Forged on the anvil of death, imbued with the souls of its victims and bearers, the sword had chosen Gathrid. In his hands, it would taste blood and cleave its own path through war, seeking vengeance for mortal--and immortal--treachery.

Once a mighty kingdom reigned—now all is chaos and darkness! In the vast reaches of the desert, a young heretic escapes certain death and embarks on a mission of madness and glory. He is El Murid—the Disciple—who vows to bring order, prosperity and righteousness to the desert people of Hammad al Nakir. But among the warriors, rebellion seethes as they plot to execute the justice of the desert on their evil leader. For after four long centuries, a sorcerer appears among them—a savior destined to build a new Empire from the blood of their enemies!

It is the time of the gathering and all nations must pay tribute - WHY MUST THEY? Kurt wondered, as the decrepit destroyer JAGER wallowed through uncharted waters on its way to Gibraltar, the Gathering of the fleet, and the Final Meeting with the Enemy. It was sad to think how far man had fallen from the days when such vessels as the JAGER had been built. Now the last men struggled on in isolated communities, maintaining machines they could no longer build, ruled over by the distant Political Office in the person of the much despised and universally feared Political Officers. These black phantoms ruled mankind, telling one how to think, how to act, and when to obey the call to the Gathering. And now the call had come for Kurt to sail off to Gibraltar to the Gathering - the ritual massing of the fleet for the War, the Gathering from which no one had ever returned...

A lot has changed since Kitchen Confidential. For the subculture of chefs and cooks, for the restaurant business as a whole—and for Anthony Bourdain. Medium Raw explores those changes, taking the reader back and forth—from the author’s bad old days—to the present. Tracking his own strange and unexpected voyage from journeyman cook to globe travelling professional eater and drinker, Bourdain compares and contrasts what he’s seen and what he’s seeing, pausing along the way for a series of confessions, rants, investigations, and interrogations of some of the more controversial figures in food. Always returning to the question: “Why cook? “ Or the harder to answer: “Why cook well?” Beginning with a secret and highly illegal after-hours gathering of powerful chefs he compares to a Mafia summit, the story follows the twists and eddies through subjects ranging from: • “The Friends of David Chang” an incredibly undiplomatic discussion with (and peek into the mind of) the hottest, most influential chef in America. • “Don’t Ask Alice”: Alice Waters. Good . . . or Evil? • The Big Shake Out: The restaurant business in post economic meltdown America. How it’s changing. How it might change even more. • And, Heroes and Villains. (With a few returning favorites.)

It has ended. It begins again. In Kavelin: Lady Nepanthe's new life with the wizard Varthlokkur is disturbed by visions of her lost son, while King Bragi Ragnarson and Michael Trebilcock scheme to help the exiled Princess Mist re-usurp her throne - under their thumb. In Shinsan: a pig-farmer's son takes command of Eastern Army, while Lord Kuo faces plots in his council and a suicide attack of two million Matayangans on his border. But in the desert beyond the Dread Empire: a young victim of the Great War becomes the Deliverer of an eons-forgotten god, chosen to lead the legions of the dead. And the power of his vengeance will make a world's schemes as petty as dust, blown wild in the horror that rides the east wind. This volume marks the beginning of the end. Reap the East Wind is the first step on the road to the long-delayed final chapter of Glen Cook's legendary Dread Empire series.

Piper Hecht’s secrets make him dangerous, but his skill and his reputation put him in danger—from his enemies, who fear what he might do, or who want revenge for what he has already done; and from his friends, who want to use his military gifts for their own purposes. His sister Heris and his living ancestor Cloven Februaren, the Ninth Unknown, have made Hecht part of their fight against the return of the dark god Kharoulke the Windwalker. At the same time, the half-mad Empress Katrin wants him to lead the armies of the Grail Empire eastward on a crusade against his old coreligionists the Praman. Meanwhile, all around them, the world is changing. The winters are growing longer and harder every year, and the seas are getting shallower. The far north and the high mountain ranges are going under the ice, and fast. The Wells of Power, everywhere, keep getting weaker. And the old evils, the Instrumentalities from the Time Before Time, have begun to ooze back into the world. As ever, the genius of Glen Cook’s storytelling lies in his common touch: in soldiers who are like real soldiers, in men and women who love and laugh and sweat, with real hopes and real fears, united only in their determination to face the oncoming night.

Enter the extraordinary world of Arthurian legend in an adventure overflowing with knightly chivalry, the danger of jousting and the warmth of true love. But the Legend of Parzival is more than the tale of one knight's epic journey to find the elusive Holy Grail; along the way Parzival faces a challenging journey of self-discovery. He must conquer his ignorance and pride, and learn humility and compassion before he is finally worthy of becoming a Grail Knight. This accessible prose retelling of the medieval German epic brings the wonderful story of the Arthurian knight (known variously as Parzival, Parsifal and Percival) to life for today's readers, while faithfully preserving the story, characters and tone of Wolfram von Eschenbach's thirteenth century narrative poem. In Steiner-Waldorf education, Parzival's quest is seen as a metaphor for the difficult journey through life, which speaks strongly to the adolescent, and its study is at the heart of the Class 11 curriculum. As a hugely experienced Steiner-Waldorf teacher, Robin Cook's engaging retelling will provide valuable inspiration for other teachers and students, as well as enjoyment and enrichment for all readers.

