In a small, peaceful village, the adventure of two unlikely friends begins. Gronak a brave warrior with a big heart and Fiona a wise and talented mage. When a dark prophecy reaches the village and a looming threat rises in the north, the two must unite their skills and embark on an uncertain journey. Their friendship and courage will be tested as they battle the forces of evil, holding the fate of the world in their hands. A tale of friendship, dangers, and the adventure of the unknown awaits you.

Disneyland, Opening Day, 1955. When five present-day teenagers known as the Kingdom Keepers find themselves thrown into a past that would make anyone envious, things don't exactly work out the way they'd hoped. Finn, Charlene, Maybeck, Willa, and Philby open a door into a place and a time when the legend of the Disney parks is just starting. They are there, in 1955, to retrieve Walt Disney's infamous pen that once saved the parks as we know them. But like all things Disney, nothing is as it seems. The early days of the Tower of Terror, the origin of the Overtakers (Disney villains), and the real power of magic unfold in an unexpected series of events that propel both the Keepers and Disney itself into a darkness no one saw coming. Along the way, the Keepers visit Walt Disney's hilltop home, Disneyland's opening day and reception, and find themselves separated from friends sixty years away. The three Fairlies, young women in Disney's School of Imagineering, girls with astonishing powers of their own, have unmasked a long-buried secret that threatens the lives of their friends as well as everything Walt Disney worked for.

In this first of the Hannah Pryce series, the protagonist is a newspaper columnist who teaches creative writing to San Diego prison inmates. She is a police detective's widow with two grown children, and a recovering alcoholic. Befriended by her husband's ex-partner, Dave Mayfield, she is drawn into the murder of a prominent actress, Margo Keene. It appears that Margo was stabbed while in a bubble bath, but the Medical Examiner discovers she died from an unidentified poisonous gas. Mayfield and his partner, Rayburn, question Margo's husband, Victor, who implicates the theater prop man (who is killed in jail the next night). Liz Parker, the theater wardrobe mistress, dies from the same poisonous gas. No apparent motive can be found for any of these three murders. At Dave's suggestion, Hannah interviews the suspects for her newspaper column to gain insights into possible motives. Actress Polly Phillips resents Margo for snooping into her private affairs. Suzanne Langley hates Margo because of her long time affair with her husband. Walt Langley loved Margo and suspects she knew too much about Victor's business dealings. Victor seems the grieving husband, but Hannah believes otherwise. Gerda Wilhem, Margo's maid, appears devoted to Margo, but Hannah believes her to be hiding secrets as well. The investigation proves that Victor and Polly Phillips are involved in drug trafficking and money laundering. Gerda Wilhem and her "live-in" friend, Frederick Schmidt, are Polly Phillips' parents with access to the poisonous gas formula. When Hannah seems too close to the truth, Frederick Schmidt attempts to force her car off the road and kill her. When this fails, he kidnaps her and forces her into a drunken stupor for four days. She regains consciousness in a deserted hanger on the Mexican border. Frederick and Polly are there, planning to kill her. Hannah goads Polly into a confession of the murders. While left alone, she calls Dave Mayfield on an airplane radio. He arrives with officers and the DEA. After Hannah safely escapes, the police open fire, killing Polly and Frederick. Safe with Dave, Hannah ponders their life together. "Another cop?" she says. "Why would I want to do that . . . again?"

Get ready to be swept away by the emotional and heartwarming journey of "Backstage," a captivating rock star romance that will leave you breathless. With its slow burn, angst, and abiding friendship, this novel will have you hooked from the very first page. Damian Jones, our enigmatic protagonist, never envisioned a life as a rock star. Fate thrust him into the world of music, and he reluctantly embraced the celebrity lifestyle. Despite his fame and fortune, Damian remains grounded, cherishing every moment of his success. Yet, beneath the glitz and glamour lies a hidden truth—a private life riddled with challenges and sacrifices. Enter Lilly Jenkins, a dreamer whose passion for music knows no bounds. Music became her lifeline during her tumultuous teenage years, and she's forever indebted to its healing power. However, when her band secures the coveted opportunity to tour with the most renowned rock band in the world, her dreams turn into a nightmare. The relentless paparazzi invade her every space, scrutinizing her every move. To complicate matters further, she finds herself irresistibly drawn to Damian Jones—the man who effortlessly attracts gossip like a moth to a flame. "Backstage" is not just another run-of-the-mill love story. It's an emotionally charged tale of two souls navigating the chaos of fame and discovering a love that transcends all boundaries. Prepare to embark on a journey filled with raw passion, a damaged yet redeemable hero, a fiercely independent heroine who's a hot mess in all the right ways, and the captivating dynamics of life on a tour bus. This riveting page-turner promises a happily ever after that will leave you yearning for more. Once you dive into the world of "Backstage," you won't want to put it down. So grab your copy today, but be warned—you might find yourself staying up late, unable to resist the irresistible allure of Damian and Lilly's enthralling romance.

BONUS: This edition contains an Alice I Have Been discussion guide and an excerpt from Melanie Benjamin's The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb. Few works of literature are as universally beloved as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Now, in this spellbinding historical novel, we meet the young girl whose bright spirit sent her on an unforgettable trip down the rabbit hole–and the grown woman whose story is no less enthralling. But oh my dear, I am tired of being Alice in Wonderland. Does it sound ungrateful? Alice Liddell Hargreaves’s life has been a richly woven tapestry: As a young woman, wife, mother, and widow, she’s experienced intense passion, great privilege, and greater tragedy. But as she nears her eighty-first birthday, she knows that, to the world around her, she is and will always be only “Alice.” Her life was permanently dog-eared at one fateful moment in her tenth year–the golden summer day she urged a grown-up friend to write down one of his fanciful stories. That story, a wild tale of rabbits, queens, and a precocious young child, becomes a sensation the world over. Its author, a shy, stuttering Oxford professor, does more than immortalize Alice–he changes her life forever. But even he cannot stop time, as much as he might like to. And as Alice’s childhood slips away, a peacetime of glittering balls and royal romances gives way to the urgent tide of war. For Alice, the stakes could not be higher, for she is the mother of three grown sons, soldiers all. Yet even as she stands to lose everything she treasures, one part of her will always be the determined, undaunted Alice of the story, who discovered that life beyond the rabbit hole was an astonishing journey. A love story and a literary mystery, Alice I Have Been brilliantly blends fact and fiction to capture the passionate spirit of a woman who was truly worthy of her fictional alter ego, in a world as captivating as the Wonderland only she could inspire.

