The Velvet Elite
The Velvet Elite

Author: Emmy Waterford

Publisher: Emmy Waterford

Published: 2024-08-06

Total Pages: 211

ISBN-13:

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Beth Ann's childhood was a labyrinth of shadows and secrets, each corner echoing with memories she'd rather forget. Seeking solace in the halls of her college, she yearns for a fresh start, but fate has other plans. Drawn into a whirlwind romance with a charming yet enigmatic boyfriend, Beth Ann soon finds herself at the heart of an exclusive and hedonistic circle. Together with her new friends, they form a secret cabal, known as “The Velvet Elite” exploring the depths of desire and pushing the boundaries of societal norms. But as the allure of their clandestine world intensifies, so do the dangers that lurk within. Old wounds resurface, loyalties are tested, and the lines between pleasure and pain blur. In a world where power and passion intertwine, Beth Ann must navigate the perilous path between self-discovery and self-destruction. Emmy Waterford weaves a gripping tale of a young woman's search for identity amid the seductive yet perilous world of "The Velvet Elite." Her writing style will instantly captivate you, and you will want to continue reading the story no matter where it leads you. Emmy Waterford takes readers on a thrilling journey back in time with her latest book, a prequel to the highly acclaimed The Velvet Elite series. Set against the backdrop of mysterious cabals and forbidden love, this new installment promises to captivate and enthrall readers from start to finish. With a blend of eroticism, suspense, and intrigue, Waterford weaves a tale that transports readers from the shadowy streets of Baton Rouge and New Orleans to the luxurious foothills of Northern California. As the story unfolds, secrets are revealed, mysteries unravel, and a love story like no other takes center stage. Drawing inspiration from classic writers like Agatha Christie and Dean Koontz, Waterford delivers a modern twist on the traditional mystery genre, creating a narrative that is both compelling and suspenseful. Readers will be on the edge of their seats as they follow the captivating journey of this modern couple and their teenage daughter. With echoes of Eyes Wide Shut and Fifty Shades of Grey, The Velvet Elite series promises to be a thrilling read that will leave readers breathless and begging for more. This prequel is a must-read for fans of sophisticated suspense and steamy romance. Don't miss out on this unforgettable tale of love, mystery, and intrigue.

Velvet Retro
Velvet Retro

Author: Veronika Pehe

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 2020-02-01

Total Pages: 190

ISBN-13: 1789206286

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Scholars of state socialism have frequently invoked “nostalgia” to identify an uncritical longing for the utopian ambitions and lived experience of the former Eastern Bloc. However, this concept seems insufficient to describe memory cultures in the Czech Republic and other contexts in which a “retro” fascination with the past has proven compatible with a steadfast critique of the state socialist era. This innovative study locates a distinctively retro aesthetic in Czech literature, film, and other cultural forms, enriching our understanding of not only the nation’s memory culture, but also the ways in which popular culture can structure collective memory.

The Velvet Hours
The Velvet Hours

Author: Alyson Richman

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2016-09-06

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 110161580X

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From the international bestselling author of The Lost Wife and The Garden of Letters, comes a story—inspired by true events—of two women pursuing freedom and independence in Paris during WWII. As Paris teeters on the edge of the German occupation, a young French woman closes the door to her late grandmother’s treasure-filled apartment, unsure if she’ll ever return. An elusive courtesan, Marthe de Florian cultivated a life of art and beauty, casting out all recollections of her impoverished childhood in the dark alleys of Montmartre. With Europe on the brink of war, she shares her story with her granddaughter Solange Beaugiron, using her prized possessions to reveal her innermost secrets. Most striking of all are a beautiful string of pearls and a magnificent portrait of Marthe painted by the Italian artist Giovanni Boldini. As Marthe’s tale unfolds, like velvet itself, stitched with its own shadow and light, it helps to guide Solange on her own path. Inspired by the true account of an abandoned Parisian apartment, Alyson Richman brings to life Solange, the young woman forced to leave her fabled grandmother’s legacy behind to save all that she loved.

