Parker started with only fifty dollars and a dream. In The Game Makers, Philip E. Orbanes, a game historian and former Parker Brothers executive, explores the often whimsical origins of popular games and toys - from the Monopoly Game to the Nerf ball to Ping-Pong to Sorry! - and reveals how generations of determined entrepreneurs built a family business empire." Through an engaging narrative based on extensive research - including the never-before-published personal archives of George S. Parker and interviews with his successors - Orbanes takes us on a journey through the birth and maturation of the toy industry as seen through the eyes of one of its greatest legends. Sprung from Parker's fervent belief that games were meant to last and be fun, this tiny family firm would grow into a brand powerhouse that reflected - and ultimately helped shape - the culture of a nation. Through world wars and the Great Depression, through natural disasters and family tragedies, Parker Brothers succeeded in bringing smiles to the faces of millions by connecting them to - or helping them forget - the events taking place around them.

    Not even her closest friends could help her out of the rut she’s been in, after her bad break up with her last beau, Derrick. But, thanks to one of her devoted girlfriends, Laila, and the hot new dating app on the market, DateNight, Jennifer just might have a good chance, and another shot, at love. T​​hat is, until fate finally throws a bone her way. Into her hectic and loveless life walks Aiden, who could have only been sent Jennifer’s way by the dating gods. A gentleman of high reproach, Aiden quickly sweeps Jennifer off her feet, and into his own life. B​​ut, this fairy tale romance may not be all that it seems to Jennifer. Sure, there’s the flowers, the dinners and the earth-quaking sex, but there’s also a secret or two that Aiden is keeping from Jennifer, which may end their perfect relationship forever. W​​hile Jennifer does need to protect her heart from Aiden’s secret, she knows that she can’t keep ​Running from Love f​orever. This book is intended for mature audiences.

    A massive invasion fleet suddenly appears off the corner of the solar system, headed towards Earth. The nearest patrol ship is sent to investigate, with little chance of survival.

    From breakfasts to snacks, light lunches and dinners. The recipes are expertly balanced with plenty of protein and moderate complex carbohydrates. They're all designed to fill you up and stave off hunger pangs.This practical guide provides detailed menu plans and plenty of advice and encouragement to get you started. Jacqueline demystifies the latest medical research into The 5:2 Diet and Intermittent Fasting.The 5:2 Diet will revolutionise the way you think about food.By dieting just two days a week you can lose weight and potentially lower your risk of age-related diseases.

    Drowning her sorrows in a bottle of bourbon, Helena goes home with a stranger for a one-night stand that’s out of this world—only he’s a human. Strictly off-limits. With a pack that’s prejudiced against human kind, Helena can never take a non-magickal mate. But the bond of her Fated Mate calls to her and Helena does the only thing she can… she runs. Ash Carmicheal had to grow up too fast. Chased by memories that he’d rather forget, Ash travels the globe searching for dangerous, thrill-seeking jobs, attempting to numb the pain he runs from. But no job could be as dangerous as the woman he’s falling for. Helena is beautiful, fierce, and wild. The attraction is undeniable. The erotic night they share together is passionate and free. But when their bond ignites, she vanishes, and Ash is devastated. Will he be able to find Helena again? Are they fated for forever love, or will pack law keep them apart? Snark and sensuality make the perfect match in Fated Wolf, a shifter romance packed with action, adventure, humor, and magick—not to mention throat-punching, sex aerobics, and deep-throat-Googling. This hot paranormal romp has a heartbroken daredevil bad boy and a planner-carrying, list-making sex kitten, leaving readers swooning for the kickoff of a new VonBrandt Pack Moonbound Wolves series—the FATED MATES OF SOMEWHERE, TX.

    But when she loses her job, gets dumped and is made homeless within the space of a fortnight, Alex reluctantly returns to her home town – a place she thought she’d left for good 10 years earlier. With barely a penny to her name… Alex is surprised to find there are some advantages to moving back: reconnecting with old friends who had been such a big part of her teenage years. Although being back brings up old feelings Alex thought she had buried for good, feelings that should be well and truly left in the past – especially when it came to her old high school boyfriend, Lewis Ashworth. Desperate to return to her London lifestyle, Alex takes advice from her old school friend Cody McKenzie, who suggests she only has to “fake it till she makes it” How hard can that be? After all, hadn’t she been doing that for years? Whether reluctantly trying to drive her nan’s mobility scooter, putting bullying bosses in their place or looking for creative ways to avoid her mum’s increasingly weird cooking, follow Alex’s laugh-out-loud journey to “making it”

     Hollywood sweetheart, Lauralie Shaw, is accustomed to getting what she wants, when she wants it. Her spoiled attitude and demanding ways are notorious among her employees, and all of them do their best to keep her happy. All, that is, until her father employed Colton Dixon to fly her private jet. Colton has no patience for Lauralie’s attitude, and no intentions of giving her what she wants. And soon, all Lauralie wants is Colton himself.

