A collection of four all-new strange stories from the sleepy town of Gravity Falls in one original graphic novel. Written by Alex Hirsch. Illustrated by Asaf Hanuka, Dana Terrace, Ian Worrel, Jacob Chabot, Jim Campbell, Joe Pitt, Kyle Smeallie, Meredith Gran, Mike Holmes, Priscilla Tang, Serina Hernandez, Stephanie Ramirez, and Valerie Halla.
Lord Davenport and Lord Pennella have just made a bet for the hand of Miss Regina Giles. The gentleman she chooses wins the loser’s estate. It’s the most daring wager at White’s, and quite possibly the most foolish. Toby York, the Earl of Davenport, knew it was a mistake to make the wager when Lord Pennella stormed into White’s bragging that he could get any lady he wished. Toby really should have kept his mouth shut. But he didn’t. And now there are only three things he can do to protect Miss Giles. One, he must get her to choose him instead of Pennella. Two, he must make sure she never finds out about the wager. And three, he must quietly break off the engagement so that she is free to marry a gentleman worthy of her. As long as he doesn’t fall in love with her, there should be no problems. Too bad things never work out the way they’re planned.
Toby and Charlie have a secret code. But not any old secret code! It's what the Choctaw Code Talkers used during World War I. When the boys rescue Grandpa after a serious fall, they become heroes just like the Code Talkers.
Toby Gold is a seventh grader in Wallingford, Connecticut who has always known that he is good with money but has no idea how good until he discovers a dangerous hidden society of money and intrigue that co-exists with the everyday world we all know. Toby stumbles upon this dark financial world one day when he discovers secret messages encrypted into the stock ticker crawl that moves along the bottom of the screen on the financial news channel. Toby's shock only grows worse when he realizes that the secret messages are directed to him! His unique abilities with math and money have been noticed by the wrong people, and Toby is quickly sucked into a high-stakes life or death financial conspiracy that he is only able to resolve by using his amazing skills with money. This action-packed urban fantasy introduces readers to many financial literacy concepts, including saving, investing, banking, entrepreneurship, time value of money and basic financial statements.
Translated into twenty-two languages. Toby Lolness may be just one and a half millimeters tall, but he’s the most wanted person in his world -- the world of the great oak Tree. Toby’s father has made a groundbreaking discovery: the Tree itself is alive, lowing with vital energy, and there may even be a world beyond it. Greedy developers itch to exploit this forbidden knowledge, risking permanent damage to their natural world. But Toby’s father has refused to reveal his findings, causing the family to be exiled to the lower branches. Only Toby has managed to escape -- but for how long? And how can he bear to leave his parents to their terrible fate?
An award-winning journalist reveals the dramatic true story of the CIA's Team Alpha, the first Americans to be dropped behind enemy lines in Afghanistan after 9/11. America is reeling; Al-Qaeda has struck and thousands are dead. The country scrambles to respond, but the Pentagon has no plan for Afghanistan—where Osama bin Laden masterminded the attack and is protected by the Taliban. Instead, the CIA steps forward to spearhead the war. Eight CIA officers are dropped into the mountains of northern Afghanistan on October 17, 2001. They are Team Alpha, an eclectic band of linguists, tribal experts, and elite warriors: the first Americans to operate inside Taliban territory. Their covert mission is to track down Al- Qaeda and stop the terrorists from infiltrating the United States again. First Casualty places you with Team Alpha as the CIA rides into battle on horseback alongside the warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum. In Washington, DC, few trust that the CIA men, the Green Berets, and the Americans’ outnumbered Afghan allies can prevail before winter sets in. On the ground, Team Alpha is undeterred. The Taliban is routed but hatches a plot with Al-Qaeda to hit back. Hundreds of suicidal fighters, many hiding weapons, fake a surrender and are transported to Qala-i Jangi—the “Fort of War.” Team Alpha’s Mike Spann, an ex-Marine, and David Tyson, a polyglot former Central Asian studies academic, seize America’s initial opportunity to extract intelligence from men trained by bin Laden—among them a young