Featuring programs and resources available throughout the U.S. and Canada"An authoritative and comprehensive overview of the benefits of energy-efficient homes." ---Kirkus ReviewsLive in a Home that Pays You Back lights the way for enjoying a home that is healthier, more comfortable, saves money, and reduces your carbon footprint. Whether you are planning to build, buy, or retrofit a home, award-winning author Anna DeSimone takes you on a virtual tour through the home of the future. A practical reference guide that can be used for years to come, this illuminating book uncovers every part and parcel of the sustainable home, with precise explanations and infographics, plus hundreds of resources for further exploration. You'll have fun exploring the world of renewable energy, such as solar photovoltaics, wind power, geothermal energy, hydro-electric power, and biomass fuels. You'll learn how "positive energy" puts money in your pocket through incentives such as net metering, net billing or renewable energy certificates--a tradeable commodity with cash value.This eye-opening book takes a look at the health benefits of living in an energy-efficient home, and includes guidance about water safety, biological pollutants and environmental toxins. Everything you need to know about energy scores, building certifications, and the home building options for net zero, net zero ready, passive homes, pre-fab, modular, log and timber, and more. Mortgage financing chapter covers down payment assistance, national energy-efficient loan programs, borrower qualification incentives, and how to roll in the cost of an energy retrofit into your mortgage.The path to zero can be taken in small steps. This book prepares you and your household to make informed decisions for implementing energy-efficient technologies according to your needs and budget. And you'll enjoy many kinds of payback, every step of the way.Book includes a directory of rebates and incentives by Canadian province and U.S. state. Available in paperback and e-book.

    It has mortal wounds and shouldn’t be walking, but it is, and if you hang around for too long, it will be heading towards you. How would you react? You survive the initial throes of civil unrest and the collapse of law and order. The world has become your playground. What kind of person do you become? You have never lived for anyone else except yourself. You are selfish. You like being alive. But you do have a conscience, and a soul. Who do you save first? Warren is not a likeable man. Warren doesn’t even like himself. But he does like existing, and he wants to continue doing it, no matter what hell is emerging around him. Being pragmatic and a bit of a git to boot, he doesn’t find making the hard decisions difficult. What he does find out, is that the hard decisions are not necessarily the right ones. And being a bastard in life does not prepare you for the clashes that will ensue once the edges of society begin to blur and fade out. It isn’t just the infected and the resurrected that Warren needs to be wary of, as he negotiates his way around the post-infection south coast in a haphazard attempt to keep himself and his family survive.

    Hidden away in a rural, Iowa town, he has known only hard work and solitude. When a dark witch curses his father, Tig is forced into a world of magic he never knew existed, filled with elves, demons, wizards and dragons.Exiled from Gaeland, the land of Fairie, Finias Blackhall wants nothing more than to return to that magical land and restore his family’s power. He must track down the missing royal heirs and use their combined magic to reopen the portal between worlds, destroyed long ago by the House of Parnassus. Using magic he barely understands, Finias summons dark beings to do his bidding. The question is, who is being controlled?Will Tig learn to master his own magic in time to save his family, friends and the two worlds that hang in the balance?

    Tessa Rutledge, once an Olympic champion figure skater, returns as a coach, encountering her first love -- and heartbreak -- and testing her ability to forgive. Alpine skier Kyle Armstrong has made a mistake that could cost her Olympic gold and any hope of reconciling with the man she loves. Biathlete Rikki Lodge is just happy to be at the Games, until she meets a hockey player who demands that she puts everything on the line.Let The Games begin!- - - - -ReviewsMcLinn "wins gold with this sparkling romance! The Games is your ticket behind the cameras and inside the hearts of the winter Olympics." -- Carla Neggers, New York Times bestselling author "Fast-paced, vivid and true-to-life ... captures the personal drama and compelling stories of the greatest sports event on earth. It's a gold-medal winner any fan of the Games will love." -- Christine Brennan, USA Today sports columnist"The Games accurately portrays the emotional roller coaster an athlete rides . . . The pride, excitement, disappointment, relationships, doubt, relief, joy and all of the pressures . . . all come to a head at the Olympic Games." -- Michael Weiss, U.S. Olympic figure skater "If the aim of The Games is to give readers a vicarious Olympic experience that is lively, entertaining, and emotionally satisfying, it hit its mark dead center." -- Romance Reviews Today More sports romance from Patricia McLinn: HoopsThe Surprise PrincessRodeo NightsWhere Love Lives

    Her whole life, they've been there. Grandfathers, uncles, cousins…she knows the difference between people who made the rules and those who broke them. But she has no idea why someone might want her dead.Nick Fattelli is handsome, sophisticated, and…an assassin. He doesn't know who hired him to take out Reign, but after they meet and sparks fly, he vows to protect her. Unless it's really him they are after…Thus begins PLAYING WITH FIRE, a sexy thriller by Renee Graziano, star of VH1's hit show Mob Wives.The author knows this lifestyle firsthand: She is the daughter of one of the most famous mobsters of our day, with an ex-husband now in witness protection, and a trail of "connected" boyfriends a mile long.

