Before their old master died, her family lived in comfortable servants' quarters beside a garden where birdsong echoed through the day. But the new young master turned them out, and now Olive, her parents, and her five-year-old brother Jimmy are struggling to get by. In their cold and desolate tenement, Olive sings to Jimmy about the birds of the garden, trying to cling to hope. Things go from bad to worse when Father succumbs to consumption. Without his job at the docks, the family can't get by. They try to survive on the streets, but it's an impossible task for a destitute mother and her two small children. Olive embarks on a journey of loss and survival in the brutal setting of Victorian London. She has to survive the deaths of loved ones, the appalling conditions in the slums of Old Nichol, and worst of all, the horrors of a match factory and the deadly diseases lurking inside. But one bright thread runs through her story: a kind and handsome boy who gives her bread and whistles just like a nightingale. Might he be the thread by which she can pull herself back up into a better life?

    This usually intimidates many people and prevents them from experiencing the benefits that boxing provides. Unfortunately, this may always be the case, but I am trying to put a stop to that.Lazy, unmotivated, scared, unfit and helpless are just some of the words that could have described me many years ago. I am sure many people fall into this category and have had enough of it, this is where boxing came into my life and changed me for good. Now as a Qualified Boxing Coach, I have the honor to pass on knowledge to other to help them become a better boxer and experience the benefits. Boxing provides you with many benefits that no other sports can provide and can easily fit into your busy schedule. The common stereotype of boxing is that it is only for tough people, well what if I told you that you can get into Boxing without getting hit once!That’s right, Boxing doesn’t mean you have to get into the ring. Boxing from home is just as good as joining your local gym. You will be able to master the footwork basics, learn how to hold a stance, discover the different punch types and much more just from reading this book. Furthermore, this book is for anyone. Whether you want to box to fight in the ring, or if you want to box for exercise, or if you want to build up your boxing ability at home until you gain confidence to join a boxing gym then this book will help you. Many people think that boxing training is just about who can land the most punches in a spar session, but it provides you with a whole-body workout to make you stronger, faster, leaner, more coordinated and mentally tougher. These attributes will prove to be a positive in day-to-day activities.I aim for this book to help you more than what meets the eye, after coaching boxing to beginners for a few years, I am confident to say that you will experience the benefits like a slimmer body and stronger mindset if you follow the advice in this book. I have seen many people start boxing who wouldn’t have been able to hurt a fly on day one, but over the years have built up confidence and ability to win their first fight in front of a crowd of 100, that goes to show that boxing is for anyone. Not to mention that in this book you’ll discover:How you can Improve Your Boxing Ability Without any Equipment.The Simplest, yet Most Effective Punches and Combinations.How These Simple Footwork Drills Will Make you a Better Boxer.Many Defensive Techniques to Prevent Getting Hit.Home Boxing Workouts that Will Help you Lose Weight and Get Fit.The Diet Structure that Successful Boxers Follow.What you can do to Build up Your Confidence Inside and Outside of the Ring.Each day you spend considering making a change to your life, you will find it harder to solve any problems you have that are holding you back. That’s why you should do it now, get into it with a fresh mindset and enjoy it. It may feel nerve-racking at first, but you will be making long-term changes that you will thank yourself for later on. Click “Add to Cart” to start your boxing journey!

    He was supposed to protect her and he failed miserably. He's left tormented by thoughts of what Nyeem may be doing to Makynzee or if she's even alive. One thing is for sure, He needs to regain his focus because now he's faced with the unlikely task of getting her back. Nyeem, the psycho stalker turned kidnapper, has finally succeeded in conquering his ultimate goal - making Makynzee his. So what if she was in a perfectly good relationship with Kalil? And does it really matter that he had to kidnap her to get her? It seems as though he's taken full control of everyone's lives and has no intentions of letting that control go. Because of him lives may be lost, Makynzee's fate is unknown, and the chaos he's brought with him has taken up permanent real estate.

