When eleven-year-old Claire is invited to serve as a junior bridesmaid at the wedding of her cousin, a commoner, to the Prince of England, she learns that another, social-climbing junior bridesmaid is trying to keep the wedding from happening and it is up to Claire to stop her from spoiling the big day.

For as long as she’s been able to sample her fair share of eligible bachelors, Jennifer Corcoran has always preferred to look at her life as being temporarily obtainable rather than single. Born and raised in the Big Apple, she was literally taught to believe that the world was her oyster. That world, however, slowly begins to unravel when she discovers a cascade of wedding invitations awaiting her response from the numerous “friends” she’s cultivated over the years. Unfortunately for Jenna, being invited was never enough. No, each invitation has given her the “option” for the dreaded plus one. Worried about the passive aggression she would be forced to endure should she attend solo, Jenna [with the help of older sister, Julie] cooks up a plan to hire a handsome stranger [appropriately] named Wynn to cover as her arm candy for the season. What begins as a weekend side gig to pay the bills turns into something much greater for the struggling actor, who notices the high-class crowd that Jenna calls her circle. For a guy who’s been trying to hustle his way into a career for years, hobnobbing with the one percent is the gift that keeps on giving. With the pressure mounting to end this charade before it all blows up in her face, Jenna pulls out all the stops in hopes of turning her cordially invited guest into a social pariah. Her actions begging the question: When you’re already paddling in a sea of lies, is one more stroke really gonna kill ya? This is one invitation you’re gonna regret turning down.

An all-new original Star Trek: The Next Generation e-novella! The wedding of Captain Jean-Luc Picard to Doctor Beverly Crusher was a small, private affair overseen by the mayor of La Barre, France, and witnessed by the groom’s sister-in-law and the mayor’s wife. At least that’s what the happy couple always told their friends. On the anniversary of that blessed day, however, Worf and Geordi La Forge manage to coax the real story out of the pair, to discover a tale of mythical treasure and a lost civilization in the Delta Quadrant. It all begins when the omnipotent being Q crashes the festivities, declaring himself best man and bringing along an unwilling guest as a surprise for the groom…

Your essential guide to the modern wedding! Is it acceptable to invite my boss to my wedding? Can I tell my guests not to post pictures of my wedding online before I can? How do I ask my in-laws to help with wedding costs? How long do I have to write thank-you notes? Every bride has her own etiquette dilemma, from dealing with unhappy stepfamilies to a guest who posts a picture of the invitation on Facebook, advertising the wedding date and site to hundreds of nonguests. While some etiquette rules stay the same (bringing an uninvited guest is still rude), the ever-changing modern world has brought on a new slew of challenges. Luckily, The Everything Wedding Etiquette Book, 4th Edition has the advice you need to conquer any etiquette predicament. From satisfying future in-laws to controlling your event's online presence, you'll learn how to handle every situation with grace and ease. Organized to guide you through the wedding-planning process as it happens, this little book has all the answers you need right when you need them. It's your one source for planning a perfect, stress-free wedding.

“Happy wife. Happy life.” This recurrent phrase has slowly morphed from folksy colloquialism to full-blown mantra by an ever-increasing share of married men all around the modern world. The irony [or the ignominy–depending on which side of the aisle you sit on] being that no such idiom appears to exist in the reverse. Nevertheless, for Bethuel “Bee” Blazey, finding that special someone to stand beside him while he grows his family business has proven to be an exercise in futility. More meme than Kermit the Frog sipping black tea. Introducing, M.A.I.A., short for Modifiable Artificial Intelligence Android. Designed to complement the forgotten men and women on the go who struggle with the ever-evolving intricacies of relationships in today’s hyperactive, online-focused world. Maia’s unique conjugal abilities would prove to be a welcome addition to Bee’s mental, physical and emotional well-being. But as renowned 19th century poet, Emily Dickinson, once wrote, “Fame Is A Bee.” The more self-aware Maia becomes, the more Bee realizes that the old adage still rings true: There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Everything comes with a price. He is at a crossroads with the machine poised to take total control. If a return to normalcy is what he truly desires, then it is action he must take; while being cognizant to remember Newton’s third law: “For every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction.” The battle of the sexes has just been upgraded.

Try as we might, rarely do we receive second chances to fix previous indiscretions… In the case of Dez Hourie, a sergeant in the top-secret Hyperphonic division of the U.S. Air Force, she’s about to experience one of those supposed instances. With her superiors clamoring to shut down the program due to their dissatisfaction with the results thus far, Dez is backed into a corner considering the military’s reluctance to use human test subjects. If the program is disbanded, who knows where they’ll send her next? Things become even more complicated once she runs into an old “friend,” who has evolved from his dorky undergrad days into a present-day hunk—a transformation that leaves the sergeant feeling foolish to say the least—once she also discovers that he’s engaged. With an uncertain future staring her in the face both personally and professionally, Dez decides to roll the dice, convincing the research team leader that the only solution to their problems resides in the past. Left with seemingly no choice, he reluctantly agrees. However, Dez is about to learn what many others before her have—and that is in this life—there are no coincidences.

In recent years the modern world has developed a brave new concept: 'soft power'. It is the power of friendly persuasion rather than command, and it invites nations to compete (as they did in the nineteenth century) to expand their 'sphere of influence' as brands in a global marketplace. In Bloody Foreigners and The Last Wolf, Robert Winder explored the way Britain was shaped first by migration, and then by hidden geographical factors. Now, in Soft Power he reveals the ways in which modern states are asserting themselves not through traditional realpolitik but through alternative means: business, language, culture, ideas, sport, education, music, even food - the texture and values of history and daily life. Moving from West to East, the book tells the story of soft power by exploring the varied ways in which it operates - from an American sheriff in Poland to an English garden in Ravello, a French vineyard in Australia, an Asian restaurant in Spain, a Chinese Friendship Hall in Sudan; the fact that fifty-eight modern heads of state were educated in Britain; the student exchange that took a teenage Deng Xiaoping to a small town on the Loire; the way that Japan could seduce the world with chic food and smart computer games. Now there may be a new twist in this Great game. With soft power's quiet ingredients - education, science, trade, cultural values - and a new emphasis on shared mutual interest, it may be the only force supple enough to tackle the challenges the future looks likely to pose - not least the slam-the-door reflexes pulling in the other direction.