The only thing inevitable in love is despair. I knew from the start that he would wreck me. Nothing could have prepared me for the day he walked into my life ... or the day he walked out of it. I self-destructed. All that remained was a shell of the girl I once was. SHATTERED. And I don't know if I'll ever recover.

Love stories have always been at the heart of French cinema, but romantic comedies have, until recently, been absent from it. In 2001, the global success of Amelie catalysed a major development in the Western world's second-largest film industry: the appropriation of the 'Hollywood' romantic comedy genre (or Rom-Com a l'Americaine). In From France with Love, Mary Harrod explores this contemporary phenomenon, examining both local hits and films with international status. Using socio-cultural data, box-office figures and analysis of critical reception, she reveals the ways in which these films mirror shifting attitudes towards gender roles within French society, as well as the increasingly important interrelation between French national cinema and transnational filmmaking paradigms.

What is love? Popular culture bombards us with notions of the intoxicating capacities of love or of beguiling women who can bewitch or heal—to the point that it is easy to believe that such images are timeless and universal. Not so, argues Laine Doggett in Love Cures. Aspects of love that are expressed in popular music—such as “love is a drug,” “sexual healing,” and “love potion number nine”—trace deep roots to Old French romance of the high Middle Ages. A young woman heals a poisoned knight. A mother prepares a love potion for a daughter who will marry a stranger in a faraway land. How can readers interpret such events? In contrast to scholars who have dismissed these women as fantasy figures or labeled them “witches,” Doggett looks at them in the light of medical and magical practices of the high Middle Ages. Love Cures argues that these practitioners, as represented in romance, have shaped modern notions of love. Love Cures seeks to engage scholars of love, marriage, and magic in disciplines as diverse as literature, history, anthropology, and philosophy.

Buenos Aries boasts a number of impressive buildings in a range of architectural styles. But when Anat Meidan, an art collector with a passion for La Belle Époque, moved to the city, she was delighted to discover how much of the city's Art Nouveau architecture from the early 20th century had survived. The author set about researching these extraordinary buildings as well as the people who designed and built them. Working with Gustavo Sosa Pinilla, Meidan toured the city and documented its architecture, using a few well-placed connections to gain access to the interiors of private homes and buildings usually closed to the general public. In this meticulously researched, richly illustrated book, featuring hundreds of splendid photographs, the reader is invited to share the author's voyage around the city as she narrates a very personal account of her love affair with Buenos Aires.

Love blooms along the picturesque New England coastline in these seven romantic tales. From small-town sweetness to fast-paced action, this value-priced digital bundle offers swoon-worthy seductions for every reader. Always My Hero: Ryan Pettridge left Scallop Shores, Maine, a hometown hero with a full scholarship to UCLA and an NFL destiny. But a freak accident stole his dreams, and the all-star athlete returned home to take over the family hardware store. When he comes face to face with his former flame, Bree Adams, it’s clear they still can’t resist each other. But will their difficult past be too much to overcome, or can Bree prove to Ryan once and for all that he has always been a hero in her eyes? One Day’s Loving: Mae Alden likes her quiet life—she’s certainly not cut out to defy convention like her sisters. But everything changes when Boston attorney James Collins reads her father’s will and Mae must choose between who she is and the marriage everyone expects. Could James himself offer the answer to both? The White Carnation: The last person disgraced Boston Examiner reporter Faye Lewis wants back in her life is Detective Rob Halliday, the man she blames for ruining her career and breaking her heart. But when an old friend is murdered, he’s assigned the case. Can they set their troubled past aside and work together, or will the Harvester serial killer and his cult followers reap another prize? The Way You Love Me: When self-confident surgeon Melanie Sweet volunteers her skills in war-torn Kazakhstan, ex-Navy SEAL and security expert Jake McCabe is secretly assigned to protect her. Their attraction is intense as they team up to rescue an orphaned child and escape back to Boston. But Melanie has her own past that’s about to threaten their relationship, too. Will secrets and lies prove stronger than their chance at love? Love Is in the Air: When Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sergeant Jim Cromwell and airline pilot Captain Sophie Berg are hurt in a drive-by shooting, their bond is palpable, even though he suspects she’s the head of the Maine drug smuggling ring he’s sworn to bring down. Then she’s kidnapped, and Jim must decide whether to believe his head or his heart. The Bride’s Curse: In Bar Harbor, Maine, three brides in a row return a gorgeous vintage wedding dress to Kelly Andrews’s Wedding Bliss store, claiming it’s cursed. Kelly thinks it’s nonsense, but these returns are bad for business, so she’d better get to the bottom of the problem. Researching the gown, she meets Brett Atwell, the handsome nephew of the dress’s original owner, and a mischievous spirit sends the two of them on a goose chase for a groom who went missing decades ago. Will love get its due at long last? The Rebel’s Own: In high school, a cruel prank left shy Kennedy Bailey pregnant and alone. Now grown-up and gorgeous, she won’t let anything stop her from saving her five-year-old son’s life when he’s diagnosed with leukemia. Even if it means confronting his father, Boston Rebels quarterback Ryan Carville, who just wants a second chance to show he’s a man worth loving. Sensuality Level: Sensual

Patrick Peterson was finally home at his Peterson estate in Thomasville city after being his chosen brother’s bodyguard for the past two months. His brother, George Jr. Jones, had a brain operation at the Lord Winsor Private Hospital. The operation was performed by Dr. Lord Winsor in Winsor Town, England. While Patrick was guarding George from six o’clock in the morning until twelve a.m., Patrick’s agent, Kathleen James, was guarding him for six hours, from midnight until six a.m., so Patrick would get a chance to get some sleep before he started another shift in looking after his brother once again. One day, he was just coming out of George’s room when Kathleen was about to knock on his hospital door. Out of the blue, she asked Patrick how his three-and-a-half-year-old little girl, Sabrina, was. Patrick was shocked because no one knew that he had a little girl. He pulled Kathleen hard against his chest, whispering in her ear that she better tell him how she knew about his little girl, Sabrina, if she knew what was good for her.

Documents the Gilded Age love story of an heiress who fought for women's rights and an architect, tracing their upbringings, their pursuits, and their advocacy efforts on behalf of the poor and disenfranchised.