My life was one of those teen angst rom-coms where the ugly high school student transforms herself into the beauty queen. Except there was no cute guy helping me along, no series of makeover shots with fun background music, no scene where I walked into the room and all heads turned to look at me while wind blew through my hair. I was the ugly high school student, and I did transform, but it wasn't all peaches and cream. Bullied so badly in high school that it ruined my life, I spent my senior year in therapy. It was there that I transformed - not just physically, but mentally as well. I wanted a fresh start and going to college across the country was my ticket to that. It was a whole new world, and things were great ... ... and then came the blast from my past. And he didn't recognize me. What was a girl to do? Revenge, of course! My plan was to make him fall for me and then break his heart. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. If only revenge was black and white ... too bad a lot of gray was in the mix. But one thing was for sure - I needed a way to heal the scars from my past. I just hoped I could.

The gods won't let her forget the past... Alia is a merchant with a dark secret— A scar she's desperate to put behind her. With her business partner's stall positioned in one of the most celebrated festivals in the city of the gods, she has a chance of finally earning enough money to start her own caravan and forget her time as an undercover agent. But not everyone likes the gods, and mage-hating extremists plot to destroy the city— And its innocent inhabitants. When a goddess requests Alia's help in rooting out the threat, Alia plans to pass the job to the city guard. She's no longer a soldier. Still, when she runs into the man responsible for her past scars—and possibly for the current threat—can she afford to stand aside? Investigate the menace to the city of the gods... Read The Scars of Her Past today! ~ Each of these Legends of Cirena stories can be read stand-alone: ~ * The Wind Mage of Maijev (Livena) * The Gryphon and the Mountain Bear (Nuaka) * The Restless Sands of Neel (Ro'nor) * The Cursed Halls of Kalecen (Hahven) * The Scars of Her Past (Alia) * The Dragons of the Mist (Zynia) ~ Crossovers (It will help to have read the previous stories involving the featured characters): ~ * The Wind Mage and the Wolf - Features Livena (The Wind Mage of Maijev) and Nuaka (The Gryphon and the Mountain Bear) * The Trial of Bells and Blood - Features Hahven (The Cursed Halls of Kalecen) and Alia (The Scars of Her Past) KEYWORDS: fantasy, epic fantasy, fantasy novella, mages, magical quest, magical journey, fantasy mage adventure, fantasy vigilante, gods and goddesses, pantheon, fantasy deities, mission, journey, sword and sorcery, magic hunted, mage hunted, fantasy deities, fantasy merchant, magic vs technology, mage hunter assassin, unknown magic

Seraphine Almaia, a werewolf who was deemed as a witchcraft-born was considered filthy and hated due to her dead parents’ history. Thus, she was put on the lowest rank of the pack, the Omega. And when her 18th birthday came, things started to go wrong. She was banished by her mate, thrown out of the pack, and lost her memory on the process. Her mind forgot, but can her heart find the way back to her other half? What life awaits for her now that she has no memory of her past? Can Seraphine Almaia ride the waves of her fate and survive? ~ Love began to flourish along with pain. Revelations began to unveil. The curse marched on land to conquer. The hidden was summoned from millenniums of deep slumber. Come and embark on a journey of love, rejection, mysteries, and revelations with Seraphine Almaia, the Omega.

This striking work of narrative nonfiction tells the true story of six-year-old Sachiko Yasui's survival of the Nagasaki atomic bomb on August 9, 1945, and the heartbreaking and lifelong aftermath. Having conducted extensive interviews with Sachiko Yasui, Caren Stelson chronicles Sachiko's trauma and loss as well as her long journey to find peace. This book offers readers a remarkable new perspective on the final moments of World War II and their aftermath.

An unwelcome legacy. An impossible love. A relentless enemy. Born during the bloody Wars of the Roses, young John Elder is heir to his father's legacy. Driven from the girl he loves, John abandons his legacy to become a mercenary abroad. In his absence, stalked by a ruthless outlaw, the Elder family must survive a deadly storm of blood and chaos.

Decolonization is the term commonly used to refer to this transition from a world of colonial empires to a world of nation-states in the years after World War II. This work demonstrates that this process involved considerable violence and instability.