Stick Or Twist

“Janes deftly, suddenly transforms her audience’s understanding of her protagonists several times without making delayed disclosures feel like literary trickery, keeping tension high to the very end” Publishers Weekly Starred Review Wealthy heiress Jude Thackeray lost her trust in men following her terrible ordeal at the hands of a ruthless kidnapper. Now she’s met Mark Medlicott, she is finally learning to love again. But is Mark who – and what – he seems? No one was ever arrested following the kidnap; there were no credible suspects even. Detective Sergeant Peter Betts and his colleague, DS Hannah McMahon, are determined to crack the case. However, the deeper they dig, the more anomalies they uncover, and it becomes increasingly clear there was more to the attempted kidnap than met the eye. Soon the pair find themselves in a desperate race against time in order to prevent a further catastrophe.

Name: Anna Christie Age: Very, very early thirties Marital status: Living with boyfriend Sex: It's been a while. Maybe six weeks? Career: Crafting sparkling features for magazine Casual Chic such as 'Man Boobs: Why No Marriage is Safe' Current dilemma: What to do when your much loved boyfriend of ten years gets down on one knee and pops the question you've been secretly dreading? Options: Stick - say yes, jump on the marriage bandwagon, accept that babies are now standard issue and always wonder if the grass is greener ... OR Twist - walk away, move onto your best friend's sofa, pine for your ex but perk up once sexy and seemingly perfect Harry comes breezing into your life... Hilarious, romantic and painfully honest, Stick or Twist proves that sometimes the most unlikely man turns out to be the One.

The editor and authors of this book present a synthesis of work on human associative learning, tracing some of its historical roots but concentrating mainly on recent developments. It is divided into three sections: an introduction to the recent data and controversies in the study of human associative learning; recent developments in the formal theories of how associative learning occurs; and applied work on human associative learning, particularly its application to depression and to the development of preferences. The book is designed to be accessible to undergraduates, providing a clear illustration of how principles most commonly introduced in animal cognition courses are relevant to the contemporary study of human cognition.

In life there will always be choices and the right choice is often the hardest one to make, but what happens when you start to doubt the choices you made in the past? What happens if you learn that someone else made a choice for you? Karla has had to learn the hard way that "happily ever after" does not exist but that does not mean that she can not be happy with the right now and she really is happy despite everyone's reservations. Life with John is as near to perfect as she could have ever dared hope for but it does not take long for the past to catch up with her and then everything starts to unravel.

The second edition of a comprehensive introduction to machine learning approaches used in predictive data analytics, covering both theory and practice. Machine learning is often used to build predictive models by extracting patterns from large datasets. These models are used in predictive data analytics applications including price prediction, risk assessment, predicting customer behavior, and document classification. This introductory textbook offers a detailed and focused treatment of the most important machine learning approaches used in predictive data analytics, covering both theoretical concepts and practical applications. Technical and mathematical material is augmented with explanatory worked examples, and case studies illustrate the application of these models in the broader business context. This second edition covers recent developments in machine learning, especially in a new chapter on deep learning, and two new chapters that go beyond predictive analytics to cover unsupervised learning and reinforcement learning.

'Soft power' is an oft-used term and commands an instinctive understanding among journalists and casual observers, who mostly interpret it as 'diplomatic' or somehow 'persuasive'. 'Hard power' is seen, by contrast, as something more tangible and usually military. But this is a superficial appreciation of a more subtle concept - and one key to Britain's future on the international stage. Britain's Persuaders is a deep exploration of this phenomenon, using new research into the instruments of soft power evident in British society and most relevant to the 2020s. Some, like the British Council or the BBC World Service, are explicitly intended to generate soft power in accordance with governmental intentions; but rather more, like the entertainment industries, sport, professional regulatory bodies, hospitality industries or education sectors have more penetrating soft power effects even as they pursue their own independent or commercial rationales. This book conducts an up-to-date 'audit' of all Britain's principal sources of soft power. Situating its analysis within the current understanding of the 'smart power' of nation states – that desire to employ the full spectrum of policy instruments and national characteristics to achieve policy outcomes, specifically in the context of 'Brexit Britain' where soft power status is certain to loom larger during the 2020s.

Kobolds & Cobblestones is a skirmish wargame for rumbles between gangs in the city of Ordinsport's seedy underbelly. Players hire gangs of criminals, thugs and enforcers from a number of classic Fantasy races, and attempt to take control of the underworld and establish themselves as the city's kingpins. Playing card-based mechanics and a cunning bribery element keep players on their toes, as a one-sided battle can turn around in a flash.