Welcome to the world of the Instrumentalities of the Night, where imps, demons, and dark gods rule in the spaces surrounding upstart humanity. At the edges of the world stand walls of ice which push slowly forward to reclaim the land for the night. And at the world's center, in the Holy Land where two great religions were born, are the Wells of Ihrain, the source of the greatest magics. Over the last century the Patriarchs of the West have demanded crusades to claim the Wells from the Pramans, the followers of the Written. Now an uneasy truce extends between the Pramans and the West, waiting for a spark to start the conflict anew. Then, on a mission in the Holy Land, the young Praman warrior Else is attacked by a creature of the Dark-in effect, a minor god. Too ignorant to know that he can never prevail over such a thing, he fights it and wins, and in so doing, sets the terrors of the night against him. As a reward for his success, Else is sent as a spy to the heart of the Patriarchy to direct their attention away from further ventures into the Holy Lands. Dogged by hidden enemies and faithless allies, Else witnesses senseless butchery and surprising acts of faith as he penetrates to the very heart of the Patriarchy and rides alongside their armies in a new crusade against his own people. But the Night rides with him, too, sending two of its once-human agents from the far north to assassinate him. Submerged in his role, he begins to doubt his faith, his country, even his family. As his mission careens out of control, he faces unanswerable questions about his future. It is said that God will know his own, but can one who has slain gods ever know forgiveness? In The Tyranny of the Night, Glen Cook introduces a new fantasy epic for the ages.

"La Bonne Vache" The Good Cow is a little restaurant in the south of France. It takes its name from and is famous for its "boeuf a la mode," a delicious beef stew. Ten-year-old Pierre longs to follow in the culinary footsteps of his father. Pierre spends as much time as possible in the restaurant's kitchen, hoping for a chance to demonstrate his cooking skills. But his parents shoo him away and he is not allowed to cook.

What you hold in front of you is a small sampling of short stories from the indie zombie series Zombie A.C.R.E.S. All three of these short stories are part of a larger collection entitled AiZ: Alice in Zombieland, which is due out spring 2012. These stories are not only here to whet your appetite for this upcoming anthology, but also to introduce you to a very interesting world.All three of these short stories are part of a larger collection entitled AiZ; Alice in Zombieland (Complete Saga), which is due out spring 2012. These stories are not only here to whet your appetite for this upcoming anthology, but also to introduce you to a very interesting world.This series takes place in a world that is very much like our own. The sky and water are blue just as the grass is still green. Every day, people are going about their business, most just trying to make ends meet. Politicians still get on the television and lie to cameras and the good people of the world.The world of Zombie A.C.R.E.S. has one stark difference from our own – the living dead. This is not an apocalyptic scene of destruction and despair (yet!), but hope for the living is dwindling with every waking moment. Zombie A.C.R.E.S. tells the tale of how this world came to be through short stories about the people of this new world – both good and bad.It all began with The Interview. This is the very first Zombie A.C.R.E.S. short story and it laid out the path for future stories. William Lohman, a recently deceased man, holds an interview that is seen by the entire world. In this interview, he tells of how the largest pharmaceutical company in the world, Roslun Global, has been conducting secret experiments meant to revive the dead, among other atrocities. Mr. Lohman is taken quite seriously seeing as how he is obviously one of these experiments, what with the decay and all.This interview knocked over the first domino in a long series for Roslun Global, and the company’s greedy CEO Richard Roslun. Richard was not known for being subtle or calm, but he was known for getting results…at any cost.Nine years has passed since that historic interview changed the world forever. People have learned to live with the idea of zombies, much the same way they learn to live with many modern diseases; it’s a terrible thing, but it doesn’t affect them. Until it does, that is.Georgia ‘Gee’ Marie is a typical college student in the state of Washington. She enjoys reading and hanging out with her friends, smoking a little weed and going to work. Her life is pretty mundane, until she returns to see her father one day. Tough Love is the story of what this average college student finds when she returns to her father’s home that fateful day. Gee and her younger half-sister Alice, are about to begin the greatest trials of their lives. Not only will their will to survive be tested, but the bonds that hold them together as family and loved ones will be stressed to the max.Gee and Alice are not the only ones to be greatly affected by the terrible actions of Richard Roslun. Sam Ashe and his fiancée, Heather Young, have just moved to a nice neighborhood in Seattle. Their new neighborhood is beautifully manicured, right down to the last tree lining the street. This area was chosen for its aesthetics, but also for its safety. According to several of Sam’s favorite zombie reporting sites, a very low number of incidents have been reported here.This would be why Sam is caught off guard one night in The Boy Who Cried Zombie. After an intense gaming session, Sam sees what he believes to be a zombie. Thinking of his love, he heads off to save her from the inevitable zombie outbreak about to occur. Their path is not an easy one, and again, human emotions will be stretched to the limit. If you have ever been in love, and I mean true love, then Sam and Heather’s tale will grab you by the heartstrings and never let go.If you enjoy these free zombie stories, please make sure to write a review and share it using the buttons on the side of the screen. Thank you.

