The Professor

      Charlotte Bronte
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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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    About the Author

      Rick Riordan
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Rick Riordan is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, the Kane Chronicles, and the Heroes of Olympus. He is also the author of the multi-award-winning Tres Navarre mystery series for adults. For fifteen years, Rick taught English and history at public and private middle schools in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Texas. In 2002, Saint Mary's Hall honored him with the school's first Master Teacher Award. While teaching full time, Riordan began writing mystery novels for grownups. His Tres Navarre series went on to win the top three national awards in the mystery genre - the Edgar, the Anthony and the Shamus. Riordan turned to children's fiction when he started The Lightning Thief as a bedtime story for his oldest son. Today over 35 million copies of his Percy Jackson, Kane Chronicles, and Heroes of Olympus books are in print in the United States, and rights have been sold into more than 35 countries. Rick is also the author of The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones, another #1 New York Times bestseller.  Rick Riordan now writes full-time. He lives in Boston with his wife and two sons. Author's series: ​PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES​​​ ​THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS SERIES​​​ ​KANE CHRONICLES SERIES​​​ ​TRES NAVARRE SERIES​​​ ​PERCY JACKSON & KANE CHRONICLES CROSSOVER SERIES​​​ ​MAGNUS CHASE AND THE GODS OF ASGARD SERIES​​​ ​THE TRIALS OF APOLLO SERIES​​​

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    Turtles All the Way Down

      John Green
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Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis. Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts. In his long-awaited return,

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  • 3 672

    Love Thy Neighbour

      Belle Aurora
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Janet’s elation at her promotion is suddenly threatened by her wayward sister’s reappearance into her life and a hunky new neighbor. Her idyllic neighborhood is suddenly changed into a noisy, threatening and menacing arena. She tries bonding with her sister, but knows she’s deceptive and Janet has to play the illusive game of sleuth, duplicity and deception to save her sister and herself. Was someone trying to kill Jen? And Janet? There is a hidden agenda, and the lies will not only hide the truth, but lead into more treacheries and danger for both sisters. Deceit, disloyalties and scams lead to more betrayal. Who is really telling the truth? Could they all be lying? You won’t see it coming, but you’re sure to do a double take at the shocking, mind blowing ending!

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  • 3 669

    Judgment Road

      Christine Feehan
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**An outlaw motorcycle club sets up shop next door to Sea Haven in the dangerously sexy new series from #1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan. ** As the enforcer of the Torpedo Ink motorcycle club, Reaper lives for riding and fighting. He's a stone-cold killer who turns his wrath on those who deserve it. Feelings are a weakness he can't afford--until a gorgeous bartender gets under his skin... Near Sea Haven, the small town of Caspar has given Anya Rafferty a new lease on life. And she's desperate to hold on to her job at the biker bar, even if the scariest member of the club seems to have it out for her. But Reaper's imposing presence and smoldering looks just ratchet up the heat. Anya's touch is everything Reaper doesn't want--and it brands him to the bone. But when her secrets catch up to her, Reaper will have to choose between Anya and his club--his heart and his soul.

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    Lethal White

      Robert Galbraith
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“I seen a kid killed…He strangled it, up by the horse.” When Billy, a troubled young man, comes to private eye Cormoran Strike’s office to ask for his help investigating a crime he thinks he witnessed as a child, Strike is left deeply unsettled. While Billy is obviously mentally distressed, and cannot remember many concrete details, there is something sincere about him and his story. But before Strike can question him further, Billy bolts from his office in a panic. Trying to get to the bottom of Billy’s story, Strike and Robin Ellacott—once his assistant, now a partner in the agency—set off on a twisting trail that leads them through the backstreets of London, into a secretive inner sanctum within Parliament, and to a beautiful but sinister manor house deep in the countryside. And during this labyrinthine investigation, Strike’s own life is far from straightforward: his newfound fame as a private eye means he can no longer operate behind the scenes as he once did. Plus, his relationship with his former assistant is more fraught than it ever has been—Robin is now invaluable to Strike in the business, but their personal relationship is much, much trickier than that.

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    Petals on the Wind

      V. C. Andrews
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They were such brave children to withstand such suffering. Such clever children to escape such terror! For Carrie, Chris and Cathy, the attic was a dark horror that would not leave their minds, even while they built bright, promising new lives. Of course mother had to pretend they didn't exist. And Grandmother was convinced they had the devil in them. But that wasn't their fault. Was it? Cathy knew what to do. She now had the powers she had learned from her beautiful mother. She knew it in the way her brother still yearned for her, in the way her guardian touched her, in the way all men looked at her. She knew it was time to put what she knew to the test. To show her mother and grandmother that the pain and terror of the attic could not be forgotten... Show them. Show them—once and for all.

