Destiny demands sacrifice. With Prince Kaius holding three of their friends for ransom, Astrea and Varojin wearily rally the team for a treacherous rescue mission. But when their quest turns into a violent confrontation, Astrea and her friends question how much void magic the Emperor really has under his control. Amid the rebellion’s growing efforts to thwart both the Emperor and the Paragon, Victor Nazarov retaliates with quick and violent action, leaving both Astrea and the continent at large reeling. Finally out of their depth, Astrea and Varojin seek new allies, but not everyone is willing to trust the Emperor’s rebellious children. With news that the Emperor is sitting on a large cache of aetherium, the group must venture back into Helosia to prove their loyalty to the cause. But in doing so, they place themselves in greater danger than ever before—a danger that won’t be outrun again.

The powerful story of a falsely imprisoned man and a sweeping indictment of a city and the criminal justice system by a Pulitzer-pize winning journalist. When the bodies of two Black men were found sitting with a crackpipe in a parked car in a rundown section of town in 1994, it seemed just another day in Kansas City, Kansas. The swift arrest and conviction of a seventeen-year-old Black kid from a broken home raised no eyebrows either. And yet, thirty years later, Lamonte McIntyre would prove to be the David that took down the Goliath of corruption that had long controlled the city’s power structure and enveloped the city’s justice system But the effort to prove Lamonte’s innocence opened a Pandora’s box. Before it was over, the fight to win Lamonte’s exoneration exposed corrupt police and prosecutors, incompetent court-appointed defense lawyers, and a judge who violated ethical standards by his secret past relationship with the prosecutor, whom he favored in his rulings. Injustice Town follows Lamonte’s case from its harrowing beginning to its triumphant end and beyond, including the legal tsunami that came in its wake, that engulfed prosecutors, attorneys, and judges. Most shockingly, the lead cop on the case was indicted by the Department of Justice for the widespread abuses he had committed years earlier on women in the Black community of Kansas City Kansas. Abuses documented by Lamonte’s team. The criminal case ended, literally, with a bang, denying Lamonte and those whom the detective hurt, the chance for them to seek their own justice. Rick Tulsky, a Pulizer prize-winning journalist, goes beyond the courthouse, exposing the ways in which corruption flourished for decades in an erstwhile quiet Midwest town, a town once dedicated to justice and equality. A lawyer by training as well as a reporter, Tulsky's narrative not only brings Lamonte's story to vivid life, it will empower cities, counties, states, and everyday citizens with a blueprint for equal justice. At a time when the federal government is abdicating its responsibility for demanding fairness and justice, it is up to states, local governments, and we the people look to ways they can act. Vivid and unforgettable, Injustice Town tells the story of one man and shows us a vision of what a better future could be.

Rock star, crowdfunding pioneer, and TED speaker Amanda Palmer knows all about asking. Performing as a living statue in a wedding dress, she wordlessly asked thousands of passersby for their dollars. When she became a singer, songwriter, and musician, she was not afraid to ask her audience to support her as she surfed the crowd (and slept on their couches while touring). And when she left her record label to strike out on her own, she asked her fans to support her in making an album, leading to the world's most successful music Kickstarter. Even while Amanda is both celebrated and attacked for her fearlessness in asking for help, she finds that there are important things she cannot ask for-as a musician, as a friend, and as a wife. She learns that she isn't alone in this, that so many people are afraid to ask for help, and it paralyzes their lives and relationships. In this groundbreaking book, she explores these barriers in her own life and in the lives of those around her, and discovers the emotional, philosophical, and practical aspects of The Art Of Asking. Part manifesto, part revelation, this is the story of an artist struggling with the new rules of exchange in the twenty-first century, both on and off the Internet. The Art Of Asking will inspire readers to rethink their own ideas about asking, giving, art, and love.

From New York Times bestselling author Meghan Quinn comes a sizzling sports romance full of flamingo feathers, slow-burn heat, and one grump-meets-sunshine love story that's anything but fake. They're faking it for the cameras. But what if the sparks are real? Graydon St. John doesn't do drama―or public appearances. The brooding defensive end for the San Francisco Foghorns prefers silence, solitude, and avoiding headlines. But when a league-wide PR scandal forces him into a media stunt at the city zoo, he's suddenly face-to-face with squawking birds, nosy fans, and the zookeeper who seems to hate his guts on sight. Maple Baker loves her flamingos. Loud, pink, messy? Sure. But they're hers. And the last thing she needs is a grumpy football player stomping into her sanctuary with a bad attitude and a bigger ego. Unfortunately, they've been paired for the zoo's new public outreach program, and the cameras are already rolling. The banter is sharp. The tension is electric. And the more they pretend to play nice for the press, the more their fake flirtation starts to feel like something dangerously real. But when family secrets, viral fame, and a PR romance gone off-script threaten everything Maple's worked for, Graydon must decide if he's willing to fight for love―or let it slip away to protect her.