From the award-winning, bestselling author of "The Red-Hot Cajun" comes this new spicy and sexy romance about a woman, her former husband, a search for pink diamonds, and an elderly Cajun matchmaker. BAITED+Straitlaced Boston lawyer Veronica "Ronnie" Jinkowsky knows something's fishy when her estranged grandfather lures her to his New Jersey treasure-hunting business with woeful tales of old age and bankruptcy. But she never expected the salty old dog to shanghai her into a hunt for pink diamonds with her poker-playing, four-time ex-husband Jake Jensen in tow. HOOKED...Betting her heart on Jake was always a losing proposition, yet just the sight of his come-hither blue eyes is still enough to melt her steely resolve. Now Ronnie's on a high seas adventure that throws together lost gems, a lost ship, and lost love - not to mention a Mafia widow, her two goons, and an elderly Cajun matchmaker. AND GOING DOWN FOR THE LAST TIME! Trapped with the man she could never learn to live with - and was never happy without - is Ronnie fated to be forever jinxed in matters of the heart? Original.

From New York Times bestselling author, “one of America’s top cultural critics” (Entertainment Weekly), and “The Ethicist” for The New York Times Magazine, comes a new book of all original pieces on villains and villainy in popular culture.Chuck Klosterman has walked into the darkness. As a child, he rooted for conventionally good characters like wide-eyed Luke Skywalker in Star Wars. But as Klosterman aged, his alliances shifted—first to Han Solo and then to Darth Vader. Vader was a hero who consciously embraced evil; Vader wanted to be bad. But what, exactly, was that supposed to mean? When we classify someone as a bad person, what are we really saying (and why are we so obsessed with saying it)? In I Wear the Black Hat, Klosterman questions the very nature of how modern people understand the culture of villainy. What was so Machiavellian about Machiavelli? Why don’t we see Batman the same way we see Bernhard Goetz? Who’s more worthy of our vitriol—Bill Clinton or Don Henley? What was O.J. Simpson’s second-worst decision? And why is Klosterman still obsessed with some kid he knew for one week in 1985? Masterfully blending cultural analysis with self-interrogation and limitless imagination, I Wear the Black Hat delivers perceptive observations on the complexity of the anti-hero (seemingly the only kind of hero America still creates). I Wear the Black Hat is the rare example of serious criticism that’s instantly accessible and really, really funny. Klosterman is the only writer doing whatever it is he’s doing.

A trust is its weakest point, said Jeff Peters. "That," said I, "sounds like one of those unintelligible remarks such as, 'Why is a policeman?'" "It is not," said Jeff. "There are no relations between a trust and a policeman. My remark was an ep

Dori Woodsen is a shy, kind-hearted, polite sixteen-year-old who has a secret...she's a genius, wanting only to live a normal life. But her life is far from normal. Fearing separation from her best friend Becca, Dori vows since childhood to keep her intelligence hidden from the world--and somehow she succeeds. But things become complicated as she begins her junior year of high school.*** Revised version ***Dori Woodsen is a shy, kind-hearted, polite sixteen-year-old who has a secret...she's a genius, wanting only to live a normal life. But her life is far from normal. Fearing separation from her best friend Becca, Dori vows since childhood to keep her intelligence hidden from the world--and somehow she succeeds. But things become complicated as she begins her junior year of high school. When certain events--including a blossoming romance with the captain of her school's basketball team--cause Dori to finally reveal her genius, things quickly take a turn for the worse between her and Becca. A much darker turn than either of them could have imagined.Realizing there's no way to reverse the situation, panic begins to set in, and Dori is eventually forced to decide between doing what's right, and doing what's best for the one friendship she's ever truly cherished.Follow Dori on her journey of fear, courage, friendship, and first love as things come to a boil in an emotional twist ending in 'Curse of Genius.'

A humorous short story about the dreaded holiday classic. Retirement is not what Robert expected. His wife feeds him twigs and is afraid of mailbox bombs. If that's not enough a fruitcake shows up on his doorstep. Fruitcakes may be a Southern tradition, but it's one Robert can do without.A humorous short story about the dreaded holiday classic. Retirement is not what Robert expected. His wife feeds him twigs and is afraid of mailbox bombs. If that's not enough a fruitcake shows up on his doorstep. Fruitcakes may be a Southern tradition, but it's one Robert can do without. The Fruitcake, is the first in a series. Look for more, Christmas in the South Tales.

Samuel Johnson is in trouble. Not only is he in love with the wrong girl, but the demon Mrs. Abernathy is seeking revenge on him for his part in foiling the invasion of Earth by the forces of evil. She wants to get her claws on Samuel, and when Samuel and his faithful dachshund, Boswell, are pulled through a portal into the dark realm, she gets her chance. PLEASE NOTE: This book was published by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK as HELL'S BELLS. The titles are different, but the books are the same. Please spread the word!