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    Elegy

      Amanda Hocking
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In a frightful world of dark magic and savage beauty, two sisters are about to discover that love is the most powerful weapon of all. Don't miss Elegy, the mesmerizing final chapter of the Watersong series!An ancient curse robbed Gemma Fisher of everything that matters most―her friends, her family and the guy she loves. But now that she found the scroll that binds the curse, she finally has a chance to get her old life back. She just needs to destroy the scroll―but it's not as easy as she hoped. Protected by ancient magic, it seems utterly indestructible. Making matters worse, Penn has grown even more obsessed with stealing Daniel for her own…and she's about to succeed. Gemma's frantic search leads her to someone who might be able to help―the mysterious immortal who cursed Penn and her sisters thousands of years ago. As Gemma and her friends unravel the tragic history of the curse, they plunge deeper into a world of shocking secrets and twisted vendettas―and it'll take all their courage, love and the power of their friendship just to survive. Gemma has so much to fight for and she's never wanted anything more, but will it be enough to stop her enemies?

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    The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe

      Daniel Defoe
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Crusoe (the family name corrupted from the German name "Kreutznaer") sets sail from the Queen's Dock in Hull on a sea voyage in August 1651, against the wishes of his parents, who want him to pursue a career, possibly in law. After a tumultuous journey where his ship is wrecked in a storm, his lust for the sea remains so strong that he sets out to sea again. This journey, too, ends in disaster, as the ship is taken over by Salé pirates (the Salé Rovers) and Crusoe is enslaved by a Moor. Two years later, he escapes in a boat with a boy named Xury; a captain of a Portuguese ship off the west coast of Africa rescues him. The ship is en route to Brazil. Crusoe sells Xury to the captain. With the captain's help, Crusoe procures a plantation. Years later, Crusoe joins an expedition to bring slaves from Africa, but he is shipwrecked in a storm about forty miles out to sea on an island (which he calls the Island of Despair) near the mouth of the Orinoco river on 30 September 1659. He observes the latitude as 9 degrees and 22 minutes north. He sees penguins and seals on his island. As for his arrival there, only he and three animals, the captain's dog and two cats, survive the shipwreck. Overcoming his despair, he fetches arms, tools and other supplies from the ship before it breaks apart and sinks. He builds a fenced-in habitat near a cave which he excavates. By making marks in a wooden cross, he creates a calendar. By using tools salvaged from the ship, and some he makes himself from "ironwood", he hunts, grows barley and rice, dries grapes to make raisins, learns to make pottery and raises goats. He also adopts a small parrot. He reads the Bible and becomes religious, thanking God for his fate in which nothing is missing but human society. More years pass and Crusoe discovers native cannibals, who occasionally visit the island to kill and eat prisoners. At first he plans to kill them for committing an abomination but later realizes he has no right to do so, as the cannibals do not knowingly commit a crime. He dreams of obtaining one or two servants by freeing some prisoners; when a prisoner escapes, Crusoe helps him, naming his new companion "Friday" after the day of the week he appeared. Crusoe then teaches him English and converts him to Christianity. After more natives arrive to partake in a cannibal feast, Crusoe and Friday kill most of the natives and save two prisoners. One is Friday's father and the other is a Spaniard, who informs Crusoe about other Spaniards shipwrecked on the mainland. A plan is devised wherein the Spaniard would return to the mainland with Friday's father and bring back the others, build a ship, and sail to a Spanish port. Before the Spaniards return, an English ship appears; mutineers have commandeered the vessel and intend to maroon their captain on the island. Crusoe and the ship's captain strike a deal in which Crusoe helps the captain and the loyal sailors retake the ship and leave the worst mutineers on the island. Before embarking for England, Crusoe shows the mutineers how he survived on the island and states that there will be more men coming. Crusoe leaves the island 19 December 1686 and arrives in England on 11 June 1687. He learns that his family believed him dead; as a result, he was left nothing in his father's will. Crusoe departs for Lisbon to reclaim the profits of his estate in Brazil, which has granted him much wealth. In conclusion, he transports his wealth overland to England to avoid travelling by sea. Friday accompanies him and, en route, they endure one last adventure together as they fight off famished wolves while crossing the Pyrenees.

