Based on a true story that stunned the world, M. Butterfly opens in the cramped prison cell where diplomat Rene Gallimard is being held captive by the French government—and by his own illusions. In the darkness of his cell he recalls a time when desire seemed to give him wings. A time when Song Liling, the beautiful Chinese diva, touched him with a love as vivid, as seductive—and as elusive—as a butterfly.How could he have known, then, that his ideal woman was, in fact, a spy for the Chinese government—and a man disguised as a woman? In a series of flashbacks, the diplomat relives the twenty-year affair from the temptation to the seduction, from its consummation to the scandal that ultimately consumed them both. But in the end, there remains only one truth: Whether or not Gallimard's passion was a flight of fancy, it sparked the most vigorous emotions of his life.Only in real life could love become so unreal. And only in such a dramatic tour de...

The Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter backlist takes flight with a whole new look. In her ninth adventure, vampire hunter Anita Blake owes a favor to a friend-a man almost as dangerous as the ancient evil she's about to face. #1 New York Times bestselling author Laurell K. Hamilton offers a sexy, suspenseful novel of human—and inhuman—passions, as vampire hunter Anita Blake must repay a favor to a man almost as dangerous as the ancient evil she's about to face...Edward is a hit man, specializing in monsters, vampires, shapeshifters, anything and everything. There are people like Anita who do it legal, but Edward doesn't sweat the legalities, or, hell, the ethics. He's an equal opportunity killer. Anita may be one of the few friends that Edward has, but it’s like being friends with a tame leopard. It may curl up on the foot of your bed and let you pet its head, but it can still eat your throat out...

All she wanted was to be someone's little girl... Fate made her a lonely orphan, yearning for the embrace of a real family and a loving home. But a golden chance at a new life may not be enough to escape the dark secrets of her past...

‘Locked-in syndrome: paralysed from head to toe, the patient, his mind intact, is imprisoned inside his own body, unable to speak or move. In my case, blinking my left eyelid is my only means of communication.’ In December 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby, editor-in-chief of French ‘Elle’ and the father of two young children, suffered a massive stroke and found himself paralysed and speechless, but entirely conscious, trapped by what doctors call ‘locked-in syndrome’. Using his only functioning muscle – his left eyelid – he began dictating this remarkable story, painstakingly spelling it out letter by letter. His book offers a haunting, harrowing look inside the cruel prison of locked-in syndrome, but it is also a triumph of the human spirit.

Imprisoned, starved and left with no memories, Thalia awakens to find herself at the mercy of an evil cult known as the Septori. Their leader has chosen Thalia as the test subject for a torture device of untold power, designed to change and twist her into something that is neither human nor Denai. Escaping, Thalia finds an unwilling warrior to protect her and an unlikely Denai to befriend her. After finding a home at the Citadel as a servant, Thalia’s worst nightmare comes to life and she begins to show signs of power. Scared and unable to control her gifts, she tries to hide her past to fit in among the Denai. But the Septori want their latest test subject back and will stop at nothing to retrieve her, dead or alive.

It is Hollywood 1938. A great star is planning a stunning comeback, while another is bent on self-destruction. And, as dark clouds hang ominously over Europe, hordes of Monarch butterflies swarm beautifully but menacingly over Hollywood. Against a colourful backdrop of butterflies and beaches, Timothy Findley skillfully phases reality into nightmare, exploring mothers' relationships to sons, women's relationships to men, beauty's relationship to evil. Blending biting humour with brilliant perceptions of the levels of despair, The Butterfly Plague presents the movie world in all its splendour and decay.

Young love has tragic, violent consequences in this “grippingly readable” thriller from the #1 bestselling author of * La Belle Sauvage* (Times Educational Supplement).** Chris Marshall met the girl he was going to kill on a warm night in early June . . . Working at an Oxford ball, Chris falls in love with Jenny the moment he sets eyes on her. When beautiful, secretive Jenny rushes headlong into his life, it seems fate has brought them together. But fate will also drive them mercilessly apart, as enemies hidden in the shadows send the innocent affair spiraling down a dark road of danger, revenge, and betrayal. Chris is about to discover that his ideals of honesty and trust are more complicated than he thought. With Northern Lights and its sequels, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, Carnegie Medal–winning author Philip Pullman established himself as a multimillion-copy bestselling phenomenon whose work speaks deeply to all ages. This contemporary novel, first published as The White Mercedes, tells the suspenseful story of a teenage romance with profound moral implications.

A princess all alone. The king and queen gone. Does her only hope lie with a butterfly? Join Jazmyn on The Butterfly Quest.A young princess finds herself all alone. Her mother and father missing and relatives she hardly knows trying to help her rule the kingdom, but does something more sinister lie behind it all.Can Jazmyn trust the butterfly that calls to her in the gardens?Will she survive the dangers of The Butterfly Quest and save the kingdom....and more?The adventure begins.The first book in a trilogy, The Butterfly Quest.

Life is always hard for the gypsies, who live to their own rhythm and their own rules, but since Oliver Cromwell had seized control of England, life had been harder – and drabber – than ever. But now life for the Finch tribe has gone even more horribly wrong. They have been accused of vagrancy and murder, and thrown into gaol with only three weeks to live. The only members of the family to escape are 13-year-old Emilia and her cousin Luka. They have been entrusted to find the six charms and bring them together again. Then, perhaps, the gypsies could once again have some luck... And the Finch tribe could walk free. What Emilia and Luka do not realise is that there is a price to be paid for each lucky charm, and that the cost may prove too high... 28th August – 3rd September, 1658: Luka and Emilia travel to London to find the last of the Graylings tribe, who has married a Puritan lawyer and turned her back on her past. As well as all the perils of the capital city, the children must escape the vengeful Coldham, and still get to Kingston-Upon-Thames in time to rescue their families. But then, on the anniversary of his greatest victory, the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell is mysteriously stricken down... Will everything change? And can the children save their family in time? The thrilling conclusion to the Chain of Charms series.

