Love lives in the most dangerous places of the heart The real world. That's what Leda desperately seeks when she flees her life of privilege to travel to Kenya. She finds it at a boys'orphanage in the slums of Nairobi. What she doesn't expect is to fall for Ita, the charismatic and thoughtful man who gave up his dreams to offer children a haven in the midst of turmoil. Their love should be enough for one another-it embodies the soul-deep connection both have always craved. But it is threatened by Ita's troubled childhood friend, Chege, a gang leader with whom he shares a complex history. As political unrest reaches a boiling point and the slum erupts in violence, Leda is attacked…and forced to put her trust in Chege, the one person who otherwise inspires anything but. In the aftermath of Leda's rescue, disturbing secrets are exposed, and Leda, Ita and Chege are each left grappling with their own regret and confusion. Their worlds upturned, they must now face the reality that sometimes the most treacherous threat is not the world outside, but the demons within.

The first novel in this darkly sexy contemporary series from bestselling author Monica Murphy kicks off an emotionally powerful two-part tale of forbidden love. Crazy how eight years can disappear in an instant. One look at Katie Watts, and I’m a fifteen-year-old again—the one who risked everything to save a terrified girl from her twisted kidnapper. She’s grown-up now—beautiful, quiet, composed—and telling her story to the world. A story that involves me in more ways than you can imagine. She used to call me her guardian angel. Sure, I risked my life, but she was worth dying for. I need to make contact with her. Just to ensure that she’s safe. Somehow we reconnect. We become friends . . . but I want more. I want to make her mine. And she wants me too. Does she know who I am? Has she figured me out? Not yet. But she will. In the meantime, I need to make sure that whatever hold that animal had on her is gone. So, yeah, I’m stealing these moments with her. Savoring them. Knowing, dreading, that she’ll soon find out who I really am. And everything will fall apart. All because of that twisted, perverted monster sitting on death row. Her kidnapper. A convicted serial killer. My father. Praise for Never Tear Us Apart “All the best parts of romance and betrayal . . . I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.”—New York Times bestselling author Jay Crownover “A powerful story that left me raw yet hopeful.”—USA Today bestselling author K. A. Tucker “A powerful story of friendship, trauma, coping and betrayal. The characters jump off the page into real life and will have readers gasping and feeling every emotion that they go through. Another amazing book to add to Murphy’s already stellar library!”—RT Book Reviews (4 1/2 stars) “Murphy has written a compelling and emotional love story of two severely broken people, each of whom can be healed only by the other.”—Booklist “Murphy imbues these characters with genuineness and plausibility. . . . [Readers] will look forward to the promised sequel.”—Publishers Weekly “It’s poetic, addresses difficult themes, and captures the essence of our fragility as humans and the strength love provides.”—Heroes and Heartbreakers “Beautiful, poignant, and perfectly written . . . It’s a book that burrows into your very heart and grabs hold. A book that’s different yet unforgettable.”—Dirty Girl Romance

Your favorite Queer as Folk characters take you along on their youthful journey of sexual self-discovery in a new line of books based on the record-breaking Showtime series hailed as "fiercely realistic" by The New York Times. USA Today raves, "There's never been anything else like it on TV." Never Tear Us Apart They've been to the prom and signed the yearbooks. Now Brian and Michael are apart for the first time since grade school. Brian's soccer scholarship takes him to Carnegie-Mellon where he finds that he's a fresh -- if not a small -- fish in a big new pond. Meanwhile Michael, Deb, and Uncle Vic embark on the annual Novotny family vacation in the Poconos, where Michael makes some "new" friends. When the trip is cut short because Vic doesn't feel well, Michael learns that his uncle has AIDS and that their family must come together more closely than ever. Soon classes begin for both boys, and new passions and adventures put their friendship to the test. Lindsay, a pretty, talented art major at Carnegie-Mellon, is quickly becoming a fixture in Brian's life, and Emmett, whom Michael met at Babylon, becomes a good friend outside the club too. As sex becomes more than experimentation for both, Brian and Michael struggle with jealousy, homophobia, the realities of HIV, and finding a place of their own as they find their way back to each other.

Two's Company When thirty-five-year-old celebrity journalist Sloan Madden is asked to write a biography of Grammy-winning pop princesses Flora and Fauna Sparks -- sexy seventeen-year-old Siamese twins who are joined at the hip -- she thinks it'll be an easy, lucrative gig. But as soon as she takes the job, Sloan discovers that the Sparks sisters' empire hides deep cracks. She's barely signed her book contract before Fauna confesses her secret dream: she wants to record a solo album. Three's a Crowd Moving into a guest suite at the Joint -- the symmetrical Beverly Hills home the twins share with their Bud-sucking father, Fred -- perpetually single Sloan can't help but start to view her own life differently. Suddenly everything from the affair she's having with debonair screenwriter Brian Understahl, to her unrequited love for her best friend, Travis, to herodd, burgeoning desire for the twins' troubled father leaves her wondering whether couplehood isn't overrated -- whether there isn't something more to life. But redemption comes at a price. And with Flora and Fauna pulling her into their downward spiral of catfights, career sabotage, drug abuse, sex, and jealousy, Sloan stands to lose as much as she has to gain.

High school sweethearts Lea and Dan are finally getting married--and no one's surprised. After all, they're both perfect--so perfect that their "friends" can't help but be reminded how screwed up they are in comparison, in this novel of growing up and moving on.

What does it mean to be human? Why do we feel and behave in the ways that we do? The classic answer is that we have a special kind of intelligence. But to understand what we are as humans, we also need to know what we are like motivationally. And what is central to this story, what is special about human motivation, is that humans want to share with others their inner experiences about the world--share how they feel, what they believe, and what they want to happen in the future. They want to create a shared reality with others. People have a shared reality together when they experience having in common a feeling about something, a belief about something, or a concern about something. They feel connected to another person or group by knowing that this person or group sees the world the same way that they do--they share what is real about the world. In this work, Dr. Higgins describes how our human motivation for shared reality evolved in our species, and how it develops in our children as shared feelings, shared practices, and shared goals and roles. Shared reality is crucial to what we believe--sharing is believing. It is central to our sense of self, what we strive for and how we strive. It is basic to how we get along with others. It brings us together in fellowship and companionship, but it also tears us apart by creating in-group "bubbles" that conflict with one another. Our shared realities are the best of us, and the worst of us.

What would you do after the man of your dreams battered you because he believed you'd been unfaithful? Could you forgive this man to whom you've given every piece of your heart? After wealthy African-American celebrity Wesley (Wes) Laurence Kelly and his Latino bodyguard Antonio ('Tonio) Miguel Rios fall passionately in love, a shadowy figure throws their monogamous relationship into dire jeopardy! This vicious entity manipulates 'Tonio into believing that his soul mate is being unfaithful. As a result, 'Tonio physically brutalizes Wes. Then, deeply buried trauma forces Wes to become an alternate personality: "Walker"! The polar opposite of Wes, Walker's deadly to the very core. So, can Wes and 'Tonio work their way back to one another? And, can they still vow that "Nothing Can Tear Us Apart?"