A brooding hockey hunk learns to embrace life—and love—from a single mom who takes the world one puck at a time. “Kelly Jamieson is my go-to author for hockey romance.”—USA Today bestselling author Jami Davenport Big move . . . Jodie’s motto is “Don’t wait for the perfect moment—take the moment and make it perfect.” And that’s just what she decides to do when she moves to Chicago with her two-year-old daughter. Now all Jodie needs is a place to live, and her best friend’s boyfriend has just the answer. Big stick . . . Nick Balachov has zero interest in socializing, partying, or flirting right now. It’s not that he doesn’t like women. He loves them. It’s just that hockey, casual hookups, and hanging out at home are enough for him these days. Now Nick has a big problem—because the woman living in his empty coach house is a major distraction. Big deal? The more Nick tries to keep his distance, the more Jodie needs him—around the house, that is. First he helps with the snowstorm, then the power outage. Nick even finds himself trying to impress her little girl. What the hell is wrong with him? Jodie represents everything Nick doesn’t want. But maybe she’s just what he needs. . . . Praise for Big Stick “Oh, the feels! Big Stick is a sexy romance that will leave readers begging for the next in the series. Kelly Jamieson has me hooked.”—Tracy Goodwin, internationally bestselling author of Ice Hot: A New York Nighthawks Novel “Kelly Jamieson’s characters fly off the page. I wouldn’t kick grumbly hockey-hottie Nick out of bed—even if he did pass out on accident. One-click Nick and Jodie. You won’t be disappointed.”—Tricia Lynne, author of Moonlight & Whiskey “I enjoyed the plot. The hockey scenes are well written. It was easy to visualize what was happening on the ice. Big Stick was a perfect addition to the Aces Hockey series.”—Diane’s Book Blog (five stars) USA Today bestselling author Kelly Jamieson’s epic Wynn Hockey series can be read together or separately: PLAY TO WIN IN IT TO WIN IT WIN BIG FOR THE WIN Don’t miss any of Kelly’s captivating reads: The Aces Hockey series: MAJOR MISCONDUCT • OFF LIMITS • ICING • TOP SHELF • BACK CHECK • SLAP SHOT • PLAYING HURT • BIG STICK • GAME ON The Bayard Hockey series: SHUT OUT • CROSS CHECK The Last Shot series: BODY SHOT • HOT SHOT • LONG SHOT The standalone novel: DANCING IN THE RAIN This ebook includes an excerpt from another Loveswept title.

Beat the odds with a bold strategy from McKinsey & Company "Every once in a while, a genuinely fresh approach to business strategy appears" —legendary business professor Richard Rumelt, UCLA McKinsey & Company's newest, most definitive, and most irreverent book on strategy—which thousands of executives are already using—is a must-read for all C-suite executives looking to create winning corporate strategies. Strategy Beyond the Hockey Stick is spearheading an empirical revolution in the field of strategy. Based on an extensive analysis of the key factors that drove the long-term performance of thousands of global companies, the book offers a ground-breaking formula that enables you to objectively assess your strategy's real odds of future success. "This book is fundamental. The principles laid out here, with compelling data, are a great way around the social pitfalls in strategy development." —Frans Van Houten, CEO, Royal Philips N.V. The authors have discovered that over a 10-year period, just 1 in 12 companies manage to jump from the middle tier of corporate performance—where 60% of companies reside, making very little economic profit—to the top quintile where 90% of global economic profit is made. This movement does not happen by magic—it depends on your company's current position, the trends it faces, and the big moves you make to give it the strongest chance of vaulting over the competition. This is not another strategy framework. Rather, Strategy Beyond the Hockey Stick shows, through empirical analysis and the experiences of dozens of companies that have successfully made multiple big moves, that to dramatically improve performance, you have to overcome incrementalism and corporate inertia. "A different kind of book—I couldn't put it down. Inspiring new insights on the facts of what it takes to move a company's performance, combined with practical advice on how to deal with real-life dynamics in management teams." —Jane Fraser, CEO, Citigroup Latin America

At the mercy of the class bully, a fifth-grader is sent to a martial arts school where he learns techniques to defend himself as well as a philosophy that allows him not to fight.

