-
Shakespeare's Greatest Love
Relying on historical and literary evidence hidden in plain sight, Shakespeare's Greatest Love tells the true, uncensored love story of William Shakespeare and Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton.
"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate."
--Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, written for and about Southampton.Leaving behind a wife and three young children in Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare moved to London for its thrilling theater scene, where everyone mixed freely across ages, classes, and ranks.
It was through their mutual passion for the theater that the handsome twenty-seven-year-old playwright first met and fell deeply in love with the effeminate seventeen-year-old earl who beguiled men and women alike and avowed that 'desire and pleasure [should] sometimes triumph over reason.'
Author David Medina demonstrates that Shakespeare wrote more of his plays and poems for and about Southampton than anyone else--works that are sexually charged, romantic, and homoerotic. He also chronicles the evidence that Southampton provided Shakespeare the support he needed to secure his acting company share, coat of arms, family residence, royal commission, life portrait, and funerary bust.
Shakespeare and Southampton's personal and professional relationship evolved privately and publicly over a quarter century against the backdrop of a national anti-sodomy law, multiple plague outbreaks, unexpected pregnancies, rushed and possibly forced marriages, a failed rebellion, and political imprisonments.
Shakespeare's Greatest Love challenges us all to recognize Southampton as the individual who had the most significant impact on Shakespeare's life, literature, and legacy.
-
God of Fury (Deluxe Edition) (Special)
**This deluxe first-print edition will have sprayed edges.**
From USA Today bestselling author Rina Kent comes the fifth in a dark and steamy college romance series featuring elite criminal families and morally gray heroes. Mafia heir Nikolai Sokolov is a notorious playboy and as violent as they come, and when he sets his sights on golden boy Brandon, all hell might just break loose.
I'm slowly sinking.
Brandon King never thought he was attracted to men. To be honest, he'd never been that attracted to anyone. But that was before he slammed directly into Nikolai Sokolov, a mafia heir known for being a notorious bastard and violent monster.
Once Nikolai has his sights set on Brandon, he's haunted by him. He can't seem to let him go. A man who is so unlike him in every way: a quiet artist, golden boy, and his enemy's twin brother.
Brandon can't seem to get rid of Nikolai--he's everywhere. And his being everywhere throws a wrench into Brandon's carefully controlled life. Nikolai is desperate to break that control down.
While Brandon worries about Nikolai's role in his life and his slowly disintegrating control, he learns that being wanted by a beautiful nightmare is much worse.
Sold out -
Oracle
From international bestseller Thomas Olde Heuvelt comes Oracle, a supernatural thriller where an omen from our past threatens the return of ancient forces that will change the world forever.
"The threshold to the apocalypse has seldom been so fun. This is Olde Heuvelt's sharpest, most compelling work to date."--The New York Times
On a foggy winter morning, high school kids Luca and Emma discover the impossible: the wreck of an eighteenth-century ship stranded in a flower field. Emma enters the hatch on the deck and is never seen again. And she isn't the last to disappear. . . . Soon a government agency begins to investigate, determined to uncover the ship's secrets before a media storm erupts. They enlist Robert Grim, a retired specialist of the occult, to unravel the mystery, and he soon realizes the ship could be a harbinger of an ancient doom awakened under the sea. In a maelstrom of international intrigue and pure terror, Grim and Luca must race against time as they come face-to-face with an open doorway to the apocalypse. -
Robes
Robes is a book of global dimensions that offers a compelling look at the next century. By turns startling, comforting, enlightening, and unnerving, it takes a deep look at the coming changes in nations and governments, as well as the rise of business to power. It expands to examine everything from education and population, to wars, weather, food, and famine, including the emerging human potential embedded in the body/mind system. "The most important thing for you to remember as you look at these coming changes," said the little men in brown robes, "is that things could be so much easier if you understood why these things are happening, and if you worked with them instead of against them..." -
Tales of The Glen
Welcome to a world of quiet magic, gentle creatures, and stories that feel like coming home.
Tales of The Glen is a collection of eight heartwarming fireside tales set in a timeless woodland where folklore, nature, and kindness weave together into something tender, whimsical, and true.
Each story is accompanied by a full-page illustration, and the book includes 22 enchanting illustrations in total, bringing the characters and world of The Glen to life in full colour and charm. Between the stories, Mouse-wise, warm, and ever-chatty-welcomes you in with gentle interludes that feel like a fireside chat with an old friend.
