This unique anthology includes over 130 love poems from 21 different countries, each celebrating that all-important subject in poetry and art, the kiss. With 23 illustrations from the world renowned artists, this beautiful collection is a must have for any poetry library. From American to Ukrainian poems, with a diverse selection in between, here are works by Edgar Allan Poe, Jaroslav Seifert, William Shakespeare, John Keats, Victor Hugo, Guy de Maupassant, Franz Grillparzer, Plato, Moses Ibn Exra, Judah Halevi, Hafiz, Adam Mickiewicz, Mickhail Lermontov, and Gustavo Adolfo Becquer among many others.

In Sherri Hayes's scintillating novel, Longing for His Kiss, prepare for an intense journey through love, desire, and the depths of BDSM. Grace Martin's world shattered eight months ago when two uniformed men delivered the devastating news—her husband, her Master, would never return. As she tries to heal, the ache in her chest remains, leaving a void she can’t fill. Alexander Greco, an Army surgeon whose life changed after an IED attack, spent months in recovery before being discharged from the service. With one final duty to fulfill, he seeks out his friend's widow, Grace, to deliver a letter containing her husband's farewell. Unbeknownst to either of them, the contents of the letter will alter their lives in ways they never expected. As Grace grapples with fulfilling her late husband's final request, Alexander becomes her unexpected rock, offering solace and support. Together, they navigate the depths of their shared desires, pushing boundaries in the intimate world of BDSM. Can Grace find the strength to embrace her husband's legacy and explore new beginnings with Alexander? Will Alexander overcome his own pain of losing a dear friend to become the dominance Grace craves? "Longing for His Kiss" is an enticing installment in Sherri Hayes's Serpent's Kiss BDSM club series. With heart-stopping second chances at love, scorching love scenes that ignite the pages, and a promise of happily-ever-after, this sexy military romance will leave you breathless and yearning for more.

The Latin Poems of Manilius Cabacius Rallus of Sparta presents the poetic oeuvre of a forgotten poet of Renaissance Rome. A Greek by birth, Manilius Cabacius Rallus (c. 1447–c. 1523) spent most of his life far from his motherland, unable to return. Through his poems, composed in a range of metres and genres, Rallus engaged with some major events and personalities of his time, including Angelo Poliziano, Ianus Lascaris, and Pope Leo X. His poems also reflect on timeless human experiences such as helplessness in the face of fortune and nostalgia for what is lost. Han Lamers edited the Latin text of Rallus’ poems (most of them printed for the last time in 1520) and added annotations and an English prose translation.

A survey of the life and thought of Christian mystics from the time of Augustine of Hippo in the first centuries of the Church, through mediaeval times, and up to the middle of the twentieth century with Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton.

An unexpected journey toward unconditional love Like so many men, Tim Muldoon assumed that life followed a script. More to the point, he assumed that love would follow a script—one determined by his own choices. When the script changed, as it inevitably does, Tim was forced to ask some critical questions: How could he bring his disparate desires into harmony with one another? Could he make the journey to where his true dreams seemed to be leading him? Should he—or could he—venture into the unknown territory of selfless love? In meditative, heartfelt prose, best-selling author Tim Muldoon shows how authentic love grows through unexpected twists and turns in a relationship, and how by following the deepest desires of his heart, he found the freedom to become his best and most passionate self. From sex to self-giving love, from the desire to be loved to the desire to serve God in the person of his wife, from resisting adoption to loving his two adopted daughters with unbridled joy, Muldoon shares with us his personal love story, whose altered script he came to embrace. Through Muldoon's journey, each of us is invited to consider how falling in love can become our greatest adventure with God.

Can we still have joy in a world where hopelessness and and despair are the norm? Offering theologically grounded and research-based practices, Alastair Sterne explores pathways to joy and shows us how to gradually cultivate the deep abiding joy that we were created for and that enriches the world around us.

Longing tells the story of the greatest artistic couple in history, Robert Schumann and Clara Wieck. They met when she was eight years old and he was seventeen, drawn together first by music and then by their passion for each other. Drawing on their letters and remarkably frank journals, J. D. Landis writes of Clara and Robert’s enforced separations, their marriage, their artistic triumphs and failures, and finally their shared devotion to, and love for, a young genius who both came between them and brought them together for the last time. Longing was a New York Times Notable Book. It was also named by The Guardian (London) as the second finest novel about music (the first being Thomas Bernhard’s Loser, a judgment with which Mr. Landis is delighted to concur).

The Sexual Lives of Black Women, In Their Own Words In a culture driven by sexual and racial imagery, very few honest conversations about race, gender, and sexuality actually take place. In their absence, commonly held perceptions of black women as teenage mothers, welfare recipients, mammies, or exotic sexual playthings remain unchanged. For fear that telling their stories will fulfill society's implicit expectations about their sexuality, most black women have retreated into silence. Tricia Rose seeks to break this silence and jump-start a dialogue by presenting, for the first time, the sexual testimonies of black women. Spanning a broad range of ages, levels of education, and socioeconomic backgrounds, twenty women, in their own words, talk with startling honesty about sex, love, family, relationships, and intimacy. Their stories dispel prevailing myths and provide revealing insights into how black women navigate the complex terrain of sexuality. Nuanced, rich, and powerful, Longing to Tell will be required reading for anyone interested in issues of race and gender.

In this moving and lyrical coming-of-age story, Julius, a troubled kid from the south side of Chicago, battles haunting demons, both perceived and real, in his search for love and acceptance. Throughout his journey, he struggles at his core to find the meaning of love and what it takes to be open, vulnerable, and present. Follow him through years of seeking connection, failed relationships, and depression until at long last, his journey brings him face-to-face with God. Dr. Baileys memoir is a much-needed tome that highlights both the reality of black male frailty and the necessity for self-introspection. His personal journey serves as a reminder of the need for rituals of healing, therapy, and wholeness (Kamasi Hill, PhD, educator and filmmaker). Julius Bailey is one of the leading philosophers of his generation. In this powerful and painful memoir, he delves into the profound depths of his own wounded soul and emerges with a shining dignity and witness. Dont miss this timely text! (Cornel West, professor of public philosophy, Harvard University).