Hakeem and Savon are cousins who do not get along at first but work things out.

Trauma and drama have always been a part of Riley's life. After being separated from her sister for years, they are finally reunited! Riley's swept off her feet and into a brand new lifestyle that tests her character and morale. Greed, mixed with jealousy test their sisterhood, revealing sibling rivalry is real and blood ain't always thicker than water.

Blood Is Thicker Than Water is a modern take on the age-old dilemma faced by many heroes and heroines throughout the ages-when faced with the life-and-death choice of family you're born to versus family you choose, what's your decision? Lisa is a happily married African American woman whose dysfunctional family creates constant upheaval, which culminates in their pressure on her to save the life of her drug-addicted brother instead of her loving husband who happens to be Caucasian. Lisa fled her childhood home and the extraordinary contempt that her mother Joyce has for her. Lisa's husband makes a convincing argument, that her choice should be clear. Her decision might also heal the mother-daughter relationship that Lisa has been longing for since childhood.

Blood is more than a fluid solution of cells, platelets and plasma. It is a symbol for the most basic of human concerns--life, death and family find expression in rituals surrounding everything from menstruation to human sacrifice. Comprehensive in its scope and provocative in its argument, this book examines beliefs and rituals concerning blood in a range of regional and religious contexts throughout human history. Meyer reveals the origins of a wide range of blood rituals, from the earliest surviving human symbolism of fertility and the hunt, to the Jewish bris, and the clitoridectomies given to young girls in parts of Africa. The book also explores how cultural practices influence gene selection and makes a connection with the natural sciences by exploring how color perception influences the human proclivity to create blood symbols and rituals.

Charlotte Reed is a skinwalker-and an impressive one at that. By consuming the souls of animals, she can transform into near-replicas of them at will, able to live and breathe through their skins. But she's also a high school senior, desperate to finish her last year while making sure her Xanax-addicted best friend doesn't wind up in a ditch and failing to keep her too-perceptive mom at bay when the topic of leaving their small town rears its inevitable head. So she doesn't account for Damien, the clan leader's son, to turn up after disappearing for six months, and definitely doesn't account for his inexplicable interest in her. Especially because he was the last person to see her father alive-and the one who holds the truth of his death. Battling with resurfacing memories of her father, bullies, and the unflinching reality of first love, Charlotte has to decide what's important, and that means finding what she's truly made of.

"I'm Jeremiah Jones." He extended his hand to her. "I know," Dawn said. She had known that she would be around famous racecar drivers, but this was her first encounter. She was a little awestruck. "I'm Dawn Montgomery, Bryan Richardson's new personal assistant." "Nice to meet you," he said with a smile. Dawn was embarrassed. She was still in awe from meeting her first celebrity, and now she realized that she was standing there holding his hand and staring at him. She dropped his hand. She could feel her face getting warmer and warmer, but she refused to look away from him. Two weeks before her wedding day, Dawn's fiance cheated on her. Heartbroken, Dawn moves across the country looking for a fresh start. What she finds is a job as the personal assistant for racecar driver Bryan Richardson...and perhaps another chance at love. Jeremiah's a successful racecar driver, known to fans by his blue and black #91 Dodge. The tragedy in his life has left him isolated, both from God and from lasting relationships. When Dawn is almost run over by a tool cart, Jeremiah comes to the rescue, and they are both swept off their feet. As their love grows, Dawn must make the hardest decision of her life-her faith or her infatuation. Find out if Dawn puts on the brakes or gives in to the impulses of their Revved Up Hearts "

This book considers how homes, households, and domestic life are related to the Church. Early theologies glorified the monastic lifestyle as a way to transcend earthly attachments in favor of supernatural goods. Contemporary thinkers have seen that functioning marriages and families themselves can lead us toward a more righteous society. Jana Bennett insists that both marriage and singleness must be placed in the context of the Christian story of redemption for the questions and problems at stake to be fully understood. She finds that Augustine of Hippo, maligned by modern theologians, is the source of very fruitful reflection on these topics. Most scholars today would agree that Augustine's works have exerted great influence on Western views of marriage, family, and sex. But many would argue that this influence has been detrimental to a healthy understanding of these topics. However, using Augustine's writing, Bennett shows that marriage and singleness cannot be considered separately, that gender issues are important to considering these states correctly and, most important, that the marriage between Christ and the Church is the first consideration in understanding and living these states of life. The water of baptism, Christians' first birth and initiation into the life of Christ, is the primary standard for relationships, rather than familial ties.