This boxed set includes the complete Confectioner Chronicle series, over 1,000 pages of reading pleasure! The Confectioner's Guild A magic cupcake. A culinary killer. The perfect recipe for murder.Wren knew her sweet treats could work wonders, but she never knew they could work magic. She barely has time to wrap her head around the stunning revelation when the head of the prestigious Confectioner’s Guild falls down dead before her. Poisoned by her cupcake.Now facing murder charges in a magical world she doesn’t understand, Wren must discover the true killer or face the headsman’s axe. But when her search for clues leads to a deep-rooted conspiracy that goes all the way to the top, she realizes that the guild master isn’t the only one at risk of death by chocolate.If Wren can’t bring the powerful culprit to justice, she and her friends will meet a bittersweet end. The Confectioner's Coup Wren thought things were bad when her boyfriend's father tried to frame her for murder. But that was before a hostile army showed up at the city gates, ready to swallow Maradis whole. And before guild members began disappearing one by one--including the Confectioner's Guild's newest Gifted recruit. Wren, suspecting the king is to blame for the disappearances, undertakes a dangerous investigation that sets her on a collision course with old and new enemies alike. Will she be able to find the missing guild members before tensions boil over into outright rebellion? Or are the guilds willing to go further than she ever realized to rid themselves of the king's tyranny... The Confectioner's Truth A deadly new enemy rules Alesia with an iron fist--and an unnatural interest in the magic of the Confectioner's Guild. Betrayed by one of their own, Wren and her few remaining allies flee Maradis to secure whatever aid they can find.But new dangers and old ghosts lurk around every corner, forcing Wren to confront truths she thought she'd buried deep long ago. Will Wren be able to piece together an alliance, and enough of her own shattered heart, to take back her home from those who hold it hostage? Or will her magic prove too tempting a morsel for her enemies to refuse... The Confectioner's Exile Hale Firena has everything--looks, money, power, more girls than he knows what to do with. But in one night everything changes, as a bloody coup turns Hale into a penniless refugee on the run for his life.Hale's not cut out for real life--the thought of holding down a real job is almost more horrible than the pirates and bandits chasing him.

    It had integrated itself into the real world’s economy, with both corporations and individuals seeking their fortunes through the game. In this game, Nie Yan prided himself in his Level 180 Thief. He could barely be considered among the top experts in the game. Though, that was the only thing he could take pride in. He was penniless and unable to advance in life; a situation he was forced into by the enemy of his father. If it weren’t for the little money he made by selling off items in Conviction, he would’ve barely been able to eat. In the end, he chose to settle his matters once and for all. He assassinated his father’s enemy. He lay dying shortly after being shot in the pursuit. However, that wasn’t the end of his story. Instead, he awoke moments later to find that he had reincarnated into his past-self. Armed with his experience and knowledge of future events, he sets out to live his life anew.

    Discover lost tombs, fight horrifying monsters, wander the wilderness and build your own stronghold to defend. Forbidden Lands is a legacy game, in which your actions will permanently change the game map, turning it into a living chronicle of your adventures. The unique rules for exploration, survival, base building and campaign in the game play can easily be ported to any other game world.The tabletop RPG Forbidden Lands was named one of the most anticipated RPGs of 2018 by EN World. The crowdfunding campaign raised over a quarter of a million dollars and was the third most successful RPG Kickstarter in the world 2017.With art by the internationally acclaimed artists Simon Stålenhag and Nils Gulliksson, lore by fantasy author Erik Granström, scenarios by esteemed game writers Patrick Stuart, Ben Milton and Chris McDowall and game design by Free League that created the award-winning RPGs Mutant: Year Zero, Coriolis: The Third Horizon, Symbaroum and Tales from the Loop.

    until she meets The Vampires of Emberbury, who dwell under an abandoned graveyard, stuck in Victorian times. They will make her a very interesting job offer, and she will get to meet Clarence, a mysterious vampire gentleman who thinks cloaks and top hats are still in fashion. With his help, Alba will figure out that, sometimes, the scariest monster isn’t the one with fangs.This is a slow-burn paranormal vampire romance and magical realism novel that deals with worldly issues in a magical, humorous way and guarantees to make you laugh, cry, and gasp as you follow Alba and Clarence on their quest to solve Alba’s real-life troubles in a fairy-tale setting.Stray Witch is the first book in The Vampires of Emberbury series. It can also be read as a stand-alone story.Praise for Stray Witch:“I loved this story! The pacing was steady, and the characters were well-developed and realistic. I found it very easy to relate to Alba, to sympathize with her, and to cheer her on as she fought to protect her daughters and start a new life. I really liked Clarence, the mysterious gentlemanly vampire. I was especially intrigued by his dark past and wanted to know more. I also enjoyed the slow-burn romantic subplot between Alba and Clarence.” —Angela’s Book Addiction.“The highly original plot combines the best of paranormal with the best of romance. (…) Each character is lovingly detailed, vivid in perspective. The slow teasing out of each’s history allows for a tantalizing, unputdownable read.” —The Booklife Prize critic’s report.“Written in the alternating first-person perspective of Alba and Clarence, the reader is allowed a glimpse into their intertwined lives as two people who shouldn't have fallen in love try to discover their feelings and themselves. (...) Self-discovery, romance, heartbreak, and challenges fill this sweet romance in which you can't help but root for the main characters.” —Reader’s Favorite.Other titles in The Vampires of Emberbury series:Stray Witch (Book 1)Witch’s Mirror (Book 2)Witches Masquerade (Book 3)The Vampire's Assistant (Julia and Francesca's story: a novella)A Winter's Cobalt Kiss (A Vampire Christmas Novelette in the World of Stray Witch)

