Chad Walker may be a take-no-chances man with a plan, but there's no way Amelia Snyder is going to let her best bud marry Mean Girl #1—even if the wedding is solely so he can secure the controlling shares in his family's company. But free-spirited Amelia's at-the-altar groomnapping scheme takes a surprising turn when she ends up as the blushing bride instead. Suddenly, with Amelia living in her handsome husband's home—in his bedroom, no less—she starts to reconsider their strictly platonic arrangement. But Chad's always been strictly anti-risk and definitely anti-love, and betting a lifetime of best friendship on the chance at forever might be the biggest gamble of all. Each book in the Stealing the Heart series is a standalone, full-length story that can be enjoyed out of order. Series Order: Book #1 Stealing the Groom Book #2 Resisting Her Rival Book #3 Stealing the Bachelor

Ball gowns. Bodyguards. Blackmail. No one told Grace Sparrow that palace life would be easy, but she never suspected someone would actively try to sabotage her. That’s what she gets for taking one of the world’s most eligible bachelors off the market. There’s one woman in particular who’s determined not to let Prince Damon go without a fight. Damon’s ex, Natalia, offers to throw an engagement party, which would be charming if the whole affair weren’t a setup. Or if Grace could remember what happened. All she knows is that Natalia filmed that night’s events, and promises the tape will bring her royal dreams crashing down. Grace’s plan is simple: Get the tape. Clear her name. And steal back her groom. keywords: royal romance, royalty, billionaire, billionaire romance, new adult, alpha male, royal wedding, billionaire prince, royal proposal, wedding, royal romance novel, discount books, sale

Her marriage of convenience is inconvenient to the two men who love her. Mara isn’t in love…at least not with the prospective groom. No, she’s in love with two men who are completely off-limits to her. Two. Not one. Two. Well, it is what it is, and it’s never happening. Her fantasies can be her own little secret. Determined to get her head on straight, she secretly ends her arrangement then heads off to a retreat alone in the woods. She’ll be far, far away from civilization and the two men who tempt her. As far as Jacob and Daniel are concerned, Mara is out of her ever-lovin’ mind if she thinks she’ll ever be with another man. She is theirs, and they’ll prove it. Even if they have to steal the bride.

This book explores the history of Russian peasant bride theft - abduction, capture - from the adoption of Christianity in Kievan Rus in the late tenth century to the very early twentieth century. It argues that bride theft in eighteenth and nineteenth century Russia was practised in large part by, but not exclusively by, Old Believers, the schismatics who rejected the Church reforms of the mid-seventeenth century and shunned contact with the Orthodox Church; and that the point of bride theft, where the bride was often a willing party, often married secretly at night by an Orthodox priest acting illegally, was to absolve the bride and her parents of the responsibility for engaging in a formal Orthodox ritual which Old Believers regarded as sinful. The book also considers how bride theft originated much earlier in Russia and was a continuing tradition in some places, and how all this fitted into the Russian peasant economy. Throughout the book provides rich details of particular bride theft cases, of Russian peasant life, and of Russian folklore, in particular bridal laments.

“Universe never rejects you, it redirects you!” Dev suffers from schizophrenia and fails to acknowledge it. His mind hallucinates a girl, and he gradually starts believing he has a divine connection with her. Kriti is narcissistic, eccentric, confident and beautiful. They both become best friends. One day Kriti realises she is in love with Dev and waits for the day when he will confess the same to her. Yash struggles between his father’s expectations and his dreams. He wants him to become a surgeon, while Yash aspires to be a chef. Will Dev ever find out about his disorder? Will he ever find the mystery girl or accept Kriti’s feelings? Will Kriti understand that love can only be felt and never forced? Will Yash ever become a chef or sacrifice his dreams to fulfil his father’s wishes?

Putting on gas masks and learning how to shoot Kalashnikov rifles in grade school made Soviet children fear possible attack by Cold War enemies. But a more prosaic invasion of Colorado beetles in the 1980s turned out to be a far more real threat to Soviet families. Many had to master farming when the state, near its demise, no longer had the finances to pay salaries. One of the last generation of Soviet teenagers who tasted the political restrictions and propaganda, and the benefits and deficits of the communist state, the author recalls her early years in a Soviet school, a Young Pioneer inauguration ceremony, work on a collective farm, her family's plot of land and their fights against invasive insects, and her first breaths of post-Soviet freedom, which brought economic havoc and bitter disappointments, along with new hopes.

The Treasury of Laughs is a treasure house for students of literature, psycholinguistics, history, sociology, and cultural anthropology. Feng Menglong systematically collected and edited 700-odd humourous skits that presented the entire spectrum of traditional Chinese jokes, and wrote commentaries of great philosophical insight. The anthology offers satirical caricatures of human follies from the cradle to the grave and reveals tension in all sectors of human societies and institutions. Hsu Pi-ching reconstructs the complete Ming Chinese original with meticulous editorial work, in modern punctuated typesetting, and provides the only complete English translation available, with useful footnotes on word plays, literary allusions, and historical background. Readers should find the introductory essays on the connections between humour and emotions/states of mind particularly illuminating.

Friends don't let friends marry the wrong woman... Chad Walker may be a take-no-chances man with a plan, but there's no way Amelia Snyder is going to let her best bud marry Mean Girl #1-even if the wedding is solely so he can secure the controlling shares in his family's company. But free-spirited Amelia's at-the-altar groomnapping scheme takes a surprising turn when she ends up as the blushing bride instead. Suddenly, with Amelia living in her handsome husband's home-in his bedroom, no less-she starts to reconsider their strictly platonic arrangement. But Chad's always been strictly anti-risk and definitely anti-love, and betting a lifetime of best friendship on the chance at forever might be the biggest gamble of all.

First Published in 2012. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.