Thought processes, personality factors, emotional states, cognitive biases—poker, a simple card game, can reveal so much about human behavior through the decisions players make. A hundred such psychological tendencies plague each individual, and the secret to winning in poker (and life) is to be aware of them—especially before opponents find out and use these to their advantage! This book, engaging tools from mathematics, psychology, economics, and other domains, provides a theoretical foundation for how to decode human nature through the lens of poker, and reveals how these can be leveraged to keep the pot growing, both on and off the table.
Unravelling Trauma and Weaving Resilience with Systemic and Narrative Therapy is an innovative book that details how clinicians can engage children, families and their networks in creative and collaborative relationships to elicit change within the context of trauma and violence. Combining systemic, narrative and dialogical theoretical frameworks with clinical examples, this volume focuses on therapeutic conversations that can help children, and those involved with them, deconstruct their experienced difficulties, and create more hopeful stories and alternative ways of relating to one another through a sense of play. Vermeire advocates for serious playfulness as a way of directly addressing trauma and its effects, as well as along ‘trauma-sensitive’ side paths. Puppetry, artwork, interviews and theatre play are used to weave networks of resilience in ever-widening circles and this approach is informed by the awareness that individual problems are always to be seen as relational, social and political. This book is an important read for therapists and social workers who work with traumatised children and their multi-stressed families.
Eliyana continues her journey towards the throne while she tries to figure out her relationship with Ky and how it might be connected to the powerful magical gifts known as the Callings.
“A breathtaking fantasy set in an extraordinary fairy-tale world, with deceptive twists and an addictively adorable cast who are illusory to the end. Just when I thought I’d figured each out, Sara Ella sent me for another ride. A wholly original story, Unblemished begins as a sweet melody and quickly becomes an anthem of the heart. And I’m singing my soul out. Fans of Once Upon a Time and Julie Kagawa, brace yourselves.” —Mary Weber, award-winning author of the Storm Siren Trilogy Eliyana can’t bear to look at her own reflection. But what if that were only one Reflection—one world? What if another world exists where her blemish could become her strength? Eliyana is used to the shadows. With a birthmark covering half her face, she just hopes to graduate high school unscathed. That is, until Joshua hops a fence and changes her perspective. No one, aside from her mother, has ever treated her like he does: normal. Maybe even beautiful. Because of Joshua, Eliyana finally begins to believe she could be loved. But one night her mother doesn’t come home, and that’s when everything gets weird. Now Joshua is her new, and rather reluctant, legal Guardian. Add a hooded stalker and a Central Park battle to the mix and you’ve gone from weird to otherworldly. Eliyana soon finds herself in a world much larger and more complicated than she’s ever known. A world enslaved by a powerful and vile man. And Eliyana holds the answer to defeating him. How can an ordinary girl, a blemished girl, become a savior when she can’t even save herself? “Lyrically written and achingly romantic—Unblemished will tug your heartstrings!” —Melissa Landers, author of Alienated, Invaded, and Starflight “Self-worth and destiny collide in this twisty-turny fantasy full of surprise and heart. Propelled into a world she knows nothing about, Eliyana learns that the birthmark she despises is not quite the superficial curse she thought it was—it’s worse, and the mark comes with a heavy responsibility. Can she face her reflection long enough to be the hero her new friends need? With charm and wit, author Sara Ella delivers Unblemished, a magical story with a compelling message and a unique take on the perils of Central Park.” —Shannon Dittemore, author of the Angel Eyes trilogy “Unblemished is an enchanting, beautifully written adventure with a pitch-perfect blend of fantasy, realism, and romance. Move this one to the top of your TBR pile and clear your schedule—you won't want to put it down!” —Lorie Langdon, author of the Amazon bestselling DOON series “Unblemished had me from the first chapter—mystery, romance, and mind-blowing twists and turns that I SO did not see coming! The worlds Sara Ella builds are complex and seamless; the characters she creates are beautifully flawed. Readers are sure to love this book and finish it, as I did, begging for more!” —Krista McGee, author of the ANOMALY trilogy
Troianne is an actress who knows about the pitfalls of professional romances. She is always going weak at the knees for all those beautiful celebrities, both men and women, who she perceives to be more famous than she. So how will she hang on to her heart when she finds herself cast alongside her screen idols, Hollywood heart-throbs, and dashing new young actors – all looking fabulous in period costume and all with the run of the sumptuous stately home being used as the backdrop? Fame, four-posters and illicit ménages beckon, but can there possibly be love at the end of it or will she just find herself being duped again? Songs for Simple Hearts is a scintillating tale of what happens when Georgian naughtiness is recreated today. Morals might count for little when all those tight riding britches and plunging necklines get in the way.
