The renowned nature writer and author of the best-selling author of Underland delivers a revelatory book that transforms how we look at the natural world—and life itself. Hailed as “a naturalist who can unfurl a sentence with the breathless ease of a master angler” (Holly Morris, New York Times), Robert Macfarlane brings his glittering style to a profound work of travel writing, reporting, and natural history. Is a River Alive? is a joyous exploration into an ancient, urgent idea: that rivers are living beings who should be recognized as such in imagination and law. Macfarlane takes readers on three unforgettable journeys teeming with extraordinary people and places: to the miraculous cloud-forests and mountain streams of Ecuador, to the wounded creeks and lagoons of India, and to the spectacular wild rivers of Canada—imperiled by mining, pollution, and dams. Braiding these journeys is the life story of the fragile chalk stream a mile from Macfarlane’s house, which flows through his own years and days. Powered by Macfarlane’s dazzling prose and lit throughout by other voices, Is a River Alive? will open hearts, challenge perspectives, and remind us that our fate flows with that of rivers—and always has.

“Now be a good girl and hold still while I eat you.” After a humiliating demotion, scientist May is sent on a solo mission to the harsh and unforgiving Sandpit Desert – only to be captured by the continent’s most wanted eco-terrorist Gaia 4.With her life on the line, May strikes a risky deal with the leader of the group – a towering, hot-headed Lizardfolk named Lowell. Despite his reputation for eating humans, Lowell’s interest in May seems to extend beyond the means of simple hunger. As the two journey together to right a wrong from May’s troubled past, danger lurks at every step… but so do the unexpected flames of desire. Trapped between survival and seduction, May must face a terrifying she and the monster she once feared may not be so different after all.*** Captured by the Scaled Outlaw is an enemies-to-lovers monster romance, entailing forced proximity, possessiveness, and violence. This novel contains explicit content and is not intended for anyone under the age of 18.TRIGGER Violence, blood, gore, strong language. Reader discretion is advised.

Sammy is on her fifth visit to DreamTogether, a breeding program designed to help monsters create the families they’ve always wanted. But as hard as she and her dragon partner have tried to create a hatchling, every test turns up negative. Dragons are dying out, so Zakarion came to DreamTogether to continue his species. But when he can no longer sell priceless artifacts from his hoard to pay for his visits, he takes it as a sign to give up. But Sammy has grown attached to her dragon, and doesn’t want to set aside Zakarion’s dream. Perhaps dragons aren’t meant to breed in sterile medical rooms, so she offers to continue trying to conceive outside of DreamTogether. Given that dragons live centuries while humans don’t, Sammy and Zakarion agree to avoid a romantic entanglement—but as they grow closer and closer, that might just prove impossible.This steamy, sweet monster romance novella follows a kind heroine and a big-hearted dragon who wants to save his species. It features breeding, a friends-to-lovers dynamic, pregnancy, and some miscommunication about feelings with a heartfelt HEA. For a full list of content warnings, visit the author's website.

The renowned nature writer and author of the best-selling author of Underland delivers a revelatory book that transforms how we look at the natural world—and life itself. Hailed as “a naturalist who can unfurl a sentence with the breathless ease of a master angler” (Holly Morris, New York Times), Robert Macfarlane brings his glittering style to a profound work of travel writing, reporting, and natural history. Is a River Alive? is a joyous exploration into an ancient, urgent idea: that rivers are living beings who should be recognized as such in imagination and law. Macfarlane takes readers on three unforgettable journeys teeming with extraordinary people and places: to the miraculous cloud-forests and mountain streams of Ecuador, to the wounded creeks and lagoons of India, and to the spectacular wild rivers of Canada—imperiled by mining, pollution, and dams. Braiding these journeys is the life story of the fragile chalk stream a mile from Macfarlane’s house, which flows through his own years and days. Powered by Macfarlane’s dazzling prose and lit throughout by other voices, Is a River Alive? will open hearts, challenge perspectives, and remind us that our fate flows with that of rivers—and always has.

An undeniably fierce, unforgettably funny, unapologetically queer feminist romp through the England of medieval legend. Bestselling and acclaimed authors Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner bring readers along on an epic quest for valor, freedom, and, above all, love. A Knight’s Tale meets the Lady Jane series, with a dash of The Great! Gwen is sick of hiding—hiding the fact that she’s taken over her father’s blacksmithing duties, hiding her attraction to girls, hiding her yearning for glory as a knight. Meanwhile, Lady Isobelle of Avington, queen bee of the castle, has never once considered hiding who she is—until now. She’s been chosen as the grand prize in the Tournament of Dragonslayers, to be given to whichever knight can claim her hand. And for the first time in her life, she can’t talk her way out of trouble. When Isobelle discovers Gwen’s knightly ambitions, they hatch a scheme together—Gwen will joust in the tournament, disguised as Sir Gawain. Winning means freedom for Isobelle, and glory for Gwen. Losing means… well, let’s not go there. One thing’s for sure: falling in love was never the plan. But the best laid plans…are often trampled all over by dragons.