It’s about a woman who thinks a butterfly she finds on her dead husband’s pillow is him reincarnated. The love scene will knock your socks off.Mother paused, drew the butterfly to her lips and whispered some secret before continuing her story.“It was but a month ago,” she recollected. “I wakened to discover your father resting on the side of our bed reserved to him throughout our marriage. To be sure, I was uncertain of his identity at first, but the butterfly’s urgency, crawling up my arm and neck to nibble on my earlobe—precisely as your father so entertained me years before—well, then, what more proof could he provide of his spirit restored to me?”__from "The Butterfly"

A spellbinding, timeless and beautifully told adventure about two sisters and their journey to find each other again. Sisters Tansy and Belle are the stars of the grand finale of a circus show; a dazzling and perfectly timed trapeze act where they soar through the air like shimmering butterflies. One night, desperate to impress her older sister, Tansy attempts a spectacular jump and falls. Now terrified of heights, all Tansy can do is watch from below while Belle shines above. But when Belle mysteriously vanishes and Tansy's shadow miraculously comes to life, Tansy discovers that the courage she needs to rescue her sister may have been inside her all along.

Emily Coates was a free spirit and daddy's little girl. She loved romance and daydreamed about a love she had yet to discover. However, her emulation of Jane Austen was the center of her problems with men. After her father sets her up with one failed suitor after another, all local and successful men who would ensure his daughter would want from nothing.  Admiral Carlton Coates, forces his daughter to be dependent and centered. To ensure she'd never be lonely like her mother, he established a 'no sailor rule' for ALL potential suitors.However, overtime, he is clearly starting to run out of options and strikes that rule. He arranges for her to marry... a sailor, this time and one who appears successful in black and white. Albeit, this man has secrets that he must keep at bay in order to gain not only Emily's trust and her heart...but to regain what he had lost so long ago...with the notion that only her father's fortune would have him set for the rest of his life.Yet, in the scheme of things, there is another who has admired her from afar and would go to great lengths to protect her from all things seemingly dangerous.Will Emily accept the new suitor into her heart so easily or will she learn in time his schemes? Or will the other admirer prevail in taking her heart? Who will Emily Coates fall, completely, perfectly and incandescently in love with? 

Elliot Cross is the Butterfly Killer. He targets anyone with dreams and aspirations. In this short story we are introduced to his cunning ways. He stops at nothing to gain his victim's confidence. If you have a dream,he's ready to make sure you don't live to achieve it. It doesn't matter how simple or elaborate. As you see in this introductory short subtitled The Driving Lesson, the dream can be as simple as a teen boy anticipating passing his driver's test. It can be as large and complex as a Mother about to give birth to a baby after many failed attempts. Whatever your hope or ambition, Elliot waits until you're at the threshold and snuffs the dream. He invokes God as the justification for his crime. In his mind, he says he is doing the work of the Lord. God is jealous because the victims care more about their aspirations than they care about him. God is using him enforce his first commandment: "Thou shall have no other Gods before me" to show his power and how little he cares about people's "foolish follies." Included is an excerpt from a scene further into the novel. For now relax and enjoy this free short if you can indeed relax. Excerpt Timmy thought it was odd that Carrie’s Father didn’t want anyone to know about the Sunday driving lesson. He churned it over and over in his head, Mister. Cross’s reasoning for the secrecy. “Your friends will be as mad as wet hens if they fail to pass and they find out you passed because you had an extra lesson. I can just hear my Carrie, ‘But Dad, you gave Timmy private lessons, but not your own Daughter?’ Whoo! That gal can be jealous. But you know her. You and her are tight like a drum aren’t you?” That explanation sounded reasonable to Timmy. Kids at South High tended to act like crabs in a barrel. If half of Mister Smith’s Trig Class was failing, they all had to fail. Shining stars weren’t tolerated. And Mister Cross was right about his daughter Carrie. Most kids shied away from Carrie, partly because of him and his crazy love for chasing butterflies all over the neighborhood. But she also had a jealous streak that was about as green as her hair. Girls didn’t stay friends with her very long. Even other lesbian girls fell victim to her rants and arm twisting because she had caught them talking to boys or other girls. But Mr. Cross had put his hand on his shoulder in a most fatherly way. Or was that creepy, Timmy wondered? The hand lingered a moment longer than it should and squeezed harder than it should have, as if it was a massage.

Innocent by day, killer by night: a dark, twisting thriller about a teen assassin's attempt to live a normal life.'An electrifying debut!' Chelsea Pitcher, author of This Lie Will Kill YouTrained and traumatised by a secret assassin programme for minors, Isabel Ryans wants nothing more than to be a normal civilian. After running away from home, she has a new name, a new life and a new friend, Emma, and for the first time, things are looking up.But old habits die hard, and it's not long until she blows her cover, drawing the attention of the guilds – the two rival organisations who control the city of Espera. An unaffiliated killer like Isabel is either a potential asset . . . or a threat to be eliminated.Will the blood on her hands cost her everything?From Finn Longman, an exhilarating new voice in YA fiction, comes an addictive new blockbuster series for fans of global phenomena The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,...

Frederica Burghley wants to be married by Yuletide. Or else her father will set her up with one of his friends. The bonbon-loving illegitimate daughter of the duke wants to choose her own husband. Advertising in the newspaper seems like the way to go. But a sinister response, with threats against her life, leads her to enlist the help of her very handsome, dear friend Jasper Fitzwilliam, Lord Hartwell. A father and widower, Jasper is not only tasked with keeping Frederica safe but also with helping his vibrant friend choose a suitable husband. The more he tries to keep the ever-surprising woman alive and find her a good match, the more Jasper realizes he cares for her. The two friends risk their lives for each other, so they should be able to risk their feelings for a chance at a deep and true love together. But he's not looking for marriage and she's not looking for convenience.

