A rabble of hard-talking, hog-riding, whore-mongering brawlers they may be, but the Grey Bastards are Jackal's sworn brothers, fighting at his side in a land where there's no room for softness.And once Jackal's in charge--as soon as he can unseat the Bastards' tyrannical, seemingly unkillable founder--there's a few things they'll do different. Better.Or at least, that's the plan. Until the fallout from a deadly showdown makes Jackal start investigating the Lot Lands for himself. Soon, he's wondering if his feelings have blinded him to ugly truths about this world, and the Bastards' place in it.In a quest for answers that takes him from decaying dungeons to the frontlines of an ancient feud, Jackal finds himself battling invading orcs, rampaging centaurs, and grubby human conspiracies alike--along with a host of dark magics so terrifying they'd give even the heartiest Bastard pause.Finally, Jackal must ride to confront a threat that's lain in wait for generations, even as he wonders whether the Bastards can--or should--survive.

    As Anna Mae grows up, she finds herself subject to blackouts, and she’s not sure why. Her psychiatrist thinks she might have traumatic amnesia, but all the diagnosis does is complicate her already troubled life, affecting her relationships involving family, friends, and love. At first she tries to deal with it, but she soon discovers that she will have to overcome it once and for all. For she can’t remember the crucial information she witnessed during a recent blackout. And her life depends on it.

    Yet when they returned to school in the fall, Braxton made a decision that drove Tiffany to transfer schools and never look back.Now, nearly a decade later, they meet again as business experts vying for the same contract at a prestigious school. In addition to their professional competition, tensions mount as Braxton and Tiffany discover that they have two different versions of what happened to their romance so long ago. Can they overcome hard feelings and pick up where they left off? Tiffany’s father passed away a few months ago, just as she was founding her new project management firm. She wonders if her leap of faith was a good move, and her doubts only increase when she learns that someone from the firm she left is trying to undermine her independent efforts…not to mention her possibilities with Braxton.Braxton thought he might follow his father’s footsteps into ministry. His wild fraternity days caught up with him, however, causing Braxton to give up the idea of teaching anyone to follow the faith he so obviously neglected. Can he win back his own self-respect and the heart of the woman he never forgot?Stuck On You is the first book in The Stoneworth Series by bestselling Christian Fiction author Michelle Stimpson. The family history is briefly established, and then readers are off to experience the Stoneworth family's rich legacy of faith and integrity within the context of contemporary romance. Come fall in love with the family!

    This study guide includes the following sections: Plot Summary, Chapter Summaries & Analysis, Characters, Objects/Places, Themes, Style, Quotes, and Topics for Discussion.

    For hundreds of years, the fighters of the Kusanagi Peninsula have held the Empire’s enemies at bay, earning their frozen spit of land the name ‘The Sword of Kaigen.’Born into Kusanagi’s legendary Matsuda family, fourteen-year-old Mamoru has always known his purpose: to master his family’s fighting techniques and defend his homeland. But when an outsider arrives and pulls back the curtain on Kaigen’s alleged age of peace, Mamoru realizes that he might not have much time to become the fighter he was bred to be. Worse, the empire he was bred to defend may stand on a foundation of lies.Misaki told herself that she left the passions of her youth behind when she married into the Matsuda house. Determined to be a good housewife and mother, she hid away her sword, along with everything from her days as a fighter in a faraway country. But with her growing son asking questions about the outside world, the threat of an impending invasion looming across the sea, and her frigid husband grating on her nerves, Misaki finds the fighter in her clawing its way back to the surface.

    After dedicating his whole life to studying magic, in the hopes of fulfilling his dream, he finally finds a way to do it. However, in order to become a mage, he must first win a deadly free-for-all tournament against the most powerful mages in the world. The fantasy world that the story takes place in is inspired by Dungeons and Dragons and by The Lord of the Rings. The story of Magium starts at the beginning of the tournament, right after Barry and all the other participants are transported to the continent where the contest is taking place. The tournament takes place on a continent hidden from the rest of the world, where there are mythical creatures like dragons and hydras, but also remnants of an old and technologically advanced civilization, whose magically powered devices are still being used in the present day. As the series progresses, Barry will meet with other participants, he will make friends and enemies, and he will gradually find out more about the continent he is on, and its inhabitants. He will find out that a person called "The Creator" had established several utopias in this place, six hundred years ago, where animals and humans lived in harmony, and food was created through magic. What Barry will get to see through his travels, however, is the downfall of these utopias, some of them being on the brink of destruction. As he begins to get involved with the people of this land, Barry will need to decide if he can simply ignore what is happening before his eyes, or if he will intervene, at the risk of being banned from the tournament, and forfeiting his dream. Credits for the magic ball image on the cover go to Agnes Landgraf.

    In the south the Star Towers fell, swallowed by the sea, while the black glaciers descended upon the northern holdfasts, entombing the cities of Min-Ceruth in ice and sorcery. Then from the ancient empire of Menekar the paladins of Ama came, putting every surviving sorcerer to the sword and cleansing their taint from the land for the radiant glory of their lord.The pulse of magic slowed, fading like the heartbeat of a dying man.But after a thousand years it has begun to quicken again.In a small fishing village a boy with strange powers comes of age...A young queen rises in the west, fanning the long-smoldering embers of magic into a blaze once more...Something of great importance is stolen - or freed - from the mysterious Empire of Swords and Flowers...And the immortals who survived the ancient cataclysms bestir themselves, casting about for why the world is suddenly changing...

    Now she's filled with uncontrollable rage and access to magic she thought had been bled from her people years ago. Even her years of secret training in elite hand-to-hand combat and meditation can’t calm the fires raging inside her.Her heart is torn between two boys, the one she’s always loved and the one who always ignored her. But when the kingdom threatens to tear itself apart due to rumors surrounding the queen’s alleged affair, who will Lianne protect and who will she destroy?

