Sylvie goes to the jewelry store with a sad story, a looming debt, and a beloved heirloom. Everett is a hard-core do-gooder with a bank account to back him up. When he impulsively buys Sylvie’s hocked ring, he intends to return it to her. But Sylvie disappears. How will he find her again? And if his friends find his grand gestures…eccentric, how will a complete stranger react? A novelette of approximately 10.5k words. “Meet cute” is a term used to describe a situation in which a future romantic couple meets for the first time. Meet Cute Romance is a series of romantic shorts celebrating the possibilities of that first meeting.

Could psychedelic drugs change our worldview? One of America's most admired writers takes us on a mind-altering journey to the frontiers of human consciousness **When LSD was first discovered in the 1940s, it seemed to researchers, scientists and doctors as if the world might be on the cusp of psychological revolution. It promised to shed light on the deep mysteries of consciousness, as well as offer relief to addicts and the mentally ill. But in the 1960s, with the vicious backlash against the counter-culture, all further research was banned. In recent years, however, work has quietly begun again on the amazing potential of LSD, psilocybin and DMT. Could these drugs in fact improve the lives of many people? Diving deep into this extraordinary world and putting himself forward as a guinea-pig, Michael Pollan has written a remarkable history of psychedelics and a compelling portrait of the new generation of scientists fascinated by the implications of these drugs. How to Change Your Mind is a report from what could very well be the future of human consciousness.

The sequel to VICIOUS, V.E. Schwab's first adult novel. Sydney once had Serena—beloved sister, betrayed enemy, powerful ally. But now she is alone, except for her thrice-dead dog, Dol, and then there's Victor, who thinks Sydney doesn't know about his most recent act of vengeance. Victor himself is under the radar these days—being buried and re-animated can strike concern even if one has superhuman powers. But despite his own worries, his anger remains. And Eli Ever still has yet to pay for the evil he has done.

Jesse Sampson and her two younger sisters have lived a hard life on the streets of Seattle, Washington for the past several years. Four years before, the Earth received its first visitors from space causing mass fear. Alone in a world gone mad with just her sisters, she has learned to use the darkness and the remains of the city to survive and keep what was left of her family alive. She has seen the savage side of human nature and finds they are not much different from the aliens who conquered Earth. The Trivators have taken control of Earth to prevent the humans from destroying it in their fear. A world of warriors, they are sent out by the Alliance of Star Systems to seek out new worlds. Their mission is first contact. They are to establish communications with the leaders of the new worlds they find and bring them into the Alliance. Any resistance is to be quickly subdued to prevent unnecessary death of the inhabitants of the new worlds they find. Their payment comes from the success of their mission. Hunter is what he is called. A hunter, one of the elite clans of the Trivators who seek out those who resist. His abilities to track, capture and eliminate those who try to harm any warrior is renowned. He finds the tables turned when he becomes the one captured by a group of ruthless humans. Hunter is shocked when a strange human female risks her life to help him escape only to disappear into the ruins of the city. He now has a new mission, finding the female who saved his life. He is determined to find her before she is damaged by others of her kind. What he finds is a reward beyond comprehension to a Trivator warrior, a family. Can he convince Jesse that he can give her and her younger sisters a better life on his world? Or will fear keep her from accepting what he has to offer?

We all play victims to our pasts; to the choices we make and the lives we create. They define who we are. And sometimes if we're lucky enough, the past stays where it belongs: in the past. I'm not one of the lucky ones. I never have been. Because now the past is knocking on my door, offering deals I have no choice but to take… deals that will help bring justice—not just for me, but for my brothers. The problem? The deal is a ticking time bomb. One I didn't know existed. Tick. Tock.

Mallory and Meredith Brynn are no ordinary twins: born on either side of midnight, one has the power to see into the future, the other into the past. But supernatural visions can’t keep Merry from falling for the new boy in town, even if the relationship is doomed from the start. The reason? Ben is a ghost. And revealing the truth about her own power would mean the end of their blossoming love. As Merry falls for Ben, the twins sense a dark shadow encroaching on their family’s inner circle: someone wants their beloved little brother, and that someone will stop at nothing to take him away. Using their supernatural visions, the twins must come together to save their brother from harm. And along the way, they’re forced to question the loyalty of everyone in their lives, even those closest to them... JACQUELYN MITCHARD uses her skill as a novelist to bring us a story that is truly based in family and mystery — and at the same time threatens all that we hold most dear.

