All the children born in the year 684 celebrate their joint sixteenth birthday by passing in front of the statue of the blind goddess Caprice—but only one will become the Chosen and join the Seventy who govern and guide the city.   Much to her surprise, Irona Matrinko, one of the many children of an impoverished fisherman, is chosen. Irona 700 moves into the palace and, with the help of a new mentor, recognizes and cultivates her great talent for guiding wars: strategy and tactics, leadership and inspiration.   As Irona gives her life to the city, an ancient enemy, Maleficence, attacks again and again, corrupting Irona’s friends, destroying her lover, and continually defeating her grandest plans for peace and harmony. Along the way, Irona becomes a masterful politician, a shrewd judge of character, and, even at great cost to her personal happiness, a true heroine.

    When an unmarried gentleman happens by her brother's smithy, it is up to her to act quickly—and rashly—to secure his interest. But Grantham Wendell, Lord Chelford, isn't in the market for anything more than a new horseshoe. What's a bachelor to do when an innocent miss turns up at his annual bacchanalia? He ought to make her leave, but his Twelfth Night party just became more entertaining...Publisher's Note: This book was originally published as The Cheer in Charming an Earl

    Shoot an apple off his friend’s head or lose his food, horse and clothes? Some decisions require little thought.Archer is the sort of boy things happen to. Orphaned as a baby, his gifts make him different to other kids. He doesn't understand why he's so much stronger and faster than other boys; why a sword feels so right in his hand; or how every arrow he looses at a target will hit the centre, even if his eyes are closed.At the Beltane ritual, he must fight his friends to see who is most worthy. But his real battle is with an enemy whose callous disrespect for the natural order brings dangerous consequences.This swashbuckling romantic fantasy will appeal to fans of action-adventure, jousting and magical realism.

    But news of her father's death--and the cloud of scandal surrounding it--has suddenly made Juno the center of attention, as various factions attempt to seize her supposed bridegift--a fabulous cache of diamonds. In vain, Juno protests that she knows nothing about a bridegift, and that her father had no such fortune, but England's enemies are not convinced, and Juno is forced to escape with an unlikely ally--a Barbary pirate. Can she believe his extraordinary tale about her father, or is he only another one who is looking to steal her bridegift? Find out, as Juno plumbs depths of courage she never knew she had, and the fate of the world hangs in the balance

    At the same time, Naval veteran and retired spy Adam Hardacre learns he has an adult son he never knew existed. Thrown together one Christmas, by circumstances beyond their control, father and son must find mutual ground on which to come to terms with the past. Life is too short to hold on to regret, and a greater regret awaits if the two men cannot work together to save a life. Love comes in many forms... and none more strongly than the love from father to son.

    Shadows gather: legacies of the centuries-long rivalries for power, old betrayals, the endless plots of the courtiers, and the murmur of rebellion in the southern provinces…Catwin, plucked from her life at the edge of the Kingdom, is thrust abruptly into the world of the Court when she is chosen by the Duke of Voltur to be a Shadow—spy, shield, and blade—to his niece, the Lady Miriel DeVere. The Duke’s ruthlessness is legendary, and he will stop at nothing to become the power behind the throne, using Miriel as a pawn to catch Garad’s heart.But the Duke's carefully-laid plans are only a piece of the intrigue of the court, and greater forces than Catwin can imagine are massed against her, determined to eliminate Miriel and impose a new order of their own. If Catwin and Miriel are to survive, they must learn quickly who to trust, and when to turn their skills against the very people who have trained them...

    By day she delivers her father’s forged weapons to the palace training grounds, and by night she secretly trains with them, yearning to be a warrior in a land where girls are forbidden to fight. With her pending sale to slavehood, she is desperate. 18 year old Prince Thanos despises everything his royal family stands for. He abhors their harsh treatment of the masses, especially the brutal competition—The Killings—that lies at the heart of the city. He yearns to break free from the restraints of his upbringing, yet he, a fine warrior, sees no way out. When Ceres stuns the court with her hidden powers, she finds herself wrongfully imprisoned, doomed to an even worse life than she could imagine. Thanos, smitten, must choose if he will risk it all for her. Yet, thrust into a world of duplicity and deadly secrets, Ceres quickly learns there are those who rule, and those who are their pawns. And that sometimes, being chosen is the worst that can happen. SLAVE, WARRIOR, QUEEN tells an epic tale of tragic love, vengeance, betrayal, ambition, and destiny. Filled with unforgettable characters and heart-pounding action, it transports us into a world we will never forget, and makes us fall in love with fantasy all over again. Book #2 in OF CROWNS AND GLORY will be released soon!

    Today, it found him. Caught in a chilly October storm, he ducked into a tavern, hoping to escape the rain. What he found, was a room teeming with pirates. Shanghaied by the most elderly of the lot, Archie found himself serving on a ship captained by the fiercest pirate ever to sail the seven seas— the man known as Blackbeard. Through a series of thrilling twists, Archie finds himself captain of another of Blackbeard's ships, the Jolig Roger. In an attempt to flee danger, his ship becomes lost under stars never before seen. Determined to save both his crew and the woman he loves, Archie will make decisions that will forever seal his fate. Discover the untold story of the man who became Captain Hook.