Why watch TV when you can read the first seven episodes of The Klumps Mysteries, Season One?The Klumps Mysteries centers on a bumbling small town police force, led by inebriated, over educated, but not too smart Commissioner Don Mettler-Klump. They like to eat. They like to sleep. Sometimes their guns fire for no apparent reason. And every once in a while they find a crime that needs solving.Why watch TV when you can read the first seven episodes of The Klumps Mysteries, Season One?The Klumps Mysteries centers on a bumbling small town police force, led by inebriated, over educated, but not too smart Commissioner Don Mettler-Klump. They like to eat. They like to sleep. Sometimes their guns fire for no apparent reason. And every once in a while they find a crime that needs solving. They're the Klumps! Murder, theft, missing pets, food poisoning. It's all in a day's work.Episode One – “Murder at the Diner”When a body is found behind a diner, inexperienced and hard drinking Police Commissioner Don Klump has his first murder case. He and his team explore the treacherous underbelly of the town.Is it the dog walker? The victim's girlfriend? Or someone even closer to him?Episode Two – “The Painting”When a painting disappears from a local museum, an inebriated Don Klump makes finding it a department priority. The investigation takes an ominous turn when someone kills the curator.Who stole the painting? Why? The Klumps brave the seedy world of art to find out.Episode Three – “The Mole”A suspect is murdered and evidence goes missing. A cop car is damaged. Worst of all, the Klumps suspect one of their own is responsible.Is it the forensics assistant? The reporter who is hellbent on bringing down the department? And who is the mysterious woman pulling the strings?Episode Four – “The Warehouse”Deputy Commissioner Libby Klump makes a gruesome discovery while looking for a lost pet. Meanwhile, Don Klump and the rest of the police department hunt for a killer nurse after the Medical Examiner discovers that poison played a role in a disgraced officer's death. They continue investigating the mole. Don and Libby can't help thinking that these and their prior cases are related.Episode Five – “Counting the Bodies”The warehouse investigation continues.With the crime rate rising faster than gas prices, the Klumps face off with the Town Council about the police budget. Deputy Chalmers must brave Methton alone while ghost-fearing Tom is put in charge of exhuming the body of a suspected murder victim.Meanwhile, time runs short for two small girls.What can possibly go wrong?Episode Six – “Travis and Chester”The warehouse investigation hits a snag when the detectives discover the Medical Examiner might be involved.In the meantime, Don Klump and his team race to find Travis Quinton, prime suspect in two murders and child kidnapping.Episode Seven – “Follow the Scent”Libby takes charge of the police department as evidence is destroyed. Her husband and Commissioner is missing and may have been abducted, unless he's lying drunk in a ditch somewhere or with another woman. He better not be.Deputies Lucus and Tom close in on the Ice Queen when they discover the identity of her right hand man.Episode Eight – “Revelations” COMING January 21, 2014The final episode of Season One. Many loose ends are tied, while some are inadvertently (or on purpose???) unraveled. Meh, whatchyou gonna do?Libby Klump faces off with the Town Council while an assassin lies in wait.The police department scrambles to find their chief before it's too late.Don Klump has a battle of wits with his captor.Oh dear.

Librarian note: an alternate cover for this edition can be found here. Some feel the Lady, newly risen from centuries in thrall, stands between humankind and evil. Some feel she is evil itself. The hard-bitten men of the Black Company take their pay and do what they must, burying their doubts with their dead. Until the prophesy: The White Rose has been reborn, somewhere, to embody good once more. There must be a way for the Black Company to find her... So begins one of the greatest fantasy epics of our age—Glen Cook's Chronicles of the Black Company.

...embedded in the trunk of the scion of the godtree, it contains the essence of the maddest of the Ten Who Were Taken...The Dominator. Defeated by the Lady and cast from this world, all that was left of him was a foul trace of lingering evil. But the graveyard that was once the Barrowland contains more secrets than dead. All who would possess the power of the Dominator are drawn to the spike. A foolhardy band of thieves is the first to reach it, and a rapacious and malign spirit is unleashed on an unwary world. The forces gather, sides are drawn, and mortal men can only die as the Dark Lords battle for domination.

It's cold.  The wells of power are weakening and the forces of Night grow strong. The gods are real, and still have some power, mostly to do harm.  The Instrumentalities of the Night are the worst of these. Piper Hecht, born Else Tage, survived a battle with the Instrumentalities. Now he's Captain-General of the armies fighting a crusade for Patriarch Sublime V. Intrigues swirl around the throne of the Grail Empire, as the imperial family's enemy Anne of Menand raises money to help the perpetually indebted Patriarch finance his crusades. To reduce his own vulnerability, sickly young Emperor Lothar assigns his two half-sisters--his immediate heirs--to their own realms. Now Piper Hecht learns that the legendary sorceror Cloven Februaren, referred to as the Ninth Unknown, is still alive, more than 100 years old, and on Piper's side. As the dynastic politics of the Empire become even more convoluted, it's clear that while the old gods may be fading, they're determined to do everything they can to bend the doings of men to their own advantage.  Sieges, explosions, betrayals, Anti-Patriarchs, and suspicious deaths will ensue as the great chess game plays itself out, with Piper Hecht at the center of it all…

In Water Sleeps, the surviving members of the Company regroup in Taglios, determined to free their fellow warriors held in stasis beneath the glittering plain. Journeying there under terrible conditions, they arrive just in time for a magical conflagration in which the bones of the world will be revealed, the history of the Company unveiled, and new worlds gained and lost… all at a terrible price. And in Soldiers Live, no Black Company member has died in battle for four years. Croaker figures it can’t last. Then a report arrives of an an old enemy newly active again. It attacks them at a shadowgate — setting off a chain of events that will bring the Company to the edge of apocalypse and, as usual, several steps beyond.

A cook rediscovers her passion... Thanks to a new chef in town
 If she’s to keep her diner afloat, single mom Ivy Parker must overhaul her menu. When high-profile chef Cam Monroe comes to Second Chance, she’s wary of asking for help. Would a perfectionist like him approve of the corners she cuts to find time for her children? But as Cam helps her rediscover her love for cooking, Ivy finds they have more in common than she expected...

The stunning new story of love and secrets from the Number One bestselling author of The Forgotten Village Can one promise change the fate of two women decades apart? Scotland, 1940 War rages across Europe, but Invermoray House is at peace – until the night of Constance's 21st birthday, when she's the only person to see a Spitfire crash into the loch. Rescuing the pilot and vowing to keep him hidden, Constance finds herself torn between duty to her family and keeping a promise that could cost her everything. 2020 Kate arrives in the Highlands to turn Invermoray into a luxury B&B, only to find that the estate is more troubled than she'd imagined. But when Kate discovers the house has a dark history, with Constance's name struck from its records, she knows she can't leave until the mystery is solved . . . A sweeping tale of love and secrets, perfect for fans of Kate Morton and Lucinda Riley. First readers love The Forbidden Promise . . . 'Full of love and loss and sheer...

