Besides having a touch of magic in his blood, he is also one of a chosen few – an assembly of extraordinary men responsible for the safekeeping of a celestial power. Yet he is not immune to the anguish that can plague a mortal man's existence. On a bright morning in the year 1247, a young woman lies dying in Alexander's arms. With her final breath, she compels him to make a promise – a vow that will change his life. Three days later, he takes a baby girl from an abbey in southern England and flees north to the Cumbrian hills. The child's name is Emma. Alexander refuses to believe what he's been told about Emma's conception. His commitment to her upbringing, however, remains steadfast. He raises her as his own, in seclusion and in peace, trusting that the past will stay in the past. It does not.Years later, their quiet existence is threatened when a familiar evil is unleashed. Despite all his efforts, Alexander is forced to break his sacred vows and use a forbidden power to save the child he loves. In doing so, he must make the ultimate sacrifice. His punishment will be final. He has no defense.But the past, it seems, is not done with Alexander. When all hope is gone, an unexpected voice speaks from the shadows of time, and tells a tragic tale of lies, betrayal, and love lost. Can such a reckoning save Alexander's life? Can the forgiveness of a ghost save his soul? And will the love of a child allow him, at last, to believe in miracles?

    You might have heard the rumours—whispers of an evil plot involving time travel, dangerous experiments, a secret fortress, a terrible book, famous authors and, regrettably, murder. You might also have heard of heroes who were caught up in this plot, fighting to do the right thing. That sounds a lot more impressive than it actually was. My name is Boone Shepard. I’m here to set the record straight.”Boone is taking a break from writing for The Chronicle newspaper to hunt down and destroy every last copy of a very rare, very dangerous book. But then his editor calls to demand he investigate a missing persons case deep in the Scottish Highlands—in the company of his rival, photographer Promethia Peters—and he is forced to abandon his personal goals and get back to work. Restless and begrudging, Boone is unprepared when this hunt leads him back to the one story that won’t stop chasing him—his own. Boone Shepard is the first in a series of young adult novels following the adventures of an Australian expat, errant journalist and accidental hero.

    She is very wary of people’s motives based on an event before she was born that could have been disastrous for both her beloved father and mother’s felicity. The result is that she is quick to judge and anger and very slow to forgive. She does not see it yet, but she has far too many prejudices that colour her perceptions.Driven by his life experiences, including the loss of his beloved father, almost losing his sister to a blackguard and relentless hunting of his person by unmarried ladies and their families of the Ton for his wealth and status, Fitzwilliam Darcy has learnt to rely on his own judgement above all others and had developed his haughty mask of pride, disdain and indifference. Once he believes that something or someone is a certain way, he does not allow anyone to change his mind. He ignored his mother about the hiring of his sister’s first companion and the result was the Ramsgate debacle, but he had not learnt his lesson yet.He misinterprets information that he heard from his Aunt, Lady Catherine, about her parson’s relatives and the estate that is entailed upon him and with assumptions and surety that he is never wrong coupled with his failure to listen to his friends the Bingleys when they try to correct his perception, he makes a huge mistake at the infamous assembly in Meryton and faces a very angry Lady Elizabeth Bennet. They both make assumptions about the other and we see the consequences that follow.Wickham arrives in Meryton to join the Derbyshire Militia to hide from his main creditor, the Spaniard, he tries to ply Lady Elizabeth with his lies but to his chagrin she is forewarned and not only exposes him for what he is, she dares to deride and laugh at him in a very public forum. He leaves Meryton just before the Fitzwilliam brothers return and swears revenge on the woman that has moved his nemesis Darcy out of his top spot of his hated people list.Will Wickham get his revenge and will our couple work out their misunderstandings? Lady Anne Darcy is alive in this series and has a lot of influence on various characters and their expected behaviour. This is the first of a three book series.

