A dying man's last words threatened to reveal the identity of a powerful crime boss, and after hearing them, Dr. Maya Santiago knew her life was in danger. As a killer stalked her, only one man could help… Homicide lieutenant Stephen Talbot had always wanted Maya. Even though he didn't feel worthy of the compassionate doctor, he was determined to protect her at all costs—especially from himself. But as he and Maya grew closer…and the killer drew nearer…could she convince him to put his heart on the line as well?

"We don't shoot the warn. We shoot to kill." Mitchell threatened. "You think I'm afraid of you?" Darren laughed, a little too loud for their liking. "You've got some nerve Darren to be trying to play me like this. You should know I never lose." Kale barked. "You can't lose if you were never in the game to begin with Kale." "Looks like I'll keep on reigning with you out of the picture. Remember, Kings never die. Say hi to your gang in hell for me." Kale spat, cocking his gun and pointing it down at the beaten body that was smiling victoriously up at him. What happens when a gang leader and a rich girl end up in a tricky situation? Chaos. It's a paradise, and it's a war zone. On what looks to be like the perfect first day of summer, turns into complete destruction. You wouldn't expect to become friends with the town's notorious bad boy and kidnapped by a gang of rebellious boys, but unfortunately for Addison Montgomery - exactly that happens. You could say her luck runs thin, but for Kale Matthews it's not all bad. But of course, with every bad boy comes a good girl who doesn't know the tricks of the trade.

After witnessing an armed robbery, a woman in danger needs a bodyguard’s protection in this suspenseful romance from USA TODAY bestselling author Christy Barritt, part of The Security Experts series. When Elle Philips witnesses an armed robbery while standing in line at the bank, she sets into motion a deadly game of cat and mouse. Mark Denton, a security contractor and former Navy SEAL, also witnesses the robbery, and is hired by Elle’s father to keep his daughter safe following the incident. And while Denton’s desire to protect Elle goes beyond professional bounds, he cannot let personal feelings cloud his judgment—judgment he’ll have to rely on when the robbers’ true motives are revealed…and Elle becomes a target in the ultimate plot of revenge. Experience more action-packed mystery and suspense in the rest of The Security Experts series by Christy Barritt: Key Witness Lifeline High-Stakes Holiday Reunion From Love Inspired Suspense: Courage. Danger. Faith.

Angels and Vampires are deadly enemies. An Angel Prince looking for his fated mate to break his curse. A Vampire King with a heart of stone. Rejected by her fated mate, Aria loses her humanity after being saved by a monster she believed only to exist in horror stories. But everything isn’t what it seems when her savior becomes a handsome angel prince who awakened her ancient and deadly powers. Powers that can destroy the world, or save it. Only true love can break the prince’s curse and stop him from turning into stone for all eternity. Despite the overwhelming chemistry between Aria and the prince, they only have thirty days to fall in love before their bond is put to the test. Peril strikes in the form of an addictive drug that can kill vampires and angels are to blame. Conflict is blooming and the peace treaty between the Angel Prince and the Vampire King is threatened. Aria is caught in a love triangle when the Vampire King discovers that the young woman he had refused to take as his is now the prince’s new mate. Tormented by the rash decision that almost killed her, the king now believes that he’s saving Aria from the clutches of the manipulative prince. Finding out that supernatural creatures exist becomes less terrifying for Aria than discovering what she’s destined to become if she lets her Archangel’s abilities take over and change her. Aria is much more than an average, eighteen-year-old girl, she’s now a deadly Archangel warrior and the future queen of the angels and gargoyles if only she can manage to break her lover’s curse and keep the Vampire King at bay. What would you give up for true love? Find out in Archangel’s Kiss.

Decorum Vs. Destiny She might be the stepdaughter of one of the most powerful media moguls in Washington, but Lucy Royall is no pampered princess—she's making her own way as a junior reporter. But when congressional investigator Hayden Black accuses her stepfather of criminal wrongdoing, she shows her family loyalty and takes Hayden on. Then, as things heat up, the sexy single dad takes her to bed! Talk about a conflict of interest. Will their illicit passion turn into something more lasting, even in the face of controversy so huge it rocks a nation?

In the early hours of an August 2007 morning a gunfight broke out in an Italian restaurant in Duisburg, Germany; in less than five minutes over seventy shots were fired into the bodies of six men. Both the victims and the assassins were members of the 'Ndrangheta crime organization. Calabria's Mafia had brazenly shown its savage influence outside Italy for the first time. In The Honored Society award-winning investigative reporter Petra Reski reveals the Mafia menace lurking throughout the world-- from espresso bars in Palermo to European halls of parliament to the corporate headquarters of enormous agricultural firms. In haunting and exquisite prose she explores the Byzantine structure of the 'Ndrangheta, Cosa Nostra and other mafia clans throughout Italy -- the code they live by, the destruction they wreak, how they operate within the country and how they operate internationally. She shows how these syndicates dominate everything from nuclear waste disposal to hotel chains to the marijuana trade in Australia and cocaine trafficked throughout the world. Reski shows how figures such as Silvio Berlusconi were made by the Mafia, and how those who dared to defy its codes were broken. A searing portrait of the criminals who have come to control not only Italy but vast swathes of the globe, The Honored Society is a journalistic tour de force.

Consider the usual view of film noir: endless rainy nights populated by down-at-the-heel boxers, writers, and private eyes stumbling toward inescapable doom while stalked by crooked cops and cheating wives in a neon-lit urban jungle. But a new generation of writers is pushing aside the fog of cigarette smoke surrounding classic noir scholarship. In Kiss the Blood Off My Hands: On Classic Film Noir, Robert Miklitsch curates a bold collection of essays that reassesses the genre's iconic style, history, and themes. Contributors analyze the oft-overlooked female detective and little-examined aspects of filmmaking like love songs and radio aesthetics, discuss the significance of the producer and women's pulp fiction, and investigate topics as disparate as Disney noir and the Fifties heist film, B-movie back projection and blacklisted British directors. At the same time the writers' collective reconsideration shows the impact of race and gender, history and sexuality, technology and transnationality on the genre. As bracing as a stiff drink, Kiss the Blood Off My Hands writes the future of noir scholarship in lipstick and chalk lines for film fans and scholars alike. Contributors: Krin Gabbard, Philippa Gates, Julie Grossman, Robert Miklitsch, Robert Murphy, Mark Osteen, Vivian Sobchack, Andrew Spicer, J. P. Telotte, and Neil Verma.

The KISS of DEATH Jennifer Mayfield was a beautiful young woman whose life was touched by tragedy when she was only 16. She endured multiple sexual assaults, which left severe emotional scars. With some treatment from a psychologist friend, she regains some sense of normalcy, only to see both her first two husbands die a violent death. Was the psychologist friend really a friend, or did he have ulterior motives? When she overhears what she believes is a threat against her life by her third husband, her life is again in shambles, that is, until she hires John Cansler, the handsome Private Investigator, to do some digging. Narrowly escaping death by a bomb planted in her car convinces Jennifer she was correct. Did a decision to take matters into her own hands and no longer be a victim make her a black widow with the kiss of death? This story has a tragic ending but it mirrors real life.