    Then one day, she accidentally falls prey to his acts after which she decides to pull off all the strings from him.However, she lands up in deeper troubles and bondages as priorities and affections are questioned.Will her dream of being a successful entrepreneur and have a family of her own get fulfilled?Or is it that the dreams of this naive kind hearted girl will never come true?

    After a fight with her aunt, and a frustrating conversation with her daughter’s father, she sets up an autumn display at her dream home with beautiful thrift store finds.Jordon is mourning the loss of his parents. Weird things, like someone decorating his parents’ porch with his mother’s donated decorations, make grieving harder. Still, the oddness is the distraction, and call to faith, he needs.My True Love Gave to MeCassidy loves her life. She has a job in a vintage store, a cute Seattle bungalow, and a dog who adores her. But being single is getting old. She receives a Christmas party invitation, and an excuse to find a plus-one. Someone from her singles group...?Sean's favorite thing about his delivery job is the pretty woman at the vintage store. But from what he’s overheard, she has plenty of prospects already. Would she be interested in adding him to her dance card?The Wonder of ChristmasCheyenne heads north for Christmas, with no idea that a storm will strand her in the small town of Misty Cove. But when she bumps—literally—into handsome Grady, and learns about a family in need, she realizes God sent her there for a bigger reason than meeting a handsome man. But with the way her pulse kicks up in Grady’s presence, maybe God has a dual purpose in mind.Mountain LaurelWhen tragedy strikes, Laurel is left alone to raise her son. She wonders if the Lord she’s trusted all her life will help her as she raises her feisty boy.Jon, who has loved her for as long as she can remember, is good with her son and steadies her through each crisis that comes along. He’s a close friend, but will she ever be able to love again?Cephalopod CupidWhen Lacey’s boyfriend breaks up with her it opens the opportunity to join a research vessel for six-months.Then she meets an autistic boy who shares her love of Gabriel the giant Pacific octopus. And Anders, his dad.Lacey considers staying. It might be crazy to give up her dream for a man she barely knows. It might seem crazier still to stay so she can protect her beloved cephalopod from himself.But sometimes love means letting go.To Hear the Angels SingDevlin enjoys her role as temporary guardian of her niece while her sister goes through drug rehab, but it isn’t easy. If she works dinner shifts, her job at a Seattle restaurant brings in enough. So, when her niece is invited to evening rehearsals for a church show, the free childcare is hard to pass up. But when they learn Devlin knows how to sew, she’s enlisted as costume designer. How will she find time?One of Jonah’s favorite parts of his job as church worship leader is directing the music for the kids’ Christmas musical. Between his job and writing his own music, he barely has time for a social life. But there’s something about the costumer for the show this year that gets him thinking. Could there be more to life than music?The Heart of ChristmasWhen Wynn sees police lights at Misty Cove’s one-and-only bar, she goes inside to investigate, just in time to see her ex-boyfriend punch the star of her favorite TV show in the face. What is Ryland Sage doing in their tiny Pacific Coast town? Since Wynn is the only medical help for miles around, she has to stitch his face—and maybe his heart—while protecting her own heart from the worldly charmer.Prairie RoseFor years, Rose has lived alone with her dog. Mitch, a handsome, unmarried neighbor, brings her a bright red geranium and insists on helping with chores. But who should appear but the scoundrel husband who deserted her years ago. Later, a pre-teen runaway adds his troubles to hers, so Rose decides to recapture the peace and serenity of Christmas.