HardPress Classic Books Series

Originally published in 1918, 'Biltmore Oswald' is a work by the American writer of supernatural fantasy fiction, Thorne Smith. This book contains a series of comic stories that were written for Naval Reservist journal 'The Broadside' while Smith was serving in the Navy. We are republishing this work with a brand new introductory biography of the author with the aim of placing it in the context of his other writings.

My Lady Caprice is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Jeffery Farnol is in the English language, and may not include graphics or images from the original edition. If you enjoy the works of Jeffery Farnol then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection.

Jacobs was born in Wapping, London; his father was a wharf manager at the South Devon wharf at Lower East Smithfield. He was educated at a private school in London and later at Birkbeck College (then called Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institution, now part of the University of London) SEA URCHINS (15 STORIES) SPEAKING O' MONEY," SAID the night-watchman thoughtfully, as he selected an empty soapbox on the wharf for a seat, "the whole world would be different if we all 'ad more of it. It would be a brighter and a 'appier place for everybody." He broke off to open a small brass tobacco-box and place a little quid of tobacco tenderly into a pouch in his left cheek, critically observing at the same time the efforts of a somewhat large steamer to get alongside the next wharf without blocking up more than three parts of the river. He watched it as though the entire operation depended upon his attention, and, the steamer fast, he turned his eyes back again and resumed his theme.

On Tina's thirteenth birthday, she receives an extraordinary gift that holds the power to solve all the problems she's having at her new schoolHunted by demons from the Afterlife and pursued by a vicious thug in the real world, Connor True was caught between both planes of existence, locked in a coma from which he could not awaken. His mind was active but his body had shut down. The walls of the tiny prison cell of in his head pressed in around him threatening to crush his sanity and there was nothing he could do about it.

Buddy Hazelton, chairman of the Brandenburg College philosophy department, quit his job to join the Waverly Brothers Traveling Circus. Later today, the authority on Ludwig Wittgenstein's linguistic theory is being shot from cannon.In this deeply sardonic debut collection of short stories, Jarod Powell masterfully intertwines the bitter traumas and sweet victories of humanity with a hypnotic style, subversive wit, and a powerful, concrete narrative. A hopelessly dysfunctional family holds a formal debate and fights through the cliché, an agoraphobic teenager finds the gumption to enter the world he observes in a single moment of guttural rage, a homeless man harasses a stranger with his visions of the San Fernando Valley as The Garden of Eden, and in the title story, a high school turns into a Biblical village square when a drug overdose turns a nobody into a mythical being.

QUIVER AT! Horrible demonic stuff oozing out of computer screens! SHOCK HORROR! Elvis Presley pulling his face off! GASP AT! a talking brussels sprout! SEE! Cannibals on the rampage! HEAR! Fido the Dog do Frankie Howerd impressions! SEE! Rex Mundi, Rambo Bloodaxe, Deathblade Eric, Hugo Rune and a cast of millions caught up in Events Beyond Their Control! THRILL TO! all the loose ends from Armageddon the Musical magically tied up! WATCH! A comic genius doing the business! SEE?

A Long Winter’s Fright contains thirteen of my most popular, most FREE poems and stories about zombies, vampires and, now, with a little extra werewolf thrown in for good measure. (Okay, a LOT of extra werewolf thrown in for good measure!)I’ve always enjoyed a good scare over the holidays.How about you?I hope so, because A Long Winter’s Fright contains thirteen of my most popular, most FREE poems and stories about zombies, vampires and, now, with a little extra werewolf thrown in for good measure. (Okay, a LOT of extra werewolf thrown in for good measure!)So curl up by the fire, grab a little blood wine or a brain smoothie, and enjoy these not-so-sweet holiday treats!

John Paris wakes up in a hospital bed, in a coma, listening to doctors discussing his coming death. Just before the final moment he finds himself in someone else's body. His desperation to discover who he was throws him into a dark world of murder, betrayal, revenge, love, black magic, a teen pop sensation band, and the quest for everlasting lifeJohn Paris wakes up in a hospital bed, in a coma, with no memory of how or why. He can’t speak, can’t move, can only hear the doctors discussing how long until they switch off life support. As he grows more desperate, he suddenly finds himself in the body of the doctor who is about to throw the switch and end his life. In another body, another life, without any idea how or why, he sets out to discover who killed him, and how he survived. His journey takes him into a dark world of murder, betrayal, revenge, love, black magic, a teen pop sensation band, and the quest for everlasting life, as he gets closer to the truth about what killed him, and ultimately, who he is