Bounty Hunter Redemption by Kara Lennox released on Sep 24, 2004 is available now for purchase.

As the snow swirled in the remote Colorado mountains, Heath and Jayne had become unlikely partners and lovers. But who would be left standing once dawn broke ...?

Rules Of Engagement by Gayle Wilson released on Sep 24, 2004 is available now for purchase.

The Legacy Of Croft Castle by Jean Barrett released on Sep 24, 2004 is available now for purchase.

While the Western was dying a slow death across the cultural landscape, it was blazing back to life as a video game in the early twenty-first century. Rockstar Games’ Red Dead franchise, beginning with Red Dead Revolver in 2004, has grown into one of the most critically acclaimed video game franchises of the twenty-first century. Red Dead Redemption: History, Myth, and Violence in the Video Game West offers a critical, interdisciplinary look at this cultural phenomenon at the intersection of game studies and American history. Drawing on game studies, western history, American studies, and cultural studies, the authors train a wide-ranging, deeply informed analytic perspective on the Red Dead franchise—from its earliest incarnation to the latest, Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018). Their intersecting chapters put the series in the context of American history, culture, and contemporary media, with inquiries into issues of authenticity, realism, the meaning of play and commercial promotion, and the relationship between the game and the wider cultural iterations of the classic Western. The contributors also delve into the role the series’ development has played in recent debates around working conditions in the gaming industry and gaming culture. In its redeployment and reinvention of the Western’s myth and memes, the Red Dead franchise speaks to broader aspects of American culture—the hold of the frontier myth and the “Wild West” over the popular imagination, the role of gun culture in society, depictions of gender and ethnicity in mass media, and the increasing allure of digital escapism—all of which come in for scrutiny here, making this volume a vital, sweeping, and deeply revealing cultural intervention.

Undercover Marriage by Amy J. Fetzer released on Aug 25, 2004 is available now for purchase.

The original Star Wars trilogy famously follows Joseph Campbell's model for the hero's journey, making Luke Skywalker's story the new hero quest for a modern age. With the nine-plus film saga complete, however, new story patterns have emerged as the hero's journey is imagined over and over for characters of different ages, genders, and backgrounds. The prequels offer the plot arc of the villain's journey through Anakin. Leia and Padme, while damsels in the men's story, break out to undergo their own ordeals. The heroine's journey is exemplified by Rey and Jyn. Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Vader must accept the loss of power and fade into spirit guardians, perpetuating the lifecycle. By the sequel era, the original trio become mentors to the younger generation and finally must do the same. Meanwhile, the Mandalorian explores a different form of the quest as he transforms from immature warrior to patriarch. This book tracks the journeys of over 20 characters throughout the franchise.