In Money Changes Everything, leading financial historian William Goetzmann argues the exact opposite--that the development of finance has made the growth of civilizations possible. Goetzmann explains that finance is a time machine, a technology that allows us to move value forward and backward through time; and that this innovation has changed the very way we think about and plan for the future. He shows how finance was present at key moments in history: driving the invention of writing in ancient Mesopotamia, spurring the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome to become great empires, determining the rise and fall of dynasties in imperial China, and underwriting the trade expeditions that led Europeans to the New World. He also demonstrates how the apparatus we associate with a modern economy--stock markets, lines of credit, complex financial products, and international trade--were repeatedly developed, forgotten, and reinvented over the course of human history.Exploring the critical role of finance over the millennia, and around the world, Goetzmann details how wondrous financial technologies and institutions--money, bonds, banks, corporations, and more--have helped urban centers to expand and cultures to flourish. And it's not done reshaping our lives, as Goetzmann considers the challenges we face in the future, such as how to use the power of finance to care for an aging and expanding population.Money Changes Everything presents a fascinating look into the way that finance has steered the course of history.

    

    But she’s stuck in sleepy Oxford. Every day is the same. Nothing ever changes.Until, completely out of the blue, Beth gets the chance of a lifetime.She’s sent to Canada to compete in an infamous travel writing competition. Winning would propel her to stardom and make all her dreams come true. It would change everything…The problem is, she’s up against swoon-worthy Canadian, Blake O’Brien. And Blake is not the kind of guy who gives up without a fight.As finalists, Beth and Blake are forced to travel together through the Rocky Mountains and across Canada. And slowly, as Beth’s self-belief soars, she begins to see Blake in a different light. Perhaps he’s not the brash, arrogant, sarcastic guy she thought he was? Perhaps he’s exactly what she needs…But as the competition comes to a head, and loyalties are tested, will Beth and Blake realise they simply have to be together? Or will their rivalry, and their very different lives, get in the way? 'Love in the Rockies' is a sweet, clean, romance novel with no cliff hangers and a HEA. It is the first in the True Love Travels series by Poppy Pennington-Smith.

    Instead countless banks issued paper money and counterfeiters flourished. This title casts the country's capitalist roots in a startling new light. Readers will recognize the same get-rich-quick spirit that lives on in the 21st century.

    She gets roped into following a friend’s cheating husband. But tailing a middle-aged lawyer through the streets of San Francisco is more challenging than it sounds.Sam’s “easy gig” drags her into one perilous predicament after another, where she encounters a wide array of the citizens San Francisco has on offer, including: a hot cop, an out-of-control frat boy, a feisty grandmother who plays loose with the law, friendly leather daddies, an aging biker, a shady dude she used to know in high school, and worst of all, Slain. He’s a professional PI., who is so hardboiled he needs a Google Translate button. And he doesn’t appreciate some dame filching a gig from a hard-working shamus. Slain goes out of his way to make Sam understand that being a private detective is a dangerous business. And ends up making her life miserable in the process.If you love a good laugh, and can’t quite figure out how anyone could leave their heart in San Francisco, then grab a copy of The Trouble with San Francisco and fall in love with its madcap cast of characters. What else would you expect from the City by the Bay?

    This invisible red thread will never break and you will either find your way back to me somehow, or me to you.” This is the promise that Jack makes to Esha at the end of their precious week together in London. Esha has to return to India for her wedding to Dev, which has been arranged by her wealthy parents. Aware of her cultural commitments and knowing in her heart that they cannot have a future together, their separation is marked with a single promise. The turbulent years that follow are recorded in Esha’s journal, in the form of letters to Jack, which eventually find their way into his hands and which rock his world to the core. The rigid traditions and formalities of the social world of Amritsar, in which Esha is trapped, and to which Jack has no access, may well stretch their scarlet thread to breaking point. Can a single promise made seven years ago bring together two star crossed lovers in this gripping tale, spanning two cities?

    Not that I can blame them. Daddy has never been the standard father figure. He was too busy cheating and drinking to notice that he had family that needed him.Now, five years later, my ex-stepbrothers are the biggest private investors on the west coast and my dad is barely scraping by.When daddy suddenly up and disappears a month before Christmas, it turns out he owes a lot of money and he’s bailing on the bill…See, I had no idea that the life we lived was funded by gambling…and unpaid debts. Debts that have suddenly come due. When two massive mafiosos show up in my small Portland gift shop claiming that I have to settle his back loans with money—or my flesh—I’m thoroughly freaked out.Now, I have nowhere to turn—except to them.After all, they say the devil you know is better than the one you don’t…But I’m not sure if I am more afraid of my ex-stepbrothers and their dark unforgiving demeanor—or the mob. And if I accept their help, they promise me one thing; They’ll save me, but I’m going to pay for all of my father’s sins…with my body.And the only thing getting decked this season, is my bottom.Looks like this Christmas, I’m getting Double Scrooged…