Twenty thousand years into the future, an experiment in quantum physics has had a catastrophic result, creating an enormous, rapidly expanding vacuum that devours everything it comes in contact with. Now humans must confront this deadly expansion. Tchicaya, aboard a starship trawling the border of the vacuum, has allied himself with the Yielders-- those determined to study the vacuum while allowing it to grow unchecked. But when his fiery first love, Mariama, reenters his life on the side of the Preservationists-- those working to halt and destroy the vacuum-- Tchicaya finds himself struggling with an inner turmoil he has known since childhood. However, in the center of the vacuum, something is developing that neither Tchicaya and the Yielders nor Mariama and the Preservationists could ever have imagined possible: life.

Something's rotten in the heart of apple country! Hildy Biddle dreams of being a journalist. A reporter for her high school newspaper, The Core, she's just waiting for a chance to prove herself. Not content to just cover school issues, Hildy's drawn to the town's big story--the haunted old Ludlow house. On the surface, Banesville, USA, seems like such a happy place, but lately, eerie happenings and ghostly sightings are making Hildy take a deeper look. Her efforts to find out who is really haunting Banesville isn't making her popular, and she starts wondering if she's cut out to be a journalist after all. But she refuses to give up, because, hopefully, the truth will set a few ghosts free. Peeled is classic Joan Bauer, featuring a strong heroine, and filled with her trademark witty dialogue, and problems and people worth standing up to.

How far would you dare to go to win it all? Maverick Holms and Duke Warren share almost everything a college soccer team, an apartment and the same extremely competitive nature. Thanks to that never-back-down spirit, they re about to share more than they bargained for. The game is gay chicken . The rule: get as close as possible without kissing, and the one that pulls away first is the loser. The problem: neither of them likes to lose. It isn t long before the game becomes an excuse to touch and kiss in every possible forbidden way. And after they pose for a gay website to earn extra money, things really heat up. Suddenly Duke is talking lifetime commitment, and Mav is backpedaling as hard as he can, not sure if he s ready to accept all his best friend is offering him. Or the truth about what he is."

1 New York Times bestselling author Iris Johansen turns up the heat in this explosive new psychological thriller. This time a gifted arson investigator teams up with a mysterious operative to stop a killer raging completely out of control... For Kerry Murphy, the inferno is never far away. The flames of that long-ago night still burn in her nightmares: the heat, the choking smoke, the helplessness. She can never run fast enough... Now Kerry works as an arson investigator with her evidence-sniffing dog, Sam. Together they're a great team, but her life is about to change in the time it takes to strike a match. The deadly flames of her past are back, and from out of the ashes a stranger appears. Who is Silver? And why has he chosen her in the desparate race to find a killer determined to ignite hell on earth? Kerry and Silver may not have a chance against a psychopath as coldhearted as his method is red-hot. To save themselves and the innocent lives at stake, Kerry will have to do what she hoped she'd never have to do: fight fire with fire.

In his ever-popular romance of Tudor England, Scott brilliantly recreates all the passion, brutality, verve and vitality of the Elizabethan world. Only two of his novels end tragically - Kenilworth ends with the death of Amy Robsart, who unwisely loved Queen Elizabeth's favourite, the Earl of Leicester.

Desperate to save her life and that of her five-year-old brother, Nan packs and flees an abusive home, embarking on a journey that will test her faith, determination, and spirit. Set in the 1800s, Nan’s Journey, follows Nan and her brother, Elmer, as they seek safety.Desperate to save her life and that of her five-year-old brother, Nan packs and flees an abusive home, embarking on a journey that will test her faith, determination, and spirit. Set in the 1800s, Nan’s Journey, follows Nan and her brother, Elmer, as they seek safety and find refuge and hope in the arms of a family of strangers—including Fred Young, a disgruntled preacher turned mountain man, who reaches out to help, only to find a hope and love renewed in his own heart. In her first novel, author Elaine Littau weaves memorable characters into the vivid background of the wild, unsettled heart of America, presenting readers with the timeless struggle of overcoming adversity, and seeking hope above all through Nan’s Journey

Stuck at home sick, Abby passes the time at r window snooping on the neighbors with her binoculars. It pays off when she spots a criminal just profiled on the "Mystery Trackers" TV show!

In 1865 Louisiana, Captain Robert Cooper from the Freedman's Bureau is sent to investigate a rash of strange murders and disappearances. Something is in the woods waiting for night to fall and the truth may be more terrifying than can be imagined.In 1865 Louisiana, Captain Robert Cooper from the Freedman's Bureau is sent to investigate a rash of strange murders and disappearances. His unexpected arrival in Williamstown is met with a mix of anger and suspicion. With gangs of demobilized Confederate soldiers roaming the woods, Cooper is quick to realize that his job may be harder than first expected. Yet, the terror that plagues the farms and plantations around Williamstown cannot be easily explained away. Something is in the woods waiting for night to fall and the truth may be more terrifying than can be imagined.

