Mendac was the Fifth of Five, making him the final hero in the Of Five—a five-part series of fairy tales that stretches over 1,500 years.Bryson, unfortunately, was given the impossible task of following in his dead father's footsteps. And after sixteen years of mediocrity, the only time people notice him is to ridicule his existence. The world has given up on Mendac's son.But there are two people on Bryson's side: a stone-faced, lifelong best friend who's never expressed an emotion in her life, and a secret-riddled man who has taken care of Bryson since his father's death. They're his rocks. He has learned to appreciate and lean on their friendship, regardless of their more mysterious side … even if those mysteries put Bryson's life in jeopardy.Things are looking up for the young LeAnce as the new school year at Phesaw begins. He receives a letter informing him of his induction into the recreation of the Jestivan, an elite group of students that had only existed once in the school's history. Its formation presents the opportunity of new friends for Bryson. But when ten highly talented students come together, there is bound to be conflict.Warring personalities and competitive attitudes are minor hurdles, however; considering the fact that warring kingdoms are more pressing. A 1,500-year war boils over as a traitor turns his back on his realm, threats of a dangerous king rising from the ashes begin to surface, one of the Jestivan goes missing, and someone close to Bryson is hiding something with more regard for the thing being protected than Bryson’s life.The Jestivan must develop camaraderie, and do it fast. Otherwise, they’re going to have to force it. And that can end in devastation.Alternate Cover EditionISBN10: 0692606408ISBN13: 9780692606407

    Away at college, even the necklace she wears serves as a constant connection home - a family tradition created when her grandfather handmade each immediate relative an interlinking charm. Each piece crafted in the shape of a puzzle piece, each one interlinking perfectly together. But when the unexpected death of her mother turns her world upside down, she discovers there is a missing piece of her treasured family tradition and her life as she once knew it may never be the same. Addison Reynolds resides in her posh Manhattan condominium and wraps her personal identity around running Urbane, the magazine empire built by her father. In a moment of haste, Addison divulges her deepest secret to her closest friend Emily - a secret she never intended to disclose. Could one choice, one secret, bond two unlikely women forever?

    Some lurk in the shadows, masquerading as mortals; others embrace their celebrity status, launching careers from Hollywood to Capitol Hill.One of them just murdered Cairn Delacroix's mother.As Cairn sifts through the rubble, she uncovers a conspiracy two decades in the making: a cursed island, the fellowship of gods who journeyed there, and the unspeakable act that intertwined their fates. One by one, the members of that voyage are dying, and Cairn's investigations land her in the crosshairs of the rogue goddess responsible.With the help of Nanook, a polar bear god turned detective, Cairn descends into Boston's underworld of supernatural crime and political aspiration. To avenge her mother and unmask her assassin, she’ll first have to reckon with a gut-wrenching secret that will rewrite the life she thought she knew.

    Hailed by Kirkus Reviews as “an action-packed treat […] with a relatable heroine facing challenges in a vivid world of magic and mystery,” and called a new classic by readers, The Crowns of Croswald series is a magical romp through a fully formed universe with dragons, magical quills, potions, and mythical creatures.Ivy Lovely is 16 and she has no idea who she is—or what her powers could be. When she crosses a magical boundary, she discovers a whole new world of enchantment and mystery. Making friends that will last a lifetime—and save her life—she steps into her own abilities and discovers more about her hidden past, magical blood, and the power of Croswald’s mystical stones. But all is not well: a dark history and an evil Queen threatens all that is good. Will Ivy’s bravery and wit be enough?Curious and whimsical, both shy and brave, Ivy is a hero that connects with readers of all ages. For those who wished that Narnia, Harry Potter, and Alice in Wonderland could go on forever, Croswald opens a whole new world of magic. Recommended as a read-aloud for families and a first middle-grade fantasy read, The Crowns of Croswald is a four-part series that will carry readers to a whimsical world that they won’t want to leave.

    Cadmus is plagued with guilt and feels responsible for the death of his mother. Two worlds collide when, years later, Delphina comes to understand that she had been Ilona, Cadmus’s mother, in her previous life. Well written and engaging, Drops of Cerulean deals with topics such as socioeconomic class, LGBT rights and acceptance, rebirth, and past-life regression. Set in Houston and revolving around the city’s ever-changing skyline, Drops of Cerulean is an amazing debut from a gifted writer.

