Forbidden Rapture, Tales of the Forbidden, Book 2 By Jaden Sinclair -- Dane Knight never believed that there was a girl out there just for him, or that she might walk right past him, until Samara Tabor did just that. She is everything he could ever want. She brings out feelings inside him that he never knew he had, or could feel for someone. Having her summoned to the Compound is the easy part. Showing her how right they are for one another is a bit more difficult. But when secrets from the past come to haunt them, Dane's love is tested and he has to gather all his strength to fight for the one he loves the most-even if his rapture is forbidden.

Blaine Cedric is considered a big catch in Treece. He's been away from home for a long time, and the only reason he came home now was to prevent an old childhood friend from destroying something pure. Shyla Kabrey was only seven when her mother began working for the Compound of Treece. Without a father, and her mother dying when Shyla was fifteen, she became a ward of the town. For six years she endures the Compound's 'required' classes with the hopes of leaving some day. Blaine's never wanted or felt this need to protect or have, until he saw the lonely girl daydreaming at a party. He's drawn to her innocence, drawn to her in ways he never thought he could be drawn to one woman. She might be forbidden to others, but to him she's a must have.

Marta Veneranda, a Latina neoyorkina, finds that she inspires the confessional in people. In fact, when people come to her, they feel the need to reveal their most embarrassing and shameful stories. And through these reluctantly told tales, where characters enter and leave each other's narrations, Rivera-Valdes revisits and questions our most basic behavioral assumptions. In "Little Poisons," the narrator shares with Marta the minutiae of her self-help book–assisted liberation from her philandering husband, whom she will eventually poison to death, and whose mistress she will befriend: "In the fifteen years of marriage he would tell me everything, even about his sexual escapades-if he couldn't share them with me, who would he share them with? Besides, that way no one could come running to me spreading rumors." Beneath the humor is a dead-serious scrutiny of the commingling of Anglo and Latino cultures. At heart, the stories are an exposé of the comforts and discomforts of that cohabitation.

On the morning of Miu Miu's fifteenth birthday, her mother makes a startling revelation: Miu Miu's fate is to travel to the faraway city of Chang'an, avenge her father's death, and find her true love. But the evil emperor has other plans for her. Defeating him will take all of Miu Miu's courage, wit, and martial arts experience. Master storyteller Da Chen paints a vivid portrait of his native land in this classic tale of honor, adventure, and romance in ancient China.