All Millie Rose can do at first is stare into the blinding lights of the NICU and hear doctors demanding answers about the burns on Claire’s body. Nurses panic, they cry and shout “she’s bradying down!” because, Lord help them, they’ve never seen anything like this.Neither has Millie. Although she died in childbirth in 1922, she still has a purpose. Her afterlife is filled with missions lasting anywhere from ten minutes to ten years, and she views her newest assignment as a second chance at motherhood. But she's got to act fast because Claire's lungs are weak, her heart rate keeps tanking, and her pH levels are low. The hospital has never had a 26-weeker pull through. Millie also tries to counsel Claire’s troubled parents, Mick and Manda, through the emotional fallout. They see marriage as the best “band-aid,” but Claire’s birth always haunts them, to the point Manda becomes a chain-smoking pill-popper who paints her house completely white. Mick becomes a reclusive binge-eater who sleeps in the barn. And Claire comes-of-age wondering about it all-- why she’s so sick, why she has scars on her skin, and what’s the secret her parents are keeping?Finally, there’s a good reason why Millie nudges Claire to find true love years later with the geeky guy down the street. True, Charlie Vance may build his own batteries and dissect dead animals, but his love for Claire drives his decision to attend medical school so he can take care of her the rest of her life. NEED TO BREATHE takes an unthinkable crisis and turns it into a gripping story filled with sensitivity, hope, beauty…even humor. From the opening chapter, readers will root for Claire’s chance at happiness, for the Harpers to heal, and for Millie’s reconciliation with her own lost motherhood.

    Turns out it's non-refundable. Destiny can suck it. When Nava half-drunkenly interrupts her twin brother's induction ceremony into a secret supernatural society, she expects to be chastised. What she doesn't expect is to take his place among the previously all-male demon hunters, with a surly but smoking hot ex-rock star appointed to keep her in line.She's thrown into a world of vengeful demons, witches, and the Brotherhood's antiquated thinking, but the scariest part?Nava is faced with something she never wanted: a purpose.However, if she can rise to the challenge, who knows? She might even teach these boys a thing or two about how to slay a monster...Odds of survival: meh.Odds of a good time before she bites it: much better.This paranormal box set contains a fast-paced urban fantasy series that readers describe as "fun, funny, and unapologetically raunchy... a clever guilty pleasure at its best." If you like snarky kickass heroines, a maverick mythology, and red-hot romance, then grab The Unlikeable Demon Hunter Collection: Books 1-6 today!

    100 lines from the author's MSN messenger chat history, set in large bold helvetica.

    In Savage's funniest, most biting book yet, the nation's fiercest independent thinker invites you to take a riotous tour through The Political Zoo--an outrageous look at today's most prominent politicos and pundits as the reptiles, rats, and birds of prey they most resemble.Animal by animal and cage by cage, Savage brandishes his irreverent wit to keep these beasts in check. Serving as resident biologist and zookeeper, Dr. Savage asks that you watch your step when approaching the widemouth copperhead Ted Turner (also known as Mouthus desouthus), do not feed the ego of stuffed turkey Alec Baldwin (Notalentus anti-americanus), and please keep your children with you at all times around wolf boy Bill Clinton (Fondlem undgropeum)."The world of politics is filled with uncivilized, snarling, rapacious beasts that, like untrained mutts, raise their legs and urinate on everything we hold dear," says Savage. And this sensational book is your guide for navigating the jungle of today's animal-political kingdom.

    They are a loving anddoting young married couple, living a life of comfort in posh suburbanGurgaon. Neil's fitness consultant Srinya seems to be stirring sometrouble in their lives, though.Drishti is a TV news anchor and journalist and her husband Somesh, atop cop. They are bored of their mundane busy lives, until a chancemeeting with Neil and his friends in Cuba that changes everything.To add sanity and madness to their lives are the funny and mysteriousset of friends - Tom, Jerry, James, Mehr and Antriksha.The havoc ensues when Drishti gets abducted and Neil is framed for it.Gauri finds out some bitter truths and leaves Neil. But what really is thetruth?When facts finally surface, we will know how much these lives areMessed Up! But All for Love.