    Based on little-known history, this timely book will strike a chord with readers of Fiona Davis, Tracey Lange, and Marie Benedict.Based on the true story of America’s only leper colony, The Second Life of Mirielle West brings vividly to life the Louisiana institution known as Carville, where thousands of people were stripped of their civil rights, branded as lepers, and forcibly quarantined throughout the entire 20th century. For Mirielle West, a 1920’s socialite married to a silent film star, the isolation and powerlessness of the Louisiana Leper Home is an unimaginable fall from her intoxicatingly chic life of bootlegged champagne and the star-studded parties of Hollywood’s Golden Age. When a doctor notices a pale patch of skin on her hand, she’s immediately branded a leper and carted hundreds of miles from home to Carville, taking a new name to spare her family and famous husband the shame that accompanies the disease.At first she hopes her exile will be brief, but those sent to Carville are more prisoners than patients and their disease has no cure. Instead she must find community and purpose within its walls, struggling to redefine her self-worth while fighting an unchosen fate.As a registered nurse, Amanda Skenandore’s medical background adds layers of detail and authenticity to the experiences of patients and medical professionals at Carville – the isolation, stigma, experimental treatments, and disparate community. A tale of repulsion, resilience, and the Roaring ‘20s, The Second Life of Mirielle West is also the story of a health crisis in America’s past, made all the more poignant by the author’s experiences during another, all-too-recent crisis.

    While plagued with guilt over an affair that causes her to question her sexuality, coupled with the fear of hurting everyone she loves, Jules pours her emotions into her writing. But she never imagined her words would be discovered when she wasn’t there to explain them.

    Men and women from all walks of life are thrown together on what they call the “rock" or "Hell on earth." The story follows Molly as she adjusts to her new reality of living in a combat zone, learns the ropes of prison life, and realizes the many complexities of war. Born in Chicago, Molly barely out of her teens is an aspiring doctor who joined the Army Reserve pre-911, mainly to pay for medical school. She is a breath of fresh air in the hot, dusty, hell-hole the soldiers temporarily call home. Molly, with her battle buddy Osborne, a quirky seductress, work alongside active duty troops as MP’s (Military Police) stationed at a prison camp. The insurgents, assumed to have Taliban connections, some awaiting transit to Guantanamo Bay, often fall on the thin line between very scary and somewhat ridiculous. Molly’s life becomes a rollercoaster of fear, passion, pain, and boredom as she guards captured insurgents and she soon realizes that she too is a prisoner of the desolate, and unbearably hot prison. Molly becomes drawn to a quick witted, shameless soldier named Spc. Shaw to get through the long and mundane days of the prison. As her feelings for Shaw grow so does her loathing for the insanely handsome, yet robotic, Sgt. Beck. Sgt. Beck makes it clear on day one that Molly is unfit for the job. In his attempts to take her down he begins to see the true measure of her resilience, courage, determination and fiery temper. As Molly battles her 12-hour work schedule, sleep deprivation, camel spiders and a host of other obstacles while living in a combat zone, Beck, who is sleeping with Molly’s friend, entrusts Molly with a more personal side of himself. As Beck's guard lowers, so does Molly’s and their friendship becomes unbreakable. But when tragedy strikes Molly realizes that some people are not at all what they appear to be.

     A threat that spans worlds. A fate long foretold. When Arlyn journeys through the Veil to confront her elven father, she’s launched into life-altering quest for acceptance…and a place to belong. Journey into a realm where half-bloods, exiles, scouts, and seers band together to prevent their worlds’ destruction. This collection includes Books 1-4 in the Return of the Elves epic fantasy series: -Soulbound -Sundered -Exiled -Seared -Plus never-before-seen bonus content! “This is a great series. It's full of action, friendships, mystery, magic, fae, elves and love. Great story line and strong characters. So grab your copy and enjoy reading.” ~Amazon review of Seared “The author continues to weave these memorable characters in and around love and adventure. Start the series today. I do not think you will be disappointed!” ~Booknook Reviews

    He’s dying of cancer and needs her help overseeing the sale of his hotel, the Desert Sage Inn, to another hotel group. With her marketing skill and as the owner of a very successful blog, she’s his perfect choice to make the sale a smooth transition while ensuring the new owners will maintain the reputation and image of the upscale property after the sale. She arrives to find Alec has summoned two other women to help with the project. Lily Weaver was once Alec’s assistant, and Willow Sanchez was like a daughter to him. They join forces to help him, lovingly accepting his nickname for them—the Desert Flowers, similar to the well-known Charlie’s Angels of TV fame.When Rose is assigned to work alongside Hank Bowers, an independent consultant to the hotel company’s team, she shudders at his reputation as an outgoing guy who always uses sports analogies and is certain they won’t get along. But Alec counsels her to give Hank a chance and, later, as they work together as a team, Rose is left to wonder if falling for one another is part of Alec’s secret plan even if one of Hank’s grown daughters fights the idea.A series for those who love stories about strong women facing challenges and finding love and happiness along the way.

