Whether it's an umbrella cockatoo who's not eating, a depressed chinchilla, a pregnant potbellied pig, or a ferret possibly needing surgery, exotic animal vet Laurie Hess is at the front lines with some remarkable pets-and their equally eccentric, dedicated, and sometimes demanding owners. Following a week in Dr. Hess's life as she tries to uncover the source of an unknown ailment killing some of her most vulnerable patients, Unlikely Companions is an All Creatures Great and Small with a mysterious twist that includes a special message about managing our most important relationships-those with our friends, coworkers, children, spouses, and ourselves. "Dr. Hess takes everyday as it comes and treats whatever enters her office with compassion, and knowledge, and sometimes even humor." -Martha Stewart

In a kingdom on the brink of war, a skilled female warrior is tasked with protecting a reluctant prince on a perilous journey. As they face bandits, treacherous terrain, and political intrigue, their initial animosity blossoms into a deep and forbidden love. Together, they must uncover a plot that threatens the very heart of the kingdom, all while navigating their growing feelings for each other. This epic tale of adventure, romance, and self-discovery challenges both warrior and prince to redefine their roles and fight for a love that could either save the kingdom or tear it apart. Will duty triumph over the desires of the heart, or will love prove to be the strongest weapon of all? Fantasy romance, warrior princess, reluctant prince, forbidden love, political intrigue, epic journey, self-discovery, duty versus heart, action adventure, royal romance

If Carl Gustav Jung and Ignatius of Loyola could face each other over a gap of four centuries, what would they have to say to one another? Kenneth Becker demonstrates, in this engaging study, that these two intellectual and spiritual giants bring great insight to each other's work.

An exotic animal veterinarianÕs experiences treating our favorite unusual pets and a testament to the power and depth of human-animal bonds, with take-away life lessons about our most important human relationships.

Can something as simple as friendship have a transformative impact in a divided world? Through a series of richly textured historical portraits and reflections on personal experience, this book shows that boundary-crossing friendships in Christian mission have shaped theologies, built organizations and partnerships, facilitated mission work, and changed attitudes and ways of thinking. This is true in settings as varied as eighteenth-century French women’s work, twentieth-century urban Boston, colonial India, the Jim Crow South, and twentieth-century rural Congo. In all these settings and more, friendship has mattered. Boundary-crossing friendships are, however, not easy. Despite their power, such friendships are complicated by race, gender, ability, class, nationality, and other elements of identity, as this book also demonstrates. Friendships are not immune from the divisions in the world, nor a simple cure-all for them. Still, friendship stands as a powerful testimony to the gospel. Therefore, the book calls for more attention to friendship in the study of mission history and more living out of friendship as a practice of mission. In this way, this book pays honor to Dr. Dana L. Robert as a pre-eminent mission scholar and exemplary friend and mentor to others in the fields of missiology and world Christianity.

Rinaldi delves into the childhood friendship between Mary Todd Lincoln and black seamstress Elizabeth Keckley--two fascinating women who became devoted friends and confidantes amid the turbulent times of the Lincoln administration.

A moray eel diagnosed with anorexia…A herd of bison whose only hope is a crusading female doctor from Paris…A vet desperately trying to save an orphaned whale by unraveling the mystery of her mother’s death…This fascinating book offers a rare glimpse into the world of exotic animals and the doctors who care for them. Here pioneering zoological veterinarians—men and women on the cutting edge of a new medical frontier—tell real-life tales of daring procedures for patients weighing tons or ounces, treating symptoms ranging from broken bones to a broken heart, and life-and-death dramas that will forever change the way you think about wild animals and the bonds we share with them. From a root canal on a three-thousand pound hippo to one doctor’s heartbreaking effort to save a critically ill lemur, here are acts of rescue, kindness, and cross-disciplinary cooperation between zoo vets and other top scientists. We meet highly trained specialists racing against time and circumstance to save the lives of some of the most exotic animals in the world. Shoes designed for racehorses help a rhinoceros with a debilitating foot disease. A kangaroo survives spinal surgery performed by a leading human doctor. These unforgettable stories capture the bonds that develop between vets and their animal patients, the ingenious measures many vets have tried, and the remarkable new insights modern medical technology is giving us into the physiology and behaviors of wild animals. At once heart-quickening and clinically fascinating, the stories in this remarkable collection represent some of the most moving and unusual cases ever taken on by zoological vets. A chronicle of discovery, compassion, and cutting-edge medicine, The Rhino with Glue-on Shoes is must reading for animal lovers, science buffs, and anyone who loves a well-told tale.