What would you do if you inherited billions from a total stranger? 1946 Seventeen-year-old Rose Chen’s quiet life is shattered when she’s dragged from Taiwan and forced to immigrate to the U.S. Her nightmare continues when she arrives in San Francisco, only to be shipped off by her parents to serve in a wealthy American’s household. But her dutiful-daughter status soon comes under threat when her risky friendship with her white employer’s son transforms into something taboo. As Rose wrestles with her complicated feelings in a private journal, she unwittingly leaves a stunning legacy to a granddaughter she’ll never know… 2010 Anne Huang never cared to call anywhere home. But her carefree lifestyle of blogging and travel is interrupted when a stranger with ties to her family bequeaths her a fortune. And with no knowledge of her history, she soon finds herself thrown in with a nest of billionaire vipers determined to lock away their skeletons. Confronted by jealous rivals, Anne battles distrust and hidden agendas as she tries to understand more about her birthright and learns the value of love. Can their lives come full circle to close one door and open another? Forbidden Blossom is the heartfelt first book in the Skyline Mansion family saga. If you like soul-searching heroines, paths to self-discovery, and stories of perseverance and inner strength, then you’ll adore this generation-spanning tale.

Immerse yourself in this utterly addictive forbidden love story that has captivated thousands of readers around the world. “We are not meant to be together. I should’ve known better. And yet…” Petra, a seventeen-year-old Dutch-American and the only heir of finance tycoon Roy Van Gatt, has always had her life rigorously planned and supervised by her strict father. From her internship at his hedge fund firm on Wall Street to her degree in Economics at Columbia University, Petra is all set for a bright future in finance. But everything falls apart when she develops a dangerous relationship with her father’s business partner and utmost confidant, Alexander Van Dieren. A Dutch nobleman, known as an unrepentant heartbreaker, twenty-three years her senior, and who is, above all else, her beloved godfather. A twisted obsession for some, unconditional love for others, but one thing is sure: it’s a relationship that might cost them everything... This book is for mature audiences. ★★★★★ "A Must Read for Romantic Thriller Enthusiasts. Blossom in Winter is a beautifully wrought and expertly woven story of forbidden love, desire, dark pasts, and the lengths one will go to protect everything that matters most to them." -- Payton H, Amazon ★★★★★ "This dark romance is just what you need to keep you warm on the cold winter nights that are coming our way, it even has a simmering slow burn going on." -- Cassandra W., Amazon UK ★★★★★ "This book has been an absolute pleasure to read. There's puppy love, genuine romance, dark and twisted erotica and moments that will leave you shocked." -- Victoria Spaulding, Goodreads ★★★★★ "I don't even have words, got to be one of the most intense books I've read in a while." -- Obsidian, Goodreads ★★★★★ "This was the most amazing book I've read in a while, it was so gripping, I really couldn't stop reading it even at 2 am when I had a Uni class the next day!" -- Sabrina, Goodreads ★★★★★ "No lies, this is the best book I've ever read! I've felt so many emotions while reading it! Can't wait for the second book!!!" -- Mariska, Goodreads ★★★★★ "This book was exceptional, it captivated me instantly." -- Christina, Goodreads ★★★★★ "A captivating page-turner of a book that you literally will not put down." - Jojo, Goodreads ★★★★★ "This was by far the most refreshing, exciting, thrilling, adventurous, and sexy book I've read." -- Amy Shaw, Goodreads ★★★★★ "Pure intensity from the very first word to the very last!" -- Dionne McCarten, Goodreads ★★★★★ "This is by far one of the best books I've read in a long time!" -- Jade, Goodreads

Anne thought all of the family secrets had been revealed until she saw the photo. A second journal falls into Anne's lap just as she is accepting her inheritance and her grandmother’s secret. This time, an old photo of her mother with a mixed-race boy and an unknown woman comes with it. When she finds out the boy is her long-lost uncle—someone whom her mother has never mentioned—she promises to find him. Anne embarks on a new journey to Taiwan with her mother and boyfriend, Sebastian, where her Taiwanese American culture hinders more than helps. She must navigate a culture and a complex extended family that is at once familiar and foreign. Family bonds and relationships are tested as she hopes to locate her lost uncle, but the most tested relationship is the one she holds with Sebastian. As Anne embarks on an emotional journey to discover the truth behind her family’s closely guarded secrets, she opens wounds she does not see coming. Hidden Blossom is the second book in the Skyline Mansion family saga. A journey to Taiwan filled with the complexity of multicultural relationships, soul-searching heroines, and the constant of a mother’s love.