Muslim convert from California. The prisoners revolt and one CIA officer falls—the first casualty in America’s longest war, which will last two decades. The other CIA man shoots dead the Al-Qaeda jihadists attacking his comrade. To survive, he must fight his way out against overwhelming odds. Award-winning author Toby Harnden gained unprecedented access to all living Team Alpha members and every level of the CIA. Superbly researched, First Casualty draws on extensive interviews, secret documents, and deep reporting inside Afghanistan. As gripping as any adventure novel, yet intimate and profoundly moving, it tells how America found a winning strategy only to abandon it. Harnden reveals that the lessons of early victory and the haunting foretelling it contained—unreliable allies, ethnic rivalries, suicide attacks, and errant US bombs—were ignored, tragically fueling a twenty-year conflict. "Masterful, complex, and heartfelt, from the deeply personal to the critically strategic. Captures many lessons on many levels." —Ambassador Hank Crumpton, former senior CIA officer
Christmas is all about children, but usually not all the children at once. Megan and her faithful beagle Barney meet a gang of runaway children at the beach. Soon the investigative duo learn of exploitation, injury, and murder and with the help of FBI consultant Aiden and his dog, Gypsy, begin to investigate. Megan’s family and friends rally round and share the joy of Christmas with the children who need it most, while Megan finds that Christmas is truly a time of love.
I wanted to be known as Lieutenant Luc Greiner. Pilot. Soldier. One of the guys. But that was then. Now, His Royal Highness Prince Lucien of Monaco has been called home. After the deaths of my father and my twin brother, I’ve lost a part of my soul and my freedom. I’m now the spare with all the duty and obligation that come with the title. My older brother, the Crown Prince, has commanded me to settle down and marry a woman with the right bloodlines. I’ll get right on that . . . after one last trip to Vegas. Enter Hannah. Not only is she gorgeous and down-to-earth, she reminds me what it’s like to live completely in the moment. And with her I get to be just Luc. Our time together in Vegas is incredible and our chemistry is undeniable, but I’ve been keeping a secret that could tear us apart. How will Hannah react when she founds out who I really am? And how could I ever convince my brother that Hannah, an American commoner, is the woman I want forever? The last thing I expect? Hannah’s been keeping a secret of her own…. one that might just bring us together. *** Praise for Reluctantly Royal “[Gillian] Archer’s royal romp is sexy fun with surprising depth… This drama adds layers to two already appealing protagonists… An even-handed balance of humor and pathos keeps the pages turning.”—Publishers Weekly “Reluctantly Royal is an entertaining, sexy, opposites-attract romance. Gillian Archer created a fun story with a lot of banter.”—Harlequin Junkie “Take a bad-boy prince, add in humor, heart, and passion, and you have a tantalizing, hard-to-put-down fairytale romance.”—Stina Lindenblatt, author of the Pushing Limits series “Who doesn’t love a bad-boy prince story?! Gillian Archer wrote a fun royal story that I enjoyed. I look forward to read more from her!”—Steph and Chris’s Book Review
Love Cozy Mysteries? Love Christmas Stories? Now you can enjoy both with this collection of books from different series, each with a Christmas theme. Runaway for Christmas is from the Citrus Beach Series. Megan and Barney, her beagle, work to uncover the story behind a group of runaway children that have appeared in Citrus Beach. The things they discover sets more than a mystery in motion. It's a Christmas they will never forget! Lost Voices is from the Storm Voices Series. A child has gone missing and Mac must follow the voices she is hearing to find him before he disappears forever. The Toy Puzzle is the first novella in the Tattle Tale Cafe Series. Leigh-Ann hears all the gossip as she serves the best coffee in town to her customers. When she hears the toys from a local toy drive have been stolen, Leigh-Ann trades her waitress skills for detecting skills. The toys must be found before Christmas. And there is a bonus! Now Arriving from the Sister Station Series. Two sisters accept the challenge from their grandmother; spend a year in their hometown and do something special with the old train station. Their first Christmas in Skipton is an eyeopener, and both women come to their decisions about their future.
