Showing results by author "A. A. Black" in All Categories

More than a decade ago, Roman Calder had a scorching affair with the sister of one of his best friends. Augustine Spencer drove him so crazy he thought of nothing but her. The only thing they did more often than heat the sheets was fight. Unprepared for the intensity of their relationship, Roman broke things off and concentrated on things that made sense to him: his career and putting his best friend, Zack Hayes, in the White House. Contains mature themes.

I have a question for you, and I hope you’ll be honest with yourself about the answer: Are there areas of your life you would enjoy more if you worried less? If so, I want you to make the same decision I made years ago. Decide to do something about it.

Following on from the successful He Iti te Kupu: Māori Metaphors and Similes, Hona Black’s new book explores the rich vein of humour in Māori life. Want to know how to call a silly person a ‘roro hipi / sheep’s brain’, or tell someone to get stuffed in te reo Māori? The answers are all in Te Reo Kapekape (literally, ‘the language of poking fun’), with more than 130 humorous and unique phrases in te reo and English that can be used to describe people, events and actions. The sayings are divided into four chapters — above the hip, below the hip, other phrases, and idioms.

The Onyx Brotherhood offers me everything: money, resources, and the chance to pursue my research outside of the law. The ancient secret society shapes the world, but there's a dark price to join. All Brothers must choose a Ward. A captive woman to own, punish, and train to perfect submission. If I refuse or she fails to perform at my initiation ceremony, I'm dead. Eve is sweet, naive, and addictive. My obsession grows until she's all I can think about. I watch her from the shadows and imagine her chained at my feet. I can't do this to my beautiful girl.

Georgia Williams knows firsthand how love can turn violent. Running from her past, stalked by daily phone calls she refuses to answer, she arrives in the small country town of Gleneagle looking for a place to hide. And even though the local men - admittedly one rather attractive guy in particular—try to catch her attention, the last thing she needs is another man making her life a living hell.

I'm Trace Weston, recently reformed womanizer. In the blink of an eye, I went from busy bachelor to full-time single dad. My life was already complicated before my sister-in-law asked me to show off my bedroom skills to her bestie, who's wanting to experience real pleasure now that her one-and-only long-term relationship is over. Gorgeous Masey Garrett isn't my "usual". She's shy, sassy, driven, and incredibly kind. Suddenly, I'm falling fast...but she's only mine for a night.

After ruthlessly dethroning his Uncle, Connor Reed must now defend the family against the circling sharks of rival criminal enterprises. Meanwhile, Bruce McQuillan, leader of a black operations unit named The Chameleon Project, has learnt that one of the world’s most brutal and influential Mafias are targeting the UK pre-BREXIT.

Her entire life, Xo has brought others happiness and love, complete with endings tied in pretty little bows. This year, she wants that for herself. Love. Romance. A happy ending. And there's a grumpy Santa who's more than willing to grant her this wish in exchange for finding his love for Christmas again. Where there are candy canes, there are happily ever afters... and they're both about to find theirs.

Assassin Scarlett Fletcher is supposedly dead. Lyssa intends to make it so. Just... not yet. Lyssa, the Wolf of the Styx Syndicate, has a simple plan. Hide her enemy-turned-uneasy-ally, train her up, and use her to take down Grandmother. Then Lyssa will follow through on the kill order and end the assassin once and for all. But nothing to do with Scarlett has ever been simple.

My whole life has been about waiting. Playing it safe. Be the good girl, don’t color outside the lines. Put in the hard work trying to prove myself to Dad, then to my college professors, then to my boss at New World Media. Just waiting for the day when it will all pay off. And right when it was all starting to - I finally had the house, the job, I was even thinking about getting a cat - boom!

When Mom told me she was getting married again and moving her new husband and his 24-year-old son in with us, I thought I’d just have to spend as much time as possible studying in the campus library to avoid all of them. I certainly never expected to learn that the marriage was simply a mutually beneficial arrangement for my mom and new stepfather, Mr. Winters. They don’t actually have feelings toward each other. I also didn’t expect him and my stepbrother, Dominick, to be such handsome, Viking-like men. Or for them to take such an interest in me.