From the international bestselling author of Unraveling Oliver comes a “dark, captivating psychological thriller” (People) lauded by A.J. Finn—#1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window—as “extraordinary…crackles and snaps like a bonfire on a winter’s night.” My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it. On the surface, Lydia Fitzsimons has the perfect life: married to a respected judge, mother of a beloved son, living in the beautiful house where she was raised. That beautiful house, however, holds a secret. And when Lydia’s son, Laurence, discovers its secret, wheels are set in motion that lead to an increasingly claustrophobic and devastatingly dark climax. For fans of Ruth Ware and Gillian Flynn, this is “a devastating psychological thriller...an exquisitely uncomfortable, utterly captivating reading experience” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
The cold steel of the blade burned her skin, and sweat beaded on her forehead. Cold, piercing eyes stared down at her from underneath the rim of the black cap. One wrong move from either of them, and blood would spill. Zara Rose was the luckiest girl in the world! Landing the job working for Valcoast United Football Club was a dream come true. Growing up, the family never missed a match, and now she could see the team every day. She was happy… Jake Maddox had it all: star striker for Valcoast United, any girl he wanted, plenty of money, and natural good looks. He had pushed himself hard his entire life with a goal of making it in professional football, and now he was living his dream. He was not happy… The entire city is counting on their team to stay in the premier league, and the stakes were high… high enough to kill. As the last game of the season kicked off, win or lose, someone wouldn’t survive the game!
When the wedding of her oldest friend ends with a shocking murder, Dr Nell Ward is once again caught up in a web of subterfuge, secrets and lies... Dr Nell Ward is delighted when her childhood friend Percy announces she's engaged to handsome businessman Hawke McAnstruther - and rashly offers to host the wedding at Finchmere, her family's estate. But she hadn't anticipated Percy's parents' fiery disapproval of the groom. The ceremony is barely over before Hawke's shady personal and professional life starts to unravel, and tension ripples through the assembled guests. When the wedding night ends with a shocking death, Nell, best-friend Rav and DI James Clarke all find themselves embroiled in a murder mystery worthy of Agatha Christie. Surviving a terrifying threat to her own life, Nell has to face up to the truth. Not just about murder at Finchmere, but about where her heart truly lies... The second book in the Nell Ward cosy crime series - perfect for fans of Richard Osman, Fiona Leitch, Faith Martin and The Appeal. Praise for A Cast of Falcons 'With a credible and colourful cast of characters, a compelling plot and a solid narrative this is, once again, a wholly immersive one-sit read.' - NetGalley reviewer 'A great, easy and enjoyable read! Highly recommended.' - NetGalley reviewer 'The plot is riveting and keeps you guessing right till the end!' - NetGalley reviewer 'Lovely well-rounded characters and a great setting. Definitely recommended.' - NetGalley reviewer
Set in Blackpool, Lancashire. After emerging from a coma, Molly is thrust into a world of deceit, betrayal, and hidden truths. Haunted by amnesia, she struggles to piece together fragments of her past, clinging to the one person she trusts implicitly. Her previous marriage holds dark secrets of abuse and undisclosed conditions that remain shrouded in her lost memories. As a team of detectives races against time to unravel the mystery of her disappearance, Molly's husband becomes the prime suspect in her supposed murder. PC Carter harbours a gut feeling that Molly is still alive, sparking a relentless pursuit to uncover the truth. Will Molly uncover the truth of her disappearance, or will she remain ensnared in the intricate web of lies spun around her?
On October 25, 1946, in a crowded room in Cambridge, England, the great twentieth-century philosophers Ludwig Wittgenstein and Karl Popper came face to face for the first and only time. The meeting -- which lasted ten minutes -- did not go well. Their loud and aggressive confrontation became the stuff of instant legend, but precisely what happened during that brief confrontation remained for decades the subject of intense disagreement. An engaging mix of philosophy, history, biography, and literary detection, Wittgenstein's Poker explores, through the Popper/Wittgenstein confrontation, the history of philosophy in the twentieth century. It evokes the tumult of fin-de-siécle Vienna, Wittgentein's and Popper's birthplace; the tragedy of the Nazi takeover of Austria; and postwar Cambridge University, with its eccentric set of philosophy dons, including Bertrand Russell. At the center of the story stand the two giants of philosophy themselves -- proud, irascible, larger than life -- and spoiling for a fight.
