Eons ago, a great king used a magical device—the Seven-Petaled Shield—to defeat the forces of primal chaos, but now few remember that secret knowledge. When an ambitious emperor conquers the city that safeguards the Shield, the newly-widowed young Queen, guardian of the heart-stone of the Shield, flees for her life, along with her adolescent son. As one land after another falls to the empire, they become separated and her son fears the emperor has executed his mother. Consumed with grief and vengeance, he transforms himself into the agent of chaos, a ravening destroyer who threatens all the living world. The only ones standing in the way of annihilation are the mother he thinks is dead, a dispossessed enemy prince, a demented prophet, and the nomadic horsewoman whose love alone can heal the heart of the heir to the magical Shield.

A Kirkus notable new release! Shannivar is a young warrior, skilled in horsemanship and archery and raised by her uncle, the clan chieftain. When all the other young warrior-women have set aside their bows and arrows for husbands, she still dreams of glory. Desperate to resist the imperialistic arm of the nearby growing empire, all of the clans of her nation are gathering to propose an alliance. As Shannivar and her fellow delegates travel to the meeting, they encounter a stranger, Zevaron, heir to the magical Seven-Petaled Shield. Zevaron also seeks to halt the empire’s expansion on behalf of his own fallen lost nation and joins forces with Shannivar. Shannivar has never met anyone like Zevaron, with his aura of power and quiet assurance. Soon the clan gathering is ready, except for the mysterious absence of the clan from the far north. When the ragged band of the missing delegates finally arrive, they tell strange and ominous stories; and Zevaron, bestowed with the ancient central stone of the mystical Seven-Petaled Shield, feels a great emanation of danger from the north . Together, he and Shannivar set out on a journey to discover the source of these dangers—a quest even the prophets believe will fail. Shannivar is the second installment of the thrilling The Seven-Petaled Shield series.

The third and final volume of The Seven-Petaled Shield series! For Shannivar, warrior of the Azkhantia Steppe, the future is grim. She faces twin threats: the mighty Gelon empire, ruthessly conquering independent nations like her own, and the malevolent entity of Fire and Ice, unleashed from its prison in the Far North. And she must face them alone. After meeting Zevaron, an exiled prince in search of aid from Azkhantia, Shannivar and Zevaron had traveled together and fallen in love. But their journey to the north to investigate dangerous omens failed when Zevaron was enthralled by the monstrous Fire and Ice. Now Zevaron's hatred for Gelon, the empire that destroyed his kingdom and killed his mother, threatens to consume not only him, but all the living world.

Alien warriors need women and Earth needs protection from invasion. The price? Brides. Continue the adventure in the Warlord Brides universe with growly, protective alien warriors who will do anything for their mates. Warlord's Baby: What to expect when you’re expecting an alien’s baby. Mercy has been pregnant for-freaking-ever. She’s tired and grumpy and ready to get this kid out of her. Of course, being adored by her alien warlord husband is awesome but she hasn’t seen her feet in a month. And she can’t get over this sneaking suspicion that there’s something Paax isn’t telling her... Just as Mercy needs Paax the most, tension within the clan pulls them apart. He’s nowhere to be found when she goes into labor. Seeran: He never lost control. Responsible for the security of his clan and warlord, he couldn't afford distraction or attachment. Then, on a Terran beach, he stumbled upon a male assaulting a female. The ice that ran through his veins turned to fire. The frightened female is his mate. Whatever control he'd possessed snapped in a moment of recklessness, and he hoped that was all he'd lost. Hazel shouldn't desire the terrifying alien. She'd just escaped a disastrous marriage with a violent man, so how could she fall for a growling soldier who punched first and asked questions later? Why did his arms feel like the safest place in the universe? Her gut said to trust Seeran, but her intuition had failed her so many times before. Rohn: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Nakia may have lost a leg during the Invasion, but she’s not going to let that keep her from what she wants. And she wants Rohn. She has since the moment the alien warrior rescued her from a collapsed building. But she’s afraid he still only perceives her as a damaged, frail human. She wants him to recognize her as so much more, and she won’t rest until he understands they belong together. Rohn might be past his prime, but he’s not blind. He sees how the other males look at his mate with envy, admiration, and want. They would tempt her away from him, take her for their own, and claim that an old, scarred warrior like him could not satisfy the appetite of a vibrant young female. He’ll battle any threat to his mate, friend or foe, and prove himself worthy. Jaxar: Once bitten, twice shy. Vanessa knows what aliens want—babies— and she’s not having it. She’ll change her name, change her ID chip, and hunker down on a miserable moon on the far side of the galaxy before she gets matched to an alien brute. Again. Jaxar knows that Vanessa is the one for him but he needs time to convince her. With the clock ticking, he’ll do anything to claim her reluctant heart. Even steal her. Contains four complete stories, each with a HEA and growly, possessive alien warrior: Warlord's Baby Seeran Rohn Jaxar

