Downtown Devil

From the author of Crosstown Crush comes the second sexy novel in the trilogy that explores the illicit pleasures of ménage à trois. At the edge of thirty, Clare is feeling restless. Even though she’s gainfully employed and pursuing her passion for photography, she can’t shake the feeling that something’s missing. Then she meets Mica. A perfect subject for her portrait exhibit, Mica is sexy, exciting, and everything Clare desires. One night with the charismatic stranger is all it takes to leave her craving more. But the intensity Mica brings isn’t confined to the bedroom, and Clare wonders if this summer fling might turn more adventurous than she anticipated—especially as a curious energy starts to simmer between the two of them and Mica’s handsome roommate, Vaughn. As the three-way tension mounts, Mica makes a sinful proposal. It’s an invitation Clare can’t pass up, and an erotic encounter she’ll never be able to forget. Caught up between two irresistible men, Clare is about to get all the excitement she’s been looking for—and then some.... Includes an exclusive preview of the next Sins in the City Novel, Midtown Masters Praise for Cara McKenna “The sweet, smoking-hot, standout erotic romance you’ve been craving.”—New York Times Bestselling Author Beth Kery “McKenna is a master.”—#1 New York Times Bestselling Author Maya Banks “Dirty and mesmerizing.”—Fiction Vixen “McKenna knows how to write sexy-as-hell bad boys.”—New York Times Bestselling Author Jaci Burton

Why should public administrators care about city planning? Is city planning not a field ruled by architects and public works personnel? Much of city planning in fact requires expertise in areas other than buildings and infrastructure, and with city planning expertise, urban administrators are empowered to make more informed decisions on matters that involve budgeting, economic development, tax revenues, public relations, and ordinances and policies that will benefit the community. City Planning for the Public Manager is designed to fill a gap in the urban administration literature, offering students and practitioners hands-on, practical advice from experts with diverse city administration experience, and demonstrating where theory and practice intersect. Divided into three sections, the book provides an overview of the life cycle of a municipality and its services, explores city planning applications for planners on a strict budget, and walks the reader through a real-life planning research project, demonstrating how it was formulated, implemented, and analyzed to produce usable results. Topics explored include justifications for specific city services, internal and external benchmarking used for city planning, common technical tools (e.g., GIS), legal aspects of planning and zoning, environmental concerns, transportation, residential planning, business district planning, and infrastructure. City Planning for the Public Manager is required reading for students of urban administration and practicing city administrators interested in improving their careers and their communities.

As universities transform cities with their innovation districts, what works in these new public-private partnerships? In recent years, the successful revitalization of urban areas has turned them into magnets for those looking for opportunities in a fast-paced and rapidly unfolding technology-based economy. After the economic crisis of 2008, many colleges and universities attempted to generate alternative sources of revenue and pursued aggressive economic development strategies. Some universities even began to actively invest resources in the rebirth (and rebranding) of urban cores, encouraging the development of entrepreneurial, technology-oriented innovation districts. In Anchoring Innovation Districts, Costas Spirou explains that these districts have emerged as geographic clusters of technology startups, business incubators, and accelerators. They aim to take advantage of intellectual capital, commercialize knowledge, and give their associated institutions a way to enter into the market. The outcome of robust private-public partnerships and complex real estate strategies, these initiatives also complement other urban revitalization efforts and reshape the socioeconomic makeup of city neighborhoods. Presenting readers with six case studies that explore the role of technological innovation, Spirou argues that higher education–anchored innovation districts can make significant contributions to economic expansion, job growth, and the institutions that guide their development. He also points out that these districts nonetheless raise questions about the impact of the Ivory Tower on the urban environment. Spirou focuses on Midtown Atlanta's Tech Square (Georgia Tech), Cambridge's Kendall Square (MIT), Philadelphia's University City (the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, and the University of the Sciences), the PHX Core (Arizona State University), and the role that the University of West Florida in Pensacola and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga play in developing innovation ecosystems. Anchoring Innovation Districts provides unique insight into the transformative opportunities offered and the challenges faced by higher education in the built environment. University administrators, board members, policy makers, and scholars will find Spirou's analysis thought-provoking and helpful.

