Things nosedive from bad to terrible when she finds herself in a shouting match with Gareth, resident doctor and her boss, on her first day.Between the love of her life urging her to return to Perth and a prickly, dismissive, and rude boss practically tossing her to the curb on day one, Mandy faces the coming year with thorns bared, determined to come out with her head held high. While she hones her doctoring skills in order to prove herself to the highly capable Gareth after their less-than-ideal first encounter, she might learn a little something about herself, too.

    The trees, the flowers, the dirt, the sky, the animals, and even the people are all missing their color. Confronted with the mystery of the missing color, Alvin teams up with some unexpected friends to battle man-eating plants, outsmart the bumbling Crimson Guards, cross the Sugar Desert, overcome the two-headed dragon, and find the color-stealing goblins to restore color to the kingdom.

    Hip hip hooray! Where shall we travel in time today?With Timothy Mean, every day is a rhyme in time!

    And this year she's going to throw her husband, Ed, a truly perfect retirement party, one worthy of memorializing in her upcoming letter. But the event becomes a disaster when, in front of two hundred guests, Violet learns her daughter Cerise has been keeping a shocking secret from her, shattering Violet's carefully constructed world.In an epic battle of wills, Violet goes to increasing lengths to wrest back control of her family, infuriating Cerise and snaring their family and friends in a very un-Midwestern, un-Baumgartner gyre of dramatics. And there will be no explaining away the consequences in this year's Baumgartner holiday letter...Full of humor, emotion and surprises at every turn, Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners brings to life a remarkable cast of quirky, deeply human characters who must learn to adapt to the unconventional, or else risk losing one another. This is the story of a family falling to pieces--and the unexpected way they put it all back together.

    Following Poe’s death, Crighton continues his malevolent duties, until he’s kidnapped by members of The Sovereign Sector. This group of scientists, notorious for experimenting on supernatural creatures, force Crighton into a soulmate relationship with the very angel he was sent to capture for Lucifer. However, with secrets revealed and loyalties shifting, Crighton soon becomes the target of Lucifer's revenge, and his journey to redemption and freedom—or eternal enslavement—begins.

    He is instead what some people call an Influencer. Yes! Literally! He is one of the few fortunate men who with the power of their minds can make other people agreeable and servile.To the outside world, Aditya is just another employee on the government’s payroll. But secretly, he is part of a shadow organization called WIS. With his special abilities, Aditya helps the most powerful man in his country, the PM, to have the better end of the deal.Life for Aditya had been smooth until one careless mistake precipitates into his wife knowing his big secret. WIS can tolerate anything but not a defector. It takes WIS some time but eventually they find out Aditya’s big goof up. It, therefore, declares war on the renegade. Aditya’s death is what they want.What will Aditya do? How will he fight this decree of the behemoth that once nurtured him?The Influencer is a story of a man who has never taken no for an answer. It’s a thrilling account of a single man who is facing the wrath of a powerful but dubious organization with highly-skilled, super assassins at its disposal.Will Aditya succeed in dodging WIS? Or will the evil organization get what it wants? How far will this fugitive go to protect everything he cherishes?

    A sorcerer kidnaps her to an enchanted island, filled with magical creatures and technology, but also danger. It is up to Alyssa to defeat the peril and overcome the warlock.

    With the help of new friends, Jace the captain of the football team and Beth, his twin sister, along with a strange Labrador Retriever named Troubles, Conor has to discover who he really is and how he is tied to the mystery of the 'Dark Ones'. They are the children the town is protecting from an ancient river demon and a shapeshifter in the nearby Indian Burial mound. Into the midst of Conor's hunt for the truth comes DIOGENE, a biogenetics company with a scientist willing to do anything to unravel the mystery of the 'Dark Ones'. Conor finds himself caught in a web of lies where myth and science war for humanity's soul.

    She never saw the legendary powerhouse as anything but her dad. She didn’t yet grasp the impact he’d had on the sport—and on America. To understand his historic role in the integration of college football, witness his influence on generations that followed, and fully appreciate his legacy, Maya had a lot of catching up to do.Maya retraces her father’s journey from the segregated south to Michigan State during the peak of the Civil Rights Movement and his journey as an NFL pioneer after the 1967 draft. She reflects on how her father’s childhood—and the racism he faced—shaped her upbringing and influenced his expectations of her. She also discovers how unbreakable the emotional bond between teammates can be. But above all, Maya and her father get to know each other. As their own bond deepens, so does Maya’s connection to the sport that changed the trajectory of her father’s life…and hers.

    A journey of self-discovery capped off by a bad batch of moonshine transforms Rabelais into a cult leader. Meanwhile, John wants nothing more than to be left alone, but is caught between the burgeoning movements unwittingly started by his two friends. Dark, caustic, and wickedly sardonic, St. Anthony's Fire casts a burning light on the absurdities of 21st century society in the form of The City. If reading it leaves you feeling frustrated and miserable, with a worse outlook on life and the world around you, then it has done its job.