There are some things about me you should know. 1. I always wear my butterfly shell - even when I'm swimming or sleeping 2. I don't hurt myself any more 3. I believe in ghosts. I'd better start at the beginning. The beginning of First Year. Here goes ... The story of a strange year and a very special shell.

Second in the Sigrid Harald series. Lt. Sigrid Harald investigates the death of Julie Redmond, a beautiful but cold, self-centered and demanding woman. Sigrid digs into Julie Redmond's past, untangling a web of blackmail and murder and half a million dollars' worth of stolen gems, revealing a ruthless mastermind whose cruelty has finally caught up with her.

"I was fifteen when my mother finally told me about my father. She didn't mean to. She meant to keep it a secret forever. If she'd succeeded, it might have saved us all."Roberta and Cynthia are destined to be best friends forever. When both your fathers are missing, you have a lot in common. Unable to cope with her alcoholic mother, Roberta finds Cynthia's house the perfect, carefree refuge.Cynthia's mother keeps beautiful rare butterflies on her sunporch and she's everything Roberta wishes her own mother could be. But just like the delicate creatures they nurture, the women are living in a hothouse.Years later, a hauntingly familiar stranger knocks at Roberta Dutreau's door, forcing her to begin a journey back to her childhood. But is she ready to know the truth about what happened to her, her best friend Cynthia and their mothers that tragic night ten years ago?

What if a psychopath vowed to take his revenge on your loved ones for a crime you never committed? Damian Kinnard is no angel. By his own admission, he's an asshole and only cares about money and sex. He loved once, but that ended with betrayal and promising himself one thing—never again. Until life had other ideas... When a close friend goes missing, Damian is left with no option but to rely on the man who handed him his heart. Two years have passed since they've spoken or seen each other and while the pain and angst are still there, so is the heat, the passion, and the unshakeable hunger. It only takes one look into his past lover's brown gaze before old emotions flare, and everything starts breaking down. His strength. His determination. And every rule in his book. As the truth slowly unravels behind the missing person's case, Damian fights for both the honor of his family and his engrained hunger...

Rejected by a bitter, homophobic father with high political ambitions, and a spineless unsupportive mother, Butterfly's greatest desire is to fly away. Born a male turned transgender, Butterfly is left to fend for herself on the cold, unforgiving streets. Using a few get-rich-quick money schemes, Butterfly finally begins to enjoy the glitter and romance of life. That is, until her biggest lie creates a hostile frenemy who shows no mercy on getting revenge.     Soon, Butterfly's troubled life tumbles violently out of control. By chance she runs into Atwater, the perfect man with the perfect plan to stabilize her otherwise twisted world. And with the lure of power and wealth beyond her imagination, Atwater entices Butterfly to undertake a role in his shiesty scams. Her acceptance will usher in what's sure to be a tumultuous storm that neither of them can escape. Will Butterfly consent to temptation or fly away to free herself from Atwater's devilish...

To Marie Hadner it's a regular shift in the boondock space colony of Pluto C. That's until people started to disappear and a comet decided to defy all logic.Somewhere deep in her mind Christine Marsden is witnessing the murder of young girls.And now she has urges to hurt her own children.After a head injury which left her having nightmares and visions, Christine is convinced that something inside her brain has broken, and that she is slowly sinking into insanity.She is terrified of what she might be capable of. She fears that in losing her mind she will also lose her children and husband.Christine embarks on a desperate fight to try to halt the fracture of her mind before it’s too late, and in doing so, discovers the hidden truth behind the dark horrors she is experiencing.

Butterfly is the first novel in an all new series by New York Times bestselling author Ashley Antoinette!"Run away from the boy that gives you butterflies, he's going to break your heart." Morgan Atkins had been told that phrase ever since she was a little girl and still she allowed herself to fall for the boy that made her heart flutter. After losing her first love, Morgan is terrified to love again. She's settled for a comfortable life with a respectable man. She has everything. She's living in the lap of luxury and although she's comfortable, she's bored out of her mind. When a ghost from her past blows into town, she finds herself entangled in an illicit affair. It's wrong, but she can't fight the butterflies he gives her and honestly, she doesn't want to. She can't hide the natural attraction she feels and soon, she's so deep involved that she can no longer tell where the boundary between right and wrong lies. Her heart is...

A young woman travels across the country, looking to find answers to help her understand her brother's suicide.Butterfly Kisses follows the story of a young woman handling the lose of her brother. Told through Ava's point of view and through letters from Michael, Ava travels halfway across the country to find out more about her brothers death, and the months leading up to it

Joe Hill meets Carmen Maria Machado in this spellbinding debut about a young woman trapped in a Black Hills ghost town in the dead of winterEmma is hitchhiking across the United States, trying to outrun a violent, tragic past, when she meets Lowell, the hot-but-dumb driver she hopes will take her as far as the Badlands. But Lowell is not as harmless as he seems, and a vicious scuffle leaves Emma bloody and stranded in an abandoned town in the Black Hills with an out-of-gas van, a loaded gun, and a snowstorm on the way.The town is eerily quiet and Emma takes shelter in a diner, where she stumbles across Earl, a strange little boy in a tinfoil mask who steals her gun before begging her to help him get rid of "George." As she is pulled deeper into Earl's bizarre, menacing world, the horrors of Emma's past creep closer, and she realizes she can't run forever.Tinfoil Butterfly is a seductively scary, chilling exploration of...