Fate is a fickle mistress. She gives as easily as she takes, and she makes no apologies for it. When I’m on the precipice of an inconceivable loss and a betrayal slices me wide open, I have a decision to make. I can stay the polite, subservient girl—or I can shed my societal restraints and become the person I was destined to be. With my dark Italian kings by my side, we don’t just change the rules, we remake the whole game. Gone is the girl with stars in her eyes, and in her place is a woman with vengeance in her veins. It’s time I stop asking for permission and start claiming what’s mine.

I'm Noah Weston. For a decade, I've quarterbacked America's most iconic football team and plowed my way through women. Now I'm transitioning from star player to retired jock - with a cloud of allegation hanging over my head. So I'm escaping to the private ocean-front paradise I bought for peace and quiet. What I get instead is stubborn, snarky, wild, lights-my-blood-on-fire Harlow Reed. Since she just left a relationship in a hugely viral way, she should be the last woman I'm seen with. On second thought, we can help each other....

It was supposed to be my first summer on my own, but then I meet Seth, Axel, Jasper, and Cody. There's something about them that drew me closer, and they seemed hell-bent on protecting me. I didn't think I needed protecting until people started showing up dead in the woods.

Sir Dalton, a knight in training, seems to have everything going for him. Young, well-liked, and a natural leader, he has earned the respect and admiration of his fellow knights, as well as the beautiful Lady Brynn. But something is amiss at the training camp. Their new trainer is popular but lacks the passion to inspire them to true service to the King and the Prince.

Dulce has spent her entire life avoiding… Love, happiness, and the things that make her feel alive, weren't on the table. That all changes when she meets fate, and they come in the form of an ancient Saephyn, a himbo Orukna, and a summer queen. Three mates to change the course of her life forever, if she lets them. One who convinces her to accept fate. Another who forces her to fight for her happiness. Finally, one who reminds her what sacrifice looks like. All three have her best interests at heart. Will she allow them to show her what love is really like or will she fight it at every turn?

Tragedy and heartache seem to be waiting for Drew Carter at every turn, but college offers Drew a chance to start over - until an accident during a physics experiment leaves him blind and his genius friend, Benjamin Berg, missing. As his sight miraculously returns, Drew discovers that the accident has heightened his neuron activity, giving him skills and sight beyond the normal man. When he begins to observe fierce invaders that no one else can see, he questions his own sanity, and so do others.

Spying from her window in New York City with high-powered binoculars, conspiracy theorist Zoe spots a man and woman on a park bench. Zooming in, she finds she can read the texts on the woman's phone. Her initial excitement turns to alarm when the woman's texts outline a plan to murder the man she is sitting next to. The police department is trying to manage a pandemic and catch a serial killer who has murdered six women. So, when Zoe reports the conspiracy to commit murder, the police have little time or patience for her theories.

I've lived in the shadows. Now I have the chance to escape from them and start over. My cousin and best friend sent me to Alaska to get away from my family. A fresh start. I should have known my past wouldn't let me go that easily. As I fight to overcome it, deadly secrets are revealed. I may not survive. Can I manage to be happy? Three infuriating men seem to think I can, even though I've rejected them. Will the shadows finally consume me?

Dame Sue Black is an internationally renowned forensic anthropologist and human anatomist. She has lived her life eye to eye with the Grim Reaper, and she writes vividly about it in this book, which is part primer on the basics of identifying human remains, part frank memoir of a woman whose first paying job as a schoolgirl was to apprentice in a butcher shop, and part no-nonsense but deeply humane introduction to the reality of death in our lives. It is a treat for CSI junkies, murder mystery and thriller fans, and anyone seeking a clear-eyed guide to a subject that touches us all.