I was tending bar, making enough to get by, paying my rent, and enjoying the occasional cocktail with my best gay boyfriend, Matty. And then I got the call.The old coot who used to hang out in my bar? Turned out he was a millionaire, and he just left me all his money.With a catch, of course. I only get his money if I’m 25 years old (check), and married (not checked; not by a landslide). And--I only have 30 days to pull this off.The RenovationWhen Carter, my hunky neighbor spies me wrestling with a chunk of dry rot on the front porch of my piece of sh*t, moneypit, rundown not-so-home-sweet-home, help seems on the way.Especially when Tanner, Wyatt, and Dig join the team just before the scumbag bank closes in.Who knew home repair could get so sexy?And it turned out my house was not the only thing that desperately needed some attention. They get to work fixing me…I mean the house…right up.The PromotionImagine you want a promotion more than anything at the boring-as-sh*t law firm where you’ve slaved for years. You’ve kissed a*s. You’ve smiled when you’ve felt like stabbing someone. You’ve pulled all nighters and saved your boss time and again.And still that’s not enough. There’s one last thing you need to do.Would you do it?The GalleryThey say don’t go into business, or to bed, with friends. But what if those friends are four hardcore rich and handsome alpha players?Did I really think I could keep it clean with guys like that?And when reality set it, I realized dirty is much more fun.That’s my kind of business.The CollectionI know better than to trust a bunch of pretty faces.But when these our gorgeous men walk off the runway and into my life, I find it's not just the hours and lousy pay in fashion that are, um, hard.And what do these guys have in common?ME.These books are interconnected stand-alones, and can be read in any order.Also available in audio. TIME FOR YOUR NEXT BINGE READ!From Mika Lane, a 5-book collection of the dirty, steamy Contemporary Reverse Harem series is here. These hot, over-the-top romances center around bad-boys with a penchant for pursuing and protecting the women who give them a run for their money. If you love outrageously naughty stories as a way to indulge your not-so-secret bad girl side, this boxset is for you.

    It is called sodium bicarbonate, although you may know it as baking soda. For years, sodium bicarbonate has been used on a daily basis as part of a number of hospital treatments, but most people remain unaware of its full therapeutic potential. In his new book, Dr. Mark Sircus shows how this common compound may be used in the alleviation, or possibly even prevention, of many forms of illness. Sodium Bicarbonate begins with a basic overview of the everyday item known as baking soda, chronicling its long history of use as an effective home remedy. It then explains the role sodium bicarbonate plays in achieving optimal pH balance, which is revealed as an important factor in maintaining good health. The book goes on to detail how sodium bicarbonate and its effect on pH may benefit sufferers of a number of conditions, including kidney disease, fungal infection, influenza, hypertension, and even cancer. Finally, it lists the various ways in which sodium bicarbonate may be taken, suggesting the easiest and most effective method for your situation.By providing a modern approach to this time-honored remedy, Sodium Bicarbonate illustrates the need to see baking soda in a whole new light. While it was once considered simply an ingredient in baked goods and toothpaste, sodium bicarbonate contains powerful properties that may help you balance your system, regain your wellbeing, and avoid future health problems.

    We all have one, but most of us will never see one. The heart surgeon now has that privilege but, for centuries, the heart was out of reach even for surgeons. So when a surgeon nowadays opens up a ribcage and mends a heart, it remains something of a miracle, even if, to some, it is merely plumbing. As with plumbers, the quality of surgeons’ work varies. As with plumbers, surgeons’ opinion of their own prowess and their own attitude to risk are not always reliable. Measurement is key. We’ve had a century of effective evidence-based medicine. We’ve had barely a decade of thorough monitoring of clinical outcomes. Thanks to the ground-breaking risk modelling of pioneering surgeons like Samer Nashef, we at last know how to judge whether an operation is in a patient’s best interest, which hospital and surgeon would be best for that operation, when it might best be performed and what the exact level of risk is. We have at last made what is important in surgery measurable. But how should surgeons, and their patients, use these newfound insights? Ever since his days as a medical student, Samer Nashef has challenged the medical profession to be more open and more accurate about the success of surgical procedures, for the sake of the patients. In The Naked Surgeon, he unclothes his own profession to demonstrate to his reader (and prospective patient) many revelations, such as the paradox at the heart of the cardiac surgeon’s craft: the more an operation is likely to kill you, the better it is for you. And he does so with absolute clarity, fluency and not a little wit.

