Each book uses characters, words, and grammar that a learner is most likely to know at each level based on in-depth analysis of textbooks, education programs, and natural Chinese language. Every story is written in a style that is easy for a learner to understand and enjoyable to read. Level 1 is intended for Chinese learners who have obtained a middle-elementary level of Chinese. Most students will be able to approach this book after one to two years of traditional formal study. This story is written using approximately 300 characters and contains approximately 400 elementary words. Mr. Xie was recently hired by the Curly Haired Company. For a significant weekly allowance, he was required to sit in an office and copy articles from a book, in the meantime his assistant looked after his shop. He had answered an advertisement in the paper and although hundreds of people applied, he was the only one selected because of his very curly hair. When the company unexpectedly closed, Mr. Xie visited Gao Ming (Sherlock Holmes) with this strange story. Gao Ming is certain something is not right, but will he solve the mystery in time?

    Sitting outside the hospital after visiting one day, Natasha wondered how she would cope when her mother was gone. There started a panic and self-scrutiny. Had she been a good enough daughter? Would she have enough time to do all the things she wanted to do with her mother before she died? Natasha knew that she couldn't be the only one feeling this way. She began her research and quickly learned that other daughters had similar fears and had never spoken about them before. Love for their mothers, regret for opportunities missed, resentments and emotional complexities all bubbled to the surface. Through these conversations, a friendship blossomed with Róisín Ingle, popular columnist at the Irish Times. After a call out in Róisín's column, hundreds of responses poured in and there The Daughterhood was formed. The Daughterhood is the funny, poignant, and occasionally heart-breaking story of nine daughters coming together to talk about their mothers and the joy and despair that this relationship brings. Over a period of months they commit to completing various tasks all in the hope of improving their relationship with the most important woman in their lives - before she dies.

    With an irresistible client who won’t take “no” for an answer, if the job doesn’t get him killed, she just might.HOLLYWOOD PHARAOHS has been described as a fast-paced love child of The Big Lebowski and Indiana Jones.

    The Beetars are their new enemy. They are an oppressive alien race who've subjected all other races to their rule and tricked humanity into doing their bidding for a century.The mechs don't know that the first battle was to be the easiest. They will face two more Beetar Commanders, the last being a living legend, before they can claim victory over planet Beetar and end tyranny throughout the galaxy.But the enemy isn't going to bow down for a ragtag group of humans and mechs. They'll stop at nothing to end the uprising, even going so far as to threaten Earth with total annihilation.Zero and his pals get upgrades and pick up some unlikely allies along the way, but will it be enough to take down the apex species of the galaxy?

    

    The girl was new. She hadn’t been there for the past three days the way that everything else had. I was sitting under a tree looking out at the ocean. It was probably the Pacific Ocean. I didn’t know for sure. When she got closer, she called out, but not loudly. It sounded something like, “Aquilala soma towatsina.” Or something like that. I didn’t understand a word of it. It was a nice language though. I liked the sound of it. She looked like some kind of cave girl, fur bikini and everything. If she didn’t try to kill me, maybe I’d at least have some company. This was weird. I was calmly accepting, and maybe actually embracing the idea that I was stranded on the edge of a jungle with no way home. Maybe there was a village with a telephone on the other side of the trees. In a way, I hoped not. I felt happy to see her, but not exactly excited. It wasn’t like I thought, “Oh my gosh, I’m rescued!” It was more like, “Hey, she’s kind of cute. Nice bikini. Nice tan too.” When she was about 50 feet away I stood up and stepped onto the sand.

