Growing up in less than desirable circumstances has made him no stranger to the hard knock life but his determination to leave it behind is fervent. He sees an opportunity to snag a college football scholarship when he’s transferred to East Franklin High School but Forbes Henderson has other plans. The player Jesse intends to replace doesn’t plan on giving up his spot as starting quarterback so a rivalry is born. Jesse is determined to show his nemesis that he’s not only going to take his position as first string quarterback, he’s going to take his girl, too. Claire Deveraux is perfection at its best. She’s beautiful, intelligent, and unaware she just became Jesse Boone’s conquest to settle a score with her boyfriend. Like her flawless performance as the perfect daughter and student, Claire’s production of being the perfect girlfriend has everyone fooled, except Jesse Boone. She fears this tattooed bad boy will see her secret desire to explore his crude threats and promises of rocking her perfect world. If she decides to give in to one uninhibited moment with Jesse, will she learn too late that it was all an act of vengeance or will Jesse learn that the taste of first love is sweeter than that of revenge? Shallow- Nick Hawke wants his car fast and his girls faster. He blows through them quicker than his muscle car races down the drag strip in Collinsville and he wouldn’t have it any other way. He’s determined to avoid the devastation he has watched his father endure in the aftermath of his mother’s abandonment. He believes there is no room in his life or his heart for a relationship lasting more than one night. He seeks happiness in things that won’t let him down––fast cars, adrenaline highs, and one night stands. All of that changes when he unexpectedly runs into an old friend and is introduced to Payton Archer, the first girl he ever wanted for more than a night. There’s only one catch––she’s completely immune to him and his smooth talking ways. Payton Archer is looking for love––the true, mad, deep kind. She’s given up on finding it, at least until she leaves for college because she’s certain that is where she’ll find the ideal guy to fit into her perfect world. Her summer plans include nothing more than three uneventful months of fun but it turns out to be anything but ordinary when Payton meets Nick Hawke, one of Jesse’s old Collinsville friends. She’s shocked by her immediate and intense attraction for “Hawke” because nothing about him is on her checklist for the perfect love. Sure, he’s hot and sexy but he comes from Collinsville and that is definitely not on her list of prerequisites. Everything about him makes Payton’s heart speed. He’s exciting and dangerous but his fast car and chance taking aren't what scares Payton the most. It’s the way Nick Hawke makes her feel every time he looks at her. Can Payton find the courage to leave the safe, shallow end of love and risk going under completely?

    She had me at page one’Chris Cleave, author of Everyone Brave is Forgiven The kaleidoscopic story of one woman as seen through the eyes of those she has loved or been loved by.In gemlike chapters, nine characters illuminate an unknowable woman. From the school art teacher who sees a spark of talent in her, to the man whose fleeting passion with her could change his life, to the female student whose friendship turns into love. This kaleidoscopic novella builds a life with colour, with light and dark, and in turn asks the reader: How does the world see you?The Nine-Chambered Heart is a deeply intimate, luminous and fine-boned novel that explores the nature of intimacy and how each connection you make forms who you are.

    Violent storms spring up like magic, even when the rest of the state enjoys sunshine; unearthly beings are sometimes glimpsed in the twilight; and those who live there understand that a rare enchantment still lives in the world, although they seldom speak of it. For Seavy County is home to not just animal life, but to fantasy life as well: mythical creatures long vanished from the rest of the planet. The last survivors of a bygone age, they lead a precarious existence, skirting the fringes of modern civilization.The Buckingham family has protected the hidden wonders of Seavy County for generations. Forty years ago, Lyssa Buckingham's father lost his life doing just that. Lyssa fled from Seavy County, searching for a more normal life, but found tragedy and heartbreak instead. With her ten-year-old daughter, Emily, in tow, she has come home at last, just as the malignant forces that killed her father are gathering strength once more.Now Lyssa must make some hard choices. About the county, about Emily -- and about the fragile fantasy life that surrounds them all.

    They've talked to hundreds of legendary players, such as Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Magic Johnson, and spoken with renowned coaches, including Phil Jackson and Coach K, as well as numerous executives, commissioners, and journalists. Most impressive was the extraordinary quality of the interviews. Again and again, players spoke candidly about secrets and told stories they'd never before discussed on the record.The book that grew out of those interviews is an extraordinary project and quite possibly the most ambitious basketball book ever written. At once a definitive oral history and something far more literary and intimate, this is the never-before-told story of how basketball came to be, and about what it means to those who've given their lives to the game.

