The secrets hidden within the Sugar Skull have the power to protect… or destroy. 17-year-old Ricky Luna is trapped in a home that feels more like a prison than a refuge. Each night, he dreams of escaping, of finishing school, and skipping town with the girl he loves. But each morning brings him crashing back to reality. Life seems hopeless – until a mysterious midnight visitor arrives and opens Ricky’s eyes to the magic surrounding his world, leaving him with only a warning of dark things to come. Days later, Ricky comes into possession of an enchanted sugar skull. Desperate for change, he opens himself to the dark powers lurking inside the sugar skull. Objects begin to move, untouched. Bad luck follows Ricky wherever he goes. And a mysterious death divides his family. As the evil inside the sugar skull grows, it threatens to consume everything. Ricky must uncover the truth behind the sugar skull’s power before it destroys everything he cares about. The Sugar Skull is the first book in Manuel Ruiz’s The Sugar Skull series.

"Whether it's the Magician shooting the sugar skull bullseye each time, the High Priestess seeing her reflection in the water (thus revealing her inner truth in the form of a sugar skull), or the Fool feeling confident that he will create and manifest the perfect sugar skull by the time he finishes his journey, we all have an unrealized version of our true potential lying in wait. Let the light-hearted illustrations and color palettes of The Sugar Skull Tarot Deck offer you all the inspiration you need to be the best person you can truly be. So when you are finally reflecting on the outside how you've been feeling on the inside, you will be presented to the world as you've always seen yourself-confident, magical, and ready to give and receive love"--

From the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, and Willa-nominated author Denise Hamilton comes SUGAR SKULL Acclaimed by award committees and critics for her groundbreaking The Jasmine Trade, Denise Hamilton returns with a penetrating new Eve Diamond crime novel sure to confirm her reputation as a rising star. Los Angeles Times reporter Eve Diamond usually works out of the paper's San Gabriel Valley bureau, but she's taking a weekend shift downtown when a distraught Vincent Chevalier breaks through security and demands her help. His fifteen-year-old daughter, Isabel, is missing, and the cops won't go looking for her until forty-eight hours have passed. The man thinks he knows where she might be -- with some runaways in a dismal squat in East Hollywood. He wants Eve as his witness when he enters the squat and tries to bring Isabel home. Eve senses a possible story: Why would a privileged young girl from Pasadena spend time with the down-and-outs in East Hollywood? But there will be no interview with Isabel. Isabel is dead, her body wrapped in a dirty futon and abandoned in a derelict basement. Eve's questions have only begun. What brought the blond-haired teenager to such a tragic, early demise? Did a man named Finch, who's had past arrests for drugs, burglary, and theft, have something to do with Isabel's murder? What about her father? There's something unsettling about him. And what was Isabel's relationship with Paolo Langdon, her schoolmate and the son of a socialite hostess and a prominent politician? Even as Eve must fight against powerful forces that want her off the story, she finds herself emotionally drawn to the brooding scion of a Mexican music-promotion titan. It's dangerous to mix professional with personal, but Silvio Aguilar is hard to resist. And in his world, in the little sugar skull confections that commemorate the Mexican Day of the Dead, Eve may find some clue to a killer. Written with the authenticity and bold strokes that Denise Hamilton has made her own, Sugar Skull is much more than a triumphant crime novel -- it's a dazzling portrait of a city full of diversity. Rich with nuance and insight, this is compelling, illuminating crime writing at its best.

He comes to her more dead than alive, a towering black-clad stranger riddled with bullets and rapidly losing blood. As she struggles to save him, veterinarian Tess Culver is unaware that the man calling himself Dante is no man at all, but one of the Breed, vampire warriors engaged in a desperate battle. In a single erotically charged moment Tess is plunged into his world—a shifting, shadowed place where bands of Rogue vampires stalk the night, cutting a swath of terror. Haunted by visions of a dark future, Dante lives and fights like there is no tomorrow. Tess is a complication he does not need—but now, with his brethren under attack, he must shield Tess from a growing threat that includes Dante himself. For with one reckless, irresistible kiss, she has become an inextricable part of his underworld realm…and his touch awakens her to hidden gifts, desires, and hungers she never knew she possessed. Bonded by blood, Dante and Tess must work together to thwart deadly enemies, even as they discover a passion that transcends the boundaries of life itself….

From shimmering specters to mysterious tricks, Varla Ventura's Paranormal Parlor includes original supernatural tales, classic ghost stories, legends, hauntings, séances, superstitions, and death customs. This book showcases a chilling collection of startling ghost stories as told to the author as well as legendary ghosts and haunted locations and an overview of the paranormal parlor games that rose to popularity in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. It also includes hidden history such as the story of Mark Twain's ghost, and the quiet horror writings of the architect who started the Gothic Revival movement (Ralph Adams Cram).

In Italy in 1491, Mangus the magician and his apprentice are summoned to the castle of Duke Claudio to determine if his daughter is indeed being haunted by a ghost.

How to Decorate the Most Stylish Cakes in the World Don’t just bake a cake; bake a cake that will make heads turn and jaws drop! In this incredible collection of tutorials, cake queen and Instagram star Sheri Wilson shows you how to re-create her signature, out-of this-world cake designs at home with confidence. Sheri’s cakes are truly works of art, and these 30 tutorials cover everything from electric neon designs, to punky midnight black decor, to cakes adorned with exotic gems and painted in delicate florals. And with each decorating project broken down step by step, along with photographs for a helpful visual guide, you’ll follow along with ease and get showstopping results time and time again. Use vibrant buttercreams to paint an elegant stained-glass scene in the La Vie en Rose cake. Pipe cute, fruity designs in the hot pink Strawberry Patch cake—complete with yummy strawberry filling and cake layers! Sheri’s famous Midnight Black Buttercream comes together with genius sprinkle art to create the edgy Sprinkle Sugar Skull cake. Use stencils to form the animal print on the rainbow Neon Leopard Print cake, and fun chocolate molds to build the rocky, gold-tinted Rose Quartz Geode cake, filled with delectable Pistachio Buttercream! Sheri shares all her best tips and tricks to help you master key techniques, like how to get the perfect consistency of buttercream, create a professional smooth finish and nail the ganache drip. She also reveals her tested-and-perfected recipes for moist cakes, fluffy frostings and all sorts of delicious fillings, so you have everything you need right at your fingertips. With Sheri’s unstoppable imagination and keen eye for detail, Caketopia will be your all-in-one resource for decorating glamorous cakes for years to come.