BOONE I know a BS excuse when I hear one. And my new boss has thrown half a dozen at me about why we can't be together. I only have one thing to say to all of that. The number of fuc—uh—forks I give about what other people think about us is zero. A big fat goose egg. See! I've even learned to watch my language around her and the kid. I'm that serious about proving to this woman she needs to give me—give us—a chance. That it doesn't matter if she is a little older than me, or that I work for her, or that the Mudville gossip mill will definitely choose us as the topic du jour. All that matters is that I can prove to her that life, especially life in a small town, is so much better when you don't give a fu—um, I mean—fork. Darn it, that swear jar is going to bankrupt me. SARAH I’ve sworn off men. It took me thirty-nine years and two huge mistakes in the romance department to come to my senses but I finally did. Work is my life now and that’s exactly the way I like it. That’s what makes it extra uncomfortable that the adorable three-year old I inherited for six months while my sister is deployed has chosen a hot, ripped twenty-something farmer as our new live-in nanny. Boone’s too nice, too sunshiny and too good with the boy for me to fire him, but dammit he needs to start wearing more clothes around the house because I’m one hard ab away from breaking my vow of celibacy with a man who’s ridiculously wrong for me in so many ways. Zero Forks is a standalone opposites attract, older woman younger man, steamy, grumpy boss romance set in Mudville, the crazy small town you’ve come to know and love.
Search has been vital to artificial intelligence from the very beginning as a core technique in problem solving. The authors present a thorough overview of heuristic search with a balance of discussion between theoretical analysis and efficient implementation and application to real-world problems. Current developments in search such as pattern databases and search with efficient use of external memory and parallel processing units on main boards and graphics cards are detailed. Heuristic search as a problem solving tool is demonstrated in applications for puzzle solving, game playing, constraint satisfaction and machine learning. While no previous familiarity with heuristic search is necessary the reader should have a basic knowledge of algorithms, data structures, and calculus. Real-world case studies and chapter ending exercises help to create a full and realized picture of how search fits into the world of artificial intelligence and the one around us. - Provides real-world success stories and case studies for heuristic search algorithms - Includes many AI developments not yet covered in textbooks such as pattern databases, symbolic search, and parallel processing units
Welcome to Mudville... Within these stories you’ll find nosy neighbors and runaway livestock, big Victorians and a small-town coffee shop, contentious village meetings and a muddy river that tends to flood, a vintage diner and a local bar that serves the best wings around, a resale shop run by a feisty redhead where you can get anything from chainsaws to Chanel, a family-owned farm known for its corn (and the brothers who run it), and finally, one misplaced author who came for a visit and never left. There is mystery and humor, history and love, so get your binge on today! The series is compiled into two volumes containing a total of 6 full-length novels, 2 novellas, and 2 bonus short stories. Volume 1: Contains Kissing Books, Red Hot, Honey Buns, Dog Days (that's 3 full length novels plus one novella). THIS VOLUME>> Volume 2: Contains Zero Forks, Mister Naughty, Undercover Santa, Bad Dates, Bad Decisions, and Mabel & Mudd (that's 3 full length novels, one novella and two bonus shorts). GOOGLE READERS CAN ALSO GET THE COMPLETE SERIES IN A SINGLE VOLUME EBOOK
This book describes in contributions by scientists and practitioners the development of scientific concepts, technologies, engineering techniques and tools for a service-based society. The focus is on microservices, i.e cohesive, independent processes deployed in isolation and equipped with dedicated memory persistence tools, which interact via messages. The book is structured in six parts. Part 1 “Opening” analyzes the new (and old) challenges including service design and specification, data integrity, and consistency management and provides the introductory information needed to successfully digest the remaining parts. Part 2 “Migration” discusses the issue of migration from monoliths to microservices and their loosely coupled architecture. Part 3 “Modeling” introduces a catalog and a taxonomy of the most common microservices anti-patterns and identifies common problems. It also explains the concept of RESTful conversations and presents insights from studying and developing two further modeling approaches. Next , Part 4 is dedicated to various aspects of “Development and Deployment”. Part 5 then covers “Applications” of microservices, presenting case studies from Industry 4.0, Netflix, and customized SaaS examples. Eventually, Part 6 focuses on “Education” and reports on experiences made in special programs, both at academic level as a master program course and for practitioners in an industrial training. As only a joint effort between academia and industry can lead to the release of modern paradigm-based programming languages, and subsequently to the deployment of robust and scalable software systems, the book mainly targets researchers in academia and industry who develop tools and applications for microservices.
