Is Moritaka and Akito's newest rival also their greatest fan? The duo is asked to judge a manga contest and the best entry reminds them of their own creations. But who is this mysterious new artist and what are his controversial methods of creating manga?
A short story featured in Review of Australian Fiction and later put on Marchetta's website.
Lady Celie of the Lumateran Flatlands is visiting the Belegonian spring castle on the isle of Ferragost. Cut off from the rest of Belegonia by poor weather, she is confined to the island with four others, including the mysterious castellan of the castle. When the body of one of the guests is discovered on the rocks outside the east tower, Celie is not only considered a suspect, but finds herself embroiled in events that are entwined with her own kingdom's cursed history, as well as the future of the entire land of Skuldenore.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth retells a pivotal Divergent scene (chapter 13) from Tobias's point of view. This thirteen-page scene reveals unknown facts and fascinating details about Four's character, his past, his own initiation, and his thoughts about new Dauntless initiate Tris Prior.
It's been months since the ghost of Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but ghost-hunter Cas Lowood can't move on. His friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could live—not walk around half dead. He knows they're right, but in Cas's eyes, no living girl he meets can compare to the dead girl he fell in love with.
Now he's seeing Anna everywhere: sometimes when he's asleep and sometimes in waking nightmares. But something is very wrong... these aren't just daydreams. Anna seems tortured, torn apart in new and ever more gruesome ways every time she appears.
Cas doesn't know what happened to Anna when she disappeared into Hell, but he knows she doesn't deserve whatever is happening to her now. Anna saved Cas more than once, and it's time for him to return the favor.
The boy who would be King has gained the throne…Prince Honorious Jorg Ancrath vowed when he was nine to avenge his slaughtered mother and brother—and punish his father for not doing so.
When he was fifteen, he began to fulfill that vow. Now he is eighteen—and he must hold on by strength of arms to what he took by torture and treachery.
King Jorg is a man haunted: by the ghost of a young boy, by a mysterious copper box, by his desire for the woman who rides with his enemy. Plagued by nightmares of the atrocities he committed, and of the atrocities committed against him when he was a child, he is filled with rage.
And even as his need for revenge continues to consume him, twenty thousand men march toward the gates of his castle. His enemy is far stronger than him. Jorg knows that he cannot win a fair fight.
But he has found, in a chamber hidden beneath the castle, ancient and long-lost artifacts. Some might call them magic. Jorg is not certain—all he knows is that the secrets they hold can be put to terrible use in the coming battle…
Hig somehow survived the flu pandemic that killed everyone he knows. Now his wife is gone, his friends are dead, and he lives in the hangar of a small abandoned airport with his dog, Jasper, and a mercurial, gun-toting misanthrope named Bangley.
But when a random transmission beams through the radio of his 1956 Cessna, the voice ignites a hope deep inside him that a better life exists outside their tightly controlled perimeter. Risking everything, he flies past his point of no return and follows its static-broken trail, only to find something that is both better and worse than anything he could ever hope for.
It all started with a stolen magic spell. Throw in a powerful sorceress, a teen alchemist in desperate need of a haircut, a fearless king in love with a hot-tempered witch, a demonic shadow with a penchant for turning to mist, a cunning cellar sprite, and an army of invisible knights - all looking for a pair of bickering Earthlings...
"Come back here at midnight, Ricky"
11-year-old Ricky watches in stunned silence as those words magically appear in the stars during a show at the Chicago Space Museum. But why can't anyone else see the message? And why must he bring Jello?
His teenage sister, Allie, follows him back to the theater at midnight. They're both whisked through a door in the sky to the kingdom of Galdoren, where they quickly befriend a mischievous star and make a powerful enemy of Queen Glacidia, a witch who rules over a land of never-ending winter.
On their quest to reach a castle riddled with secrets, the siblings will encounter a magic carpet with a terrible sense of direction, a cowardly dragon, a hero in a flying wheelchair, and a candy farm with exploding fields of overripe Red Hots.
Will that scruffy teen alchemist, Henry, be able to master his spell book in time to help? And will Ricky ever get the hang of flying, or will he forever be banging his head against the light fixtures?
The Door in the Sky will transport you to a world overflowing with magic, breathless adventure, and laugh-out-loud humor. Each cliff-hanging chapter will keep you reading well past your bedtime and burning up the batteries to your book light.
Is it a gesture of goodwill or a sinister trap that lures Rupert St. Vincent and his family to a magnificent estate?
