Sixteen year old Kirstyn Scaperrotta examines the decisions we face everyday through the eyes of characters from every walk of life.

THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A shield maiden blessed by the gods battles to unite a nation under a power-hungry king - while also fighting her growing desire for his fiery son - in this Norse-inspired fantasy romance from the bestselling author of The Bridge Kingdom series. Bound in an unwanted marriage, Freya spends her days gutting fish, but dreams of becoming a warrior. And of putting an axe in her boorish husband's back. Freya's dreams abruptly become reality when her husband betrays her to the region's jarl, landing her in a fight to the death against his son. To survive, Freya is forced to reveal her deepest secret: she possesses a drop of a goddess's blood, which gives her magic capable of repelling any attack. A magic that was foretold would unite the fractured nation of Skaland beneath a king-the one who controls the shield maiden's fate. Believing he's destined to rule Skaland, the fanatical jarl binds Freya with a blood oath and orders his son, Bjorn, to protect Freya from their enemies. Desperate to prove her strength, Freya must train to fight and learn to control her magic, all while facing perilous tests set by the gods. Except the greatest test of all may be resisting her forbidden attraction to Bjorn. If Freya succumbs to her lust for the charming and fierce warrior, she risks not only her own destiny but the fate of all the people she swore to protect. No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller, March 2024

Analysing the decorative programmes of the most opulent European palaces of the time, Margaretha Rossholm Lagerl?f investigates how meaning was conveyed through display and visual effects. She explores the visual meaning inherent in the scheme of spatial relations; in effects of scale, perspective, lighting, figures' positions and postures; and in relations among image types. The analysis concerns the interrelations of various kinds of images in the ensembles; the relations between images and physical site; and the address to the beholder. Lagerl?f considers the visual impact of the imagery in conjunction with 'readable' or symbolically 'coded' meanings; thus, the study does not merely subject these decorations to formalist aesthetic principles. She shows the visual meaning generally to sustain the verbal or readable messages, but often in subtle ways, extending or elaborating the meaning. Occasionally, the visual meaning comes forth as an undercurrent or complication, deviating from the proclaimed and symbolic meaning. Fate, Glory, and Love in Early Modern Gallery Decoration contributes to the body of scholarship on visual rhetoric and on how images 'act' out their messages.

ABOVE Victorian London is ‘the monster city” -- a place of industry and progress, poverty and disease, with veins of iron threading through its flesh. BELOW The Onyx Court is dying -- its queen missing, its criminals unchecked, and the very fabric of the Onyx Hall itself torn apart by the iron of the Underground Railroad. BETWEEN No one believed Eliza O’Malley that her childhood sweetheart was stolen from the streets of Whitechapel by the faeries. Her search for him will take her to the heart of the crumbling, corrupted faerie court -- and to a final, desperate chance that might save them all. But first she must confront the faerie who betrayed her seven years ago . . .

In Search of Fate is the story of a dedicated altruist, Adam Questor, and his self-determined mission to serve others in some meaningful way. The novel begins with Adams personal tryst of conscience regarding a decision thrust upon him by the apparent suicide of a colleague. In his capacity as vice president of Genetic Research and Development at Global Pharmaceuticals, he must decide whether to make his company the sole treatment proprietor of this colleagues life-changing genetic breakthrough or to make this new discovery more broadly available for the benefit of all. Anguishing over this decision and the death of his colleague, he seeks refuge in a monastery. His companys CEO, Ralph Edwards, suspects Adam has knowledge of this breakthrough and fears his altruistic bent. With the help of a brilliant psychiatrist, Evelyn Wyman, Edwards hopes to find out what Adam knows under the guise of her support and counsel. But patient and therapist bond and, together, choose to defy his plans. As a consequence, they face unrelenting pursuit by Edwards hired thugs who threaten them with assault, kidnapping, and even murder. With the help of his dead colleagues artificial intelligence, Adam and Evelyn attempt to stay one step ahead of their pursuers while seeking a safe disposition for their terrible secret. In the process, both realize an end they could not preconceive: for Evelyn, a lasting love; for Adam, a destiny not sought without, but uncovered within. He confides this discovery to Evelyn, Our task in life is to discover our worth for the sake of others.