We all create intellectual property. We all use intellectual property. Intellectual property is the most pervasive yet least understood way we regulate expression. Despite its importance to so many aspects of the global economy and daily life, intellectual property policy remains a confusing and arcane subject. This engaging book clarifies both the basic terms and the major conflicts surrounding these fascinating areas of law, offering a layman's introduction to copyright, patents, trademarks, and other forms of knowledge falling under the purview of intellectual property rights. Using vivid examples, noted media expert Siva Vaidhyanathan illustrates the powers and limits of intellectual property, distilling with grace and wit the complex tangle of laws, policies, and values governing the dissemination of ideas, expressions, inventions, creativity, and data collection in the modern world. Vaidhyanathan explains that intellectual property exists as it does because powerful interests want it to exist. The strongest economies in the world have a keen interest in embedding rigid methods of control and enforcement over emerging economies to preserve the huge economic interests linked to their copyright industries-film, music, software, and publishing. For this reason, the fight over the global standardization of intellectual property has become one of the most important sites of tension in North-South global relations. Through compelling case studies, including those of Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Sony, Amazon, and Google Books, Vaidhyanathan shows that the modern intellectual property systems reflect three centuries of changes in politics, economics, technologies, and social values. Although it emerged from a desire to foster creativity while simultaneously protecting it, intellectual property today has fundamentally shifted to a political dimension.

In The Politics of Collecting, Eunsong Kim traces how racial capitalism and colonialism situated the rise of US museum collections and conceptual art forms. Investigating historical legal and property claims, she argues that regimes of expropriation—rather than merit or good taste—are responsible for popular ideas of formal innovation and artistic genius. In doing so, she details how Marcel Duchamp’s canonization has more to do with his patron’s donations to museums than it does the quality of Duchamp’s work, and uncovers the racialized and financialized logic behind the Archive of New Poetry’s collecting practices. Ranging from the conception of philanthropy devised by the robber barons of the late nineteenth century to ongoing digitization projects, Kim provides a new history of contemporary art that accounts for the complicated entanglement of race, capital, and labor behind storied art institutions and artists. Drawing on history, theory, and economics, Kim challenges received notions of artistic success and talent and calls for a new vision of art beyond the cultural institution.

'The finest book ever written on nature and landscape in Britain' Guardian In this masterpiece of nature writing Nan Shepherd describes her journeys into the Cairngorm mountains of Scotland. There she encounters a world that can be breathtakingly beautiful at times and shockingly harsh at others. Her intense poetic prose explores and records the rocks rivers creatures and hidden aspects of this remarkable landscape. Shepherd spent a lifetime in search of the 'essential nature' of the Cairngorms; her quest led her to write this classic meditation on the magnificence of mountains and on our imaginative relationship with the wild world around us. Composed during the Second World War the manuscript of The Living Mountain lay untouched for more than thirty years before it was finally published.

'The finest book ever written on nature and landscape in Britain' Guardian In this masterpiece of nature writing Nan Shepherd describes her journeys into the Cairngorm mountains of Scotland. There she encounters a world that can be breathtakingly beautiful at times and shockingly harsh at others. Her intense poetic prose explores and records the rocks rivers creatures and hidden aspects of this remarkable landscape. Shepherd spent a lifetime in search of the 'essential nature' of the Cairngorms; her quest led her to write this classic meditation on the magnificence of mountains and on our imaginative relationship with the wild world around us. Composed during the Second World War the manuscript of The Living Mountain lay untouched for more than thirty years before it was finally published.

From the internationally bestselling author of Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop comes a warm and reflective collection of essays inviting us to reflect on our relationship with reading. Why do we read? What is it that we hope to take away from the intimate, personal experience of reading for pleasure? Rarely do we ask these profound, expansive questions of ourselves and of our relationship to the joy of reading. In each of the essays in Every Day I Read, Hwang Bo-reum contemplates what living a life immersed in reading means. She goes beyond the usual questions of what to read and how often, exploring the relationship between reading and writing, when to turn to a bestseller vs. browse the corners of a bookstore, the value of reading outside of your favorite genre, falling in love with book characters, and more. Every Day I Read provides many quiet moments for introspection and reflection, encouraging book-lovers to explore what reading means to each of us. While this is a book about books, at its heart is an attitude to life, one outside capitalism and climbing the corporate ladder. Lifelong and new readers will take away something from it, including a treasure trove of book recommendations blended seamlessly within.

An introverted chef. A hungry lycan shifter hiding among humans. A desire hotter than any kitchen ought to be. When Whitley Whitt becomes the chef at Castle Tepesh, she wants nothing more than to get the funds to buy back her grandmother’s bakery and return to living her best life reading romance and baking cupcakes. But the castle gets creepier day by day, and she thinks Connor O’Doyle is the biggest bosshole to ever live. Connor O’Doyle's greatest wish is to prove monsters and humans can coexist after turning Dracula’s home into a hotel. As he juggles a castle filled with humans hosted by monsters, a yacht-stealing vampire best friend, and one chef who continuously tempts him with cupcakes and spite, he struggles to keep his identity secret. When sparks and fangs fly, who will be the last wolf standing?

