Roz has been indebted to the demon Asmodai for five hundred years, and her freedom is just around the corner. All she has to do is complete one last task for him—obtain a key that had been hidden in a church centuries ago. Piers, the Head of the Order and an ancient vampire, is intrigued by the woman who comes to him for help. She’s beautiful and seemingly kind, but she’s hiding something. And he’ll find out who she is and what she really wants once he uses his power to get inside her head. But Piers has no idea that Roz is immune to his mind-control...or that he is simply a pawn in her dangerous mission for freedom. The Order series is best enjoyed in order. Reading Order: Book #1 Bittersweet Blood Book #2 Bittersweet Magic Book #3 Bittersweet Darkness Book #4 Bittersweet Christmas

Celebrate A Season of Renewal and Reflection The theme of bitterness runs through the Bible as a sour reminder of sin’s presence in our world—yet it’s because of this bitterness that Jesus’ grace is so sweet and satisfying. As we learn to turn from our vices and crave real beauty, goodness, and truth through the pursuit of virtues, we grow nearer to God and become more like who He made us to be. From Tsh Oxenreider, bestselling author of Shadow and Light: A Journey into Advent, arrives a devotional to help you meditate and rejoice in the transcendent miracle of Easter. You will… uncover what it means to participate in the liturgical traditions of Lent, from fasting to almsgiving experience artwork and music that illuminate the impact—both personal and global—of Jesus’s death and resurrection contemplate the wonder of Christ’s redemption of all humankind, especially as this time of introspection reveals your human limitations Starting on Ash Wednesday and leading you all the way through Holy Week, Bitter and Sweet is an invitation to better understand Jesus’s sacrifice as you delight in His ultimate love for you.

A personal memoir explores the intertwined natures of happiness and sadness, discussing how bitter experiences balance out the sweetness in life and how change can be an opportunity for growth and a function of God's graciousness.

Tara Collins just wants to be normal. Everyone else wants her dead. Tara’s eccentric aunt raised her to be fearful of the world and follow the rules. But after her aunt’s death, Tara is ready to take control and experience life for the first time. But she quickly discovers that everything she’s been told is a web of lies. Determined to solve the mystery of who she is truly, she hires private investigator to help her uncover the truth. Christian Roth is more than your average PI. A vampire and ex-demon hunter, Christian lives among the humans, trying to be “normal.” But recently, things seem to be falling apart. There’s a crazed demon hell-bent on revenge hunting him down, and a fae assassin on the loose with an unknown target. And the Order he abandoned desperately needs his help. As the secrets of Tara’s past collide with the problems in Christian’s present, she finds herself fighting her attraction to the dark and mysterious investigator. Falling in love does not fit into her plans at all, but Tara soon learns that some rules are meant to be broken. The Order series is best enjoyed in order. Reading Order: Book #1 Bittersweet Blood Book #2 Bittersweet Magic Book #3 Bittersweet Darkness Book #4 Bittersweet Christmas

Light in the darkness...and darkness in the light. ... From the gloom of dark shadows to the shimmer of sunlight, and back again. ... From the explosions of passion, to the quiet, tender glow of serenity....From despair and agony, to hope and love....From sorrow and anguish, back once again, to a world of love and hope; awakening to a fresh and joyful beginning....From indescribable beauty, to incomprehensible ugliness and pain; and then onward, to a new vision of breathtaking beauty, born anew....You are invited to experience the world in a way that you may never have seen or felt before. Stimulate the mind and the senses. Experience a different sort of poetry book. How can this be? Read on-taste and see. ... Learn about all these things ... and yes...still more. ... A few things that were never quite envisioned before. ...

Loss and impermanence are inescapable, part of the warp and weft of our lives. They are essential to love, to growth, and to art. And yet, too often, we do not acknowledge loss, let alone honour the experience of it. Illuminating, thoughtful, and deeply necessary, Susan Cain's new book will help us to name and value the experience of loss, pointing the way toward ways of being and rituals that help us to accept it rather than bury it. Blending memoir, reportage, and social science, it will reveal that joy and loss exist in equilibrium; that vulnerability, or even a melancholy temperament, can be a strength; and that embracing our inevitable losses makes us more human and more whole.

