Clarity Nice attends a personal development course at Herbaline, a company reputed for its aggressive sales methods and a secretive hierarchical structure. Befriending Herbaline emotician Coley Manglove, Clarity gets hired to work on the company's secret project, an emotion scale used to elicit sales and label Herbaline employees conforming or rebellious, unrightfully deciding promotion prospects.Teleoperator Clarity Nice visits the headquarters of Herbaline in Orange County, a herbal, diet and weight prevention company, known for its aggressive marketing methods. Seeing on a corporate chart that the president of the company, Lyle Matchett, has never been seen and is not shown anywhere in the annual report of the company, she decides to explore the company's premises afterhours, and stumbles upon an area inside the company building labeled emotician office. Emotician Coley Manglove finds Clarity in her office and reveals to her the secretive project that she has been told to carry out by the head of human studies at Herbaline: A scale of emotion that can be used to describe the personality of employees and to elicit sales from a customer, even those reticent to buy Herbaline products.Clarity and her friend Lanai sign an agreement to work for Herbaline, with their duties undefined and their compensation contingent on dubious aspects of their performance. They board a plane for Cayman where the company has a sales training center, led by Herbaline motivational guru Coleman Cartmel. After looking at the poor sales performance of Clarity and Lanai, Manglove decides to send both of them to the Herbaline language facility in Palm Springs, where a company employee, Ambi Mivel, is being held against her will, because she shows signs of consistent company language refusal of the company's official sales language, 'Herbaspeak'.At the facility, Clarity gets into the 'antisale' area, the room where Mivel is being held against her will. Clarity realizes that Cartmel is manipulating the emotions of Herbaline employees, using an emotion scale that measures human emotions, assigning a subjective 'emotional tendency' number to each employee based on personality, which is used to promote or criticise the worker. The emotion scale links to a brain wave technology device known as the inducer, to prevent or cut off from employee thinking, any emotion that has to do with negative emotions, like impatience, hostility, animosity or open, overt disagreement with company sales policy. Signing off on a relational agreement with Cartmel, Clarity leaves the facility with the recluse, going to a relational board house in Nevada, 'Honey Ranch', belonging to Herbaline, in order to denounce the illegal policies of Herbaline, leave the place, and find their human blueprint, measured by the emotion scale, and shared with a shady group pulling the strings of Herbaline, known as the Privilege club. Views: 666
The discovery of human remains on his property will, once again, land Zack Anderson in the Pomme Valley PD's hot seat and it'll be up to Sherlock and Watson to keep him out of jail. Views: 665
What do a squeamish torturer, an intelligent zombie, a newspaper-phobic superhero and Genghis Khan have in common? They're all in this book, and their stories were all written for Flash Fiction Month 2014. With one story for each and every day of July--and a humourous analysis of the event--there's something for everyone here."I have no problem with this, nor any useful comments!" ~Jasper FfordeIt was the ultimate cold case. The murders occurred on Mars twenty years ago, so how can Detective Inspector Richardson, a local policeman from Melbourne, Australia, track down the murderer – and why is he being asked to?Twenty years ago, the Prometheus landed in the Hellas Basin on Mars and all the crew died from unknown causes. When an historic site survey crew arrive, they find that the circumstances of the deaths weird and inexplicable. Yet secret coded instructions from the UN space agency HQ on Earth indicates that these circumstances were somehow known in advance. This is murder and Detective Inspector Richardson, a local detective from Melbourne, is called in to solve the case. There are only four people with means and opportunity, all of them are highly focused, very intelligent and none of them, apparently, has a convincing motive. Richardson must sort out their stories to find the guilty, all the time wondering why he was given this job at all.Joseph H.J. Liaigh started out studying the polar ice caps on Mars. Since then he has worked as a government scientist, an Air Force intelligence officer and an academic. He has studied everything from the methane streams on Titan to the flat topped volcanoes of Venus. Through all this, he has been an avid devotee of detective fiction. In The Prometheus Incident, he brings these two worlds together in a unique way to create an unusual and intriguing mystery. Views: 664
What kind of crazy witch curses a diadem to kill people? Apparently the kind that founds small beach towns and makes iced tea and finger sandwiches for cocktail parties. Why am I not surprised? This is, after all, the south.I admit I messed up when I dragged a sunken treasure chest to shore. I'll even take part of the blame for my obsessive-compulsive sister throwing them in an auction before I had a chance to check them for magical mojo. That doesn't mean I should have to deal with snobby socialites and the weak-kneed weenies that bow at their Prada-clad feet. Especially when said socialite is dead.Actually, it does. Because I come from a long line of powerful witches and warlocks tasked with keeping magical artifacts out of non-magical hands. Our family reputation is sterling, but just like all fine silver and old families, there's a little tarnish here and there. It's what makes us good at what we do.Now I'm going to have to trot out every trick I know when a local woman keels over dead at her own bridal party. Not only do I have to figure out what killed her, I have to recover it before it finds another victim, then cover it up to keep magic hidden. Together with my best friend, a powerful warlock who's personality tempers my own, and an ancient catalog that's been in my family for generations, we'll find the next artifact and take one more step toward cleaning up my mess. Views: 664