How desperate is Joyce Lambert, a destitute young widow whose only recourse is to marry a man she despises?
What unexpected circumstance stirs old loyalties in Theodora Darrell, an unfaithful wife about to run away with her lover?
In this riveting collection of short stories, the answers are as unexpected as they are satisfying. The Queen of Mystery takes bizarre romantic entanglements, supernatural visitations, and classic murder to inventive new heights.
A love that knows no bounds. Abbey knows that Caspian is her destiny. Theirs is a bond that transcends even death. But as Abbey finally learns the full truth about the dark fate that links her to Caspian and ties them both to the town of Sleepy Hollow, she suddenly has some very hard choices to make. Caspian may be the love of her life, but is that love worth dying for?
Beautifully spun, emotionally gripping, and irresistibly romantic, The Hidden will leave you breathless.
In the tempestuous closing decades of the sixteenth century, the Empire of Japan writhes in chaos as the shogunate crumbles and rival warlords battle for supremacy. Warrior monks in their armed citadels block the road to the capital; castles are destroyed, villages plundered, fields put to the torch.
Amid this devastation, three men dream of uniting the nation. At one extreme is the charismatic but brutal Nobunaga, whose ruthless ambition crushes all before him. At the opposite pole is the cold, deliberate Ieyasu, wise in counsel, brave in battle, mature beyond his years. But the keystone of this triumvirate is the most memorable of all, Hideyoshi, who rises from the menial post of sandal bearer to become Taiko—absolute ruler of Japan in the Emperor's name.
When Nobunaga emerges from obscurity by destroying an army ten times the size of his own, he allies himself with Ieyasu, whose province is weak, but whose canniness and loyalty make him invaluable. Yet it is the scrawny, monkey-faced Hideyoshi—brash, impulsive, and utterly fearless—who becomes the unlikely savior of this ravaged land.
Born the son of a farmer, he takes on the world with nothing but his bare hands and his wits, turning doubters into loyal servants, rivals into faithful friends, and enemies into allies. In all this, he uses a piercing insight into human nature that unlocks castle gates, opens men's minds, and captures women's hearts.
For Hideyoshi's passions are not limited to war and intrigue—his faithful wife, Nene, holds his love dear, even when she must share it; the chaste Oyu, sister of Hideyoshi's chief strategist, falls prey to his desires; and the seductive Chacha, whom he rescues from the fiery destruction of her father's castle, tempts his weakness.
As recounted by Eiji Yoshikawa, author of the international best-seller Musashi, Taiko tells many stories: of the fury of Nobunaga and the fatal arrogance of the black-toothed Yoshimoto; of the pathetic downfall of the House of Takeda; how the scorned Mitsuhide betrayed his master; how once impregnable ramparts fell as their defenders died gloriously.
Most of all, though, Taiko is the story of how one man transformed a nation through the force of his will and the depth of his humanity. Filled with scenes of pageantry and violence, acts of treachery and self-sacrifice, tenderness, and savagery, Taiko combines the panoramic spectacle of a Kurosawa epic with a vivid evocation of feudal Japan.
In the fourth Demon Trappers novel, Riley faces the final battle for humanity and Beck's heart—and Hell is the least of her problems.
Now that Riley’s managed to (just barely) fend off Armageddon, everything’s changed. Well... most things. After their passionate kiss before the big battle in the cemetery, Beck is back to treating her like a little girl, as if nothing ever happened. While she’d love to just tell him off and move on, Riley vowed to take care of Beck the way he’s taken care of her since her father’s death—but she’s about to get a whole lot more than she bargained for.
When she’s commissioned to go with Beck to his hometown and help him care for his dying mother, they stumble too close to a dark and murderous secret, one that Beck fears will drive Riley away from him forever. As chaos breaks loose, Riley may be Beck's only hope for redemption... and survival.
Meanwhile, up in Atlanta, it’s quickly becoming clear that Heaven may have won a battle, but the war is far from over. Riley and Beck face a stormy future, as Lucifer's ex-right-hand-man, Sartael, proves himself to be more resilient than anyone thought. He has Atlanta in his grip and is about to begin a brutal war with the prince of Hell.
As the seconds tick down toward a final confrontation, it's up to Riley and the man she loves to finally defeat their old enemy, or lose everything they've fought for.