The Butterfly by James M. Cain was first published in 1946. It takes place among the hills and hollers of West Virginia coal country. Cain uses his favorite form of narration, the first person confessional, in relating this unusual tale of deceit, incest and murder. Jess Tyler is a church going mountain man. One day out of the blue, his estranged daughter, Kady, shows up at his cabin and starts throwing herself at him in a most undaughterly way. At least that's the way Jess tells it. Cain leaves a few hints that Jess may not be 100% accurate as a narrator. For example, he claims to be a God fearing teetotaler. Yet he quickly shows himself to be a seasoned expert when it comes to constructing and operating a commercial still.

"A heartbreaking, finger-gnawing, and yet ultimately hopeful novel by the amazing Rene Denfeld." —Margaret Atwood, via TwitterAfter captivating readers in The Child Finder, Naomi—the investigator with an uncanny ability for finding missing children—returns, trading snow-covered woods for dark, gritty streets on the search for her missing sister in a city where young, homeless girls have been going missing and turning up dead.From the highly praised author of The Child Finder and The Enchanted comes The Butterfly Girl, a riveting novel that ripples with truth, exploring the depths of love and sacrifice in the face of a past that cannot be left dead and buried. A year ago, Naomi, the investigator with an uncanny ability for finding missing children, made a promise that she would not take another case until she finds the younger sister who has been missing for years. Naomi has no picture, not even a name. All she has is a vague...

If Lord Lucan escaped his past, what was his future? On 7th November, 1974 a young English nanny named Sandra Rivett was murdered in London's West End. Her employer, Lord Lucan, was named as her attacker. It was widely assumed he had mistaken her for his wife. Lord Lucan disappeared the night Sandra Rivett died and has never been seen since. Henry Kennedy lives on a mountain on the other side of the world. He is not who he says he is. Is he a murderer or a man who can never clear his name? And is he the only one with something to hide? Set in Tasmania, Africa and London's Belgravia, The Butterfly Man is an absorbing novel about transformation and deception, and the lengths to which we will go to protect the ones we love.

A Personal and Professional Metamorphosis Story Maya Williams is an ambitious, hardworking, New York businesswoman, stymied on her way up the corporate ladder by sexist, male executives. When sent to the Hawaiian island Kaua'i to speak at a conference, she finds herself having to make a choice that may jeopardize her entire career. On Kaua'i, Maya experiences the chill island life for the first time, and as she meets the people who open her eyes to different ways of thinking and being, she begins to see life, work, love—and herself—in a whole new light. When Maya returns to the corporate world, as an executive, can she implement her new philosophies and still succeed? And will her personal and professional metamorphosis ultimately bring her the happiness and freedom she dreams of? ​Annicken R. Day is the founder and CEO of Corporate Spring, co-author of the book Creative Superpowers, a public speaker, and an executive advisor....

* "Villanueva's debut is a beautiful #ownvoices middle-grade novel. Tough topics — the brutal war on drugs in the Philippines, family reconciliation, and recovery — are addressed, but warmth and humor... bring lightness to Sab's story. This immersive novel bursts with life." — Kirkus Reviews, starred reviewWhen superstitious Sab sees a giant black butterfly, an omen of death, she knows that she's doomed! According to legend, she has one week before her fate catches up with her — on her 11th birthday. With her time running out, all she wants is to celebrate her birthday with her entire family. But her sister, Ate Nadine, stopped speaking to their father one year ago, and Sab doesn't even know why.If Sab's going to get Ate Nadine and their father to reconcile, she'll have to overcome her fears — of her sister's anger, of leaving the bubble of her sheltered community, of her upcoming doom — and figure out the cause of their rift.So Sab and her best friend...

This collection of three stories were influenced by the art of Chinese storytelling. The title comes from the ancient Taoist master - Zhuangzi, who wrote of dreaming he was a butterfly.The three tales: The Papermakers' Apprentice, Mountain and Moon, and Sunrise and the North Wind bring to life the elemental of fairy tales.My Chinese name is Bai DaozhuangThe three tales in Butterfly Dreams came about through reading numerous ancient and modern Chinese tales, including fairy tales and classic epics. Zhuangzi was a Taoist sage who once wrote, "Zhuangzi dreamed he was a butterfly happily fluttering about joyously forgetting who he was. Suddenly Zhuangzi awoke, but he did not know if he was a butterfly dreaming he was a man, or a man who dreamed he was a butterfly."I have tried to emulate the rhythm and magical realism elements of Chinese tales in this three-story collection. The first tale "The Papermaker's Apprentice" begins in the modern world and proceeds to weave the magical tale of the ancient painting master Chen Hongshou and his supernatural apprentice. The second tale "Mountain and Moon" creates a mystical bond between the moon and a mighty mountain. It is a love story of deep longing and total devotion.The third tale "Sunrise and the North Wind" unites the demure Sunrise with the bold North Wind. This tale uses magical realism to craft a enduring love story.

Lisa Kleypas says "nobody does it better" than USA Today bestselling author Elizabeth Bevarly. Find out why in this rich, emotional new novel... Once upon a time, in Manitou Hills, there was a home so radiant and vivacious it was christened with its own name: Fleurissant. Now it's in ruins, forgotten and neglected-except by a woman who sees her own life reflected in the broken windows of that house on Butterfly Way...As a child, from afar, Eugenie Dashner loved Fleurissant and the elegant, youthful fantasies it provided. Now, with a failed marriage behind her, a troubled son at her side, and a contentious and bitter mother to care for, Eugenie returns to the Louisville neighborhood of Manitou Hills to fulfill a dream: buy and renovate the house that once meant so much to her, and maybe, in the process, rebuild her own life.Day by day, as the house reveals more and more of its forgotten beauty, Eugenie sees her dream come to fruition-especially when the...