    The action of this period romantic mystery takes place in the city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne two years after the end of the war, as Britain is caught in the grip of the worst winter in a thousand years. As blizzards rage and the country grinds to a frozen standstill, on Tyneside a young German woman, Elsa Platten, goes on trial for her life, accused of deliberately burning a man to death... Alexander Galbraith is the lawyer hired to defend her, a man undergoing a personal crisis of his own, since his vengeful wife, Virginia, has discovered evidence of a homosexual affair and is threatening to ruin him... Jack Raisbeck is the owner of the Tyneside shipyard where the murdered man, a Dutchman called Jeroen van Rijn, worked. Jack is a physically scarred and cynical survivor of the war in the North Atlantic but his developing romantic relationship with Elsa in the months before the murder has rejuvenated him. Yet, as Elsa begins her trial, Jack is also struggling to keep his shipyard business alive, beset with a rebellious workforce led by union leader Ernie Wilmot, and with the financial future of his yard hanging in the balance after a recent arson attack and an act of embezzlement by his former chief accountant, George Hetherington. As the evidence against Elsa unfolds in the course of the trial, she re-lives her past life in Germany and Holland: the rise of the Nazis and the invasion of Holland, her subsequent betrayal and deportation to the East, and her escape and struggle to survive the fall of Berlin. Jack and Alexander Galbraith both believe in Elsa’s innocence but that belief is strongly tested as the evidence against her grows. The trail to find the truth leads both men in unexpected directions. For Jack it leads to a confrontation with his brother-in-law on a frozen cliff top, and to other disturbing family revelations. For Galbraith it is something even worse - he has to make the ultimate choice between preserving his own career and reputation, or saving his client from the hangman...

    Caleb himself falls into a dark place. Brilliant, athletic, and charismatic, he begins to use his talents to manipulate those around him. Turning his back on everyone, Caleb descends into a world of drugs, sex, and violence. Rising to be the greatest college quarterback in the nation and playing for the National Championship, Caleb has power, wealth, and women but he continues to inflict pain on everyone around him until in the depths of despair he finds hope. THE MANIFESTATION OF CALEB LEWIS is a magical story of triumph, hope, love and perseverance

    Free on KU.It includes the following books:Billionaire’s RanchBillionaire’s Sugar BabyBillionaire’s NannyThese have never been released and all have a happily ever after.

    

    He has one job left, then his debts will be paid, and his loyalty will only be to himself. When he gets to his last job and finds a damsel in distress, he chooses to prioritize her life over his freedom… and only time will tell if it costs him his life.In the streets of Memphis, Joy Dixon is known as Trouble. Trouble has seemed to follow her and her mother all the days of her life. The night Joy thinks her life is about to end, she’s rescued by Caliber. Used to men expecting a lot of something for nothing, Joy expects Caliber to demand the world. It catches her by surprise when he doesn’t ask for anything in return. In fact, he only offers to keep her safe. When she finds out exactly who he is, Joy embarks upon the hard journey of trusting and finding solace in her gangster… the gentleman.

    With her life in danger and her past catching up to her, will she stay alive long enough to trust the one man she never forgot with her heart? With the promise to catch a killer and keep Lauren safe, Dane Bennet must now protect her from the evil in her past and present. A sick cult group with ties to the government and the rich and powerful are determined to use her powers for their own evil gain. Will Dane be able to protect the woman he loves or will he have his chance at happiness snatched away. Dane must use every ounce of his elite special forces training to keep her safe, even if it means breaking her heart. Determined to stop the evil that threatens the world and avenge the death of a friend, will Lauren and Dane be able to overcome their intense attraction to stop the people determined to end her life and start Armageddon or will their passion blind them. Nate Jones is unlucky in love. He’s watched his parents love story play out his entire life and wants that for himself. His whole world was rocked when he walks into a hospital room and falls head over heels in love with Skye and Noah. Skye Mitchell is a single mother to an exceptional young boy. Noah has a unique and terrifying gift, which in the hands of the wrong people, could risk his life. A life that is already under the shadow of a terrible disease. All she has ever wanted was her child healthy and to feel cherished by the man she loves. Skye and Nate are ready to take a chance on a once in a lifetime love but The Divine Watchers have other plans. With bullets flying and people dying, the race is on to find Noah before any harm can come to him. Will Nate and his team find Noah in time, or will his love for Skye get in the way? Can Nate and Skye use their intense attraction to get them through the most horrific time of their lives? A woman with a secret past! Lucy Bennett is not what she appears to be. When she overhears a devastating conversation she decides to fight the betrayal head on. To do that Lucy must let her past and present lives collide, face the hurt and guilt she buried years ago, and reveal the real Lucy to the world. A man with a gift. Jace Ward, Fortis operative and Ex-SAS soldier, is dealing with his new gift of hearing people's thoughts. All except the thoughts of the woman he loves! Jace has loved Lucy Bennett since he first laid eyes on her nearly twenty years ago. Her beauty, her love for those around her, and the fact that she is a badass makes her the perfect woman for him. Then tragedy strikes unexpectedly, and Lucy is left destroyed by the turn of events. Can Jace reach the woman he can't live without and bring her home? Can they stop this latest attack by the Divine Watchers before more people they care about die? Will their love make it? He will stop at nothing to keep those he loves safe! Zack Cunningham is the sexy, brooding leader of the Fortis team. He has spent most of his life fighting evil, first as an elite SAS operative, and now running Fortis, a group comprised of ex-special ops men and woman. Now he faces the biggest fight of his life. He must keep the woman who has haunted his dreams safe while he leads his team against the sick and twisted Divine Watchers. With trusts broken and relationships betrayed, can he convince the woman who haunts him that he is worth a chance or will he die trying? Ava Drake has spent her life living in a man’s world, and she knows she is strong enough to go it alone.