Covering over 10,000 idioms and collocations characterized by similarity in their wording or metaphorical idea which do not show corresponding similarity in their meanings, this dictionary presents a unique cross-section of the English language. Though it is designed specifically to assist readers in avoiding the use of inappropriate or erroneous phrases, the book can also be used as a regular phraseological dictionary providing definitions to individual idioms, cliches, and set expressions. Most phrases included in the dictionary are in active current use, making information about their meanings and usage essential to language learners at all levels of proficiency.

"Speak softly and carry a big stick" Theodore Roosevelt famously said in 1901, when the United States was emerging as a great power. It was the right sentiment, perhaps, in an age of imperial rivalry but today many Americans doubt the utility of their global military presence, thinking it outdated, unnecessary or even dangerous. In The Big Stick, Eliot A. Cohen-a scholar and practitioner of international relations-disagrees. He argues that hard power remains essential for American foreign policy. While acknowledging that the US must be careful about why, when, and how it uses force, he insists that its international role is as critical as ever, and armed force is vital to that role. Cohen explains that American leaders must learn to use hard power in new ways and for new circumstances. The rise of a well-armed China, Russia's conquest of Crimea and eastern Ukraine, nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran, and the spread of radical Islamist movements like ISIS are some of the key threats to global peace. If the United States relinquishes its position as a strong but prudent military power, and fails to accept its role as the guardian of a stable world order we run the risk of unleashing disorder, violence and tyranny on a scale not seen since the 1930s. The US is still, as Madeleine Albright once dubbed it, "the indispensable nation."

The definitive work on the language of baseball—one of the “Five Best Baseball Books” (Wall Street Journal). Hailed as “a staggering piece of scholarship” (Wall Street Journal) and “an indispensable guide to the language of baseball” (San Diego Union-Tribune), The Dickson Baseball Dictionary has become an invaluable resource for those who love the game. Drawing on dozens of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century periodicals, as well as contemporary sources, Dickson’s brilliant, illuminating definitions trace the earliest appearances of terms both well known and obscure. This edition includes more than 10,000 terms with 18,000 individual entries, and more than 250 photos. This “impressively comprehensive” (The Nation) book will delight everyone from the youngest fan to the hard-core aficionado.

"Putting Big Sticks by Little Sticks" is about the journey we all take to find where we belong. It all begins in our formative years. As he gives us a peek into his professional life and the fulfillment he's found in his career, Ron Nelms retraces his path from childhood adventures to the challenges and tragedies of young adulthood and, ultimately, discovery of the personal gifts that led him to the professional love of his life: land surveying. Ron invites you to follow him on his path to becoming a land surveyor. Perhaps his story will give you the chance to reflect on your own passions and desires, perhaps this could be your chance to reignite your direction in the pursuit of fulfillment. It is never too late to put a life together - to find meaning and purpose that leads to feeling victorious about having lived. "Putting Big Sticks by Little Sticks" is more than a story about a land surveyor who found his passion. It's a memoir of a boy and his dog, brotherly love, and the mischievous adventures that call to those anxious to explore woods, hills, abandoned mines and ladybug dens. It's a story of family resilience, trust, and faith, and the role each has had in Ron's life. Youth is short-lived, and little boys enjoy precious few years of carefree play and exploration before getting to the task of school, growing up, and starting a family and career. If they're lucky, they will find a life's work that fills them up, bringing both joy and pride, all while being a "servant to others," as Ron describes his work and the responsibility that comes with it. Ron Nelms is one of the lucky ones. Life as a professional land surveyor has been his dream come true. No matter what your personal calling may be, Ron's story inspires us to lean into our God given gifts and to put them to work in our life.