NOW A MAJOR NETFLIX SERIESThe Duke of Castamar was once a noble figure who played a crucial role in his family's royal council. But ever since his wife's tragic death, he's been living in mourning, forgoing his noble duties. Clara, born into gentility but hard-up since the death of her beloved father, has taken to solitude in her grief, rarely leaving the confines of her beloved kitchen. But she must find a way to make a living, which is how she finds herself travelling to the Duke's great home to work in the kitchen...Clara attempts to hide her secret skills, but when she's greeted by the chaos of the Castamar kitchens, she cannot resist performing a makeover – much to the disdain of formidable housekeeper Ursula. And when the Duke learns of Clara's talents, he soon finds himself falling for her. Meanwhile, there are people masquerading as his friends who threaten to bring him down... In a world of royal duties, sordid affairs and...

"Let me tell you who I am, on the chance that these scribblings do survive. . . "I am Murgen, Standardbearer of the Black Company, though I bear the shame of having lost that standard in battle. I am keeping these Annals because Croaker is dead, One-Eye won't, and hardly anyone else can read or write. I will be your guide for however long it takes the Shadowlanders to force our present predicament to its inevitable end. . ." The Return of the Black Company comprises the novels Bleak Seasons and She is the Darkness—the third omnibus volume of Glen Cook's fantasy epic Chronicles of the Black Company.

'A refreshing and welcome addition to the world of detective fiction' Abir Mukherjee'A real surprise... It is not just the descriptions of food that leave you hungry for more' The Times'Marvellous' Alex MarwoodKamil Rahman is a cook in a Brick Lane restaurant. But he used to be a detective back in Kolkata.And somehow trouble still knows how to find him.When a young woman Kamil knows is murdered the police are convinced her boyfriend is the culprit. Kamil isn't so sure and feels he has no choice but to start his own investigation. Meanwhile, his friend and restaurant manager, Anjoli, is troubled by a rise in the number of homeless deaths in their local area.Initially the cases seem unrelated, but as the duo dig deeper, they discover connections that stretch from London to Lahore.Together they take on the indifference of the authorities to the homeless and the casual racism that pervades the investigation of killings...

Named one of "13 Detective Book Series You Obsessed Over as a Kid" by Buzzfeed and the inspiration for a hit Disney film, the masterful Great Mouse Detective is back and scurrying off to Paris to discover who's threatening the organizers of the Great Cheese Cook-off!Basil the mouse detective is called to Paris when the organizers of the Great Cheese Cook-off (an international culinary competition) start receiving threats against the event. Who could want to deprive all of mousedom of one of its tastiest nights? Basil immediately suspects Ratigan, who has escaped yet again and was seen lurking around Paris (and who, perhaps, holds a particular grudge against the event's organizers). He sets off on his investigation at the event's location, the Parisian College of Cooking (where local foodie mice hide out and take advantage of the school's kitchens after the human students have departed each evening). But Basil is baffled when circumstantial evidence shows...

The central volume in the definitive biography of America's most important First Lady. "Engrossing" ( Boston Globe ). The captivating second volume of this Eleanor Roosevelt biography covers tumultuous era of the Great Depression, the New Deal, and the gathering storms of World War II, the years of the Roosevelts' greatest challenges and finest achievements. In her remarkably engaging narrative, Cook gives us the complete Eleanor Roosevelt—an adventurous, romantic woman, a devoted wife and mother, and a visionary policymaker and social activist who often took unpopular stands, counter to her husband's policies, especially on issues such as racial justice and women's rights. A biography of scholarship and daring, it is a book for all readers of American history. ** Amazon.com Review With its gripping tale of a privileged ugly duckling turned socially conscious swan with the help of strong female friends--many of whom were lesbians and one of whom was probably her lover--the first volume of Blanche Wiesen Cook's biography of Eleanor Roosevelt won awards and made headlines. That book followed its subject from her birth in 1884 through her husband Franklin's election to the presidency in 1933. Volume 2 , which chronicles Roosevelt's first six years as America's most controversial first lady (Hillary Clinton doesn't even come close), maps her contributions to the New Deal, which Cook convincingly argues was primarily the fulfillment of a political agenda promoted by female reformers as early as 1912. Eleanor's turbulent relationship with journalist Lorena Hickok gets more space here than it probably deserves, and the story isn't as inherently exciting as the first volume's drama of a woman's coming of age. Nonetheless, Cook's subtle analyses of everything from Roosevelt's exceedingly complex marriage to her role as warm-up act for the New Deal's most radical programs are bracingly intelligent, her evocation of a remarkable personality rivetingly vivid. Eleanor emerges as neither the liberals' saint nor the conservatives' Satan, but an entirely human bundle of contradictions: warm-hearted, yet ice-cold when hurt; happiest in the public arena, yet needing the comfort of private relationships. --Wendy Smith From Booklist Readers who enjoyed the award-winning first volume of Cook's biography of Eleanor Roosevelt may have expected just one other volume after all these years (the first published in 1992); if so, they underestimated both Cook, a City University of New York history professor, and her remarkable subject. Volume 2 covers just six years: the first years of FDR's presidency. At this rate, one can easily imagine at least two more volumes: one on the war years, ending with Franklin's death in 1945, and a second on Eleanor's very active life after the White House. ER went to Washington with doubts and concerns: Would she be able to play a role in the critical issues that had given her life meaning, or would she be forced to serve simply as hostess and housekeeper? Cook traces the ways Roosevelt continued to exercise influence: on housing, race, and women's issues, for example. A major concern here is why both Roosevelts were largely silent about Germany's treatment of its Jewish citizens; Cook examines what the Roosevelts knew and when, and she notes that FDR and his staff did not object to Eleanor expressing her views on domestic matters that conflicted with administration policy, but they severely restricted her speeches and articles on foreign policy subjects. Full of fascinating details; expect requests. Mary Carroll

