The Unyielding

Two warriors butt heads and fall in love as they save the world in this romantic adventure by the New York Times–bestselling author of The Unleashing Stieg Engstrom, Angriest Viking Ever, has got big problems. The human Viking Clans of earth are in danger of being obliterated—along with the rest of the world—and the only one who may be able to save them is a super pain-in-the-ass Crow. Most people annoy Stieg, but this is the one woman he really can’t stand . . . Erin Amsel loves being a Crow! Why wouldn’t she when the other Viking Clans are so hilariously arrogant and humorless? She’s not about to let all that come to an end! She just didn’t expect to be shoulder to shoulder in battle with Stieg. Then again, he’s so easy to torment—and also kind of cute. With the future of the world riding on them, Stieg knows he’ll have to put aside his desperate need to kiss the smirk right off Erin’s face. Wait. What? He didn’t mean that—did he? No!They have one goal: To conquer the idiots. Because nothing bugs Stieg more than when idiots win. If only he can keep himself from suddenly acting like one . . . Praise for The Unyielding “Jam-packed with humor, sex, action, snark, outrageous characters, and sheer insanity, Laurenston has created another paranormal world that just screams F.U.N.” —Smexy Books “The blend of screwball romance, mythological mayhem, and all-out action is as enjoyable as ever, wrapping up the three-book arc in a satisfying manner.” —Publishers Weekly

In a world ravaged by war and political upheaval, where danger lurks at every turn and trust is a luxury few can afford, two unlikely allies come together to defy the odds. Phoenix, a fierce and independent warrior, and the Wolf, a cunning and resourceful strategist, must set aside their differences to fight for their survival and the future of their land. As they navigate treacherous terrain and face relentless adversaries, they discover that their unyielding alliance is their only hope for restoring peace to their world. This is the epic tale of "The Unyielding Alliance: Phoenix and the Wolf," where courage, resilience, and the power of unity will be put to the ultimate test.

A mesmerizing novel about the brutal and lasting effects of poverty and violence. Arun, a young man of privileged background, leaves his home in the prosperous north of his Southeast Asian island nation to teach in the devastated south, where a civil war between the military and rebel insurgents profoundly affects daily life. Idealistic and driven by a need to give meaning to his life, Arun relinquishes the trappings of wealth to dedicate himself to improving the lot of the "2 percenters," as the country's southern population is called. Over the course of several months he befriends some of the local people-Jaisaram, the local butcher, and his daughter Anjani, who reads to her father from romance novels; Kumarsingh, a "go-getting" entrepreneur; Seth, an American-trained army captain stationed at the local base; and various pupils. In Omeara, however, nothing is as it seems; everyone has secrets and truth is elusive. At the village school, attendance is meager and irregular. The only students who attend are those who, damaged by the conflict, are incapable of working in the fields. Surrounded by poverty and the constant threat of violence, Arun's optimism is eventually depleted and frustration with educating the village's schoolchildren overwhelms him. When violence finally touches him personally, he is forced to confront basic truths about his friends, his family, his country and, most wrenchingly, himself.

As a young girl, Lillian Walsh lost both her parents and a younger sister. Now in her twenties, after enduring the death of her adoptive mother, Lillian must find her place in the world. Just as her adoptive father is leaving for an extended trip to his native Wales, a lawyer appears at the door to inform Lillian that she has inherited a small estate from her birth parents--and that the sister she had long believed dead is likely alive. When she discovers that her sister, Grace, is living in a city not far away, Lillian rushes to a reunion, fearful that the years of separation will make it hard to reconnect. When the two sisters meet, Grace is not at all what Lillian expected to find. Though her circumstances have been difficult, Grace has big dreams. Can Lillian set aside her own plans to join her sister in an adventure that will surely change them both?

A young man of privileged upbringing leaves his home in the prosperous north of his island nation to teach in the devastated south, where a civil war festers. Over the course of several months, in which he befriends many of the town's people and becomes teacher not only to the town's children but to the enlisted men of the local army station, he loses his faith in and hope for the future. The Unyielding Clamour of the Night is a sympathetic novel that enters the mind and soul of a character to reveal the brutal and lasting affects of acts of violence, and how violence only begets violence.

"Absurdist horror at its best. Gary Shipley had me hooked from beginning to end." - Carlton Mellick III, author of Quicksand House Something is horribly wrong with my wife. She doesn't move anymore. When I try to lift her I can't. It's like she's glued to the floor, or impaled on something. But her body keeps randomly appearing around the house in contorted positions: facedown in the hallway, at the end of our daughter's bed, and on the ceiling of the main room, her feet, hands and backside flat to the plaster. There is a cold translucent slime coating her skin. The scent of her is intense and repugnant, and yet I am finding myself increasingly drawn to her. I have a burning desire to merge with her. The children, too, want to be near her. Sitting on top of her brings them comfort as they stare at their tablets and phones. We stop going to work or to school. We feed from her. We begin to change. And we are not the only ones... The Unyielding is a darkly surreal tale that details what happens to a family when one of its members becomes an immovable: an entity that while corpse-like is also spatially-inconstant, oddly nutritious, and excessively seductive to surrounding humans. If you've ever wondered what philosophical pessimism looks like in the flesh, it looks like this.

This comparative study uncovers the differences and similarities in the experiences of Black women enslaved in colonial Canada and Jamaica, and demonstrates how differences in the exploitation of women's productive and reproductive labor caused slavery to falter in Canada and excel in the Caribbean. The research suggests that while the majority of Black women enslaved in early Canada were domestics, the majority of Jamaican women were field laborers, often performing some of the most labor-intensive work on the sugar plantations. While the efforts of the planter class to increase the number of children born to Jamaican women were not completely successful, reproduction seems to have been less of a concern in Canada where many Black women were often sold or freed because there was no use for them. The Canadian slave context seems to have allowed a broader range of material comfort as well. Despite obvious labor differences, Black women in Canada and Jamaica rejected their chattel status and condition, and resisted slavery similarly. This study is unique in its desire and ability to place Black Canadian slave women at the center of research, and then contextualize it with a Caribbean model.

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