In The Glen, the tea never runs out, the frost leaves secret patterns on the windows, and someone is always ready with a tale to soothe your soul.
You'll meet Rabbit-steady and kind, with his hooded cloak and quiet courage. You'll sit beside Mouse, who always knows just the right story to tell. You'll hear the ancient voices of the Frosty Council, witness the first ever sunrise, and walk with the mysterious Heart of The Glen, who carries the peace of the land in her hands.
These are stories of comfort and wonder-tales to be read by candlelight, shared at bedtime, or carried in your heart like a charm against the cold.
With poetic prose, nostalgic storytelling, and a tone that echoes classic children's literature, this book is perfect for:
- Lovers of whimsical fiction, fantasy, and timeless folktales
- Readers seeking gentle, comforting bedtime stories and slow-living tales
- Fans of heartwarming animal stories with a soulful, nostalgic touch
- Anyone who believes in the quiet magic of lamplight, autumn leaves, and long walks in the woods
If you've ever longed for a peaceful place where your name is always known, The Glen is waiting. It always has been.
Come closer, Best Beloved. The kettle's on. There's a story to tell.
-
Dog Only Knows: The Dog Portraits of Alison Friend
The next must-have gift book for every dog lover from artist Alison Friend, featuring over 125 of her irresistible dog portraits--each uniquely mischievous, sweet, poignant, and funny Meet Midge, who keeps her mind sharp with a Rubik's Cube. Alan, who looks like a million dollars in his new harness. Lola, whose motto is "People to see, bums to sniff." Chupa Chops--how did he unwrap that lollipop? The oh-so-earnest Clive, who does everything--biscuit eating, squirrel chasing, ball fetching--with a single-minded focus. Irrepressible Debbie, who loves cocktail night, and Little Louis, a chain-smoking existentialist who can't stop chewing over the canine condition. Usually with an espresso. Welcome to Alison Friend's world of dogs, a singular and very special place created by an artist with a unique gift for depicting that ineffable thing we call "character"--dog characters, actually--using oil paint, empathy, techniques of the Old Masters, and an imagination like no other. With their big expressive eyes and Mona Lisa smiles, charming habits and childlike pleasures, the subjects of these portraits seem all too human yet fantastically doglike. Capturing exactly--as Little Louis would tell you--the canine condition, though you've never seen it like this before. -
Hell Bent: How the Fear of Hell Holds Christians Back from a Spirituality of Love
A former evangelical pastor explains why we can stop worrying about hell and start focusing on love There is a black hole at the center of Christian spirituality: the doctrine of hell. No matter how hard we try to believe in a loving God, the fear of eternal torment always lurks at the back of our minds, warping our sense of what love means. Worse still, many churches act as if the point of Christianity is not to follow Jesus but to secure a get-out-of-hell-free card--and to "save" everyone you know by converting them to your religion. For many of us, the whole story of Christianity has punishment at the very center. But does the Bible really say we're going to hell if we don't do or believe the "right" things? In this taboo-shattering book, former evangelical pastor Brian Recker takes an honest look at scripture and reveals what has been true all along: Hell isn't real, and God's universal love is radically inclusive, in this life and the next. By removing punishment from Christianity's center, Recker boldly reimagines the core questions of faith, such as why Jesus lived and died, and what it means to be "saved." It's time to rediscover spirituality as Jesus taught it: loving God, and loving our neighbors as ourselves. Whether you're Christian, exvangelical, or anywhere along a deconstruction journey, Hell Bent is the perfect resource to help you replace fear and church hurt with healing and peace. -
River Is Waiting
"From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of two Oprah Book Club Picks--She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True--Wally Lamb comes the propulsive story of a young father who, after an unbearable tragedy, reckons with the possibility of atonement for the unforgivable.
Corby Ledbetter is struggling. New fatherhood, the loss of his job, and a growing secret addiction have thrown his marriage to his beloved Emily into a tailspin. And that's before he causes the tragedy that tears the family apart. Sentenced to prison, Corby struggles to survive life on the inside, where he bears witness to frightful acts of brutality but also experiences small acts of kindness and elemental kinship with a prison librarian who sees his light and some of his fellow offenders, including a tender-hearted cellmate and a troubled teen desperate for a role model. Buoyed by them and by his mother's enduring faith in him, Corby begins to transcend the boundaries of his confinement, sustained by his hope that mercy and reconciliation might still be possible. Can his crimes ever be forgiven by those he loves?
