In this powerful business narrative, Charles Gasparino, the author of Blood on the Floor and King of the Club, captures how avarice, arrogance, and sheer stupidity eroded Wall Street’s dominance, made many of our country’s most fabled financial institutions vulnerable to significant new foreign control, and profoundly weakened the financial security of millions of poor and middle-class American families.

    The classroom standard for readers and aspiring writers of fiction, The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction offers the most comprehensive, engaging selection of classic and contemporary stories in the field.

    But instead of three wicked stepsisters, Cydney Eller has pre-mature triplets left motherless after her sister's accident. The prince is Dr. Daniel Prince who delivers the triplets and demands custody when he learns his brother might be the father. It isn't a glass slipper, but preemie sized diapers and health emergencies that bring these two strangers together to protect three innocent babies. Can love follow?

    In Trade-Off, Kevin Maney shows how these conflicting forces determine the success, or failure, of new products and services in the marketplace. He shows that almost every decision we make as consumers involves a trade-off between fidelity and convenience–between the products we love and the products we need. Rock stars sell out concerts because the experience is high in fidelity-–it can’t be replicated in any other way, and because of that, we are willing to suffer inconvenience for the experience. In contrast, a downloaded MP3 of a song is low in fidelity, but consumers buy music online because it’s superconvenient. Products that are at one extreme or the other–those that are high in fidelity or high in convenience–-tend to be successful. The things that fall into the middle-–products or services that have moderate fidelity and convenience-–fail to win an enthusiastic audience. Using examples from Amazon and Disney to People Express and the invention of the ATM, Maney demonstrates that the most successful companies skew their offerings to either one extreme or the other-–fidelity or convenience-–in shaping products and building brands.

     Witch World The first book in the classic Witch World saga by beloved fantasy and science fiction author Andre Norton. Simon Tregarth, a man on the run, escapes from our world into another, where magic still has power. He finds new purpose in the service of Estcarp, whose witches use their ancient knowledge of magic to protect their home. But a new threat is rising: the mysterious Kolder, who possess powers and technology unlike anything known in the Witch World. It will take Simon and the forces of Estcarp all their might, their courage, and their magic to drive back the insurmountable enemy. Web of the Witch World Fantasy and science fiction Grand Master Andre Norton’s Witch World saga continues in Web of the Witch World. After repulsing the Kolder, the land of Estcarp is safe, until a sudden disappearance sends Simon Tregarth and his allies on a quest to stop an enigmatic new danger. Though the Kolder were defeated before, they rise again with a vengeance, and their plot is even more sinister than before. From Karsten in the south to the swamps of Tor to the Kolder’s impenetrable stronghold and beyond, Simon must fight to stop the invaders of his adopted home once and for all. Year of the Unicorn Year Of the Unicorn returns to Andre Norton’s Witch World with a tale of adventure and magic. The orphan Gillan grew up in an abbey in High Hallack, always knowing she was different and never feeling at home. When the lords of High Hallack pledge twelve brides to the Were Riders in exchange for their protection, Gillan is faced with an opportunity few would consider: to take the place of one of the twelve chosen women and go off to parts unknown to marry one of these strange wild men. But Gillan leaps at the chance to leave the only home she has ever known in the hopes of finding something she was meant to do. And her rare gift to see through illusions that fool others will prove vital in a journey where nothing is as it seems.