Leviathan Fitness is known for monsters, muscles, and wolven who rescue damsels in distress. After a wedding cake catastrophe, local decorator Tegan finds herself being helped by a solid wall of fur and fangs named Atlas. She’s never met anyone like him and finds herself enamored by his wolfish charm. After their sweet encounter, Atlas invites her to his gym anytime she needs his cake lifting services. Tegan decides that instead- she wants to lift the cakes herself. She signs up for a membership with Leviathan Fitness, determined to build her strength. Primal desires emerge as Atlas and Tegan test just how much their new love can lift— and if there are any limits to what monsters and humans can do. Muscles & Monsters is book one in the Leviathan Fitness series. Each book will center around the gym and feature a different monster pairing.

Ma’xon This is what I have been training for. Finding my mate after months of practising the art of wooing the human who is scientifically best suited for me. I am too old to feel this nervous about meeting her in person for the first time, but that won’t stop me. Now when she wakes up, I just have to convince her we are meant to be. Will she still accept me after taking her away from Earth? Odette The worst way to start a date? Show up late. The best way to end it? Alien Abduction. After a RomCom worthy first date, I never expected it to take an out of this world turn. When a hot giant shark man who owns his own home on a tropical planet wants to spoil me, who am I to say no? Now if only I can get him to accept his retirement so I can spoil him back. First Date Abductions is a low stakes, high heat alien romance series that focuses on plus size and LGBTQ+ leads

She has everything she needs for a solo trek through the Arctic: a sledge heaped with supplies, a little magic, and evidently, the eye of a polar bear shifter–who shouldn't even exist. Sirin is determined to find the source of magic, and nothing is going to stop her. Not expulsion from her guild, not their warnings about her “certain death,” and certainly not the damned polar bear stalking her through the taiga. Berne is a simple bear. He likes spending time shifted, a good meal, and apparently, round little scientists. When his duty to protect a thousand-year-old secret is tested against the strange pull he feels toward her, Berne can't help but sink his teeth into the one solution that might let him keep his adorable prey. For fans of determined plus-sized heroines and cinnamon-roll bear shifters, A Polar Expedition: and Other Stimulating Research Opportunities is the first standalone novella in The Shades of Sanctuary, where the vibes are cozy, the heat is high and the mates are monstrous. Grab a cup of tea and snuggle in, because while the burn might be slow the HEA is still only a few hours away! CWs and a list of tropes are available soon. Actual Est release date Summer '23

Big horns. Big secrets. Even bigger… chemistry.Jamie My five-year plan did not include impersonating a high-level executive to impress the big boss, but here we are. One day I’m slinging mail, the next I’m in a meeting trying not to drool over the CEO’s thighs like a disaster in khakis. He thinks I’m a brilliant strategist. The truth? I’m just trying to keep my 'professional' smile in place while staring at his horns. But the more time we spend together in late-night work sessions, the more I realize the heat between us isn’t just my imagination. Can I help win the company’s biggest account and the Minotaur of my dreams, or will my little lie get me sent back to the basement? Magnus Discipline is my salvation. As CEO of Labyrinth Solutions, I maintain control. In the boardroom, in my life, and over the beast that lives inside my suit. Then Jamie Torres walks into my world. He’s a new junior strategist; sharp, ambitious, and so distractingly handsome it makes my head spin. His scent is peppermint and temptation, and his shy glances at my horns make my possessive instincts roar to life. But keeping my hands off him might be the one merger I’m not powerful enough to negotiate. Meetings with the Minotaur is the spicy and funny first book in the Love at Labyrinth Solutions monster romance series. If you like fated mates, significant size differences, and workplace shenanigans, you’re in for a treat. Begin your next adventure with Meetings with the Minotaur now.

True love takes many forms. As one of the few survivors of her generation, Lark wants to live a quiet, peaceful life. All she needs is a tolerable husband. On her 24th birthday, Lark offends the local faerie lord, the shapeshifter Tamlin, who punishes her with a rose rooted in her flesh. In her efforts to convince Tamlin to undo his handiwork, Lark visits the forest daily and discovers the breathtaking and terrifying wonders of his realm. Despite her pragmatic nature tugging her toward a mortal huntsman, Lark falls for Tamlin. After a near-fatal accident exposes Tamlin’s cruel deception, Lark moves to the capital to accept a marriage of convenience. Yet when she learns of Tamlin’s capture, Lark must choose whether to secure her future or risk it all to save the love of her life from his cannibal ex. -- MY THORNS FOR YOUR ROSES is a "Tam Lin" retelling written in the spirit of the Scottish faerie tale and folksong - for readers who enjoyed the fae in Heather Fawcett's EMILY WILDE series, retellings like Naomi Novik's SPINNING SILVER, and the complicated family dynamics of Kell Woods' AFTER THE FOREST and UPON A STARLIT TIDE. Book cover artist: Yinan Sun (Grey)