    . . .Yes, it’s true—more or less. Why? Women do need to eat healthier, exercise, get adequate sleep, and take preventive health care seriously, yet it’s equally important for them to relax. Relax, take a breather, and give up trying to follow the narrowly prescribed health “rules” that are constant sources of unhealthy stress and guilt. In Live a Little!, women finally get a long-overdue dose of realism about what’s truly healthy and what’s mostly hype. Susan Love and Alice Domar take on the health police, whose edicts make us feel terrible when we don’t get eight hours of sleep or eat the maximum daily serving of veggies. Most important, they remind us of a forgotten truth: Perfect health is not achievable.Breaking down the prevailing health “musts” in six areas—sleep, stress, preventive care, exercise, nutrition, and personal relationships—these doctors, with a little help from the other experts of BeWell, cut to the heart of these topics and give us realistic guidelines for living a healthy enough life, one that also includes laughter, relaxation, and a commonsense attitude about being pretty healthy.To learn more health truths and whittle down your overblown expectations of yourself, open this book. Using science combined with these experts’ surprisingly refreshing opinions, Live a Little! shows you how to be healthy without driving yourself crazy!

    Every morning, she puts on a brave face to teach kindergarten. She's a good teacher, everyone says so - this stalking is just a tiny crack in her usual self-control.A late enrolment into her class brings little Gracie - sick and grieving. Allison takes the girl and her father, Luke, under her wing. She smothers Gracie with the love she can't give her own son. As others question her judgement and the police arrive at her door, Allison starts to wonder if she can trust herself.When Gracie has a chance to go to America for treatment, Allison leads the school in a fundraising drive. But has she crossed a line?How far will the good teacher go to save a life? And whose life will that be?An intriguing tale of our times about kindness and betrayal, and the danger of good deeds.

    Administered off-label in small daily doses (0.5 to 4.5 mg), this generic drug is extremely affordable and presents few known side effects. So why has it languished in relative medical obscurity? The LDN Book explains the drug’s origins, its primary mechanism, and the latest research from practicing physicians and pharmacists as compiled by Linda Elsegood of The LDN Research Trust, the world’s largest LDN charity organization with over 19,000 members worldwide. Featuring ten chapters contributed by medical professionals on LDN’s efficacy and two patient-friendly appendices, The LDN Book is a comprehensive resource for doctors, pharmacists, and patients who want to learn more about how LDN is helping people now, and a clarion call for further research that could help millions more.

    That's more than die from motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS--three causes that receive far more public attention. Indeed, more people die annually from medication errors than from workplace injuries. Add the financial cost to the human tragedy, and medical error easily rises to the top ranks of urgent, widespread public problems.To Err Is Human breaks the silence that has surrounded medical errors and their consequence--but not by pointing fingers at caring health care professionals who make honest mistakes. After all, to err is human. Instead, this book sets forth a national agenda--with state and local implications--for reducing medical errors and improving patient safety through the design of a safer health system.This volume reveals the often startling statistics of medical error and the disparity between the incidence of error and public perception of it, given many patients' expectations that the medical profession always performs perfectly. A careful examination is made of how the surrounding forces of legislation, regulation, and market activity influence the quality of care provided by health care organizations and then looks at their handling of medical mistakes.Using a detailed case study, the book reviews the current understanding of why these mistakes happen. A key theme is that legitimate liability concerns discourage reporting of errors--which begs the question, "How can we learn from our mistakes?"Balancing regulatory versus market-based initiatives and public versus private efforts, the Institute of Medicine presents wide-ranging recommendations for improving patient safety, in the areas of leadership, improved data collection and analysis, and development of effective systems at the level of direct patient care.To Err Is Human asserts that the problem is not bad people in health care--it is that good people are working in bad systems that need to be made safer. Comprehensive and straightforward, this book offers a clear prescription for raising the level of patient safety in American health care. It also explains how patients themselves can influence the quality of care that they receive once they check into the hospital. This book will be vitally important to federal, state, and local health policy makers and regulators, health professional licensing officials, hospital administrators, medical educators and students, health caregivers, health journalists, patient advocates--as well as patients themselves.First in a series of publications from the Quality of Health Care in America, a project initiated by the Institute of Medicine