THE VALLEY OF TEN CRESCENTS SERIES Book 1: Thieves at Heart Born in poverty, a half-elf in a human city, Tavera lives in a world where she doesn't belong -- until the day she meets Derk. Initiated into the elite group of self-made scoundrels known as the Cup of Cream, Tavera must choose between loyalty to her father and a place as one of the THIEVES AT HEART. Book 2: Self-Made Scoundrel Dershik Cartaskin's life is one of power, wealth, privilege... and lies. Son to an ambitious father, husband to a wife he cannot love, and father to a child who is not his own, Dershik has everything, and yet nothing to call his own. When the price of power and the weight of lies grow too great for him to bear, Dershik decides to leave everything he's ever known behind, and makes a deadly choice that will irrevocably alter his future. Rejecting his former life, Dershik takes on a new name and a new identity, and sets out to forge his legacy as Derk -- member of the band of thieves known as the Cup of Cream, and SELF-MADE SCOUNDREL. But soon Derk finds that even a dishonest man can't hide from the truth... Book 3: Red Moon Rising The rise of a deadly cult threatens life in the Valley of Ten Crescents. Alone, betrayed, and on the run from the law, Tavera finds herself charged with rescuing Kella, a priestess with a powerful secret who has been kidnapped by the cult. Tavera finds she can no longer be a little girl lost, but must become a leader and a savior if she is to survive the RED MOON RISING. Bonus: Little Girl Lost Tavera is a child passed from hand to hand as a source of cheap labor in the underworld of the Valley. When she finds herself at the mercy of the vicious sausage maker, the elderly Madame Greswin, she discovers secrets from the woman's past and the consequences leave Tavera fighting for her life.

This is the story of a girl who held up the sky. It begins with a break, a flood of rain and tears. And it ends with a crown that might cost her everything she loves. This boxed set contains all three books in The Drowning Empire trilogy--over 1200 pages of magic, action, and romance! One click today and prepare to get lost in this epic fantasy retelling of the Atlantis myth!  Book One, Sky Keeper Welcome to the World Below, where the keepers command the sky, but the commander of the keepers controls the empire... For centuries, the four kingdoms of the Caspian empire have remained safe and hidden below the ocean, protected from the Surface World—and from that ocean that separates them—by a great barrier maintained by magic. Aven Talavir has spent her entire life learning to be a keeper of that barrier, channeling her powers into maintaining and healing it. But now an impossibly sinister force seeks to shatter it. To stop the looming flood of destruction, Aven picks up her knives and sets off on a quest to find an ancient power that may be able to permanently heal the makeshift sky. Reaching it will mean fighting her way through dangerous politics and deadly magic, all while finding love and friendship in unexpected places— Only to realize that the greatest treachery may not lie in the breaking sky, but in the very hearts of the people around her. Book Two, Curse Breaker In the underwater empire of Caspia, a storm is brewing. Aven Talavir's efforts to unite the four kingdoms resulted in a temporary peace, but that peace is shattered all over again when she is named the controversial heir to a dying emperor's throne. The crown on her head makes her a target. One that Kai 'West' Armana would do anything to remove. One that results in an attack, and a curse on the newly crowned empress that will require an unimaginable sacrifice to undo. And that sacrifice is only the beginning. Because the world is not healed. The sky is not safe. And things that should be dead and drowned do not always stay that way. Book Three, Storm Bringer The Sky is Changed. Once upon a time, Aven Talavir lived in a sparkling empire beneath the waves, protected from the Sea-Above by a sky made of magic. Then it all fell apart. The four kingdoms of the Caspian Empire are united no longer. Aven is an empress in name only, her kingdom overtaken by her rivals, her city flooded, and her hope fading as she sets out on a desperate journey to find allies, and to take back the power she needs to mount one final effort to save her world. That power exists. She knows that now. But the cost of wielding it may be more than she can pay. The epic story that began in Sky Keeper concludes in this thrilling final book. Waters and armies will rise, kings and queens will fall, and the Empress of Sky will see her true reign begin…Or else watch everything she loves be swept away by a storming sea.

The Autograph Memories of Mary Yakel is a wonderful book that contains personal poems, comments, words of hope, praise and comfort from Yakel and other related family members, as well as close friends. The book entries were written in Albany, NY, primarily in the 1896-1897 time period. Follow along with Mary, and discover how strong family ties were in this bygone era. The Yakel family (originally spelled Jackel and Jeckel) hails from the Wallhausen, Kreis Kreuznach, Rhineland area of Germany, and emigrated to New York in 1847.

Marty Wood regains consciousness in an abandoned basement surrounded by the smell of death. He is drawn to Gillian, a mysterious agent assigned to protect him from the Duke, a megalomaniac bent on becoming a demigod. His growing passion for Gillian complicates the situation. They race against time to find a charmed jewel before the Duke and stop him from using the gem to unlock a portal controlled by the Ark of the Covenant. Can they stay alive and outwit the Duke and his henchmen before time runs out?