In Rendezvous with the Sensuous readers are drawn to, and become situated within, the dynamic place of the aesthetic experience. While there, human sensuousness comes into relief as it combines with the sensuousness that derives from nature. In this complex place where artistic expression coalesces with the natural world, readers are extended an invitation to share in the journey of a richly diverse synesthetic experience and to gain a greater appreciation of the important place of the sensuous in illuminating the role of aesthetics in the world of ideas.

From bestselling author Linda Lael Miller comes the story of a firebrand heroine and a dashing sea captain—an engaging couple that is fiery and tempestuous, but captive to an unspoken mutual desire. Kidnapped and confined in a harem—that’s not the scenario Charlotte Quade envisioned when she prayed for just one grand adventure before sailing home to Washington Territory from Europe. While exploring the ancient, exotic island kingdom of Riz, Charlotte foolishly lost her way. In a dizzying moment, she was snatched, bound up in a sack and unceremoniously dumped... more—completely naked!—in the ship’s cabin of the very same man who had caught her fancy as a young girl in Seattle: Captain Patrick Trevarran. But Charlotte’s dream lover turned out to be no gentleman! He had once gallantly fetched her, as a mischievous teenager, from the riggings of his ship, but now he appraised her with exasperation and quickly packed her off to the harem of a sultan friend. When they were reunited—as much by mercy as by fate—it was clear that Patrick wished merely to tease and trifle with this pretty, rebellious American. But, through their adventure, Charlotte had discovered a provocative man torn between recklessness and devotion, between storm and calm. Now, with all the strength and passion she possessed, Charlotte would chart a course that would sweep them at last to their destiny—a glorious and resounding love.

This book explores the lived experience of being at home as well as being homeless. Being at home or not is typically a matter of being at a place or not, where such a place is carved out of space and designated as such. It is a place that is both empirical and trans-empirical. When one is at home or not at home, one typically has in mind an inhabited place. To inhabit or not to inhabit it is to find oneself in a place that has an affective presence or absence. In either case, affectivity points to a lived place where lived experience is constituted and displayed. Thus, in this context, affectivity becomes more than the subject of empirical psychology. If psychology were to have access, it would be in the context of phenomenological or existential psychology – a psychology that has its roots in the sensible world and, hence, a psychology that expresses an aesthetic dimension. Each of the contributors in this book extends an invitation to the readers to participate in constituting, extending, and sharing with others the sense of either being at home or of being homeless. This book appeals to students, researchers as well as general interest readers.

From bestselling author Linda Lael Miller comes the tale of a brooding crown prince, a castle filled with intrigue, and a high-spirited beauty headed for trouble—and love. Sweepingly romantic and deliciously spicy, this enchanting story shows once again why Romantic Times Book Reviews named Linda Lael Miller “The Most Outstanding Writer of Sensual Romance.” A visit with Bavia’s royal family was supposed to be the stuff dreams were made of for Annie Trevarren, an American girl abroad. Instead it was turning into a disaster. First Annie impetuously crawled onto a castle roof and had to be rescued by Crown Prince Rafael St. James himself. Then her dearest friend, the prince’s sister, Phaedra, balks at an arranged wedding. The peasants rebel. The throne totters. Worst of all, Annie is losing her heart. Alas, Prince Rafael is no knight in shining armor. His former mistress has moved into the castle, and his notorious temper is flaring. But when fate brings Annie and her prince together in a secluded cottage, she can see his stern gaze soften. And his fleeting caresses...is Rafael seducing her? A future with him is highly improbable—but a life without him is unthinkable. Rafael may intend to offer her a lesson in passion, but she’ll teach the arrogant prince a better one: nothing is a greater ruler than love!