'We all have our secrets...'Renowned therapist Clarissa Virtanen is not afraid to look at the darkest side of humanity. Haunted by the death of a young patient, she will do whatever it takes to save the most vulnerable.But when Ida - angry, damaged and seemingly suicidal - walks into her office, Clarissa may have met her match. For Ida has secrets. Murderous secrets, which mark her like a bloodstain. Secrets which drive her to kill. And kill again.Somehow, Clarissa must find the key to unlock her past. So she makes a bargain with Ida - six months to try and stop her taking her own life. But what if she has entered a game more deadly, and more evil, than she could ever imagine?

Butterfly: A Novel

Interzone, #93 March 199523 • Becoming the Full Butterfly • novelette by Brian W. Aldiss

Dynamic debut of the Dave Haggard, investigative news reporter in a suspense filled thriller.Welcome to the world of investigative street reporting. Washington, D.C., power capital of the world, is also home to bums, killers, cops who bend the rules, F.B.I. agents who dole out leaks to reporters like so many dimes to the poor, and layers of lies and misinformation. Dave Haggard thought it was the worst idea he had ever had for a story. He was living in a homeless shelter, sickened by the smells, and feeling sorry for himself when a scuffle in the stairwell and a scream brought him into a terrifying hunt for the serial killer of priests. A sick, sadistic murderer was using a butterfly knife as a Rosary in grisly killings that would bring Dave into the hunt not as a reporter but as bait. The head of Homicide has a plan to trap the killer and it involves Dave and his girlfriend. A hit man for a group of religious fanatics is on the loose and has an agenda of his own. The killer is lost in his lunatic visions and he knows who Dave is and where to find him. What are his plans for Elena? Who to trust? Who to fear? Dave Haggard is a reporter in hiding from his own story.

Why doesn’t eight-year-old Brett’s mother understand? All she wants is a pet. Since the family first moved to Texas a few months earlier, the girl has seen nary an alligator...either from her perch, high in the SUV motoring around the Urbs or the sub-urbs, or out the back or front doors at home. Why can’t her mother just get over what happened in coastal Florida to her three precious pups?If Brett has to believe in magic to get a pet companion - or two - she will. Of course she’d rather do it the normal way: by asking. Which of course she’s tried. Over and over again. And continually failed. But she always comes back to try again. Like today. Already scanned the area for alligators, too, and is relieved to report none. Now, if only Mom will cooperate.So far the woman’s first brunch martini has slid down without resistance, so Brett knows after one or two more, her mother may very well be in a cheery enough mood to agree. To something, even if it’s just another ant farm.The house keeper is always talking about ants made of fire, but she told Brett they don’t seem to have any in their yard. She’s also told the girl about Texas scorpions, and best thing about both of those pets? They’d be free.

Inspired by a true story, Color Me Butterfly follows four generations of mothers and daughters—haunted by a common specter of domestic abuse—as they discover the strength, hope, and courage to survive.   The last thing Eloise Bingham wanted was to leave the comforts of her South Carolina home and family. But at the end of World War II, the young wife follows her husband, Isaac, to Philadelphia—only to experience his sinister and violent temper. Eloise’s children—and their children and grandchildren—will face their own trials over the next sixty years: Mattie, who has lived in her mother Eloise’s shadow, finds it takes a life-changing tragedy to help her break free; Lydia, Mattie’s strong-willed daughter, summons the resolve to rise above the cycle of abuse; and finally, Treasure, Lydia’s lively daughter, has the chance to be the first to escape her family’s destructive legacy....

The Golden Butterfly danced in the air, beautiful and impossible, yet there before their eyes. Then The Magnificent Marko flicked his wand again. There was a shower of sparks, a bang and ... The Golden Butterfly vanished. It's 1897 and since The Magnificent Marko dramatically departed the stage, no magician has come close to performing a trick as spectacular as The Golden Butterfly. With her grandfather gone, Luciana feels that the world has lost its wonder. Then the imposing leader of the Grand Society of Magicians appears, searching for something belonging to Marko, and Luciana is drawn into a world of danger and deception. As she battles to protect her grandfather's greatest legacy, can she distinguish reality from illusion? A dazzling tale of bravery and friendship in this fast-paced historical adventure for fans of Katherine Woodfine, COGHEART and THE NOWHERE EMPORIUM.

A home invasion turns deadly when Dr. Steven Peters is forced to face the world he has helped to create.Maybe it will all be better tomorrow.Maybe things won’t have to be this way.Maybe, at the edge of all of this sickness and sorrow,Is the dawn of some brighter day.I don’t feel like I can go on any longer.I don’t know just how to make this right.The pain and the strain of a loss of hope Getting only strongerIs strangling me ever so tight.I’m on the verge of giving up on life altogether,Leaning over a precipice.I’m pushing and inching further and nearer,And if I go off of the ledge, it could be better.It sometimes seems the only offering of relief,And if I try, I won’t miss, and me, you won’t miss.

In this Nancy Drew and the Clew Crew adventure, Nancy and her friends must track down a beautiful—and very rare—butterfly when it goes missing from the new butterfly museum. Nancy, Bess, and George can’t wait to check out Flutter House, an awesome new museum that’s all about butterflies! The girls are thrilled when they get to see the beautiful creatures up close and personal. But soon after their class leaves, the rarest butterfly, a Blue Morpho, goes missing! It’s up to the Clue Crew to get the valuable butterfly back safely. But with a long suspect list and not many clues, it’s going to be a tough case for Nancy and her friends.

The third installment of the Space Babies saga.The mates of Helian Six are protecting the refugee Puritans hiding on the planet Hesprii by pretending they are their visiting human cousins.The males of Helian Six have welcomed a bounty hunter crew from their home planet of Freijia who have a mission to either return, or destroy those same Puritans.Conflict wreaks havoc on the planet unless the males and females of Hesprii can keep the predators and prey separated. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of room for separation when the snipers fall for the ladies hook, line, and sinker.Nor when the ladies decide to find poor fools to lose their virginity to.

