Does a former mean girl deserve a happy ever after? Heather Combs grew up in Ardor Creek, stuck in a home with zero love or emotional support. In response, she lashed out, becoming a popular but cold ice-queen. Hoping to escape her unstable home, she married her high school boyfriend only to realize she’d entered another emotionally unfulfilling relationship. Convinced she didn’t possess the capacity to love, she divorced her ex and left Ardor Creek. Years later, Jeremy Kramer, a successful author and single dad to twin girls, moves to Ardor Creek and instantly falls for the small-town charm. His busy life leaves little room for love, even if newly-returned former bad girl Heather Combs continually catches his eye. When Heather and Jeremy become neighbors, they quickly realize their chemistry is off the charts. But he’s a dad who prefers serious relationships and she detests feelings. After all, love has never been her forte, but in the hidden corners of her soul, she can’t deny her yearning for her handsome neighbor and his sweet, precocious girls… Welcome back to Ardor Creek! In this series finale, we see a middle-aged, childfree by choice heroine finally get her happy ever after. There are discussions of mental illness, including animal cruelty and childhood hardships, so please consider that before reading. Love is in the air in Ardor Creek for our sexy-geeky author and reformed mean girl. Enjoy! The Ardor Creek Series (also available as audiobooks) #1: Hearts Reclaimed #2: Illusions Unveiled #3: Desires Uncovered #4: Resolutions Embraced #5: Passions Fulfilled #6: Futures Entwined Search terms: later in life romance, childfree by choice heroine, single dad romance, small town romance, later in life romance, complete series, hot romance, steamy romance * * * * If you’re a fan of Lucy Score, Melanie Harlow, Amy Daws, Kayley Loring, Adriana Locke, Claire Kingsley, & Nicole Snow, the Ardor Creek series is perfect for you!

Should digital technology be viewed as a new life form, sharing our ecosystem and coevolving with us? Are humans defining technology, or is technology defining humans? In this book, Edward Ashford Lee considers the case that we are less in control of the trajectory of technology than we think. It shapes us as much as we shape it, and it may be more defensible to think of technology as the result of a Darwinian coevolution than the result of top-down intelligent design. Richard Dawkins famously said that a chicken is an egg's way of making another egg. Is a human a computer's way of making another computer? To understand this question requires a deep dive into how evolution works, how humans are different from computers, and how the way technology develops resembles the emergence of a new life form on our planet. Lee presents the case for considering digital beings to be living, then offers counterarguments. What we humans do with our minds is more than computation, and what digital systems do—be teleported at the speed of light, backed up, and restored—may never be possible for humans. To believe that we are simply computations, he argues, is a “dataist” faith and scientifically indefensible. Digital beings depend on humans—and humans depend on digital beings. More likely than a planetary wipe-out of humanity is an ongoing, symbiotic coevolution of culture and technology.

A light-hearted, fun, fantasy adventure. Perfect for young adults or those young at heart! An epic fantasy series with a slight sci-fi twist. Reads like a combination between Avatar: The Last Air Bender and Lord of the Rings. If you love journeys filled with magic, danger, and intergalactic travels, you’ll be enchanted with Spirit’s Entwined! It’ll take you on the adventure of a lifetime with young friends Kylie and Mory as they discover an astonishing secret about Kylie’s past, which catapults them into a thrilling future. Growing up in a world where magic is weakened, Kylie never thought there was anything special about her, until her home is attacked by forces beyond reckoning. Now, she has a long road ahead to understand who and what she is. Let’s go with her and keep her safe, because the fate of the entire universe hangs in the balance. With the twists of fate unknown to even the greatest of seers, the Spirit Master and comrades will not only have to battle creatures, dangers, and trials beyond their wildest dreams, but their own inner demons as well. Adventuring in an unknown and beautiful land filled with various sources of magic, they will take their first steps towards saving not only the worlds they know but worlds they have only just discovered, all the while finding love and forging the deepest of friendships. The stories and books they have read and dreamed about while staring into the stars cannot come close to their actual experience once they’ve begun their journey. Time will halt, as it does when its passing no longer has meaning, and strengths far beyond those of the physical sense will manifest in all who undertake this prophetic quest.

In the opulent world of Napoleon's court, Isabelle de Montclair, a young lady-in-waiting, finds herself torn between two men who represent opposing worlds. Gabriel Laurent, a passionate revolutionary, opens her eyes to a vision of justice and equality, while the charming aristocrat Alexandre de Rochefort offers stability and influence within the court. As whispers of rebellion grow louder and the delicate balance of power shifts, Isabelle must navigate a dangerous game of love and loyalty. With the fate of her heart and the future of France hanging in the balance, Isabelle embarks on a journey of self-discovery and courage. "Love and Justice Entwined" is a captivating tale of passion, intrigue, and the pursuit of destiny. Versailles, historical romance, love triangle, Napoleon's court, revolutionary, aristocrat, political intrigue, forbidden love, courtly drama, destiny

In a series of genre-blending essays, Entwined tells the story of Alex Alberto’s decade-long polyamorous journey towards a new kind of family. In these essays, Alex attempts to build two committed relationships at once when no one involved has done it before; develops a powerful bond with the woman their partner loves; sits through a tense Thanksgiving Dinner with religious in-laws; questions the need for rules and hierarchy in their relationships; experiences the intensity of a triad; wrestles with the fragility baked into the nuclear family after their father’s stroke; and explores their queerness and gender identity in English, in New York, while struggling to reconcile their newfound self in their native French-Canadian language and culture. Entwined explores the fuzzy lines between friendship, romance, and family with various essay forms, including a play, an advice column, and a love letter. Rather than wallowing in the throes of jealousy, this collection celebrates the hard work of creating a love life that resists conventional narratives. “Entwined is a goddamn bible for poly-curious people.” —Chloe Caldwell (she/her), 37, questioning “For Alex, polyamory is about creating a family. By getting to know them and their reality, you gain entry to a world that might otherwise seem intimidating.” —Sofia M. (she/her), 64, mother of a polyamorous person “Entwined is about the desire to create a life outside of capitalism, heteronormativity, and patriarchy.” —Samantha Paige Rosen (she/her), 33, queer and monogamous “Entwined had me captivated from start to finish. It will no doubt influence my approach to romance and family.” —Rio C. (she/her), 21, queer, trans, and curious about polyamory “The variety in content and structure makes it a quick read. Entwined deepened my understanding of polyamory’s possibilities; it’s not all swinging and sex parties.” —Melissa Gopp-Warner (she/her), 43, queer/questioning and monogamous “I laughed, cried, and felt my heart fill the fuck up.” — Dan D. (they), 36, queer and newly navigating non-monogamy within a lifelong partnership

The Circular Economy in Europe presents an overview and a critical discussion on how circularity is conceived, imagined, and enacted in current EU policy-making. In 2013, the idea of a circular economy entered the stage of European policy-making in the efforts to reconcile environmental and economic policy objectives. In 2019 the European Commission declared in a press release that the Circular Economy Action Plan has been delivered. The level of circularity in the European economy, however, has remained the same. Bringing together perspectives from social sciences, environmental economics and policy analysis, The Circular Economy in Europe provides a critical analysis of policies and promises of the next panacea for growth and sustainability. The authors provide a theoretical and empirical basis to discuss how contemporary societies conceive their need to re-organise production and consumption and explores the messy assemblage of institutions, actors, waste streams, biophysical flows, policy objectives, scientific disciplines, values, expectations, promises and aspirations involved. This book is essential reading for all those interested in understanding how ideas about the circular economy emerged historically, how they gained traction and are used in policy processes, and what the practical challenges in implementing this policy are.