Gonzo journalist and literary roustabout Hunter S. Thompson flies with the angels—Hell’s Angels, that is—in this short work of nonfiction. “California, Labor Day weekend . . . early, with ocean fog still in the streets, outlaw motorcyclists wearing chains, shades and greasy Levis roll out from damp garages, all-night diners and cast-off one-night pads in Frisco, Hollywood, Berdoo and East Oakland, heading for the Monterey peninsula, north of Big Sur. . . The Menace is loose again.” Thus begins Hunter S. Thompson’s vivid account of his experiences with California’s most notorious motorcycle gang, the Hell’s Angels. In the mid-1960s, Thompson spent almost two years living with the controversial Angels, cycling up and down the coast, reveling in the anarchic spirit of their clan, and, as befits their name, raising hell.
His book successfully captures a singular moment in American history, when the biker lifestyle was first defined, and when such countercultural movements were electrifying and horrifying America. Thompson, the creator of Gonzo journalism, writes with his usual bravado, energy, and brutal honesty, and with a nuanced and incise eye; as The New Yorker pointed out, “For all its uninhibited and sardonic humor, Thompson’s book is a thoughtful piece of work.” As illuminating now as when originally published in 1967, Hell’s Angels is a gripping portrait, and the best account we have of the truth behind an American legend.
No, Really, Where Are You From? by Nancy Ng offers an insightful glimpse into the lives of eight Chinese individuals who navigate the complexities of being a visible minority in Canada. Through vivid storytelling, Ng explores the experiences of these individuals with their Chinese culture from childhood to adulthood, painting a portrait of the diverse ways in which they connect with their heritage.
The book delves into the broader themes of global migration and its significant impact on ethnic identity. It presents the nuanced and often challenging journey of ethnic identity retention and loss, which is not a matter of absolutes but is in a constant state of evolution and redefinition. Nancy Ng's work is a testament to the resilience and adaptability of the human spirit in the face of cultural shifts and societal pressures.
Meet Celaena Sardothien. Beautiful. Deadly. Destined for greatness.
In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, Celaena, an assassin, is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king’s champion. The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass—and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.
Tammy has always tried to be prepared for any calamity life might send her way, but a sexy, lion man-beast is way outside the norm. He’s huge, has the most exotic, golden cat-eyes she’s ever seen—and she’s so terrified of him, she’s speechless for the first time in her life. He’s stalking closer, growling at her, and she’s too unnerved to even flee.
Valiant has always hated humans. But when he gets a whiff of the adorable human female who has invaded his territory, he’s forced to reexamine his feelings on the matter. Her fear scents of pure, sweet temptation and the closer he gets, the more appealing she becomes. Once he’s got his hands on her, he isn’t about to let go. One thought will change his life. MINE!
Before Tammy can regain her senses, she’s flat on her back in Valiant’s bed. Now he just has to use every inch of his big, buff body to convince her to stay with him forever.
Professor Gabriel Emerson has embarked on a passionate, yet clandestine affair with his former student, Julia Mitchell. Sequestered on a romantic holiday in Italy, he tutors her in the sensual delights of the body and the raptures of sex. But when they return, their happiness is threatened by conspiring students, academic politics, and a jealous ex-lover.
When Gabriel is confronted by the university administration, will he succumb to Dante's fate? Or will he fight to keep Julia, his Beatrice, forever?
In Gabriel's Rapture, the brilliant sequel to the wildly successful debut novel, Gabriel's Inferno, Sylvain Reynard weaves an exquisite love story that will touch the reader's mind, body, and soul, forever.
For millennia we've caught only glimpses of the lives and loves of the gods and goddesses on Olympus. Now, Aimée Carter pulls back the curtain on how they became the powerful, petty, loving, and dangerous immortals that Kate Winters knows.
Calliope/Hera represented constancy and yet had a husband who never matched her faithfulness.
Ava/Aphrodite was the goddess of love and yet commitment was a totally different deal.
Persephone was urged to marry one man, yet longed for another.
James/Hermes loved to make trouble for others - but never knew true loss before.
Henry/Hades's solitary existence had grown too wearisome to continue. But meeting Kate Winters gave him a new hope.
Five original novellas of love, loss, and longing and the will to survive throughout the ages.
If I Should Die Before My Dog— is a thought-provoking checklist for dog lovers who, unfortunately, and with much sadness, can no longer take care of their dog. This book will assist those who want to prepare for their dog's future in an easy-to-use format that will guide them through the process of telling the story of their dog's life, for their pet's Next Guardian.
None of us can predict the future, but in the event situations arise such as death, health impairment, or being left with no other choice but to give them up, this book will be there to assist your beloved pet with the transition from one home to another.
