How does a supermarket cashier and single Mum become a fearless Baghdad bodyguard in the battlefields of Iraq? This is the true story of Neryl Joyce, a young Australian woman, struggling to pay the bills, who signed up to be a soldier. After a stint with the Australian Army’s elite Close Personal Protection Unit, Neryl joined a private security firm inside Baghdad’s heavily guarded Green Zone. Here, she defended high-risk foreign targets from opportunistic assassination inside Iraq. As a female bodyguard in the Middle East, Neryl had to be as good as—or even better than—any of her fellow soldiers. With courage and heart, she navigated sexual discrimination and abuse, operations on the world’s most dangerous road, and the unrelenting brutality of a man’s world. But the longer she stayed, the more convinced she became that disaster was imminent. Somehow, Neryl survived to return home to her son and tell this heart-stopping and inspirational story.

Mercenary Mum is the true story of Neryl Joyce, a young single mother who went from working at her local Woolworths to serving as a soldier in the Australian Army's elite Close Personal Protection Unit. She later left the army to become a high - risk security contractor, where she was responsible for protecting high - threat targets from assassination and opportune attack in Iraq. Vividly and powerfully, Joyce takes us on a journey through the battlefields of Iraq. She suffers the loss of close friends on the infamous Route Irish. She reveals what it's like to be a woman in a brutal man's world, and a victim of sexual abuse. And she tells how she survived all this to return home to her son. Mercenary Mum is the unforgettable and inspiring story of one woman's fight for her career, for her family and for life itself.

Discover the secrets of success behind Australia's top online businesses and maximise your own online potential Secrets of Online Entrepreneurs is the ultimate ‘how to' guide for creating, building, and selling an online business. Packed with inspiring stories of how some of Australia's most successful online entrepreneurs built their businesses, these internet mavericks will reveal the secrets of their success and provide valuable insights into how anyone with a hobby, passion, or innovative business idea can take advantage of the vast opportunities that a global market now offers. Whether you want to build an online business from scratch or amplify your existing online presence, these hard-hitting interviews will give you the practical tools, tips, and strategies you need to fast-track your business idea and take it from concept to completion. You'll discover what industries are ready for disruption, how to spot a profitable niche, how to growth hack a database, why most online businesses fail, how to access a vast array of free tools to help you get your online idea off the ground, and much more. Most importantly, you'll discover why there's never been a better time to launch an online business. Discover the 7-step process for building an online business that will exponentially increase your likelihood of success Learn how to measure, test, and evaluate demand for an online product or service before you launch it Access the templates, cheat sheets, websites, and apps used by the entrepreneurs to build their businesses and learn how you can apply them to your business too. Don't miss this next wave of industry disruption. Get on board the internet express and snare a slice of the pie for what promises to be one of the most transformational times in business history.

Fleeing Samuel Grayson's cult was a risky move for Olivia Conner. So risky that the single mom left one of her children behind. What she'd seen in Cold Plains had destroyed all she believed in one heart-stopping instant. And it could get her killed. Olivia's only option was a safe house she found with the help of ruggedly sexy mercenary Micah Grayson. But once she learned he was Samuel's twin, she dared not trust him…or the way her body reacted to his. Now the two—who'd both sworn off relationships—must embark on a deadly mission: rescue Olivia's son, take down Samuel and safeguard their hearts against love!

Wilderness guide Bethany Darrow was desperate to save her kidnapped sister in Colombia, but lying about having the money to pay dark, mysterious mercenary Xavier Monero would cost her dearly. Especially when their forced proximity during a dangerous jungle rescue unleashed a smoldering, irresistible attraction. Xavier knew the beautiful American was trouble the second he laid his eyes on her. Taking Bethany on the mission was a risk, and he wasn't prepared for the peril she placed on his heart. Suddenly he wanted more than fortune—he wanted Bethany, body and soul. But everything comes with a price….

Twenty-three countries currently allow women to serve in front-line combat positions and others with a high likelihood of direct enemy contact. This book examines how these decisions did or did not evolve in 47 countries. This timely and fascinating book explores how different countries have determined to allow women in the military to take on combat roles—whether out of a need for personnel, a desire for the military to reflect the values of the society, or the opinion that women improve military effectiveness—or, in contrast, have disallowed such a move on behalf of the state. In addition, many countries have insurgent or dissident factions, in that have led armed resistance to state authority in which women have been present, requiring national militaries and peacekeepers to engage them, incorporate them, or disarm and deradicalize them. This country-by country analysis of the role of women in conflicts includes insightful essays on such countries as Afghanistan, China, Germany, Iraq, Israel, Russia, and the United States. Each essay provides important background information to help readers to understand the cultural and political contexts in which women have been integrated into their countries' militaries, have engaged in combat during the course of conflict, and have come to positions of political power that affect military decisions.

The first book dedicated to the sociology of privatized security, this collection studies the important global trend of shifting security from public to private hands and the associated rise of Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) and their contractors. The volume first explores the trend itself, making important historical and theoretical revisions to the existing social science of private security. These chapters discuss why rulers buy, rent and create private militaries, why mercenaries have become private patriots, and why the legitimacy of military missions is undermined by the use of contractors. The next section challenges the idea that states have a monopoly on legitimate violence and questions our legal and economic assumptions about private security. The collection concludes with a discussion of the contractors themselves, focusing on gender, race, ethnicity, and other demographic factors. Featuring a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods and a range of theoretical and methodological innovations, this book will inspire sociologists to examine, with fresh eyes, the behind-the-scenes tension between the high drama of war and conflict and the mundane realities of privatized security contractors and their everyday lives.

He saved her from certain death. She didn’t count on him being a… nerd. A Tarviisan pit fighter forced to fight for survival her entire life, Zadaenae is sure she’s about to breathe her last when she’s cornered during a breakout. But help comes from an unexpected quarter; an alien with the infamous Warborne Mercenary team. Only her savior isn’t an experienced mercenary, he’s a scientist without a clue about fighting… Wracked with guilt over his injuries saving her, she takes a hire with the Warborne to stick around, even though the last thing she needs is the scarily intelligent, utterly fascinating human finding out her deepest, darkest secret… He nearly died. Then he became something else. Something… not human. Dr. Eric Archer has all the smarts he’s ever needed, but multiple degrees don’t mean anything on the alien mercenary vessel, Sprite. Instead of working in a lab, he’s had a crash course in battlefield tactics, field stripping alien rifles, and shooting just to stay alive and earn his place among the lethal aliens. She’s an alien. And a princess. He needs to up his game to have any chance… When rescuing a beautiful damsel in distress almost kills him, an experimental alien treatment saves his life. And makes him more than human. Makes him something… else. Forced to deal with more new muscles than he knows what to do with, plus hormones and instincts no human has ever encountered before, Eric must navigate his new abilities and prove to alien princess Zadaenae he's the only man she'll ever need. But he’s not the only one with eyes on his beautiful alien princess. She’s someone else’s means to an end, and this scientist must use everything at his disposal: new skills and old alike to try and save the woman he loves… Keywords: alien mate romance, alien romance, space books for adults, sci fi, sci fi books, sci fi romance, sci fi adventure, sci fi series, space marine, alien warrior, alien mercenary.