    And then she stumbled into my woods. I liked my privacy. My hermit existence. That’s all I wanted. To be alone. But then I found her. Anna’s pretty face stirred carnal things in me I thought I’d forgotten. She was curvy. Fiery. Innocent. My perfect little damsel in distress. I couldn’t deny my “mountain man” urges. So, I f@#ked her. Again, and again. Bliss in the middle of nowhere… Until he came looking for her. But Anna isn’t just a damsel now. She’s carrying my baby. And that means she belongs to me. She’s mine to protect. No matter the cost… Note: Mountain Man's Baby Surprise is 60k of hot, steamy romance between a mountain man and his damsel in distress.

    Annie Shepherd has the perfect literary life.But Annie Shepherd has a secret. A huge secret she's tried to hide her entire career, which is bought to the surface when her National Book Award winning boyfriend (and Annie’s former professor), suddenly dies.Now, Annie must rely on her own worst enemy for a solution … her literary agent. The posh, snooty and pretentious Henry Higgins, who has always been disdainful that Annie is his biggest client.If Annie's secret is exposed, Henry Higgins will have to take the fall with her. Whilst reluctantly working together to try and protect both their careers and reputations, they learn of something much bigger which unites them … a little something Annie's been writing about her entire career …Love.

    undercover operations targeting the immigrant smuggling, counterfeiting, and drug rings of Mexico’s dangerous mafia.Living under an assumed identity and risking his life were all in a day’s work for U.S. Government Agent Hipolito Acosta. He worked regularly in high-stakes undercover operations infiltrating Mexico’s murderous immigrant smuggling rings and drug cartels. Acosta’s investigations are legendary, both inside law enforcement and the crime cartels he helped neutralize. He had himself smuggled from Mexico to Chicago with a truckload of poor immigrants; worked his way into the confidences of a gang of international counterfeiters; socialized with some of Mexico’s most vicious drug lords; arrested a female smuggler by luring her across the U.S. border for an amorous rendezvous; and was the target of multiple murder plots by the criminals he put in jail. For three decades, Hipolito Acosta’s work routinely made national headlines, and he quickly gained a reputation as a daring crime fighter who used his intelligence and audacity to stay one step ahead of those who would kill him if his cover were ever blown. Acosta’s stories read like chapters from a page-turning crime novel, but The Shadow Catcher is more than a front-seat ride through the criminal underworld along the U.S./Mexico border. This heartbreaking exposé goes beyond sensational headlines and medals of honor to divulge what an agent endures in order to ensure that U.S. law is enforced and to reveal the unseen human side of illegal immigration.

    Sure to mesmerize fans of Deborah Harkness, Laurell K. Hamilton, and Karen Marie Moning, these novels introduce a trio of kickass heroines who perfectly showcase Armstrong’s thrilling imagination.  DIME STORE MAGIC   Paige Winterbourne was always either too young or too rebellious to succeed her mother as leader of the elite American Coven of Witches. Now that she’s twenty-three, the Elders can no longer deny her. But even Paige’s wildest antics can’t hold a candle to those of her new charge, Savannah, who is all too willing to use her budding powers for evil, and evil is all too willing to claim her. For this girl is being pursued by a dark faction of the supernatural underworld. It’s an initiation into adulthood, womanhood, and the brutal side of magic—and Paige will have to do everything within her power to make sure they both survive.  INDUSTRIAL MAGIC  Someone is murdering the teenage offspring of the underworld’s most influential Cabals—a circle of families that makes the mob look like amateurs. And none is more powerful than the Cortez Cabal, a faction with which Paige is intimately acquainted. Her boyfriend is none other than Lucas Cortez, the rebel son and unwilling heir. But love isn’t blind, and Paige has her eyes wide open as she is drawn into a hunt for an unnatural-born killer. Pitted against shamans, demons, and goons, it’s a battle chilling enough to make a wild young woman grow up in a hurry. If Paige gets the chance.  HAUNTED   Eve Levine—half-demon, black witch, and devoted mother—has been dead for three years. She has a great house and an interesting love life, and she can’t be killed again, which comes in handy when you’ve made as many enemies as Eve has. All she needs to do is find a way to communicate with her daughter, Savannah, and she’ll be happy. But the Fates have other plans. They want Eve to hunt down an evil spirit called the Nix, who has escaped from hell, before she does any more damage. But the Nix is a dangerous enemy: The only way to stop her is with an angel’s sword—and Eve is no angel.  Praise for Kelley Armstrong and the Otherworld series  “Gripping . . . [a] sexy supernatural romance [whose] special strength lies in its seamless incorporation of the supernatural into the real world.”—Publishers Weekly, on Dime Store Magic   “One of my favorite writers.”—New York Times bestselling author Karin Slaughter   “Up there with the big girls of the genre like Laurell K. Hamilton.”—The Kansas City Star   “Armstrong writes page-turning prose.”—Booklist   “One of the masters of urban fantasy.”—Fresh Fiction