An unlikely bond is forged between three men from very different backgrounds when they serve time together in prison. A series of wrong turns and disastrous life choices has led to their incarceration. Following their release, Mangle, Decker and Tazeem stick together as they return to a life of crime, embarking on a lucrative scam. But when they stumble upon a sophisticated sex-trafficking operation, they soon realise that they are in mortal danger.
The disappearance of a family member and the murder of a dear friend lead the three to delve deeper into a world of violence and deception. In their quest for retribution and justice, they put their lives on the line. Their paths cross with that of Tatiana, who has left her home country for a better life in the West—or so she thinks. She soon realises she is in the hands of ruthless, violent people, who run an operation supplying girls to meet the most deviant desires of rich and powerful men. Will she survive the horrors of The Zombie Room? Are Mangle, Decker and Tazeem brave enough to follow her there, in an attempt to set her free?
Springtime in Styria. And that means war. Springtime in Styria. And that means revenge. There have been nineteen years of blood. The ruthless Grand Duke Orso is locked in a vicious struggle with the squabbling League of Eight, and between them they have bled the land white. While armies march, heads roll and cities burn, behind the scenes bankers, priests and older, darker powers play a deadly game to choose who will be king.
War may be hell but for Monza Murcatto, the Snake of Talins, the most feared and famous mercenary in Duke Orso's employ, it's a damn good way of making money too. Her victories have made her popular - a shade too popular for her employer's taste. Betrayed, thrown down a mountain and left for dead, Murcatto's reward is a broken body and a burning hunger for vengeance. Whatever the cost, seven men must die.
Her allies include Styria's least reliable drunkard, Styria's most treacherous poisoner, a mass-murderer obsessed with numbers and a Northman who just wants to do the right thing. Her enemies number the better half of the nation. And that's all before the most dangerous man in the world is dispatched to hunt her down and finish the job Duke Orso started...
Springtime in Styria. And that means revenge.
Millions of Christians have struggled with how to reconcile God's love and God's judgment: Has God created billions of people over thousands of years only to select a few to go to heaven and everyone else to suffer forever in hell? Is this acceptable to God? How is this "good news"?
Troubling questions—so troubling that many have lost their faith because of them. Others only whisper the questions to themselves, fearing or being taught that they might lose their faith and their church if they ask them out loud. But what if these questions trouble us for good reason?
What if the story of heaven and hell we have been taught is not, in fact, what the Bible teaches? What if what Jesus meant by heaven, hell, and salvation are very different from how we have come to understand them? What if it is God who wants us to face these questions?
Author, pastor, and innovative teacher Rob Bell presents a deeply biblical vision for rediscovering a richer, grander, truer, and more spiritually satisfying way of understanding heaven, hell, God, Jesus, salvation, and repentance. The result is the discovery that the "good news" is much, much better than we ever imagined.
The Legacies combines the thrilling novellas of Six's, Nine's, and The Fallen's Legacies all into one paperback collection. Originally published as eBooks, these stories are now available for the first time together.
You know we're out there, living among you.
You know we're waiting for our day to come.
You have seen the power of our legacies.
You know this is why they hunt us.
You may think you know our stories. You are wrong. We each have our own story. We know the time has come to share them with you. Our legacies are your only hope.
Meet Harold Fry, recently retired. He lives in a small English village with his wife, Maureen, who seems irritated by almost everything he does, even down to how he butters his toast. Little differentiates one day from the next.
Then one morning, the mail arrives, and within the stack of quotidian minutiae is a letter addressed to Harold in a shaky scrawl from a woman he hasn't seen or heard from in twenty years. Queenie Hennessy is in hospice and is writing to say goodbye.
Harold pens a quick reply and, leaving Maureen to her chores, heads to the corner mailbox. But then, as happens in the very best works of fiction, Harold has a chance encounter, one that convinces him that he absolutely must deliver his message to Queenie in person. And thus begins the unlikely pilgrimage.
Harold Fry is determined to walk six hundred miles from Kingsbridge to the hospice in Berwick-upon-Tweed because, he believes, as long as he walks, Queenie Hennessey will live. Still in his yachting shoes and light coat, Harold embarks on his urgent quest across the countryside.
Along the way, he meets one character after another, each of whom unlocks his long-dormant spirit and sense of promise. Memories of his first dance with Maureen, his wedding day, and his joy in fatherhood come rushing back to him - allowing him to also reconcile the losses and the regrets.
As for Maureen, she finds herself missing Harold for the first time in years. And then there is the unfinished business with Queenie Hennessy.