    One of 2012’s HWA Lifetime Achievement Award Winners, Rick Hautala has a writing career that spans more than three decades. From Moondeath, his first novel published in 1980, to the republication of his best-selling novel The White Room (DRP, 2012) and his forthcoming “Little Brothers” novella Indian Summer (CD Publications, 2012), his novels and short stories have entertained millions of readers around the world. Now comes Glimpses, a career-spanning “best of” collection that brings together twenty-four stories, including eight from each of Rick’s critically-acclaimed collections Bedbugs and Occasional Demons, and eight previously uncollected stories. And Glimpses delivers what it promises—quick glimpses into the deepest shadows of our lives, around unfamiliar corners of streets we think we know, and down the darkest alleys of strange cities where readers will have to face their worst fears and their most unnerving nightmares. Of course, Glimpses wouldn’t be a Rick Hautala collection if it didn’t included gorgeous original artwork—a wraparound cover and eight new illustrations—from award-winning artist Glenn Chadbourne. So whether it’s in a haunted schoolhouse or an abandoned lighthouse, an iron bridge that spans a fast-moving river or a World War I battlefield, prepare yourself because you never know what you may catch a glimpse of … and by then, it may already be too late.

    The fastest growing of these is Parkinson's: the number of people with Parkinson's doubled to over 6 million over the last 25 years and is projected to double again by 2040. Harmful pesticides known to cause Parkinson's proliferate, many people remain undiagnosed and untreated, research funding stagnates, and the most effective treatment is now a half century old. In Ending Parkinson's Disease, four leading doctors and advocates offer a bold but actionable pact to prevent, advocate for, care for, and treat one of the great health challenges of our time. This is a critical guide for anyone who has or could be touched by this disease.

    The sooner you adopt, the healthier you live. Go disease-free!Over the years, we have been repeating the same eating mistakes that our parents made. This is the reason why the prevalence of diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, and arthritis is increasing in the population over time.In Eat to Prevent and Control Disease, research scientist and registered state pharmacist La Fonceur will tell you how foods that work with the same mechanism as medicines can naturally prevent and control disease. How can you build your body in such a way that you do not need medications even in your 40s, 50s, 60s, or 70s? How can you prevent disease even if you have a family history of that disease? How can you control chronic diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, and many others?With a better understanding of the disease, you can control it yourself. When you follow the advice and preventive measures given in the book, If you do not have any disease, then in the future also you will not have any disease. If you are already suffering from a disease, you can control it without medicines. If your disease is chronic and you are dependent on medicines, then you can reduce the dose of your medications as well as their side effects.

    Now for the first time, the award-winning actress who captured our hearts in "Days of Our Lives" and "Melrose Place" reveals her best-kept secrets for staying fit, managing weight, looking beautiful, feeling sexy, and living the best life possible. In "Rinnavation," her guide to looking and feeling your best, you'll discover: - How Lisa got that Dancing with the Stars body- How to lose weight fast -- without counting calories- How to be "camera-ready" in just minutes- Advice for balancing work and family while also finding time to take care of yourself- Plus: Lisa's instant "lip plumper," quick-fix tanner, everyday makeup advice, hairstyling secrets, and even super-hot sex tips!As a Hollywood star, Lisa has worked with the very best stylists, trainers, and professionals in the industry. Now she shares all her insider secrets, with surprising candor, down-to-earth humor, and irresistible charm. She talks frankly about her self-esteem lows, her struggle losing baby weight, her Hollywood marriage with actor Harry Hamlin, and her never-before-told experiences with cosmetic surgery. She reveals her emotional and spiritual journey from feeling unattractive and uninspired to finding a new sense of purpose and enthusiasm. And she shows you how to dramatically improve the quality of your life -- inside and out -- by approaching it one day at a time."I firmly believe that anyone can change their life for the better," Lisa says. "You just have to make up your mind to make it happen."

