From the first page of each of the edgy and unrelentingly intense stories in this debut collection, the teenaged characters are headed for big trouble. The adult world has mostly failed them, and they find themselves entering into highly charged situations where they make their own rules, with misguided understanding of the consequences. The stories burn hot and fast, providing searing insights into their world of sex, drugs, drinking, violence, and accidental grace, played out in small, tough towns. Written with raw directness and understanding that makes these nine stories impossible to forget, The History of Vegas announces an exciting, fresh talent with the impact of Mary Gaitskill, Mary Karr, and Jayne Anne Phillips.

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    Legions of fans have written to her, asking for more recipes that focus on their specific family challenges. She’s heard them loud and clear, and has crafted meals that are targeted to these special needs, including:• Sneaky Chef Light: Delicious recipes for kids struggling with their weight: with lower calories, lower fat—and all the taste!• Sneaky Chef for Food Allergies. For the millions of children who suffer from food allergies, here are recipes that are dairy-free, egg-free, and gluten-free.• Sneaky Chef for More Variety—More make-ahead purees and crafty, kid-friendly recipes the whole family will love.• Sneaky Chef Celebrates! Even special days can be healthy, as the Sneaky Chef unveils recipes for birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chanukah, Valentine’s Day, Passover, Easter, and more!Sneaky Chef to the Rescue shows that any family can “sneak” good food into their diets, making everybody (both kids and adults) both happier and healthier.

    Days pass, and Steve cannot understand why he doesn't see any rescue planes. Gradually he realizes he is on an uncharted island; rescuers will not be able to locate him, and soon they will think he drowned in the storm. With skill and determination Steve fashions crude equipment for survival, and he discovers that he can live quite well off the land and from the ocean. But he must find a way to return to civilization.

    

     The series begins with the Amish mystery novel A Plain Death. After moving to Amish country, new resident and computer whiz Chloe Humphrey must take on the role of detective when she is involved in an accident that is soon after labeled as murder by local police. With God’s help, Chloe and the victim’s brother, a handsome Amish carpenter, must solve the mystery that is rocking this small Amish town. USA Today and New York Times best-selling author Shelley Shepard Gray reported she read the first book in this series “in one sitting” and could not wait to read the next! The second installment in the Appleseed Creek Mystery Series is the novel A Plain Scandal. Soon after the dust has settled on the “accident thought to be murder” in the first book, we take another thrill-ride with Chloe Humphrey as she attempts to discover who is murdering the Amish and cutting off their hair and beards in Appleseed Creek. Chloe knows from before that finding the murderer and restoring peace to Appleseed Creek is as much her responsibility as anyone else’s in town and she is determined to do so. It is Christmas time in Amish country, and once again we meet Chloe Humphrey in the final installment of the Appleseed Creek Mystery Series entitled A Plain Disappearance. Chloe has begun to settle in to her life in Appleseed Creek, and is excited to see where her new relationship with Timothy Troyer will lead. Unfortunately, it leads to another murder mystery when the couple discovers the body of Amish teenager Katie Lambright while on their first date. Timothy’s best friend Billy Thorpe is implicated in the crime, and it is discovered he has been living in Amish country for the past ten years under a stolen alias. Now, Chloe and Timothy must find Billy, and either bring him to justice or prove his innocence.

    Her family tries at all costs to marry her off to her cousin to keep the inheritance. Nevertheless, she is in love with a Christian slave to whom she writes letters describing her personal experiences.

    Then came a letter from Aunt Daisy and everything changed. Suddenly Tory, Tritch, and Teddy were off to a farm in the Okanagan Valley.... and to a ninety year-old mystery!A story - a book of clues - a surly housekeeper - mysterious happenings at night - danger! How Tory, Tritch, and Teddy approach the mystery at Cranberry Farm will keep readers in suspense throughout this novel.

     Sleep. It’s the most precious commodity, especially when you’re struggling to find it. 'The Baby Sleep Guide' provides simple and easy techniques to help you establish positive sleep habits early on that will pay dividends in the long term. Includes expert support and advice on: • How to settle your baby • Understanding baby sleep cycles • Establishing a night-time routine • Safe sleep Designed to be deliberately concise for time-poor parents, 'The Baby Sleep Guide' offers clear solutions to ensure a good night’s sleep for everyone.

    At 24, she has only been a PI for three years, but in that time she has never found a case she couldn't solve, or a person who could trick her. So when she's asked to investigate an embezzlement case at a nearby factory, Rhea doesn't think twice. What Rhea doesn't know is that the events that will take place on this case will snowball into a life decision. And what starts out as a humdrum investigation, filled with seemingly chance encounters, will change her life forever.

