The History of Sex (But Not As We Know It): A Journey from Pompeii's Oldest Brothel to Cold War Sexpionage, Angry Male Lesbians and Beyond - J.R. Daeschner You wouldn't necessarily expect to hear the Bee Gees in an S&M club in Paris or meet a gay Israeli who loves Berlin.
Then again, the history of sex is nothing if not kinky.
In "The History of Sex (But Not As We Know It)," JR Daeschner embarks on a quest to find out why we think the way we do about sex and romance.
From Pompeii and the world's oldest whorehouse to Europe's first Masturbate-a-thon in London, JR ventures between the past and present to reveal how sexual attitudes have changed in the West, with more than a little help from the East.
On his journey, JR learns how to talk dirty in Latin, gets pick-up tips from a modern Don Juan in Seville and uncovers the story of the 'other' Columbus who discovered the clitoris -- and died shortly thereafter.
Along the way, he tracks down characters ranging from a male Lesbian in Greece to a Prague spy who tells him about Cold War 'sexpionage,' not to mention fashion legend Pierre Cardin (the new master of the Marquis de Sade's domain) and the maker of Emmanuelle (now the mayor of the village that features in A Year in Provence).
He also meets a producer of 'Muslim porn,' the 'booth babes' of the Geneva Motor Show, the 'Happy Hooker' of Manhattan and the King of the Red-Light District in Amsterdam, as well as Larry Flynt and the makers of Max Hardcore in LA.
A unique mix of history and travel, "The History of Sex (But Not As We Know It)" strips bare our erotic past and present, challenging received wisdom and revealing surprising insights into the future.
Straitlaced - Robin Danner In the heart of London, he finds his heart’s desire.
AnnMarie Sommers was born into a life of privilege. Married at a young age, she was prepared to step into the role of dutiful wife...until an unfortunate accident makes her a widow and leaves her nearly destitute. She takes the money she’s saved and creates Fall From Grace, an elegant bordello where society comes out to play, a place where she can give in to her wilder impulses under the guise of the bordello’s infamous madam.
Declan Raddison was raised by the streets of London. Orphaned and left to fend for himself, the only way he could survive was by being the quickest and the strongest. Now he is a proper businessman by day, but at night he allows his darker desires to run free. Visiting Fall From Grace with a nobleman at his side, he is unprepared for a vision in white, an angel who is more suited for the drawing room than a wicked bordello. When he discovers that she is the notorious madam, Lady Grace, he will stop at nothing to possess her...even if it leads to his own downfall.
Stroke of Midnight - Robin Danner It’s New Year’s Eve… What’s a fairy to do?
The king of the Fairies has granted his daughter Mariel one year in Regency London before she must return to their realm to be married. Several hours before midnight on New Year's Eve, a fairy is sent to fetch her home—her childhood love, Rhys. Even though part her is glad to see the dark, handsome fairy again, she knows he’s been sent by her father to collect her. And she’s not about to give up her last precious hours in the world she’s grown to love. But when Mariel learns that her father has chosen Rhys as her husband to unite their two clans, the idea of marriage sounds much more appealing. Especially once her new husband takes off his clothes and leads her to bed…
Caroline and the Duke - Sabrina Darby At the urging of her best friend, Caroline, Lady Ballister, seeks a lover with no emotional attachments. After all, experience has taught her that love is a fickle, pointless thing.
Sutbridge has wanted Caroline for ten years and, now that she is once again free, is determined to make her his wife. But will he settle for her body, or wage a war for the most important treasure of all: her heart?
How to Catch a Wild Viscount - Tessa Dare To capture love, sometimes you have to grab it by the horns…
If a woman could die of humiliation, Cecily Hale would have perished three hours ago. Luke Trenton had finally returned to Swinford Manor, only to cruelly spurn her long-held love. But she couldn’t conveniently die of shame on the spot—oh, no. Instead she joined her friends on this ridiculous search for a legendary man-beast. Now she’ll die here—alone in the woods, at the tusks of a snarling boar.
Luke left for war a dashing youth and returned a man—just not the same man Cecily fell in love with. His passion for her is stronger than ever, but the ravages of battle changed him in ways she wouldn’t understand. Pushing her away was supposed to save her, not throw her into the path of another inhuman creature…or into the arms of another man.
For it is a man who rescues Cecily, just as the boar attacks. A mysterious, silent man who disappears into the woods, leaving her with just a glimpse—of a fleeing white deer. Could her rescuer be the man-beast of local lore? A dangerous myth has captured Cecily’s imagination, putting Luke on the horns of a dilemma. Unless he summons the passion and tenderness to win her back, he could lose her forever…to the Werestag.