    Where you bring the party to the field, where you dance all night, where anything goes. From New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Abbi Glines comes a series about a small Southern town filled with cute boys in pickup trucks, Friday night football games, and crazy parties that stir up some major drama. This boxed set includes: Until Friday Night Under the Lights After the Game

    Scientists referred to the event as The Anomaly. A byproduct of The Anomaly was the advent of hybrid beings—people who became mixed with whatever animal or object was closest to them the moment the event occurred. Humans, or pedigrees, soon relegated fairy refugees and hybrids into ghetto zones in large cities.Seventy years later, Wolfgang Rex, a second-generation hybrid—part human, part Rhodesian Ridgeback—is a retired police detective who runs a private investigation business in Chicago’s Southside. It’s a one-hybrid show; though Rex couldn’t survive without his assistant, the faerie Sally Sandweb.One night, two vampires visit Rex and offer him a substantial reward for the recovery of a stolen scroll. Later that same evening, Charlotte Sweeney-Jarhadill, a pedigree woman from Louisiana, visits Rex and hires him to exorcize the headless ghost of a Confederate soldier from her home.To complicate matters, the private detective ends up falling for Charlotte. Meanwhile, the vampires demand results in the search for the missing scroll. When Rex’s assistant Sally goes missing, he must stay alive long enough to find her. Charlotte and the vampires, however, have other plans for Rex.

    If the government can no longer protect your home, farm or property, HOLDING will teach you how. HOLDING covers virtually every aspect of protecting you and your family in the event society breaks down. Many people have preparations for food, water, shelter and personal defense. HOLDING will teach you how to configure your home, train your team, and properly equip any location for defense. Covering topics ranging from hiding in plain sight to pre-positioning of supplies, HOLDING uses common sense, military tactics and historical examples that allow you to prepare for defense without affecting your property's value or appearance.

    Drawing on evidence from archaeology, history, cognitive neuroscience, psychopharmacology, social psychology, literature, and genetics, Slingerland shows that our taste for chemical intoxicants is not an evolutionary mistake, as we are so often told. In fact, intoxication helps solve a number of distinctively human challenges: enhancing creativity, alleviating stress, building trust, and pulling off the miracle of getting fiercely tribal primates to cooperate with strangers. Our desire to get drunk, along with the individual and social benefits provided by drunkenness, played a crucial role in sparking the rise of the first large-scale societies. We would not have civilization without intoxication. From marauding Vikings and bacchanalian orgies to sex-starved fruit flies, blind cave fish, and problem-solving crows, Drunk is packed with fascinating case studies and engaging science, as well as practical takeaways for individuals and communities. The result is a captivating and long overdue investigation into humanity's oldest indulgence—one that explains not only why we want to get drunk, but also how it might actually be good for us to tie one on now and then.

    Best-selling author Peter Bernstein presents the story of the canal's construction against the larger tableau of America in the first quarter-century of the 1800s. Examining the social, political, and economic ramifications of this mammoth project, Bernstein demonstrates how the canal's creation helped prevent the dismemberment of the American empire and knit the sinews of the American industrial revolution. Featuring a rich cast of characters, including not only political visionaries like Washington, Jefferson, van Buren, and the architect's most powerful champion, Governor DeWitt Clinton, but also a huge platoon of Irish diggers as well as the canal's first travelers, Wedding of the Waters reveals that the twenty-first-century themes of urbanization, economic growth, and globalization can all be traced to the first great macroengineering venture of American history.

    

    Unfortunately, that was before two dudes wielding high-tech gadgets made off with both his kegs and his brother. Now Clyde has to hunt down his sibling with only his most trusted lackey along to help. Will he manage to recover both his beer and Dougie? Will they survive the night as they unveil the mysterious secret of the kidnappers? Will the Earth be destroyed thanks to their bumbling incompetence? Probably that last one, but you’ll have to read it to find out.

