Gia Kearns would rather fight with boys than kiss them. That is, until Arik, a leather clad hottie in the Boston Athenaeum, suddenly disappears. While examining the book of world libraries he abandoned, Gia unwittingly speaks the key that sucks her and her friends into a photograph and transports them into a Paris library, where Arik and his Sentinels-magical knights charged with protecting humans from the creatures traveling across the gateway books-rescue them from a demonic hound. Jumping into some of the world's most beautiful libraries would be a dream come true for Gia, if she weren't busy resisting her heart or dodging an exiled wizard seeking revenge on both the Mystik and human worlds. Add a French flirt obsessed with Arik and a fling with a young wizard, and Gia must choose between her heart and her head, between Arik's world and her own, before both are destroyed. The Library Jumpers series is best enjoyed in order. Reading Order: Book #1 Thief of Lies Book #2 Guardian of Secrets Book #3 Assassin of Truths

NAMED ONE OF THE MUST-READ ROMANCES OF THE YEAR BY USA TODAY • Violetta Rand’s explosive Lies & Leather series kicks off with a red-hot motorcycle racer who rides hard and plays for keeps. Twenty-one-year-old Karlie Augustine is a survivor. She’s smart and tough, but she’s in too deep with a bad boyfriend who isn’t above breaking her spirit—or her body. Luckily, help arrives in the form of a leather-clad, motorcycle-riding hunk on the right side of the law. Lucas Lafontaine is pure muscle, a Corpus Christi cop who ignites something primal deep within Karlie. And when he offers her room and board in exchange for housekeeping, she finally starts to feel safe again. As their arrangement turns deliciously decadent, Lucas gets hooked on Karlie’s killer body and fighting spirit. He wants to heal the pain he sees behind her eyes, but to protect her he needs to keep her close, especially now that her psycho ex won’t take a hint. Even as Lucas fights his own battle for custody of his young son, he knows that what he’s found with Karlie is real—and that he’d do anything to protect the woman he wants to take to the finish line. Praise for Loving Lucas “Sensitive, endearing and hot . . . The lead characters’ voices are distinct, and the author gives excellent insight into what makes them tick. . . . Despite a busy reading schedule, I couldn’t resist reading it a second time. I did fall in love with Lucas—he deserves his own fan club.”—Lea Franczak, USA Today “Violetta Rand books demand to be devoured in one sitting! Loving Lucas steams up the pages even as it pulls at your heartstrings.”—USA Today bestselling author Lauren Layne “Heartbreaking and lovely . . . Violetta Rand nails this story of two damaged souls finding one real love.”—Cecy Robson, author of Once Kissed “I absolutely loved . . . the heat and chemistry between these two! They were super steamy and I felt their attraction for each other instantly.”—Ramblings from This Chick “The emotional chemistry is just as strong and I loved watching their relationship grow beyond the way they burn up the sheets in the bedroom.”—Books Need TLC “An enjoyable read . . . Who wouldn’t want to read about a white knight who comes rushing in? . . . I’m interested in seeing where this series goes next.”—Travels n Reads “Confession time . . . I’m addicted to Violetta Rand. Her books are fabulous. Her characters are insanely sexy. The emotion and raw desire is always amazing. These are three of the reasons why I snatch up and devour any of her books. Loving Lucas was no different.”—Crystal Blogs Books “A fantastic, heartfelt, hot, and hard-hitting novel that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to others. I can’t wait to see where Rand goes with this series from here.”—Pure Jonel Includes a special message from the editor, as well as an excerpt from another Loveswept title.

Fantasy meets crime caper in the first book of a landmark, enduringly popular epic series about a roguish group of conmen, which George R. R. Martin has called “fresh, original, and engrossing . . . gorgeously realized.” An orphan’s life is harsh—and often short—in the mysterious island city of Camorr. But young Locke Lamora dodges relentless danger, becoming a thief under the tutelage of a gifted con artist. As leader of the band of light-fingered brothers known as the Gentlemen Bastards, Locke is soon infamous, fooling even the underworld’s most feared ruler. But in the shadows lurks someone still more ambitious and deadly. Faced with a bloody coup that threatens to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the enemy at his own brutal game—or die trying.

On the ugly side of human beings. Their characters are fiction but no one can promise there is none of these characters will happen in our daily encounter with our outside world even other planet living organisms.

This pioneering volume brings together specialists from contemporary craft and industry and from archaeology to examine both the material properties and the cultural dimensions of leather. The common occurrence of animal skin products through time, whether vegetable tanned leather, parchment, vellum, fat-cured skins or rawhide attest to its enduring versatility, utility and desirability. Typically grouped together as 'leather', the versatility of these materials is remarkable: they can be soft and supple like a textile, firm and rigid like a basket, or hard and watertight like a pot or gourd. This volume challenges a simple utilitarian or functional approach to leather; in a world of technological and material choices, leather is appropriated according to its suitability on many levels. In addressing the question Why leather? authors of this volume present new perspectives on the material and cultural dimensions of leather. Their wide-ranging research includes the microscopic examination of skin structure and its influence on behaviour, experiments on medieval cuir bouilli armour, the guild secrets behind the leather components of nineteenth-century industrial machinery, new research on ancient Egyptian chariot leather, the relationship between wine and wineskins, and the making of contemporary leather wall covering. The Archaeological Leather Group promotes the study of leather and leather objects from archaeological and other contexts. The Group aims to provide a focus for the investigation of leather, and to develop new research by bringing together a broad range of knowledge and experience both practical and academic. Leather is explored through its manufacture, function, context, processing, recording, conservation, care and curation. Members come from a variety of disciplines and include archaeologists, historians, conservators, artefact specialists, materials engineers and leather workers. The Group normally meets twice a year and organises one scholarly meeting in the spring, and visits a museum, working tannery or other place of leather interest in the autumn. The Archaeological Leather Group Newsletter is published twice a year, and the website maintains a comprehensive and expanding leather bibliography.