Jason & Kyra - Dana Davidson Jason Vincent is Cross High's basketball star and one of the most popular guys in school. Brainy Kyra Evans isn't. But she doesn't much care what people think.
Under normal circumstances, Jason and Kyra would live in their separate worlds until graduation. Fate intervenes, however, when the unlikely duo is paired up for a class project. Preconceived notions abound on both sides, but Kyra soon realizes that Jason is not the dumb jock she anticipated. And Jason finds himself telling Kyra things he can't even tell his best friend.
The two grow closer and begin to fall in love. But things are heating up way too quickly and Kyra doesn't know if she is ready to take the next step in their relationship. Being together means navigating challenges - but staying apart may be impossible.
A Pirate's Prisoner - Victoria Davies Being a pirate is a dangerous trade but the rewards outweigh the risks. Or so Captain Natalie believes when she captures her nemesis, the privateer Captain Reece. Bound and at her mercy, Natalie thinks she’s finally taken the upper hand in the duel with her seductive enemy. After all, there is no denying Reece makes an excellent addition to her bed, especially chained to her headboard.
When Reece turns the tables on her, Natalie discovers the cost of her gamble. She struggles to stand strong as Reece seeks to take his vengeance in the most pleasurable of ways. But even pirates have hearts and despite her best efforts, Reece is quickly stealing hers.
Their games come to an end, however, when an enemy ship is sighted. Natalie must convince Reece to trust her with the command of their ship and his refusal could cost more than just a broken heart. It could mean all their lives.
The Broadview Anthology of Victorian Short Stories - Dennis Denisoff To demonstrate the variety and ingenuity of Victorian short stories, Denisoff has collected 26 examples from famous and unknown 19th century writers. The forms and styles range from children's stories to New Woman writing and gothic tales. Denisoff's introduction discusses the genre's development in relation to key socio-political events. The text includes critical essays on the genre by Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Dickens, Margaret Oliphant, Frederick Wedmore and Laura Marholm Hansson.
Lock and Key - Sarah Dessen Ruby, where is your mother?Ruby knows that the game is up. For the past few months, she's been on her own in the yellow house, managing somehow, knowing that her mother will probably never return. That's how she comes to live with Cora, the sister she hasn't seen in ten years, and Cora's husband Jamie, whose down-to-earth demeanor makes it hard for Ruby to believe he founded the most popular networking Web site around. A luxurious house, fancy private school, a new wardrobe, the promise of college and a future; it's a dream come true. So why is Ruby such a reluctant Cinderella, wary and defensive? And why is Nate, the genial boy next door with some secrets of his own, unable to accept the help that Ruby is just learning to give? Best-selling author Sarah Dessen explores the heart of a gutsy, complex girl dealing with unforeseen circumstances and learning to trust again.
Sweetbriar - Jude Deveraux In a few terrifying moments, her life was changed forever. Linnet plunged into the Kentucky wilderness, leaving behind the remnants of her life in London. But a savage Indian attack on the wagon train wiped out her fellow travelers, and left her alone in a harsh land...at the mercy of a fierce Shawnee tribe. When a handsome young brave claimed her, in perfect English, as his own, Linnet knew she was safe. Until the jealousy of his powerful chief forced them to flee on a hazardous journey, fraught with peril and treachery...a journey that threatened both their lives, and their very special love!
The Twelve Days of Seduction - Eva Devon Alexander Hunt, Eighth Duke of Berresford, is aware his ward's governess misrepresented herself to gain employment, and he’s quite displeased, even if she is one of the most intelligent women’s he’s ever met. His ward deserves a reputable governess, so he threatens to give Adriana the sack mere days before Christmas.
Desperate to convince the sexy duke not to tear her from the little girl she's grown to adore, Adriana challenges him to prove she’s not the reputable governess he believed he hired. If he can seduce her before the Twelve Days of Christmas have come to an end, she will leave without protest.
But when they find the challenge more difficult than either imagined, can they face the consequences of their decisions
The Tale of Despereaux - Kate DiCamillo A brave mouse, a covetous rat, a wishful serving girl, and a princess named Pea come together in Kate DiCamillo's Newbery Medal–winning tale.
Welcome to the story of Despereaux Tilling, a mouse who is in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea. It is also the story of a rat called Roscuro, who lives in the darkness and covets a world filled with light. And it is the story of Miggery Sow, a slow-witted serving girl who harbors a simple, impossible wish. These three characters are about to embark on a journey that will lead them down into a horrible dungeon, up into a glittering castle, and, ultimately, into each other's lives. What happens then? As Kate DiCamillo would say: Reader, it is your destiny to find out.