    

    They are all in their 40s and wondering the same thing: “Now what?” Zoe, the mother of 17 year-old twins about to abandon her for college, misses the romance of her twenties, and desperately wants just one last first kiss. Thinking outside the box, she convinces her husband Carlos to embark on an open marriage. Which leads to a new set of problems and questions: How does she pick a “non-skeevy” swinger’s club, do men of a certain age even want sex with no strings attached, and does ordering a glass of Syrah these days really signal to would be suitors that you just want to f*@# them in their car? Most importantly, will getting to be with someone else help or hurt her marriage? And if that someone else is an ex who effortlessly morphs into a fantasy man who after all these years finally says and does all the right things, how does Zoe choose between the life she has and the road not taken? Michelle has made it her routine on her way home to stop one block from her house, park, stare into space, and dread the next few hours of her life. She’s tired of juggling her very full time job as a real estate agent with the full time job of parenting two kids without much help from her husband, Steve. She's also tired of not having sex and the daily silence that has replaced their fighting. Michelle doesn’t have a road not taken, but she’s at a fork in that road. Does she take the easy path, and spend the rest of her life with a man she loves but no longer likes? Or go the hard route: Divorce. Living life with one income, single parenting, lonely Thanksgivings, and kids who may never forgive you. And how does somebody start dating again when all the rules have changed since she took herself off the market years ago? Alexis is the self-made multi-millionaire we all aspire to be. She’s the creator of a slew of hit TV shows and the head of a wildly successful production company. She’s got the dream car, the stunning house on the beach in Malibu, the black AmEx. Everything is going exactly according to plan, and there’s a lot to be happy about. But she also has Connor, her on-again/off-again boyfriend of twelve years. Plus she’s going through early menopause, and now wonders how she forgot to have kids. Her life plan is suddenly thrown into further disarray when Connor shows up with a stray dog, which he leaves with her. Which is just the beginning, as that mangy mutt leads to a teenaged dog walker, a middle-aged widower, and her Sunday morning brunches possibly being replaced by church. So what do you do when nothing in your life is working the way you saw it in your head, and the unplanned life might make you happier? Knowing their girlfriends will always have their backs, Michelle, Zoe and Alexis confront their new realities with honesty and humor, while trying to find happiness amidst hangovers and hot flashes.

     This digital box set contains the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth thrillers. To those with the highest security clearance, it’s a line item known only as Project X. But to the half dozen agents and personnel working for it, it’s known as Firestorm, a black ops group so dark that the U.S. President doesn’t even know about them yet. And no agent is as skilled as Brady Hawk. INTO THE SHADOWS, Book 10 :: Facing serious accusations voiced by President Michaels, Brady Hawk goes dark, disappearing in the Middle East. However, when he reconnects with a friend from his Navy Seal days, Hawk learns the true depth of Michaels’ depravity and resolves to put an end to it once and for all. Working remotely with the Firestorm team, Hawk must gather evidence against the president in preparation for a confrontation. But when his plan goes awry, Hawk must call on every favor and get resourceful to salvage his ultimate mission—and survive the wrath of the president. HARD TARGET, Book 11 :: Upon learning about the theft of a new weapons system by Al Hasib, the Pentagon braces for the worst. Yet they have no idea where the terrorists will strike first. When the United States’ best intelligence and military organizations run into a brick wall, they turn to Brady Hawk and the Firestorm team for answers. Hawk must uncover Al Hasib’s intended target and capture the weapons system before it’s too late. But in order to succeed, Hawk must come face-to-face with his arch nemesis Karif Fazil in a high-stakes showdown. NO WAY OUT, Book 12 :: In this globe-trotting thriller, terrorist mastermind Karif Fazil turns the tables on black ops assassin Brady Hawk in a play to remove the terror cell’s biggest threat for good. Hawk’s weaknesses are exposed, leaving him vulnerable—and endangering the lives of all those around him that he cares about the most. Backed into a corner, Hawk must decide who lives and who dies with no way out. Grab this box set of the first three books in the Brady Hawk series. You won’t be disappointed. Fans of Vince Flynn, David Baldacci, and Brad Taylor are loving this new action thriller series! ★★★★★ “R.J. Patterson is up there with Baldacci.” ★★★★★ “First Strike delivers excitement, intrigue and action from the first page to the last.” ★★★★★ “This story was imaginative, but certainly came across as realistic.” ★★★★★ “This is a first rate action thriller!” ★★★★★ “If you are looking for some adrenalin packed action, don’t think twice, just grab a copy and start reading, you won’t be sorry.” ★★★★★ “A well crafted page turner.” ★★★★★ “Brady hawk is the next Jack Reacher!” ★★★★★ “Another great book by R.J. Patterson! I liked that way he makes his characters so real.” ★★★★★ “This book is in the vein of Brad Thor and Vince Flynn with a bit of Ian Flemming.” ★★★★★ “R.J. Patterson's short chapters and fast moving plot render this novel impossible to put down.”