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    The Search

      Nora Roberts
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To most people, Fiona Bristow seems to have an idyllic life—a quaint house on an island off Seattle’s coast, a thriving dog-training school and a challenging volunteer job performing Canine Search and Rescue. Not to mention her three intensely loyal Labs. But Fiona got to this point by surviving a nightmare.Several years ago, Fiona was the only survivor of the Red Scarf Killer, who shot and killed Fiona’s cop fiancé and his K-9 partner.On Orcas Island, Fiona has found the peace and solitude necessary to rebuild her life. But all that changes on the day Simon Doyle barrels up her drive, desperate for her help. He’s an intensely private wood artist and the reluctant owner of an out-of-control puppy named Jaws.As Fiona embarks on training Jaws, and Simon begins to appreciate both dog and trainer, the past tears back into Fiona’s life. A copycat killer has emerged out of the shadows, a man whose bloodlust has been channeled by a master with one motive: to reclaim the woman who slipped out of his hands . . .

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    Top Bottom Switch

      Chelle Bliss
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Ret North knows exactly who he is—a Dominant male with an insatiable sexual appetite. He’s always been a top, searching for his bottom…until a notorious switch catches his eye.Alese Kane has grown tired of her usual partners. She’s been watching Ret for months, wanting to run her tongue along his hard muscles. But his need for total control stops her.Ret worries that a relationship with Alese would be impossible, but his giant ego and even larger cock tell him otherwise. Unable to deny his attraction to her any longer, Ret convinces Alese to submit to him. When Ret dominates Alese, will she submit or will she top from the bottom?

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    Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys

      Kate Brian
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When she was nine, Megan Meade met a group of terrible, mean, Popsicle-goo-covered boys, the sons of her father's friend -- the McGowan boys. Now, seven years later, Megan's army doctor parents are shipping off to Korea and Megan is being sent to live with the little monsters, who are older now and quite different than she remembered them. Living in a house with seven boys will give Megan, who has never even been kissed, the perfect opportunity to learn everything there is to know about boys. And she'll send all her notes to her best friend, Tracy, in... Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys Observation #1: Being an army brat sucks. Except that this is definitely a better alternative to moving to Korea. Observation #2: Forget evil, laughing, little monsters. These guys have been touched by the Abercrombie gods. They are a blur of toned, suntanned perfection. Observation #3: I need a lock on my door. STAT. Observation #4: Three words: six-pack abs. Observation #5: Do not even get me started on the state of the bathroom. I'm thinking of calling in a hazmat team. Seriously. Observation #6: These boys know how to make enemies. Big time. Megan Meade will have to juggle a new school, a new family, a new crush -- on the boy next door, as in next bedroom door -- and a new life. Will she survive the McGowan boys?

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    Complicated

      Kristen Ashley
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18 hrs 14 mins When small-town Nebraska sheriff Hixon Drake meets Greta Dare, the connection couldn't be stronger, but the timing couldn't be worse. Dealing with the fallout of a divorce he never wanted and setting up a new home for his kids, Hix becomes that guy, that one he never wanted to be, and puts a stop to things before they can even start. Protecting his kids and himself is his only priority. Greta, on the other hand, has found the place for her and the brother she adores that's perfect for them - a sleepy little town in Nebraska. She's learned from life that there are no hopes and dreams. The only thing to look forward to is peace. And that's what she works hard to build for herself and her brother. Right up until Hix walks into her life. Hix can't fight the pull and stay away from Greta for long. And Greta's finding it hard not to hope for something more with all the promise that is Hix. But when the first murder that's happened in over five decades rocks his small, sleepy county, Hix has got to learn to trust again, convince Greta to take a shot with him, and at the same time catch a killer. In other words, things are definitely...Complicated.

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    Local Hero

      Nora Roberts
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Who was that masked man...? When Mitch Dempsey appeared in Hester Wallace's doorway bearing gifts, she knew she should beware. She'd just moved and didn't need trouble in the form of an all-too-attractive downstairs neighbor. Her nine-year old son had no such qualms. When he discovered Mitch was the creator of his favorite comic book here, he was sold.Though Mitch was no Superman, Hester made him feel he could leap tall buildings in a single bound. But could he convince her she needed a hero to call her own?

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    Queen of Shadows

      Sarah J. Maas
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Sarah J. Maas's New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series reaches new heights in this sweeping fourth volume. Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she's at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past . . . She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die just to see her again. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen's triumphant return. Celaena’s epic journey has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions across the globe. This fourth volume will hold readers rapt as Celaena’s story builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.