This is the first book to offer a comprehensive look at the problem of cheating on assessments (tests) across all levels of the American educational system. It is organized around seven major objectives that identify this problem by: 1. introducing and defining the problem of cheating and documenting the extent of its occurrence; 2. cataloging and presenting information on the methods used to cheat on tests; 3. providing information on methods useful for preventing cheating; 4. describing methods used to detect cheating once it has occurred; 5. synthesizing what is known about predispositions, correlates, and cultural differences in cheating; 6. summarizing legal issues related to cheating; and 7. illustrating ways in which individuals and institutions respond to cheating. Cheating on Tests is informally written using a minimum of professional jargon and numerous anecdotes and cases. Technical information is largely confined to end-of-book appendices. It will appeal to all serious stakeholders in our educational system from parents and school board members to professionals directly connected to our schools and the testing industry.

This book, written by two nationally renowned scholars in the area of ethics in higher education, is intended to help teachers and administrators understand and handle problems of academic dishonesty. Chock-full of practical advice, the book is divided into three parts. Part I reviews the existing published literature about academic dishonesty among college and university students and how faculty members respond to the problem. Part II presents practical advice designed to help college and university instructors and administrators deal proactively and effectively with academic dishonesty. Part III considers the broader question of academic integrity as a system-wide issue within institutions of higher education.

Comprehensive reference grammar of Ingush, a language of the Nakh branch of the Nakh-Daghestanian or East Caucasian language family of the central Caucasus (southern Russia). Ingush is notable for its complex phonology, prosody including minimal tone system, complex morphology of both nouns and verbs, clause chaining, long-distance reflexivization, and extreme degree of syntactic ergativity.

What to expect when you’re expecting an alien’s baby. Mercy has been pregnant for-freaking-ever. She’s tired and grumpy and ready to get this kid out of her. Of course, being adored by her alien warlord husband is awesome but she hasn’t seen her feet in a month. And she can’t get over this sneaking suspicion that there’s something Paax isn’t telling her... Just as Mercy needs Paax the most, tension within the clan pulls them apart. He’s nowhere to be found when she goes into labor.

A return to the one place she should not go. A band injury forces Kelsey Hale and her team to return to space station Sanctuary, the last remaining Weaver refuge among the multiple Universes. Not a good place to go considering the Weaver Council wants to take away her Weaver band. Kelsey turns the risky visit into an opportunity to learn more about Professor Hadrian's ultimate plan for his Phoenix Eggs. Only one other person might know: Dr. Rozelle Mallard, his former aide and traveling companion. Professor Hadrian arrives on Sanctuary to heal his own band injury and he will do anything necessary to keep certain information forever secret. He knows of a way to silence Rozelle while also stealing Kelsey's Phoenix Eggs. Never mind that it will kill the both of them. He forgets the Weaver team he is dealing with. He forgets Kelsey's determination to never give up. He forgets what Phoenix Eggs really are. Join Kelsey Hale in a coming of age science fiction adventure across alternate universes and encounters with alien planets, species and societies. Thrust into a dangerous journey to places she could have never imagined, she is determined to discover the truth of her mysterious past. A truth that will change her life forever. Titles in "The String Weaver" Series The String Weavers The Phoenix Eggs The Dark Phoenix The Dividers The Tower of Epnos When the Skies Fell Celestial Fire

This book presents Markov and quantum processes as two sides of a coin called generated stochastic processes. It deals with quantum processes as reversible stochastic processes generated by one-step unitary operators, while Markov processes are irreversible stochastic processes generated by one-step stochastic operators. The characteristic feature of quantum processes are oscillations, interference, lots of stationary states in bounded systems and possible asymptotic stationary scattering states in open systems, while the characteristic feature of Markov processes are relaxations to a single stationary state. Quantum processes apply to systems where all variables, that control reversibility, are taken as relevant variables, while Markov processes emerge when some of those variables cannot be followed and are thus irrelevant for the dynamic description. Their absence renders the dynamic irreversible. A further aim is to demonstrate that almost any subdiscipline of theoretical physics can conceptually be put into the context of generated stochastic processes. Classical mechanics and classical field theory are deterministic processes which emerge when fluctuations in relevant variables are negligible. Quantum mechanics and quantum field theory consider genuine quantum processes. Equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistics apply to the regime where relaxing Markov processes emerge from quantum processes by omission of a large number of uncontrollable variables. Systems with many variables often self-organize in such a way that only a few slow variables can serve as relevant variables. Symmetries and topological classes are essential in identifying such relevant variables. The third aim of this book is to provide conceptually general methods of solutions which can serve as starting points to find relevant variables as to apply best-practice approximation methods. Such methods are available through generating functionals. The potential reader is a graduate student who has heard already a course in quantum theory and equilibrium statistical physics including the mathematics of spectral analysis (eigenvalues, eigenvectors, Fourier and Laplace transformation). The reader should be open for a unifying look on several topics.