* --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.* --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

This first cultural biography of rap superstar and "master of storytelling" (The New Yorker) Kendrick Lamar explores his meteoric rise to fame and his profound impact on a racially fraught America—perfect for fans of Zack O'Malley Greenburg's Empire State of Mind.Kendrick Lamar is at the top of his game. The thirteen-time Grammy Award­–winning rapper is just in his early thirties, but he's already won the Pulitzer Prize for Music, produced and curated the soundtrack of the megahit film Black Panther, and has been named one of Time's 100 Influential People. But what's even more striking about the Compton-born lyricist and performer is how he's established himself as a formidable adversary of oppression and force for change. Through his confessional poetics, his politically charged anthems, and his radical performances, Lamar has become a beacon of light for countless people. Written by veteran journalist and...

The first novel in ten years from the author of the beloved New York Times bestseller THE PARTICULAR SADNESS OF LEMON CAKE, a luminous, poignant tale of a mother, a daughter, mental illness, and the fluctuating barrier between the mind and the world.On the night her single mother is taken to a mental hospital after a psychotic episode, eight year-old Francie is staying with her babysitter, waiting to take the train to Los Angeles to go live with her aunt and uncle. There is a lovely lamp next to the couch on which she's sleeping, the shade adorned with butterflies. When she wakes, Francie spies a dead butterfly, exactly matching the ones on the lamp, floating in a glass of water. She drinks it before the babysitter can see.Twenty years later, Francie is compelled to make sense of that moment, and two other incidents - her discovery of a desiccated beetle from a school paper, and a bouquet of dried roses from some curtains. Her recall is exact - she is sure...

BEAUTY AND THE BLOSSOMS Every one of the field people in Pleasant Valley, and the forest folk as well, was different from his neighbors. For instance, there was Jasper Jay. He was the noisiest chap for miles around. And there was Peter Mink. Without doubt he was the rudest and most rascally fellow in the whole district. Then there was Freddie Firefly, who was the brightest youngster on the farm—at least after dark, when his light flashed across the meadow. So it went. One person was wiser than any of his neighbors; another was stupider; and somebody else was always hungrier. But there was one who was the loveliest. Not only was she beautiful to look upon. She was graceful in flight as well. When one saw her flittering among the flowers it was hard to say which was the daintier—the blossoms or Betsy Butterfly. For that was her name. Whoever gave it to her might have chosen a prettier one. Betsy herself always said that she would have preferred Violet. In the first place, it was the name of a flower. And in the second, her red-and-brown mottled wings had violet tips. However, a person as charming as Betsy Butterfly did not need worry about her name. Had she been named after a dozen flowers she could have been no more attractive. People often said that everybody was happier and better just for having Betsy Butterfly in the neighborhood. And some claimed that even the weather couldn\'t help being fine when Betsy went abroad. "Why, the sun just has to smile on her!" they would exclaim. But they were really wrong about that. The truth of the matter was that Betsy Butterfly couldn\'t abide bad weather—not even a cloudy sky. She said she didn\'t enjoy flying except in the sunshine. So no one ever saw her except on pleasant days. To be sure, a few of the field people turned up their noses at Betsy. They were the jealous ones. And they generally pretended that they did not consider Betsy beautiful at all. "She has too much color," Mehitable Moth remarked one day to Mrs. Ladybug. "Between you and me, I\'ve an idea that it isn\'t natural. I think she paints her wings!" "I don\'t doubt it," said Mrs. Ladybug. "I should think she\'d be ashamed of herself." And little Mrs. Ladybug pursed up her lips and looked very severe. And then she declared that she didn\'t see how people could say Betsy was even good-looking, if they had ever noticed her tongue. "Honestly, her tongue\'s as long as she is!" Mrs. Ladybug gossiped. "But she knows enough to carry it curled up like a watch-spring, so it isn\'t generally seen.... You just gaze at her closely, some day when she\'s sipping nectar from a flower, and you\'ll see that I know what I\'m talking about." Now, some of those spiteful remarks may have reached Betsy Butterfly\'s ears. But she never paid the slightest attention to them. When she met Mehitable Moth or Mrs. Ladybug she always said, "How do you do?" and "Isn\'t this a lovely day?" in the sweetest tone you could imagine. And of course there was nothing a body could do except to agree with Betsy Butterfly....

Tyler wants to get spanked more than anything in the world. Unfortunately, he's asexual and the last partner he asked to spank him didn't respect that and left him traumatized. Years later, his yearning hasn't faded but neither has his fear of being hurt again, so his therapist recommends him to an expert: Andreas Garro, spanking therapist.Andreas proves himself trustworthy and then some, providing Tyler with the treatment he thought he could never get. Tyler is especially in love with one of Andreas's custom paddles called the "Metamorphosis Maker."As time goes on and Tyler sees Andreas for more and more sessions, he realizes it's not just the paddle he loves. But whether Andreas is a licensed therapist or just a very sympathetic dom, Tyler knows he shouldn't develop feelings for him. If only Andreas wasn't everything Tyler ever wanted in a spanker, or a partner.Is this real love, or have the endorphins skewed the way Tyler looks at the first man he felt he could...

New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake is back with an all-new heartwarming, small-town contemporary romance series set against the spicy southern backdrop of Louisiana's Butterfly Bayou. Life in Dallas took a tragic turn for nurse practitioner Lila Daley. In need of a fresh start, she retreats to Papillon, Louisiana, a tiny town on the bayou. Sure she's greeted by a gator, finds herself in the middle of golf cart wars, and unwittingly adopts a scruffy dog, but Lila remains undaunted. She's focused on running the town's medical clinic, but fitting into the quirky community is harder than she imagined.As a single dad, Sheriff Armie LaVigne embraces routine. But there is nothing routine about the town's newest resident. Lila is a gorgeous fish out of water and he's ready to catch her. In fact, in no time at all, Armie knows Lila is the woman for him and he plans to win her heart. But when the past threatens their happiness, Armie will have to decide if he...

