Special Agent Francesca


Book Description

In this fast-paced, character-driven romantic suspense, introvert, Special Agent Francesca, moves to Las Vegas to escape her powerful, domineering mother. On arrival, multiple obstacles challenge her. She needs to approach a father she's never met, a man who doesn't even know she exists. Then she must play the role of a loving fiancee with a stranger. One who makes her question every unexpected emotion he provokes. Craving the chance for real undercover work, she grabs the opportunity to be involved in cleaning up gang corruption in a nasty neighborhood. When she poses as the new owner of a hotel, the deadly-dangerous situation ramps up and she's forced to fight her way from one conflict to the next. Sean Collins, Psychiatrist and LVPD Profiler, has never known anyone like Francesca Donovan. From first sight, he believes her to be a screwball but her beauty and maddening personality attracts him. Despite her prickly disposition, which gets them into a load of trouble, her rotten driving skills and her constant battles, he's hooked. Once he's roped into a mock engagement with her, his desire to make it real takes precedence over everything else in his world."




Weetzie Bat


Book Description

“Transcendent.” —New York Times Book Review “Magnificent.” —Village Voice “Sparkling.” —Publishers Weekly Francesca Lia Block’s dazzling debut novel, Weetzie Bat, is not only a genre-shattering, critically acclaimed gem, it's also widely recognized as a classic of young adult literature, having captivated readers for generations. This coming-of-age novel follows the eponymous Weetzie Bat and her best friend Dirk as they navigate life and love in a timeless, dreamlike version of Los Angeles. When Weetzie is granted three wishes by a genie, she discovers that there are unexpected ramifications…. Winner of the prestigious Phoenix Award, Weetzie Bat is a beautiful, poetic work of magical realism that is perfect for fans of Laura Ruby, Neil Gaiman, and Kelly Link.




A Short Introduction to Preferences


Book Description

Computational social choice is an expanding field that merges classical topics like economics and voting theory with more modern topics like artificial intelligence, multiagent systems, and computational complexity. This book provides a concise introduction to the main research lines in this field, covering aspects such as preference modelling, uncertainty reasoning, social choice, stable matching, and computational aspects of preference aggregation and manipulation. The book is centered around the notion of preference reasoning, both in the single-agent and the multi-agent setting. It presents the main approaches to modeling and reasoning with preferences, with particular attention to two popular and powerful formalisms, soft constraints and CP-nets. The authors consider preference elicitation and various forms of uncertainty in soft constraints. They review the most relevant results in voting, with special attention to computational social choice. Finally, the book considers preferences in matching problems. The book is intended for students and researchers who may be interested in an introduction to preference reasoning and multi-agent preference aggregation, and who want to know the basic notions and results in computational social choice. Table of Contents: Introduction / Preference Modeling and Reasoning / Uncertainty in Preference Reasoning / Aggregating Preferences / Stable Marriage Problems




A Lesson in Secrets


Book Description

Private investigator Maisie Dobbs receives her first assignment from the British Secret Service in A Lesson in Secrets, the eighth book in Jacqueline Winspear’s award-winning mystery series. Sent to pose as a junior lecturer at a private college in Cambridge, she will monitor any activities “not in the interests of His Majesty’s government.” When the college’s pacifist founder is murdered, Maisie finds herself in the midst of sinister web of murder, scandal, and conspiracy, activities that point towards members of the ascendant Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei—the Nazi Party—on Britain’s shores. An instant classic, and sure to captivate long-time Maisie Dobbs fans as well as readers of Agatha Christie, Elizabeth George, and Alexander McCall Smith, A Lesson in Secrets is “a powerful and complex novel, one that will linger in memory as a testament to her talent and her humanity” (Richmond Times-Dispatch).