Just when seventeen-year-old Cullen Witter thinks he understands everything about his small and painfully dull Arkansas town, it all disappears. In the summer before Cullen's senior year, a nominally-depressed birdwatcher named John Barling thinks he spots a species of woodpecker thought to be extinct since the 1940s in Lily, Arkansas. His rediscovery of the so-called Lazarus Woodpecker sparks a flurry of press and woodpecker-mania. Soon all the kids are getting woodpecker haircuts and everyone's eating "Lazarus burgers." But as absurd as the town's carnival atmosphere has become, nothing is more startling than the realization that Cullen’s sensitive, gifted fifteen-year-old brother Gabriel has suddenly and inexplicably disappeared.
While Cullen navigates his way through a summer of finding and losing love, holding his fragile family together, and muddling his way into adulthood, a young missionary in Africa, who has lost his faith, is searching for any semblance of meaning wherever he can find it. As distant as the two stories seem at the start, they are thoughtfully woven ever closer together and through masterful plotting, brought face to face in a surprising and harrowing climax. Complex but truly extraordinary, tinged with melancholy and regret, comedy and absurdity, this novel finds wonder in the ordinary and emerges as ultimately hopeful. It's about a lot more than what Cullen calls, “that damn bird.” It’s about the dream of second chances.
I'm finally home after struggling through my brother's illness and death. But, home is definitely a bit different.
My best friend (the only person alive now that knows my secret) has a new boyfriend; and he has a friend. Shane Maxton: bad boy, tattooed rock god, eye candy extraordinaire. He is also New York City's most arrogant, self-serving, son of a, well, a definite one-night stand kind of a guy.
But, it doesn't matter to me because I've spent my existence looking for the love of my life, my angel. And, there is nothing that Shane Maxton can do to change that.
A paranormal romance.
Celaena Sardothien is the assassin with everything: a place to call her own, the love of handsome Sam, and, best of all, freedom. Yet, she won’t be truly free until she is far away from her old master, Arobynn Hamel; Celaena must take one last daring assignment that will liberate her forever.
But having it all means you have a lot to lose...
This fourth fantastic e-novella gives readers an inside look at the characters who appear in the full-length novel Throne of Glass.
Rabid charts the history, science, and cultural mythology of rabies, documenting how before its vaccine, the disease caused fatal brain infections and sparked the creations of famous monsters including werewolves, vampires, and zombies. This engrossing, lively history of a fearsome and misunderstood virus binds man and dog.
The most fatal virus known to science, rabies—a disease that spreads avidly from animals to humans—kills nearly one hundred percent of its victims once the infection takes root in the brain. In this critically acclaimed exploration, journalist Bill Wasik and veterinarian Monica Murphy chart four thousand years of the history, science, and cultural mythology of rabies. From Greek myths to zombie flicks, from the laboratory heroics of Louis Pasteur to the contemporary search for a lifesaving treatment, Rabid is a fresh and often wildly entertaining look at one of humankind’s oldest and most fearsome foes.
The mining ship El Cavador is far out from Earth, in the deeps of the Kuiper Belt, beyond Pluto. Other mining ships, and the families that live on them, are few and far between this far out. So when El Cavador's telescopes pick up a fast-moving object coming in-system, it's hard to know what to make of it. It's massive and moving at a significant fraction of the speed of light.
El Cavador has other problems. Their systems are old and failing. The family is getting too big for the ship. There are claim-jumping corporate ships bringing Asteroid Belt tactics to the Kuiper Belt. Worrying about a distant object that might or might not be an alien ship seems not important.
They're wrong. It's the most important thing that has happened to the human race in a million years. The first Formic War is about to begin.
From New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean comes incredible stories of science, history, language, and music, as told by our own DNA.
In The Disappearing Spoon, bestselling author Sam Kean unlocked the mysteries of the periodic table. In The Violinist's Thumb, he explores the wonders of the magical building block of life: DNA.
There are genes to explain crazy cat ladies, why other people have no fingerprints, and why some people survive nuclear bombs. Genes illuminate everything from JFK's bronze skin (it wasn't a tan) to Einstein's genius. They prove that Neanderthals and humans bred thousands of years more recently than any of us would feel comfortable thinking. They can even allow some people, because of the exceptional flexibility of their thumbs and fingers, to become truly singular violinists.
Kean's vibrant storytelling once again makes science entertaining, explaining human history and whimsy while showing how DNA will influence our species' future.