Marshall Chapman knows Nashville. A musician, songwriter, and author with nearly a dozen albums and a bestselling memoir under her belt, Chapman has lived and breathed Music City for over forty years. Her friendships with those who helped make Nashville one of the major forces in American music culture is unsurpassed. And in her new book, They Came to Nashville, the reader is invited to see Marshall Chapman as never before--as music journalist extraordinaire. In They Came to Nashville, Chapman records the personal stories of musicians shaping the modern history of music in Nashville, from the mouths of the musicians themselves. The trials, tribulations, and evolution of Music City are on display, as she sits down with influential figures like Kris Kristofferson, Emmylou Harris, and Miranda Lambert, and a dozen other top names, to record what brought each of them to Nashville and what inspired them to persevere. The book culminates in a hilarious and heroic attempt to find enough free time with Willie Nelson to get a proper interview. Instead, she's brought along on his raucous 2008 tour and winds up onstage in Beaumont, Texas singing "Good-Hearted Woman" with Willie. They Came to Nashville reveals the daily struggle facing newcomers to the music business, and the promise awaiting those willing to fight for the dream. Co-published with the Country Music Foundation Press
He's a hot farmer with commitment issues. She's been in his friend zone since kindergarten. It'll take a little Mudville crazy to knock them out of their comfort zone... CASH In first grade, I teased her relentlessly. In fifth, when I realized girls might be good for more than torturing, she was my first real crush. And by the end of tenth grade, when her braces came off, the curves filled in and she figured out how to tame that mop of red hair, I was completely in lust with Red Meyer. That didn't mean I stopped teasing her every chance I got. It was our way of communicating. But Red gave back as good as she got. It was one of the things I liked best about her. Ten years later we were still "communicating" through jabs and jests and I was happy with our relationship. Then it happened. Carson Bekker, Mudville's own deputy sheriff, asked Red to dinner. And she said yes. I'd always planned on getting around to asking her out myself, one day, when I was ready to settle down. I figured I had time. Amazingly I, Cash Morgan, was wrong. That doesn't happen often but it sure did this time. Carson swooped right in and walked all over my unspoken claim on Red. Now I have to up my game before it's too late. That's fine. I know her better than he does. Better than anybody. She's not going to fall for dinner dates or flowers. That's not Red. What is? What am I going to do to win her back? I can't exactly tell you that, since it might involve my stealing some livestock for her. I can't ever let that boy scout of a deputy sheriff know about that. But l do look forward to rubbing it in Carson's face when I apprehend the petty thief plaguing Red's shop before Mudville law enforcement does. And oh boy howdy is Red going to love me after that. As I said, Red is an unconventional woman. It's what I love about her. I just have to get up the nerve to tell her... RED It figures . . . I went my whole adult life with a crush on Cashel Morgan. Since we both graduated from Mudville High—Go, Hogs! But I never got out of the friend zone with him. Until now. More than a decade after graduation. And why is Cash interested in something more now when he never was before? That’s the most annoying, frustrating, exasperating, ridiculous part. It’s all because another guy asked me on a date. No doubt about it, Cash Morgan is going to drive me insane, if I’m not already there. Because in the middle of my personal drama in what was formerly a non-existent love life is the fact something wonky is happening at my store. Things going missing. Things being moved. My friend Harper thinks it’s a ghost. Our friend Bethany thinks I’m just forgetful. I’m not sure what I think—about any of it. The strange happenings in my shop. My date with the hot deputy investigating the oddities in my store. And especially not Cash. All I know is that with all the craziness that’s happened around Mudville over the past six months, starting with Harper moving to town and her discovery of all the town’s secrets stashed in Agnes’s attic, we’d all better start to expect the unexpected. Welcome back to Mudville! If you read KISSING BOOKS, you've already met Red, the sweet and sassy red headed Main Street shop owner and Mudville native who befriends Harper, the city girl misplaced in a small town upstate. RED HOT is a laugh-out-loud romp through the small town of Mudville featuring a love triangle one overworked shopkeeper never expected or wanted, a middle sibling who discovers he might possibly love someone else more than he loves himself, a mystery involving a very coveted missing cape, an estate sale full of clues, a surprise stranger—or two—no one saw coming, the quirky Mudville characters you’ve come to love, and some of the most adorable baby animals ever. If you want more of Red, Bethany and Harper, and especially Cashel Morgan, one of the three hot brothers from Morgan Farm you met in Kissing Books, don't miss this steamy standalone laugh-out-loud read!
One wicked witch, three wild women and some wine collide during the most powerful time of year for magic… What could possibly go wrong? Lar has existed as a cat for a thousand years, with all the discomforts and indignities that go along with it. But when he is adopted by Belinda and gets a look into her life, can his curse finally be coming to an end? Don't miss the stories for the characters you meet in Black Cat in these Trilogy Collection titles: Opposites Attract, Just Desserts and Nice & Naughty.
What happens when a random hookup turns into the ultimate dilemma? Rashida Howard has never been a one-night-stand kind of woman, but she has good reason for making an exception with Elliott after meeting him in a bar. Cliché? Yes. Utterly amazing? Absolutely. Regrets? None. Elliott Quinn is a workaholic. The one night he decides to break his routine, he has an encounter with the woman of his dreams. But no matter how amazing they are together, work will always come first. Now they’re fighting on opposite sides of an ongoing battle between Elliott’s company and Rashida’s community. It’s turning their lives upside down and seriously complicating the chemistry between them. Neither will risk their integrity or their heart...until they uncover the one secret that will change the game entirely.