    

    This elite force, and its three sister battalions, went on to gain considerable fame for fighting prowess in World War II. There is more to the story of these units, however, than a simple tale of combat heroics. The inception, growth, and sudden end of the raiders reveals a great deal about the development and conduct of amphibious operations during the war, and about the challenges the Corps faced in expanding from 19,000 men to nearly a half million. The raiders also attracted more than their share of strong leaders. The resulting combination of courage, doctrine, organization, and personalities makes this one of the most interesting chapters in Marine Corps history...

    First there was the stranger in the coffee shop who sucked Raven's finger and then licked him. Then there was the missing person's report.Which is how Raven finds himself paying a visit to Freshán Chetlér, with no clue as to what awaits him...Raven's life is about to undertake a monumental shift.

    Some celebrities behave very, very badly. Andrew Manning is the man who picks up the pieces. And buries the bodies.One of celebrity’s back room boys, Andrew has spent twenty years repackaging and reviving celebrities whose careers have been overshadowed by scandal and is now the very special agent to a stellar list of stars.Shelley Bright, singer and fashion icon, wants a divorce from her secretly gay Premier League footballer husband. She asks Andrew to blackmail him, but Shelley has her own destructive secret. Reality TV star Joey Camp’s career goes into free-fall after he launches an expletive-laden attack on The Queen: Andrew resorts to extreme measures to save him. And Janey Jax, international Pop Goddess, what she wants is so twisted and sick that it makes Andrew’s flesh crawl…Meanwhile, Johnny, Andrew’s partner, begins a descent into “celebrity-induced psychosis.” There are voices in his head, and they tell him to kill celebrities. And as an ambitious, scheming paparazzi appears on the scene, things become even more complicated.

    It's not as exciting as it sounds. They don't even get to dress the part, unless it's New Year's Eve and they've been invited to a costume party. Denton is happy to let his hair down, but coaxing the reclusive Bran out of his shell is hard enough without a demonic spirit crashing the party.Convincing the spirit to return whence it came from will call on Denton's special skills, but not in necromancy.

    Maybe it’s the day he’s first been unpacked and settled into his new home! Maybe it’s sometime after he’s settled into a routine. And what IS that routine, anyway? Is he privately owned? Is he on staff at a sexy high-tech brothel? Has he become self-aware enough to run away from the sexy high-tech brothel and follow his heart circuits in search of a better life and someone who can love a synthetic man?Photo Description: A human-like robot, apparently naked, lies on a bed of packing peanuts. He has just been unboxed, and waits for his new owner’s first orders.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love Has No Boundaries" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

    But he’s got a surefire plan for severing that nuisance once and for all. If only he’d prepared himself for what the thread leads him to: a drunk man in a wedding dress hugging a toilet. Fate is a funny thing.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love is an Open Road" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story. Dear Author,These men are on their wedding night. They are wearing traditional attire according to their social/military/royal/world status. I want to know their story, and why is one of them hiding in a wash chamber. Is that a tattoo on his chest or did his husband brand him during the wedding ceremony? Why is the other so serious? Maybe he doesn’t like all the jewelry?I wonder about their world, time, professions, etc. Did they marry for love, or convenience? Maybe it was arranged, or were they drunk?I want their love to grow, as well as their need for each other. I just want them to be happy, but you can tell their first time together will be passionate. You can see it in their eyes.I’m giving them to you, dear author. Anything and everything will be good for them.Photo Description: In the first picture, a man leans back in an empty, white claw-foot bathtub. He’s wearing a white ruffled skirt with stockings and heavy black boots. His eye makeup is vivid, and he’s holding a cigarette. The second picture is of a man wearing an incredible amount of jewelry and a scowl on his face. He has dramatic cheekbones and a shock of white in his hair. He wears couture fashion.This story may contain sexually explicit content and is intended for adult readers. It may contain content that is disagreeable or distressing to some readers. The M/M Romance Group strongly recommends that each reader review the General Information section before each story for story tags as well as for content warnings.

    Instead, he meets Jamie, a kid on a vampire-killing spree. And nothing says, "I love you," like a stake through the heart . . . .A visceral story of love (or something like it) among the undead.

    Over the past few days he's been watching this cute conservationist gather data about his dwindling habitat. But when the guy falls into the mud, the rest of the crocs think lunch but Craig thinks love.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love is Always Write" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.Read the story here or find it in Love Is Always Write: Volume 2.