In a conversational Q&A format, a leading dog expert answers the most commonly asked questions about how dogs think and act.
Do dogs dream? Can they recognize themselves in the mirror or understand what they’re seeing on television? Are they more intelligent than cats?
People have a great curiosity―and many misunderstandings―about how dogs think, act, and perceive the world. They also wonder about the social and emotional lives of dogs.
Stanley Coren brings decades of scientific research on dogs to bear in his unprecedented foray into the inner lives of our canine companions, dispelling many common myths in the process.
In a conversational Q&A format with illustrations, Coren answers approximately 75 questions often asked of him during his nearly fifty-year career as a dog researcher, combining the authority of an expert with the engaging delivery of a guest at a cocktail party.
Train Your Brain For Success provides the perspective to analyze how you got where you are and, more importantly, learn the skills to get where you truly desire to be. This book explains specific ways of thinking and acting that will get anyone where they want to go, fast.
Learn to condition your mind to move towards success automatically, by discovering greater memory power and fundamental techniques for boosting reading speed and comprehension.
Get a proven strategy for succeeding and becoming a record-breaking performer.
Train your mind for new levels of success by boosting memory power, reading speed and comprehension.
In 1980, RAF Bentwaters and Woodbridge were plagued by UFO sightings that were never solved. Now, a resident of Suffolk has died of fright during a new UFO encounter.
On holiday in London, Sherlock Holmes and Skye Chadwick-Holmes are called upon by Her Majesty's Secret Service to investigate the death. What is the UFO? Why does Skye find it familiar? Who - or what - killed McFarlane? And how can the pair do what even Her Majesty's Secret Service could not?
The Case of the Cosmological Killer: The Rendlesham Incident is the third book in an exciting and popular science fiction and mystery series.
Penpal began as a series of short and interconnected stories posted on an online horror forum. Before long, it was adapted into illustrations, audio recordings, and short films; and that was before it was revised and expanded into a novel!
How much do you remember about your childhood?
In Penpal, a man investigates the seemingly unrelated bizarre, tragic, and horrific occurrences of his childhood in an attempt to finally understand them. Beginning with only fragments of his earliest years, you'll follow the narrator as he discovers that these strange and horrible events are actually part of a single terrifying story that has shaped the entirety of his life and the lives of those around him.
If you've ever stayed in the woods just a little too long after dark, if you've ever had the feeling that someone or something was trying to hurt you, if you remember the first friend you ever made and how strong that bond was, then Penpal is a story that you won't soon forget, despite how you might try.
Teen pregnancy is never easy—especially not when extraterrestrials are involved. The first in a new trilogy, Mothership takes us into the year 2074, where Elvie Nara was doing just fine with a great best friend, a dad she adored, and a bright future working on the Ares Project on Mars. But then, after getting involved with sweet, gorgeous, dumb-as-a-brick Cole, she finds herself pregnant.
Being shipped off to the Hanover School for Expecting Teen Mothers was not part of her junior year plan. But Elvie can go with the flow, that is, until a team of hot commandos hijacks the ship—and one of them turns out to be Cole. She hasn't seen him since she told him about the pregnancy, and now he's bursting into her new home with wild claims that her teachers are aliens and want to use her unborn baby to repopulate their species.
Finding a way off the ship becomes priority number one for Elvie, but she'll also have to figure out how Cole ended up as a commando, work together with her arch-nemesis, and decide if she even wants to be a mother—assuming they get back to Earth in one piece.
When thirty-year-old English teacher Anna Emerson is offered a job tutoring T.J. Callahan at his family's summer rental in the Maldives, she accepts without hesitation; a working vacation on a tropical island trumps the library any day. T.J. Callahan has no desire to leave town, not that anyone asked him. He's almost seventeen and if having cancer wasn't bad enough, now he has to spend his first summer in remission with his family—and a stack of overdue assignments—instead of his friends.
Anna and T.J. are en route to join T.J.'s family in the Maldives when the pilot of their seaplane suffers a fatal heart attack and crash-lands in the Indian Ocean. Adrift in shark-infested waters, their life jackets keep them afloat until they make it to the shore of an uninhabited island. Now Anna and T.J. just want to survive and they must work together to obtain water, food, fire, and shelter.
Their basic needs might be met but as the days turn to weeks, and then months, the castaways encounter plenty of other obstacles, including violent tropical storms, the many dangers lurking in the sea, and the possibility that T.J.'s cancer could return. As T.J. celebrates yet another birthday on the island, Anna begins to wonder if the biggest challenge of all might be living with a boy who is gradually becoming a man.
