There's a cruel science experiment in which a frog is placed into a pot of cool water and heated slowly, one degree at a time. With such a gradual rise in temperature, the frog barely notices and is boiled alive. This is the predicament in which Annie found herself. Had her husband Ed become violent on their wedding night, she surely would have fled immediately. But instead, the marriage slowly deteriorated. She realized something wasn't right, but kept trying to make it work. If only she could have been a better cook, prettier, more fun, Ed would have loved her. It was only after a beating, in which she was thrown repeatedly against a door, that Annie finally took their 14-month-old son and left. This is a true story, written as a down-to-earth, daily journal and includes prayer, poetry, and Scripture. It's a story of faith, family, friendship, and survival.

Modern writers have reconsidered every subject under the sun through the lens of Sherlock Holmes. The overlooked subject is agency: the opportunities available to these women for independence and control. What we find all too often are the silences around them. And yet, these clients--villains, victims, and Violets--are pivotal in the world of Sherlock Holmes. Perhaps more enigmatic than Holmes’ methods is what Watson sees: the woman in the shadows. Whether lady or lady’s maid, if she does speak, it’s often not recorded in her words. That was life for half the population of Victorian England. A woman’s role was written before she was born; it merely required her to don the starched white apron of a maid, or the rough, stained skirts of a "char"--who did the dirtiest of household jobs—or the fine silk gowns of a lady. Enter Villains, Victims, and Violets to spy and report on these women in their darkest, most vulnerable moments. How does Irene Adler—pursued by a powerful king, and by Sherlock Holmes--outwit them both? Can Lady Hilda conceal the secret that only Holmes unravels? When Violet Hunter takes the last job offered before she loses everything, can Holmes free her and her doppelganger? To understand Holmes’ world is to gaze unsparingly into the lives of its women: the villains and what drives them astray; the victims Holmes races to rescue; and the Violets, who make up the strongest characters from Holmes’ unforgettable cases. The authors pull back the curtain on their private spaces, revealing their "proper" place in a man’s world at the dusk of the 19th century and the dawn of the 20th. Foreword by Nisi Shawl, noted Sherlockian and the James Tiptree Jr. Award-winning and Nebula-nominated author of the brilliant steampunk, feminist, Afrofuturist novel Everfair.

Poetry Flow It Re: Poems to Help Through Domestic Violence By: Kris Denaé The tense and overwhelming emotions surrounding the topic of domestic violence are shared through simple and easy to understand language, the art of poetry. Through this calming technique, the poems within will provide a better understanding and insight into the lives of those who suffer from the horrors of domestic violence. Embedded into the poems are real-life situations garnered from poet Kris Denaé’s experiences from her family and relationships and tackles issues of not only domestic violence but sexual abuse, sexuality, racial inequality, and misogyny in religious circles. Through her poetry, Denaé seeks to end the stigma surrounding discussing these difficult topics and bring about better discussion to eradicate these issues.

I never intended on returning home after everything that transpired between my family and me, which led to my mother's death. But new evidence has come to light that my father wasn't the only one involved in her death. Someone else close to me wanted her gone too. So I'm back to finish getting the justice she deserves, hoping I can finally move on once this is over. But then my plans are interrupted when I see the love of my life, Edith, whom I hadn't seen since the last time we were together, but I have thought about almost every day, in the arms of my brother. Now I must choose what's more important, taking the life of the person who took my mother away from me or saving the woman who still holds my heart. This is the second book in the Edith's Fatal Love trilogy. If you've read the first book then you already know what to expect see in this second book.

A couple determined not to end up like their divorced friends try a radical experiment—and get in way over their heads—in this hilarious, heartfelt novel from the author of We’re All Damaged. New York Post’s Best Books to Read in Our Age of Social Isolation • “[Matthew] Norman’s funny and feeling writing makes for an irresistible read.”—Esquire (Best Books of 2020) The Core Four have been friends since college: four men, four women, four couples. They got married around the same time, had kids around the same time, and now, fifteen years later, they’ve started getting divorced around the same time, too. With three of the Core Four unions crumbling to dust around them, Jessica and Mitch Butler take a long, hard look at their own marriage. Can it be saved? Or is divorce, like some fortysomething zombie virus, simply inescapable? To maximize their chance at immunity, Jessica and Mitch try something radical. Their friends’ divorces mostly had to do with sex—having it, not having it, wanting to have it with other people—so they decide to relax a few things. Terms are discussed, conditions are made, and together the Butlers embark on the great experiment of taking their otherwise happy, functional marriage and breaking some very serious rules. Jessica and Mitch are convinced they’ve hit upon the next evolution of marriage. But as lines are crossed and hot bartenders pursued, they each start to wonder if they’ve made a huge mistake. What follows is sexy, fun, painful, messy, and completely surprising to them both. Because sometimes doing something bad is the only way to get to the heart of what’s really good.

A dying man brings his oldest friends together for one last beach blowout in this witty, heartfelt novel from the author of Last Couple Standing. “A delightful novel about the meaning of friendship and how we dream of being remembered by those closest to us . . . a fabulous vacation of a book!”—Amanda Eyre Ward, New York Times bestselling author of The Jetsetters At just thirty-five, reclusive billionaire Robbie Malcolm is a renowned financial prognosticator, a celebrated philanthropist, and a mathematical genius. Also, he’s dying, which is a fact he’s carefully concealing from the world. As he takes stock, Robbie realizes that his wealth means nothing if he can’t help the people who matter most. So he invites his oldest friends—Blair, Cat, and Wade—to their beloved Fenwick Island on the coast of Delaware to share his secret and to reveal plans for each of them that he believes will change their lives forever. However, Robbie isn’t the only one with secrets. The bonds the friends formed as teenagers still exist, but adulthood has brought a whole new set of complications, like unrequited loves, marriages on the brink, and so much unfulfilled potential. Robbie’s plans may look good on paper, but are they any match for the utter disaster that is real life? As everything comes to light over a wild weekend full of surprises, Robbie learns there are still some things money can’t buy, and a group of friends who thought their best years were behind them realize just how much they have to look forward to.