The Other End of the Leash


Book Description

Learn to communicate with your dog—using their language “Good reading for dog lovers and an immensely useful manual for dog owners.”—The Washington Post An Applied Animal Behaviorist and dog trainer with more than twenty years’ experience, Dr. Patricia McConnell reveals a revolutionary new perspective on our relationship with dogs—sharing insights on how “man’s best friend” might interpret our behavior, as well as essential advice on how to interact with our four-legged friends in ways that bring out the best in them. After all, humans and dogs are two entirely different species, each shaped by its individual evolutionary heritage. Quite simply, humans are primates and dogs are canids (as are wolves, coyotes, and foxes). Since we each speak a different native tongue, a lot gets lost in the translation. This marvelous guide demonstrates how even the slightest changes in our voices and in the ways we stand can help dogs understand what we want. Inside you will discover: • How you can get your dog to come when called by acting less like a primate and more like a dog • Why the advice to “get dominance” over your dog can cause problems • Why “rough and tumble primate play” can lead to trouble—and how to play with your dog in ways that are fun and keep him out of mischief • How dogs and humans share personality types—and why most dogs want to live with benevolent leaders rather than “alpha wanna-bes!” Fascinating, insightful, and compelling, The Other End of the Leash is a book that strives to help you connect with your dog in a completely new way—so as to enrich that most rewarding of relationships.




Amazing Gracie


Book Description

It was love at first sight. Amid the frenzied barking and prancing of a house full of Great Danes, one pup was shivering in the corner. Gracie. But when Dan Dye reached her, she struggled to her feet like a clumsy foal, raised her forehead to his, and announced, as clearly as if she had actually spoken the words, You know I'm the one. Now get me outta here! By turns funny, moving, tender, and inspiring, Gracie's tale is a treat for every dog lover. There is Gracie's first morning, racing around Dan in the snowy yard. Gracie's first determination to prove to her step-sisters, Dottie the Dalmation and Sarah the Black Lab, that she's one of the girls. Gracie's defiant romance with a pint-size charmer named Byron, a Boston Terrier from the wrong side of the fence. Then born of necessity, the eureka moment: When Gracie's delicate constitution starts turning into anorexia, Dan teaches himself how to cook, and in three days is baking her the cookies that will spur her appetite, launch Three Dog Bakery, and transform their lives forever. Courage. Compassion. Kindness. Soul. Tenacity. And joy, above all, joy. These qualities Gracie possessed in abundance, and shared with everyone, human or canine, who had the good fortune to cross her path.




Legendborn


Book Description

An Instant New York Times Bestseller! Winner of the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe for New Talent Author Award Filled with mystery and an intriguingly rich magic system, Tracy Deonn’s YA contemporary fantasy reinvents the King Arthur legend and “braids together Southern folk traditions and Black Girl Magic into a searing modern tale of grief, power, and self-discovery” (Dhonielle Clayton, New York Times bestselling author of The Belles). After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus. A flying demon feeding on human energies. A secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down. And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw. The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates. She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.




Pretty Poison


Book Description

Meet Peggy Lee: botanist, detective’s widow, and owner of The Potting Shed, an urban gardener’s paradise in downtown Charlotte. Mild winters keep the store thriving all year round, but at least one person in the city has colder intentions. It’s another busy fall day for Peggy. First she gives a quick café lecture on African violets, then has a minor bike accident involving a good-looking Saturn driver…and finally reaches her shop only to find a dead man sprawled face down across one of her seasonal displays, apparently done to death with a garden shovel. He’s Mark Warner, one of the wealthiest men in town—and also one of the biggest philanderers. The police have a local homeless man pinned for the suspect, but Peggy has her doubts. Soon her efforts to exonerate him have her raking through the evidence and digging up secrets—and somebody’s not happy about it. And then there’s the enormous Great Dane who seems determined to adopt her—and Peggy doesn’t even like dogs. Good thing that Saturn driver is also a veterinarian… Gardening Tips Included!




