Hospitality can be a blessing to both the host and her guests, but for many women today, it simply doesn't happen. Feelings of inadequacy, unrealistic expectations, fear of failure, lack of time--all conspire to steal the joy that comes from opening one's home and sharing fellowship with others. In The Reluctant Entertainer, Sandy Coughlin relates to people in real ways about real meals that mortals cook, during which real conversations draw people together. Would-be hostesses will discover that true hospitality is not about being perfect, cooking a fancy meal, or spending a lot of money. Rather, it's about an open door and an open heart.
A pretend relationship gives two friends more than they bargained for in a Renaissance Faire rom com filled with flower crowns, kilts, corsets, and sword fights. Single mother April Parker has lived in Willow Creek for twelve years with a wall around her heart. On the verge of being an empty nester, she’s decided to move on from her quaint little town, and asks her friend Mitch for his help with some home improvement projects to get her house ready to sell. Mitch Malone is known for being the life of every party, but mostly for the attire he wears to the local Renaissance Faire—a kilt (and not much else) that shows off his muscled form to perfection. While he agrees to help April, he needs a favor too: she'll pretend to be his girlfriend at an upcoming family dinner, so that he can avoid the lectures about settling down and having a more “serious” career than high school coach and gym teacher. April reluctantly agrees, but when dinner turns into a weekend trip, it becomes hard to tell what's real and what's been just for show. But when the weekend ends, so must their fake relationship. As summer begins, Faire returns to Willow Creek, and April volunteers for the first time. When Mitch's family shows up unexpectedly, April pretends to be Mitch's girlfriend again...and it doesn't feel so fake anymore. Despite their obvious connection, April insists they’ve just been putting on an act. But when there’s the chance for something real, she has to decide whether to change her plans—and open her heart—for the kilt-wearing hunk who might just be the love of her life.
Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow. Look for CROSSED, the sequel to MATCHED, in Fall 2011! Watch a Video
Have you ever needed to convert documents from XML to HTML ? Or from one XML vocabulary to another ? Extensible Stylesheet Transformations (XSLT) provide a critical bridge between XML processing and more familiar HTML, as well as between XML vocabularies. XSLT demonstrates how to use this powerful, but complex, tool for a wide variety of conversions. Examples illustrate many different cases and techniques, giving you working code to explore and modify for your own purposes. Originally created for page layout, XSLT has grown into one of the tore technologies used by most developers processing XML. Through clear and entertaining explanations, this book shows you how to use XSLT as a general-purpose translation tool, a system for reorganizing document content, and a tool for generating multiple results (including HTML, VRML, and SVG) from the same content. Though XSLT is extremely useful, it can also be daunting to new users. XSLT uses an XML-based template syntax combined with a terse vocabulary called XPath that identifies how the template applies to the original document. The understanding of " variables " in XSLT is very different from the understanding of " variables " in procedural languages, for instance. Getting started with XSLT is difficult, and advanced techniques require a thorough understanding of how XSLT templates work and interact with one another. XSLT brings it all together, giving developers both a thorough tutorial and a reference. It examines both XSLT and XPath, a critical companion standard, and explores subjects ranging from basic transformations to complex sorting and linking. In addition, the book explores extension functions on various XSLT processors and how to combine multiple documents with XSLT. Examples demonstrate all of the techniques described. Examples also illustrate how to use XSLT to generate a ride variety of target document types, including HTML, SVG, JPEG, Java source code, and XSLT stylesheets.
RELUCTANT QUEEN: A TUDOR BIOGRAPHICAL NOVEL ABOUT HENRY VIII’s LITTLE SISTER ‘A very readable account of a fascinating woman who dared to stand up to Henry VIII and survived. It is thoroughly researched, admirably written and the author's love of the Tudor period shines through.' Historical Novels Review One NOT about any of the six wives! Henry had plenty of other relatives, most of whom, given his short-lived dynasty and shaky right to the crown, the always insecure Henry had executed throughout his reign in order to secure his throne. Can you imagine what it must be like to be the little sister of infamous, English king, Henry VIII? Remember, this is the king who went on to have six wives, two of whom he had beheaded. And although the teenage Mary Rose is his favourite sister (he even named his famous ship after her), his shifting alliances and ruthless desire to have his own way, made him push the young and lovely Mary into a hateful state marriage with the ailing and ancient King Louis XII of France. But a reluctant Mary Rose, as strong-willed as Henry, and passionately in love for the first time, doesn't give in easily. After a relentless campaign by her loving brother to get her to say yes, before agreeing to the match, Mary Rose extracts a promise from Henry. A promise she is determined he will keep. ‘Very easy to read, very hard to put down. This made a Mary Tudor so accessible and relatable to the reader.’ READER REVIEW ‘Thoroughly enjoyable.’ READER REVIEW Geraldine Evans also writes the Rafferty & Llewellyn British Mystery Series and the Casey & Catt British Mystery Series. KEYWORDS: Tudor, Renaissance, 16 Century, Coming of Age, religious and inspitational historical, Christian historical, literature classics, historical fiction british, british biographical historical fiction, historical fiction, Tudor historical,
Big Boards for Families features over 50 wholesome recipes for hosting and entertaining close friends and neighbors during casual get-togethers and special occasions.