    175+ FIVE-STAR REVIEWS. COMANCHE SUNSET collects the first three books of the THE LAW WRANGLERS as an opening trilogy to the popular Western series. DEAL WITH THE DEVIL - The Law Wranglers Book 1After several long years of trying to put the past behind him, Josh Rivers finds himself intertwined in a case that has him leaving the comforts of his life in Santa Fe for the desolation of the Staked Plains. In his quest to find a young woman abducted by the Comanche, Josh must confront the horrors of his past, as well as pull off the diplomatic high-wire act of negotiating with the Comanche and their great war chief, Quanah Parker. MOUTH OF HELL - The Law Wranglers Book 2As tensions continue to escalate between the U. S. Army and the Comanche, members of the Rivers family find themselves involved on multiple fronts of the “Red River War.” Josh Rivers discovers his efforts to covertly negotiate on behalf of his newest client have been exposed, and now he finds himself looking over his shoulder, even in the relative safety of Santa Fe. Meanwhile, his journalist sister, Tabitha, is embedded with Colonel Ranald “Bad Hand” Mackenzie’s forces on the eve of battle. What begins as a ploy to sell more newspapers, quickly spirals into a series of life-changing events as the opposing sides converge in the Texas Panhandle. THE LAST HUNT - The Law Wranglers Book 3Set amidst the last days of the Comanche wars, The Last Hunt continues the story of the Rivers family, whose fates are intertwined with the Comanche—and their great war chief, Quanah Parker—both personally and professionally. The decisions Quanah makes as the conflict nears its end will have a far-reaching effect beyond his Comanche nation, and the long-brewing showdown for Josh to reclaim his kidnapped son reaches its conclusion.From the AuthorThe Law Wranglers novels comprise the author's best-selling series. Some series books are independent novels that can be easily read out of order. Others may be confusing without the back story from the previous novel. This series is a bit of a mix.The first three books of the Law Wranglers series (Deal with the Devil, Mouth of Hell, and The Last Hunt) constitute a trilogy, and the author recommends sequential reading. For that reason, the publisher also packaged the books as a boxed set under the Comanche Sunset umbrella.New readers should have no difficulty reading subsequent books as stand-alone novels, and, of course, it is hoped enjoyment of the experience will coax the reader to experience the entire series, which the writer plans to continue indefinitely.The Law Wranglers (in order of publication):Deal with the Devil (2016)Mouth of Hell (2016)The Last Hunt (2017)Summer's Child (2017)Peyote Spirits: A Novella (2018)Comanche Sunset: Books 1 - 3 (2018)

    After watching his father's fall and the suffering it caused Walter learns from a young age that favor is fleeting. Young Walter leaves home to find his own way and is swept away on one of the ships in service to the crown. The seas are full of dangers, from unforeseen storms to brutal pirates. During one of Walter's many sea voyages he encounters a girl who will change his fortune. But in order to survive in a world where favor can bring a man a lifetime of good fortune or destroy him in the blink of an eye, Walter must stay true to himself and his values. Walter faces the question we all face, are we what we are born into or can we become more? I, Walter is a tale of love, courage, and adventure.

    It is the story of Lassiter, a gunslinging avenger in black, who shows up in a remote Utah town just in time to save the young and beautiful rancher Jane Withersteen from having to marry a Mormon elder against her will. Lassiter is on his own quest, one that ends when he discovers a secret grave on Jane’s grounds. “[Zane Grey’s] popularity was neither accidental nor undeserved,” wrote Nye. “Few popular novelists have possessed such a grasp of what the public wanted and few have developed Grey’s skill at supplying it.”

     Constantine can no longer hide in Europe. As he discovers a century-old secret, he must flee back to Moscow, chased by assassins. Only one man can save him. Eugene Sokolov: an officer in the world's most elite rescue unit, a martial arts legend… and Constantine's brother. They face an enemy unlike any other. In a game run by a KGB spymaster, the fate of Russia will depend on their survival.

    Normal girls don't lose time, or have something inside them that makes them capable of remarkably violent things. Her behavior has already cost her one job, so when she's offered the lofty position of companion to Phoebe, a debutante recently engaged to Lord Vincent, she accepts, despite having no experience. Lord Vincent is a man of science with his automatons and inventions, but Finley is suspicious of his motives where Phoebe is concerned. She will do anything to protect her new friend, but what she discovers is even more monstrous than anything she could have imagined.

    After discovering that she has only a few weeks to get the crop off the field to save the family farm, she has to make decisions that will affect them all. With help from a man she meets along the way, she works to do whatever she can to save her family. She learns to trust, and she finds a strength she never knew she had. Could she possibly find love during the most difficult time of her life? And, can she save her family from losing everything they have fought so hard to get?

    "First Flight" is a finalist for the 2010 Locus Award.The winner of the 2008 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of short fiction published in Strange Horizons, Cosmos, and Asimov's. Her first novel, Shades of Milk and Honey, will be published by Tor in 2010.