    Lots of suspense, mystery, and romance. No cliffhangers! THE STALKER Jane is a weather girl with big ambitions. With each appearance on television, she hopes to catch the attention of a national news channel. Instead, she attracts a different kind of attention. An obsessed fan is hellbent on invading her world as a faceless stalker. Worried that her life is in danger, she turns to an old friend who assigns her a bodyguard. A man filled with strength, humor and bravery. As her stalker slowly infests every aspect of her life, Jane’s attention is captured by her bodyguard as romance blossoms between them. But will this distraction prove deadly? THE ROOKIE Things are looking up as Lara passes trial after trial while trying to win a job with a company called SecureGen. Everything looks promising until she starts to fall for Jackson, the ruggedly handsome expert testing her. As they grow close, Lara discovers that something is very wrong at SecureGen, a conspiracy is growing within its ranks which could endanger her and everyone she cares about. Convinced that she can help, Lara soon involves herself in a series of dangerous situations, but has her training prepared her to fight such a conspiracy? And is the man she cares about involved? THE MANSION It should have been like any other assignment. Ensuring that a young boy called Max wasn’t overwhelmed by being assigned a bodyguard. But when Hazel first laid eyes on Bracewell House, a mansion in the middle of a large estate, she realized the assignment was anything but usual. After growing close to the young boy who lives there, Hazel comes into conflict with his father, a billionaire with a domineering personality. Hazel feels strangely drawn to him as they disagree about what’s best for Max. All the while, dangerous forces close in on Bracewell House, an isolated place under siege. THE HACKER Molly hates her job. All she wants to do is paint, but she promised her father that she’d give the 9 to 5 life one more go. Just as the boredom sets in, she meets Andrew. An IT expert hired to look into a security breach at the company she works for. As they fall for each other, Molly uncovers a devastating secret about Andrew – he’s spying on his friends. Suddenly caught up in a world of spies, hackers, and betrayal, Molly has to decide whether she truly can trust the man she loves. THE MISSING GIRL Rose lived a quiet life. She liked to read. She spent most of her time in her tiny apartment. That was until the gunmen turned up at her door trying to kill her. In the midst of the attack, she is saved by her ex-husband, Nathan McKenzie, a man she hasn’t seen in nearly ten years. Now on the run, Rose slowly unravels why her life is in danger, and whether she can ever grow to love and trust Nathan McKenzie ever again. The epic final chapter in the SecureGen romance series.

    government began standardizing and regulating financial reporting in 1929 when the stock market crash made it painfully clear that businesses often made absurd claims and that investors were either gullible, unable to verify information, or both. Now, financial reports are used by a company's management to measure profitability (or lack of it), optimize operations and guide the company, by banks and other lenders to gauge the company's financial health, and by institutional or individual investors interested in purchasing stock. Unless you're financially savvy, annual reports with all those figures, frustrating footnotes, and fine print are boring and intimidating. However, once you have a fundamental knowledge of finance and its basic terminology, you can find the juicy parts. Reading Financial Reports For Dummies by Lita Epstein, a teacher of online financial courses and author of Trading for Dummies, gets you up to speed so you can:Go past the prose that can maximize the positive and minimize the negative and get information in dollars and cents Get an overview from the big three--the balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows Understand the lingo and read between the lines Calculate basics like PE, Dividend Payout Ratio, ROS, ROA, ROE, Operating Margin, and Net Margin It pays for investors to be somewhat skeptical instead of gullible. Pressured to please Wall Street, companies are sometimes tempted to use "creative" accounting. You'll discover how to:Detect red flags (that, unfortunately, aren't emphasized in red) such as lawsuits, changes in accounting methods, and obligations to retirees and future retirees Understand the different reporting requirements for public companies and private companies with various types of business structures Analyze a company's cash flow, a prime indicator of its financial health Scrutinize deals such as mergers, acquisitions, liquidations and other major changes in key assets Organized so you can start where you're comfortable and proceed at your own pace, Reading Financial Reports for Dummies helps managers prepare annual reports and use financial reporting to budget more efficiently and helps investors base their decisions on knowledge instead of hype. Whether you're in business or in the stock market, knowledge is always an asset.

    Bestselling author Lee Eisenberg searches for a Universal Buy Theory that explains why we behave in rational and irrational ways when we shop.

    Ranging from the 19th to the 20th centuries, writers include James Augustine Aloysius Joyce, Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, Richard Edward Connell, Henri Nathaniel Hawthorne, Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, Jack London, Henri Ringgold Wilmer Lardner, Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant and Edgar Allan Poe.

