She was everything, and most of all she was the earth's most tempting woman in a way that was peculiarly her own . . . but I could hear her rich, provocative voice saying softly that everything would be so very simple if only the man named Kirby would die . . . and as that summer grew, in desire and in terror, my world no longer had the familiar features of a fine and comforting thing, but the strange remnants of an ugly, threatened place . . . . . . and the root of it all lay hidden in the secret of The Brass Bed.
In this debut novel, acclaimed short-story author Tim Pratt delivers an exciting heroine with a hidden talent—and a secret duty. Witty and suspenseful, here is a contemporary love song to the West that was won and the myths that shape us. . . . As night manager of Santa Cruz’s quirkiest coffeehouse, Marzi McCarty makes a mean espresso, but her first love is making comics. Her claim to fame: The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl, a cowpunk neo-western yarn. Striding through an urban frontier peopled by Marzi’s wild imagination, Rangergirl doles out her own brand of justice. But lately Marzi’s imagination seems to be altering her reality. She’s seeing the world through Rangergirl’s eyes—literally—complete with her deadly nemesis, the Outlaw. It all started when Marzi opened a hidden door in the coffeehouse storage room. There, imprisoned among the supplies, she saw the face of something unknown . . . and dangerous. And she unwittingly became its guard. But some primal darkness must’ve escaped, because Marzi hasn’t been the same since. And neither have her customers, who are acting downright apocalyptic. Now it’s up to Marzi to stop this supervillainous superforce that’s swaggered its way into her world. For Marzi, it’s the showdown of her life. For Rangergirl, it’s just another day. . . .
A Hotly Contested Claim A bastard by birth, James Devlin lives on his own terms--until a twist of fate reveals that he is the true Duke of Blackwood. Though the brooding bachelor swears to hold on to his freedom, he does intend to take back his childhood home. But once at Wyndmoor Manor, he discovers an arresting adversary in Bella Sinclair. Her hot-blooded claim to his home is amusing. . .and arousing. Which is why he isn't leaving until he takes possession of everything--starting with the bewitching Bella. . . A Sensual Surrender Bella is furious when the Duke barges into her home, declaring it rightfully his! The willful widow is not about to give up her haven without a fight, no matter how determined the Duke is--or how sensual the battlefield. But once she's sharing a house with the beguiling barrister, she is in danger of losing everything--one deep, slow kiss at a time. . . "Well-matched lovers. . .witty comradely repartee." –Publishers Weekly on In the Barrister's Chambers "Tantalizing. . .revenge, secrets and misunderstandings. . .with sizzle." --Romantic Times on Lady of Scandal "Scintillating." --Booklist on A Perfect Scandal "Lively, engaging. . .Gabrielle's barristers will have you swooning!" --Sabrina Jeffries, New York Times bestselling author
In the third book of the Nina Tanleven Mysteries, Nina and her best friend explore a haunted mansion, where they must reunite the ghosts of a father and daughter before it’s too late Nina and her best friend, Chris, haven’t known each other long, but they’ve already shared enough ghostly adventures for a lifetime. Now working at an antique shop in town, Nina and Chris encounter their latest spooky predicament while inspecting some classic furniture located high in the tower of an old mansion. In a creepy bedroom sits a magnificent brass bed, and—to their surprise—the crying ghost of a little girl. When they stumble across a second spirit, who resembles the girl’s father, Nina and Chris know one thing for sure: Something is amiss in the big house, and all the antiques in the world couldn’t be more exciting than getting to the truth. The Ghost in the Big Brass Bed is the third book of the Nina Tanleven Mysteries, which begin with The Ghost in the Third Row and The Ghost Wore Gray. This ebook features an illustrated personal history of Bruce Coville including rare images from the author’s collection.
This New York Times bestselling book is filled with hundreds of fun, deceptively simple, budget-friendly ideas for sprucing up your home. With two home renovations under their (tool) belts and millions of hits per month on their blog YoungHouseLove.com, Sherry and John Petersik are home-improvement enthusiasts primed to pass on a slew of projects, tricks, and techniques to do-it-yourselfers of all levels. Packed with 243 tips and ideas—both classic and unexpected—and more than 400 photographs and illustrations, this is a book that readers will return to again and again for the creative projects and easy-to-follow instructions in the relatable voice the Petersiks are known for. Learn to trick out a thrift-store mirror, spice up plain old roller shades, "hack" your Ikea table to create three distinct looks, and so much more.
Here's the perfect bedtime read-aloud for the very youngest child. The text is filled with fun noises—click clack, click clack—and a repeating refrain—good night, good night, sleep tight—that's sure to have kids chiming in as they follow the antics of these bunnies who won't stay in bed. Kids will identify with the mischievous bunnies and their desire to play. Meanwhile, parents will empathize with Mama and Daddy's struggle to get them to sleep.
