"Princess Breena had been dreaming of her warrior lover when she was ripped from her Elden castle and thrown into a strange, dangerous realm. Lost and alone, she prayed for survival and vengeance for her stolen kingdom. She found both in a woodland cottage ... in a dark bear of a man. The golden-haired beauty had eaten his food and slept in his bed when Osborn found her. Though he wanted to awaken his virgin princess to carnal pleasures, Breena wanted more-including his warrior skills. Skills the once-legendary mercenary had long buried. Now Osborn had a choice-risk his life or deny his princess her fairy-tale ending"-- Cover verso.

In this "relentlessly gripping, brilliant" epic fantasy (James Islington), an ousted queen must join forces with a young warrior in order to reclaim her throne and save her people. Tau and his Queen, desperate to delay the impending attack on the capital by the indigenous people of Xidda, craft a dangerous plan. If Tau succeeds, the Queen will have the time she needs to assemble her forces and launch an all out assault on her own capital city, where her sister is being propped up as the 'true' Queen of the Omehi. If the city can be taken, if Tsiora can reclaim her throne, and if she can reunite her people then the Omehi have a chance to survive the onslaught. "This gritty series set in a South African–inspired fantasy world is an intense reading experience, and the second book is just as phenomenal as the first."—BuzzFeed News "The Fires of Vengeance is epic fantasy at its finest."—Winter Is Coming The Books of The Burning Series The Rage of Dragons The Fires of Vengeance The Lord of Demons

How can the church move forward in unity amid such political strife and cultural contention? As Christians, we’ve felt pushed to the outskirts of national public life, yet even within our congregations we are divided about how to respond. Some want to strengthen the evangelical voting bloc. Others focus on social justice causes, and still others would abandon the public square altogether. What do we do when brothers and sisters in Christ sit next to each other in the pews but feel divided and angry? Is there a way forward? In How the Nations Rage, political theology scholar and pastor Jonathan Leeman challenges Christians from across the spectrum to hit the restart button by shifting our focus from redeeming the nation to living as a nation already redeemed rejecting the false allure of building heaven on earth while living faithfully as citizens of a heavenly kingdom letting Jesus’ teaching shape our public engagement as we love our neighbors and seek justice When we identify with Christ more than a political party or social grouping, we can return to the church’s unchanging political task: to become the salt and light Jesus calls us to be and offer the hope of his kingdom to the nations.

After the death of his half brother, Stefan, at the hands of Vlad Tsepesh--also known as Dracula--and after the destruction of his vampire father, Arkady, also at the hands of Vlad, Abraham van Helsing has traveled the world slaying many vampires. With every vampire he destroys, Bram becomes stronger and Vlad weaker, and soon Bram hopes he will be able to finally kill the fearsome vampire who has kept the Tsepesh family enslaved through a centuries-old blood ritual. But a desperate Vlad and his vampire great-niece, Zsuzanna, summon help from the most powerful, brutal, and beautiful vampire of all--Countess Elizabeth of Bathory. Bram learns of their plot to destroy him, and makes his own move to strike out at Vlad before Vlad can put him to death. He teams up with a courageous band of humans as he hunts Vlad--including Mina Harker and John Seward--and they finally succeed in killing the head of the Tsepesh clan, just as Bram Stoker foretold in Dracula. But the terror does not end with the death of Vlad, for there is another force that drives Vlad, Zsuzanna, Elizabeth and all the vampires, an ancient entity more evil than anything Bram has ever encountered: the Lord of the Vampires. And for Bram to defeat this dark lord, he must once again risk losing his very soul, to save not only his family, but humanity as well. In her final book in The Diaries of the Family Dracul trilogy, Jeanne Kalogridis brilliantly melds her own fascinating story of the Tsepesh family with that of Bram Stoker's classic, Dracula. Told in diary form like the first two books and Stoker's own chilling tale, LORD OF THE VAMPIRES reveals the dark, startling truths behind the original Dracula.

Originally published as Lord of Rage. Part 4 of 12 in the Royal House of Shadows serialization. All 12 parts were previously published as full books:• Lord of the Vampires by Gena Showalter (Parts 1—3 of Royal House of Shadows) • Lord of Rage by Jill Monroe (Parts 4—6 of Royal House of Shadows) • Lord of the Wolfyn by Jessica Andersen (Parts 7—9 of Royal House of Shadows) • Lord of the Abyss by Nalini Singh (Parts 10—12 of Royal House of Shadows) Princess of Dreams Princess Breena knew her purpose in life. She would marry aman of her father's choosing—even if that man would surely be nothing like the brashwarrior who invades her sleep. But after the Blood Sorcerer's attack on Elden, she isexiled alone and to a wild land. Osborn, a one-time mercenary, is among the last of theberserker tribe. When he finds a golden-haired beauty asleep in the cottage he shares withhis two young brothers, he recognizes her as the girl from his dreams. But real life ismore complicated than fantasy, especially when creatures reeking of blood magicattack… This installment is approximately 19K words The story continues in Royal House of Shadows: Part 5 of 12

Originally published as Lord of Rage. Part 5 of 12 in the Royal House of Shadows serialization. All 12 parts were previously published as full books:• Lord of the Vampires by Gena Showalter (Parts 1—3 of Royal House of Shadows) • Lord of Rage by Jill Monroe (Parts 4—6 of Royal House of Shadows) • Lord of the Wolfyn by Jessica Andersen (Parts 7—9 of Royal House of Shadows) • Lord of the Abyss by Nalini Singh (Parts 10—12 of Royal House of Shadows) Desire and vengeance Breena is certain that her magic brought her to Osborn, butOsborn doesn't seem to be the man she knows from her dreams. That warrior would never sendher off alone and unprotected. When she asks Osborn to teach her to fight for herself andavenge her family, the innocent princess has no idea the kind of payment a berserker mightdemand. And even if she trusts him with her body, can she trust him with her heart? This installment is approximately 20K words The story continues in Royal House of Shadows: Part 6 of 12

The Square Persimmon and Other Stories is an introduction to Takashi Atoda—one of Japan's most popular and versatile writers of fiction. Takashi Atocia is a master storyteller. Like the bar madam in "The Glow of Lipstick," he is capable of weaving a tale that captures the reader's attention from beginning to end. His plots deal with ordinary people, yet the emotional impact of each story is unusually strong. His down-to-earth characters inhabit a world that may at first appear familiar, but Atoda can so manipulate a scene that suddenly the reader is wondering whether it is reality or illusion that he is observing. Many stories feature bizarre endings. In these eleven stories, Atoda examines universal themes-first love, lost love, change, fate-through unmistakably Japanese eyes. The dreamlike quality of some stories invites the reader to draw his own conclusions in the denouement. Yet, in each one, Atoda brings to bear his precise style and his own unique vision, by turns mysterious, romantic, darkly humorous, and even bizarre.