    . . At a time when much of America is yearning to recapture the spirit and feelings of a more innocent era, comes this exceptional new book from one of our most beloved actresses: a story of one woman's journey to reconnect with the landscape of her childhood.Though best known today as the star of the television series Once & Again and Sisters, Sela Ward considers herself first and foremost a small-town girl. The eldest of four children, she was raised by a father who helped her believe in herself, and by a mother who taught her a sense of the importance of virtues like self-respect, grace, and sacrifice. In her hometown of Meridian, Mississippi, within a tightly-knit community of neighbors and kin, Sela learned ways that would remain with her throughout life -- humble virtues that were "forged in the hearth of a loving home."After graduating from the University of Alabama, Sela left the South in search of the excitement of cities like New York and Los Angeles, and the creative rewards of an acting career. But as she started her own family, she found herself pining for the comforts of her small-town childhood -- and searching for a way to balance her children's West Coast upbringing with a taste of a more natural way of life. She and her husband built a second home on a farm there, where she and her family could retreat several times each year, and became involved in several projects designed to restore the vitality of the hometown she remembered so fondly. Even as Sela was reconnecting with the rhythms of home, though, her world was rocked by a crisis the family had long anticipated but never quite prepared for -- the death of her mother. As her family gathered around her mama's bedside, Sela's simple journey home became something far deeper: a turning point in her own life, as she pondered her mother's complicated legacy, and came to terms with just what it was she herself was searching for.Filled with warmth, storytelling, and laughter, Homesick is a book to treasure: an exploration of the lessons we carry away with us from childhood, and a celebration of the bittersweet legacy of home.

    Stone, a former assistant professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, draws on his experience as novelist, writing instructor, and military officer to help get you and your writing into tip-top shape.This boot-camp-in-a-book includes 101 carefully crafted drills designed to show you how to:Identify and develop story ideas with laser-like perceptionCreate realistic "alpha" characters who can take charge of any sceneKnow what motivates your protagonist's enemy so that you can amp up the conflictOutline your story to avoid sneak attacks from flawed plot twistsDodge the land mines of bad writing like Deadly Modifier Buildup (DMBU)Triage your scenes to ensure a thorough and precise revision processPlus, there's a twelve-week boot camp battle plan that you can use to stay the course and finish your novel.Novelist's Boot Camp provides you with all the ammunition you need to approach your work with dedication, confidence, and skill. Now, report for duty and start writing that bestseller!

    Like Polaroids framing the years of a troubadour and family man afflicted with an excess of self-awareness, these are stories without any clear good guys or bad guys. Instead, in each of these vignettes, you will find dysfunctional humans trying to do their best and bouncing off each other in the process.

    Sweeping us back to the enigmatic and elusive land of his best-selling Shogun, he weaves an extraordinary tale of Japan, now newly open to gai-jin - foreigners - and teeming with contradictions as the ancient and the modern meet in a clash of cultures, of nations, of generations. It is 1862, and in Japan's Foreign Settlement of Yokohama, reverberations from an explosive act of violence will forever alter - and connect - the lives of the major characters. Malcolm Struan, at twenty, is heir to the title of tai-pan of the most powerful and bitterly contested English trading company in the Orient, the Noble House. Malcolm's fate, and that of his family's legacy, become inextricably intertwined with that of a beautiful young French woman, Angelique Richaud. Desired by many, loved purely and passionately by Malcolm, Angelique will hold the future of the Noble House in her hands. Intricately interwoven into the story of the struggle for control of the Noble House is a powerful parallel story of the Land of the Gods, Japan, a country ripped apart by greed, idealism, and terrorism as groups of young xenophobic revolutionaries, ronin, attempt to seize the Shogunate and expel the hated gai-jin from Japan. One man, Lord Toranaga Yoshi, a direct descendant of the first Toranaga Shogun, attempts not only to protect the Shogunate, but to usher it, and Japan, into the modern age. Amid the brutality and heroism, the betrayals and the stunning romance, a multilayered, complex story unfolds. Here the dark and erotic world of the pleasure houses - the Ladies of the Willow World, spies, and terrorists - meets the world of pageantry and power - monarchs and diplomats. And here East meets West in an inevitable collision of two equally powerful cultures as James Clavell creates a vibrant and authentic

    A woman mourning the loss of her husband finds solace in talking to his ashes, entombed in a curling stone. The title story zeroes in on a girl with Fred Hoyle syndrome, whose age expands and contracts like the universe. The members of a support group for people with benign tumors begin to suspect that their meekness has caused their medical woes.Bang Crunch creates an extraordinary world inhabited by all-too-human characters, and heralds the arrival of a literary talent with an unfailing, exacting concern for the profundities of our lives.

