If you've ever wondered why... Catching a good man is like nailing Jello to a tree Flirting with a man is like riding a bull–just because you stayed on for 8 seconds doesn't mean you've won first prize Making small talk on a first date is harder than eating watermelon in a sundress ...then you've come to the right place! Ladies, welcome to Miss Becky's Charm School! I'm Miss Becky, and in this book, I'll reveal some of my best tips and tricks for landing the perfect man, southern-girl style. Now, I know y'all are busy, and I'm not here to blow smoke up your pretty little skirts, or to otherwise waste your precious time. But when it comes to the art of charming a man, no one does it better than the gals from Dixie. And whether you're a Yankee dame or a California babe, you can learn the secrets Southern Belles have been using for years to find the right man and put him just where you want him. Inside, we'll cover the basics every woman should know: • Are you a Scarlett or a Melanie?–Take my quiz to figure out your Southern Belle alter ego. • Separating the Possums from the Bunnies–Time-tested tricks for telling the Rednecks from the Southern Gentlemen. • I Like My Women a Little on the Trashy Side–Dress to impress for every occasion. • Why Buy the Cow?–Sex and the Southern Belle. • Smooth as Butter–A Southern etiquette primer. • The Deviled Egg Plate–The way to a man's heart really is through his stomach–tasty treats to win him over. So pull up a chair, fix yourself a mint julep (or any strong drink you like), and get ready to learn the secret weapons and Southern Belle sensibilities that will help you snag the man of your dreams!

Leave him. . .wondering what happened! Listen up, Ladies! Breaking up doesn't have to be so hard to do, especially when you know how to turn your suddenly single sorrow into Southern-style sass. If you're nearing the end of relationship road, Miss Becky's Break Up Boot Camp will show you Southern belle tricks for dumping him with diplomacy. Whether you've got a dead-end boyfriend, a deadbeat husband, or just plain want the man in your life dead, Miss Becky dishes up the breakup tips you need to get you back on your feet: • If I Knew Then What I Know Now: Stop repeating your mistakes. • Excuses, Excuses: Interpreting male break-up speak. • Annie Get Your Gun!: Tips for avoiding stalkers and other bad news exes. • Ex-Etiquette: How to behave. . .and misbehave without getting caught. • Food for the Broken Heart: Southern Belle Break-up Foods. • Getting Back on that Horse: How, when and why to start dating again. So grab a mint julep, slide into your little black dress, and get ready to move on! Miss Becky Rutledge hails from a long line of real live sassy and strong Southern belles. When she's not doling out dating advice, she works as a clinical psychologist in Memphis, Tennesee, specializing in family and relationship therapy.

Justin Stokes would never forget the summer she turned fourteen, nor the woman who transformed her bleak adolescent life into a wondrous place of brilliant color. In the little pondside hut also known as the “finishing school,” eccentric, free-spirited Ursula DeVane opened up a world full of magical possibilities for Justin, teaching her valuable lessons of love and loyalty, and encouraging her to change, to learn, to grow. But the lessons of the finishing school have their dark side as well, as Justin learns how deep friendship can be shattered by shocking, unforgivable betrayal. NOTE: This edition does not include images.

A celebration of the distinctive and politically defiant art of Black queer, cis-, and transfemmes, from the work of Janelle Monáe and Janet Mock to that of Indya Moore and Kelsey Lu.

Set on beautiful Galveston Island in 1900, The fictional characters who grew up in central Mississippi are seeking adventure. They enjoy many new experiences, but the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States proves to be MORE THAN SHE BARGAINED FOR.

“These cheery quilts demonstrate the versatility of charm squares and will inspire quilters to make use of these popular precuts.” —Library Journal Mind your Ps and Qs . . . precuts and quilt blocks, that is! Popular designer Vanessa Goertzen puts charm squares to the test with 18 projects using precut 5” x 5” squares. Start with fresh, beginner-friendly patterns and build your skills to sew snowballs, stars, flying geese, and more. Using precuts from your stash or your own charms cut from scraps or yardage, you’ll learn tips to take the guesswork out of piecing. Modern and traditional quilters alike will fall in love with these quick, clever, and clean designs! “This book will certainly appeal to any scrap lover! You can use precuts or ‘shop’ your stash to create your own collection of five inch blocks—it is a revelation to see the variety of patterns than can be made from this starting point . . . It truly is a book you would want to give a beginner, but the quilts are so lovely that even more experienced quilters will want to make them.” —Down Under Quilts “An excellent way to begin quilting or to use charm packs.” —yarnsandfabrics.co.uk “You’ll learn how to transform the simple squares into Snowballs, Stars, Flying Geese, and more. This book, featuring both traditional and modern patterns, is a must-have for precut collectors.” —American Patchwork & Quilting

Regularly understood through comparison with the alleged deviousness and untrustworthiness of the French, honesty was considered an essential---and indeed perhaps the defining---virtue of the English in the nineteenth century. And yet, as "The Best Policy: Lying and National Character in Victorian and French Novels" argues, several popular Victorian novelists (Gaskell, Dickens, Thackeray, and Trollope) actually advocate distinct forms of lying, while French novelists of the period (Balzac, Maupassant, Daudet, and Zola) depict the same kinds of lies as dangerous, even lethal. In order to explain this peculiar reversal and its ramifications for constructions of British national character, I examine three species of lies that recur in Victorian fiction and culture: the transparent lie, one that listeners agree to accept and perpetuate even though they recognize it as a lie; the speculative lie, which lures investors into ruinous commercial schemes by co-opting the language of religious faith; and the entrepreneurial lie, which exploits stale and uncritical expectations of institutions like marriage, family, and social class. The symbolic level of speech upon which lies depend renders lying a powerful means of pursuing individual agency within tightly regulated Victorian society, whereas the post-Revolutionary focus on individual freedoms within French society relieves some of the urgency of preserving personal agency and encourages novelists to emphasize the selfish and socially corrosive dimensions of telling lies. In order to develop characteristic British individualism, however, one must learn how to lie well, suggesting that for Victorians, honesty is not always the best policy.