    These letters to various friends, lovers and literary contacts provide an intimate and fascinating look at Bukowski's mind, his emotions, his attitude towards his own creativity and the comings and goings of his daily life.

    Some are just darker than others.Always calm, cool, and collected, Savannah PD Detective Charli Cross compensates for her petite five-foot frame with an impenetrable exterior and pragmatic competence. It’s an approach that catapulted her to the rank of detective at twenty-three and contributes to her and her partner’s unequaled murder clearance rate. But when a bird-watching couple discover the remains of a teenage girl stuffed in a storage container, Charli’s composure starts to crack.Not only is the murder horrifying, it dredges up memories of Charli’s best friend. Madeline was only sixteen when her body was found a mere half-mile from the grisly discovery. Add the sadistic sexual component to this recent crime, as well as the location of the body, and Charli fears they are facing the hallmarks of the worst kind of serial killer—one who’s organized and thorough. One intent on fulfilling his dark purpose.Charlie wants to stay unemotional. But when more victims are discovered, she is determined to stop the killer before he strikes again.This time, it’s not just her job. It’s personal.Spine-tingling and chilling, Dark Purpose is the adrenaline-charged first book in the Charli Cross series from bestselling author Mary Stone—guaranteed to ensure you never walk home alone again.

    

    This text teaches students to be a better consumer of research results, understand how the research enterprise works, and prepares them to conduct small research projects. Upon completing this text, students will be aware of what research can and cannot do, and why properly conducted research is important. Using clear, accessible language and examples from real research, this discusses both qualitative and quantitative approaches to social research, emphasizing the benefits of combining various approaches. Briefer, paperback text, adapted from Neuman's Social Research Methods, Sixth Edition.

    Percy Jackson's Greek Myths Collection Rick Riordan 2 Books Set Pack Titles in the Set Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods, Percy Jackson and the Greek Heroes

    Indeed, American students lag behind their peers in other nations, but America remains on the leading edge economically, scientifically, technologically, and militarily. The reason for this paradox, explains Barone in this brilliant essay, is that “from ages six to eighteen Americans live mostly in what I call Soft America—the parts of our country where there is little competition and accountability. But from ages eighteen to thirty Americans live mostly in Hard America—the parts of American life subject to competition and accountability.” While Soft America coddles, Hard America plays for keeps. Educators, for example, protect children from the rigors of testing, ban dodgeball, and promote just about any student who shows up. But most adults quickly figure out that how they do depends on what they produce. Barone sweeps readers along, showing how we came to the current divide—for things weren’t always this way. In fact, no part of our society is all Hard or all Soft, and the boundary between Hard America and Soft America often moves back and forth. Barone also shows where America is headed—or should be headed. We don’t want to subject kindergartners to the rigors of the Marine Corps or leave old people uncared for. But Soft America lives off the productivity, creativity, and competence of Hard America, and we have the luxury of keeping part of our society Soft only if we keep most of it Hard.Hard America, Soft America reveals: • How the American situation is unique: In Europe, schooling is competitive and demanding, but adult life is Soft, with generous welfare benefits, short work hours, long vacations, and state pensions• How the American military has reclaimed the Hard goals and programs it abandoned in the Vietnam era• How Hardness drives America’s economy—an economy that businesses and economists nearly destroyed in the 1970s by spurning competition • How America’s schools have failed because they are bastions of Softness—but how they are finally showing signs of Hardening• The benefits of Softness: How government programs like Social Security were necessary in what was a harsh and unforgiving America• Hard America, Soft America is a stunningly original and provocative work of social commentary from one of this country’s most respected political analysts.From the Hardcover edition.