" -
One Yellow Eye
In this heart-wrenching and unique spin on the zombie mythos, a brilliant scientist desperately searches for a cure after a devastating epidemic while also hiding a monumental secret--her undead husband. How far would you go to save your marriage? For British scientist Kesta Shelley, there is no limit. Having always preferred the company of microbes, Kesta has spent her life looking down the barrel of a microscope rather than cultivating personal relationships. But that changed when Kesta met Tim--her cheerleader, her best friend, her absolute everything. So, when he was one of the last people in London to be infected with a perplexing virus that left the city ravaged, Kesta went into triage mode. Though the government has rounded up and disposed of all the infected, Kesta is able to keep her husband (un)alive--and hidden--with resources from the hospital where she works. She spends her days reviewing biopsy slides and her evenings caring for him, but he's clearly declining. The sedatives aren't working like they used to, and his violent outbursts are becoming more frequent. As Kesta races against the clock, her colleagues start noticing changes in her behavior and appearance. She is withering away, self-medicating with alcohol, and has stopped attending her mandated ZARG (Zombie Apocalypse Recovery Group) meetings. Her care for Tim has spiraled into absolute obsession. There are whispers of a top-secret lab working on a cure, and Kesta clings to the possibility of being recruited like a lifeline. But can she save her husband before he is discovered? Or worse...will they trigger another outbreak? -
Unseen
A terrifying new novel from bestselling #HorrorBookTok sensation Ania Ahlborn--the acclaimed author of the modern classic Brother. Hailed as a writer of "some of the most promising horror I've encountered in years" (Seanan McGuire, author of the Ghost Roads series), Ania Ahlborn delivers a novel that pushes the boundaries of horror into a new realm. Isla Hansen, a mother reeling from a devastating loss, is beside herself when a mysteriously orphaned child appears on the outskirts of the Hansens' secluded Colorado property. Although strange and unexplainable, the child's presence breathes new life into Isla. But as the child settles in, Isla's husband, Luke, and their five children notice peculiarities that hint at something far beyond the ordinary--anomalies that challenge the very fabric of reality itself. The tension within the Hansen household grows, and with it, the sense that there is something very wrong with the new kid in the house. The Unseen is a haunting tale that walks the line between the familiar and the unknown, drawing us into a chilling narrative where reality itself feels just out of reach. -
Devil Reached Toward the Sky: An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb
From the New York Times bestselling author of When the Sea Came Alive and The Only Plane in the Sky, a sweeping and comprehensive oral history of the atomic bomb's creation and deployment, marking the 80th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. April 12, 1945. Less than three months into his vice presidency, Harry Truman is catapulted into the Oval Office following the sudden death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. As he recites the oath, he learns a chilling secret known only to a select few: the United States is on the verge of deploying a weapon of unimaginable power. This weapon could end the war but also herald a new age of global fear and uncertainty. Drawing from over twenty-five oral history archives across the US, Japan, and Europe, Graff has masterfully blended the memories and perspectives from key figures like Harry Truman and J. Robert Oppenheimer, the crews of the B-29 bombers, Enola Gay and Bock's Car, and the haunting stories of those at ground zero in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, including the experiences of the hibakusha--the "bomb-affected people"--and the rescuers who bravely faced the devastation. Enriched by memoirs, diaries, letters, official documents, and news reports, this is an immersive and deeply human account of the then-secret Manhattan Project through the end of World War II and the dawning of the Cold War, capturing the scientific breakthroughs, military decisions, and profound ethical dilemmas that emerged from using nuclear weapons. A testament to human ingenuity and resilience, The Devil Reached Toward the Sky explores the complex legacy of the atomic bomb, offering a vivid, multi-dimensional view of events that reshaped the world. It is an essential read for anyone looking to grasp the full impact of this critical moment in history and the enduring questions it raises about wielding such destructive power. -
Mysterious Virginia Hall: World War II's Most Dangerous Spy