    Others might refer to him as a criminal or a pimp or an extortionist or all of these things, if they knew what he was doing at night. His income is derived from a number of brothels and gambling parlors that are secreted behind iron doors in what appear to be typical apartment buildings. The police—whom he refers to as “the machos”—are oblivious of his enterprises, but he was incarcerated years ago and is uncommonly careful. When Tasking cannot convince someone to do something he wants, he alters that person’s life—elaborately and maliciously—until that person yields to his wishes. He is oblique and autonomous, and he is successful. Daily, his plots, parlors, and prostitutes bring him closer to the large dollar amount that is his ultimate career goal. Things start to change when he walks into the Cherry Red strip club for the first time and meets the dancer, Erin Green. . . .

    Angel is convinced that the voice belongs to his beautiful and enigmatic neighbor, Angela -- and that she is terrified for her life. He paces the floor, waiting for the phone to ring again, calls the police, searches her apartment, but there is no trace of her anywhere, not for days. So begins a haunted man's quest to uncover what happened to the woman he has fallen in love with. Only now does he realize that he knows nearly nothing about her. Angel has his secrets, too. He is the son of one of Hollywood's most successful movie producers, but he has turned away from that bright and power-ridden world. Instead, he leads a cloistered existence, nursing an unfinished screenplay as Ridley Scott's Blade Runner loops ceaselessly in his darkened apartment. But now, for the first time in years, because of Angela's sudden disappearance, Angel is propelled into action. Following the few clues he has gathered about her, he trails Angela through the hard glitter of Los Angeles days and nights. With every new piece of knowledge arrives another question and an even more chilling possibility: Did he merely imagine Angela? Is someone deliberately leading him? Is the phantom he is pursuing the very fear he has been running from? In the murky underworld beneath the bright surface of Los Angeles, everything he knew about her -- and himself -- begins to unravel. In this city of secrets that aren't meant to be told and people who aren't meant to be found, Angel may soon discover that the most dangerous lies of all are the ones you tell yourself.

    When a call comes through on Regan's cell phone, telling her that her father and his driver, Rosita Gonzalez, are being held for $1,000,000 ransom, Alvirah insists that Regan allow her to lend a hand in trying to gain their release. While Regan may be a licensed private detective, based in Los Angeles, Alvirah has many valuable contacts among the ranks of New York's law enforcement community—including the head of the NYPD Major Case Squad, Jack “no relation” Reilly. Further complicating the situation is the fact that Regan's mother, the popular and very successful mystery writer Nora Regan Reilly, was hospitalized only the day before with a badly broken leg. Regan must comfort her while trying to meet the harsh demands of her father's kidnappers—and their tough deadline. The Christmas Thief The folks who picked a beautiful eighty-foot blue spruce from Stowe, Vermont, to be Rockefeller Center’s famous Christmas tree don’t have a clue that Packy Noonan, a scam artist just released from prison, hid priceless diamonds in it more than twelve years ago. Anxious to retrieve his loot, Packy breaks parole and heads to Vermont. When he learns that his special tree will be heading to New York City the next morning, he knows he has to act fast. What Packy doesn’t know is that Alvirah Meehan, everyone’s favorite lottery winner turned amateur sleuth, and Regan Reilly, a savvy young private investigator, are visiting Stowe with their friend Opal, who lost all her lottery winnings in Packy’s scam. And just when they’re supposed to head home, they learn that the tree is missing...and that Opal has disappeared. Dashing Through the Snow In the picturesque village of Branscombe, New Hampshire, the townsfolk are all pitching in to prepare for the first (and many hope annual) Festival of Joy. The night before the festival begins, a group of employees at the local market learn that they have won $160 million in the lottery. One of their co-workers, Duncan, decided at the last minute, on the advice of a pair of crooks masquerading as financial advisers, not to play. Then he goes missing. A second winning lottery ticket was purchased in the next town, but the winner hasn't come forward. Could Duncan have secretly bought it? Alvirah Meehan, the amateur sleuth, and private investigator Regan Reilly have arrived in Branscombe for the festival. They are just the people to find out what is amiss. As they dig beneath the surface, they find that life in Branscombe is not as tranquil as it appears. So much for an old-fashioned weekend in the country!

    The world ends not with a bang but a hiss.Since the Rise of Magic, soothsayer Journi McCutcheon has faced supernatural sycophants, dated zealous zombies, and battled possessed pediatricians, but when an eccentric client hires her to investigate haunted pickles, her day goes from weird to worse.Only demonic dills are the least of her newly acquired problems.What begins as a nuisance call ends in apocalypse when she stumbles across a mass grave and discovers that the cats therein aren't just dead—they're harbingers of extinction.And magic is on the endangered species list.To save her family and Deviants everywhere, she must set aside her feud with all things feline to end the threat.Before it ends her.

    When malicious sprites called the Kinde Folke snatch Mollie’s baby brother and replace him with a hideous changeling, Mollie travels through eerie, perilous lands to save him.   When her adorable baby brother is replaced by an ugly, ill-tempered changeling, Mollie is determined to find the so-called Kinde Folke who took baby Thomas, return the changeling she calls Guest, and make them give Thomas back. Natural and magical obstacles and her own reckless temperament make her journey arduous and full of dangers, and a plot rich in surprises and twists makes this book a must-read for Mary Downing Hahn’s fans.