The variety of the mycological world is far greater than most people imagine. Tens of thousands of fungal species have been described and many more are known only from the abundance of their genes in soil and water. Fungi are hugely important as agents of wood decay in forests, and, as parasites, they have caused the deaths of millions of people by ravaging crops and reshaping natural ecosystems. Fungi perform a variety of essential functions in ecosystems, and are important to both agriculture and biotechnology. Their importance is now becoming better appreciated among scientists, though there is much still to be understood concerning their taxonomy and evolution. This Very Short Introduction highlights the variety and extraordinary natures of fungi, revealing the remarkable facts of fungal biology and the global significance of these enchanting organisms.About the Series: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in... Views: 80
A discharged Army Ranger, Ben considers his job as a BDSM club security guard to be an excellent hobby. He’s never been tempted to join in. But everything changes when the notorious Mistress Anne inadvertently reveals the caring heart concealed beneath her Domme armor. Now, he’s set his sights on the beautiful Shadowlands Mistress. Maybe he’d considered himself vanilla, but she can put her stiletto on his chest any day, any time. He’ll trust her delicate hands to hold his heart. And if she wants to whip his ass on the way to an outstanding climax, he’s just fine with that too. Sure, he knows she likes pretty boy slaves. And he’s older. Craggy and rough. And six-fiv Views: 80
Vampires. Werewolves. Beasts that hunt in the night...When New Orleans Detective Jane Hart investigates her first official homicide case, she never expects to have her world ripped apart. But the murder she’s investigating is part of a deadly war between vampires and werewolves…and now Jane is caught in that eternal battle. A battle that can’t end well.Werewolf Aidan Locke has been running New Orleans for years. It’s his job to keep the vamps out of the city. But when a Master Vampire comes to town, determined to unleash hell, Aidan knows it’s time to fight with all the fury of his pack. Beast versus vamp, until the last breath. Then he meets Jane…One look, one taste, and Aidan knows that Jane is far more than she seems. Far more than she even knows herself to be. She’s important in the paranormal war, not a pawn to be used, but a queen to be won. And if he can’t keep her at his side, if he can’t stop the darkness from descending on the town…then Jane Hart will become not just a fierce cop, not some guardian, but something deadlier. Darker. Aidan will fight heaven and hell to change her fate. To change their fate because he is more than just a predator.And Jane is more than prey. Far more. Views: 80
Welcome to the Black Triangle, New York's decadent district of opium dens, gambling casinos, drunken sailors, gaudy hookers, and back room abortions. The queen of this unsavory neighborhood is Black Lena Shanks, whose family leads a ring of female criminals-women skilled in the art of cruelty. Only a few blocks away, amidst the elegant mansions and lily-white reputations of Gramercy Park and Washington Square, lives Judge James Stallworth. On a crusade to crush Lena's evil empire, the judge has sentenced three of her family members to death. And now she wants revenge. One Sunday, all the Stallworths receive invitations-to their own funerals. Can even the wealth and power of the Stallworth family protect them from Lena's diabolical lust for vengeance? This first-ever republication of Michael McDowell's chilling classic of revenge features a new introduction by Christopher Fowler and cover art by Mike Mignola. Views: 80
Behind Frida Kahlo’s portraits, lies the story of both her life and work. It is precisely this combination that draws the reader in. Frida’s work is a record of her life, and rarely can we learn so much about an artist from what she records inside the picture frame. Frida Kahlo truly is Mexico’s gift to the history of art. She was just eighteen years old when a terrible bus accident changed her life forever, leaving her handicapped and burdened with constant physical pain. But her explosive character, raw determination and hard work helped to shape her artistic talent. And although he was an obsessive womanizer, the great painter Diego Rivera was by her side. She won him over with her charm, talent and intelligence, and Kahlo learnt to lean on the success of her companion in order to explore the world, thus creating her own legacy whilst finding herself surrounded by a close-knit group of friends. Her personal life was turbulent, as she frequently left her relationship with Diego to one side whilst she cultivated her own bisexual relationships. Despite this, Frida and Diego managed to save their frayed relationship. The story and the paintings that Frida left us display a courageous account of a woman constantly on a search of self discovery. Views: 80
Maddie's life is a tangled mess of secrets. She's grieving for Nan, struggling for Mum's attention, and scared she's losing Dad too. She keeps everything knotted up inside, unable to find her voice... until she's paired with Kieran Black - the bad-boy troublemaker in her class - and finds her confidence growing. But when Maddie's hit by a secret that could bring her whole world crashing down, can she find the strength to face her fears? A captivating new mystery from the author of the bestselling Butterfly Summer. Views: 80
I’m Denny Smith.I moved away to my Nan’s house after my parents happily kicked me out.Why, you ask? Because I ruined my future, so they say.If you ask me, I was a naive seventeen year-old girl who chose to sleep with the boy she had loved from afar for years, only for him to want nothing to do with me in return.So here I am, back at the one place I had hoped to never return, where I’ll attend court as a witness.Now I have to face him...Mason.There’s no other way around it.He can’t know my secret...but he will.When I returned, I expected him to have moved on with at least a million and one other girls, to have forgotten the naive school girl with a crush that followed him around like a lost puppy, but I was wrong.What I got when I arrived was five brothers, a Granddad, a pushy Grandma, and a best friend who would stop at nothing to make me stay.But only one of them has the power to make me stay...Mason.After everything, can I truly trust him again or will he continue to break my heart?If you mess with one Carter brother, you mess with them all. Views: 80
The #1 New York Times bestselling author's award-winning Inspector Lynley series returns with another character-driven crime drama featuring beloved Scotland Yard members Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers and Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley.Elizabeth George first claimed a spot on the New York Times bestseller list in 1994. Two decades later her Lynley novels are still at the top of national bestseller lists, proving how vast and loyal her audience is. Critics and fans alike cherish Inspector Lynley, eighth Earl of Asherton, and Sergeant Havers, his working-class partner, for their believably irascible relationship as much as for their uncanny ability to solve the most challenging cases. And in her twentieth Inspector Lynley novel, A Banquet of Consequences, George delivers another winner as Lynley and Havers are drawn from Cambridge to London to the windswept town of Shaftesbury during one of their most complex cases yet. Views: 80
This gorgeous romance from World Fantasy Award finalist Kate Elliott is a prequel to Court of Fives, the epic story of Jessamy and her struggle to do what she loves in a society suffocated by rules of class and privilege.Kiya is a Commoner who has just arrived in the bustling city of Saryenia. Esladas is a member of the Patron ruling class and determined to prove himself in the army. His plans are disrupted by the outgoing and beautiful girl who sells him fruit in the market, though, despite the fact that neither of them speaks a word of the others language. Brief conversations and stolen moments together soon become something more, but when their divided cultures clash, Kiya and Esladas must decide if their blossoming love is worth becoming outsiders for the rest of their lives. Read the beginning of their legendary love story in this Court of Fives companion novella! Views: 79
Book 1 is FREE!
I have only seven days to seduce Kenneth Carter. Not five months as his wife, Loraine, gave me initially when she first approached me with her indecent proposal.
I have to complete the task however small my chances are. Lives depend on the $200,000 I'll earn if I actually manage to get photos of Kenneth during a sexual act with me. My best friend, her baby, our future...
Still, of all the scenarios I could have ended up with, I never expected to become the seduced. Views: 79