Anna Lea Pepper is a feisty, independent, determined woman with a mind of her own. With war between the states looming on the horizon, she's even more determined to protect all that she holds dear: her land and family. When her husband, James, goes off to fight with the Missouri State Guard in the War of Northern Aggression, she is left to tend to their farm at Dry Fork Creek and raise their two children, eleven-year-old Pearl and fourteen-year-old Philip. One day, after Anna Lea and her children finish up their chores on the farm, Anna hears a sound that makes her heart freeze with an unfamiliar fear. Drums boom, and there's the sound of feet trampling the ground. Then she sees them coming down the hill in an endless stream of blue, some on horseback, others marching on foot to the constant rattle of fife and drums—Northern soldiers. Captain Allan Saunders of the Federal Army informs her that General Nathaniel Lyon and his troops will be camping at her home. It is the first of a series of events that will thrust her full-force into the violence and turmoil of war. Anna Lea builds walls of resentment around her heart that have to be torn down when she is forced to rely on help from unexpected sources: an Osage Indian family and the very same Federal captain who camped on the Pepper farm at the start of the war. Anna Lea soon learns life can sometimes be Bittersweet. Author Linda Cushman and her husband, Gary, live in rural Polk County, Missouri, on the farm that is the setting for Bittersweet. She raises cattle and writes in her spare time.

Orphan Liam Ryan isn’t asking for much this Christmas--just his Uncle John. And he’s counting on Father Christmas to find a way to make that happen. But when Father Christmas tosses Liam’s letter, claiming that the kid is asking the impossible, his daughter, Winter, takes over. Half-pixie, Winter, longs to do something important with her life, starting with getting a job at the Order of the Shadow Accords, the organization that polices the supernatural world. When she discovers Liam’s uncle works for the Order, it seems like fate. Savaged by werewolves and bitten by a vampire, no one knows what to expect of John Ryan, but it won’t be anything good. So there’s no way he’s getting involved with his nephew...or anyone else. Worse, he’s getting a babysitter over the holidays. But when he meets irrepressible Winter, all that matters is whether she likes her guys to be naughty or nice.... The Order series is best enjoyed in order. Reading Order: Book #1 Bittersweet Blood Book #2 Bittersweet Magic Book #3 Bittersweet Darkness Book #4 Bittersweet Christmas

Many people of Portuguese descent take pride in claiming that the word saudade is untranslatable. In reality, we come close with a melding of bittersweet nostalgia, bone--deep longing, and an endless yearning for what one can never have again--or indeed may never have had. Adelaide Freitas dipped her pen in saudade to tell of family separation and bonds that never loosen. In her authentic Azorean voice, she recounts the immigrant experience and centrifugal impulses that force people apart in spite of their desperation to cling to one another. In their sensitive rendering, the translators have captured the nuances of Freitas's novel Smiling in the Darkness, with special care for those who have her native language in their heritage and heartfelt saudade for its loss.

Mysteries abound in this exciting race through Rome! Beatrice Archer may love history, and Rome may be chock-full of it, but that doesn’t mean she wants to move there! Too bad Beatrice’s father got a job as the head of the history department at the American Academy in Rome—now, Beatrice has no choice but to get used to the idea. When she arrives in Rome she explores her new city as much as she can, but it isn’t until she hears talk of a strange neighborhood legend that Beatrice perks up. A centuries-old unsolved mystery about the beautiful turtle fountain outside her window? Sounds like fun! Before Beatrice has a chance to explore, though, she sees a dark figure emerge from the shadows of the square in the middle of the night—and steal the famous turtle sculptures that give the fountain its name. When no one believes her story, Beatrice knows that it’s up to her to solve the crime and restore the turtles to their rightful place. With the help of her new friend Marco, she navigates a world of unscrupulous ambassadors, tricky tutors, and international art thieves to unravel one of Roman history’s greatest dramas—before another priceless work of art is stolen.