She entered Ah-gwah-ching State Sanatorium at Walker, Minnesota, for what she thought would be a short stay. In January, her tuberculosis spread, and she nearly died. Her recovery required many months of bed rest and medical care.Marilyn loved to write, and the story of her three-year residency at the sanatorium is preserved in hundreds of letters that she mailed back home to her parents, who could visit her only occasionally and whom she missed terribly. The letters functioned as a diary in which Marilyn articulately and candidly recorded her reactions to roommates, medical treatments, Native American nurses, and boredom. She also offers readers the singular perspective of a bed-bound teenager, gossiping about boys, requesting pretty new pajamas, and enjoying Friday evening popcorn parties with other patients.Selections from this cache of letters are woven into an informative narrative that explores the practices and culture of a midcentury tuberculosis sanatorium and fills in long-forgotten details gleaned from recent conversations with Marilyn, who "graduated" from the sanatorium and went on to lead a full, productive life.

    Lenese Stringfield Puts the "Sex" in Sex Therapy as she takes the profession by storm with her new and innovative techniques. Her seductive nature and sexy demeanor has her clients eating out of the palm of her hand; amongst other things. Lenese has loved once and lost. So, if she can't be with the one she loves; she will love the one she's with. But, amazing sex doesn't come without a price tag. Too bad life has a lesson to teach this freaky therapist! She will soon learn that Karma is the "one bitch" that has everyone's address. Fooling around with another woman's husband is dangerous, but falling in love with one can be deadly.

    She hopes a combination of countryside and coast will heal her shattered heart. But she has yet to face tyrannical Tilly Barwise; the 89-year-old she will be looking after. Sharp, cantankerous and with an acid tongue, Tilly is the polar opposite of a sweet old lady. She has lived a thrillingly full life of romance and intrigue - and is determined shy Ava will follow in her doddering footsteps.Through Tilly's outrageous antics and bittersweet reminiscences, she shows Ava what it is to embrace life. As the pair form an unlikely bond, Tilly reveals the details of a wartime love affair with an American that ended in tragedy - but not quite in the way Tilly always believed.M J Greenwood has drawn a rich, funny, and poignant portrait of two women reluctantly bound by circumstance amid a landscape that retains a unique beauty, even in the midst of unwelcome change.

    

    With their army of Silver Spears, their elite company of Blade Maidens and their holy defenders, the terrifying asirim, the Kings uphold their positions as undisputed, invincible lords of the desert. There is no hope of freedom for any under their rule.Or so it seems, until Çeda, a brave young woman from the west end slums, defies the Kings' laws by going outside on the holy night of Beht Zha'ir. What she learns that night sets her on a path that winds through both the terrible truths of the Kings' mysterious history and the hidden riddles of her own heritage. Together, these secrets could finally break the iron grip of the Kings' power...if the nigh-omnipotent Kings don't find her first.

    And right now, both are in dire straits. Since the death of their parents, Ryn and her siblings have been scraping together a meager existence as gravediggers in the remote village of Colbren, which sits at the foot of a harsh and deadly mountain range that was once home to the fae. The problem with being a gravedigger in Colbren, though, is that the dead don't always stay dead.The risen corpses are known as "bone houses," and legend says that they're the result of a decades-old curse. When Ellis, an apprentice mapmaker with a mysterious past, arrives in town, the bone houses attack with new ferocity. What is it that draws them near? And more importantly, how can they be stopped for good?Together, Ellis and Ryn embark on a journey that will take them deep into the heart of the mountains, where they will have to face both the curse and the long-hidden truths about themselves.

    But when she wakes up in her ex-boyfriend’s bed on New Year’s Day 2011—a day she has already lived—Olive’s world is turned upside down. Shouldering a year of memories that no one else can recall, even Olive begins to question herself—until she discovers that she is not alone. Upon crossing paths with Sherry Witan, an experienced “repeater,” Olive learns that she has the chance to rewrite her future. Given the opportunity of a lifetime, Olive has to decide what she really wants. Should she make different choices, or accept her life as she knows it, flaws and all?

    Léo Martin was once a student there, but lost his passion for the grand jeu following a violent tragedy. Now he returns in disgrace, exiled to his old place of learning with his political career in tatters. Montverre has changed since he studied there, even allowing a woman, Claire Dryden, to serve in the grand jeu’s highest office of Magister Ludi. When Léo first sees Claire he senses an odd connection with her, though he’s sure they have never met before. Both Léo and Claire have built their lives on lies. And as the legendary Midsummer Game, the climax of the year, draws closer, secrets are whispering in the walls…

    But when her mom is killed in a car accident, Amalia has no other option but to move to Shadow Hill, Connecticut to live with her estranged family where she finds herself more alone than ever. When Amalia meets Julian Archer, she feels a magnetic pull to him unlike anything she’s ever felt before. She’s pretty sure he feels the same way she does, but he won’t let her get too close to him. She soon learns it’s because Julian is keeping secrets – dark, dangerous secrets that affect both of them. And then there’s the cute, mysterious stranger who Amalia meets in the woods but who won’t even tell her his name. The more time she spends with him, the more she finds herself intrigued by him...and unsure of what his true intentions are. As Amalia learns more about herself and not just one but two age-old curses that involve her, she’s forced to decide if she’s willing to risk it all. Disclaimer: This Young Adult Paranormal Romance is recommended for readers ages grade 9 and up due to mild language and other mature topics. Approximately 73,000 words.