Bears + BBWs + BBQ + BDSM = Too Hot To Handle!The last thing that the curvy Quincy sisters expect is to meet their rivals, the Scoville brothers, in the flesh at the reading of their grandfather’s will. What the heck are a bunch of Norwegian billionaires doing at a fair in the middle of Texas? Planning a corporate takeover, of their family’s hot sauce company, The Quincy Hot Sauce Co. These shifters have another thing coming if they think that these BBWs are about to give up their family’s recipes without a fight, and the eldest Quincy and Scoville siblings become arch rivals…with an undeniable primal attraction to one another that they can’t explain.Hot sauce hotties and ice-cold shifters…What the heck do a bunch of Nordic polar bear shifters know about running an American hot sauce company? Well…more than meets the eye. With a history tracing back from before the East India Company, all the way to the Silk Road and the Viking Age, these shifters know everything there is to know about the spice trade. What they don’t know is how to woo a mate. That’s right, from the moment that the eldest Scoville brother, Herbert ‘Herb’ Scoville, sees the curvy heir to the Quincy Sauce Company, Alice ‘Allie Penny’ Quincy, he knows that this firebrand is a special woman. Herb loves the hunt, and he’s never failed to catch his prey…but Alice is no ordinary woman. She’s as saucy as her family’s hot sauce, and she’s not going to give up the recipes to the sauces that Herb claims her grandfather stole from his that easily. When Alice suggests a cook-off at the Bright Star County Fair, it’s on. Herb’s got his eye on the prize…and the trophy doesn’t look half bad either.Just who does this billionaire think he is, turning Alice on like a propane grill…From the moment Alice sees Herb, she knows he’s everything she doesn’t want in a man. He’s pompous, gets what he wants, how he wants, and he’s competitive to a fault…so why does she feel a link to him that she just can’t ignore? His steely grey eyes remind her of a night filled with masks, ballgowns, ratty sneakers…and neck ties and belts wrapped around her wrists and the bedposts of a certain hotel room, in a certain city, on a certain night that seems to be so far in the past that it might as well be a fairy tale. Herb looks just as good in a custom tailored European suit as he does shirtless, handling a grill with a finesse that nearly rivals hers, but this polar has more than just a hot body to offer. The only thing hotter than their sauces is their banter, but Alice’s heart belongs to another…a shifter whose name she doesn’t even know. Can she learn to let go of her past, or does Fate want her to keep nursing a broken heart? Will Herb take away Alice’s pain…or will he take away her grandfather’s legacy?Small towns and billionaires don’t mix like tea and lemonade…These billionaires have never been denied anything before, solving every problem with a credit card or check, but to earn the trust of the curvy and saucy sisters, they’re going to have to earn the love of their small town. Instead of using what’s in their wallets, they’ll have to use what’s in their hearts. Can the Quincy Sisters hot sauce melt their cold Nordic hearts, or will they have to heat them up in the bedroom? These shifters are going to have to learn their lesson the hard way, the hot way, the spicy way...if they have any chance at all of understanding The Feminine Mesquite.

Beneath a veneer of tranquility, there exists a hotbed of mystery, intrigue and crime in the Pacific. When Pete Martyn is launched into that cauldron in an unwilling search for his estranged missing brother, he encounters deceit, danger and drug dealers in a very murky mix. He also finds love in the most unexpected way.

A plot for revenge goes wrong when a bus full of seven people rolls down a side of a mountain killing everyone on board! The bus was taken to a junkyard to be scraped, but the shady owner of that junkyard had other ideas! He managed to repair the severely damaged bus and ended up making a profit on it. The bus ended up being purchased by the new owner of the bus company that the bus had originally come from! The same company where two of the victim's daughter-in-law works at. The daughter-in-law ends up becoming the driver of that bus and to her surprise, she discovers that all seven of the victim's spirits are trapped on that bus and can't move on to the afterlife until they complete their unfinished business with the help of a living soul! Will the trapped souls receive the help they need to move on and get off that bus? Or will they be imprisoned on that bus for all eternity?

The wind whines and howls with bitter breath. Lightning snarls and barks. Rage is an animate force upon the plain of glittering stone. Even shadows are afraid. At the heart of the plain stands a vast grey stronghold, unknown, older than any written memory. One ancient tower has collapsed across the fissure. From the heart of the fastness comes a great deep slow breath like that of a slumbering world-heart, cracking the olden silence. Death is eternity. Eternity is stone. Stone is silence. Stone cannot speak but stone remembers. So begins the next movement of Glittering Stone.... The tale again comes to us from the pen of Murgen, Annalist and Standard Bearer of the Black Company, whose developing powers of travel through space and time give him a perspective like no other. Led by the wily commander, Croaker, and the Lady, the Company is working for the Taglian government, but neither the Company nor the Taglians are overflowing with trust for each other. Arrayed against both is a similarly tenuous alliance of sorcerers, including the diabolical Soulcatcher, the psychotic Howler, and a four-year-old child who may be the most powerful of all.

