How will patterns of human interaction with the earth's eco-system impact on biodiversity loss over the long term--not in the next ten or even fifty years, but on the vast temporal scale be dealt with by earth scientists? This volume brings together data from population biology, community ecology, comparative biology, and paleontology to answer this question.

A catch phrase is a well-known, frequently-used phrase or saying that has `caught on' or become popular over along period of time. It is often witty or philosophical and this Dictionary gathers together over 7,000 such phrases.

"This story falls right after Straight Nights and right before The Chief is Missing. It would be nice to says it's when Claire walks into Curt's life only it's the other way around. Curt walks in. After being on loan to another agency Curt is anxious to return to the slower pace fo the small city police department. Personnel often change so when he walks in that night and sees a new girl sitting behind the dispatchers desk it doesn't come as much of a surprise. What he doesn't know at that moment is that this new girl has been fore warned to keep her distance from him. And so as he reaches out a hand to introduce himself..."--Page [4] of cover.

Diana Gael, aged twenty-two, is the youngest cub reporter on the Barling Gazette. She's met Hooky Hefferman previously at a cricket match, so when she comes to Sayle Place she is able to recommend him as a player in the village's annual cricket game. The squire of Sayle - Sir Colyn Collingford - is a miser and an unscrupulous womaniser. On the day of the great match Hooky's dual role is to make runs for the squire's team and guard the treasures of Sayle against burglars. Soon, though, Hooky has far more than would-be burglars on his hands ...

It isn't easy making a living as a lady's companion when one possesses a sharp tongue and an original mind. That's why Emma Greyson has gone through three such positions in six months. Her current post at a tiresome country house party has her bored to tears—until an extraordinary encounter with the legendary Edison Stokes leads to a secret position as his assistant. Stokes is on a peculiar mission, searching for an anonymous thief who has stolen an ancient book of arcane potions. He suspects his quarry is among the party's guests—and that the villain is looking for an intuitive woman on whom to test a certain elixir. A woman just like Emma... For Emma, the new post brings unexpected passion and chilling danger. But when murder strikes, she realizes the awful truth. Unless she and Edison devise a scheme to outwit a merciless killer, she could forever lose the man of her dreams—and even her very life....

These short stories are set primarily in the farmland of County Antrim in Northern Ireland during the author=s youth in the nineteen forties and fifties, but some feature Scots Irish in America and England during that same period. County Antrim has strong residual connections to Scotland that are reflected in the manner of speech and in the social values that the author experienced during his youthChard work, religious belief and valuing family connections. Long before television entered the home, family and neighborhood get-togethers were common, often around the hearth fire, especially in the winter months. During those times it was common for older members to mention their escapades in not just the Second World War but the First World War and even the Boer War. The very human lives of these wholesome people, their sorrow, happiness, humor and futility, are picturesquely captured in the author=s sensitive, homespun stories.

Captured by a brooding Highland laird? These tried-and-true tips are sure to turn him kilt over heels in love and give you exactly the HEA every Scottish lass deserves: Save his son and protect the boy as your own; Fiercely square off toe-to-toe with your scowling captor at every opportunity; Never, ever let him know you've fallen in love. Laird Gavin MacKinnon is a changed man—and not for the better. Ever since his young son, Ewan, disappeared two years ago, Gavin has grown callous and bitter. Scouring the countryside, his search leads him to a mysterious woman who maintains the boy is hers. He decides to take them both and ask questions later. Deirdre MacIntyre will go with the brooding laird if it will keep her son safe, but she meets fire with fire at every opportunity, letting the Highland brute see just how fierce she can be. Gavin has to admit that the beautiful lass has a bond with Ewan—not to mention an allure he can't deny—and things aren't adding up. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to give her the benefit of the doubt. But when Deirdre's clan comes to claim her under threat of war, Gavin has a choice to make: fight to keep Deirdre at his side or let go his one true chance of ever knowing peace.