The man she loved is gone forever. The child she lives for could be next. Each day is a struggle for Amanda Gleason's newborn son as he battles a rare immune deficiency. Justin's best chance for a cure lies with his father, who was brutally murdered before Amanda even realized she carried his child. Or was he? One emailed photo changes everything, planting a seed of doubt that Amanda latches on to for dear life: a recent photo of a man who looks exactly like Paul. Could Justin's father be alive? The mother in her is desperate to find out. But tracking down a ghost when every second counts is not for amateurs. Forensic Instincts is the one team up for the challenge. A behaviorist. A former navy SEAL. A techno-wizard. An intuitive. A retired FBI agent. A human-scent-evidence dog. Together, they achieve the impossible, pushing ethical and legal boundaries whenever the ends justify the means. The manhunt is on for the elusive father. Yet the further FI digs into his past, the more questions are raised about whether the man Amanda fell in love with ever really existed at all. Dark secrets. Carefully crafted lies. From the Congressional halls of Washington, D.C., to exclusive Hamptons manors, there are ruthless people who would stop at nothing to make Forensic Instincts forget about the man Amanda desperately needs to find. Little do they realize that once Forensic Instincts takes the case, nothing will stop them from uncovering the shocking truth that transcends The Line Between Here and Gone.

From R. A. Salvatore, the legendary creator of Drizzt Do’Urden, comes the start of abrand new epic journey. When Aoleyn loses her parents, she is left to fend for herself among a tribe of vicious barbarians. Bound by rigid traditions, she dreams of escaping to the world beyond her mountain home. The only hope for achieving the kind of freedom she searches for is to learn how to wield the mysterious power used by the tribe’s coven known as the Song of Usgar. Thankfully, Aoleyn may be the strongest witch to have ever lived, but magic comes at price. Not only has her abilities caught the eye of the brutish warlord that leads the tribe, but the demon of the mountain hunts all who wield the Coven’s power, and Aoleyn’s talent has made her a beacon in the night.

The primal beating heart at the center of much of the Western literary canon can be found in the folk stories, myths, and fairy tales collected by the amateur folklorists Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm. Surprisingly graphic in comparison to their sanitized twentieth-century retellings, these intense tales are not for the faint at heart. A must-read for any fan of folklore.

A chance encounter on the snowy slopes of a castle moat throws together three lonely teenagers: Emily, Simon, and the highly enigmatic Marcus, who is the catalyst for all that follows. At first the castle`s ruins are merely the backdrop to a day in the snow. But when the three break into the forbidden interior of the keep, they find the castle taking on a different and deeper meaning. Despite the freezing conditions, they spend the night there, to experience the power of occupation. But when the re-enactment gets out of control and a very real siege ensues, their playful dare soon turns into a frenzy of nightmarish action.

A Doll's House (1879), is a masterpiece of theatrical craft which, for the first time portrayed the tragic hypocrisy of Victorian middle class marriage on the stage. The play ushered in a new social era and "exploded like a bomb into contemporary life".  The Student Edition contains these exclusive features: ·         A chronology of the playwright's life and work ·         An introduction giving the background of the play ·         Commentary on themes, characters. language and style ·         Notes on individual words and phrases in the text ·         Questions for further study ·         Bibliography for further reading.

In a city bracing for a cataclysm, two remarkable women cross paths and find their lives forever changed  Rae Perry has been in love with Jessup since high school. Two weeks before her eighteenth birthday, they ran away from Boston together and have been moving ever since—five states in seven years. Now they are in Southern California in what they call “earthquake weather,” a time when anything can happen, and Jessup is restless again. This time, Rae fears, he plans to leave without her.  Lila Grey is a fortune-teller. More than a quarter century ago, on a cold and icy night in New York City, she gave birth to a daughter she never saw again. Lila is determined to find her lost child, even if it means an end to her happy life with Richard, the loving husband she refuses to let into her past.   It is Lila who tells Rae she is pregnant—but the other symbol she reads in the Rae’s tea leaves, she refuses to reveal. From that moment forward, their fates are inextricably linked. While Rae searches for the strength to navigate an uncertain future alone, Lila sets out to resolve her history once and for all.   This luminous novel, a New York Times Notable Book, is an enthralling tribute to the profound mysteries of motherhood and childbirth from a writer who, in the words of Amy Tan, “takes seemingly ordinary lives and lets us see and feel extraordinary things.” 

The chilling thriller from an international bestselling phenomenon. It is Christmas Eve, 1957. Flying home, on leave from Germany, he is alone in the cockpit of the Vampire. Sixty-six minutes of flying time, with the descent and landing - destination Lakenheath. No problem, all routine procedures. Then, out over the North sea, the fog begins to close in. Radio contact ceases and the compass goes haywire. Suddenly, out of the mist appears a World War II bomber. It is flying just below the Vampire, as of trying to make contact...