Zero Forks


Book Description

BOONE I know a BS excuse when I hear one. And my new boss has thrown half a dozen at me about why we can't be together. I only have one thing to say to all of that. The number of fuc—uh—forks I give about what other people think about us is zero. A big fat goose egg. See! I've even learned to watch my language around her and the kid. I'm that serious about proving to this woman she needs to give me—give us—a chance. That it doesn't matter if she is a little older than me, or that I work for her, or that the Mudville gossip mill will definitely choose us as the topic du jour. All that matters is that I can prove to her that life, especially life in a small town, is so much better when you don't give a fu—um, I mean—fork. Darn it, that swear jar is going to bankrupt me. SARAH I’ve sworn off men. It took me thirty-nine years and two huge mistakes in the romance department to come to my senses but I finally did. Work is my life now and that’s exactly the way I like it. That’s what makes it extra uncomfortable that the adorable three-year old I inherited for six months while my sister is deployed has chosen a hot, ripped twenty-something farmer as our new live-in nanny. Boone’s too nice, too sunshiny and too good with the boy for me to fire him, but dammit he needs to start wearing more clothes around the house because I’m one hard ab away from breaking my vow of celibacy with a man who’s ridiculously wrong for me in so many ways. Zero Forks is a standalone opposites attract, older woman younger man, steamy, grumpy boss romance set in Mudville, the crazy small town you’ve come to know and love.




Heuristic Search


Book Description

Search has been vital to artificial intelligence from the very beginning as a core technique in problem solving. The authors present a thorough overview of heuristic search with a balance of discussion between theoretical analysis and efficient implementation and application to real-world problems. Current developments in search such as pattern databases and search with efficient use of external memory and parallel processing units on main boards and graphics cards are detailed. Heuristic search as a problem solving tool is demonstrated in applications for puzzle solving, game playing, constraint satisfaction and machine learning. While no previous familiarity with heuristic search is necessary the reader should have a basic knowledge of algorithms, data structures, and calculus. Real-world case studies and chapter ending exercises help to create a full and realized picture of how search fits into the world of artificial intelligence and the one around us. - Provides real-world success stories and case studies for heuristic search algorithms - Includes many AI developments not yet covered in textbooks such as pattern databases, symbolic search, and parallel processing units







The Mudville Collection


Book Description

Welcome to Mudville... Within these stories you’ll find nosy neighbors and runaway livestock, big Victorians and a small-town coffee shop, contentious village meetings and a muddy river that tends to flood, a vintage diner and a local bar that serves the best wings around, a resale shop run by a feisty redhead where you can get anything from chainsaws to Chanel, a family-owned farm known for its corn (and the brothers who run it), and finally, one misplaced author who came for a visit and never left. There is mystery and humor, history and love, so get your binge on today! The series is compiled into two volumes containing a total of 6 full-length novels, 2 novellas, and 2 bonus short stories. Volume 1: Contains Kissing Books, Red Hot, Honey Buns, Dog Days (that's 3 full length novels plus one novella). THIS VOLUME>> Volume 2: Contains Zero Forks, Mister Naughty, Undercover Santa, Bad Dates, Bad Decisions, and Mabel & Mudd (that's 3 full length novels, one novella and two bonus shorts). GOOGLE READERS CAN ALSO GET THE COMPLETE SERIES IN A SINGLE VOLUME EBOOK




Microservices


Book Description

This book describes in contributions by scientists and practitioners the development of scientific concepts, technologies, engineering techniques and tools for a service-based society. The focus is on microservices, i.e cohesive, independent processes deployed in isolation and equipped with dedicated memory persistence tools, which interact via messages. The book is structured in six parts. Part 1 “Opening” analyzes the new (and old) challenges including service design and specification, data integrity, and consistency management and provides the introductory information needed to successfully digest the remaining parts. Part 2 “Migration” discusses the issue of migration from monoliths to microservices and their loosely coupled architecture. Part 3 “Modeling” introduces a catalog and a taxonomy of the most common microservices anti-patterns and identifies common problems. It also explains the concept of RESTful conversations and presents insights from studying and developing two further modeling approaches. Next , Part 4 is dedicated to various aspects of “Development and Deployment”. Part 5 then covers “Applications” of microservices, presenting case studies from Industry 4.0, Netflix, and customized SaaS examples. Eventually, Part 6 focuses on “Education” and reports on experiences made in special programs, both at academic level as a master program course and for practitioners in an industrial training. As only a joint effort between academia and industry can lead to the release of modern paradigm-based programming languages, and subsequently to the deployment of robust and scalable software systems, the book mainly targets researchers in academia and industry who develop tools and applications for microservices.