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    The Arrangement

      H. M. Ward
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FML is becoming Avery's motto. Just when she doesn't think things could get any worse, they do. When her car stalls out at a busy intersection and she gets out to check under the hood, a guy steals her car. Armed with a dress and a pair of Chucks, Avery runs after the thief. When a hot stranger offers to help, she can't say no. That's how Avery meets Sean Ferro, the totally sexy, totally damaged guy with more secrets than she has time for. Avery doesn't have time for anything anymore. Her is life falling apart and it's not just the car. It's everything, and it doesn't matter how tightly she tries to hold on, there's nothing left to hold on to. With the sudden death of her parents, it's only a matter of months until Avery's shot at college is gone, and she's living in a cardboard box. Other students have their families to rely on when things get bad. Avery has no one. But there's one option, one incredibly sexy, morally devoid, option. If Avery takes a job as a call girl, one guy could save her. One client. One time. She just has to say yes.

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    The Heir

      Kiera Cass
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Princess Eadlyn has grown up hearing endless stories about how her mother and father met. Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won the heart of Prince Maxon—and they lived happily ever after. Eadlyn has always found their fairy-tale story romantic, but she has no interest in trying to repeat it. If it were up to her, she'd put off marriage for as long as possible. But a princess's life is never entirely her own, and Eadlyn can't escape her very own Selection—no matter how fervently she protests. Eadlyn doesn't expect her story to end in romance. But as the competition begins, one entry may just capture Eadlyn's heart, showing her all the possibilities that lie in front of her . . . and proving that finding her own happily ever after isn't as impossible as she's always thought.

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    The House in Norham Gardens

      Penelope Lively
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No.40 Norham Gardens, Oxford, is the home of Clare Mayfield, her two aged aunts and two lodgers. The house is a huge Victorian monstrosity, with rooms all full of old furniture, old papers, old clothes, memorabilia - it is like a living museum.Clare discovers in a junk room the vividly painted shield which her great-grandfather, an eminent anthropologist, had brought back from New Guinea. She becomes obsessed with its past and determined to find out more about its strange tribal origins.Dreams begin to haunt her - dreams of another country, another culture, another time, and of shadowy people whom she feels are watching her. Who are they, and what do they want?

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    Resisting Her

      Kendall Ryan
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Agent Cole Fletcher lives for his job at the FBI, and he’s more than ready for his next assignment—raiding a cult compound and putting their leader behind bars. But he isn’t prepared for Savannah and her knock you on your ass good looks. At nineteen, she’s too old for foster care and too damaged to live on her own. With nowhere else to go, and against his better judgment Cole takes her in. But helping her out won’t be easy. He comforts her through screaming nightmares and escaping the lingering fears of her past, but that’s the easy part. Her preference to sleep cuddled up next to his warm body, and her desire to please him in every way makes her harder and harder to resist.

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    Metro 2033

      Dmitry Glukhovsky
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The year is 2033. The world has been reduced to rubble. Humanity is nearly extinct. The half-destroyed cities have become uninhabitable through radiation. Beyond their boundaries, they say, lie endless burned-out deserts and the remains of splintered forests. Survivors still remember the past greatness of humankind. But the last remains of civilisation have already become a distant memory, the stuff of myth and legend. More than 20 years have passed since the last plane took off from the earth. Rusted railways lead into emptiness. The ether is void and the airwaves echo to a soulless howling where previously the frequencies were full of news from Tokyo, New York, Buenos Aires. Man has handed over stewardship of the earth to new life-forms. Mutated by radiation, they are better adapted to the new world. Man's time is over. A few score thousand survivors live on, not knowing whether they are the only ones left on earth. They live in the Moscow Metro - the biggest air-raid shelter ever built. It is humanity's last refuge. Stations have become mini-statelets, their people uniting around ideas, religions, water-filters - or the simple need to repulse an enemy incursion. It is a world without a tomorrow, with no room for dreams, plans, hopes. Feelings have given way to instinct - the most important of which is survival. Survival at any price. VDNKh is the northernmost inhabited station on its line. It was one of the Metro's best stations and still remains secure. But now a new and terrible threat has appeared. Artyom, a young man living in VDNKh, is given the task of penetrating to the heart of the Metro, to the legendary Polis, to alert everyone to the awful danger and to get help. He holds the future of his native station in his hands, the whole Metro - and maybe the whole of humanity.

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    Obscured

      Tara Sue Me
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There’s the truth you know…. At age 16, Athena Hamilton traded her body for survival when a powerful Vegas hotelier and pimp lured her into his world. Ten years of turning tricks has taught her to trust no one and feel nothing. Yet a chance meeting with a childhood crush sparks hope for something more. The truth you believe… There’s no way Isaiah Martin could want her. He’s a pastor. Too good. Too pure. But when she learns her days are numbered, she runs into the safety of his arms and trusts his promise of protection. And the truth you never imagined... The aftermath of a tragic accident and a bitter betrayal leaves her destitute and alone. The one man she shouldn’t trust offers her a chance to escape. But when good and evil collide, what do you do when the truth is Obscured?

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