When a brutal mob hit occurs inside the victim's bedroom, and the killer isn't careful enough to look under the bed to make sure there aren't any witnesses, there are consequences—namely, a naked blonde witness who is able to escape the apartment. This blonde is only seen from behind. Aside from being petite, she has one distinguishing feature: a pink butterfly tattoo on her right ass cheek. Lance, the guy in Chicago you hire when you have this type of problem, is given the near impossible task of tracking down this mysterious blonde with the pink butterfly tattoo, and follows next are a series of double-crosses and betrayals leading to a shocking finale.

The world gasped in April 2015 as Baltimore erupted and Black Lives Matter activists, incensed by Freddie Gray's brutal death in police custody, shut down highways and marched on city streets. In The Black Butterfly—a reference to the fact that Baltimore's majority-Black population spreads out on both sides of the coveted strip of real estate running down the center of the city like a butterfly's wings—Lawrence T. Brown reveals that ongoing historical trauma caused by a combination of policies, practices, systems, and budgets is at the root of uprisings and crises in hypersegregated cities around the country. Putting Baltimore under a microscope, Brown looks closely at the causes of segregation, many of which exist in current legislation and regulatory policy despite the common belief that overtly racist policies are a thing of the past. Drawing on social science research, policy analysis, and archival materials, Brown reveals the long history of racial...

From a vineyard in the south of France to the sophisticated city of Paris, Ella Moreau searches for the hope and love she lost as a young girl when her mother abandoned the family. Through a series of secret paintings, her art becomes the substitute for lost love—the metaphor of her life. But when her paintings are discovered, the intentions of those she loves are revealed."This story is about the life of a child transported to France to live at her father's winery. This is pre-WWII. Then Ella is abandoned by her mother. We follow her thru the growing up years as she blames herself for her mother leaving, for the death of her brother, and anything else where someone leaves. War comes and eventually she moves to Paris to work on her painting career. Give this book a read. You'll be glad you did." –Amazon review.Winner of the Small Publisher Book of the YearWinner of the Illumination AwardInspirational Reader's Choice Award...

Hanna Keller runs her family's Tea House, serving up scrumptious snacks and tantalizing teas but when a customer keels over from a poisoned cuppa, Hanna and her tea-leaf reading grandma will have to catch a killer in the first of the new cozy mystery series from Julia Buckley.Hanna Keller and her family run Maggie's Tea House, an establishment heavily influenced by the family's Hungarian descent and specializing in a European-style traditional tea service. But truthfully, one of the shop's largest draws is Hanna's eccentric grandmother, who's known for her remarkable ability to read the future in the leaves at the bottom of their customers' cups. Lately, however, her readings have become alarmingly ominous...Hanna is also an avid teacup collector and especially takes pride in the Anna Weatherley butterfly cup she recently procured. But the exquisite piece of porcelain soon becomes the center of a murder investigation, when it's suspected of delivering poison to one...

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

The story is about a young queen Jane who is forced to marry king Rake from kingdom Butterfly. The Spanish king is not happy with the wedding and he is planning a revenge. Timor, the horseman is sent from Spain to England to spy on king and queen but the queen and Timor fell in love.This is a collection based on life as I see it on a day to day basis. To me, this is an honest reflection on the past year, both personal and observational.

Perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo, Ibi Zoboi, and Erika L. Sanchez, this gorgeously written and deeply moving own voices novel is the YA debut from the award-winning author of Inside Out & Back Again.In the final days of the Việt Nam War, Hằng takes her little brother, Linh, to the airport, determined to find a way to safety in America. In a split second, Linh is ripped from her arms—and Hằng is left behind in the war-torn country.Six years later, Hằng has made the brutal journey from Việt Nam and is now in Texas as a refugee. She doesn't know how she will find the little brother who was taken from her until she meets LeeRoy, a city boy with big rodeo dreams, who decides to help her.Hằng is overjoyed when she reunites with Linh. But when she realizes he doesn't remember her, their family, or Việt Nam, her heart is crushed. Though the distance between them feels greater than ever,...

A scientist haunted by an impossible ghost. A cocky poet attempting to outrun peace. A grieving mother looking for life beneath Europa's icy surface. A ship AI desperate to rescue its beloved crew. An ongoing fight against the end of existence. Equal parts earnest and strange, Stewart C Baker's stories span the breadth of human emotion, space, and time. In this debut collection, gender and genre collide to celebrate relationships and empathy in all their forms.

For readers of Michael Ondaatjeis and Chris Cleave, this sweeping multigenerational novel centered around endless heartbreak and enduring love features the intertwined stories of three women who transcend three tragedies of the the twentieth century with the aid of the greatest love poet of all time: Pablo Neruda.London, England, September 1940. Thirteen-year-old Susan McEwan and her older brother, Phillip―himself a pilot―witness firsthand the initial Nazi bombing of civilian London. Weeks later, Phillip's Sunderland bomber is shot down, and his family is wordlessly devastated.Toronto, Canada, the early 1980s. As a young couple struggles to survive the Reagan recession, the husband, Alexander Polo, is forced to take a job as a paperboy. When the wife, Julie, is expectant, Polo must now confront his future head-on and heart open.Montana, the first days of September 2001. In the midst of his wedding and 9/11, Jack Riordan discovers a magazine story...

