Oh, you haven’t? Too absurd to be true you say? I agree. Throw in my terrible social skills and it’s a disaster in the making. Why my current neighbor and former friend Paige thought it would be a good idea to set us up will forever be a mystery. Sure, it would be great to have a life partner, but I’m kind of killing it out here being Miss Independent. I have an amazing job. I build rocket ships! Okay, yes, they recently have a pesky habit of exploding at lift off, but we’ll get that tiny bug figured out soon. Probably. Who needs sleep anyway?I work with one of my best friends who set up a profile for me on a dating site. I now have a phone filled with unsolicited pictures of a certain piece of male anatomy which is honestly pretty unsettling. I have a cat who likes me. Sometimes. Attempted murder is just his love language. Oh! And I have an entire wardrobe of elastic waistbands. Elastic waistband. I think that one sells itself. So, things are great, thank you very much. Except now I have a problem. A very muscled, attractive problem. Despite the disaster at the club, Sebastian Kincaid seems determined to bulldoze his way into my life. I don’t understand what his motivations could possibly be and it’s starting to make me a little crazy. Even worse, I can’t seem to get my head and my heart on the same page. I can make this work. As long as he keeps his shirt on and hands to himself. I mean it’s not exactly rocket science.

    And, you end up with a roommate who wears a very good elegant mask over the rough and tumble, bad boy core I remember far too well.Only, it’s ten years later and I’m even nerdier than I used to be. It’s ten years later and I couldn’t look worse. It’s ten years later and I can’t keep one guy. It’s ten years later and my brother still teases me mercilessly in front of him. It’s ten years later and Kit somehow looks even better than the guy I spent my formative years crushing on.So, there’s not only the issue that he’s my older brother’s best friend, but also a sex-god this virgin can barely talk to. But that certainly never stopped me from drooling over him and it wouldn’t stop me now. He’s so far out of my league, I wouldn’t even clean in his league.Except, there might just be a smouldering heat in Kit’s eyes that suggests he’s not quite as out of my league as I thought. Just maybe, this geek is about to get a whole lot of chaos.KitWhen I find out about my best mate’s little sister’s situation, the offer is out of my mouth before I can stop it; Hawk’s like a brother to me even if Amber’s never looked twice at me. I could never tell if she was scared of me or hated me. But the deal is done. She’s going to bring her bedraggled self upstairs to my penthouse and live with me for as long as she needs.I see the pain she hides away, I see the lack of confidence despite how smart she is, how good. If there’s something I’ve learned, it’s that confidence makes all the difference. So, it becomes my mission to help Amber find her confidence. But I find more than confidence in her and suddenly I’m seeing my best mate’s little sister completely differently.I’ve never known what to say to her. She’s always been good and studious and sweet. She’s always been so far out of my league I wouldn’t even carry bags in that league. Her face is a mask that tells me nothing in between the sparse words that come out of her mouth.Except, there might be something in the way she smiles at me that gives me hope I’m not as far out of her league as I thought. It might just be time that this chaos gets a little geek.Please be aware that this story is set in Australia and therefore uses Australian English spelling and syntax.

    The author, Ken Williams, founded Sierra On-Line Sierra with his wife Roberta who went on to create many of the company's best selling games. Sierra grew from just Ken and Roberta to over one thousand employees and a fan base that still exists today, despite the fact that the company was torn apart by criminal activities, scandal and corruption that resulted in jail sentences and the collapse of Sierra. This is the behind-the-scenes story of the rise and fall, as it could only be told by the ultimate insider.

    Hot. King of campus. I had it all.Until a fastball to the head took my memories away.The last few months? Poof. Gone. I can’t remember a thing.Now I can barely get out of bed let alone fill it.Which is why my father’s hired me a pretty little tutor to put me back together.But Humpty Dumpty I am not.I’m in no mood to play… even if I have been imagining how deep I’d have to go to hit her sweet spot.Cautious, calculating and all kinds of smart, she’s not my usual MO.She has an actual brain for one thing, a body that’s spent far too long in hiding.It’s clear she wants more than a run around the bases.Definitely clear she knows more than she’s letting on.But if she thinks she’s getting close to this bad boy, she’s wrong.You’d need a battering ram to break into my heart.Strap in, folks, the bases are loaded and it’s about to get very hot in Crestfall. Bringing It Home is a full length, standalone bad boy romance with plenty of steam. There’s no cheating, no cliffhangers and a breathless, guaranteed HEA. Don’t miss out!