    Nita just dissects the bodies after they’ve been “acquired.” But when her mom brings home a live specimen, Nita decides she wants out — dissecting living people is a step too far.But when she tries to save her mother’s victim, she ends up sold on the black market in his place — because Nita herself is a supernatural being. Now Nita is on the other side of the bars, and there is no line she won’t cross to escape and make sure no one can ever capture her again. Nita did a good deed, and it cost her everything. Now she’s going to do a lot of bad deeds to get it all back.

    In the real world, Blake Masters isn't special, but when he discovers a portal in the middle of the Arizona desert, he will find himself in a world unlike any he's ever seen before.For one, it has dragons.For two, only a couple of men are born every generation.And for three? Well, he now has a superpower, class ability, magic, or whatever you want to call it.And yeah, his power to upgrade and enhance the dragons and people around him might not seem like much, but once he finishes his time at the academy, well, him, his lady friends, and all their dragons might just become the most powerful force the world has ever seen.

    She knows she could be the best in the world, if only someone would give her a chance.But everything changes when the mysterious and eccentric River Shara, the greatest explorer ever known, arrives in her village and demands to hire Kamzin—not her older sister, Lusha, as everyone had expected—for his next expedition. This is Kamzin’s chance to prove herself—even though River’s mission to retrieve a rare talisman for the emperor means climbing Raksha, the tallest and deadliest mountain in the Aryas. Then, Lusha sets off on her own mission to Raksha with a rival explorer, and Kamzin must decide what’s most important to her: protecting her sister from the countless perils of the climb or beating her to the summit.The challenges of climbing Raksha are unlike anything Kamzin expected—or prepared for—with avalanches, ice chasms, ghosts, and other dangers at every turn. And as dark secrets are revealed, Kamzin must unravel the truth about their mission and her companions—while surviving the deadliest climb she has ever faced.

    Betrayed. Now a new ruler must rise from the ashes. Mykah had been the Empire’s greatest general before it had rotted to corruption. Now he builds his own empire in order to crush the greatest nation in the world. At his side is the stunning woman who leads the horned barbarians from the north, known as the oni.The Empire’s armies are limitless. They have dragons, vampires, scores of mages, space-bending foxes, and more patriotic knights than one can imagine. Their industrial network can outfit an army in days.Sometimes, winning requires a lot more than just a good army and tactics.Mykah is up against the clock as the Empire rushes to crush his rebellion. He needs to find an edge over his opponent. His old allies turn on him even as he gathers new ones: elite sorceresses, energetic berserkers, and the horned beauty that leads the oni.Establishing a new empire is hard. Mykah needs to do it before his past catches up to him and grinds him into the dust. Note: The Empire Reforged Series is an empire building fantasy series with harem / polyamorous elements, beast-girls, adult scenes and plenty of violence. Enjoy, or don’t read.

    Then a vision from the Eldunarí, unexpected visitors and an exciting Urgal legend offer a much-needed distraction and a new perspective.This volume features three original stories set in Alagaësia, interspersed with scenes from Eragon's own unfolding adventure. Included is an excerpt from the memoir of the unforgettable witch and fortune-teller Angela the herbalist, penned by Angela Paolini, the inspiration for the character, herself!Relish the incomparable imagination of Christopher Paolini in this thrilling new collection of stories based in the world of the Inheritance Cycle.

    Grafts of animal skin have replaced tattoos in popularity, which gives rise to a unique new demographic: xenofreaks. Bryn Vega's father is head of the Pure Human Society and when she's kidnapped by the Bestia Butcher, the most notorious of the criminal xenosurgeons, she assumes it's payback for her father's anti-xeno activities. Scott Harding is her taciturn jailer-called Cougar because of the claws replacing his fingers-but Scott is not who he seems. Deep under cover for the Xenofreak Intelligence Agency, he's been given unprecedented immunity to find the Bestia Butcher's lair and do whatever it takes to bring him to justice. When Bryn is forced to undergo a radical xenoalteration, she discovers a terrible secret: her father is using The Pure Human Society as a front for his own purposes. His willingness to sacrifice his daughter to accomplish them sends her running to Scott for protection, and into the hard-core underground subculture of the very xenofreak society she once despised. Winner, 2012 Global eBook Awards in the category of Speculative Fiction - Science Fiction.