    Everything you ever wanted to know about scales, but were afraid to ask! This book fills you in on major and minor scales; the modes; the blues scale; harmonic minor, melodic minor, chromatic, whole tone & diminished scales; other exotic and ethnic scales; and more. Includes easy-to-read fretboard diagrams, and a bio of Troy Stetina.

    She is preparing for university exams at a cram school. When the police begins to investigate the suicide of her classmate, Chen Nian, who had inadvertently witnessed a bullying scene, decides to stay silent in fear of getting bullied herself. However, Chen Nian ultimately manages to gather her courage and expose the bullies for who they are, thus ending up as their new target. To protect herself from the wrath of the bullies, Chen Nian attempts to seek protection from various sources to no avail. Finally, Chen Nian is reduced to seeking protection from the tough street kid Bei Ye, who has a soft spot for Chen Nian.Resource: Dramas, Books & Tea

    The Pakistani army, mauled by the Abbottabad raid, decides to create andexecute an operation that will get the Pakistani public opinion firmly behindthem. Major Shezad Khan, a much decorated officer from the Pakistani army’selite Special Service Group (SSG) embarks on a mission to attack a strategictarget in India. His comrades-in-arms are five ferocious Lashakar-e-Taiba militants.Though he crosses into India through Kashmir, there is one man who has beentasked with the job of ensuring that they don't reach their target. RAW’s SeniorField Agent Sanjay Khanna teams up with Military Intelligence and NSG tothwart the attack.The narrative sweeps across the vast expanses of Tajikistan, the malarial jungles ofBengal, through conflict zones in Baluchistan, and the Vale of Kashmir as the twomen and their teams race against time. A thrilling finale awaits in the maximum city – Mumbai.Will the ‘Fox-Hunt’ succeed?

     Alan Star thinks he's the luckiest guy in the world, but fantasy turns into nightmare when a late-night meetup with a heroine turns deadly. To the dismay of the powers-in-charge, Alan has stumbled upon the dirty truth behind the squeaky-clean image of the hero business. Soon, everyone from government black ops to angry superpowered flames want to shut him up. Permanently. With nowhere else to run, Alan escapes to the one place that the heroes won't go: the underground world of a fabled hero-killer. There, he discovers the key to becoming the greatest hero of all. Alan will have to gain new powers, seduce even more superpowered babes, and face the true menace lurking in the shadows. Witness the birth of the Red Light Hero. Warning: This book contains diverse adult situations and possibly unwholesome interactions such as superpowered flings, polyamory, and biology experiments gone wild. This book also contains light gamelit mechanics in the final act.

    Embassy offers an up-close and personal look into the lives of the diplomats and specialists who make up the U.S. Foreign Service, taking readers inside embassies and consulates in more than fifty countries, providing detailed descriptions of Foreign Service jobs and first-hand accounts of diplomacy in action. Gain a sense of the key role played by each member of an embassy team from Paris to Kabul, from Bogota to Beijing, and places in between. Travel into the rainforests of Thailand with an environmental affairs officer, face rampaging militias with a political officer in East Timor, and join an ambassador on a midnight trip into a Macedonian refugee camp to quell a riot. The book includes profiles of diplomats and specialists around the world serving in Foreign Service positions -- from the ambassador to the security officer, the consular officer to the IT specialist. Also included is a selection of day-in-the-life accounts from seventeen different countries, each describing an actual day on the job. The story section includes twenty-six tales from the field that give a sense of the extraordinary: the coups, the evacuations, the civil wars, the hardships and rewards of representing America to the world.Inside a U.S. Embassy was published by the American Foreign Service Association in 2003, and updated and revised in 2005. Over 70,000 copies have sold.