Barista Lana Lewis's sleuthing may land her in a latte trouble as Tara Lush launches her new Coffee Shop mysteries. When Lana Lewis' best -- and most difficult -- employee abruptly quits and goes to work for the competition just days before the Sunshine State Barista Championship, her café's chances of winning the contest are creamed. In front of a gossipy crowd in the small Florida town of Devil's Beach, Lana's normally calm demeanor heats to a boil when she runs into the arrogant java slinger. Of course, Fabrizio "Fab" Bellucci has a slick explanation for jumping ship. But when he's found dead the next morning under a palm tree in the alley behind Lana's café, she becomes the prime suspect. Even the island's handsome police chief isn't quite certain of her innocence. But Lana isn't the only one in town who was angry with Fabrizio. Jilted lovers, a shrimp boat captain, and a surfer with ties to the mob are all suspects as trouble brews on the beach. With her stoned, hippie dad, a Shih Tzu named Stanley, and a new, curious barista sporting a punk rock aesthetic at her side, Lana's prepared to turn up the heat to catch the real killer. After all, she is a former award-winning reporter. As scandal hangs over her beachside café, can Lana clear her name and win the championship -- or will she come to a bitter end?

Nic Ward is on the highway to Hell… Beelzebub, lord of Hell, used to want me dead. Now he wants to hire me. The job: track down Lucifer, who’s been MIA since the war in Heaven. There’s one catch: with God dead, Lucifer is now the most powerful being in the universe… and he clearly doesn’t want to be found. I don’t relish the thought of being the one to interrupt his vacation. But the money is good. The prospect of getting off Beelzebub’s shit list is better. And the world’s been a mess since the Last War—might be nice to have someone around who’s capable of cleaning it up. With him on the case, maybe I could take a real vacation myself one of these days. So my team and I are going on a road trip to track down Hell’s most high-profile missing person. Just an ex-Inquisitor, a rogue priest, a hellhound the size of a small bear… and me, the fallen angel who drove a sword through God’s heart.

“Nothing makes me happier than a new book from Joanna Shupe!”—Sarah MacLean The final novel in Joanna Shupe's critically acclaimed Uptown Girl series about a beauitful do-gooder who must decide if she can team up with one of New York's brashest criminals without losing something irreplaceable: her heart. Manhattan kingpin. Brilliant mastermind. Gentleman gangster. He’s built a wall around his heart... Orphaned and abandoned on the Bowery’s mean streets, Jack Mulligan survived on strength, cunning, and ambition. Now he rules his territory better than any politician or copper ever could. He didn’t get here by being soft. But in uptown do-gooder Justine Greene—the very definition of an iron fist in a velvet glove—Jack may have met his match. She wears hers on her sleeve... Justine is devoted to tracking down deadbeat husbands and fighting for fair working conditions. When her mission brings her face-to-face with Jack, she’s shocked to find the man behind the criminal empire is considerably more charming and honorable than many “gentlemen” she knows. Forming an unlikely alliance, they discover an unexpected desire. And when Justine’s past catches up with them, Jack may be her only hope of survival. Is she ready to make a deal with the devil...?

Some places are doomed to be haunted . . . Twenty-eight-year-old Kane Pryce used to have one of the strangest jobs in the world—capturing and exorcising spirits from people’s lives. After the stress of the job finally got to him, he left ghost hunting and has been busy reinventing himself as the lead guitarist of a band on the brink of success. But it isn’t long before Kane is asked to investigate a case involving Pasadena’s infamous Suicide Bridge, and gets sucked back into the supernatural realm. A mysterious force is luring hopeless victims to their death off the bridge, and Kane must discover what power is keeping the lost souls trapped there. As Kane uncovers the sinister, deadly secrets of the bridge, he spirals into the dangerous, shadowy world of the occult—the seedy underground world of the Hollywood music scene, tumultuous romances, and maddening journeys into the shattered minds of suicide victims. With the Soul Trap as his only defense, Kane must combat evil supernatural forces on a spiritual battlefield, a place between life and death, where the fate of his own soul hangs in the balance.

A New York Times Notable Book On Devil’s Night, the night before Halloween, some citizens of Detroit try to burn down their neighborhoods for an international audience of fire buffs. This gripping and often heartbreaking tour of the “Murder Capital of America” often seems lit by those same fires. But as a native Detroiter, Ze’ev Chafets also shows us the city beneath the crime statistics—its ecstatic storefront churches; its fearful and embittered white suburbs; its cops and criminals; and the new breed of black officials who are determined to keep Detroit running in the midst of appalling dangers and indifference.