Laura Parker

Asi Burak

The phenomenal growth of gaming has inspired plenty of hand-wringing since its inception--from the press, politicians, parents, and everyone else concerned with its effect on our brains, bodies, and hearts. But what if games could be good, not only for individuals but for the world? In Power Play, Asi Burak and Laura Parker explore how video games are now pioneering innovative social change around the world. As the former executive director and now chairman of Games for Change, Asi Burak has spent the last ten years supporting and promoting the use of video games for social good, in collaboration with leading organizations like the White House, NASA, World Bank, and The United Nations. The games for change movement has introduced millions of players to meaningful experiences around everything from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the US Constitution. Power Play looks to the future of games as a global movement. Asi Burak and Laura Parker profile the luminaries behind some of the movement's most iconic games, including former Supreme Court judge Sandra Day O’Connor and Pulitzer-Prize winning authors Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. They also explore the promise of virtual reality to address social and political issues with unprecedented immersion, and see what the next generation of game makers have in store for the future.

How Video Games Can Save the World

Power Play

Colin King

Alex Frith

Answers various science questions, including "How are plants and animals related?", "What is the universe made of?", and "Why are magnets and electricity close relatives?" On board pages.

See Inside Science

Too independent-minded to find a husband in London's marriage market, Lady Julianna Kingsblood retreats from scandal and heartbreak to her ancestral home on the Devonshire coast, where a roguish gardener catches her eye. Original.

Moon Shadow

In this sensual story set in Regency England, Sebastian D'Arcy, Marquis of Brecon--and London's most notorious rakehell--wagers that he can choose one woman and transform her into the greatest courtesan the ton has ever seen. He selects Madeline Foucant, an impoverished, convent-bred beauty who knows her chances of marriage are slim.

Risque

Emerald and Sapphire

William W. Prochnau

The surviving passengers of a plane crash in which no one died describe the crash into the Hudson River, what happened immediately after the plane hit the water, and how they coped and pulled together after the averted tragedy.

The Survivors of Flight 1549 Tell Their Extraordinary Stories of Courage, Faith, and Determination

Miracle on the Hudson

William Prochnau

The Survivors of Flight 1549

The remarkable true story of Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger’s heroic crash landing in the Hudson River, as told by the passengers who owe him their lives. Millions watched the aftermath on television, while others witnessed the event actually happening from the windows of nearby skyscrapers. But only 155 people know firsthand what really happened on U.S. Airways Flight 1549 on January 15, 2009. Now, for the first time, the survivors detail their astounding, terrifying, and inspiring experiences on that freezing winter day in New York City. Written by two esteemed journalists, Miracle on the Hudson is the entire tale from takeoff to bird strike to touchdown to rescue, seen through the eyes and felt in the souls of those on board the fateful flight. Revealing many new and compelling details, Miracle on the Hudson dramatically evokes the explosion and "smell of burning flesh" as both engines were destroyed by geese, the violent landing on the river that felt like a "huge car wreck," the gridlock in the aisles as the plane filled swiftly with freezing water, and the thrill of the passengers' rescue from the wings and from rafts—all of it recalled by the "cross section of America" on board. Jay McDonald, a thirty-nine-year-old software developer, had survived brain-tumor surgery just two years earlier and now faced the unimaginable. Tracey Wolsko, a nervous flier, suddenly became other people's rock: "Just pray. It's going to be all right." Jim Whitaker, a construction executive, reassured a nervous mother of two young children on board, only later admitting, "I was pathologically lying the whole time." As the plane started sinking, Lucille Palmer, eighty-five, told her daughter to save herself: "Just leave me!" Featuring much more than what the media reported—moments of chaos in addition to stoicism and common sense, and the fortuitous mistakes and quick instincts that saved lives that otherwise would have been lost—Miracle on the Hudson is the chronicle of one of the most phenomenal feel-good stories of recent years, one that could have been a nightmare and instead became a stirring narrative of heroism and hope for our times.

The Extraordinary Real-Life Story Behind Flight 1549, by the Survivors

She’s ready to risk everything for a man with nothing left to lose — except his heart. "You won't be taking a gamble when you pick up Laura Parker's latest titillating romance...a sure bet to satisfy readers." — RT Book Reviews Jack Laughton was a viscount who one night traded his life of leisure in order to masquerade as a notorious highwayman: “Black Jack” Law. Nothing could touch this conniving rogue’s soul...until his eye fell upon the beauty whose stagecoach he attempted to rob. Now he is willing to do anything to make this alluring woman his — even abandon his wicked ways. Sabrina Lindsay has a knack for defying social conventions. Her endless escapades in London society have enraged her guardian who wants nothing more than to marry her off to a prominent nobleman. But it will take much more than threats to bend Sabrina’s stubborn will. Sabrina vows to do whatever it takes to save her brother Kit, imprisoned by their guardian to insure her obedience...even if that means making a pact with the devil himself, “Black Jack” Law. It’s a gamble when the dazzling and daring Sabrina and the handsome rogue Jack join together, but the true risk comes when it’s her heart he’s trying to steal.

