Inexplicably, Lady Violet Denton has been all but forgotten by her wastrel brother at a boarding school for nearly two years! She has been stuck there – and without proper funds – for so long that she has been forced to take employment as the school’s new French instructor. She could never have imagined that her once-beloved brother would abandon her in this fashion, but after such a long silence, she has little choice but to accept the truth. Out of all of the Bloody Duke’s men searching for the missing Miss Denton, of course it should be Lord Alexander Huffton, the Marquess of Buxton, that stumbles upon her in a remote section of Hertfordshire – to his great misfortune. A known rake and an avowed libertine, the marquess is more comfortable in a courtesan’s bed than in the company of an innocent young woman. And Violet is about as innocent as they come. However now that he has found her, Alex is duty-bound to return her, not to mention somehow break the news to her that her brother isn’t really her brother at all. As Alex and Violet travel toward London – and her brother – the desire growing between them flares until one night, it can no longer be denied. Is Alex willing to release Violet from his arms when the time comes? Or will he do what is necessary to claim her as his? This 95,000-word novel is written in the modern, Regency romance style for a slightly hotter and sexier read. It may not be appropriate for younger audiences.

At the age of twenty-five, Benjamin James Brenkert--a young man from Long Island, a social work student, and an internet vocation to the priesthood--entered one of the historically boldest, influential, apostolic religious orders of the Roman Catholic Church. Aged thirty-four, and a member of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in good standing, Brenkert was missioned to the laity by his last religious superior. Brenkert could not come out publicly as a gay Jesuit and support his LGBTQ peers who were being fired from various church employment and volunteer activities because of whom they loved. Brenkert had never concealed his sexuality from his religious superiors, he knew all too well what was written in the Church's Catechism about homosexuals. Still, he felt uniquely called to respond to God's invitation to serve him in total love as a priest, something confirmed in him in prayer during his thirty-day silent retreat and affirmed to him by his religious superiors and peers throughout his life in the Jesuits. In his Open Letter to Pope Francis in 2014 Brenkert wrote, "Pope Francis . . . I ask you to instruct the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to tell Catholic institutions not to fire any more LGBTQ Catholics. I ask you to speak out against laws that criminalize and oppress LGBTQ people around the globe. These actions would bring true life to your statement, 'Who am I to judge?'" In 2015, the United States Supreme Court struck down bans on same-sex marriage in Obergell v. Hodges and in 2020, the United States Supreme Court expanded the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Despite these landmark achievements in the public sector, LGBTQ Catholics still cannot receive communion and must always seek reconciliation. Their flourishing as part of their religious community is always frustrated. Brenkert's account of his life before, in, and after the Jesuits is interwoven with trials and tribulations, but remains always full of hope, written candidly and with bracing honesty. Brenkert offers readers the opportunity to join him on a theological and spiritual pilgrimage, one that ends with readers making a discernment. The world today is full of distraction, misinformation, and timidity, Brenkert's pilgrimage is full of conviction, heartful, written with an eagerness to help people of faith and no faith at all find their true selves, all for the greater glory of God.

In a region famous for its flamboyant politicians, Earl K. Long was one of the most flamboyant of them all. This first full-scale biography of the former Louisiana governor explores his controversial life-style and his strong family ties, his raw humor and his political savvy, his abuse of power and his accomplishments in the areas of civil rights and public services. Michael L. Kurtz and Morgan D. Peoples provide new information from recently declassified FBI files concerning Earl's ties with organized crime figures, give the first comprehensive account of his stays in mental institutions in 1959, and offer factual information about his notorious relationship with the stripper Blaze Star. Based on more than two decades of research in a variety of sources, this important biography fills a serious gap in the history of modern Louisiana politics.

2020 Blues Hall of Fame Classic of Blues Literature Jimi Hendrix called Earl Hooker “the master of the wah-wah pedal.” Buddy Guy slept with one of Hooker's slides beneath his pillow hoping to tap some of the elder bluesman's power. And B. B. King has said repeatedly that, for his money, Hooker was the best guitar player he ever met. Tragically, Earl Hooker died of tuberculosis in 1970 when he was on the verge of international success just as the Blues Revival of the late sixties and early seventies was reaching full volume. Second cousin to now-famous bluesman John Lee Hooker, Earl Hooker was born in Mississippi in 1929, and reared in black South Side Chicago where his parents settled in 1930. From the late 1940s on, he was recognized as the most creative electric blues guitarist of his generation. He was a “musician's musician,” defining the art of blues slide guitar and playing in sessions and shows with blues greats Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, and B. B. King. A favorite of black club and neighborhood bar audiences in the Midwest, and a seasoned entertainer in the rural states of the Deep South, Hooker spent over twenty-five years of his short existence burning up U.S. highways, making brilliant appearances wherever he played. Until the last year of his life, Hooker had only a few singles on obscure labels to show for all the hard work. The situation changed in his last few months when his following expanded dramatically. Droves of young whites were seeking American blues tunes and causing a blues album boom. When he died, his star's rise was extinguished. Known primarily as a guitarist rather than a vocalist, Hooker did not leave a songbook for his biographer to mine. Only his peers remained to praise his talent and pass on his legend. “Earl Hooker's life may tell us a lot about the blues,” biographer Sebastian Danchin says, “but it also tells us a great deal about his milieu. This book documents the culture of the ghetto through the example of a central character, someone who is to be regarded as a catalyst of the characteristic traits of his community.” Like the tales of so many other unheralded talents among bluesmen, Earl Hooker, Blues Master, Hooker's life story, has all the elements of a great blues song—late nights, long roads, poverty, trouble, and a soul-felt pining for what could have been.