A fierce debut novel about mothers and daughters, haves and have-nots, and the stark realities behind the American Dream. A waitress at the Betsy Ross Diner, Elsie hopes her nickel-and-dime tips will add up to a new life. Then she meets Bashkim, who is at once both worldly and naive, a married man who left Albania to chase his dreams--and wound up working as a line cook in Waterbury, Connecticut. Back when the brass mills were still open, this bustling factory town drew one wave of immigrants after another. Now it's the place they can't seem to leave. Elsie, herself the granddaughter of Lithuanian immigrants, falls in love quickly, but when she learns that she's pregnant, Elsie can't help wondering where Bashkim's heart really lies, and what he'll do about the wife he left behind. Seventeen years later, headstrong and independent Luljeta receives a rejection letter from NYU and her first-ever suspension from school on the same day. Instead of striking out on her own in Manhattan, she's stuck in Connecticut with her mother, Elsie--a fate she refuses to accept. Wondering if the key to her future is unlocking the secrets of the past, Lulu decides to find out what exactly her mother has been hiding about the father she never knew. As she soon discovers, the truth is closer than she ever imagined. Told in equally gripping parallel narratives with biting wit and grace, Brass announces a fearless new voice with a timely, tender, and quintessentially American story. Advance praise for Brass The unforgettable mother and daughter at the center of Brass are as bright and tough as the metal itself, and Xhenet Aliu depicts their parallel journeys with equal parts grit and tenderness. Brass is a fierce, big-hearted, unflinching debut. --Celeste Ng, author of Everything I Never Told You Xhenet Aliu is ferociously talented. She's written a story so scathingly honest with characters so perfectly real, it left me breathless with admiration. There is no false sentiment here, no misplaced word, just a novel that pulses with a restless energy, a novel that pulses with life. --Cristina Henriquez, author of The Book of Unknown Americans.
The Giannettis have developed a home design style that embraces age, patina, weathered and worn surfaces, and rough surfaces. Patina Style is a color palette, a romance with subtlety, an attraction to natural materials and architectural details. It is at once old-world, contemporary, and mildly industrial. Patina Style gives insight into materials choices, methods and treatments that result in spaces that celebrate beauty in the old, the imperfect, the slightly roughed-up.
The Wall Street meltdown in 2008 brought the country to its knees and spawned nationwide protests against the lack of regulation and oversight in the financial industry. But the average American still fails to fully grasp what was--and still is--happening: that the inmates run the asylum. Larry Doyle exposes how financial executives, politicians, and even the regulators charged with overseeing the banks have conspired for personal gains while deceiving largely unprotected investors, consumers, and American taxpayers. He details the shocking corruption of the SEC, FINRA, and other "financial police, " painting them as meter maids who assess nominal fines and look the other way at even the most egregious abuses. Most importantly, he unveils the revolving door of Wall Street, where countless regulators (and plenty of legislators) are former or future employees of the very firms they're tasked with overseeing. Recent bombshells--such as multi-billion dollar trading losses at JP Morgan Chase, the manipulation of interest rates via the LIBOR scandal, and money laundering with North American drug cartels and rogue nations such as Iran--are symptomatic of this corrosive culture, which has decimated consumer and investor confidence. As the big banks fight tooth and nail to avoid real reforms, this book is a timely, important, and shocking look at a hopelessly compromised system, still defenseless against the next great crash.--From publisher description.
A young pilot risks everything to save his best friend—the man he trusts most and might even love—only to learn that his friend is secretly the heir to a brutal galactic empire. “An exciting space opera full of action and adventure that explores the bonds of loyalty and love, and what happens when they are stretched to their limits.”—Rebecca Roanhorse, Nebula and Hugo award–winning author of Trail of Lightning Ettian’s life was shattered when the merciless Umber Empire invaded his world. He’s spent seven years putting himself back together under its rule, joining an Umber military academy and becoming the best pilot in his class. Even better, he’s met Gal—his exasperating and infuriatingly enticing roommate who’s made the academy feel like a new home. But when dozens of classmates spring an assassination plot on Gal, a devastating secret comes to light: Gal is the heir to the Umber Empire. Ettian barely manages to save his best friend and flee the compromised academy unscathed, rattled that Gal stands to inherit the empire that broke him, and that there are still people willing to fight back against Umber rule. As they piece together a way to deliver Gal safely to his throne, Ettian finds himself torn in half by an impossible choice. Does he save the man who’s won his heart and trust that Gal’s goodness could transform the empire? Or does he throw his lot in with the brewing rebellion and fight to take back what’s rightfully theirs? Praise for Bonds of Brass “Skrutskie’s Bonds of Brass is a high-octane galactic adventure replete with heart, drama, and a keen edge of pain.”—Caitlin Starling, author of The Luminous Dead “Full of breathless action and dazzling characters, Bonds of Brass is space opera at its most exciting.”—Adam Christopher, author of Stranger Things: Darkness on the Edge of Town