    In an epic journey that leads through foreign lands and mysterious realms where demons, monsters, and magic rule, this inexperienced young girl is forced to overcome a protected childhood to face challenges that would crush far more experienced adventurers. With each step, each passing day, she draws closer to a malevolent force so formidable it has defeated the mightiest armies and the strongest magic in her world. How can one lone girl hope to overcome an evil that has never known defeat? In Volume 1, Home Lost, Leena, a sixteen-year-old, half-trained hedge witch, is mysteriously selected to receive the Garlan branch, a magical item that has twice saved her world in the distant past. After a solitary journey through a frozen winter forest to seek this honor, she returns to her village. Nervous with excitement and anticipation, she rushes home to find the secure and treasured town of her youth deserted and in ruins. Confused and alone, Leena has little choice but to set out on a search for her missing friends and family. Can Leena discover why the Garlan branch selected her, in time to save the people she loves?

    She’s wary of love. Can a Christmas miracle bring them together? Welcome to The Cove With heavy iron gates, two security stations, and a groundskeeper's cottage, The Cove has everything a billionaire could ask for in a home. Dubbed Billionaire Bachelor Cove because of the resident's single status and income portfolios, The Cove is the perfect place to hide away from the world. But, as the residents soon find out, they can't hide from love. Christmas with the Captain Emmett Rockwell is the founder of Omni Tech. At age thirty-one he’s acquired the ultimate American dream of unlimited wealth and time. There’s just one problem—he doesn’t have anyone to share it with. The women he’s dated have all had dollar signs in their eyes, and Emmett is tired of playing that game. He’s ready to become a confirmed bachelor when he meets Grace, the caterer hired for the upcoming Christmas party on his yacht. Grace is a breath of fresh air, treating him like a regular person, and Emmett isn’t about to ruin that by confessing his true identity. He tells her a half-truth: that he is captain of the yacht. Grace Palmer never knew how satisfying it would be to start her own catering company. With her sister as her business partner, she spends all day doing what she loves—cooking and baking up new recipes to her heart’s content. Coming off of a bad relationship, Grace isn’t looking for romance, but when Emmett walks through her door, her heart has other ideas. Convinced he’s a playboy captain, she pushes him away, but his charm and persistence break through her defenses. As the night of the Christmas party draws closer, Emmett plans to tell Grace the truth about who he is, but a vengeful ex-girlfriend beats him to it. Will Grace run when she realizes Emmett hasn’t been upfront about his identity, or will love be enough to turn the tide and cross the ocean between their hearts?

    Explore how certain myths arose while using our own cognition as a window into the game's popular narratives. New basketball concepts are introduced, such as power plays, portability and why the best player shouldn't always shoot. Discover how the box score can be misleading, why "closers" are overrated and how the outcome of a game fundamentally alters our memory. Behavioral economics, traffic paradoxes and other metaphors highlight this thought-provoking insight into the NBA and our own thinking. A must-read for any basketball fan -- you'll never view the sport, and maybe the world, the same again.

    Why? From day one she's been in love with Jack Lasater, her computer-genius boss who--grasps intricate code and computer security but never understands people. Five years of being valued only as the executive assistant who makes his life easier is no longer enough for Annie. If she goes now, she can leave with her pride intact. As she writes her letter of resignation, an unexpected call from Jack's estranged, successful surgeon father upends Annie's plan and Jack's life. His dad's multiple-facility Hope Medical network's computers have been hacked. He needs Jack's expertise to discover the hacker and prevent another intrusion. Jack wants nothing to do with his father, but Annie points out this should be a "bottom line" decision. And though she doesn't say so, Jack needs to face his father. . So Jack grits his teeth and takes the job. Now she cannot leave, not when Jack needs her help to navigate the troubled waters between father and son. After Jack cleans up the Hope mess and designs a new security system, the hacker steps up his attacks. Hope Medical fears he might target patient records. Someone could die. As Jack works to expose the hacker, the true reasons for the estrangement from his father will also be exposed. Is Jack ready for the truth and more importantly, ready to admit what he's ignored all along--that he loves Annie? What will at last break through his emotional firewall?Four unlikely couples find opposites do attract even in the shadow of mystery~