Special Agent Finnegan


Book Description

When Special Agent Finnegan O'Reilly gets shot, and the news brings on his father’s heart attack, he decides to take leave from further undercover assignments. The O'Reilly has suffered enough and Finn can’t be the cause of more distress for this beloved old rascal. Then his boss forces one more case on him - to take place in their own pub. Acting as the target to expose serial, suicide killers rampaging through New York City, Finn must play the part of a wife-beater, a cheating husband and an all-time jerk. No problem, until he meets his make-believe wife. Renée Knight enjoys her job as a New York City cop. Her disguises have become a permanent fixture in her life, and no one knows what she really looks like. Except for the father she loves fiercely… the man, whose suicide makes no sense. If it means going undercover in an Irish pub where the culprits hang out, she’s their girl. Playing the wife of the bar owner to catch the killers—easy. But they never intend for her to fall for this guy, she does this all on her own. Now she has to hire the assassins to arrange his suicide. Can she catch them, before they complete the mission? The Undercover FBI Series: #1 Special Agent Francesca #2 Special Agent Finnegan #3 Special Agent Maximilian #4 Special Agent Kandice #5 Special Agent Booker #6 Special Agent Charli #7 Special Agent Rylee #8 Special Agent Murphy #9 Special Agent Sophia #10 Special Agent Hunter #11 Special Agent Makayla #12 Special Agent Storm #13 Special Agent Jennie #14 Special Agent Walker #15 Special Agent Isabella #16 Special Agent Lucifer #17 Special Agent Anastacia – to be released Winter 2024




Lucina's Letters


Book Description

“They did not mean to hurt the boy, much less kill him. They only wanted to teach him a lesson.” A stunning family saga set in Ireland and Italy, Lucina’s Letters is a gripping character study that explores the deep, dark repercussions of one long-ago deed. Family has always been of the utmost importance to Lucina, but when she learns the truth about an event that almost ripped the family apart, she sets about mending the familial bond even if her efforts are from beyond the grave. One well-timed letter allows her to bring the family together and drag not just one secret but many into the light. But what will the consequences be; will the now-grown-up girls come to terms with their actions on that fateful day and subsequently their own struggles in life? Were the messenger’s intentions just honourable and will the truth set them free and restore the family unit once again?




Blue Mar


Book Description

In the not-so-distant future, two sisters must navigate a world that is unraveling due to climate change. Wildfires blot out the sky, coastlines are being washed away by rising seas, and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch has been geo-engineered into an actual island called Blue Mar. When Laurel and Paloma visit their Great-Aunt in El Salvador, they find that things are far worse than in the U.S., so bad that many people are moving to Blue Mar to start a new life. As they search for their identity and their place in the world, Laurel and Paloma must decide whether to go to Blue Mar themselves, or whether to stay, reconnect with their culture, and fight to save the land of their ancestors.




Violet & Claire


Book Description

This is the story of two girls, racing through space like shadow and light. A photo negative, together they make the perfect image of a girl. Violet is the dark one, dressed in forever black, dreaming Technicolor dreams of spinning the world into her very own silver screen creation. Claire is like a real-life Tinker Bell, radiating love and light, dressing herself in wings of gauze and glitter, writing poems to keep away the darkness. The setting is L.A., a city as beautiful as it is dangerous, and within this landscape of beauty and pain Violet and Claire vow to make their own movie. Together they will show the world the way they want it to be, and maybe then the world will become that place--a place where people no longer hate or fight or want to hurt. But when desire and ambition threaten to rip a seamless friendship apart, only one thing can make two halves whole again--the power of love. Francesca Lia Block's latest novel is a beautifully told story that boldly combines the world of film with the lyrical graceful language of poetry. The voices of two friends--one dark, one light--combine to tell a larger tale of love and loss, and the strength that comes from believing in dreams.




Behind the Attic Wall


Book Description

In the bleak, forbidding house of her great-aunts, neglected twelve-year-old orphan Maggie hears ghostly voices and finds magic that awakens in her the capacity to love and be loved.




Witch Baby


Book Description

This isn't about slinkster dogs, strawberry sundaes, or sleeping on the beach. Because it's Witch Baby's story. And Witch Baby is different. So maybe it's a book about not belonging. About being outside, looking in. Or it could be about getting so mad you could smash the world. Or maybe it's really about true love, too. And Witch Baby just hasn't figured it out yet... The Dangerous Angels series continues with: 3. CHEROKEE BAT AND THE GOAT GUYS (Sep '02); 4. MISSING ANGEL JUAN (Nov '02); 5. BABY BE-BOP (Jan '03)




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