The Ultimate Weapon For Any Queen Candidate: Good Food and Fluffy Friends! Laetitia has successfully returned to a life of leisure after befriending the queen candidates over their shared love of baking and cute animals, but it’s not long before she’s roped into even more unwanted trouble! Will this evil noblewoman ever be able to sit back and enjoy her time just cooking and playing with wolves, griffins, and Gardener Cats?

An ordinary boy, Ryan, is unwillingly sent on an adventure that puts the fate of the world in his hands.The magistrates rush to Goodman Asher's cabin. For Asher's daughter has warned her village that her father's obsession with the mirror tempts wicked magic. Rumors and fables have lured Goodman Asher off of the good path, and so the magistrates rush towards their neighbor's cabin to plead with Goodman Asher to relent from his folly. They will give Goodman Asher a choice, an opportunity, before putting that cabin and its master to flame.

One of BBC Culture's Ten Books to Read this March and The Rumpus Book Club Pick for MarchMaylis de Kerangal follows up her acclaimed novel The Heart with a dissection of the world of a young Parisian chefMore like a poetic biographical essay on a fictional person than a novel, The Cook is a coming-of-age journey centered on Mauro, a young self-taught cook. The story is told by an unnamed female narrator, Mauro's friend and disciple who we also suspect might be in love with him. Set not only in Paris but in Berlin, Thailand, Burma, and other far-flung places over the course of fifteen years, the book is hyperrealistic—to the point of feeling, at times, like a documentary. It transcends this simplistic form, however, through the lyricism and intensely vivid evocative nature of Maylis de Kerangal's prose, which conjures moods, sensations, and flavors, as well as the exhausting rigor and sometimes violent abuses of...

It’s not easy being a fix-it girl in a sea of fire-wielders and healers, but Chloe doesn’t mind all that much. All her adult life, she’s kept her head down and ran her one-woman tech repair business, keeping out of everyone’s way and drawing as little attention to herself as possible. Life is good. Or at least it is until Chloe meets Eric, a six-foot-four gladiator lookalike with the ability to simultaneously wield a gun in one hand and soothe a kitten with his other. He’s a knight marshal. He’s not to be trusted. He’s also the nicest guy Chloe’s ever met. Now Chloe’s life is careening down a dangerous path, and Eric just might be the only person she can rely on. But can she trust the enemy? And when it comes down to it, is he truly an enemy at all? Author’s Note: Traitor of The Entitled is a novella-length companion to the Obsidian Queen series that takes place between Knights of Obsidian and Creatures of Midnight. It’s not intended to be read as a standalone. Obsidian Queen Reading Order: Guild of SecretsPrincess of ShadowsKnights of ObsidianTraitor of the Entitled: An Obsidian Queen NovellaCreatures of Midnight (Coming in 2020) **

Contains the first three Black Company novels: THE BLACK COMPANY, SHADOWS LINGER and THE WHITE ROSE The series that brought grittiness to Fantasy and became a bestseller in the US finally comes to the UK. Darkness wars with darkness as the hard-bitten men of the Black Company take their pay and do what they must. They bury their doubts with their dead. Then comes the prophecy: The White Rose has been reborn, somewhere, to embody good once more . . . This is fantasy for all fans of Steven Erikson, Joe Abercrombie and David Gemmell. Available for the first time in a UK edition. 'With the Black Company series, Glen Cook single-handedly changed the face of fantasy - something a lot of people didn't notice, and maybe still don't. He brought the story down to a human level, dispensing with the cliche archetypes of princes, kings and evil sorcerers. Reading his stuff is like reading Vietnam fiction on Peyote' STEVEN ERIKSON

<h3><b>A standalone novel in the Captive Hearts series</b></h3><p>I was born and bred to be a killer. It's all I'm supposed to be.</p><p>I take no prisoners. Until Lily. For her, I make an exception. But only for a week.</p><p>When I walk in, time starts ticking down to zero. Her father has seven days<br>to save her.</p><p>Until then, she's mine. Mine to have. Mine to take.</p><p><em>Mine to keep.</em></p>

"Edgar–winner Cook examines the slow collapse of a prominent Southern family in this magnificent tale of suspense." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)In 1954 Mississippi, Jack Branch returns to his father's Delta estate, Great Oaks, to start what he considers a noble act: teaching at the local high school. Leading a class discussion on historical evil, Jack is shocked to discover that his unassuming student Eddie is the son of the Coed Killer, a notorious local murderer. Jack feels compelled to mentor the boy, encouraging Eddie to examine his father's crime and using his own good name to open the doors that Eddie's lineage can't. But when Eddie's investigation leads him to Great Oaks and to Jack's own father, Jack finds himself questioning Eddie's motives—and his own.As the deadly consequences of Jack's actions fall inescapably into place, Thomas H. Cook masterfully reveals the darker truths that lurk in the depths of small-town lives and in the...

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND KIRKUS BEST MIDDLE GRADE BOOK OF 2023"This book is, in a word, immaculate." Kirkus (Starred Review)A beautifully illustrated, interactive guide to ancient, nature-based holidays and customs. Through themed meditations, crafts, and rituals, young readers can learn about old and new ways of honoring the seasons—and create their own!Each "spoke" in The Wheel of the Year marks an important turning point: the winter and summer solstices, the spring and fall equinoxes, and the festivals of seeding, growing, and harvesting that arrive in between. Within each section, enjoy:An overview of the holiday and its significance in cultures around the worldA sensory scavenger hunt for sights, sounds, and smells the seasonIdeas for a seasonal altar using objects from natureThemed crafts, rituals, games, and recipesBlending nature connection with art, poetry,...

After his adventures in Wizard's Bane, Wiz Zumwalt thinks he deserves a little peace and quiet. But The Black League is making plans to strike back at their nemesis, and Wiz must come up with another trick to defeat them. This time, he plans to bring to his new world the finest programming teams of Earth!

