When Brian moves to the small town of Hollyville, his expectations of the place are limited at best. There is nothing to do and all of the townsfolk seem to be hostile. However, when he meets Kyle, a waiter at a local hangout, he falls instantly in love with him. As Brian attempts to get closer to him, bizarre things, some of them downright evil, begin to happen to him, and he comes to realize that not everything is as it appears to be. Follow Brian as he journeys through a world of crime, slavery, abuse, and murder. Will he be able to break through Kyle's defenses and save the day, or will he wind up on the wrong end of a madman's gun?

Invites little fingers to dive into a box of raisins as they help decorate everything from cookies to ladybugs to snowmen.

A young grape and his grandfather, a wrinkly raisin, enjoy spending time together telling jokes and going to the park.

A funny and informative book about how grapes become raisins and their many uses.

Over 80 years of UC research plus industry and grower experience and innovation are brought together in this production manual. Covers all aspects of the California system of raisin production from vineyard planting and development, pest management, cultural practices, harvesting, drying, handling, and economic considerations, to inspection and marketing. Chapters on grapevine physiology, growth and development, fruitfulness, fruit ripening and drying, characteristics, and raisin quality factors reveal the latest in technology and best practices. This 280 page manual is illustrated with 86 color and black and white photographs, 44 tables, and 72 graphs and line drawings. A detailed appendix outlines resources and organizations in the California raisin industry.

The Vicious Vet continues the tradition in M. C. Beaton's beloved Agatha Raisin cozy mystery series—now a hit show on Acorn TV and public television. A PURR-FECT CRIME IN THE COTSWOLDS Former London PR agent, Agatha Raisin still hasn't adjusted to village life where the only prospect for a hot evening out is a meeting of the Ladies Society. And since her overtures toward James Lacey—the retired military man next door—have failed, Agatha jumps at the chance to visit the new vet, who's single and good-looking. Although Agatha's tabby hasn't a thing wrong with him, Hodge endures having a thermometer shoved up his bum in the name of romance. Unfortunately his sacrifice is all for naught when the vet is soon found dead next to a high-strung horse. The police call the vet's demise a freak accident, but Agatha convinces the hard-to-get James Lacey, who's also bored in the Cotswolds, that playing amateur detective might be fun. Unfortunately, just like curiosity killed the cat, Agatha's inept snooping is soon a motivation for murder...

From dreams of soccer glory to the realities of the minor leagues, the high-stakes world of English football comes to life in this vivid coming-of-age novel for fans of Nick Hornby and The Art of Fielding. After his unceremonious release from a Premier League academy at nineteen, Tom feels his bright future slipping away. The only contract offer he receives is from a lower-level club. Away from home for the first time, Tom struggles on and off the field, anxious to avoid the cruel pranks and hazing rituals of his teammates. Then a taboo encounter upends what little stability he has, forcing Tom to reconcile his suppressed desires with his drive to succeed. Meanwhile, the team’s popular captain, Chris, is in denial about the state of his marriage. His wife, Leah, has almost forgotten the dreams she once held for her career. As her husband is transferred from club to club, and raising their first child practically on her own, she is lost, disillusioned with where life has taken her. A Natural delves into the heart of a professional soccer club: the pressure, the loneliness, the threat of scandal, the fragility of the body, and the struggle of conforming to the person everybody else expects you to be. Praise for A Natural “This is a bold novel. [Raisin has a] deep and unwavering empathy for others, and an ability to find flashes of beauty in life’s unforgiving ugliness. His language might be spare, but his turn of phrase is strikingly elegant. . . . The way is lit by his keen perceptions; the novel suggests the frustrations that arise when lived experience fails to align with what was imagined, and analyzes the gap between spectatorship and participation. . . . If Raisin has chosen to focus on that which stifles rather than frees us, he has done so to demonstrate precisely why we need all the things that society and circumstance suppress. . . . The confidence and skill with which he pursues his vision is not just persuasive, it’s powerful.”—The New York Times Book Review “Raisin’s transporting and acutely observed novel speaks to us all. First-rate.”—Booklist (starred review) “An intimate picture of life in the lower reaches of professional British football . . . a bold theme . . . is rendered with restraint and sympathy. . . . [A Natural] is a sensitive treatment of very different kinds of solitude and pain.”—Kirkus Reviews