Seraphina is a captivating tale set in a world where humans and dragons coexist precariously, with dragons capable of assuming human form. Seraphina, a young woman bearing a heavy secret, navigates through a life fraught with complexities following the death of her mother during childbirth. Amidst a climate of magical secrets and royal scandals, she battles with her identity while endeavoring to harness her exceptional musical abilities.
As the kingdom of Goredd approaches the anniversary of a peace treaty with the dragons, tension escalates. When a royal family member is found dead under mysterious circumstances, Seraphina finds herself embroiled in the investigation alongside the astute Prince Lucien. Their journey reveals a conspiracy threatening to shatter the fragile peace. Seraphina's struggle to protect her secret becomes a perilous endeavor, for its exposure could cost her everything.
With exquisite prose, Rachel Hartman weaves a story of self-discovery and intrigue, where the path to accepting oneself is as treacherous and complex as the political machinations that Seraphina must confront. This is a narrative of courage and the pursuit of identity in a world where survival often hinges on guarding one's truths.
Such a Rush is a poignant and thrilling tale of Leah Jones, a daring young pilot caught in a complex web of love, betrayal, and family dynamics. Growing up next to an airport in a South Carolina trailer park, Leah makes a life-changing decision at fourteen: rather than succumb to the difficulties of her environment, she chooses to learn to fly.
Leah has always acted as the adult in her family, with a mother who's unreliable and a life fraught with financial instability. Her job at the local airstrip and the thrill of flying provide a much-needed escape from her challenging reality. The sudden death of her flight instructor, Mr. Hall, thrusts everything into chaos when his teenage sons, Alec and Grayson, inherit the business.
Despite her longstanding crush on Grayson, Leah is wary of getting involved with the struggling business. But when Grayson uncovers Leah's deepest secret and uses it to coerce her into flying for him, she finds herself entangled in a dangerous dance with the two brothers. As the summer progresses and tensions rise, Leah must navigate her way through a maze of emotions and risks that could lead to dire consequences for everyone involved.
It's Armageddon Time for Artemis Fowl! Opal Koboi, a power-crazed pixie, is plotting to exterminate mankind and become fairy queen.
If she succeeds, the spirits of long-dead fairy warriors will rise from the earth, inhabit the nearest available bodies, and wreak mass destruction. But what happens if those nearest bodies include crows, deer, badgers - or two curious little boys by the names of Myles and Beckett Fowl?
Yes, it's true. Criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl's four-year-old brothers could be involved in destroying the human race. Can Artemis and Captain Holly Short of the Lower Elements Police stop Opal and prevent the end of the world?
Barcelona, 1957. It is Christmas, and Daniel Sempere and his wife Bea have much to celebrate. They have a beautiful new baby son named Julian, and their close friend Fermín Romero de Torres is about to be wed. But their joy is eclipsed when a mysterious stranger visits the Sempere bookshop and threatens to divulge a terrible secret that has been buried for two decades in the city's dark past. His appearance plunges Fermín and Daniel into a dangerous adventure that will take them back to the 1940s and the dark early days of Franco's dictatorship. The terrifying events of that time launch them on a journey fraught with jealousy, suspicion, vengeance, and lies, a search for the truth that will put into peril everything they love and ultimately transform their lives.
Full of intrigue and emotion, The Prisoner of Heaven is a majestic novel in which the threads of The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game converge under the spell of literature and bring us toward the enigma of the mystery hidden at the heart of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a collection of lost treasures known only to its few initiates and the very core of Carlos Ruiz Zafón's enchanting fictional world.
Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar brings the best of Cheryl Strayed's 'Dear Sugar' advice columns from The Rumpus, along with never-before-published pieces, all together in one place. With a new introduction by Steve Almond, this collection is a treasure trove of wisdom, humor, and heartfelt advice.
Strayed, the author of the bestselling memoir Wild, once wrote anonymously as Sugar, offering guidance to thousands seeking help for their real-life struggles. Whether it's dealing with infidelity, grieving a loved one, facing financial hardships, or experiencing the highs of love and success, Strayed approaches each topic with candor and empathy.
Rich with compassion and unflinching honesty, Tiny Beautiful Things is a soothing balm for the varied challenges of life, affirming that we are all capable of facing them with grace and resilience.
Dry, sarcastic, sixteen-year-old Cam Cooper has spent the last seven years in and out of hospitals. The last thing she wants to do in the short life she has left is move 1,500 miles away to Promise, Maine - a place known for the miraculous events that occur there.