    An uncensored account of his extraordinary true life story and his lifelong struggle to overcome an abusive childhood and build a 'normal' life for himself and his family. Put out with the rubbish at 2 weeks old and into the care system of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Paul Connolly was sent to the notorious St Leonard’s home in Essex, where he heard that he was 'Not Normal' almost daily amongst years of mental, physical and sexual abuse. Childhood friendships made and lost. Total Neglect. Starvation. Sending an illiterate, very angry young man out into the world. After years of extreme violence in London during the 1980's and 90's mixing with gangsters and a dark underworld, Paul confronted memories and demons from his past in the most shocking ways - eventually discovering that six from eight of the childhood friends he grew up with in St Leonard's were no longer alive. Great friends and a loving heart transformed Paul’s world and Paul has gone on to help thousands of people as a specialist conditioning coach, sports injury expert, celebrity personal trainer, presenter and best selling author. He works with various charities and is a core participant in the historical child abuse enquiry providing a voice for many of those no longer able to speak up. Above all else, Paul is now most proud of being a loving father to his two sons. Life has been anything but normal and the demons will never go away, but Paul has learned to smile at them as many of the people that predicted the worst for him are now where they told this vulnerable little boy he would end up. This is Paul Connolly’s story and it is Not Normal

    A NEW WORLD.EXCITEMENT. OPPORTUNITY. ADVENTURE.For the colonists on a terraformed Mars in 2454, that was the promise. For you though—Jess Flint, engineering prodigy and big-time dreamer—it is a promise unfulfilled. Excitement? Adventure? Somebody might be having ’em, but not in the one-horse-town you call home.And then it happens.In the depths of an abandoned alien junkyard, you stumble across the preserved hulk of legendary steam locomotive the Cannonball Express. Your jaw hits the Martian floor. This is it! Your ticket out! You rebuild the ancient loco, augmenting it with a hodgepodge of powerful alien super-tech.Almost before you know it, you’ve found yourself a crew:There’s Sally, the town’s glamorpuss, handy-with-her-fists saloon singer.There’s Vera, über-brainiac accountant-turned-adrenalin junkie.Oh, and there’s Dave. He’s from Staines.You drop an ad in the local paper—CANNONBALL EXPRESS (MARS) Ltd.Any CargoAnywhereAnytime—and WHAM! You just climbed aboard a bullet train to adventure.CANNONBALL EXPRESSLet's Roll!_______________________________Book 1 in Kit Kane’s CANNONBALL EXPRESS series, Railroads of Mars is steampunk adventure at full-throttle—a standalone sci-fi romp, brimming with action, suspense, comedy, and romance.

    Worshiped as gods for their wisdom and power, they corrupted the realm of the physical and forever altered the course of history.THE PROPHECY: Amidst the chaos of a dying world, a lone voice foretold the awakening of a warrior who would bring an end to this evil perpetrated against all of creation. But with the cataclysmic destruction of earth and rebirth of humanity, the prophecy went unfulfilled and eventually faded from the memory of our kind—until now!THE AWAKENED: The physical dimension is fractured. What remain now are numerous fragmented worlds moving simultaneously through time, sharing a common history, connected only by a guarded portal. On a parallel earth, in the city of Bastul, Colonel Adair Lorus disappears while investigating the death of an informant, triggering a series of events which will tear his family apart and set in motion the resolution of an ancient struggle.Kael, sentenced to death after rising up against the cruel leadership of his new step-father, is rescued from prison and trained in the arts of war by a mystical order of clerics. Excelling in every aspect of his training, Kael inwardly struggles to give himself fully to the methods of his new family, or the god they worship.Maeryn, bitter over the disappearance of her husband and supposed execution of her son, fears for her life at the hands of her newly appointed husband. Finding comfort and purpose in her unborn child, she determines to undermine his authority by reaching out to an underground social movement known as the Resistance.After being forced from his home, Kael’s former mentor, Saba, uncovers a clue to Adair’s disappearance. Sensing a connection to his own forgotten past, Saba begins an investigation which leads to the discovery of a secret military organization operating within the Orudan Empire.In book one of his debut series, Jason Tesar delves into the heart of an ancient legend, embarking on an epic saga that will journey from earth’s mythological past to its post-apocalyptic future, blending the genres of fantasy, sci-fi, and military/political suspense.

    How was a new character supposed to choose a class? How was he supposed to survive? Just one wrong step could mean imminent death.

    After clashing with a powerful Guildmaster and his ruthless Bloodwitch bodyguard, the friends are forced to flee their home.Safi must avoid capture at all costs as she's a rare Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lies. Many would kill for her magic, so Safi must keep it hidden - lest she be used in the struggle between empires. And Iseult's true powers are hidden even from herself.In a chance encounter at Court, Safi meets Prince Merik and makes him a reluctant ally. However, his help may not slow down the Bloodwitch now hot on the girls' heels. All Safi and Iseult want is their freedom, but danger lies ahead. With war coming, treaties breaking and a magical contagion sweeping the land, the friends will have to fight emperors and mercenaries alike. For some will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.

    But as they journey home, an unexpected sight greets them in a valley pass at the crossroads of four great Kingdoms. The ground is black. Death is creeping. And the two weary Wise Ones must discover the source before the taint spreads and all life is devoured by the Void.