    Jahana continues to struggle with her grief a year after her mother's death. She wishes she knew her maternal relatives, but her mother refused to talk about them. To help her move on, Jahana's husband buys her a DNA kit. When the results come in, she discovers more than she bargained for. Her DNA reveals a family secret she would like to ignore, but can't. The Lie is too big.

    When one of the resident physicians, Dr. Kip Paiva, becomes a critically ill patient herself, the team is forever changed. This suspenseful story of medical fiction traces foreign medical graduate Dr. Kip Paiva, an emigrant and survivor of human trafficking in post-apartheid South Africa. Her refuge from a Zulu militant captor comes to an end, as his brutal violence has finally tracked her across the ocean. While her past catches up to her, Dr. Paiva also becomes the scapegoat of a malpractice suit. Frightened for her and her son’s lives, Dr. Paiva begins a journey fueled by bottomless resiliency and a mother’s love. Her story intertwines through five others, all riveting, and all taking place in the busy Spectrum General Hospital in New York. Debut author Melissa Crickard uses this microcosm to illustrate larger aspects of modern medicine. Another Five Patients combines international intrigue and hospital politics with individual human stories involving hospital staff, patients, and their families. The result is a captivating, at times satirical, experience that reminds us that, whether doctor, mother, or child, we are all people, with flaws and emotions in a world of uncertainty.

    He is considered autistic by many. He is not. He appears autistic because he is hearing a voice. The voice is real, but it is a supernatural presence. What the voice gives him is a power that he can transfer by touch. Gabriel is the starting point for a change that is happening to many young people just like himself, all over the world. The change is wondrous and difficult at the same time. One thing is certain. The voice holds power beyond anything any of these young people could have ever imagined. This power is changing everyone, one beautiful child after another. The problem with this mysterious blessing is that Gabriel does not trust this voice completely. This distrust never leaves him, and for good reason, but Gabriel finds that the wonder of what he is experiencing is far too great for him to resist. Below, Gabriel experiences the shock of “hearing” the voice for the first time. “If only I could tell someone what this is like! God! What is wrong with me? What is wrong?” Gabriel was screaming with a tremendous power of his own, not with his voice, but with his mind. As soon as he screamed these thoughts, which he had done so many times through the years, he received the one thing he had always been very, very scared of, an actual answer. His body tensed to rigidity as the sound rose from within. As often as he had felt a communication with this presence, he had never had an interaction like this. Before today he had heard “voice” whisperings to his body, mind and soul, and these were very strong, but seemingly subconscious. What was happening now was completely new, and extremely unsettling. He was hearing now. To make it even more difficult for the boy to deal with, this was much more than just a voice, it was a sound of so much complexity that the richness of it made Gabriel senseless for a moment. It was the sound of the universe, every timbre of an orchestra, every harmonic of all the tones of every instrument in the world, buzzing together in something beyond harmony. This sound made extreme loudness seem quiet. It was all encompassing, crushing, like a freight train coming straight for you, the ground shaking, and a complete madness. Still, with all this, Gabriel could not resist it, because even with the unstoppable fear, he felt an absolute connection to it that could not be denied. This book is an excellent read for all ages. It has many youthful characters, adult characters and supernatural characters, and each of them bristle with personality. The work also has a deeper meaning. The author has attempted to present the world condition in a truthful and hopeful way, which is designed to ignite imagination and possibility.

    When I was seven years old the bullies in my class almost killed me; my father was angry that I let it happen but he always hated me.At thirteen I went to prison for a crime I didn’t commit; it was the worst experience of my life.Living on the streets was hard; being part of a gang was harder.Oh, and I did find people to love along the way…and, I would do anything to protect them. Anything.**WARNING** 18+ Readers Only. Graphic content and subject matter. (This is a standalone novel)NOTE: Mean Little People was previously titled Born Mobster. The content remains the same.

    In his first book, Murry describes his decades of experience as a leader in the world of fashion along with personal advice on how he made it to the top of the profession he was destined to have—and how we can do the same in our careers.Murry gives us glimpses of well-known fashion personalities, institutions, and events, and in an easy-going, humble narrative, takes us from his childhood in Houston to the most influential runways of the world, including his travels around the globe and a stint on an oil rig as a young man. Equally important are Murry’s takeaways on what qualities he believes it takes to become a good leader and how we can use them to achieve success in any workplace. This is not a how-to, but rather a thoughtful and straightforward look at the talents and grace that allowed Murry to thrive in his chosen career. Everyone, no matter their career or stage in life—or their knowledge of or interest in the fashion world—will find this book a fun, informative, and inspirational gift from an author who wants everyone to enjoy the same success in their career that he has.