![]() ![]() A couple underestimated, soulmates determined to win… Blake and Cerys become embroiled in a plot that could destroy the hard-fought Scottish independence. When she meets the towering Highlander amidst courtly intrigue, Cerys realizes more than familial ties by marriage bind them as they work together to uncover subterfuge at the highest level. Underestimated by the men swarming throughout Stirling Castle, Cerys is both observant and shrewd. ![]() A lady at court, a warrior at heart… Cerys Kerr is making the best of being relegated to serving as a lady-in-waiting to an absent queen exiled in France. ![]() Forced to navigate the uncharted waters of royal politics, Blake soon finds himself in over his head. ![]() But he finds the royal court, absent its exiled king, is far less hospitable to Highlanders than it ever was. Sent to accompany Sir Andrew of Moray back to Stirling, Blake intends to avail himself of the various entertainments the town offers. A gentle giant during peace, a bear on the battlefield… Blake Sinclair is fresh from the battlefield having fought alongside his father, Magnus, and his uncles and cousins. ![]()
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![]() ![]() But then, Jude was a white tiger shifter, so he’d fucking better be good at sniffing. Jude Donovan was good at catching scents. If Jacobson got away, he’ll catch the guy’s scent.” “I’m going to give Jude the Jacobson case,” Pak said. On the weekends, Pak would spend hours with the twelve- to fourteen-foot gators that loved to snap and feast in those muddy waters. The guy was a charmer, a being born with the ability to speak to animals. “Uh, boss?” Pak didn’t usually get all quiet and focused like this unless he was out in the swamps, talking to the gators. “The guy was low level, but he should have been strong enough to knock the flames back, at least for a few moments.” A few moments would have been all the guy needed for an escape. “Jacobson was a demon.” Demons and fire always mixed. “But you don’t think they’ll find a body? Or what’s left of one?” The fire department was still there when I left, digging through the rubble, but-” “Jacobson’s body wasn’t recovered on the scene. What the hell? The job always came first for him. Pak rose and walked around the edge of the desk. He’d protected her and made sure the assholes after her were taken down. Just like he’d done his job when Dee changed. ![]() ![]() ![]() reminiscent of Helen Fielding' Time Magazine 'Powered by a surfeit of dazzling wit and graced with a cast of unforgettable characters' Booklist 'A smart, funny touch. ![]() 'Quinn writes delightfully fast-paced, funny, sparkling and bright romance' Romantic Times 'The next best thing to Georgette Heyer' Gloss 'A smart, funny touch. ![]() Return to the world of the Bridgertons with this first book in a dazzlingly witty prequel series from Sunday Times bestselling author Julia Quinn, featuring the ancestors of the Bridgertons you know and love. And when these lifelong adversaries finally kiss, they just might discover that the one person they can't abide is the one person they can't live without. But when Billie and George are quite literally thrown together, a whole new sort of sparks begin to fly. Which is perfectly convenient, as she can't stand the sight of him, either. He may be the eldest, and heir to the earldom, but he's arrogant, annoying and she's certain he detests her. There is only one Rokesby Billie absolutely cannot tolerate: George. Everyone expects Billie Bridgerton to marry one of the Rokesby brothers, and she's not opposed: their families have been neighbours for centuries. ![]() _ A generation before the Bridgertons, there were the Rokesbys. ![]() ![]() ![]() In 1660 Louis married the Infanta Maria Theresa of Spain (1638-83), daughter of Philip IV. Pious and conservative, he was able to present himself within France and throughout Europe as the model of royal absolutism. Then Louis was his own Chief Minister, working with unremitting energy and making all the important decisions himself ( L'état, c'est moi: ' I am the state'). ![]() During his minority (1643-51), the government was carried on by his mother and her Chief Minister and lover, Cardinal Jules Mazarin, and Mazarin continued to exercise control until his death in 1661. Louis was born in St Germain-en-Laye, the son of Louis XIII and Anne of Austria, and came to the throne at the age of five. Louis XIV, known as Le Roi Soleil ('The Sun King') 1638-1715 ![]() ![]() ![]() Later I found the paperback edition read during my high school years, and its cover proclaimed it "The Novel That Made World History." I was surprised by the narrator's wry sense of humour, which I hadn't remembered, and the story kept my attention. I paid the two-dollar asking price, brought Zhivago home and started re-reading it, for the first time in over forty years, an image of the luminous Julie Christie as Pasternak's heroine in the back of my mind. Since the novel hadn't been deaccessioned from the library's collection, it must have come from one of the boxes of books donated to the sale. The book, which turned out to be a first edition, was in excellent condition and wore its original dust jacket. AT a library book sale not long ago I spotted a hardbound copy of Boris Pasternak's novel Doctor