When an assassin targets the president, an outsider finds evidence of an even deeper conspiracy in this thriller from the author of The Valkyrie Project. The gunman crouches in his crawl space, dreaming of revenge. The United States has turned his homeland into a combat zone, killing his family and ruining his life. Today, vengeance will be had. President Henry Hampton is visiting Gettysburg, and the band has just struck up “Hail to the Chief” when the first shots ring out. Blood stains the old battleground once more. The president takes a bullet to the neck, and his bodyguard hustles him into his limousine—rushing him not to a hospital, but to Camp David, where he can be best protected against the conspiracy that threatens to consume America from the inside out. As days pass with only vague news about the president’s condition, the country threatens to slide into chaos, and it will fall to 2 unlikely heroes to rescue the government: a California adman and the desperate vice president of the United States.
A daring Spanish matador, Rudolph Rodriguez, is in New York and being pursued by killers. He, thereby, becomes accused of murdering his reclusive identical twin brother Roberto. In the fight for his life, Rudy is wounded and meets Pamela, a beautiful young doctor, who is unsure of his true feelings and motives. In an effort to help each other, they fly to El Paso, where Pamela is abducted by the Juarez drug cartel. Rudy vows to do anything necessary to rescue her from their Mexican jungle fortress and win her love or die trying. He must endure overwhelming hardships and heartache to save her, only to lose everything when caught up by the U.S. Justice system. Pamela must now let down her defenses and act to save this innocent man from the executioner.
Robert Lindley Lin Murray, a middle-distance runner and tennis player and a Phi Beta Kappa chemical engineer at Stanford University, went east after graduating in 1914 to play tennis. He beat the top intercollegiate players, won several tournaments, and earned a fourth place national ranking. Murray won the 1916 U.S. Indoor title and joined Hooker Electrochemical in Niagara Falls, New York. Reluctant to play in the 1917 and 1918 national championships due to wartime contracts, Murray was persuaded by Hookers president to play and he won them both, the latter over Bill Tilden. Murray rose through the ranks of Hooker to president, CEO, and chairman of the board and was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame a year before retiring. Leading into Murrays exploits is a concise history of tennis, when and where the game was introduced to the United States, and American tennis through Lin Murrays brief but brilliant career. Also included is a review of California tennis and the significant impact of its players during the second decade of the twentieth century. The book concludes with short biographies of Murrays female and male contemporaries, before shorts and skirts replaced flannels and petticoats.
Princess Brittany yearns for adventure beyond the castle walls that imprison her. So, she does what any ambitious princess would. She escapes. Only to get snatched up by a fearsome dragon. There's but one man who can rescue her. However, he doesn't want to.... Alvin is a bard renowned for spinning epic tales of battling beasts over frothing mugs at the local tavern. When a royal decree names Alvin the champion who must rescue Princess Brittany, he reluctantly accepts the dangerous quest to avoid getting labeled a coward. With each step on his harrowing journey, the line between his fabled narratives and his newfound reality blurs, challenging the heart beneath his minstrel's garb, especially when he's shadowed by the enigmatic Sir Simon, who plans to swoop in when Alvin fails and win Brittany's heart. Princess Brittany, far from a damsel in distress, proves a fierce and resourceful ally. Together, she and Sir Alvin navigate a labyrinth of betrayal that threatens to unravel the kingdom. Their shared trials spark a connection that defies their worlds apart, igniting a flame that warms them in the chilling face of adversity. But is love enough to defeat dragons and save a doomed kingdom from a maniacal wizard? The Princess and the Reluctant Knight weaves a tale of unexpected courage, the transformative power of self-belief, and the tender comedy of love's surprising emergence. Unfold the adventure, romance, and heroism as Princess Brittany and Sir Alvin discover that the greatest story yet might be their own.