A Northern Light - Jennifer Donnelly Mattie Gokey has a word for everything. She collects words, stores them up as a way of fending off the hard truths of her life, the truths that she can't write down in stories. The fresh pain of her mother's death. The burden of raising her sisters while her father struggles over his brokeback farm. The mad welter of feelings Mattie has for handsome but dull Royal Loomis, who says he wants to marry her. And the secret dreams that keep her going--visions of finishing high school, going to college in New York City, becoming a writer. Yet when the drowned body of a young woman turns up at the hotel where Mattie works, all her words are useless. But in the dead woman's letters, Mattie again finds her voice, and a determination to live her own life. Set in 1906 against the backdrop of the murder that inspired Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy, this coming-of-age novel effortlessly weaves romance, history, and a murder mystery into something moving, and real, and wholly original.
The Wonder - Emma Donoghue A small Irish village is mystified by what appears to be a miracle but may actually be murder in the next masterpiece from New York Times-bestselling author Emma Donoghue.
A small village in 1850s rural Ireland is baffled by Anna O'Donnell's fast, which began as a self-inflicted and earnest expression of faith. After weeks of subsisting only on what she calls "manna from heaven," the story of the "miracle" has reached a fever pitch. Tourists flock in droves to the O'Donnell family's modest cabin hoping to witness, and an international journalist is sent to cover the sensational story. Enter Lib, an English nurse trained by Florence Nightingale who is hired to keep watch for two weeks and determine whether or not Anna is a fraud. As Anna deteriorates, Lib finds herself responsible not just for the care of a child, but for getting to the root of why the child may actually be the victim of murder in slow motion.
A magnetic novel written with all the spare and propulsive tension that made Room a huge bestseller, The Wonder works beautifully on many levels—a simple tale of two strangers who will transform each other's lives, a powerful psychological thriller, and a story of love pitted against evil in its many masks.
Elixir - Hilary Duff Clea Raymond has felt the glare of the spotlight her entire life. The daughter of a renowned surgeon and a prominent Washington DC politician, she has grown to be a talented photojournalist who takes refuge in a career that allows her to travel to the most exotic parts of the world. But after Clea’s father disappears while on a humanitarian mission, Clea’s photos begin to feature eerie, shadowy images of a strange and beautiful man—a man she has never seen before.
When fate brings Clea and this man together, she is stunned by the immediate and powerful connection she feels with him. As they grow closer, they are drawn deep into the mystery behind her father’s disappearance, and they discover the centuries old truth behind their intense bond. Torn by a dangerous love triangle and haunted by a powerful secret that holds their fates, together they race against time to unravel their pasts in order to save their lives—and their futures.
Devoted - Hilary Duff When love is lost but never forgotten...
Clea Raymond found her soulmate in mysterious and handsome Sage, and discovered that they have loved each other through many past lives, all of which ended tragically. Clea wants nothing more than to prevent history from repeating itself and to be with her true love. But there are dark forces in the world: people who want to destroy Sage and the Elixir that makes him immortal.
Sage has been taken, yet Clea is certain he is still alive and will stop at nothing to find him. She turns to her friend Ben, and they enter into an uneasy alliance with Cursed Vengeance, an ancient faction that has information that can lead them to Sage. Clea must get to Sage before Cursed Vengeance does, or risk his death at their hands. But Ben's role in Sage's kidnapping - and in their past lives - leaves Clea questioning whether Ben can be counted on. Just when they get closest to their goal, the events around her make Clea wonder if she's really saving Sage... or if she's leading them to repeat their disastrous pasts all over again.
Devoted is the thrilling continuation of the heart-pounding series that began with the New York Times bestseller Elixir.
True - Hilary Duff The epic love story of Clea and Sage comes to its thrilling conclusion in the final book in the Elixir series by multitalented star Hilary Duff.
Following the harrowing events of Elixir and Devoted—and the ceremony that almost killed Sage—Clea faces a new reality: With Sage’s soul in Nico’s body, the love of her life looks an awful lot like her best friend’s boyfriend. Can Clea and Sage really be happy under these circumstances?
Clea wants to try to enjoy their new life together, but Sage is acting different—angry—and she struggles to keep her friends from finding out what has happened to him. Something is clearly haunting Sage, and Clea is losing control. Can she trust her friends with the dangerous truth, or will she have to risk losing Sage to madness?