Cadaver Lab


Book Description

He's a former Army medic. She owns a book and wine shop. It's all the makings of one steamy small-town romance… except he runs a cadaver lab and she sees dead people. Strange things are happening at the Once Upon a Vine Book & Wine Shop in Mudville, New York. Is it the sky clad Wiccans meeting on the roof? The book club drinking "magic mushroom" tea in the meeting room? The black cat who moved uninvited into the shop? The sudden run on Tarot card sales? Maybe it can be traced to the downed power line that rendered the bookshop owner technically dead making her the new conduit to the local ghost community. Or to the cadaver lab next door and the hot but mysteriously secretive doctor who runs it. All Natalie knows is she can’t ignore him or them anymore now that one of the hot doctor’s cadavers insists his death was the result of foul play and she's the only one who can bring him justice. Cadaver Lab features a grumpy hero, amateur sleuth heroine, small town shenanigans, mystery, murder & mayhem.




Undercover Santa


Book Description

It's Christmastime in Mudville and Morgan's Farm Market is all decked out for the holidays, but the man in the Santa suit isn't who he says he is... ELIZABETH I recognized him right away. The boy I'd met and fell in love with one summer twenty-three years ago, before he'd disappeared completely from my life. Now he's back . . . and dressed as Santa. And lying about who he is. The question is why? The bigger question is, will he stick around this time? CHRISTOPHER The last thing I expected was to inherit my uncle's farm in Mudville. No, actually, the last I'd ever expected was to be dressed as Santa Claus and see Lizzy Murphy again after all these years. She's all grown up and goes by Elizabeth now. And she's making me want to stick around, just when I'd been all set to go. UNDERCOVER SANTA is a small town, second chances, reunion romance set over Christmas. This holiday romance short novella is meant to serve as the reader's introduction to the characters and full-length, standalone novels in Cat Johnson's Smalltown Secrets series.




Cinderella Liberty


Book Description

Marine Gunnery Sergeant John “Crash” O’Malley has two goals for the immediate future. One, enjoy his liberty in New York City, and two, survive his deployment to Afghanistan. What he didn’t plan on is Trish. A guy can’t have a one-night stand with his best friend’s sister and then abandon her at midnight when his liberty ends, but starting a new relationship days before shipping out would be crazy. Then again, Crash never did do things the easy way. What he doesn’t realize is that his friend’s displeasure over Crash breaking the “no sisters rule” is nothing compared to what the insurgents have in store for them in the Helmand Province. Now it’s a matter of survival because Crash’s new objective is to get home to Trish and make her his. Look for Crossing the Line, the story that introduces Crash to readers and features Beau and Carrie's HEA. If you love men in uniform, a best friend's sister/brother's best friend theme, long distance romance, a one night stand, and alpha male heroes, this book is for you.




Nice & Naughty


Book Description

The Trilogy Collection What’s better than a fireman? Twelve of them, naked, on the pages of your calendar. Secret Recipe: A famous lifestyle maven who secretly can't cook? Good thing a sizzling hot fireman/calendar model knows his way around the kitchen and is there to rescue her and her charity event from certain disaster. If they detour to the bedroom on the way to the kitchen, even better. Mr. December: When the real December calendar man gets sick, a rich department store owner has to step in for him and play Santa. Once he meets the pretty lady photographer sent to cover the event, things really start to heat up. The only problem is, she has no idea who he really is, and he’s not all that keen on telling her. Can't Buy Me Love: What do you get when you take one over-worked caterer on the brink of a nervous breakdown and add a hunky fireman for sale at the charity bachelor auction she's catering? You get a woman who finally finds the one gift to buy herself that she's never going to want to return. If you love the old black-and-white classic holiday movies such as Christmas in Connecticut, Shop Around the Corner and Holiday Inn, you’ll love the three Nice & Naughty stories they inspired.




Honey Buns


Book Description

She’s a small town baker. He’s a big city workaholic. Opposites definitely do attract…until business gets in the way of pleasure . Never have a romantic dinner with a charming stranger. It won’t work out well. Trust me. I know. One dinner and now mister handsome hottie’s two new Main Street enterprises are about to drive my bake shop out of business. Apparently, I was just a pawn in his little game of Mudville Monopoly. Fine. He’d better hold on to his hotels, because I’m about to show Mister Moneybags exactly what it means to mess with a girl who spent some time on the wrong side of the B.&O. Railroad tracks. That would be easier if he weren’t so devastatingly distracting. And if my only option for survival wasn’t for him to become my new boss. Honey Buns features a single billionaire workaholic, a feisty small-town baker with a sewer grate-sized chip on her shoulder, some hundred-year old love letters guaranteed to make you cry, addictive diner fries, a dumpster diving stray cat and all of the small town crazy you’ve come to expect from Mudville. Honey Buns is a standalone, enemies to lovers, small town, romantic comedy novel. If you love Lucy Score, Claire Kingsly, Emily Henry, Tessa Bailey, Melanie Harlow, Julia Kent, Pippa Grant, Penelope Ward, Vi Keeland, Helena Hunting, Jami Albright, Lili Valente, and similar laugh out loud romance reads, you'll love New York Times and USA Today bestselling contemporary romance author Cat Johnson's steamy small town, feel good romance.