A Deadly Game of Deception Notorious and beautiful, Vidia Swanson works as an "angel," trying to coax incriminating secrets from powerful men who may or may not be traitors of the Crown. Her latest target is suspected of stealing gold from Wellington's troops, but matters take an alarming turn when Vidia realizes that her spymaster thinks she is the one who is tainted—a double agent working for Napoleon. Backed into a corner, she can only hope to stay one step ahead of the hangman in a race to stop the next war before it destroys her—and destroys England. Tainted Angel offers up a compelling game of cat and mouse in which no one can be trusted and anyone can be tainted. "Espionage and passion—Regency style—burning up the pages from chapter one."—New York Times bestselling author Raine Miller "A world of spies and traitors where no one is quite what they seem and the truth is only true for a moment...a thrilling take that will keep you guessing until the very last page."—Victoria Thompson, author of Murder in Chelsea

Ayla The darkness never truly left me. It

The first volume to focus on the trope of racial passing in novels, memoirs, television, and films published or produced between 1990 and 2010, Passing Interest takes the scholarly conversation on passing into the twenty-first century. With contributors working in the fields of African American studies, American studies, cultural studies, film studies, literature, and media studies, this book offers a rich, interdisciplinary survey of critical approaches to a broad range of contemporary passing texts. Contributors frame recent passing texts with a wide array of cultural discourses, including immigration law, the Post-Soul Aesthetic, contemporary political satire, affirmative action, the paradoxes of "colorblindness," and the rhetoric of "post-racialism." Many explore whether "one drop" of blood still governs our sense of racial identity, or to what extent contemporary American culture allows for the racially indeterminate individual. Some essays open the scholarly conversation to focus on "ethnic" passers—individuals who complicate the traditional black-white binary—while others explore the slippage between traditional racial passing and related forms of racial performance, including blackface minstrelsy and racial masquerade.

Quests are nothing new for travel writers. Some have toiled over a villa restoration in Tuscany. Some have pursued exotic culinary adventures. Alex Dingwall-Main, a landscape architect by day, introduces plant-purchasing as a grand pursuit in his new book The Angel Tree: The Enchanting Quest for the World's Oldest Olive Tree. Despite the title, the Dingwall-Main doesn't necessarily need to find the oldest tree—but at a minimum he must procure one that is ancient enough (say 1,000-1,500 years—olives can live extraordinarily long lives) and pretty enough to satisfy his wealthy client, Monsieur Lautour. Dingwall-Main finds several promising subjects, including the Angel Tree of the title; frustratingly, though, the locals sometimes can't be moved to part with the most revered trees for a mere monetary reward. In addition to recounting his shopping expeditions, the author brings in snippets of European history (covering such diverse topics as the Punic wars between Rome and Carthage and the Black Death) to illustrate the turbulent times through which these old trees have survived. He then fills in the rest of the book with tidbits from the life of a well-to-do garden designer. Some readers may simply enjoy living vicariously through Dingwall-Main as he crisscrosses the Mediterranean in search of Lautour's tree, but others could find themselves asking if his description of test-driving a Mini-Cooper is really necessary, or wondering what kind of person packs formal wear on a trip to buy a plant. The Angel Tree does illuminate one fascinating aspect of life in Southern Europe: old olive trees are considered a must-have accessory for the gardens of the rich. This is a boon to farmers who can sell past-their-prime trees for top dollar. Dingwall-Main also shows a humorous touch, especially as he relates one incident in which, due to a careless delivery driver, an acquaintance's newly purchased tree falls into her swimming pool. At its best, The Angel Tree serves as an interesting, though perhaps unnecessary reminder of what wealth can accomplish. With enough money, not only can we possess something that has lived through centuries of Western history, but (with a little luck) we can have it perfectly situated in our garden. --Leah Weathersby

Written by a middle-upper class teenage girl during her struggles with self-harm, heartbreak, clinical depression, adolescent angst, stress, suicidal temptation and hospitalization.

The Ways of Light Where there is light, darkness must flee. The Fae are people of light, empowered by the energy of the Sun. They live in the light, they play in the light, they heal in the light—yet they are ruled by the darkest Fae king in all their long history. Baylen Knight, dark, dangerous, and stalked by evil. A man given a crown he did not want. Baylen is a man consumed by grief and guilt from the death of past mates at the hands of his enemies. He dare not love again. His sanity, his very soul would not survive another loss. Baylen is a man adrift in the darkness Aliora Aurelius is unique. She is magic. She is light—A being not seen since the war that drove the Fae from their home world over a thousand years ago. Gentle, kind, and good, she is a woman who boldly marches to her own drum. Aliora is the light, and where there is light, darkness must flee.

Dead Angels Bleed is the story of Jacob, a man with the power of life and death over every living thing on the planet and his complex relationship with Azrael, the Angel of Death.This special edition features a sample chapter from Michael Charles Rogers' forthcoming novel, Temptation's Despair.