Irrepressibly vivacious, he spent his life leaping over and into things, from his early Broadway successes to his marriage to the great screen actress Mary Pickford to the way he made Hollywood his very own town. The inventor of the swashbuckler, he wasn’t only an actor—he all but directed and produced his movies, and in founding United Artists with Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, and D. W. Griffith, he challenged the studio system.But listing his accomplishments is one thing and telling his story another. Tracey Goessel has made the latter her life’s work, and with exclusive access to Fairbanks’s love letters to Pickford, she brilliantly illuminates how Fairbanks conquered not just the entertainment world but the heart of perhaps the most famous woman in the world at the time.When Mary Pickford died, she was an alcoholic, self-imprisoned in her mansion, nearly alone, and largely forgotten. But she left behind a small box; in it, worn and refolded, were her letters from Douglas Fairbanks. Pickford and Fairbanks had ruled Hollywood as its first king and queen for a glorious decade. But the letters began long before, when they were both married to others, when revealing the affair would have caused a great scandal.Now these letters form the centerpiece of the first truly definitive biography of Hollywood’s first king, the man who did his own stunts and built his own studio and formed a company that allowed artists to distribute their own works outside the studio system. But Goessel’s research uncovered more: that Fairbanks’s first film appearance was two years earlier than had been assumed; that his stories of how he got into theater, and then into films, were fabricated; that the Pickford-Fairbanks Studios had a specially constructed underground trench so that Fairbanks could jog in the nude; that Fairbanks himself insisted racist references be removed from his films’ intertitles; and the true cause of Fairbanks’s death.Fairbanks was the top male star of his generation, the maker of some of the greatest films of his era: The Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, The Mark of Zorro. He was fun, witty, engaging, creative, athletic, and a force to be reckoned with. He shaped our idea of the Hollywood hero, and Hollywood has never been the same since. His story, like his movies, is full of passion, bravado, romance, and desire. Here at last is his definitive biography, based on extensive and brand-new research into every aspect of his career, and written with fine understanding, wit, and verve.

    

     Six people longing to mend broken hearts and shattered dreams… Three romances ready to blossom in the charming Midwest town of Clayburn. REMEMBER TO FORGET: Graphic designer Maggie Anderson has lived under her boyfriend's tyranny for nearly two years...until she's carjacked in New York. Will this terrifying experience be the end for Maggie—or the beginning of a freedom greater than she dares imagine? But to gain her freedom, she'll have to remember to forget everything about her old life… LEAVING NOVEMBER: Eight years ago, Vienne Kenney moved away from Clayburn and all its gossip to pursue a law degree in California. But now she has failed the bar exam…again. Is she destined to be stuck forever, a failure—just like her father—in this podunk Kansas town? YESTERDAY’S EMBERS: On Thanksgiving Day, Douglas DeVore kissed his beloved wife good-bye, unaware that it would be the last time he'd see her—or their precious daughter Rachel. Left with five kids to raise on his own, and already juggling two jobs to make ends meet, Doug wonders how he'll manage moment by moment, much less day after day, without Kaye's love and support.

    That's how they see me--all they'll ever see when they look at me. But I am more, so much more. We can't change the past, the hand we've been dealt, But we can play that hand and win in the end. And that's what I plan to do--what I've always planned to do. Then he came into my life. Jaxon Prescott. He's everything I want, But nothing I'm permitted to have. He's too good, too perfect, For someone like me. After all, I'm just a maid, To them. They don't know the real me, My dreams, my fears, my past, My secrets. Jax A rich playboy.... That's how they see me--all they'll ever see when they look at me. They've got it all wrong, So wrong. I've been living a lie, a fabrication of what they want, And I thought it was what I wanted. Then she came into my life. Ava Williams. She reminded me of what I want, What I need, And who I really am. She's everything, But nothing I'm supposed to have. She's not right, not polished enough For someone like me. After all, I'm high class society--better than everyone else, To them. They don't know the real me, My dreams, my fears, my past, My secrets.

    What was supposed to be a summer fling turned into a toxic love affair. With Trayon away, how will she be able to cope? Does she wait for him or run into the arms of another man? Set on a path of revenge, Trayon wants nothing more than to get what he is owed and that's the throne. On his journey of revenge, he discovers some shocking secrets; family secrets that will cause him to lose sight of his original plan. Will he reach a point where not even, Asayi's love can save him? Stacy is stuck trying to balance his time between two women. When he finds himself giving one woman more time than the other, he might just regret that choice. Will he risk everything him and Tuchie built over a childhood love? This is the second installment to a heart-wrenching, tear-filled and an emotional journey. Secrets, lies, deceit and murder. Everyone has experienced damages in their love life. Will they overcome it or will they remain damaged? Get ready for a gritty and urban hood love novel.

    Cox weaves the exciting, authentic tale of Harry Nelson-Heron, a young midshipman in the British Navy in the early 1800s. Born in 1789 during the Irish Rebellion, Harry must overcome the prejudice against the Irish and the usual hazards of an active and inquisitive youth to realise his dream of becoming an officer in Britain’s Royal Navy. When he and his childhood friend Ferghal make the treacherous journey to London to be commissioned to a ship, fate smiles on them. Harry is appointed a midshipman on the HMS Bellerophon, and Ferghal joins him as a seaman. Corsairs, diplomacy, and exploration challenge their skills as the seafaring life takes Harry and Ferghal across the seas to worlds they never imagined and engages their ship in sea fights with the French during the Napoleonic Wars.

