“On Shakespear 1630” typifies much of Milton’s poetry. By some miracle never yet explained, at age 24 he managed to get a 16-line encomium included in the Second Folio of the Bard’s collected works, 1632. Quite a coup! And this brand new M.A., never before published, used this brief poem to contradict Shakespeare’s chief rival, the great Ben Jonson, whose 80-line panegyric had graced the First Folio eleven years earlier. Jonson had said that Shakespeare’s monument was this living book, but...

They call me an abomination. A mutant. A curse on their kind. I don't let it bother me. Much.My name is Holly James, and what they say is true. I'm a freak of nature—a null. My mere presence zaps the magic from Others, rendering them powerless. That's why they hate me. But here's the kicker: I've found a way to profit from my lack of mojo.Whether it's acting as a mystical wet blanket in a dispute between pyromancers or keeping hormonal shifters from changing during a sweet ...

John Carver has three rules: Don't drink in the daytime, don't gamble when the luck has gone, and don't talk to the dead people who come to visit.It has been almost five years since the incident in Kabul. Since the magic stirred within him and the stories began. Fleeing the army, running from the whispers, the guilt, and the fear he was losing his mind, Carver fell into addiction, dragging himself through life one day at a time.Desperation has pulled him ba...

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit land and gravely affected the lives of many people in the states along the Gulf Coast. Katrina went beyond demonstrating the devastating natural effects of a hurricane by exposing the continuing significance of race relations and racial stereotyping in U.S. society.Racing the Storm serves to highlight the race-based perceptions of and responses to Katrina survivors by governmental entities, volunteers, the media, and the general public. Sc...

The life of a magician isn’t all kiddie shows and card tricks. Sometimes it’s murder. Especially when magician Eli Marks very publicly debunks a famed psychic, and said psychic ends up dead. The evidence, including a bloody King of Diamonds playing card (one from Eli’s own Ambitious Card routine), directs the police right to Eli.As more psychics are slain, and more King cards rise to the top, Eli can’t escape suspicion. Things get really complicated when romance blooms with a beaut...

After her music career crashes and burns, Juliet Langley is forced to turn to the only other business she knows: food service. Unfortunately, bad luck strikes yet again when her fiancé robs her blind and runs off with her best waitress. Flushing what’s left of her beloved café down the toilet with her failed engagement, Juliet moves back to her college stomping grounds in Nashville to manage an old friend’s coffeehouse. At first glance, it seems as though nothing’s changed at Java Jive. Wh...

When historian Jaya Jones receives a mysterious package containing a jewel-encrusted artifact, she discovers the secrets of a lost Indian treasure may be hidden in a Scottish legend. But she's not the only one on the trail.From San Francisco to the Highlands of Scotland, Jaya must evade a shadowy stalker as she follows hints from the hastily scrawled note to a remote archaeological dig. Helping her decipher the cryptic clues are her magician best friend, a devastatingly handsome ar...

Meanwhile, back in Deadwood … the mystery and mayhem continue.Between the butchered body parts, creepy killers, dogged detectives, ghoulish ghosts, and ever-present television cameras, Violet Parker’s purple boots are itching to skedaddle.But there is no escaping another murder investigation or her new deadly reputation—even if both risk the lives of those she loves most.

The luxurious Lathrop Grand Hotel is a Savannah institution that has entertained guests for more than a century and a half, offering some of the finest accommodations in the city. Famously haunted, the hotel draws tourists from around the world eager to encounter its numerous ghosts. The hotel is also known for being honeycombed with hidden doors and secret passages, enabling staff to appear and disappear quickly as they attend to the hotel's guests.Now some of the spirits in the L...

Paranormal investigator Ellie Jordan faces a new case in an apartment building where a twisted, dangerous entity emerges from closets and doorways to terrorize the residents at night. A powerful spirit, it feeds on fear and takes the shape of its victims' worst nightmares.Ellie and her mentor Calvin have tried to capture the same entity before, in a different house nearby, an attempt that ended in disaster. Now, with the help of her apprentice Stacey, Ellie must try again to captur...

In the vein of Kelley Armstrong and Patricia Briggs, Amanda Carlson's debut is a new urban fantasy that rewrites the werewolf myth. . .It's not easy being a girl. It's even harder when you're the only girl in a family of werewolves. But it's next to impossible when your very existence spells out the doom of your race. . . Meet Jessica McClain -- she just became part of the pack.

GODS. I'M AN IDIOT.Without Griffin—and apparently a few meddling Gods—to push me along, I'd still be telling fortunes at the circus, lying about my past, ignoring my future, and living as far away from my tyrant mother as humanly possible.True understanding thuds into place. Hope isn't just an abstract concept; it's me.Flesh and blood me. Griffin knew it all along. Probably everyone did. I'm an idea in human form.I have the power of the Gods at my fingertips...