Imagine this: Your husband is murdered on your wedding day. Your gown is soiled in his blood. You are taken hostage… Treated like a caged animal. The man behind your husband’s murder is revealed. His name is Draco Molina. Draco has power. Respect. Wealth. He is a savage beast of a man - dominant in every way. Soon after, he makes you an offer that you can’t refuse. All you have do is submit to him, and in return you won’t be punished. He will reward you handsomely. But if you disobey, you must be prepared to face the consequences. What do you do when the most wanted man in the world . . . wants you?
I am much more than meets the eye. I am stronger, smarter, and I won’t stop until I’m on top. He thinks he’s safe around me. He’s a fool to believe so. What would I do if the most wanted man in the world wanted me? The answer is simple. Get rid of him before he dares get rid of me.
Toxic creatures can be found almost anywhere—in the woods, in the desert, in your own backyard . . . even in your room! Some, such as poison dart frogs and puffer fish, have poisonous skin or other organs. Others are venomous—they have stingers, spines, or fangs to injects their toxins. You know some of them already: black widow spiders, killer bees, rattlesnakes, stingrays, and scorpions. There are lots of other toxic species, too. Just take a look inside . . . if you dare! "Sharp, full-color photos loaded with icky details are sure to catch readers' eyes and hold their interest."—School Library Journal "For biology reports or for students interested in the subject, this book will be a winner."—VOYA
New York Times–bestselling author: When an evil cult forms an alliance with Sybil’s Chosen, the humans of Hlondeth face horrors unlike any other Enter the mysterious world of Hlondeth, a city populated by the humanoid serpents known as the yuan-ti, and ruled by House Extaminos. This powerful House of Serpents is the ultimate target of The Pox, a human cult whose members worship the goddess of plague and disease. Not only that, but they have begun to work the deadly will of Sybil’s Chosen, a dangerous cabal of yuan-ti who will turn Hlondeth citizens into freakish ‘tainted ones’. Amid this chaos is a human psionic named Arvin, who suddenly finds himself embroiled in schemes far beyond his understanding. His recruitment to the local thieves guild sends him down a twisted path of danger and corruption, bringing him face to face with the dreaded Pox and the true nature of his psionic powers. Elsewhere, hope emerges in the form of a yuan-ti half-blood, Dediana—the only one who can stop Sibyl and her puppet organization from turning all humans into the slaves of heartless, serpentine masters.
Imagine this: Your husband is murdered on your wedding day.Your gown is soiled in his blood.You are taken hostage...Treated like a caged animal.The man behind your husband's murder is revealed.His name is Draco Molina.Draco has power. Respect. Wealth.He is a savage beast of a man - dominant in every way.Soon after, he makes you an offer that you can't refuse.All you have do is submit to him, and in return you won't be punished.He will reward you handsomely.But if you disobey, you must be prepared to face the consequences.What do you do when the most wanted man in the world . . . wants you?**Please Note: This story contains dark elements that may not be suitable for everyone. If you are sensitive to darker matters or if they make you feel uncomfortable in anyway, please consider that before reading Passion & Venom. I will be the first person to tell you that this story is NOT for everyone. To all the others that are eager to read it . . . The Jefe awaits.**
In the early years of the twentieth century, an awareness was growing among European Australians of an unexpected threat, one that seemed the very embodiment of the dark, ominous power of the Australian bush. To the Indigenous people of the Guugu Yimithirr nation, it was nguman; to the whites it was the taipan, an eight foot, lightning fast venomous snake whose bite meant certain death. Venom is an examination of European settlers' troubled and often antagonistic relationship with the land, seen through the lens of the desperate scramble for an antivenom, and highlighted by the story of George Rosendale, a taipan bite victim of the Guugu Yimithirr nation.
How three white, non-elite American sailors turned their experiences of captivity into diverse career opportunities—and influenced America's physical, commercial, ideological, and diplomatic development. Winner of the John Lyman Book Award by the North American Society for Oceanic History From 1784 to 1815, hundreds of American sailors were held as "white slaves" in the North African Barbary States. In From Captives to Consuls, Brett Goodin vividly traces the lives of three of these men—Richard O'Brien, James Cathcart, and James Riley—from the Atlantic coast during the American Revolution to North Africa, from Philadelphia to the Louisiana Territories, and finally to the western frontier. This first scholarly biography of American captives in Barbary sifts through their highly curated writings to reveal how ordinary individuals in extraordinary circumstances could maneuver through and contribute to nation building in early America, all the while advancing their own interests. The three subjects of this collective biography both reflected and helped refine evolving American concepts of liberty, identity, race, masculinity, and nationhood. Time and again, Goodin reveals, O'Brien, Cathcart, and Riley uncovered opportunities in their adversity. They variously found advantage first in the Revolution as privateers, then in captivity by writing bestselling captivity narratives and successfully framing their ordeal as a qualification for coveted government employment. They even used their modest fame as ex-captives to become diplomats, get elected to state legislatures, and survey the nation's territorial expansions in the South and West. Their successful self-interested pursuit of opportunities offered by the expanding American empire, Goodin argues, constitutes what he calls "the invisible hand of American nation building." Goodin shows how these ordinary men, lacking the genius of a Benjamin Franklin or Alexander Hamilton, depended on sheer luck and adaptability in their quest for financial independence and public recognition. Drawing on archival collections, newspapers, private correspondence, and government documents, From Captives to Consuls sheds new light on the significance of ordinary individuals in guiding early American ideas of science, international relations, and what it meant to be a self-made man.
The world already knows who I am. Destroyer. Killer. I am ruler. I reign. My kingdom, my family--I am in control. I was never supposed to fall for her. Power. Beauty. Strength. She makes me vulnerable. She could get me killed. And I'll be damned if my heart is my weakness. When it comes down to the kingdom and what I desire . . . the kingdom will always win.