The Velvet Rope Economy
The Velvet Rope Economy

Author: Nelson D. Schwartz

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 2020-03-03

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 0385543093

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From New York Times business reporter Nelson D. Schwartz comes a gripping investigation of how a virtual velvet rope divides Americans in every arena of life, creating a friction-free existence for those with money on one side and a Darwinian struggle for the middle class on the other side. In nearly every realm of daily life--from health care to education, highways to home security--there is an invisible velvet rope that divides how Americans live. On one side of the rope, for a price, red tape is cut, lines are jumped, appointments are secured, and doors are opened. On the other side, middle- and working-class Americans fight to find an empty seat on the plane, a place in line with their kids at the amusement park, a college acceptance, or a hospital bed. We are all aware of the gap between the rich and everyone else, but when we weren't looking, business innovators stepped in to exploit it, shifting services away from the masses and finding new ways to profit by serving the privileged. And as decision-makers and corporate leaders increasingly live on the friction-free side of the velvet rope, they are less inclined to change--or even notice--the obstacles everyone else must contend with. Schwartz's "must read" book takes us on a behind-the-scenes tour of this new reality and shows the toll the velvet rope divide takes on society.

The Philosophy and Politics of Czech Dissidence from Patocka to Havel
The Philosophy and Politics of Czech Dissidence from Patocka to Havel

Author: Aviezer Tucker

Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Pre

Published: 2000-08-15

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 0822972131

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Winner of the Foundations of Political Theory First Book Prize Honorable Mention, 2001Theory meets practice in The Philosophy and Politics of Czech Dissidence from Patocka to Havel, a critical study of the philosophy and political practice of the Czech dissident movement Charter 77. Aviezer Tucker examines how the political philosophy of Jan Patocka (1907-1977), founder of Charter 77, influenced the thinking and political leadership of Vaclav Havel as dissident and president. The Philosophy and Politics of Czech Dissidence from Patocka to Havel is the first serious treatment of Havel as philosopher and Patocka as a political thinker. Through the Charter 77 dissident movement in Czechoslovakia, opponents of communism based their civil struggle for human rights on philosophic foundations, and members of the Charter 77 later led the Velvet Revolution. After Patocka's self-sacrifice in 1977, Vaclav Havel emerged a strong philosophical and political force, and he continued to apply Patocka's philosophy in order to understand the human condition under late communism and the meaning of dissidence. However, the political/philosophical orientation of the Charter 77 movement failed to provide President Havel with an adequate basis for comprehending and responding to the extraordinary political and economic problems of the postcommunist period. In his discussion of Havel's presidency and the eventual corruption of the Velvet Revolution, Tucker demonstrates that the weaknesses in Charter 77 member's understanding of modernity, which did not matter while they were dissidents, seriously harmed their ability to function in a modern democratic system. Within this context, Tucker also examines Havel's recent attempt to topple the democratic but corrupt government in 1997-1998. The Philosophy and Politics of Czech Dissidence from Patocka to Havel will be of interest to students of philosophy and politics, scholars and students of Slavic studies, and historians, as well as anyone fascinated by the nature of dissidence.

The Velvet Rope Economy
The Velvet Rope Economy

Author: Nelson D. Schwartz

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 2021-02-09

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 0525435654

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From New York Times business reporter Nelson D. Schwartz comes a bold and urgent investigation of division between the wealthy and the middle class n every arena of American life. In nearly every realm of daily life--from health care to education, highways to home security--there is an invisible velvet rope that divides how Americans live. On one side of the rope, for a price, red tape is cut, lines are jumped, appointments are secured, and doors are opened. On the other side, middle- and working-class Americans fight to find an empty seat on the plane, a place in line with their kids at the amusement park, a college acceptance, or a hospital bed. We are all aware of the gap between the rich and everyone else, but when we weren't looking, business innovators stepped in to exploit it, shifting services away from the masses and finding new ways to profit by serving the privileged. And as decision-makers and corporate leaders increasingly live on the friction-free side of the velvet rope, they are less inclined to change--or even notice--the obstacles everyone else must contend with. Schwartz's "must read" book takes us on a behind-the-scenes tour of this new reality and shows the toll the velvet rope divide takes on society.

Armenia’s Velvet Revolution
Armenia’s Velvet Revolution

Author: Anna Ohanyan

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2020-09-03

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 178831719X

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In April 2018, Armenia experienced a remarkable popular uprising leading to the resignation of Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan and his replacement by protest leader Nikol Pashinyan. Evoking Czechoslovakia's similarly peaceful overthrow of communism 30 years previously, the uprising came to be known as Armenia's 'Velvet Revolution': a broad-based movement calling for clean government, democracy and economic reform. This volume examines how a popular protest movement, showcasing civil disobedience as a mass strategy for the first time in the post-Soviet space, overcame these unpromising circumstances. Situating the events in Armenia in their national, regional and global contexts, different contributions evaluate the causes driving Armenia's unexpected democratic turn, the reasons for regime vulnerability and the factors mediating a non-violent outcome. Drawing on comparative perspectives with democratic transitions across the world, this book will be essential reading for those interested in the regime dynamics, social movements and contested politics of contemporary Eurasia, as well as policy-makers and practitioners in the fields of democracy assistance and human rights in an increasingly multipolar world.

