At the young age of seven, Raven found her mother dead on the bathroom floor, having overdosed on heroine. She knew she would never end up like her mother, but it wouldnt be easy to change her life circumstances, especially since she was suddenly and terribly alone at the age of seven. But Raven was always special. She was beautiful and filled with life; sometimes, she would even feel her mothers spirit watching over her, keeping her safe. As Raven grows into a young woman in the inner city of Toledo, Ohio, she eventually meets the man of her dreams, Calvin. As she soon finds out, though, you cant always tell a good apple from a bad one just by looking at its skin. Calvin gradually turns into the man of her nightmares, as their relationship spirals out of control and deep into the depths of physical and emotional abuse. As Ravens confidence slowly breaks, she feels her lively spirit breaking, too. Raven still feels the spirit of her mother, pulling her back to their family tree and the strong roots that raised her. Somewhere, Raven must discover her inner beauty again, hidden beneath the bruises. She must find the will to go on living, despite a broken heart. It is the strength of her core that will keep her alive and dreaming. The good apple that had some bad luck can still be sweet with a little hope, love, and faith.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Soon to be a Hulu Original series • The internationally acclaimed author of Wild collects the best of The Rumpus's Dear Sugar advice columns plus never-before-published pieces. Rich with humor and insight—and absolute honesty—this "wise and compassionate" (New York Times Book Review) book is a balm for everything life throws our way. Life can be hard: your lover cheats on you; you lose a family member; you can’t pay the bills—and it can be great: you’ve had the hottest sex of your life; you get that plum job; you muster the courage to write your novel. Sugar—the once-anonymous online columnist at The Rumpus, now revealed as Cheryl Strayed, author of the bestselling memoir Wild—is the person thousands turn to for advice.

'The first time I committed suicide was when I was ten years old. There have been many more suicides since.'??Adam is cursed. He cannot die.But one man's burden is another man's blessing, and there are people who are out to harness Adam's special talents. However, Adam soon discovers that immortality comes at a cost; every time he dies, he loses a little bit of himself. So when Adam meets Lilyanne - his reason for living - he's forced to choose between life and love.

Are you a man (or woman) who is sick and tired of members of the opposite sex engaging in "manipulative head games" with you in today's ever-so-challenging dating scene? Read Alan Roger Currie's second paperback entitled, "Upfront and Straightforward"

Most dating books tell you what NOT to do. Here's a book dedicated to telling you what you CAN do. In his book, Get the Guy, Matthew Hussey—relationship expert, matchmaker, and star of the reality show Ready for Love—reveals the secrets of the male mind and the fundamentals of dating and mating for a proven, revolutionary approach to help women to find lasting love. Matthew Hussey has coached thousands of high-powered CEOs, showing them how to develop confidence and build relationships that translate into professional success. Many of Matthew’s male clients pressed him for advice on how to apply his winning strategies not to just get the job, but how to get the girl. As his reputation grew, Hussey was approached by more and more women, eager to hear what he had learned about the male perspective on love and romance. From landing a first date to establishing emotional intimacy, playful flirtation to red-hot bedroom tips, Matthew’s insightfulness, irreverence, and warmth makes Get the Guy: Learn Secrets of the Male Mind to Find the Man You Want and the Love You Deserve a one-of-a-kind relationship guide and the handbook for every woman who wants to get the guy she’s been waiting for.

Currie breaks down the "Four Modes of Verbal Communication" to help readers better understand why men exhibit the behavior they do towards the women they are either interested in dating or having a few episodes of casual sex with.

“A holiday escape as fluffy and sinful as a Christmas pastry.” —Entertainment Weekly All’s fair in love and prank wars For barista and café owner Sari Tomas, Christmas means parols, family, and no-holds-barred karaoke contests. This year, though, a new neighbor is throwing a wrench in all her best-laid plans. The baker next door—“some fancy boy from Manila”—might have cute buns, but when he tries to poach her customers with cheap coffee and cheaper tactics, the competition is officially on. And Baker Boy better be ready, because Sari never loses. Foodie extraordinaire Gabriel Capras want to prove to his dad that his career choice doesn’t make him any less a man. The Laneways might not be Manila, but the close-knit community is the perfect spot to grow his bakery into a thriving business. He wasn’t expecting a gorgeous adversary in the barista next door, but flirting with her makes his heart race, and it’s not just the caffeine. It’s winner takes all this Christmas. And more than one competitor might just lose their heart for the holidays.

Rory made up a fianc�. Then he showed up at her door. And he's not happy. Rory doesn't think she should be irresistible to the guy she went on six (six!) pity dates with; after all, she's deeply attached to her cat, she's a workaholic, and her hair deserves its own zip code. But she can't get him to leave her alone, so she invents an engagement.It's her high school crush, Logan O'Malley, who comes to mind. For one, he was gorgeous and kind and funny. For two, he was voted Most Likely To Leave Rocksville Forever. And three? He's disappeared into Marine-land. Or has he? Because then he finds her in his bakery. And he is not a very happy fianc�. Logan hates Rocksville. If he had his way, he'd be surfing. But his brothers guilt-trip him into coming home for his two weeks of R&R. Close quarters with the father he doesn't get along with? And the two brothers who want him to talk about his feelings after his last deployment went horribly awry? Logan's got enough trouble. He doesn't need to find more. And Rory Kane is trouble. Those big brown eyes. That sassy mouth.Okay, maybe he needs trouble.

“A beautifully written and well-researched cultural criticism as well as an honest memoir” (Los Angeles Review of Books) from the author of the popular New York Times essay, “To Fall in Love with Anyone, Do This,” explores the romantic myths we create and explains how they limit our ability to achieve and sustain intimacy. What really makes love last? Does love ever work the way we say it does in movies and books and Facebook posts? Or does obsessing over those love stories hurt our real-life relationships? When her parents divorced after a twenty-eight year marriage and her own ten-year relationship ended, those were the questions that Mandy Len Catron wanted to answer. In a series of candid, vulnerable, and wise essays that takes a closer look at what it means to love someone, be loved, and how we present our love to the world, “Catron melds science and emotion beautifully into a thoughtful and thought-provoking meditation” (Bookpage). She delves back to 1944, when her grandparents met in a coal mining town in Appalachia, to her own dating life as a professor in Vancouver. She uses biologists’ research into dopamine triggers to ask whether the need to love is an innate human drive. She uses literary theory to show why we prefer certain kinds of love stories. She urges us to question the unwritten scripts we follow in relationships and looks into where those scripts come from. And she tells the story of how she decided to test an experiment that she’d read about—where the goal was to create intimacy between strangers using a list of thirty-six questions—and ended up in the surreal situation of having millions of people following her brand-new relationship. “Perfect fodder for the romantic and the cynic in all of us” (Booklist), How to Fall in Love with Anyone flips the script on love. “Clear-eyed and full of heart, it is mandatory reading for anyone coping with—or curious about—the challenges of contemporary courtship” (The Toronto Star).