Zhivago. ![]() ![]() ![]() Provocatively drawing a sharp contrast between African countries that have rejected the aid route and prospered and others that have become aid-dependent and seen poverty increase, Moyo illuminates the way in which overreliance on aid has trapped developing nations in a vicious circle of aid dependency, corruption, market distortion, and further poverty, leaving them with nothing but the "need" for more aid. In fact, poverty levels continue to escalate and growth rates have steadily declined-and millions continue to suffer. In Dead Aid, Dambisa Moyo describes the state of postwar development policy in Africa today and unflinchingly confronts one of the greatest myths of our time: that billions of dollars in aid sent from wealthy countries to developing African nations has helped to reduce poverty and increase growth. In fact, across the continent, the recipients of this aid are not better off as a result of it, but worse-much worse. Has this assistance improved the lives of Africans? No. ![]() In the past fifty years, more than $1 trillion in development-related aid has been transferred from rich countries to Africa. Media Issues, Communication & Journalism.Computer Science & Information Technology. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The locked room murder meets a Michael Bay movie, by way of Treasure Island you can’t know what’s going on, if only because the author won’t let you know until he’s delivered the final surprise – and another one after that. Events approach at dizzying speeds and recede almost immediately into the distance, decaying into the fog of battle and shipwreck. This helps the author convey the emotional charge of each scene in a quick-and-dirty fashion. They’ll undergo heavy-gauge backstory additions to fit them for a reveal or for their next set of tasks and excitements our idea of the character as we already know them will conflict for a page or two with their new demeanour, then succumb as our sympathies tilt to accommodate. ![]() In the service of its high-speed, self-aware twists and turns, characters often talk as if they know they’re in a book, and are either nudging a forgetful reader or winking at a complicit one. ![]() ![]() ![]() So she remains mute while her husband goads her to talk. The sister later spits out bats, spiders and lizards while Isobel, whose greedy husband calls her Precious, spits out diamonds, rubies, even bars of platinum, whenever she speaks. “Precious” is a variation on the Midas theme: Isobel and her sister are both blessed and cursed when they give water to an old crone. Much longer is “Fisherman,” no fable but rather an erotic tale that goes on and on, about a fisherman losing his virginity in a whorehouse, a story that teases and teases because it has but one secret to reveal and whose highlight turns on a splendidly arresting physical act most readers would find improbable-until one thinks about it. “The Glass Bottle Trick,” a tale to delight Angela Carter, mixes Beauty and the Beast and Persephone and Pluto, telling of young Beatrice, a top student set on medical school instead, she’s seduced into marriage with wealthy, twice-widowed Samuel, who thinks himself ugly, does not want children, and keeps his air-conditioned house sealed and so cold that insects refuse to enter. ![]() “The Money Tree” entwines two or three familiar themes: piracy and greed, a mother who’s a river nymph, and the fatal problems with water of her two grown children. “Riding the Red” varies Little Red Riding Hood tale by adopting the viewpoint of Grandma, whose hormones lust for Wolfie. Fifteen Afro-Caribbean–flavored fables, some set in Toronto, by lauded Locus Award winner Hopkinson ( Brown Girl in the Ring, 1998, etc.). ![]() ![]()
![]() With the final battle for Zefed looming, Maren must set aside her fears, draw upon all she’s learned about her dragon-touched abilities, and face her destiny once and for all. If he’s to survive, he’ll have to strike first-or hope Maren reaches him in time. She is the author of the Shatter the Sky duology and Briar Girls. With more people joining the rebellion, whispers of a rogue dragon mistress spreading, and escape seeming less likely with each passing day, Sev knows that it won’t be long before the emperor decides to make an example of him. Rebecca Kim Wells grew up in California before moving east in search of crisp autumns and snowy winters. ![]() ![]() Leaving her home to rescue the girl she loves from an uncertain. As a prisoner of Zefed, Sev finds himself entangled in a treacherous game of court politics. Shatter the Sky is an exciting tale of love, adventure, and fighting for what you believe in. ![]() After a daring rescue, they’ve finally been reunited, but Maren's life is still in pieces: Kaia seems more like a stranger than the lover Maren knew back home Naava, the mother of all dragons, has retreated into seclusion to recover from her wounds, leaving Maren at a loss on how to set the rest of the dragons free and worst of all, her friend Sev has been captured by the emperor’s Talons. Maren’s world was shattered when her girlfriend, Kaia, was abducted by the Aurati. ![]() Maren and her girlfriend Kaia set out to rescue Sev and free the dragons from the corrupt emperor in the explosive finale to the journey that began with the thrilling Shatter the Sky. ![]() |