    Each year, the series editor and guest editor curates a truly exceptional collection. The only shared traits among all these diverse styles, voices, and stories are the extraordinarily high caliber of writing, and the pure passion they tap into that can only come from sports.

    Three Irresistible Gentleman. A vengeful viscount, an arrogant earl and a damaged soldier all find love with ladies that defy their plans and disrupt their lives. A sensual Regency Romance Box Set with warmth and wit. This volume collect books 1-3 including; Captivated by the Viscount, My Captive Earl and Her Noble Captive.Captivated by the ViscountA lot can change in four nights.... Ruination and kidnap were not on Miss Lucy Lazenby´s list of planned events for that week...even if it seems to be for her own good. Caught up in the lies and passion of Lord Danbury, Lucy finds the truth can never be hidden for long. Jasper Carnforth, Viscount Danbury is really doing the girl a favour by ruining her...if it just so happens to coincide with his own need for vengeance - all the better. However keeping the delectable Lucy in his home is more of a challenge than he´d imagined. Retribution may have brought them together, but desire has its own agenda. This fast paced Regency novella (34,000 words) is the first standalone story in The Captivating Debutantes Series.My Captive EarlThe Earl of Rookdean did not want to host a house party.Miss Clara Lockwood did not want to attend the Earl of Rookdean’s house party.You don’t always get what you want…At a masquerade ball on the opening night, Rookdean encounters a captivating Grecian-dressed goddess. With identities hidden, will his heart be able to find what his eyes cannot see?It started by chance, in a moonlit sunken garden. It leads to a week of concealed passion, deception and misunderstanding. With a house full of hidden desires, demanding men, song, charades, debutantes and…Lady Minkworth – who wouldn’t want a house party?This regency novella (49,000 words) is the second standalone story in The Captivating Debutantes Series. Heat level: Sensual. 3 out of 5.Her Noble CaptiveThat bitter winter of 1813…Her… Miss Rosalind Trewent. Irrepressibly vivid. Improperly spoken. Burdened by secrets. Refuses to marry.Noble… Major Lucas Mainwaring. Excessively grouchy. Reluctant earl. Self-admitted wreck. Can never marry.Captive… Winter and the cold hand of a murderer stalk the land, but the arrival of the Major as a houseguest warms Rosalind to her very toes.But the past can never be hidden for long…An idyllic country village is not always as it appears and when Lucas delves deeper, he discovers murky secrets, veiled passions, lust he thought he could never feel...and a love that began many years before.The Captivating Debutantes series can be read in any order.

    

    This volume assembles 2 novels and 4 shorter works -- almost 500 pages of classic fiction -- by 3-time Hugo Award-winner Clifford D. Simak. Included are:TIME QUARRY [novel]EMPIRE [novel]THE STREET THAT WASN'T THERE [short story]THE WORLD THAT COULDN'T BE [novelet]HELLHOUNDS OF THE COSMOS [short story]PROJECT MASTODON [short story]If you enjoy this book, search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see the more than 100 other entries in the series, covering science fiction, modern authors, mysteries, westerns, classics, adventure stories, and much, much more! (Sort by publication date to see the most recent entries.)

    From falling in love to overcoming adversity, celebrating a new born or learning to live with dignity: here is a book to inspire and to thrill through life's most magical moments. From William Shakespeare to Carol Ann Duffy, our most popular and best loved poets and poems are gathered in one essential collection, alongside many lesser known treasures that are waiting to be discovered. These are poems that help you to see the miraculous in the commonplace and turn the everyday into the exceptional - to discover, in Kipling's words, that yours is the Earth and everything that's in it.

    The new edition from Chopra includes many topics encompassing the theory of structural dynamics and the application of this theory regarding earthquake analysis, response, and design of structures. No prior knowledge of structural dynamics is assumed and the manner of presentation is sufficiently detailed and integrated, to make the book suitable for self-study by students and professional engineers.