    

    With decades of research and insight, Jensen lifts the veil of public relations half-truths and exposes the reality of the man who is still, 30 years after his death, the iconic Western movie hero and hero of red state America. Jensen proves that the public John Wayne was very different from the private man, who struggled with severe alcoholism, chronic infidelity, self-esteem and personal demons that often made life hell for his wives and children. The book painstakingly recounts the triumphs and tragedies of the life of John Wayne – who rose from abject poverty to become the world’s most famous movie star – and creates a portrait of a man haunted by a childhood of abuse; a man conflicted by his own definition of masculinity; a man fighting to control his own rage and his propensity for violence; a man who committed domestic violence against all three of his wives and his children; and a man haunted by and driven to overcome his fear of failure, poverty and ridicule.

    To divulge the private confession would violate holy canon law. When he refuses to go to the police, people begin to die, and the priest becomes the prime suspect. Elizabeth Monroe, a college professor who teaches forensic psychology, doesn’t believe the elder priest fits the killer’s profile. Elizabeth discovers a frightening thread woven within each killing—a thread that began thirty years ago. To stop the murders, she has to find where the seed of evil was first planted. Because the roots are penetrating deep within a small Mississippi town and they’re spreading dangerously close to Elizabeth.

    Aleta Williams spins a realistic tale that indeed is... Saltier Than Ever--- CA$H author of the urban classic Trust No Man trilogy, Thugs Cry, and Shorty Got A ThugSix months after her mother's death Jazz is determined to start the healing process and follow her dreams. It seems like things go from good.. to bad... to worse in a matter of time. How can you let go of the past and prepare for a future that is unknown to you; when you are not even sure of your present? Will Jazz be able to push through life's drama and find herself again or will she be left standing alone and hurt by those she trusted and love?Diesel lost his basketball contract, might have impregnated a stripper, and as quiet as its kept he's dealing with the stress the only way he knows how, by lashing out at the black b*tch he believes is responsible for his misery. Will Diesel take responsibility for his own actions?From a preacher to a gangster, Pastor G is out for revenge. He wants the man's head that he believes is the real reason for his wife's death. Will Pastor G succeed on the devils playground?Ken always seems to be in the right place at the wrong time. Trying to make sure a friend makes it home safe, turns into him being a suspect in crime that he claims he didn't commit; thus, making him less closer to winning over the one that has his heart. Will Ken clear his name and capture the heart of the one he loves?Yay-Yay and White-Girl are still the grimiest chicks in Los Angeles, but when karma pays them both a visit, they soon find out that she's the baddest b*tch of them all. Will these chicks ever learn the true reason for their downfall?Supported by the ghetto, grimy, and sassy characters of this novel. This installment is Saltier than Ever! ***Aleta is back with a juicy third installment of the Ghetto Soap Opera series. Saltier Than Ever is full of drama, twists and turns that you wont see coming. ---Karen Williams author of Harlem on Lock, Dirty to the Grave, The People vs Cashmere, Thug In Me, and Sweet Giselle.

    Easy to tick off so you can keep track of which book is next in reading order. There are no parts or portions of the books themselves here, just the titles in reading order. Perfect for keeping a checklist in your kindle app.

    Lady Sondra and her family. Shortly after Lady Sondra is released from doing a ten year stint in Bellevue Mental Institution, tragedy strikes close to home testing her bad side and putting her on a vengeful mission for blood. Things go horribly wrong when she attempts to recruit her twin sons Rahmel and Jahmel to embark on a mission to build an untouchable drug empire all the while trying to keep her daughter Mahogany on the straight and narrow path. Lady Sondra is just one incident away from being sent back to the place she’s vowed never to visit again. Drama and betrayal send her spiraling down a dark bumpy road of no return. Get to know the Bells and learn all of the family secrets as you and those who betray Lady Sondra experience “A Bitch’s Bad Side”

    

    When her boyfriend of a year-and-a-half cheated on her, Lindsay found herself alone, looking online for a replacement. His name was Mike. That’s where the nightmare started. The House on Sunset is a memoir, a collection of reminiscences, scattering the ashes of two broken homes and putting them to rest. Each chapter offers a different glimpse inside the cycle of intimate partner violence, where honeymoon phases and traumas coexist. Everyone could fall victim to abusers. This book bravely displays the reasons a quirky, twenty-something teacher would, and did.

    Forced to follow his father, PAC ‘founding spirit’ A P Mda, into exile in Lesotho (then still Basutoland) at the age of fourteen, Zakes Mda finds freedom from close parental discipline irresistible and becomes a frequenter of shebeens and an exponent of fast living at an early age, although he iseventually drawn back to wanting a good education above all other things. After many twists and turns, and a few false starts, we follow his journey to Athens, Ohio, where he is now professor of creative writing. Forthright almost to a fault, it is a vigorous and colourful story enriched by Mda’s dry humourand his ability to engage with his reader on a very personal level.Always outspoken, Mda has in the past voiced his disappointment in, and been critical of, what he sees as ‘crony capitalism’ and the ‘patronage system’ in the ‘new’ South Africa – a lot of which was highlighted in hislast novel Black Diamond – and finds that he has been side-lined in many aspects of South African culture where he feels he could make a significant contribution. Because he ‘resisted the centre’ and ‘stayed on the periphery’,he regards himself as an outsider’ – hence the book’s subtitle. Admirers of Mda’s fiction will enjoy getting to know more about the man.