Mandy M Roth, NJ Walters, Abigail Owen, and Eve Langlias.
I vowed that from now on, I would become stronger and that once I was strong enough, I would exact my vengeance on those who had wronged me! *** Cadence was just a nobody in a world of werewolves and magical creatures. She was a weak and useless omega without elemental magic ability. Her wolf had never awakened, and she had never transformed. She had a powerful Alpha step-father, but he never protected her. Instead, he tortured her as if she was a slave. She wanted to remain positive, but how? When she felt the most helpless, she met Lance Gregory, the Alpha King of the Land of Culvis. Cadence fell hopelessly in love with him at first sight, but when she confessed her love to him, he rejected her in return. With tears and a broken heart, Cadence determined to change and began her journey of growth. Meanwhile, she could always catch a soft and alluring scent. As she got lost in that scent, it was like the world around her was beginning to shrink and shift into a hazy abyss. What did that scent mean? Would she be able to find her inner strength and realize her destiny? Would she be able to melt the cold heart of Lance in the process?
Was the original world really an illusion? He continued the fate from a thousand years ago. For the sake of his beloved woman, he once again threw himself into the world of blood and slaughter. When he brandished his butcher's knife for his only friend, he suddenly discovered that the world had changed drastically! In the Primal Chaos Great World, there was killing on the path of martial arts. Nine cities were established, and the divine artifacts were divided into one. The legendary Great Dao of Martial Arts was something that he could not find. Who knew that he would suddenly look back and see it in his heart! What new strength would accompany it ...
This book provides a thorough investigation of the application of chaos theory and fractal analysis to computer vision. The field of chaos theory has been studied in dynamical physical systems, and has been very successful in providing computational models for very complex problems ranging from weather systems to neural pathway signal propagation. Computer vision researchers have derived motivation for their algorithms from biology and physics for many years as witnessed by the optical flow algorithm, the oscillator model underlying graphical cuts and of course neural networks. These algorithms are very helpful for a broad range of computer vision problems like motion segmentation, texture analysis and change detection. The contents of this book include chapters in biological vision systems, foundations of chaos and fractals, behavior of images and image sequences in phase space, mathematical measures for analyzing phase space, applications to pre-attentive vision and applications to post-attentive vision. This book is intended for graduate students, upper division undergraduates, researchers and practitioners in image processing and computer vision. The readers will develop a solid understanding of the concepts of chaos theory and their application to computer vision. Readers will be introduced to a new way of thinking about computer vision problems from the perspective of complex dynamical systems. This new approach will provide them a deeper understanding of the various phenomena present in complex image scenes.
This is an open access book. With the progress of social civilization, social science and its research are becoming more and more important. Theoretically and practically, the study of social phenomena and social problems and the development of prosperous social sciences are the eternal themes of human beings. At present, social science research and its results can hardly meet the needs of social development, especially the unscientific evaluation of social science results, which has aroused great concern from all walks of life, and has produced dirt and questions on social science, thus affecting the proper development of social science. Max Weber once said that "the most important function of social science in modern times is to keep people "clear-headed" and to resist the delusions of "prophetic legislators". " Humanities and arts are the process of perceiving, realizing, thinking, manipulating, and expressing objective or subjective objects through capturing and excavating, feeling and analyzing, integrating and applying, or displaying the stage results in the form obtained through feeling (seeing, hearing, smelling, touching). The social sciences and humanities and arts contain content that will directly affect our lives and the way society functions. And by reacting to today's increasingly intricate problems and situations through systematic and professional discussions, they will further contribute to the improvement of institutions and the development of society. By thinking about issues and looking at problems and the world from different perspectives by putting the two together, it may be possible to have more comprehensive, appropriate, and better responses; for example, the development of laws requires a deeper understanding of the environment in which they are implemented; international trade requires a certain understanding of the customs of different countries; and the development of tax and economic policies requires a certain understanding of the population, consumer demand, etc.