    . . Cambridge on the morning of a day in April, the year of Our Lord 1569.And Christopher Radcliff, Doctor of Civil Laws at Pembroke Hall and recruiter of clever young men to the service of the Earl of Leicester, is amongst a crowd of excited townsfolk and university scholars gathered on a field to watch a game of foot ball. It is to be played between the apprentices of the town and pupils of the colleges and it is hoped it will reconcile differences between town and gown. Bets are placed, wagers made. On the field long-standing animosities surface and violence breaks out but not before the college team is victorious, thanks to the skill of a Pembroke Hall man, John Groom.Later that day, Radcliff is summoned to the senior tutor’s rooms. It transpires that John Groom has been locked up on a serious charge of assault – he’d nearly caused a cobbler’s apprentice to drown. If found guilty, Groom would be expelled from college and face imprisonment. But Christopher smells a rat. He believes the charge to be the fabrication of someone with a serious grudge against the young man, and yet it does seem as if Groom is hiding something. Enlisting the help of his friend Edward Allington and his wife Katherine, Dr Radcliff knows the truth lies somewhere within the infamous den that is Slegge’s gaming house…

    Victims react in different ways. Most become like zombies, wandering about aimlessly unless they come across someone to bite and spread the disease. Others become aggressive and animal like. Rarer are those who seem to immune. Eric Vance of the newly formed Tactical Medical Response Team is one of the immune. He is trapped in San Francisco awaiting rescue after a doomed mission into the Quarantined California left him and two others stranded. He learns his ex wife, Donna and teenage daughter, Katelin are trapped in a newly quarantine part of Southern California. Knowing they are trouble he makes plans to leave his post and go help them. Donna and Katelin are not waiting around for help. They fall in with a motley bunch of survivors and try to fight their way out, but the rot is much more pervasive and deadly than they could have anticipated. To complicate matters roaming the wasteland collecting the immune and processing them into samples to study is mad TMRT scientist Dr. Talbot. Even if Vance and his family can survive the rot Talbot has other sinister plans for them.

     Soul Fire by Kelly Abell Sometimes breaking a curse leads to an unforeseen destiny Desired Revenge by Solease M. Barner A throne lost.. Centuries of debt.. A new threat arises that not only jeopardizes her lost kingdom but also her heart. Sometimes vengeance isn't vengeance once the heart is involved. Will Carmen have her Desired Revenge? Devon by Kathi S. Barton Kelly was finally taking the vacation she had been promising herself for years... and escaping her crazy family. But as fate would have it somethings are worse than insane relatives. On Wings of Time by Linda Boulanger One man with a dragon’s soul. One woman with the key to unlock his powers. With six hundred years separating them, Fate’s carefully woven web is about to be tested with a kiss and the flip of a coin. Dragonslayer, Dragon Heart by Isobelle Cate Heart of a Dragon by L.J. Garland When an unimaginable evil rains down from the sky, fate demands action from the most unlikely place--a terminally ill woman. But even with a fierce warrior at her side, does a single dragon stand a chance at saving the world? Promised to A Dragon by Darlene Kuncytes When you're promised in marriage to a dragon shifter like a piece of chattel... what will it be - fight or flight? The Dragon's Sacrifice by Andi Lawrencovna Sadie’s Shadow by Julia Mills Long forgotten secrets, ancient curses and a prophecy she's been running from for over a century. Fate and Destiny battle for Sadie’s soul but only her Shadow knows the truth... I Dream of Dragons by Tricia Owens When a genie in a bottle seduces her inner dragon, a sorceress must decide if the attraction is real or if she is being tricked. Fire and Ice by Kate Richards The battle for Crossroads rests in the hands of an ice dragon who has yet to shift and isn’t sure she can. Is his fire enough to set her desire ablaze and free the dragon within? Curse of the Dragon's Eye by Kali Willows When reality is just an ancient curse in disguise, an Egyptian Pharaoh fights for her soul & her flight of dragons Scorched Hearts by Victoria Zak One lost heart and another ready for love collide with burning desire. One of them is bound to get SCORCHED.

    His search for the truth soon becomes a fight for survival and a race against evil, with any chance of correcting the timeline slowly slipping away.*** Time Split is also available in paperback. Also by Patricia Smith: Distant Suns, Distant Suns - The Journey Home, Islands - The Epidemic and Nebathan.