A heartwarming novella from favourite Australian author Pamela Cook about finding love on the farm this Christmas. Bridie has until Christmas to convince her dad not to pull the loan he gave her to set up her organic produce farm. So when she gets an unexpected offer of assistance from her elderly neighbour's son - the same elderly neighbour who's been actively trying to railroad her into selling - she can't say no. Are all the resulting feels another complication or exactly what she needs?This book was originally published in the A Country Farm Christmas anthology. If you loved this book, you might also like ...A Fairytale for Christmas by Penelope JanuThe Christmas Kindness Project by Lily MaloneChristmas at Yindi Creek by Stella Quinn

This timeless memoir documents two sisters' bravery leading up to WWII—a singular historical account that shines a light on one of humanity's darkest hours.Ida and Louise Cook are two ordinary Englishwomen, seemingly destined never to stray from their quiet London suburb and comfortable jobs—Ida as a budding romance novelist and Louise as a civil service typist. But in 1923, a chance hearing of an aria from Madame Butterfly sparked a passion for opera in the sisters that led to the formation of friendships with some of Europe's leading singers and their network, many of them Jewish. As the Nazis rose to power, Ida and Louise began working with the opera world's insiders to save members of the community from persecution and death. Through ingenuity, thrift and bottomless goodwill, the sisters eluded the suspicion of the Nazis and helped secure safe passage for dozens of refugees. No one would have predicted such daring lives for Ida and Louise...

For four thousand years, the Guardships have ruled Canon Space - immortal ships with an immortal crew, dealing swiftly and harshly with any mercantile houses or alien races that threaten the status quo. But now the House Tregesser has an edge: a force from outside Canon Space offers them the resources to throw off Guardship rule. This precipitates an avalanche of unexpected outcomes, including the emergence of Kez Maefele, one of the few remaining generals of the Ku Warrior race-the only race to ever seriously threaten Guardship hegemony. Kez Maefele and a motley group of aliens, biological constructs, an scheming aristocrats find themselves at the center of the conflict. Maefele must chose which side he will support: the Guardships, who defeated and destroyed his race, or the unknown forces outside Canon Space that promise more death and destruction. Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.

There Are Many Candidates, But There Can Only Be One Queen! After marrying Glenreed, the Silver Wolf King famous for his hatred of women, and becoming a figurehead queen, Laetitia spends her carefree days in the royal villa surrounded by wolves, griffins, and Gardener Cats. But the humans in her life just won’t leave her be! What troubles will she run into next when she’s invited to meet with yet another candidate for queen, this time from the East Palace? Join this evil noblewoman once again in her fun days filled with cooking, fluffy companions, and a life of leisure!

In a world where magic spells work like computer programs, master hacker Wiz Zumwalt is under an infallible prophecy of doom -- and also under attack by computer criminals bent on global destruction in two worlds.

The best short fiction of legendary author Glen Cook (The Black Company, the Dread Empire) is collected into a new volume.For over forty years, Glen Cook has been among the most well-known, influential, and widely respected authors in science fiction and fantasy. Through classic series such as The Black Company, Garrett P.I., the Dread Empire, Starfishers, Darkwar, and more, his gritty, down-to-earth style left an indelible impression on his readers around the world, forever shifting the genre landscape and carving out his place as a pioneering icon.The Best of Glen Cook collects eighteen of his greatest stories—as chosen and introduced by the author himself—including a new, never-before-published Black Company novelette. With works set in all of his most famous series, these tales of science fiction and fantasy offer both the perfect way for longtime fans to trace Cook's history and for new readers to become familiar with one of the...

Kitty Cook may be a great school teacher, but learning the lessons of online dating is a harder subject than she first thought. Finding herself alone again in her thirties, she decides to take her friend Sophie's advice and sign up for an online dating site. After recently leaving a failed five-year relationship, Kitty is hesitant to get her hopes up. All she wants to do is graduate from the school of love, but will she ever find someone who will make the grade? The Life and Love (Attempts) of Kitty Cook is an emotional yet heart-warming read that takes you on an unforgettable journey through the highs and lows of online dating and looking for love in your thirties.

A lonely boy is taken in by the friendly inhabitants of a little house in the woods. Through this adventure, he finds the fairy folk, nature, and happiness.

Fluffy Friends, Good Food, And Freedom, What More Does A Girl Need?! When the crown prince unexpectedly breaks off their engagement and abandons her, Duchess Laetitia regains the memories of her past life as an office worker who loved to cook. Finding herself expelled from the kingdom, Laetitia agrees to marry Glenreed, the Silver Wolf King—a man famous for his hatred of women while ironically seeking a queen for political purposes. Laetitia’s new life lets her spend her days cooking and pursuing her hobbies in the royal villa, all while surrounded by furry creatures like wolves, Gardener Cats, and other mythical beasts. One day, after Laetitia offers food to a beautiful silver wolf that appears in the villa, she finds Glenreed’s attitude toward her slowly begins to change… Say hello to this evil aristocrat and her life of leisure, cooking, and fuzzy companions!

Is it possible to love someone you've never met? A young woman finds out in this sweeping will-they-or-won't-they love story that begins with a chance wrong number dial. . . .“A total delight . . . achingly romantic, full of suspense, and a beautiful cast of characters.”—Laura Jane Williams, author of Our StopWhen Hannah picks up a call from an unknown number, she thinks nothing of it—it’s just an easygoing American named Davey who misdialed her while calling into a job interview. And when Hannah wishes him luck after clearing up the confusion, she never actually expects to hear from him again.Then she gets a text saying he got the job and he’ll be moving to London, and she can’t help but smile. Soon their texts become phone calls that turn into video calls, and their friendship becomes a relationship they can’t wait to start in earnest once Davey lands in London in a month’s...