In this fierce, glamorous adult fantasy debut, Silvia Moreno-Garcia meets Fonda Lee, with the feverish intensity of R.F. Kuang's Poppy War trilogy.Singapore, 1972: Newly independent and grappling for power in a fast-modernizing world. Here, gangsters in Chinese secret societies are the last conduits of their ancestors' migrant gods, and the back alleys where they fight are the last place magic has not been assimilated and legislated away.Loner schoolgirl Adeline Siow has never needed more company than the flame she can summon at her fingertips. But when her mother dies in a house fire with a butterfly seared onto her skin and Adeline hunts down a girl she saw in a back-alley barfight—a girl with a butterfly tattoo—she discovers she's far from alone.Ang Tian is a Red Butterfly: one of a gang of girls who came from nothing, sworn to a fire goddess and empowered to wreak vengeance on the men that abuse and underestimate them. Adeline's mother...

Short Stories Written by the Wonderfully Imaginative Children in Mrs. Garrido's Creative Writing Class.What would life be like if there were no emotions?What would it be like if water washed away your feelings?For Felicity Parker this is her whole life, she is used to feeling nothing. All this changes when she meets Michael who shows her life has more to offer than she ever thought, but this comes with a hefty price. Torn between love and pain; she must make a decision that can change her whole life.

Detectives Jeppe Kørner and Anette Werner from the #1 international bestseller The Tenant—which New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs heralded as a "stunning debut"—return in this compulsively readable thriller as they race to solve a series of sordid murders linked to some of the most vulnerable patients in a Danish hospital.Hospitals are supposed to be places of healing. But in the coronary care unit at one of Copenhagen's leading medical centers, a nurse fills a syringe with an overdose of heart medication and stealthily enters the room of an older male patient. Six days earlier, a paperboy on his route in central Copenhagen stumbles upon a macabre find: the naked body of a dead woman, lying in a fountain with arms marked with small incisions. Cause of death? Exsanguination—the draining of all the blood in her body. Clearly, this is no ordinary murder. Lead Investigator Jeppe Kørner, recovering from a...

Excerpt from The Perambulations of a Bee and a Butterfly: In Which Are Delineated Those Smaller Traits of Character Which Escape the Observation of Larger SpectatorsThe Butterfly\'s anxiety - His Friend regains his Liberty and returns late to the Hive - The butterfly detects flattery in a Gentleman to a Lady, and is alarmed by a hint from his friend as they separate for the Night; The Bees swarm - Their fondness for their Queen - The Bee in waiting - the Butterfly goes into the Country on a party of Pleasure - is overtaken by a storm, and returns in a Stagecoach - An officer exercising his genius in hoaxing his Fellow-travellers - The Butterfly recounts his adventures to his Friend - Their remarks on what passed during his Journey; The Butterfly\'s alarm, and account of a Naturalist - Wasps ensnared in a bottle - A Bee drowning in a Pot of Honey, is extricated by his Friend - Flies - The Bee\'s remarks upon them nearly offends his Friend by comparing them with himAbout the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

He is begging for redemption, she is aching for revenge. He isn't the answer to my prayers. Even if half the student body on campus believes he is a gift from God and a Greek statue body to make matters worse. The word enemies doesn't deserve the delicious description for the tension between us. Make no mistake there is no love here. Aladdin "Lad" Lorenzo, my personal curse since high school. You would think a new territory would cause disruption in the social ladder but he wears a crown on a national level. Too bad I'm not the shy girl who gave up her virginity on graduation night. Tragedy beat the innocence out of me. Now all that remains is a sarcastic woman seething vengeance, ready to claim a name of her own. Can love heal this broken hero? Butterfly Effect is the first part in the In the Water They Make Waves Duet, second part is Ripple Effect. Both are Enemies to Lovers Multicultural Sports...

The Seventh Sun faces destruction as Mayana and Ahkin race to save their world in the finale to this "compulsively readable" series (Rachel A. Marks, author of Fire and Bone).To the Chicome people, an eclipse is a time of terror. When darkness falls, the barrier separating the heavens and the earth becomes unstable. Then come the ravening Tzitzimime—the star demons who thirst for human blood. Mayana and Ahkin know the full extent of the coming danger, but they must gather support or the Chicome Empire is doomed.As the eclipse nears, many maneuver for power in this deadly game of worlds ending.Metzi, Ahkin's treacherous sister, has seized control of the empire with the aid of the malevolent goddess known as the Obsidian Butterfly. But Metzi has no idea what the goddess has in store...Yemania and Ochix face the wrath of both their peoples. Their forbidden liaison may draw ancient enemies together... or rip the young lovers apart forever.And the...

In a bizarre post-apocalyptic Africa, Chadwick Giles, a recent arrival from the north countries, navigates his way through social strictures, a mutant uprising, and a cultic religious revival, learning to create art from love and life. Giles discovers that there is much to gain through loss, though the rewards are nothing like those he expected or desired.Chadwick Giles is new to Ngome, having travelled from the cultured north countries to a bizarre post-apocalyptic Africa to assume new employment as an artist for an expatriate entomologist. There, at a masked ball, he meets the mysterious and carefree Emile Beckwith. His discoveries in this new land expose the underside of a society embroiled in conflict and intrigue. Try as he might to remain aloof, he soon finds himself in the midst of the war between the colonial authorities and an uprising of human mutants and four-armed apes that may or may not be associated with a mystical fly-cult, a war that threatens to change him and his art forever.Forrest Aguirre's short fiction has been published in over fifty venues including Asimov's, Postscripts, Exquisite Corpse, and Gargoyle. Forrest's work has received several honorable mentions in various Year's Best anthologies and his fiction has been a finalist for the StorySouth Million Writers Award. He has won the World Fantasy Award and was a finalist for the Philip K. Dick Award for co-editing the Leviathan 3 anthology.