This collection of the early works of Jane Austen uniquely displays the emerging talent of a brilliant and observant young woman. Completed before Austen was fifteen, the works are astonishing in their maturity. Blending the exuberance of youth with the sharp wit and devastating social criticism of her later novels, Love and Friendship is a collection not to be missed. Views: 664
Sunshine, massages, and drinks with little umbrellas in them. That's what cruises are all about, right? Maybe, unless you're a witch with a habit of finding trouble. When Noelle and crew go on a cruise to celebrate the death of the town's biggest bully, they find themselves in the middle of a robbery gone awry. Can they help a new friend get her grandma's pearls - and her life - back before the ship gets back to port? This novella is set in the Witches of Keyhole Lake Mysteries series and falls right after book 1, though it can be read in any order. Views: 662
These old witches think they can come here and steal the youth from unsuspecting women? Not in my town, sugar. Hold my potion.My name's Mila Maganti, and I used to be content running my potions shop and spending my days off at the beach. That is until some crazy angel decided to break her demon boyfriend out of the Valley of Lost Souls and let way more than just one bad-boy spirit out in the process.I run the potions shop because it's what I love. What most people don't know, though, is that my blood runs thick with powerful earth magic, and if I have to, I can do a bang-up job of holding my own in a fight if I have to. Or if I want to.When two girls turn up dead, drained of all their life forces, the Paranormal Criminal Investigation Bureau realizes what's happened. Some of the souls that escaped are evil witches bent on getting their bodies back, and to do that, they'll use ancient dark magic to siphon the essence from young women.As head of the regional crime unit, my cousin Michael came to me for help. He knows me, he trusts me, and most importantly, he knows I have what it takes to put these witches back in the pit they flew out of. And I'll do it with a smile. Nobody comes to my town and harms the people I care about. They've done gone and ticked off the wrong witch.Join me, my Arctic fox, Calamity, and my team of witches, shifters, and fae as we hunt these souls down and send them back where they belong. Who knows - you may even run into a Valkyrie or two along the way.This is Book One in my Elemental Witch series and features Mila Maganti, cousin to Destiny, who stars in my Enchanted Coast Magical Mysteries series. Views: 662
"A great story by a wonderful author." —DEBBIE MACOMBER, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author, for Left at the AltarHis first mistake was marrying her. His second was falling in love.Chase McKnight will do anything to secure his family's ranch—but marriage to a complete stranger? That's a hard pill to swallow. Yet the will is clear: Chase needs a wife by his side if he wants to keep his home, so he meets his veiled lady at the courthouse steps and reluctantly says "I do."Too bad he married the wrong bride.When Boston runaway Emily Fields agreed to marry a Texas stranger to escape her family's scandal, she wasn't prepared to get hitched to the wrong cowboy! Stuck in a secret compromise, she has one year to learn the ways of the ranch and convince Chase's family they're happily married. But when the lie becomes true, the past catches up to them and they must save the love they never... Views: 661
Can a hot summer fling mend the hearts of two broken women? Morgan Donovan had everything she ever wanted: a dream job as a large animal veterinarian, awesome friends, and a loving and supportive fiancée. But it all comes crashing down when her fiancée dumps her after realizing that Morgan's job will always come first. And, while Morgan still has the job and friends, her heart is broken into a million tiny pieces Emilia Russo is a burned-out shelter vet. When the unexpected death of her father triggers a mental breakdown that hastens the end of her relationship, she retreats to his house in Seal Cove, Maine. She plans on spending the summer renovating it while she figures out how to pull the pieces of her life back together. But when she runs into Morgan at the dock where her father's sailboat is moored, her plans for a quiet summer of healing and reflection sink like a stone—the attraction is immediate and obvious, and Emilia finds herself... Views: 661
Adam Evans has always felt like the universe was mocking him. That only gets worse when he's charged with murder under bizarre circumstances and exiled from existence. Facing a life of utter solitude, he seizes the opportunity to escape with a strange girl. He's determined to put his life back together, but he never could have guessed how crazy things were about to become.Red lives with her mother in a small town on Exmoor. She's got a yearning for Connor, the local garage owner, who perhaps has a yearning for her. They're thrown together in the most unlikely way when Red's mother gets involved with a handsome man with a perfect smile. He won't take no for an answer and Red is starting to get worried. Connor has a theory, but should Red take him seriously? A short story to while away your bus/train journey. For 16 years upwards. Views: 661
A gripping psychological thriller with contemporary science fiction elements. Sally has the ability to see the thoughts of others when she touches their skin. It's turned her into a recluse, until a friend is killed and Sally's gift provides the only hope of finding the murderer.A MIND IS A TERRIBLE THINGSally suffers from a curse: the ability to Touch others and see their thoughts. She doesn’t know how. She doesn’t know why. All she knows is what people are thinking. And she doesn’t like what she sees. Driven to a life of seclusion trying to avoid the minds of those around her, she has given up hope of a normal life. Until a friend is murdered, and the police have no leads on the killer. Now, in order to bring justice, Sally must come out of hiding, embracing her gift instead of rejecting it, and making use of every ability at her disposal – natural and unnatural. New enemies rise along with new friends, and the hope of a life Sally had long since given up on – if she can keep herself alive to enjoy it. This debut work of independent author Garrett Robinson thrills from start to finish, exploring themes of thought versus action and takes a new, realistic look at the effect of inhuman abilities. A pulse-pounding ride that promises to keep you at the edge of your seat. Views: 660
