Hard Edge

Hungry and desperate, Kylen knows what it’s like to be an outcast. Plucked from the streets by a tight-lipped stranger, he begins to dream of a better life. But his rescuer turns out to be a renegade mage. In an instant Kylen finds himself transformed from a person of no account to a dangerous fugitive. But much more than his life might be at stake. Dark forces are stirring, and an ancient evil is poised, ready to be unleashed on an unsuspecting kingdom. Comfortable and arrogant, the kingdom's mages are bent on destroying the one person capable of saving them. On the run with his mentor, Kylen tries to ignore the voices whispering about his destiny. Of what use is a fabled destiny when you’re struggling to survive? Note: The Hard Edge of Magic is book 1 of The Ruptured Kingdom, a multi-part saga. The story will continue in book 2, The Riven Land. If you enjoy epic fantasy with gripping action and relatable characters in a compelling coming of age saga, then try the novels of The Ruptured Kingdom now! The Ruptured Kingdom reading order: - The Hard Edge of Magic (Book 1) - The Riven Land (Book 2) - scheduled for release soon!

Gabriela Marquez came to her parents' homeland of Venezuela to help its people. Working undercover for the CIA as Sister María, a Franciscan nun, she spends long days at the mission, giving food to the poor, helping the sick-and keeping a close watch on local drug trafficking. When a violent raid makes her a hostage together with two American journalists, she finds herself the prisoner of the very cartel she's been spying on. Fortunately for the journalists-but not so luckily for her captors-Sister María is not what she seems to be. Hiding behind her nun's habit, Gabriela puts her training to use to ensure the hostages' survival.Dylan Cruz spent the better part of a decade with Seal Team Six, ridding the world of scum. Now an operative with Cobra International Security, he's sent to Venezuela with a small team to gather intel for a hostage rescue. Against all expectations, he gets valuable information from one of the hostages-a beautiful young nun. Sister María of the Gorgeous Brown Eyes puts R-rated thoughts in his mind, thoughts he has no business thinking. Then again, he always figured he'd end up in hell.When the rescue fails, Dylan finds himself trapped in hostile territory with lovely Sister María. Together, they go underground to reach the Colombian border, but Sister María is full of secrets-and enticing surprises. Beneath that shapeless, gray habit is a woman whose abilities-and passions-are a match for Dylan's. As the desire between them ignites, what should have been a straightforward mission of evade-and-escape turns into a fight for survival against a murderous cartel boss who wants them both dead.Colorado author Pamela Clare began her writing career as a columnist and investigative reporter and eventually became the first woman editor-in-chief of two different newspapers. Along the way, she and her team won numerous state and national honors, including the National Journalism Award for Public Service. A single mother with two grown sons and two poorly behaved cats, she writes contemporary romance, historical romance, and romantic suspense within view of the beautiful Rocky Mountains.

A captivating new standalone romance from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Tess Oliver that's being called a 'must read'. It was strange how when things happened, they almost inevitably happened in giant cloud bursts. Grady's death had started the cloud burst, and it had been pouring rain ever since. KENNA I'd spent half my teenage years dreaming about being that girl, the girl who would finally steal the most elusive heart in town but I'd left that life behind—or so I thought. My life had been feeling pretty damn solid, but somewhere along the way, the ground beneath my feet had softened. And now--now he was there. Like a lightning bolt I never saw coming After years of dreaming, I finally knew what real love felt like, but our relationship was fragile and I feared it would shatter easily. CADEN It seemed she'd never considered the possibility that she was a heartbreaker, that she was the type of girl who could wrap herself around your soul with just her laugh. Tragedy had reunited us. She had always been in my heart. I'd finally found my way back to the girl I loved, and I didn't want anything to get in the way of that. But my life rarely went the way I wanted. Hard Edge is a full-length, standalone novel. Contains mature content. Intended for readers 18+