The Velvet Revolution at Work
The Velvet Revolution at Work

Author: John Smythe

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-03-02

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 1351880632

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What drives or delivers engaged people? Employers need to focus on creating the right conditions. Employers can't impose engagement: people need to choose to engage themselves. In The Velvet Revolution at Work, the follow-up to his best-selling The CEO: Chief Engagement Officer, John Smythe explains that the essential ingredient of the right conditions is a culture of distributed leadership which enables people at work to liberate their creativity to deliver surprisingly good results for their institution and themselves. Using models, examples and anecdotes from his client research he goes on to demonstrate exactly how to design an engagement process; one that is integrated with your business strategy and that is sustainable.

The Liar
The Liar

Author: Benjamin Cunningham

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Published: 2022-08-23

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 1541700813

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The Cold War meets Mad Men in the form of Karel Koecher, a double agent whose shifting loyalties and over-the-top hedonism reverberated from New York to Moscow In the mid-1970s, the CIA and KGB watched Karel Koecher closely—they were both convinced he was working for the enemy. And they were both right. Traveling with his wife, Hana, Koecher posed as a Czechoslovak asylum seeker and arrived in the US as a Communist sleeper agent. After parlaying a doctorate from Columbia into a job at the CIA, Koecher proceeded to operate as a double agent at the height of the Cold War. Shunning a low profile, the Koechers embraced Manhattan’s high life—with cocaine, swinging, and parties emblematic of the times and their penchant for risk. Hana, who was no more than a shy teenager when she arrived, grew into a sophisticated international diamond dealer who relayed messages to Karel’s handlers. Riding a wave of euphoria, the Koechers felt unstoppable. But it was too good to last. Using newly declassified documents, interrogation tapes, and extraordinary firsthand accounts from the Koechers themselves, Cunningham reconstructs their double lives and the fading Cold War, where a strange moral fog made it hard to know what truth was being fought for, and to what end.

Hard as Stone Trilogy Omnibus
Hard as Stone Trilogy Omnibus

Author: Beatrice B. Morgan

Publisher: Authors 4 Authors Publishing

Published: 2022-11-20

Total Pages: 644

ISBN-13: 1644771640

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This omnibus edition of the Hard as Stone series brings the entire trilogy together in one volume! Hard as Stone Seventeen-year-old Raven Thane wants an adventure...and she’s going to get one. Just not the way that she expected. Bored and disinterested with a routine life in her remote underground community, she fails to notice a thief during her turn at guard duty. Zander, a charming sharpshooter, tasks her with helping him retrieve the mysterious stolen item. Posing as a couple on the road, they’ll face deadly automatons and Gray Elite soldiers, entangle themselves in a complicated world of spies and freedom fighters, and hide secrets of their own. Can Raven fix her mistake and prove herself more than a simple country girl? Or will she create even more chaos? Thick as Blood With the stolen centrum recovered, Raven’s adventure with Zander is over. Or is it? Raven’s lingering fever worries the Dwellers, and Zander is set on returning her to Silver Glen, pushing her out of their plans to rescue Princess Rosaria. But even when the Hammel Forest seems quiet, a dangerous automaton is always around the next tree. After Raven finds herself in the midst of another rebel caravan, she has a choice to make. Will she return to life underground, find her way back to Zander and the mission, or get swept away on an exciting new journey? Strong as Steel After a harrowing escape from the Gray Elite, everything is in shambles: Zander’s lost his arm, General Deacon will hunt Raven at any cost, and an unexpected ally seeks asylum on their airship. But one thing is going right for Raven—she has magic, thanks to the centrum, and now she needs to learn how to use it. When Raven and her friends seek information about her strange power, she is offered a chance to become a Wraith like Zander. The journey brings more answers than Raven has ever dreamed of as she discovers as much about her own heart as her magic. Will the truth behind her power be enough to change the world or protect the ones she loves? Authors 4 Authors Content Rating This title has been rated 17+, appropriate for older teens and adults, and contains: -Brief strong language -Brief graphic violence -Brief sex -Mild alcohol use -Mild negative illicit drug use -Mild positive and negative fantasy drug use For more information on our rating system, please, visit our Content Guide.