Mage Bridal Party Etiquette__Plan the bachelorette party even if you are given two hours’ warning.__Wear whatever hideous dress the bride picks out.__Try not to get killed and ruin the wedding.Ella and Vanessa are having a pretty busy week between being forced to be in Vin and Tiffany’s wedding and investigating the murder of a local property manager for Bear, all while Ella tries to convince Monza Colleen that she would be a perfect apprentice. Ella is stro...

With only a few matches left to be fought in the preliminaries to the third portion of the Journeyman Ninja Selection Exams, the highly anticipated bout between mysterious Sand ninja Gaara and intense, earnest Konoha ninja Rock Lee begins. Will Gaara’s bloodlust and his strange powers of sand manipulation be too much for Lee to handle? Or could Lee prove that dedication and an amazing work ethic are enough to make him a splendid ninja?

Beautiful Kurenai is an oiran, the highest level of a geisha. Though she now lives in splendor, she came from poverty. And when a millionaire buys her, it seems like life will change once more. But bandits attack as she and the millionaire journey through the forest, leaving Kurenai on her own in the woods. Rutu is a young woman keeping her Christianity a secret, fearful of the government and its xenophobic policies. European missionaries brought the gospel to southern Japan in the 1600s, ...

You don’t have to be Jewish to get back at the shmendriks* of the worldYiddish. It’s the most colorful language in the history of mankind. What other language gives you a whole dictionary of ways to tell someone to drop dead? That schmuck who got promoted over you? Meigulgl zol er vern in a henglaykhter, by tog zol er hengen, un by nakht zol er brenen. (He should be transformed into a chandelier, to hang by day and to burn by night.) That soccer mom kibitzing on he...

Philosophical, tender, and hilariously observed, Nice Places subverts the “go find yourself” travel story, unpacking our shared desire for meaning, connection, and a true place in the worldWhen Georgie quits his job at Oats Technologies to travel the world for one year, he hopes to escape the daily existential discomfort of corporate life. But after a meditation guru robs him on his way to the airport, he awakens in a guest house in the rundown yet vibrant...

Taro is a boy from a coastal village in rural Japan, fated to become a fisherman like his father. But in just one night, Taro's world is turned upside down - and his destiny is changed forever.Skilled in the art of silent and deadly combat, ninjas are the agents of powerful nobles who rule sixteenth-century Japan. So why did a group of these highly trained assassins creep into a peasant's hut and kill Taro's father? And why did one ninja rescue Taro from their clutches, saving his ...

This volume uniquely draws together seven contemporary plays by a selection of the finest African women writers and practitioners from across the continent, offering a rich and diverse portrait of identity, politics, culture, gender issues and society in contemporary Africa.Niqabi Ninja by Sara Shaarawi (Egypt) is set in Cairo during the chaotic time of the Egyptian uprising.Not That Woman by Tosin Jobi-Tume (Nigeria) addr...

Blood NinjaSkilled in the art of silent and deadly combat, ninjas are the agents of powerful nobles who rule sixteenth-century Japan. So when a group of these highly-trained assassins kill Taro's father, he must learn their ways in order to avenge him, evading the wrath of warring Lords, deciphering an ancient curse - and unleashing the blood-soaked secrets of a life lived in moonlight.Lord Oda's RevengeTaro has had his revenge, but Lo...

“We share the same brain. Everything you know, I know and vice versa."After her ninja clan’s ancestral home is attacked, Gabriella manages to escape. Deep inside the compound she accesses the Natsugami clan's computer system with the help of with “Harugasumi”, an AI system that enhances her brain functions.Inside, she finds an opportunity to carry on a mission left to her by her ancestors. Will she be able to fulfill it and survive the attack on her home?Ninja World...

Little Nora Elf is full of fun and mischief when she tags along with Santa Claus! Find out how she turns Christmas Eve traditions upside down in this yuletide tale of opposites! This sweet (and silly!) Santa story spreads holiday cheer and helps your little elf build language and thinking skills by showcasing opposites.

In the skies above America, strangers talk to Cora.Their stories at first seem harmless – until she notices uncanny echoes of her own life in their words. How is it they seem to know more about her than they should?Worn thin by work demands, a troubled daughter, and family crises she can’t afford to fix, Cora escapes to her family’s ramshackle beach house in New Zealand. There, amid shifting tides and rising emotions, she reconnects with her family’s past, reveals her deepe...

A bashful bookworm, a hockey heartthrob, and the dog who pushes them together. Can they score a love that will last before the weekend is over?A little harmless flirting—that’s all it was supposed to be. How could I have known the knee-bucklingly handsome man at the smoothie shop was Zane Hayes, star center for the Briarwood Bobcats hockey team? I wasn’t in town for sports. This was a weekend trip to attend my friend’s wedding where I planned to trade my book-ish c...