Within a 55-mile radius of the city of Chicago there are no less than five distinctive ecosystems, including tall-grass prairies, oak savannas, forests, lakeshores, and wetlands. Several of the natural communities preserved here are among the rarest in the world, including 181 species listed as endangered or threatened.

Curious natives and intrepid tourists seeking a slightly skewed take on the Windy City and its surrounding communities need look no further than this irreverent, authoritative guide.

Fiona Danks and Jo Schofield are back with more wonderful ideas for fun outdoors even in the most challenging weather! Imagine - jumping in the biggest puddle you can find! - Or running barefoot and feeling squidgy mud ooze up between your toes! - Or run up the nearest hill to feel the wind try to carry you away! When it’s wet, or windy or cold, there’s no need to stay cooped up indoors; it’s a great opportunity to rush outside for some fun. - Go on an animal hunt and find the creatures that come out in the wet. - Fly a kite in the wind and catch falling leaves. - Take your camera into a white world and see how many different icy patterns and shapes you can find. There are loads of exciting and creative things you can do in the natural world when the weather’s wild. So don’t wait for the sun: take this book with you and go outdoors for a wild weather adventure!

With its depiction of the downtrodden prostitutes, bootleggers, and hustlers of Perdido Street in the old French Quarter of 1930s New Orleans, "A Walk on the Wild Side" tells, in Algren's own words, "something about the natural toughness of women and men, in that order".

V.I. Warshawski, “undoubtedly one of the best-written characters in mystery fiction” (The Baltimore Sun), returns in a collection of stories that bring new meaning to “ties that bind.” Decked out in her silk shirts and no-nonsense Attitude, V.I. is out to make a living—by the skin of her teeth. In “Grace Notes,” V.I. has barely finished her morning coffee when she sees an ad in the paper asking for information about her own mother, long dead. The paper leads V.I. to her newfound Italian cousin Vico, who’s looking for music composed by their great-grandmother. What’s the score? Clearly it’s something to kill for. . . . “The Pietro Andromache” finds V.I.’s friend Dr. Lotty Herschel with motive and means to dispatch her professional rival and steal his priceless statue. Lotty didn’t do it—but does she know who did? V.I. soon cuts to the art of the case—and it’s not a pretty picture at all! Summoned by an old high school friend to a race “At the Old Swimming Hole,” V.I. ends up swimming with the sharks—the FBI and a ruthless gambling kingpin—in a pool of blood. . . . And it’s only “Skin Deep” when a relaxing facial transformation transforms a client into a stiff. V.I.’s pal Sal needs help. Her beautician sister Evangeline is prime suspect—and V.I. has only eighteen hours to crack the case before it’s headline news. . . . “Three-Dot Po” proves there’s nothing like a dog. Especially a dog on the trail of her mistress’s killer, with V.I. in tow. . . . In “Strung Out,” love means nothing and V.I.’s quick to learn the score as her old friend’s tennis-champion daughter is under suspicion for strangling her father with a racket string. And there’s more, nine stories in all, in this masterful collection of short fiction starring V.I. Warshawski, “the most engaging woman in detective fiction since Dorothy Sayers’s Harriet Vane” (Newsweek).

The acclaimed author of the intensely powerful novel Pretty Birds, Scott Simon now gives us a story that is both laugh-out-loud funny and heart-piercing–as sprawling and brawling as Chicago, where politics is a contact sport. The mayor of Chicago is found in his office late at night, sitting in his boxer shorts, facedown dead in a pizza. The mayor was a hero and a rascal: dynamic, charming, ingenious, corruptible, and a masterly manipulator. The city mourns. But it’s discovered that the mayor was murdered–shortly after he may have begun to squeal on some of his colleagues at City Hall. Over the next four days, police race to find the mayor’s killer, while the politicians who bemoan his passing scramble for his throne.

A dragon prince. A vampire heiress. A kiss that could bring Chicago to its knees. For decades he's posed as a human... It's been a long time since Tobias spread his wings. The exiled dragon prince has worked hard to blend into the human world and practice his love for healing as a pediatric cardiologist. She awakens the dragon within... As a vampire-human hybrid, Sabrina is used to being different from the rest of her community. But all vampires need to feed. The night she chooses Tobias as her next meal, everything changes. He's far more than he seems, and if she doesn't protect his secret, it could cost him his life. Can love remind him of who he truly is? One kiss thrusts Tobias into the dark underground world of Chicago's vampires where his dragon nature is his only hope of protecting Sabrina. But Sabrina knows the only way to keep him safe is to push him away. ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑ "Windy City Dragon starts off with a bang and continues to get more and more exciting on every page. This book is a nonstop ride of action, suspense and romance and the growing world of this series is something that is definitely shaping up to be epic." - Red Hatter Book Blog * * * Topics: dragon shifter romance, paranormal romance dragons, paranormal romance witches, paranormal romance shifters, medical romance, romance saga, romantic suspense, series starter, first in series, romance series, romance saga, romantic family saga, new release, shapeshifter romance with sex, Chicago, vampire romance, paranormal romance, shifter romance, dragon shifter romance series, romance ebook, romance series, top romance reads, bestselling, fantasy romance, paranormal elements, contemporary fantasy, urban fantasy, HEA, Genevieve Jack, Genevieve Jack Dragons, Witches, Magic, Love, strong heroine, alpha hero, family, steamy romance, emotional romance, new adult paranormal romance, forbidden romance, romance fiction, top ebooks in romance, top ebooks in paranormal, romance books, romance, award winning romance, USA Today bestseller, Paranormal Romance Series. Perfect for fans of Alisa Woods, Christine Feehan, Jessie Donovan, M. Flynn, Mac Flynn, Thea Harrison, Gena Callahan, Milly Weaver, J.K. Harper, Anna Craig, Michelle M. Pillow, Mandy M. Roth, JR Ward, Kresley Cole, Ilona andrews, Jayne faith, Renee Rose, Vanessa Vale, Brenda K Davies, Layla Nash, Sherilee Gray, Abigail Owen, Donna Grant, Terry Bolryder, T. S. Joyce, Zoe Chant, Charlene Hartnady, Eve Langlais, Evangeline Anderson, Milly Taiden, Alexandra Ivy

In the first thrilling installment of Chloe Neill's spinoff to the New York Times bestselling Chicagoland Vampires series, a new vampire will find out just how deep blood ties run. As the only vampire child ever born, some believed Elisa Sullivan had all the luck. But the magic that helped bring her into the world left her with a dark secret. Shifter Connor Keene, the only son of North American Central Pack Apex Gabriel Keene, is the only one she trusts with it. But she's a vampire and the daughter of a Master and a Sentinel, and he's prince of the Pack and its future king. When the assassination of a diplomat brings old feuds to the fore again, Elisa and Connor must choose between love and family, between honor and obligation, before Chicago disappears forever.