    A dream you dream together is reality." ---John Lennon " Reason and judgment are the qualities of a leader. " - Tacitus As long as you are alive, and I am alive, our dreams will remain alive. Even after Dr. Martin Luther King was shot, his dreams are still alive and have been passed to the next generation to pursue freedom, democracy, equality, justice, peace, and prosperity. Thanks to his wake-up call and pains-taking efforts, modern society is much more open-minded and tolerant towards differences. A good leader should be a good reader; A good reader can become a good leader. Reading minds can be as challenging as reading books. This book documents my book reading experience and my reflections upon politics, education, psychology, communication, religion, and philosophy...etc. as well as my mind reading experience. It is a collection of my posts on my blog and on Facebook, where I have been sharing my thoughts and interacting with top political and business leaders, celebrities, and scholars in America, Europe, and Asia, implicitly and explicitly during the past two years (Sept.2010 through Sept.2012). It is possible that my Facebook posts might have inspired lots of creative celebrities who produced stunning songs, movies, and TV shows. Here are some songs: "Born this way," "The Edge of Glory," "Hair," "You and I," "Government Hooker," "Princess Die,""Princess High," "So Happy I Could Die," "Bloody Mary," "Highway Unicorn"--- by Lady Gaga "I Love You This Big" by Scotty McCreery, American Idol 2011 winner "Brighter Than the Sun" by Colbie Caillat "I Wanna Go" by Brittney Spears "Options" by Gomez "Firework" by Katy Perry "Love You Like a Love Song" by Selina Gomez "Year of 4" by Beyonce "Princess of China" by Coldplay "International Love" by Pit Bull "Mr. Know-It-All," "Stronger" by Kelly Clarkson "Mr. President " by Coco Jambo WE CAN BE ANYTHING by Apl.de.ap "I Am Your Leader" by Nicki Minaj "Triumph" by Mariah Carey "Give Your Heart A Break," "Sky Scraper" by Demi Lovato "My Hair Song" by Rhett & Link " There's A Place For Us" by Carrie Underwood "One Thing," "Take Me Home" by One Direction "Let Go," "Chasing Satellite" by Tomas Fiss "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele "Your Body" by Christina Aguilera "Somebody to Love""Turn to You" "As Long as You Love Me" "Believe""Boyfriend" "Dr.Bieber" by Justin Bieber ...among others. Movies and TV shows: The King's Speech, The Master, Magic Mike, Dr. Who, The Who, The Paper Boy, Killing Them Softly, Captain America, Captain China, Captain Planet, The Dictator, The Hunger Game, The Man with Iron Fists, A Gifted Man, Think Like a Man, Master Class, Big Brother, Under-Covered Boss, Train the Dragon...and so forth. Others: Tedx, SpaceX, MITx, HarvardX, Milk X... It feels good to be approved, appreciated, and accepted by so many intelligent people. I hope to reach out to more people and make more connections, which are vital.

    Kai-Fu Lee—one of the world’s most respected experts on AI and China—reveals that China has suddenly caught up to the US at an astonishingly rapid and unexpected pace.In AI Superpowers, Kai-Fu Lee argues powerfully that because of these unprecedented developments in AI, dramatic changes will be happening much sooner than many of us expected. Indeed, as the US-Sino AI competition begins to heat up, Lee urges the US and China to both accept and to embrace the great responsibilities that come with significant technological power.Most experts already say that AI will have a devastating impact on blue-collar jobs. But Lee predicts that Chinese and American AI will have a strong impact on white-collar jobs as well. Is universal basic income the solution? In Lee’s opinion, probably not.  But he provides a clear description of which jobs will be affected and how soon, which jobs can be enhanced with AI, and most importantly, how we can provide solutions to some of the most profound changes in human history that are coming soon.

    The consequences of this gathering may be enormous. In this new ebook, experts Patrick J. Michaels and Paul C. Knappenberger assess the issues sure to drive the debate before, during, and after the Paris meeting.

    Yet something is not quite right, and it started with a dream that smelt of luncheon meat.Peter is successful at what he does, even though he is not sure what that is anymore. When Titan Development contracts him to go to Queensland to assess a prime piece of real estate on the Pickersgill Peninsula Showgrounds he jumps at the chance. It will give him time out from having to be with the family he loves. And it will take him back to the home where he grew up; to his parents, who are members of the Show society, his twin sister Pearl, a bingo caller and foster mother, and his brother Gary, the TV weatherman.Over these few days, he will come to realize that sometimes when you go back to where you came from you find out how much you actually have, and how much you could lose.All he has to do is make his mind up, and listen to the advice that he is given by, of all people, the King of Hot Dogs.But will he?

    Take care of her, protect her, get her to talk, that was my only responsibility as the vice president.But I let the job become personal and developed my own agenda: keep her and claim her. Even though I know I shouldn't, I've let her live in fear just to keep her close.HavenStorm has been my protector, my savior, the man I have fallen for. He's all I need in this world besides my sister, or is he? I'm starting to wonder what's really true. Has he really tried to help me, or has he kept me right where he wants me? It's time for both of us to get the answers we seek.