    

    He might even teach you how to kiss…Zoe Walsh is the most awkward girl in Beachbreak High. For years, she’s admired her crush from afar, but she’s NEVER talked to him. What would she even say? She doesn’t know the first thing about boys, or dating. The only thing she really knows is dancing.Mason McClellan is the charming, all-star quarterback who gets all the girls. He’s also Zoe’s brother’s best friend. This year, he plans to take the hottest girl in school to Homecoming. But she refuses to be his date unless he can dance. Sadly, Mason has two left feet.When Zoe approaches Mason for dating advice, he cuts her a deal: if she teaches him how to dance, he’ll teach her how to date. Lessons include how to get your crush to notice you, how to get asked on a date, and how to kiss.The last thing they expect is to fall for each other. But as Homecoming draws near, Zoe wonders – if dating Mason is just practice, how come it feels so much like the real thing?It Had to be Mason is the first book in the Beachbreak High YA sweet romance series. If you like adorable dates, laugh-out-loud moments, and all of the feels, you’ll love Emily Lowry’s sweet romances.

    Most of the time, they love each other for it, but when Layla reminds Mel that it’s been over two years since she’s had her heart broken, the not so subtle nudges to start dating again are a strain on her nerves.However, while seething from disappointing news at work, a chance encounter with a woman, whose charm all but puts a spell on Mel, awakens nearly forgotten sensations and emotions. The chemistry between Mel and Katie is palpable. It’s electrifying. And those walls Mel built to protect herself begin to crumble as she forsakes her stubbornness for a chance to truly heal and move on.But when they learn that their lives are more interconnected than they knew, they have to decide if it’s worth the risks to continue dating, or if they have to learn how to see each other as just a weekend of bliss and nothing more.

    Holden promises he’ll protect me when my kidnappers come calling, but I’m more worried about my heart.Holden says what we have can’t last, but I know love when I feel it. So how do I convince him that finding each other is a Christmas miracle worth fighting for?Sea Kissed is part of the MM Fairy Tale Romance series. All books are completely standalone and are modern retellings of classic fairy tales with a gay romance twist.

    

    

    Too bad she ends up in the wrong bed, with the wrong brother…who gives her the hottest night of her life.Archer O'Brien just wants to play ball.Well that, and for his brothers to stop acting out, so he won't have to worry 24/7. As the oldest O'Brien and team captain, it's his duty to make sure they don't drink too much, party too much, or get in too much trouble. But when she walks into his bedroom—mistaking him for his brother—life throws him a curveball.She's determined to guard her heart. He's not giving up.And when Honor gets assigned to cover the Wolves baseball team, it's game on.This new adult sports romance features one hot (and hilarious) case of mistaken identity and a sexy set of brothers guaranteed to make you swoon.Sometimes, the best mistakes are worth making.

    Real statistical problems, however, are complex and subtle. This is not a book about the theory of regression. It is about using regression to solve real problems of comparison, estimation, prediction, and causal inference. Unlike other books, it focuses on practical issues such as sample size and missing data and a wide range of goals and techniques. It jumps right in to methods and computer code you can use immediately. Real examples, real stories from the authors' experience demonstrate what regression can do and its limitations, with practical advice for understanding assumptions and implementing methods for experiments and observational studies. They make a smooth transition to logistic regression and GLM. The emphasis is on computation in R and Stan rather than derivations, with code available online. Graphics and presentation aid understanding of the models and model fitting.