    Struggling to navigate the constant presence of bodyguards and a sudden deluge of eligible bachelorettes, he is convinced that getting back to his private life is the answer, until he meets Shelly. She doesn't care about his money or his star status, and she seems to genuinely like him, but his heart has been broken once before. Can he risk opening himself up again?After Shelly meets Shawn at a charity event, she can't stop thinking about him. He’s humble, kind, and generous, everything her ex-husband wasn’t. But when his wealthy status is leaked to the press, it’s impossible to ignore all of the women who are vying for his attention, triggering her painful past. Will she be able to give love a second chance?

    The day is unbearably hot, and the snazzy car’s air-con is broken, blowing out hot air instead of cold. Lily follows the meandering road in a state of dehydration, and experiences a series of encounters with angels and demons and ghosts from the past. As time begins to travel backwards, Lily knows that very soon she will find her way back to the city. But even when eventually she does, events nearer home seem to mirror her encounters on the long winding road that disappeared.

    Knowing the Germans could invade their quiet home the resident children of Guernsey are evacuated. Among them are Amelia Ashton, and her older sister Evelyn.The promise to stay safe.Forced onto the boat by her older sister, seventeen-year-old Amelia Ashton arrives in Weymouth with hundreds of other children. Although she is placed with a kind and loving foster family in Derbyshire, her world is torn apart. With all her communication cut off from her family, and the boys at school joining to fight in the war, Amelia struggles with her own desire to help. On a whim, she lies about her age and boards a train headed to volunteer with the Woman’s Land Army. Finding solace in the work of farm life, she reconnects with William, a young man from Derbyshire, and who doesn’t waste any time asking for her hand in marriage. Can Amelia start a new life without looking over her shoulder at what she left behind in Guernsey or will the war change everything?The promise to survive.Fearing for her parents’ lives, nineteen-year-old, Evelyn Ashton stays behind, living through the German occupation plaguing her once beautiful home—the island of Guernsey. Living under German rule, the residents find a new meaning of desperation and despair, trying to survive on rations and evade the threats of being sent off to a death camp. After her parents die in a bombing, Evelyn is left alone to fend for herself against her enemy, and when German soldiers take over her house, she seeks refuge in the only family she believes she has left—Henry—the man once interested in her sister. Can they find comfort in each other or will the occupation claim not only their love but also their lives?Two sisters. Two promises. One bloody war that changes their lives forever.

    Trusting that the local sheriff and deputy team have everything under control, things get even worse when the sheriff is found dead and their beloved shop owner stands accused of murder.Amish twin sisters, well known as the wise women in their community, step up to do their own investigation alongside a brash big city detective. Whether he likes it or not, the women are determined to help solve the complicated crimes of theft and murder and clear their family name.The two amateur investigators soon question whether they are in over their heads and begin to doubt if they can solve the mysteries in front of them...

    Player. My Husband? My boss is known for two things: 1. He’s the heir to a billionaire dollar family fortune 2. Dumping women the second they turn 25 Yep. He’s an a@#hole. Now, he’s being forced to get married or lose it all. The only person he trusts in this world is his assistant – me. When he offers me millions to pretend to be his wife, how can I say no? The catch? It has to look real and I’m twelve years OLDER than him. Yeah. Will people buy it, or will this blow up in our faces? When Sadie and Liam are forced to fake an engagement will sparks fly, or will they rip each other apart? The Titan Billionaire Brothers is a duet, each book featuring a Titan brother. Book 1 is Liam's story and can be read as a standalone or as part 1 of the duet.

    A new relationship. What could possibly go wrong?Growing up in the small Australian country town of Granite Springs, Jo and Col have been lifelong friends.Following Jo’s divorce and the death of Col’s wife, the pair find comfort in their common grief. But as they tentatively explore their new relationship, they have little idea of the challenges that lie ahead.What they haven’t bargained for is Jo’s interfering ex, along with their three children, all of whom have their own agendas.Can Jo ride out the storm? Will she be granted the life she deserves?

    Loyalties are tested and families are divided as individuals battle to deliver themselves from hardship, prejudice and injustice.Based on a true story of Puritans and pirates, The Hummingbird and the Sea is a powerful tale of love, faith, hidden passions and the eternal search for freedom.

    She is delighted. Growing up an orphan, Sadie relishes the idea she has been chosen to belong to someone. Conrad lost his wife six months ago. Desperate to find another, he enlists the help of an agency to find him the proper German bride. He needs a wife to continue onto California with the company he has signed up with. He will marry this Sadie, but she will not have his heart. Will her hope be enough to triumph over his bitterness?