With every irresistible tale, bestselling author Linda Lael Miller, named by RT Book Reviews “The Most Outstanding Writer of Sensual Romance,” has stirred our hearts and swept us into a far-off time and place. Now she weaves her first contemporary romance, set in a wild land that shimmers with all the heat and tantalizing mystery of love itself—the fiery story of a spirited heroine, a headstrong rancher, and a timeless passion that could not be denied… “She who loves and runs away, lives to love another day” was Jacy Tiernan’s credo. Only this fair-haired beauty had never loved again after Ian Yarbro. Ten years ago, she had fled her beloved Australian homestead with a shattered soul. Ian,the rugged sheep rancher who’d awakened her young heart to the most exquisite pleasures, had sired the child of another woman. Unable to forgive him, Jacy ran off to New York to live with her wealthy divorced mother, leaving behind all dreams of happiness. Now Jacy had returned to Corroboree Springs to care for her ailing father. And Ian was waiting, his heart as hard and defiant as the great Outback. Jacy knew she dared not love this proud and brooding man. Yet she also knew they could not deny the fevered passion that still blazed across them like bushfire. And when her father made a final wish that she and Ian wed, and unite their lands to ensure the future, Jacy realized she could no longer run. This time she would have to stand her ground and find the courage to turn a bitter clash of wills into a true bond...and Ian’s burning hunger into the sweet, everlasting ecstasy of love.

The world of aesthetics is, itself, inextricable from the world as a whole. Indeed, as this book argues, it is among its essential features, and an invaluable key to its appreciation. Thus, to venture into the uncharted world of aesthetics is also to venture into this larger world, a world that might be called the “cosmos” or the “universe”. At the same time, to venture into this uncharted realm is to also blaze a trail to the self. This trail would, itself, be paradoxical, as it would end where it begins and begin where it ends. In this light, it may also be said that the uncharted world of aesthetics is the uncharted world of the self. This book provides insights into how works about aesthetics are also works reflective of the self, as well as works with endless possibilities of being.

"African Philosophical Adventures calls for a recognition and affirmation of African philosophy as an adventure. This understanding fosters and cultivates inquisitive open-mindedness and is animated by wonder"--

Every human sense becomes the basis of a sensuous trajectory that emanates from the body. In this book, noted authors, scholars and artists take up a wide range of topics, bringing to the fore the uniquely complex and diverse ways in which the body interacts with the experiential dimensions that correspond to such a trajectory, and in which the body also intersects and coalesces with the dimensions of other such trajectories. The topics treated here are reflective of the broad and diverse backgrounds of the contributors. Each sets out to call attention to the lived body in insightful and meaningful ways, highlighting the connection between the body and its sensorial trajectories. Collectively, the chapters of this book also serve to call attention to aesthetically lived experiences associated with the phenomenon of synesthesia, as well as to the role of sensorial trajectories in a wide range of experiential psychic states ranging from the ecstatic to the melancholic. In this book, readers are offered a greater appreciation of this thought-provoking, informative and compelling subject of the human senses and related sensuous trajectories. It will be of particular value to those interested in aesthetics and the arts, especially from cross-cultural and intercultural perspectives. More broadly, as a study of the body’s relationship to the natural world, it will also be of value to those interested in philosophy and the arts, phenomenological studies, cultural studies and the humanities in general.

Among the first and foremost of American continental philosophers, Alphonso Lingis refines his own thought through a topic usually deemed unworthy of philosophical examination—passion. Lingis criticizes traditional scientific accounts of the emotions as dividing or disrupting our lives and argues for passion as a unifying force, a concept which invites philosophical exploration. The book’s structure is twofold. First, it offers an examination of Lingis’s most recent developments through the topic of passion with essays from some of the most established commentators on the work of Lingis. Second, it offers a substantial retrospective on Lingis’s thought in relation to some of the major figures in continental philosophy, namely Levinas, Kant, Heidegger, Butler, Foucault, and Nietzsche, all interweaving the theme of passion. Written to celebrate the eightieth anniversary of Lingis’s birth, these essays show how Lingis’s thought has not only endured over so many productive decades but also remains vital and even continues to grow.