    Author Mick Minas goes behind the scenes-- interviewing players, coaches, and front office personnel--to create the first in-depth look at the history of the Clippers.The Curse is filled with drama: the unauthorized relocation of the franchise that led to the NBA filing a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the Clippers, the disruption of the team's first playoff appearance by the Los Angeles riots, the bold but unsuccessful attempt to sign Kobe Bryant at the peak of his career, and the scandal that ultimately resulted in owner Donald Sterling being banned from the NBA for life. Featuring some of basketball's biggest names, including World B. Free, Elgin Baylor, Danny Manning, Doc Rivers, Larry Brown, Dominique Wilkins, Elton Brand, Baron Davis, Blake Griffin, and Chris Paul, The Curse delves into the disasters of the past and the complications of the present. This is the definitive history of the NBA's most dysfunctional franchise.

    From outperforming LeBron James on one of the NBA's biggest stages, to mapping out his iconic slam dunk contest win over Dwight Howard, to being named Washington's high school football and basketball Player of the Year, Heart Over Height brings to life a story that personifies perseverance.Beginning with his improbable selection as the New York Knicks' first-round draft pick after only playing basketball full time for two years, and continuing on to his unprecedented three NBA Slam Dunk Championships, Robinson has defied the odds every step of his career; a careerthat many analysts and pundits felt would never happen because in a sport filled with seven-footers, Robinson stands only 5'9" tall.Having just completed his 9th electrifying year in the NBA, Robinson has proven all doubters wrong. Heart Over Height tells the story of the people, places, teams and fans that helped make his rise to stardom possible.

    Her father and older brother died in battle. Now at the pinnacle of her career, former military Garrett Flynn becomes her protector when a ruthless killer comes after her. But she doesn't know why she's the target. ˃˃˃ His past might hold the answer. Ex-Navy SEAL Garrett Flynn is employed by Stealth Security to protect celebrity clients. When he shows up at a charity event, a shooter’s sudden attack compels him to be a gorgeous movie star’s bodyguard. Yet a secret haunts him, and he fears it’s the clue to why the killer is after Marlene Parks. ˃˃˃ Garrett must rescue Marlene from the cold peril she faces. The pressure builds as the killer’s attempts on her life escalate. In close proximity to the sexy soldier, and drawn to his alpha male personality, the attraction blossoms. Is it a bodyguard crush or something more? She vows not to get emotionally involved with a military man. But will her heart listen? ˃˃˃ Cold Peril (Stealth Security Book 1) is a standalone romance with no cliffhanger. Genre: military romantic suspense/ Fans of Misty Evans and Katie Reus will enjoy this book!Romance of Garrett Flynn and Marlene Parks

    This autobiographical history of Scientology is told by one of L. Ron Hubbard’s staunchest defenders.

    She is always the first on the dancefloor and the very last to stop boogying. She has never tried to dress like a Parisian, never followed advice on what not to wear, and certainly has never tried to tone down her natural pinkness; she knows he is perfect just the way she is. And even when life throws Flamingo a curveball, she is always ready to embrace the unknown and jump straight in.A gorgeous little gift book of motivational sayings and hilarious axioms, Be a Flamingo is a perfect pink pick-me-up gift for a friend who needs a confidence boost, or great as an impulse self-purchase when you feel you need to start tooting your own horn a little louder. Because we could all do worse than taking a leaf out of Flamingo's book.

    Gordon Ghastle and Allan Yule are promising young directors who help reshape the genre. But as their careers take off, will their need to outdo each other bring them to commit acts more macabre than what they commit to film? Told in intimate detail by their mutual cinematographer, Ghastle and Yule chronicles the rise and fall of two geniuses at the stormy height of their powers—and what happens when obsessions go too far. Josh Malerman is the author of Bird Box and the songwriter for the band the High Strung. He lives in Ferndale, Michigan with his fiancee Allison Laakko. Praise for Bird Box: "This completely compelling novel contains a thousand subtle touches but no mere flourishes- it so well, so efficiently, so directly written I read it with real admiration. Josh Malerman does the job like a fast-talking, wised-up angel." -Peter Straub "Immersive, mesmerizing, and deliciously dark- this the best kind of horror, where your imagination becomes your own worst enemy." -Jamie Ford "Chilling and beautifully told. A must-read." -Hugh Howey, bestselling author of WOOL. "Hitchcockian. A notably strong study of modern psychological terror." -USA Today "Startlingly fresh and potent." -Rue Morgue Magazine Cover design by: Adil Dara