The Scandal Of Pleasure

Surveying a wide range of cultural controversies, from the Mapplethorpe affair to Salman Rushdie's death sentence, Wendy Steiner shows that the fear and outrage they inspired are the result of dangerous misunderstanding about the relationship between art and life. 27 halftones.

In an increasingly hostile political environment, her book is a necessary guide to understanding the current crisis in the arts.

The House of Pleasure, #1 He has the woman of his dreams, but what price will he have to pay to win her heart? Kidnapped and sold at auction in a London brothel, Lady Katarina Fitzwilliam squelches an undeniable attraction to the masked stranger who purchased her, pits her wits against him, and escapes him and the scandal that would ruin her life. Unable to resist temptation in a London brothel, Duncan Ferrers, Marquess of Dalbury, purchases a fiery beauty. She claims she's a lady, but how can she be? No lady of his acquaintance in polite society is anything like her. Then he discovers she is who she says, and that this latest romp has compromised her reputation. He knows how that is. One more scandal and he'll be cast out of London society, but he needs a wife who'll provide an heir to carry on his illustrious family's name. He seeks out Katarina, intending only to scotch the scandal, but instead finds his heart ensnared. He's betting their future he'll capture her heart, but does he have what it takes to win the wager? Content warning: A blade-wielding heroine who crosses swords with a master of sensuality. 92,642 Words

Imagining an encounter between Moliere's Don Juan and Austin, this bold yet subtle meditation contemplates the seductive promises of speech and of love, in a telling exchange among philosophy, linguistics, literature, and Lacanian theory."

A new scandal sheet from USA Today Bestseller Jess Michaels!!! Miss Hannah Blankenship's awful father has finally done what he's threatened to do for years: arrange a marriage for her. And she's certain she knows the man he's chosen, a disgusting viscount even older than he is! She only knows one way to end this horrible engagement and that is to get rid of the innocence that has been the bartering point. So she goes to a hell, looking for trouble. Duncan Cavendish is at the hell trying to drink his own trouble away. As the second son of an earl, he has very little control over his future. His brother has demanded he settle down in order to inherit and now Duncan is stuck. But the alluring stranger who takes him to her bed helps him forget...and makes him want. But when Hannah realized it is Duncan, himself, who is her intended, she is shocked. The two decide to marry so that Duncan may get his money and Hannah her freedom. But their searing attraction may lead to feelings neither prepared for. And leave them both wondering if their mutual insistence to stay at arm's length is truly the best course of action. Novella Length

Do we appreciate to the full why the Jewish believers of the early church "were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on Gentiles"? Why they were amazed that "God had granted repentance" to Gentiles for eternal life? Sacred history is to be seen through enlightened Jewish eyes, revealing that Israel was initially the sole beneficiary of God's revelation before Christ. For the most part the Gentiles were "allowed . . . to walk in their own ways." Such was according to divine predestination and the prerogative that God has the freedom to be merciful on whom he desires to be merciful. At the coming of Christ--to the surprise of Jewish believers--Gentiles in numbers became subjects of God's electing love as well. Jesus died for "the world" in the sense that he died for Jew and Gentile. And God's freedom in predestination continues to be manifested in the election of both Jew and Gentile, with Christ dying specifically for all those elected of God, as a wide survey of New Testament texts verify.

ALEX AWARD WINNER FINALIST FOR THE 2018 NEW ENGLAND BOOK AWARD "Both timelessly beautiful and unbelievably timely." —Chris Bohjalian, New York Times bestselling author of Midwives and The Flight Attendant Esther Ann Hicks—Essie—is the youngest child on Six for Hicks, a reality television phenomenon. She's grown up in the spotlight, idolized and despised for her family's fire-and-brimstone brand of faith. So when Essie’s mother, Celia, discovers that Essie is pregnant, she immediately arranges an emergency meeting with the show’s producers. Do they sneak Essie out of the country for an abortion? Pass the child off as Celia’s? Or do they try to arrange a marriage—and a ratings-blockbuster wedding? Meanwhile, Essie is quietly pairing herself up with Roarke Richards, a senior at her school with a secret of his own. As the newly formed couple attempt to sell their love story to the media through exclusive interviews with the infamously conservative reporter Liberty Bell, Essie finds she has questions of her own: What was the real reason for her older sister leaving home? Who can she trust with the truth about her family? And how much is she willing to sacrifice to win her own freedom?

With readings of novels by Thomas Hardy, Anthony Trollope, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, Henry James, and others, this work explores the relationship between illicit sex and the postal service in Victorian Britain.