    And why not? Smiling has been shown to relieve stress, boost the immune system, release endorphins, and even make us more attractive. It’s the natural drug. So put down the Xanax and pick up a copy of 1,033 Reasons to Smile. Whether it’s the sight of baby animals wrestling each other or watching pigeons fight over a Cheeto, there are more than enough funny, silly, and downright weird reasons to put a smile on your face inside this little book of joy, including:     • When the person in the next lane lets you ahead of them in heavy traffic     • When you finally get back into your own bed after being away from home     • You check the calendar on a Friday and realize that Monday is a holidayWe're all looking for a reason to smile these days. Here's 1,033 of them.

    . . a skier submerged for an hour in a frozen Norwegian lake . . . a comatose brain surgery patient whom doctors have declared a "vegetable."Twenty years ago all of them would have been given up for dead, with no realistic hope for survival. But today, thanks to incredible new medical advances, each of these individuals is alive and well . . .Cheating Death.In this riveting book, Dr. Sanjay Gupta-neurosurgeon, chief medical correspondent for CNN, and bestselling author-chronicles the almost unbelievable science that has made these seemingly miraculous recoveries possible. A bold new breed of doctors has achieved amazing rescues by refusing to accept that any life is irretrievably lost. Extended cardiac arrest, "brain death," not breathing for over an hour-all these conditions used to be considered inevitably fatal, but they no longer are. Today, revolutionary advances are blurring the traditional line between life and death in fascinating ways.Drawing on real-life stories and using his unprecedented access to the latest medical research, Dr. Gupta dramatically presents exciting accounts of how pioneering physicians and researchers are altering our understanding of how the human body functions when it comes to survival-and why more and more patients who once would have died are now alive. From experiments with therapeutic hypothermia to save comatose stroke or heart attack victims to lifesaving operations in utero to the study of animal hibernation to help wounded soldiers on far-off battlefields, these remarkable case histories transform and enrich all our assumptions about the true nature of death and life.

    To chart their progress, they created their blog Fit is a Feminist Issue, dedicated entirely to the unique challenges, questions, and issues they would face as women seeking fitness after the age forty. Soon, they had a community of thousands following their story. Women, it was clear, were looking for something different: a new approach to fitness that would champion strength, health, and personal accomplishment over weight loss and aesthetics.In Fit at Mid-Life, Brennan and Isaacs provide exactly that, offering a more practical, realistic path to getting active later in life. Drawing from their personal experiences as well as the latest research, they deliver a wealth of concrete advice on everything from how to keep bones strong to what types of fitness activities give the biggest returns. But Fit at Mid-Life is more than just a fitness book. Taking a feminist perspective, the authors challenge society’s default whats, whys, and hows of every aspect of getting fit, whether it’s why women avoid free weights at the gym, how personal trainers talk to their female clients, or why dress size is so often considered a benchmark for fitness. Empowering and relatable, the book shows how women can best take charge of their health and be active—no matter what their shape, size, age, or ability.

    People with dairy intolerances or allergies often struggle to adapt keto recipes, many of which rely on dairy staples like butter, heavy cream, and cream cheese. And good dairy-free alternatives can be hard to come by.Maria Emmerich solves that problem with her latest book, Easy Dairy-Free Keto. Maria has been advising her clients to avoid dairy, at least during the initial stages of their foray into ketosis, for many years. She finds that even high-fat dairy products can stall weight loss and healing. That's why she set out to create an entire book of recipes that are safe for people who are avoiding dairy. With Maria's delicious high-fat, low-carb recipes, dairy-free keto home cooks will never feel like they are missing out. Those recipes include: Almost Deviled Eggs Snickerdoodle Mini-Muffins Super Keto Pancakes Curry Chicken Meatballs Paella Broth Fondue Avocado Salmon Ceviche Juicy Pork Loin Avocado Toast Mint Chip Gelato Banana Bread. And much more! Maria has gone out of her way to create an entire book of keto recipes that will appeal to everyone, whether they consume dairy or not. With over 175 recipes, multiple meal plans catering to many different dietary needs and allergies and including AIP and vegetarian meal plans, Easy Dairy-Free Keto strives to be the book that reaches the entire keto audience and becomes a staple in your keto kitchen.