Damaged Heroes


Book Description

LOVING L L: Love is torture. Love is pain. Until the right person at the wrong time changes everything. From living on the streets to a life of luxury, things are finally looking up for me. Then I meet Eden. Sweet. Beautiful. Everything I ever dreamed of...and controlled by the monster who hides in the shadows of my past. Blackmail. Corruption. Even murder. Am I prepared to do the unthinkable to keep her safe? Damn right I am. I don't want to love her. She should run from me. Fast. But I can't seem to let her go. This book deals with dark subjects that some may find triggering. * Hero suffered physical abuse as an adolescent. * Flashbacks to emotional abuse. TEMPTING IVY Nico: Ivy doesn’t believe in fated love or dating younger guys, especially ones that sing in bands. What might people think of her? Me? I don’t give a damn. To say I'm confident is an understatement. Any woman I want is mine. But from the moment this girl looks at me with her big stormy eyes, I’m done for. She thinks I’m too young, but I know I’m her man. And now I’ve got a brand-new hobby—tempting Ivy every chance I get. SAVING SOUTH South: With my band’s album skyrocketing up the charts, the last thing I want is a girlfriend. And I sure as hell don’t do love. But Mia won’t stop staring at me with those big beautiful eyes. She doesn’t know how damaged I am. How unworthy of her devotion. To protect her, I must do my best to ignore her. Until the night I make a terrible mistake. And now she’s all I think about. Mia: One glimpse of South’s photo and it’s a serious case of insta-lust. Then I meet him in person, and all bets are off. I’m determined to make the blue-eyed rocker mine. At least for a night or two. But who knew that he’d want everything? Except the secret I vow to keep from him. Even it breaks our hearts.  If you love tales of damaged heroes with lots of heart, angst, and steam, then this series is for you!




The Mammoth Book of Body Horror


Book Description

A gripping collection which offers for the first time a chronological overview of the popular contemporary sub-genre of body horror, from Edgar Allan Poe to Christopher Fowler, with contributions from leading horror writers, including Stephen King, George Langelaan and Neil Gaiman. The collection includes the stories behind seminal body horror movies, John Carpenter's The Thing, David Cronenberg's The Fly and Stuart Gordon's Re-Animator.




Great Danes Don't Hunt Werewolves


Book Description

Life is confusing enough when you're a teen in a new town and a new school. A person can find themselves lost and alone, navigating an alien world full of unusual customs and strange rituals, even when they're human. Being a werewolf? That makes everything so much harder. Now, finding yourself in love with a human? Well, that just takes the cake! Yet, life has a way of tripping you up. Sometimes love is the start of an unexpected adventure and you just know it will last forever and change your life for the better…and sometimes it's the beginning of the end and you’ll never be the same again.




Loving L


Book Description

Love is torture. Love is pain. Until the right person at the wrong time changes everything. From living on the streets to a life of luxury, things are finally looking up for me. Then I meet Eden. Sweet. Beautiful. Everything I ever dreamed of...and controlled by the monster who hides in the shadows of my past. Blackmail. Corruption. Even murder. Am I prepared to do the unthinkable to keep her safe? Damn right I am. I don't want to love her. She should run from me. Fast. But I can't seem to let her go. This book deals with dark subjects that some may find triggering. * Hero suffered physical abuse as an adolescent. * Flashbacks to emotional abuse.




The Mafia Chronicles


Book Description

A New York Times bestseller, the “chilling and compelling . . . must-read” confessions of a mob hit man—and the riveting sequel of his most harrowing contract (former FBI agent Joe Pistone, aka Donnie Brasco). Killer: The Bronx-born son of a Jewish bootlegger, “Joey the Hit Man” was introduced to crime when he was just eleven years old. For the next thirty years he was a numbers king, scalper, loan shark, enforcer, and drug smuggler. He hijacked trucks, fenced stolen goods, and trafficked in pornography. But Joey really made his name as a Mafia assassin, racking up thirty-eight cold-blooded hits—thirty-five for cash, three for revenge. In this no-holds-barred account, he reveals the brutal truth of a life in organized crime. Hit #29: In the fall of 1969, a public execution in a Brooklyn Italian restaurant earned Joey a mention in the New York Daily News and a twenty-grand payout from the mob. Next up: The bosses suspected their trusted numbers controller, Joe Squillante, was skimming the nightly bets to settle personal debts. But Squillante, aka Hit #29, was no clueless patsy and an unpredictable bull’s-eye. Taking the job meant entering into a game of predator and prey as nerve-racking as the cock of a .38 hammer.




Giant George


Book Description

An "engaging, humorous... and compelling story" of one couple's unexpected life with the "runt of the litter" puppy who grew to be the largest dog... ever (Publisher's Weekly). With his big blue eyes and soulful expression, George was the irresistible runt of the litter. But Dave and Christie Nasser's "baby" ended up being almost five feet tall, seven feet long, and 245 pounds. Eager to play, and boisterous to the point of causing chaos, this big Great Dane was scared of water, scared of dogs a fraction of his size and, most of all, scared of being alone. Giant George is the charming story of how this precocious puppy won Dave and Christie's hearts and along the way became a doggie superstar. In 2010, George was named by Guinness World Records as the Tallest Dog in the World-ever. He appeared on Oprah, and even has his own global fan club. But to Dave and Christie, this extraordinary animal is still their beloved pet, the one who has made them laugh, made them cry, and continues to make them incredibly happy.