Marching south after the ghastly battle at the Tower of Charm, the Black Company is hounded by shadowy figures every inch of the way. The game is on: the Company versus the Shadowmasters, deadly creatures that deal in darkness and sorrow. When hope dies, there's still survival. And there's still the Black Company.   The Book of the South is the second omnibus of novels from one of the greatest fantasy epics of our age, Glen Cook’s Black Company series—collecting Shadow Games, Dreams of Steel, and The Silver Spike.

Nightmares are stalking the streets of London. With the Shade's grip on the world strengthening as reality starts to break down, Jake and Chloe, genetically modified psychic warriors, must prepare to take on their greatest enemy once again. But with lives already sacrificed to the Zoom virus and the Awoken scattered across the globe, can they ever hope to overcome the Shade's twisted plot, which stretches to the heart of a corrupted government? As a huge Shade-made storm swamps Britain and isolates London, Jake and Chloe have no choice but to risk everything as they travel from the Isle of Alderney to the capital city. Joining with more Awoken, they're propelled on a desperate search to stop a new doomsday device that threatens the very existence of the city. With old enemies and new allies, this is a battle of light against dark. The Shade are coming, and only the Awoken can stand in their way. __

Beneath the orbits and atoms of our natural universe lies a network of dark energy. Those who have learned to access and navigate this chaotic sea have discovered an almost endless set of “recursions” in the shoals of our Earth: Worlds with their own laws of reality, reflected from human experience or imagination, given form in the swirling Chaosphere of the Strange. Worlds teeming with life, with discovery, with incredible treasures, and with sudden death. Worlds sometimes get jealous of our own. The secret plunder of these worlds draws the brave, the daring, and the unscrupulous—and it draws dangerous enemies from these recursions back to our Earth. Featuring four stories and an introduction, Tales from The Strange takes readers to worlds unknown—from the hidden underbelly of Earth, to the dangerous landscapes of Ardeyn and Ruk, and beyond—where every choice is fraught with pleasure or peril, every action laced with the possibility for discovery or destruction.

In THE LAST VOYAGE, Hammond Innes imagines the private journal that Captain James Cook might have kept on the voyage that ended in his death in 1779. While trying to find a Northwest passage connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Cook's ship, the Resolution, was blocked by a massive ice wall along the Bering Strait. Cook successfully freed his ship, and planned another attempt for the following summer. Cook then returned to Hawaii, where he was killed by the islanders in a skirmish over a stolen boat.

An omnibus edition of the final three Dread Empire novels (Reap the East Wind, An Ill Fate Marshalling, and A Path to Coldness of Heart) from a pioneer of gritty and realistic epic fantasy, Glen Cook. The Dread Empire spans a continent: from the highest peaks of the Dragon's Teeth to the endless desert lands of Hammad al Nakir; from besieged Kavelin to mighty Shinsan . . . The time of the wrath of kings is close at hand. Bragi Ragnarson, now the king of Kavelin, has decided to join forces with Chatelain Mist, the exiled princess of Shinshan looking to usurp her throne. But in the deserts on the outskirts of the empire, a young victim of the Great Eastern Wars becomes the Deliverer of an eons-forgotten god, chosen to lead the legions of the dead. Wrath of Kings collects the final Dread Empire trilogy into a single volume. This epic narrative had been put on hold when the original manuscript to the final volume was...

Little did Teldin Moore know there was life beyond Krynn's moons--until a crashed spelljamming ship demolished his farm and changed his life. With a dying alien's magical cloak and cryptic words, Teldin quickly discovers that he's a popular fellow with killers and cutthroats.

Secrets in the Darling family rise to the surface and illusions are shattered in this modern southern story of delusion, attraction, and idiosyncrasy. Will Deborah Darling ever come to terms with her husband's true desires, her best friend's secret, her daughter's true passions, and her son's one true love? Well, maybe not. But not seeing the truth can lead to betrayal and what's worse, murder.

She is the last hope of good in the war against the evil sorceress known as the Lady. From a secret base on the Plains of Fear, where even the Lady hesitates to go, the Black Company, once in service to the Lady, now fights to bring victory to the White Rose. But now an even greater evil threatens the world. All the great battles that have gone before will seem a skirmishes when the Dominator rises from the grave.

Techno-Thriller Meets the Middle EastFrom IPPY gold medal winner Robert Cook comes the fourth installment in the Cooch series. With all the classic elements of a spy thriller—intrigue, violence, sex—The Mahdi is a narrative geopolitical battlefield where Islamic and Jewish ideologies clash, seen through the lens of a modern, liberal Muslim. Raised in a blend of Bedouin tradition and Western education,Alex Cuchulain, Cooch, is a former US Marine, CIA operator, and entrepreneur. Partnered with Dr. Caitlin O'Connor, the self-described "smartest person in the world," they make an unlikely yet formidable duo. When Alex takes on a mission to reclaim stolen Bedouin land, he finds himself imprisoned and branded a criminal. Meanwhile, Caitlin faces her own dangers, becoming the target of an extremist plot. But the rules of warfare change forever when Caitlin condenses an electromagnetic pulse into shootable ammunition and deploys an...

The City of Qushmarrah is uneasy under the rule of the Herodians —short, balding men whose armies would never have conquered the city had not the great and evil wizard Narkar been killed and sealed in his citadel; had not the savage nomad Datars turned coat and sided with the invaders; had not some traitor opened the fortress to them. Not many would welcome the return of the old religion, the bloody return of wizardry... but there are some patriots who would accept the return of the devil they know, if it meant the return of independence.