    A DETERMINED GIRL Dindi can't do anything right, maybe because she spends more time dancing with pixies than doing her chores. Her clan hopes to marry her off and settle her down, but she dreams of becoming a Tavaedi, one of the powerful warrior-dancers whose secret magics are revealed only to those who pass a mysterious Test during the Initiation ceremony. The problem? No-one in Dindi's clan has ever passed the Test. Her grandmother died trying. But Dindi has a plan... AN EXILED WARRIOR Kavio is the most powerful warrior-dancer in Faearth, but when he is exiled from the tribehold for a crime he didn't commit, he decides to shed his old life. If roving cannibals and hexers don't kill him first, this is his chance to escape the shadow of his father's wars and his mother's curse. But when he rescues a young Initiate girl, he finds himself drawn into as deadly a plot as any he left behind. He must decide whether to walk away or fight for her... assuming she would even accept the help of an exile.

    The country is on its knees.In a society that fears and shuns him, Aranok is the first magically-skilled draoidh to be named King’s Envoy.Now, charged with restoring an exiled foreign queen to her throne, he leads a group of strangers across the ravaged country. But at every step, a new mystery complicates their mission.As bodies drop around them, new threats emerge and lies are revealed, can Aranok bring his companions together and uncover the conspiracy that threatens the kingdom?Strap in for this twisted fantasy road trip from award-winning author Justin Lee Anderson.

    To counter it, the realm must call on its greatest heroes, its most courageous adventurers. Unfortunately, those great heroes, those brave adventurers, are all busy—being dead mostly.So it is left to Dannen Ateran, known in his youth as the Bloody Butcher but, more recently as the passed-out drunk at the table in the corner, to lead his companions against an army of the dead.They are not heroes.But perhaps they just might do.The Antiheroes is the first book in a new epic fantasy series by bestselling author Jacob Peppers. It is a tale of fast-paced action, swordfights, magic, and humor. Think you can't laugh at undead armies and battles of life and death? Come find out.

    All believe that Aleksi, a sixteen-year-old orphan, was blessed to be born with a Rune embedded in his palm, but that’s only because they don’t know the truth―Aleksi’s Rune is so powerful it’s killing him.Asura, a brutal emperor who uses Runes to conquer entire continents, will stop at nothing to kill Aleksi and claim the boy’s power for his own. With Aleksi’s Rune burning its way through his body and assassins hunting his every step, his survival depends on discerning ally from enemy and learning to tame the competing forces of light and dark within.With the burden of his rune haunting his days and the prophetic whispers of a young captive priestess illuminating his nights, Aleksi will be able to unravel the mysteries of his past, rescue the girl in his dreams, and challenge the most powerful warlord the world has ever known only if the one thing keeping him alive―his Rune―does not kill him first.--From the Back Cover:AN ANCIENT CURSE COULD MEAN ULTIMATE POWER.BUT AT WHAT COST?"Stone has hit it out of the ballpark with this book, and you will not want to put it down." --Ben Greenfield, New York Times bestselling author of Beyond Training"An engaging story filled with magic, swordplay, and even pirates... Easy five stars." --Dave Barrett, author of It's All Fun and Games"The flowing prose is experienced rather than read--and done with vivid clarity. I'm highly anticipating the next in the series!" --J-F. Dubeau, author of The Life Engineered and A God in the Shed"I was on the edge of my seat, across oceans and over land, until the last page." --Zachary Tyler Linville, author of Welcome to Deadland"Absolutely the perfect universe to geek out over." --Rick Heinz, author of The Seventh Age: Dawn"A fresh superbly crafted fantasy epic that conquers both world and character building" --Tal M. Klein, author of The Punch Escrow

    Their leader has chosen Thalia as the test subject for a torture device of untold power, designed to change and twist her into something that is neither human nor Denai.Escaping, Thalia finds an unwilling warrior to protect her and an unlikely Denai to befriend her. After finding a home at the Citadel as a servant, Thalia’s worst nightmare comes to life and she begins to show signs of power. Scared and unable to control her gifts, she tries to hide her past to fit in among the Denai. But the Septori want their latest test subject back and will stop at nothing to retrieve her, dead or alive.

    You could work around it, dodge it, run away from it. But in Bria Ford’s new life, the truth is always knocking … about the past, the fate of friends and family, the realities of burgeoning love, and the changed world. For Bria there’s no escaping the truth—no matter how much she may want to. In this unflinching sequel to Jacqueline Brown’s The Light, Bria and her friends stride into the heart of the post-disaster world and face test after test of their character and convictions. Bria must choose her path in this wounded world. Freedom or comfort? Give up or run? Who has she become since the world fell away?

     Keras Selyrian is already well on the way to cutting his name into the annals of legend. He’s fought false divinities, thieving sorcerers, and corrupt demigods — and left them defeated in his wake. But he’s a long way from home, and Kaldwyn offers a different brand of danger than he’s used to. He’s already got a sword of unfathomable power, but it’s damaged and leaking world-annihilating mana, so he’s in the market for a new one. Possibly six. The more the better, really. The Six Sacred Swords are Kaldwyn’s most famous artifacts, forged as the only means to defeat the god beasts. Each sword must be earned by a worthy champion, and no single person has ever managed to collect them all. Not yet, at least. Keras is just getting started. Additional Info: Six Sacred Swords is a light-hearted fantasy adventure inspired by Japanese game series like The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, and Fire Emblem. It takes place in the same universe as the Arcane Ascension novels, but years earlier and with a different protagonist. While the books are interconnected, they can be read on their own in any order.