Everyone Lies. PRAGUE, 1870. For the last ten years, nineteen-year-old Eleanora Svobodová has worked as a servant in her stepmother's household. Along with her older brother, she dreams of the day they will be free to live life on their own terms. But everything changes when their estranged grandmother comes to Prague on behalf of Queen Victoria. Throughout Bohemia, a string of murders and secret whispers hint at a larger coup. As the leader of the Order of the Crystal Daggers, an ancient order of spies and soldiers that protect kingdoms and their rulers, Lady Penelope is determined to discover the perpetrators. Now, Eleanora must make the choice between a life of intrigue and saving the lives of others. Can Eleanora find a way do the right thing and still find freedom? FROM THE BOOK: “I want to be free.” The words came rushing out of me before I could think through their implications and consequences. “There are two things you need to know about yourself if you want to be free—what you stand for, and what you stand against.” Lady Penelope held up her hands, brandishing a pair of daggers that had been hidden in her skirts. “This world lives enslaved to its destruction, and so long as you are living, as long as you are fighting, you will be free.” I gazed at the daggers, transfixed. Each blade was clothed in a leather scabbard, but the silver and obsidian of the daggers’ hilts winked at me, as though it was calling for me. FROM THE AUTHOR: With a fun blend of historical fiction, true love, castle intrigue, and family dysfunction, The Order of the Crystal Daggers is my latest adventure series! WHAT REVIEWERS ARE SAYING: 5 STARS! ~ Reader's Favorite This story was fantastic! Definitely one of my favorite reads of this year! ~ Laura A. Grace, Unicorn Quester Book Review

The seventh book of the Aṅguttara Nikāya, the Collection of the Numbered Discourses of the Buddha, collects 1124 suttas or discourses whose subject matter is centered on groups of seven topics. This book contains suttas to be read, long suttas with expositions, some of them interesting. This book is devoid of false suttas. The rulers' thread resurfaces two versions, the traditional one in which they are compared to bandits, fires and floods, as in AN 7.7 With Ugga, and a more disturbing variation: in AN 7.53 Mother of Nanda, the rulers appear as kidnappers and murderers of her son. In the section of featured suttas, this time we find more. Of particular note is AN 7.19: Nibbāna. Here the different final ways of becoming extinct are explained. AN 7.24 which denounces the work of the bhikkhus as the first cause of decline. AN 7.44 which explains the different planes of consciousness. The above AN 7.53, where a laywoman reaches the final achievement. AN 7.66 The Seven Suns, an interesting planetary cosmogony. AN 7.92 A Worthy One, in which any kind of rite or ceremony is qualified as an erroneous belief, as being able to deliver from Samsara.

Normallen is a prestigiously storied kingdom home to stalwart warriors and perfumed lords. After coming under attack by the newly formed Emerald Empire, the beloved King Erodil dispatches his armies to defend his kingdom against the hordes of Emperor Galodious. Among those sent to vanquish the conquest, are Prince Baron, a fierce young man passionate to prove himself as a warrior, and Prince Alphere, a timid boy who has spent most of his days reading and daydreaming of heroic tales. Both Princes' lives begin to change forever, as they become embroiled in a legendary conflict that threatens to shake Normallen to its very core.