What Does it Take to Get Ahead Now—And Stay There? High performance has always required shrewd strategy and superb execution. These factors remain critical, especially given today’s unprecedented business climate. But Rich Karlgaard—Forbes publisher, entrepreneur, investor, and board director—takes a surprising turn and argues that there is now a third element that’s required for competitive advantage. It fosters innovation, it accelerates strategy and execution, and it cannot be copied or bought. It is found in a perhaps surprising place—your company’s values. Karlgaard examined a variety of enduring companies and found that they have one thing in common; all have leveraged their deepest values alongside strategy and execution, allowing them to fuel growth as well as weather hard times. Karlgaard shares these stories and identifies the five key variables that make up every organization’s “soft edge”: Trust: Northwestern Mutual has built a $25 million dollar revenue juggernaut on trust, the foundation of lasting success. Learn how to create an environment that engenders trust and propels high performance. Smarts: In most technical fields your formal education quickly becomes out of date. How do you keep up? Learn how the Mayo Clinic, Stanford University women’s basketball team, and others stay on top by relentlessly pursuing an advantage through smarts. Teamwork: Since collaboration and innovation are a must in the global economy, effective teamwork is vital. Learn how global giant FedEx stays focused and how nimble Nest Labs relies on lean teams with cognitive diversity. Taste: Clever product design and integration are proxies for intelligence because they make customers feel smart. But taste goes further into deep emotional engagement. Specialized Bicycles calls it “the elusive spot between data truth and human truth.” How can you consistently make products or services that trigger these emotional touch points? Story: Companies that achieve lasting success have an enduring and emotionally appealing story. What’s your company’s story? How do you tell it your way? Gain the ability to create a powerful narrative in a world where outsiders often exercise the louder voice.

Master techniques from top automotive designers and world-class game developers with this insider's guide to designing and modeling 3D vehicles. With techniques demonstrated in 3ds Max, Maya, XSI, and Photoshop, "3D Automotive Modeling" starts with a fantastic series of hot concept designs and continues by offering a full hands-on modeling tutorial for each. Some of the very best designers and modelers from across the globe take you through their processes step-by-step, giving you the tips, tricks, and short-cuts that true professionals use. "3D Automotive Modeling" features tutorials from Honda, Toyota, and Mercedes-Benz designers, as well as modelers from Sony Computer Entertainment, Lucas Arts, and Simbin-artists who have worked on some of the biggest games in the industry, including the MotorStorm series. You will get: insider tips from a team of noted professionals, led by author Andrew Gahan, part of the award-winning game team behind the PlayStation 3 smash hit series, MotorStorm; all tutorial files, models, textures, blueprints, and concept images on the associated web site; and, access to a vibrant forum on the web site where you can discuss and share your work and get feedback from the pros.

Whether you're trying your hand at painting for the first time or honing your artistic ability, Artist's Painting Techniques is the handiest guide to teach you how to paint. Starting with the basics such as observational skills and learning how to draw, Artist's Painting Techniques will guide you into working with watercolors, acrylics, and oil paints. Discover everything you need to know about tone, color, pattern, brushwork, and composition to create your own masterpieces with confidence. Learn a range of key watercolor, acrylic, and oil painting techniques, including laying a flat wash, painting fur, and creating impasto sculptural effects. Embark on exciting artistic exercises and projects to discover your style and grow as an artist. Follow the fully illustrated step-by-step guides and get inspiring advice and encouragement from practicing artists. Kickstart your creativity and develop your own style with Artist's Painting Techniques.

Edited by internationally recognized authorities in the field, this expanded and updated new edition of the bestselling Handbook, containing more than 100 new articles, is aimed at the design and operation of modern particle accelerators. It is intended as a vade mecum for professional engineers and physicists engaged in these subjects. With a collection of more than 2000 equations, 300 illustrations and 500 graphs and tables, here one will find, in addition to the common formulae of previous compilations, hard-to-find, specialized formulae, recipes and material data pooled from the lifetime experience of many of the world's most able practitioners of the art and science of accelerators.The eight chapters include both theoretical and practical matters as well as an extensive glossary of accelerator types. Chapters on beam dynamics and electromagnetic and nuclear interactions deal with linear and nonlinear single particle and collective effects including spin motion, beam-environment, beam-beam, beam-electron, beam-ion and intrabeam interactions. The impedance concept and related calculations are dealt with at length as are the instabilities associated with the various interactions mentioned. A chapter on operational considerations includes discussions on the assessment and correction of orbit and optics errors, real-time feedbacks, generation of short photon pulses, bunch compression, tuning of normal and superconducting linacs, energy recovery linacs, free electron lasers, cooling, space-charge compensation, brightness of light sources, collider luminosity optimization and collision schemes. Chapters on mechanical and electrical considerations present material data and important aspects of component design including heat transfer and refrigeration. Hardware systems for particle sources, feedback systems, confinement and acceleration (both normal conducting and superconducting) receive detailed treatment in a subsystems chapter, beam measurement techniques and apparatus being treated therein as well. The closing chapter gives data and methods for radiation protection computations as well as much data on radiation damage to various materials and devices.A detailed name and subject index is provided together with reliable references to the literature where the most detailed information available on all subjects treated can be found.