    

    Not even Jackson Pollock’s!Your archenemy taunts you with clandestine bacon frying. Your boss feverishly cyberstalks an aging romance novel cover model. Your husband unexpectedly takes in a wayward foreign national. Your best friend reveals a secret relationship with your longstanding workplace crush.Welcome to the life of Nina Lanning, lone and floundering administrator of a prestigious Midwestern art school. Her colleagues are pioneers of contemporary art movements, inspirational orators, creative virtuosos and the source of constant headaches as they rage against the authority Nina represents. They also happen to be her closest friends.When once-a-century flooding threatens to destroy the art building, and the priceless Jackson Pollock trapped inside, Nina and her ragtag band of faculty members undertake to rescue the early work of the splatter master. Propelled by disasters both natural and personal, Nina must confront her colleagues, her husband, and most importantly, herself. Cate Dicharry’s debut novel is a painfully hysterical examination of what is truly worth saving, and mastering the art of letting go.

    What can be funnier than cats?Cat trivia! That's what.Funny cartoons and fun trivia explore the cool world of cats.

    Explore the true story of the Jersey Shore's "Thrill Killer."

    He was raised from the dead. ***Aiofe Callaghan comes from a long line of faery hunters. Hired by one of the faery queens, they protect the human world from chaos and destruction. But when Aiofe stumbles through an open door into the land of Faery, she discovers the job isn't as simple as it seems, nor is she.Arthur Pendragon spent centuries in blissful nothingness, until the day the four queens banded together to raise him from the dead. Along with his twelve most talented knights, he leads the warring armies of Faery against the greatest enemy they have ever known: one of their own.Can they overcome their differences to confront the greatest challenges either of them have ever faced?

    The guy who visits Nick Saban's lake house and somehow gets Coach to jump in the lake. The guy who sits down with Dale Jr. at Daytona to talk through tears about his miraculous return to racing. The guy who interviews Tiger Woods, Tim Tebow, Peyton Manning and Jimmie Johnson -- the guy who gets paid to live the fantasy of every sports fan in America.Never Settle is the funny but oh, it's true story of how Marty got here, and a revealing look at his journey. Never Settle includes all the best stories and behind-the-scenes moments from Marty's wild life, covering topics including: college football, racing, fathers and sons, how sports can bring us together, and how it all goes back to growing up on a farm and playing high school ball in Pearisburg, Virginia.

    But what really lights their hearts are the memories of a special romance. In these compelling tales shared with you by NYT & USA Today best-selling authors you’ll be thrilled to the core when reading their passionate love stories - SEVEN times over. Each story shares with you - A Christmas She'll Remember. Loveable Christmas Angel by Mimi Barbour - Aloha! Sweet romance, lovable angel, and a prickly little boy’s Christmas wish! "a warm and touching story just right for the holiday season. Enjoy!"--Amazon Reviewer Crimson Holiday by Patricia Rosemoor - Will this be the Christmas of her daydreams or of her nightmares? "a great Christmas story that is laced with suspense and romance"--Amazon Reviewer Nobody's Cinderella by Joan Reeves - This Christmas Cinderella should be careful what she wishes for! "This was a fun story and I highly recommend it. I'm a real fan of Ms. Reeves writing."--Caroline Clemmons Two Hearts Find Christmas (Two Hearts Wounded Warrior Romance Book 5) by Tamara Ferguson - Will two lonely hearts find Christmas when love’s magic works its spell? "Wow. Just wow! How’s that for a review? Author Tamara Ferguson has done an absolutely wonderful job in creating characters that her readers will relate to, care about"—Tracy Slowiak for Readers’ Favorite The Christmas Sparkle Test by Alicia Street - Star-crossed sweethearts get a second chance, but will the magic of Christmas be enough to rekindle their love despite the secrets of the past? "“Warmed my heart and had me believing in the magic of Christmas again!”--Reader review One to Keep by Ev Bishop - Can love tempt them to commit? Maybe. If they’re brave enough . . . "This is the perfect cosy, fireside read for a winter's night--then you can enjoy it all over again next winter, because this book is 'one to keep'"--Amazon Reviewer Christmas Surprise - Santa's Boots Under Her Bed by Stephanie Queen - Sometimes a surprise can change your life. Margo & George are about to find out this Christmas how true that is... “A refreshing and fun romance story that swept my off my feet.”—I Just Wanna Sit Here and Read

    Thankfully she has the security of loving friends and routine comforts in her life to keep her evenly keeled. When a friend asks her for a favor and she acquiesces, it brings a bit of chaos that spices up Skylar’s mostly staid existence.That chaos comes in the form of Christian Sullivan—a man who is entirely too appealing for Skylar’s own good. She finds herself inexplicably drawn to Christian, much to her own dismay considering that she has a man at home. This is further complicated when unknown connections between Skylar and Christian are uncovered and rock Skylar’s world in ways she never saw coming.