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She fears the dark. He rules it. Her dresses are too tight, her heels too tall. She laughs too loudly, eats without decorum, and mixes up most sayings in the book. Little do most know it's just a sparkly disguise, there to hide one panic attack at a time. Nobody can crack Gianna's facade . . . no one anyway, until he comes along. Most see a paragon of morality; a special agent upholding the law. In the New York underworld, others know him as a hustler, a killer, his nature as cold as the heart of ice in his chest. Christian Allister has always followed the life plan he'd envisioned in his youth, beneath the harsh lights of a frigid, damp cell. With a proclivity for order and the number three, he's never been tempted to veer off course. But perhaps one should never say never . . . One winter night and their lives intertwine. She hates him-his stone-cold demeanor, his arrogance and too-perceptive eye-but over the years, even as their games consist of insulting each other's looks and intelligence, she begins to live to play with him. Nowhere in Christian's plans had he ever prepared for Gianna. She's chaos embodied, not his type, and married, but none of that can stop his eyes from following her wherever she goes. All along, she doesn't even know that she's his-his frustration, his fascination. His maddest obsession. *Can be read as a standalone

For decades, parodies featuring ominous, mysterious cults have been a favorite gag in pop culture. These fraternal brothers are often depicted in some type of underground lair, dressed in extravagant ceremonial robes with their faces hidden in their hoods, seated around a long table brimming with Gothic chalices, skulls, and glittering dark treasure. Flicks on the more morbid side might even show choppy, flashing imagery of blood, torture, and sacrifices. Like all art, creativity is sparked by a source of inspiration, and the inspiration for scenes like those have for centuries come from conspiracy theories, which often have profound impact regardless of their veracity. Indeed, conspiracy theories are nothing new: when the Great Fire of Rome occurred in 64 A.D., Suetonius and Cassius Dio, two of Nero's ancient biographers, were adamant that it was the emperor himself who set the fire (or ordered it set), and they are the originators of the myth that Nero played the lyre, danced around his palace, and sang "The Sack of Troy" while Rome burned outside his windows. Nearly 2,000 years later, people still believe the incredibly popular myth that Nero fiddled while Rome burned, even though no fiddle existed there at the time. The phrase remains a staple of English lexicon, and what's often overlooked is how the actual fire and the actual events that transpired affected history, particularly that of the persecuted Christians. Perhaps it should also not be surprising that the themes found in contemporary conspiracy theories are often echoed in ancient conspiracy theories. While some people still insist that Lyndon B. Johnson was in on John F. Kennedy's assassination, it was speculated across the ancient world that the young Macedonian king, Alexander the Great, conspired to have his own father, Philip II of Macedon, assassinated. Likewise, the New Age beliefs that Mesoamerican ruins in Mexico were somehow tied to extraterrestrials find common cause with people who believe the ancient Indus Valley site at Mohenjo-daro was destroyed by a nuclear weapon. And through it all, the lack of surviving documentary evidence about much of antiquity has allowed for all of the unknowns to become highly speculative sources of debate. For example, did Caesar's men burn the Library of Alexandria in the 1st century B.C., or was it destroyed later, if at all? Some people even suggest that the Library of Alexandria, whose ruins have never been located, never existed at all. Few eras are easier to let the imagination run wild than the Middle Ages, which have often been coined the Dark Ages based on a perceived lack of progress and information. In some respects, that is not completely unfounded because less is known about that historical period compared to the eras that came after it. In addition, it was a period marked by a great number of deaths caused by plague epidemics, crusades, and inquisitorial persecutions. Often, researchers are not even sure how and why certain events happened. The era was very harsh, difficult, and often gloomy. In that greyness, burdened by various fears, people were looking for something that would light up their lives and bring them a feeling of beauty and joy. People experienced all things and events around them more intensely than people do today. They often exaggerated the events that happened, giving them a mystical and divine character. For this reason, medieval sources are taken with a grain of salt and are first carefully examined before believing. At the same time, some historical mysteries about the era may never be solved, if only because the relevant excavated material has been lost or the archaeological site has been destroyed. In other cases, it is because new evidence is unlikely to emerge, or the surviving evidence is too vague to lead to a consensus. Of course, the lack of answers only makes these enigmas more intriguing.

A motivational book for beginners! Do you constantly feel unmotivated to work on your dreams? If the answer is yes, then this book is for you. Laziness stops us from enjoying the little time we have. It doesn't help you accomplish your goals. It stops you from starting anything new. It makes your life miserable. This book will teach you: how to overcome lazinesshow to stop procrastinationhow to improve your productivity

A fortune teller once told Mila she'd find a man who would take her breath away. She refrained from telling her it would be literally while Mila ran for her life.Having always done what is expected of her, Mila dresses the part, only dates college boys with exemplary backgrounds, and doesn't ask questions. Not about her papa's absences or his refusal to let her set foot in her birthplace-Russia.Suffocated by the rules and unanswered questions, Mila does what she's always wanted to.She boards a plane to Moscow.She never expected to fall for a man on the way. One with unexplained wealth, tattoos on his hands, and secrets in his eyes. But it doesn't take long for his caress to become a rough grasp muffling her screams.Revenge is a dish best served cold. Unfortunately, a Russian winter is the coldest of them all, and Mila soon learns the only way to escape intact is to do the impossible and thaw her captor's heart.

This is an informative, visual guide to the best of Piemonte illustrated with some 190 photos. It covers the capital Turin, the Savoy royal palaces Stupinigi and Venaria, the Le Langhe region famed for its scenic vineyards and just as famed wines like Barolo, truffles and great food in general. The city of Asti, the western shore of Lake Maggiore including Stresa, Arona, Verbania, gardens of Villa Taranto nearby, Lake Orta, rice fields of Vercelli, Novara, and more...