The Masqueraders Series - Book Five

The Gamble

Everything has a price — except for love, and revenge… "Laura Parker's innovativeness and beautiful style of writing keep her a head above the rest." — Affaire de Coeur In the darkest hours of her life, disgraced heiress Philadelphia Hunt is approached by a handsome stranger, a Brazilian jewel-miner named Eduardo Tavares. He makes an outrageous proposition—disguise herself and join him in a devious con to swindle America’s upper crust out of their riches. Philadelphia is desperate, and intrigued, by both this enchanting stranger and his promises of her return to high society. But a deeper masquerade is afoot. Little does Philadelphia know that the man responsible for her father’s disgrace and suicide is Eduardo himself, the very man in whose arms she is discovering the scorching heat of desire. And little does Eduardo know that Philadelphia’s thirst for vengeance cannot be quenched. Nor can their passion, as secrets and betrayals set this pair of lovers on a path that will lead to a new life—or to their destruction… "Parker has fun with her characters and their assumed personae, and her love scenes successfully evoke an air of sensuality." — Publisher's Weekly

The Masqueraders Series - Book Three

Beguiled

A cunning French nobleman who lives a double life as a thief must commit a daring crime to win his true love’s heart in this 18th century English romance. Merlyn Ross is a handsome actor and petty thief who wears a leather eyepatch, his other eye a piercing emerald green. But he’s also known as the Comte de Valure, a dashing French nobleman who wears a silk eye patch, his other eye an enchanting sapphire blue. Admired by men, adored by women, no one suspects that Merlyn and the Comte are one and the same, or that both men steal more than just kisses when seducing London’s wealthiest women . . . until one night changes everything. Cassandra, a highborn lady, is the target of a robbery, and a victim of amnesia. Locked away as a vagrant, she is sold for one night’s pleasure . . . to a prisoner with an emerald eye. One year later, Cassandra’s son, conceived on that fateful night, is being held hostage by her father-in-law. She has no chance of freeing him—until by chance she meets the Comte, and instantly remembers the night they shared. Now Merlyn is determined to prove himself to the woman who stole his heart in the shadows of a lowly prison. But to do it, he must pull off the heist of his lifetime, and become the one man worthy of his true love. “A most inventive storyteller.” —RT Book Reviews “Laura Parker’s innovativeness and beautiful style of writing keep her a head above the rest.” —Affaire de Coeur

From “a marvelous writer,” this Regency romance spanning Persia and London, tells the tale of a bold young woman who falls for an infamous spy (RT Book Reviews). Baghdad, 1808. Adventure is in Japonica Fortnom’s blood. After all, her family has been with the East India Company for generations. But when she is chosen to help an ailing English viscount escape Napoleon’s invading army, she knows she can’t do it alone. So Japonica enlists the aid of the infamous Hind Div. Whispered to be a spy, an assassin, and even a sorcerer, Hind Div agrees to help her . . . in exchange for a night of passion. A year later, the war is over. Japonica arrives in England wishing only to return to France, and to the son conceived on that one night of surrender. But when she meets the new Viscount, she is shocked to discover it is Hind Div himself! Scarred by war, he has no memory of the merciless man he once was. Now Japonica must live with this man who once ignited her passions—and lights them aflame once again—and help him rediscover his pride, honor, and identity . . . even if it costs her everything. “A captivating Cindarella story.” —RT Book Reviews

Mischief

In both love and war, engaging the enemy is a dangerous game. "Laura Parker's innovativeness and beautiful style of writing keep her a head above the rest." — Affaire de Coeur Hadrian Blackburne returns to London from the war. Thought to have been killed at Waterloo, he soon wishes he were, instead bored to tears by his unruly family and his role as Lord. He misses the spy games of Persia, where he was a master of intrigue. His attention is snared by a ravishing, veiled beauty who has swept into London’s Regency society on a cloud of exotic mystery. Who is this Princess Sultana el Djemal? Hadrian must know, even if playing the game of love could cost him body and soul. Clarissa Willoughby’s harmless deception was designed to open doors for a widow ready to shed her weeds. Once Hadrian begins his pursuit of “Sultana,” his passionate seduction makes Clarissa jealous of the exotic temptress she herself created. The game of love becomes more perilous than way when Clarissa sets out to win Hadrian’s heart, battling again his suspicions and her alter ego. "A most inventive storyteller." — RT Book Reviews

The Masqueraders Series - Book One

Caprice

Five scorching-hot, suspense-filled, historical romances from “a most inventive storyteller” where deceit hides forbidden love—until the disguises come off (RT Book Reviews). In Caprice, a young widow decides on a lark to disguises herself as the mysterious Princess Soltana El Djemal—only to catch the heart of a dashing Lord who vows to discover her true identity. In Mischief, a bold young woman falls for an infamous spy while escaping Persia in 1808, but it’s when she sees him again in England that the real adventure begins. In Beguiled, a mysterious man and a desperate heiress set out to con the upper crust of nineteenth century New York—but the games they’re playing against each other are far more dangerous. In Emerald and Sapphire, a French nobleman’s secret double life as a thief is revealed—by the only woman capable of stealing his heart. And in The Gamble, a viscount masquerades as a notorious highwayman, only to discover that a woman’s heart is the hardest jewel to steal. “Laura Parker’s innovativeness and beautiful style of writing keep her a head above the rest.” —Affaire de Coeur

Laura Parker

Books

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