    Practical advice that does exist usually assumes that your team already has the infrastructure, tooling, and culture in place. In this book, recognized SLO expert Alex Hidalgo explains how to build an SLO culture from the ground up.Ideal as a primer and daily reference for anyone creating both the culture and tooling necessary for SLO-based approaches to reliability, this guide provides detailed analysis of advanced SLO and service-level indicator (SLI) techniques. Armed with mathematical models and statistical knowledge to help you get the most out of an SLO-based approach, you'll learn how to build systems capable of measuring meaningful SLIs with buy-in across all departments of your organization.Define SLIs that meaningfully measure the reliability of a service from a user's perspectiveChoose appropriate SLO targets, including how to perform statistical and probabilistic analysisUse error budgets to help your team have better discussions and make better data-driven decisionsBuild supportive tooling and resources required for an SLO-based approachUse SLO data to present meaningful reports to leadership and your users

    What else do I need out of life? Hmmm...maybe the hot new IT guy from work. Those dimples...And don’t get me started on his forearms.But he’s way too young. Plus, office romance is never a good idea. Besides, my relationship track record is pitiful and the last thing I need is to get my heart broken again. So Simon Walker can take his charm, his Star Wars sheets, and his genius IQ and sweet talk some sweet young thing.SimonElaine Madigan is easily the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. Hilarious. Sexy. Smart. And unfortunately, she’s also convinced herself that I’m way too young for, so she’s friend-zoned me.Somehow I need to show her how grown up I really am. I need her to see that I’m ready to settle down--with her. It’s no easy task, but that doesn’t scare me. After all, I’m a techie, and cracking codes is what I do. No matter what it takes, I’ll hack the code to her heart.The IT Guy by Andi Burns is a dual POV standalone work romance with a younger hero, office hijinks, lots of laughs, and plenty of steam.

    He’s everything she thinks she wants but it’s impossible not to compare him to the one man her heart trusts completely: her best friend Blake. Her choice becomes clear when she finally sees the truth of what’s been in front of her all along.English teacher Blake Moore has been quietly in love with Cammie since college. Trapped in the friend zone, he can never seem to find the right way to confess his long-buried feelings. When he finally gets a taste of what he’s always wanted, he knows if they take it further, there will be no going back.One kiss, one touch, and their once in a lifetime friendship changes…

    

    Fandom, pop culture, feminism, cosplay, cons, books, memes, podcasts, vlogs, OTPs and RPGs and MMOs and more—there’s never been a better time to be a fangirl, or a better guide to navigate the wide universe of fandoms. This handbook is packed with tips, playthroughs, and cheat codes, including:· How to make nerdy friends· How to rock cosplay· How to write fanfic with feels· How to defeat internet trolls· How to attend your first con And more! Featuring wisdom from Sam and insightful interviews with fangirl faves like Danielle Paige, Rainbow Rowell, and Preeti Chhibber, The Fangirl’s Guide to the Universe highlights the joys of fandom community and offers a fun, feminist take on the often male-dominated world of geekdom. This refreshed edition updates The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy including new interviews.

    How am I supposed to deal with this?I hadn't planned on living with Ross very long. I just needed a place to stay to get on my feet after a bad break up, and happened to be friends with his sister. But when the shelter in place order comes down, not only do I lose any chance of finding my own space; my bartending job dries up, too.And Ross is taking this order very seriously. He grew up in a family of Montana doomsday preppers, and his rules are very clear: we've got three months of food, and neither of us is leaving—for any reason.I don't have a ton of money, and there are bills to pay. But there are a few different ways to make some cash online—especially when the rest of the world is shut inside, too, and need something to entertain them. Who would have imagined I would end up on a cam site entertaining guys from all over the world just by being myself and having fun? So long as I wait until Ross goes to sleep before I log on, anyway—I definitely do not want him to know what I'm up to on his couch.But Ross is full of surprises, it turns out. And I guess I am too. Because what I end up sharing with him is something I've never shared with anyone before. I just worry that things are about to get very complicated. Because every gay boy knows the cardinal rule:Never, ever fall for the straight guy.Shelter in Place is the first book of the Shelter series, a light hearted, low angst story about a kinky little family as it grows over three books. This book involve a low-protocol exploration of Dom/sub dynamics, humiliation play, exhibitionism, a brief experiment with urination, and non stop scorching hot dialogue throughout. It ends with a HFN ending with no cliffhanger. If you can't tell this is a steamy M/M story from the description, then Simon Strange can't help you.