Her ideal lover is reliable, silent, and always leaves her satisfied... Elle Sheffield wasn't always Elle Sheffield, life coach. Elle Sheffield used to be Elle Shields, with a painful high school past, a traumatic family secret, and a go-nowhere tech support career. Now she's re-created herself and found her true calling: guiding women to overcome their obstacles and fulfill their dreams. And speaking of fulfillment, Elle gets hers from her trusty, battery-operated companion. We'll call him Mr. Goodbunny. ...until his little engine goes kaput. But what's a girl to do when her vibrator's on the blink and her life is spiraling out of control? A shot at a profile in The New York Times may be just what she needs to jump-start her business, but it's her sex life that really needs resuscitation. Is it possible there's more to satisfaction than her solitary trysts with Mr. Goodbunny? Though it may mean taking a chance on a real flesh-and-blood male, Elle is about to discover that when it comes to true happiness, there is no substitute.

The ways in which commercial organizations and service providers 'style' themselves - creating the image they wish to portray to their potential consumers - is a long-established area of research in the fields of sociology and business studies. However, language also plays an important role in organizational styling, something which until now has been largely overlooked in the literature. This is the first book-length study of the linguistics of organizational styling, looking at the language and semiotic resources used by holiday resorts, pharmaceutical companies, restaurants and insurance companies in order to project their identities, and style themselves. It discusses in detail a number of case studies and presents an innovative take on the notion of style, as well as bringing together work from linguistics, business studies and sociology. This interdisciplinary book will be of interest to scholars and advanced students in sociolinguistics, and scholars of sociology and business studies.

THE WHOLE TRUTH . . . Rich has always been skeptical about falling in love. Natasha has always fully expected to. And when these two find each other, they win the entire True Love package -- tenderness and hot sex and open-eyed kisses. Long weekends in bed and talk of marriage and babies. The kind of love where there's no room for secrets. That, after all, is what Tash says will keep them going strong: total and complete honesty. . . . AND NOTHING BUT? Now Rich and Tash are engaged, and Rich's old school friends crash into their love cocoon with big plans for celebrating, along with spouses and significant others, on a trip to a stunning French ski resort. But a lot can happen in a week that's meant to capture the free-spirited fun they all shared a decade ago. And in the glare of a whiteout on the slopes, Tash crosses paths with the one secret Rich should have kept: his colorful, vivacious, needy ex-lover, Jayne. . . .

Rumor has it... ...that the Zimmerman twins, Ginger and Cinnamon, are the hot hair-stylists in Santa Bonita. Their Do It Up salon has been swamped ever since hometown-Hollywood-star Courtney Day had her wedding hair done there. Now the sisters know every secret of every bride-to-be that crosses their threshold: does she or doesn't she, will she or won't she, how often, and with whom? What happens at Do It Up stays at Do It Up -- until Craig Esposito strolls into the salon with the latest wedding party. Cinnamon's dazed reaction suggests there's something only she knows about this handsome cousin to the groom -- making Ginger wonder if he's the mystery father of Cinnamon's young daughter (which should kill her attraction to him, but doesn't). Now the sisters' own secrets are the subject of small-town gossip...and Ginger is about to tease out some surprising truths about her family, her town -- and herself.

Three friends over forty still wait for Prince Charming in the form of their favorite Austen character, Mr. Darcy. Not quite ready to turn in their hot chick cards for the hot flashes of menopause, they'd like to find a man who is charming, smug, intelligent and cute to share the primes of their lives with (even if one of them doesn't know she's looking). Together they navigate this brave forty-plus world and find out that Mr. Darcy is closer than they think.