But it's undeniable that strange things happen in Promise: everlasting sunsets; purple dandelions; flamingoes in the frigid Atlantic; an elusive boy named Asher; and finally, a mysterious envelope containing a list of things for Cam to do before she dies.
As Cam checks each item off the list, she finally learns to believe - in love, in herself, and even in miracles.
A debut novel from an immensely talented new writer, The Probability of Miracles crackles with wit, romance, and humor and will leave readers laughing and crying with each turn of the page.
Season 8 ended with a bang that cut the world off from magic—culminating in another set of world-ending problems. Buffy has left her best friend, Willow, powerless, and brought an end to a millennia-long tradition of superpowered girls. By day, Buffy is a twenty-something waitress with no real direction, and even though magic is gone, she’s still a vampire Slayer by night. Bigger problem? Vampires are becoming an epidemic . . . of zompires!
Collects Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 #1–#5.
Being America’s favorite heiress is a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.
Lexington Larrabee has never had to work a day in her life. After all, she’s the heiress to the multi-billion-dollar Larrabee Media empire. And heiresses are not supposed to work. But then again, they’re not supposed to crash brand-new Mercedes convertibles into convenience stores on Sunset Blvd either.
Which is why, on Lexi’s eighteenth birthday, her ever-absent, tycoon father decides to take a more proactive approach to her wayward life. Every week for the next year, she will have to take on a different low-wage job if she ever wants to receive her beloved trust fund.
But if there’s anything worse than working as a maid, a dishwasher, and a fast-food restaurant employee, it’s dealing with Luke, the arrogant, albeit moderately attractive, college intern her father has assigned to keep tabs on her.
In a hilarious “comedy of heiress” about family, forgiveness, good intentions, and best of all, second chances, Lexi learns that love can be unconditional, money can be immaterial, and, regardless of age, everyone needs a little saving. And although she might have 52 reasons to hate her father, she only needs one reason to love him.
Angel & Faith: Live Through This is a gripping tale set in the aftermath of events from Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8. The supernatural world is struggling with the loss of magic, and Angel, the fan-favorite antihero, has a lot to make up for—especially after the murder of Buffy's trusted ally. Angel's quest for redemption leads him to believe he can make amends by reviving the dead.
Joining him in this quest is Faith, the rebel Slayer, who supports Angel's ambitious plan out of fierce loyalty, despite its apparent absurdity. Together, they face threats from the past, present, and potential future as they battle real and personal demons on the dark streets of London.
Written by comic scribe Christos Gage and beautifully illustrated by series artist Rebekah Isaacs, this volume also includes a one-shot starring the vampire Harmony, with art by Phil Noto.
Will Trent is a brilliant agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Newly in love, he is beginning to put a difficult past behind him. Then a local college student goes missing, and Will is inexplicably kept off the case by his supervisor and mentor, deputy director Amanda Wagner.
Will cannot fathom Amanda’s motivation until the two of them literally collide in an abandoned orphanage they have both been drawn to for different reasons.
Decades before, when his father was imprisoned for murder, this was Will’s home. It appears that the case that launched Amanda’s career forty years ago has suddenly come back to life—and it involves the long-held mystery of Will’s birth and parentage.
Now these two dauntless investigators will each need to face down demons from the past if they are to prevent an even greater terror from being unleashed.
When you're being hunted, who can you trust?
For the first time since she escaped from her school many months ago, Eve can sleep soundly. She's living in Califia, a haven for women, protected from the terrifying fate that awaits orphaned girls in The New America.
But her safety came at a price: She was forced to abandon Caleb, the boy she loves, wounded and alone at the city gates. When Eve gets word that Caleb is in trouble, she sets out into the wild again to rescue him, only to be captured and brought to the City of Sand, the capital of The New America.
Trapped inside the City walls, Eve uncovers a shocking secret about her past—and is forced to confront the harsh reality of her future. When she discovers Caleb is alive, Eve attempts to flee her prison so they can be together—but the consequences could be deadly. She must make a desperate choice to save the ones she loves or risk losing Caleb forever.
In this breathless sequel to Eve, Anna Carey returns to her tale of romance, adventure, and sacrifice in a world that is both wonderfully strange and chillingly familiar.
Thirteen-year-old Lizzie Hood thought that she and her best friend Evie Verver shared everything, but when Evie disappears from their suburban Midwestern community, Lizzie's search uncovers secrets and lies that make her wonder if she knew her friend at all.