    In fate. Or in soul mates. But I believe in Hawke. My life has never been whole since my parents left forever. I have my brother, someone I can barely tolerate most of the time, and I have my best friend, Marie. And I have myself. But when Hawke walks into my life, there’s an immediate connection. Our eyes lock and an unspoken conversation is exchanged. For the first time in my life, I actually feel something. But he doesn’t. He keeps me at arm’s length and pretends there’s nothing between us when there clearly is. I’m not the kind of girl to wait around for any guy, so I don’t. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t in the back of my mind. Our paths cross again in a way neither one of us expect and it changes everything. Was it destiny that made it happen? Was it fate? Or was it something else? TUESDAY Getting over Hawke is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I couldn’t breathe, sleep, or eat. Every day was more agonizing than the one that followed. But somehow, after two years of suffering, I finally got back on my feet. And I moved on. Now I’m living in the city and running my own bakery. Life is good again. I’m surrounded by good friends that I love, and every day is even better than the last. Until everything changes. Now I have to face him after two years of silence. I have to look him in the eye and act like he has no effect on me. I have to hold my head high and pretend he didn’t shatter me into a million pieces. I have to act like he doesn’t mean a damn thing to me. Can I fool him? Can I fool myself? WEDNESDAY It took me a long time to forgive Hawke—a very long time. But now that I have, I feel nothing but unbridled joy. Everything is exactly as it should have been two years ago. He’s just what I need, and not just now, but forever. Until disaster strikes. We promised each other forever, but will Hawke honor that promise when his world comes crumbling down? When the ground cracks below his feet, will we still stand? Or will we fall?

    He flees … and plunges headlong into an epic quest of even greater danger. Talon, ruthlessly pursued by the warrior band, returns to the land of his birth. He finds it threatened by an army. The mountain fortress that guards the narrow pass into the realm is undermanned. Worse, the kingdom’s soldiers are fighting a battle on another front. There are no reinforcements. The fortress will soon fall. When it does, the enemy will ravage an entire kingdom. Talon risks his life to bring word to allies who might help. But to reach them, he must somehow pass through the very army set to destroy his homeland. He begins the quest, but the warrior band has not given up the hunt. Nor is the invading army led by a man, but by a sorcerer ready to risk anything for victory. Talon is beset by enemies at every step, including a creature of dark power that stalks him. The road to safety is long, and the hope of success is short. Yet, in the darkest hour of his life, he finds an unexpected ally. A girl of striking courage helps him, and he falls in love with her. But if his quest fails, only smoke and ash will remain of the future they might have shared. This boxed set contains the entire Swordmaster trilogy, previously released as Fortress of the Forgotten. This is a remastered and expanded edition.

    She was a member of the Crystal Blue Pack. She was the punching bag in her pack, as people usually walked all over her, literally. She was the weakling, the outcast, the loner who no one ever bothered to get to know.Until the night of her birthday when she overheard a conversation that left her with no other decision but to leave and never look back. She had never been outside the pack territory, so she had no idea what was lurking in the woods.She ran into the most handsome man that she had ever seen in her entire life and he uttered one word, four letters that changed her life forever."Mine"Jayden King was the alpha of the North Pack. He was the most feared alpha and was oftentimes referred to as the alpha of all alphas. No one who trespassed on his land ever lived long enough to tell the tale.He was a very cold and heartless man. Until the night he ran into someone he had long ago lost hope of finding. Now he has her and instead of being the mate that she had always hoped for, he ignores her.