The Great North, Quebec, 1934. Joe Vega, the Beast, has been locked up in Linhart Prison for three years. The brutish guards harass him because of his size, but Joe remains cool. Until Christophe Dubois, the disowned son of an affluent politician, is led into Joe's cell. From the moment Joe sees him, he suspects the ginger-head is trouble. Christophe is bold, curious, and feisty, and Joe can't resist the temptation of climbing into the man's bunk for long. However, the beautiful spoiled Christophe is a furnace to which both guards and convicts want to warm their hands, and Joe must fight to keep Christophe safe. Linhart Prison may be a cruel place, but when the two men are released from its walls, they find an even tougher world out there. Is the flame burning between Joe and Chris enough to keep them together?

Easily pleased, Micah enjoys a career in non-profit work and gets through his days one lame joke at a time. Then his friend Lou introduces him to her musical family and the Knights pull Micah into their world of resilience and sorrow. Soon, Micah understands that in the face of grief, optimism isn't always enough. Lei was once revered for his tremendous talent. But one day the music died, and the scars under his leather bracelets are a reminder of what he lost. These days, he's nothing but a phantom. Shut away from the world, Lei tunes instruments in the Knights' music store. Then charismatic Micah enters his life, charming his family and slowly coaxing his way into Lei's heart with steadfast devotion. With Micah at his side, it may yet be possible for Lei to reclaim the spotlight he'd thought permanently abandoned.

The Great North, Quebec, 1934. Joe Vega, the Beast, has been locked up in Linhart Prison for three years. The brutish guards harass him because of his size, but Joe remains cool. Until Christophe Dubois, the disowned son of an affluent politician, is led into Joe's cell. From the moment Joe sees him, he suspects the ginger-head is trouble. Christophe is bold, curious, and feisty, and Joe can't resist the temptation of climbing into the man's bunk for long. However, the beautiful spoiled Christophe is a furnace to which both guards and convicts want to warm their hands, and Joe must fight to keep Christophe safe. Linhart Prison may be a cruel place, but when the two men are released from its walls, they find an even tougher world out there. Is the flame burning between Joe and Chris enough to keep them together?

While death waits patiently, the poet waits patiently also, getting the most out of the last light. This book celebrates life while acknowledging death, grief, and widowhood. The theme is light, whether thrown across a landscape or used as a metaphor for transcendence.

The spectacularly dramatic memoir of a woman whose curiosity about the world led her from rural Canada to imperiled and dangerous countries on every continent, and then into fifteen months of harrowing captivity in Somalia—a story of courage, resilience, and extraordinary grace. The dramatic and redemptive memoir of a woman whose curiosity led her to the world’s most beautiful and remote places, its most imperiled and perilous countries, and then into fifteen months of harrowing captivity—an exquisitely written story of courage, resilience, and grace As a child, Amanda Lindhout escaped a violent household by paging through issues of National Geographic and imagining herself in its exotic locales. At the age of nineteen, working as a cocktail waitress in Calgary, Alberta, she began saving her tips so she could travel the globe. Aspiring to understand the world and live a significant life, she backpacked through Latin America, Laos, Bangladesh, and India, and emboldened by each adventure, went on to Sudan, Syria, and Pakistan. In war-ridden Afghanistan and Iraq she carved out a fledgling career as a television reporter. And then, in August 2008, she traveled to Somalia—“the most dangerous place on earth.” On her fourth day, she was abducted by a group of masked men along a dusty road. Held hostage for 460 days, Amanda converts to Islam as a survival tactic, receives “wife lessons” from one of her captors, and risks a daring escape. Moved between a series of abandoned houses in the desert, she survives on memory—every lush detail of the world she experienced in her life before captivity—and on strategy, fortitude, and hope. When she is most desperate, she visits a house in the sky, high above the woman kept in chains, in the dark, being tortured. Vivid and suspenseful, as artfully written as the finest novel, A House in the Sky is the searingly intimate story of an intrepid young woman and her search for compassion in the face of unimaginable adversity.

A year has passed since Derek's motorcycle accident, but he still battles with brain injury symptoms. Forced to take a sick leave from work, Derek picks up painting to occupy his time. Through his art, he begins to rediscover his imagination and turns to his journal again. Meanwhile, a new business venture is on the horizon for Nick and he can't postpone his trip to Norway any longer. Concerned for Derek's safety, Nick convinces Derek that he needs someone to watch over him while he's away. Myles has just returned from Japan, where he spent time mending his heart after another disappointment. He's longing for a break, so when Nick and Derek reach out to him, he can't refuse. Each man wants what's best for Derek, but soon, Nick and Myles discover that they're not rivals, because what's there between them is echoed in Derek's heart. Can all three men let go of their fear and allow this new love to unfold?

In the mid-1870s, the experimental therapy of lamb blood transfusion spread like an epidemic across Europe and the USA. Doctors tried it as a cure for tuberculosis, pellagra and anemia; proposed it as a means to reanimate seemingly dead soldiers on the battlefield. It was a contested therapy because it meant crossing boundaries and challenging taboos. Was the transfusion of lamb blood into desperately sick humans really defensible? The book takes the reader on a journey into hospital wards and lunatic asylums, physiological laboratories and 19th century wars. It presents a fascinating story of medical knowledge, ambitions and concerns - a story that provides lessons for current debates on the morality of medical experimentation and care.