Patricia Ann Browning didn't see the deer standing in the middle of the road until it was too late, not that it would have mattered. For retired NYPD Detective, James Maguire, the pieces of his life were finally starting to fall into place. He was running his own lucrative private security firm catering to Fortune 500 companies and had just met Melody Anderson, a highly successful business woman from Long Island's posh enclave of Southampton. Everything, it seemed, was looking up. That was until the morning newscast reported that his former high school flame was missing from a one car accident on a rural country road in upstate New York. Arriving back in his old hometown Maguire must come to terms, not only with his past, but the fact that no one seems interested in pursuing the investigation into Patricia Browning's disappearance, including the missing woman's husband, the local sheriff. As Maguire struggles to put the clues together in time, he is drawn deeper into a game where people are as expendable as pieces in a chess game and the only goal is to take down the king. A crown Maguire unwittingly wears.

Escaping a life of marginalization and misery, Kitty Doe joins the most powerful family in the country, a choice that requires her to assume the identity of the Prime Minister's niece and stop a rebellion that ended her predecessor's life.

Teaches amateur chess players how to improve their chess skills so they can become better players.

Most chess games of beginners and post-beginners are decided by fairly straightforward tactics. Anyone who wants to progress beyond this level and become a strong club player or a candidate master, needs to understand that somewhat mysterious-looking resource, the positional sacrifice. International Master Merijn van Delft has studied and loved positional sacrifices for as long as he can remember. This non-forcing tool is not just a surprising and highly effective way of creating a decisive advantage during a game. Positional sacrifices are also instruments of superior beauty. Van Delft has created a unique thematic structure for all types of positional sacrifices. He shows the early historical examples, explains which long-term goals are typical for each fundamental theme and presents lots of instructive modern examples. He then concentrates on those sacrifices that have become standard features of positional play. Solving the exercises he has added will further enhance your skills. Playing a positional sacrifice will always require courage. Merijn van Delft takes you by the hand and not only teaches the essential technical know-how, he also helps you to recognize the opportunities when to take the plunge. Mastering Positional Sacrifices is bound to become a modern-day classic.

Groundbreaking epic fantasy series in Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar universe • Lambda-Award winning novels with heartfelt high adventure and magic Though Vanyel has been born with near-legendary abilities to work both Herald and Mage magic, he wanted no part in such things. Nor does he seek a warrior’s path, wishing instead to become a Bard. Yet such talent as his, if left untrained, may prove a menace not only to Vanyel but to others as well. So he is sent to be fostered with his aunt, Savil, one of the fame Herald-Mages of Valdemar. But, strong-willed and self-centered, Vanyel is a challenge which even Savil cannot master alone. For soon he will become the focus of frightening forces, lending his raw magic to a spell that unleashes terrifying wyr-hunters on the land. And by the time Savil seeks the assistance of a Shin’a’in Adept, Vanyel’s wild talent may have already grown beyond anyone’s ability to contain, placing Vanyel, Savil, and Valdemar itself in desperate peril.

A showman's fate is in the hands of the devil in an enthralling novel inspired by the Faust legend from the bestselling author of the Hangman's Daughter series. Rome, 1518. The church is tarnished by greed. Peasants are rebelling. Tumultuous times demand drastic recourse--before the devil gets his due. Johann Faust is a renowned magician, astrologer, and chiromancer traveling through Germany with his successful troupe: the orphaned juggler Greta and his loyal companion Karl. The avaricious Pope Leo X now requires Johann's services to replenish the papacy's drained coffers through alchemy. But the devil, with whom a regretful Johann once agreed to an unholy trade for fame, wants something else. Racked with paralyzing seizures, Johann fears that his debt is nearer to being settled. In France, Johann hopes for answers from an eminent new friend who could hold the key to his torment, body, and soul. For the celebrated artist, inventor, and anatomist Leonard da Vinci is suffering from the same accursed malady. Time is not on his side either. Now they all must outrun the devil, and the more human threats of the papal henchmen, before Johann is dragged straight to hell--along with everyone he holds dear.

For fans of Ana Huang, L.J. Shen, and J.T. Geissinger, THE PAWN is a breathtakingly sensual virgin auction romance novel that you can read for FREE. You've never seen chess played like this... "Wickedly brilliant, dark and addictive!" - Jodi Ellen Malpas, #1 New York Times bestselling author The price of survival... Gabriel Miller swept into my life like a storm. He tore down my father with cold retribution, leaving him penniless in a hospital bed. I quit my private all-girl's college to take care of the only family I have left. There's one way to save our house, one thing I have left of value. My virginity. A forbidden auction... Gabriel appears at every turn. He seems to take pleasure in watching me fall. Other times he's the only kindness in a brutal underworld. Except he's playing a deeper game than I know. Every move brings us together, every secret rips us apart. And when the final piece is played, only one of us can be left standing. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * THE PAWN is a full-length contemporary novel from New York Times bestselling author Skye Warren about revenge and seduction in the game of love. It's the first book in the captivating ENDGAME trilogy. "Sinfully sexy and darkly beautiful, The Pawn will play games with your heart and leave you craving more!" - Laura Kaye, New York Times bestselling author "Edgy, provocative and deeply erotic, The Pawn is one of my top reads of the year! Skye Warren brings you a sensual battle of wills guaranteed to leave you gasping by the end." - Elle Kennedy, New York Times bestselling author "Smart, dark, deeply sensual read with characters I fell in love with from the minute they walked onto the page!" - Carly Phillips, New York Times bestselling author "Positively sinful, and outrageously sexy! Emotions run high and readers will be left gasping." - Lisa Renee Jones, New York Times bestselling author "Skye Warren's THE PAWN is a triumph of intrigue, angst, and sensual drama. I was clenching everything. Gabriel and Avery sucked me in from the first few paragraphs and never let go." - Annabel Joseph, New York Times bestselling author "With the precision of a high-stakes game of Chess, THE PAWN is dark, sexy, and deliciously calculated. Gabriel is the perfect alpha, leaving you reeling as his dominance, power, and unexpected tenderness creates the ideal mixture. Five glowing stars." - Aleatha Romig, New York Times bestselling author "A stealthy, sensual, twisted game of cat and mouse that sucked me in completely and had me turning the pages faster and faster. Cunning and brilliant." - K.L. Kreig, USA Today bestselling author