How did a young lady from a wealthy family in Maryland end up as the Gestapo's most wanted spy? This YA biography of Virginia Hall, World War II's most successful female spy, will inspire reluctant readers and budding history buffs alike. Virginia Hall, known to her family as "Dindy," was an athletic, outdoorsy girl who dreamed of joining the foreign service and becoming an ambassador. Despite numerous setbacks, including losing her leg to gangrene after an accident, Virginia never wavered in her determination to serve her country. After the outbreak of World War II, a chance meeting on a train changed her life--George Bellows, an agent of the British Special Operations Executive, recruited her as one of its first women agents. Working for Allied intelligence services in France, Virginia Hall organized French resistance fighters, performed daring rescues, and provided the Allies with intelligence that was key for ousting the Nazis and earned her numerous medals, including the US Army's Distinguished Service Cross. With chapters titled for each of the many aliases and nicknames used by Virginia Hall, this book takes readers through her extraordinary life and her evolution as a resistance fighter and intelligence operative. Award-winning author Claudia Friddell brings Virginia Hall's bravery, intelligence, and determination to life in this thoroughly researched and photo-filled biography endorsed by Hall's family. -
Sold outStraplez.com
This photo book about www.straplez.com presents the hottest collection of lesbian beauties enjoying sizzling strap-on sex! See these gorgeous girls rock each other's world with passionate pussy licking and intense dildo riding, all captured in stunning pictures. Lovers of glamorous models in pantyhose/nylons and high heels will go wild for the explicit action as these uninhibited sapphic sweethearts use their fingers, tongues and strap-on dildos to give each other real orgasms. Launched over a decade ago, Straplez is synonymous with high-quality lesbian erotica. It's now a part of the multi-award-winning MetArt Network, elevating it to new heights of technical excellence and creative vision. Enjoy the action of gorgeous Euro models like Bonnie Dolce, Stacy Cruz, Oxana Chic, Lil Karla, Mia, Jenny Wild, Tiffany Tatum, Barbie Brill, Marina Gold, Candee Licious and many more ...Sold out -
Of Flame and Fury
Fourth Wing meets Iron Widow in this enemies-to-lovers romantic fantasy by debut author Mikayla Bridge. The hottest must-read of the summer!
On an island built from ash and shrouded in fire, phoenix racing is a sport just as profitable as it is deadly. Kel Varra and her team of underdogs, the Crimson Howlers, are desperate to win the annual races and the fortune that comes with it. But the Howlers need a new rider, which leads Kel to join forces with Warren "Coup" Coupers - an arrogant rival she can't get out of her head. As tensions rise on and off the track, Kel accepts a job from a mysterious tech mogul who shows an unsettling interest in her phoenix, Savita. This thrusts Kel into a conspiracy that endangers everyone she cares about, especially Coup, as her resentment ignites into something dangerously new. Heart-pounding pages full of fiery romance, jaw-dropping confessions, political scheming, and volatile magic culminate in a final battle that none may survive. -
Soft Core
"Vivid . . . Exhilarating . . . Soft Core is pacey and rich, full of verve, drama and detail." --The New York Times Book Review
Ruth is lost. She's living in a drafty Victorian with her ex-boyfriend Dino, a ketamine dealer with a lingerie habit, overdosing on television and regretting her master's degree. When she starts dancing at a strip club, she becomes Baby Blue, seductress of crypto bros, outcasts, and old lovers alike. Plunged into this swirling underworld of beautiful women, fast cash, ungodly hours, and strangers' secrets, Baby's grip on reality begins to loosen. She is sure she can handle it--until one autumn morning when Dino disappears without a trace. Thus begins a nocturnal quest for the one she still loves--through the misty hills of San Francisco; in dive bars and bus depots; at the BDSM dungeon where she takes a part-time gig. Along the way, she meets Simon, a recluse who pays her for increasingly bizarre favors; a philosophizing suicide fetishist named Nobody; and Emeline, the beautiful and balletic new hire who reminds Baby of someone . . . A brutally funny, propulsive story of power, fantasy, love, and loss, Brittany Newell's Soft Core is an ode to the heartbroken and unhinged, to those whose appetites lead them astray. It is a hallucinogenic romp about a girl coming undone, whose longing for friendship, romance, and revenge will take her over the edge and back again.
A young woman's madcap search for her missing ex-boyfriend takes her into the sexual underground in Brittany Newell's savage, tender Soft Core.