A biography of Kalākaua (David Laʻamea Kamananakapu Mahinulani Naloiaehuokalani Lumialani Kalākaua) November 16, 1836 – January 20, 1891 based on original sources. Author addresses the issues of brother-sister mating, David Kalakaua's pray-to-death-ritual of his sister, Chietress Liliha's prophetic curse on the Kamehamehas, David Kalakaua's sex education, the Polynesian art of intercourse, and the use of aphrodisiacs.

Winner of the 2018 IRDA for fantasy #1 Best Seller in Canadian Dark Fantasy 99% liked it (Goodreads) A deformed genius plots vengeance while struggling to survive. A wastrel prince comes of age, finding a power he never imagined. Two worlds are destined to collide. Only one can be king. "This dark fantasy epic will be held up against George R.R. Martin's masterwork, A Song of Ice and Fire. Read this book now so you can act pompous around your friends when HBO turns it into a television series." - Goodreads "Kings of Paradise presents a brutal world of complex yet simple politics, reminiscent of Game of Thrones. An intriguing low-magic world packed with interesting cultures to be further delved. Nell shows considerable skill in displaying his world distinctly through the eyes of his different characters." - Fantasybookreview.co.uk Ruka, called a demon at birth, is a genius. Born malformed and ugly into the snow-covered wasteland of the Ascom, he was spared from death by his mother's love. Now he is an outcast, consumed with hate for those who've wronged him. But to take his vengeance, he must first survive. Across a vast sea in the white-sand island paradise of Sri Kon, Kale is fourth and youngest son of the Sorcerer King. And at sixteen, Kale is a disappointment. As the first prince ever forced to serve with low-born marines, Kale must prove himself and become a man, or else lose all chance of a worthy future, and any hope to win the love of his life. Though they do not know it, both boys are on the cusp of discovery. Their worlds and lives are destined for greatness, or ruin. But in a changing world where ash meets paradise, only one man can be king... The first installment of an epic, low- fantasy trilogy. Kings of Paradise is a dark, bloody, coming-of-age story shaped by culture, politics, and magic. "The novel's brilliant world works on so many levels; it has a rich political landscape, moral complexity, and immense environmental challenges, all told in beautiful, thoughtful prose." - Indiereader "A must for lovers of fantasy, especially those who enjoy losing themselves in a epic tale." - Reader's Favorite "The world that Mr. Nell has created is pretty incredible. But the thing that really made me love this story was the characters he filled that world with." - Goodreads "If Kale changes, Ruka grows and festers like a storm. Without a doubt, the darker of the two characters, I feel Richard Nell has created a compelling and classic character here." Goodreads

Jack Beilis once lived the American dream: custom suits, new cars, and the best clubs. But by 1931, he has sunk so low he cannot feed himself or his ailing father. Now he barely has time to wipe the blood from his hands before he finds himself on a ship from New York to Moscow, running from a crime he never intended. Desperate for an escape route, Jack wants to believe stories of a worker's paradise in the Soviet Union. Maybe the distance between Ellis Island and Red Square will let him leave poverty--and his pursuers--far behind. Jack accepts an opportunity at the Gorky Ford Factory and embarks on a new life. What he finds, though, is a surveillance society, empty store shelves, and a dangerous network of black markets. There seems to be no way out, until Jack meets Dr. Natasha Lobanova. Could this Russian beauty be his deliverance? When Natasha's own dark history surfaces, Jack's fate is threatened. With betrayals and secrets everywhere, Jack struggles to trust anyone or anything...even his own heart.

"A true story of the battle for paradise…men and women fighting for a slice of earth like no other." —New York Times Book Review Frederick and May Rindge, the unlikely couple whose love story propelled Malibu’s transformation from an untamed ranch in the middle of nowhere to a paradise seeded with movie stars, are at the heart of this story of American grit and determinism. He was a Harvard-trained confidant of presidents; she was a poor Midwestern farmer’s daughter raised to be suspicious of the seasons. Yet the bond between them would shape history. The newly married couple reached Los Angeles in 1887 when it was still a frontier, and within a few years Frederick, the only heir to an immense Boston fortune, became one of the wealthiest men in the state. After his sudden death in 1905, May spent the next thirty years fighting off some of the most powerful men in the country—as well as fissures within her own family—to preserve Malibu as her private kingdom. Her struggle, one of the longest over land in California history, would culminate in a landmark Supreme Court decision and lead to the creation of the Pacific Coast Highway. The King and Queen of Malibu traces the path of one family as the country around them swept off the last vestiges of the Civil War and moved into what we would recognize as the modern age. The story of Malibu ranges from the halls of Harvard to the Old West in New Mexico to the beginnings of San Francisco’s counter culture amid the Gilded Age, and culminates in the glamour of early Hollywood—all during the brief sliver of history in which the advent of railroads and the automobile traversed a beckoning American frontier and anything seemed possible.

In this dazzling photo essay, Laman and Scholes present gorgeous full-color photographs of all 39 species of the Birds of Paradise that highlight their unique and extraordinary plumage and mating behavior.