    When Hannah inherits a defunct bakery in East Tennessee, her first thought is to sell it and settle her substantial debt. Then the townsfolk welcome her warmly and she's taken with the joyful spirit of the place, where stores employ holiday themes and residents have surnames like Christmas and Claus. After a handsome lawman comes to her aid dressed as Santa, Hannah learns he's more than a hot guy in a red suit and shiny black boots. Sheriff Carter Livingston has joined in the cause of rejuvenating the town, and he's encouraging her to do her part. Hannah's great-grandmother, Lena, sold special holiday cookies that brought hope and renewal to the people of Christmas Town. Yet Hannah has plans elsewhere and isn't looking to stay. Can she possibly reopen the shop known for kindling romance--without sacrificing her heart?

    She traveled everywhere with two boxes: the first with red sequins for the dress she wore as a magician’s assistant, the second with green sequins for her mermaid tail. She'd grown up on wild stories told by wild circus people. Books, she hadn’t had books until she’d found Daniel Watson and stopped moving.The first time Daniel saw her, Paulina was floating in a glass tank, suspended in water that sparkled like it was made from night sky. She has settled down now, living in a house on a cliff on Long Island Sound with Daniel and their young family: six-year-old Simon and his baby sister, Enola. But if you steal the magician’s assistant from a carnival, how can you know if she’ll disappear?

    She’s too strong, too fast and her senses are way too acute. Not knowing her real parents and passed around from family to family, she’s never fit into the mundane world she’s grown up in, making it impossible for her to put down real roots or form permanent friendships.So waking up in the forest in the middle of the night covered in blood and having no memory of how she got there, pisses her off and makes her even more confused. Who is this guy who’s kidnapped her and tells her that she is more than human and needs to be trained? And who’s the hot guy in the room next door who she’s supposed to train with? And why has Garrett, a compellingly seductive vampire, been her silent guardian for the last few years, saving her life when she was brutally attacked by thugs?As the days pass and Jackie is confronted with the strange truth of who and what she is, she begins to put the pieces of her splintered life back together to feel whole for the very first time. Becoming acquainted with a world spinning with a mysterious energy and populated by shapeshifters,vampires, weres, and even the powerful fae, Jackie learns to pull strength from the magic, her new friendships and even love.

    An ancient order of men seeking to control the art pursue him across the world, through centuries, into madness and beyond.The first part of Michael B. Koep's The Newirth Mythology-The Invasion of Heaven is mystery, adventure, myth, betrayal, murder and madness.Loche Newirth wonders if it was his fall: the fifty foot drop from the rocky cliff to the icy water below. Is this why he has been hallucinating? Or is it because one of his clients is dead, or his mentor has gone mad, or that his wife is leaving him? He can't bring himself to believe what he has been seeing. Insane things like a massive, searching eye. He sees it in the water below the cliff. He sees it in mirrors, on walls: a massive, crystal blue iris and fathomless pupil there in the center of his life, looking at him.To find the answer, Loche pens the recent events of his life into a book and leaves the work behind for his mentor Doctor Marcus Rearden to interpret. As Rearden reads he plunges into the harrowing depths of Loche's reality: his loss of a client, the discovery of an unknown past, an ancient conflict over possession of the human condition, the awesome reality of the gods walking among us, and the crimes of humanity invading the hope that lies beyond the grave.And along the way, Loche tells of unforgettable characters: the torn and manic housewife that teeters on the edge of sanity, and a depressed, swashbuckling swordsman that believes he is over six hundred years old, the stoned and prolific painter and his perilous work he must keep secret, and the beautiful business woman that abandons her life's work for a love she never expected.

    His past is literally from thousands of years ago. Seth’s past led him to the present seeking something that might help him save his country from destruction. He has been in the present for over three years now, and he just found exactly what he has been looking for. Mari had dreams of college being a fresh start, one where she would start over and not fall for the good looking player like high school. Unfortunately for her, that’s exactly what ends up falling into her lap on the first day she moves into the dorms. Now she has to hold to her promise to herself not fall for the handsome Seth Sangre. But he doesn’t plan to make it easy for her. Seth has already marked her as his next conquest. As the semester progresses, Mari learns that Seth might just have a past of his own that’s literally in the past. Suddenly, Mari finds her future along with her past put into question. She’s connected to Seth far more than she ever wanted to be, and maybe he isn’t the player who she thought he was. If Mari can trust her heart enough to follow him, Seth will lead Mari on an adventure of a lifetime-and reveal family secrets she never knew existed.