A collection of women’s intimate erotic thoughts by the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Secret Garden and “liberator of the female libido” (Newsday). The publication of the groundbreaking expose on women's sexual fantasies, My Secret Garden, ushered in a revolution in women's sexual freedom of expression. In Forbidden Flowers, Nancy Friday reveals even more erotic, wild, and explicit fantasies expressed by women all over the world, from all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Like My Secret Garden before it, Forbidden Flowers is a celebration of the depth, potency, and imaginative breadth of women’s inner erotic lives. By giving female readers a glimpse into the ordinary and often extraordinary fantasies of other women, it offers to some an exhilarating freedom from the guilt and shame so often associated with sexual fantasy—and to others, provides fascinating insight into the psychology of female sexual response. “The author whose books about gender politics helped redefine American women’s sexuality.” —The New York Times

How many secrets could one family have? After failing to find her uncle in Taiwan, Anne is back at Skyline Mansion and wants life to be quiet for a change. But when Harrison suddenly makes an appearance, only to disappear a few days later, her life is once again turned upside down. When Anne receives Harrison’s journal with a note requesting her to read it before she decides to search for him again, Anne takes the mission to heart. She once again forsakes her family and friends as she delves into her uncle’s past, unraveling a history of more secrets, pain, and loss. At the same time, another Wilkens family member has reached out to her. The girl is charming, but she wants something, and Anne suspects her true intentions, especially when she learns that she is best friends with her arch nemesis—the same woman who still has eyes on Anne’s inheritance. Secret Blossom is the third book in the Skyline Mansion family saga. Filled with soul-searching heroines, paths to self-discovery, and stories of perseverance, Secret Blossom shows how love conquers all.

Cherry Blossom Epiphany - the poetry and philosophy of a flowering tree - a selection, translation and lengthy explication of 3000 haiku, waka, senryû and kyôka about a major theme from I.P.O.O.H. (In Praise Of Olde Haiku)by robin d. gill 1. Haiku -Translation from Japanese to English 2. Japanese poetry - 8c-20c - waka, haiku and senryû 3. Natural History - flowering cherries 4. Japan - Culture - Edo Era 5. Nonfiction - Literature 6. Translation - applied 7. You tell me! If the solemn yet happy New Year's is the most important celebration of Japanese (Yamato) ethnic culture, and the quiet aesthetic practice of Moon-viewing in the fall the most elegant expression of Pan-Asian Buddhism=religion, the subject of this book, Blossom-viewing - which generally means sitting down together in vast crowds to drink, dance, sing and otherwise enjoy the flowering cherry in full-bloom - is less a rite than a riot (a word originally meaning an 'uproar'). The major carnival of the year, it is unusual for being held on a date that is not determined by astronomy, astrology or the accidents of history as most such events are in literate cultures. It takes place whenever the cherry trees are good and ready. Enjoyed in the flesh, the blossom-viewing, or hanami, is also of the mind, so much so, in fact, that poetry is often credited with the spread of the practice over the centuries from the Imperial courts to the maids of Edo. Nobles enjoyed link-verse contests presided over by famous poet-judges. Hermits hung poems feting this flower of flowers (to say the generic "flower" = hana in Japanese connotes "cherry!") on strips of paper from the branches of lone trees where only the wind would read them. In the Occident, too, flowers embody beauty and serve as reminders of mortality, but there is no flower that, like the cherry blossom, stands for all flowers. Even the rose, by any name, cannot compare with the sakura in depth and breadth of poetic trope or viewing practice. In Cherry Blossom Epiphany, Robin D. Gill hopes to help readers experience, metaphysically, some of this alternative world. Haiku is a hyper-short (17-syllabet or 7-beat) Japanese poem directly or indirectly touching upon seasonal phenomena, natural or cultural. Literally millions of these ku have been written, some, perhaps, many times, about the flowering cherry (sakura), and the human activity associated with it, blossom-viewing (hanami). As the most popular theme in traditional haiku (haikai), cherry-blossom ku tend to be overlooked by modern critics more interested in creativity expressed with fresh subjects; but this embarrassment of riches has much to offer the poet who is pushed to come up with something, anything, different from the rest and allows the editor to select from what is, for all practical purposes, an infinite number of ku. Literary critics, take note: Like Rise, Ye Sea Slugs! (2003) and Fly-ku! (2004), this book not only explores new ways to anthologize poetry but demonstrates the practice of multiple readings (an average of two per ku) as part of a composite translation turned into an object of art by innovative clustering. Book-collectors might further note that while Cherry Blossom Epiphany may not be hardback, it takes advantage of the many symbols included with Japanese font to introduce design ornamentation (the circle within the circle, the reverse (Buddhist) swastika, etc.) hitherto not found in English language print. It is a one-of-a-kind work of design by the author.