Showing results by narrator "Philip Alces" in All Categories

Conjure, also known as Hoodoo or Rootwork, is an old, powerful, and increasingly popular system of North American folk magic. Conjure's roots derive primarily from West and Central African spiritual traditions, but it has also been influenced by Christianity, Jewish mysticism, and Native American practices. Hoodoo Sen Moise has been studying this tradition and working with Conjure for over 35 years. Here, he explores Conjure's history, principles, fundamentals, and ethics, while simultaneously providing a practical how-to guide....

When Luca Ward was five years old, he swore he would love Imre Claybourne forever. Years later, when Luca finds himself shipped off to Imre's North Yorkshire goat farm in disgrace, long-buried feelings flare back to life. The lines around Imre's eyes may be deeper, the once-black night of his hair silvered to steel and stone . . . but he's still the same slow-moving mountain of a man whose quiet-spoken warmth, gentle hands, and deep ties to his Roma heritage have always, to Luca, meant home. The problem? Imre is more than twice Luca's age. And Luca's father's best friend.

Miss Olivia Wilson is desperate, and desperate women do daring things. She's willing to do just about anything to save her family's newspaper. When her biggest investor pulls his funding, she confronts him, willing to become his mistress if that's what it will take. He might not speak, but she can't deny his dark and dangerous appeal, and there would be worse hardships than becoming a duke's plaything.

When professional hugger and TLC provider Teddy Harris is offered a month-long companionship contract, he's hard pressed to turn it down. When he meets notorious assassin Riordan Darcy, professional challenge and personal temptation collide, making it nearly impossible for him to endure a whole month with the gorgeous, enigmatic man without falling head over heels in love. But when a mole is discovered within Riordan's organization, relationships are compromised, and people's lives are in danger. Time isn't on their side.

Finally working for a man he can trust has given Bill a new purpose. His boss, Christopher Manos, commands respect and absolute loyalty, and Bill has proven himself worthy of a seat at Christopher's table. Becoming best friends with Christopher's husband, Snow, has further proven his allegiance.... When Snow's life is in danger, Christopher places his full trust in Bill to destroy anything and anyone that poses a threat to his husband. But hunting and wiping out the enemy for the safety of everyone Bill cares about means partnering with the one person he has vowed to never see again.

When Tess Ravenel gets herself stuck inside a bathroom stall in one of Charleston's most historic buildings, she isn't exactly thinking about her dating life. But then the paramedic who comes to her rescue has a voice that sounds like butter and enough charm to make her forget she's seconds from having a panic attack.

He's Hollywood's biggest star. She wouldn't know him from the pizza delivery guy. I'm a wildlife biologist in a tiny mountain town, not some kind of law-breaking celebrity stalker. At least not on purpose. It was an accident when I wandered onto the property of one of Hollywood's hottest movie stars. Five minutes ago, I'd never even heard of Flint Hawthorne. I definitely didn't know he lives in Silver Creek.

A product of his past, Black spends half his time saving lives and the other half taking them. Every day, a hard choice must be made and he's the man to make it. Long ago, he vowed to never love again; one-night stands with a willing body was all he ever needed. But along came Quill, and Black's life is irrevocably changed. He never expects something as simple as Quill's persistence to alter the way he not only sees the world, but how he lives it.

I'm an animal, a member of the Sin City Outlaws motorcycle club that isn't capable of human compassion. So I've been told, anyway. Raven is my club's prisoner. I've been ordered to break her. It should be easy given my violent history. But being this close to a woman - this woman - for the first time in a long time, is like sharing company with the demon Lilith herself. She's my perfect toy. Filled with a dark rage. Blessed with perfected beauty. Sinfully sweet and wickedly divine. Everything about her solicits the demons inside me. I want to hear her screams.

Sterling Crane is my idol, my inspiration, and my rival - and I'm determined to be the one who brings him to his knees. He has other ideas, of course, and I keep going back for more. I'm horrified when the news breaks that the bands we manage are merging, and we're all going to share a home like one big happy family. Horrified because I hate Sterling more than anything in this world, and because I know I'm not going to be able to stay away from him.

Bill Marshall might as well have been the Devil. Christina Lee Dodd needs Friday off work. Needs. She's up to her eyeballs in problems. One of those problems is her boss, Bill Marshall. And Bill Marshall is an a--hole. The offer he makes is textbook inappropriate. An HR nightmare.

Stanley’s life took a left turn at a knitting shop and hit a dead end. The closest thing he’s had to a relationship breaks things off to date a "nice boy," and none of the pretty young things in Boulder’s limited gay scene do it for Stanley. He needs to reevaluate whether working as a floor designer for a series of craft stores is really where he wants to be. Then Stanley does a peculiar thing: he starts to live the life he fell into. Stitch by stitch, he knits his life into something meaningful.

Plain-Jane computer programmer Khloe Richardson needs a date - one to make the prince of her dreams jealous. Maybe then he'll finally see her as a desirable swan and not the ugly duckling in the second office from the left. But when she bids on a bachelor at a charity auction, the man she wins is millionaire Niall Hunter - who once made intense, passionate love to her and then left without a word. She's determined not to let her guard down again - among other things - around the infamous Irish lothario.

In the aftermath of a plague which brought civilization to its knees and left most of the world's female population sterile, the few women who remain fertile have become a precious commodity. They live in relative comfort, but upon reaching adulthood they must bear children to carry on the species.

Mateo Alvarez is finally starting to get his life back in order after escaping an unhealthy relationship. As much as he wants a Daddy, he is starting to think it isn't meant to be. That changes when he's enjoying a night out at a club and is caught off guard by a serendipitous meeting with a Daddy he's instantly drawn to.

It is vital Lady Georgia Stoughton finds a way to pay her father's debt, but the cursed man who owns it refuses her money. So when she offers herself in repayment, the devil with the body of an angel calls her bluff. Now she belongs to him, body and soul, until the last hour of December. Lord Edymion, Demon Hayle, wants two things in his life: seclusion, and revenge on the man who scarred him, making him unfit for Society. Lady Georgia's father is the key to his revenge, but this contract is so much sweeter: the use of Georgia's body, whenever and however he wants, for the next month.

Ezra Kellerman flew across the country to see if he had another chance with the man he let slip through his fingers. He didn't. Rico has moved on, but he doesn't just leave his ex high and dry. Instead Rico entrusts his family and friends with Ezra's care. Ezra, confused, hurt, and lost, clings to Rico's cousin and his boyfriend as the lifelines they are - but their friend, Miguel, is another story.

Spinster scientist Felicity Montrose has always been curious. So when her dark and dangerous neighbor catches her breaking into his house, her body's reactions to his manhandling raises all sorts of interesting questions. Unfortunately, the irritating man refuses to help her in her experiments to replicate these titillating sensations. Blast. Griffin Calderbank is well aware that his enticing next-door neighbor is a lady, and thus so far off-limits she might as well be in Scotland. She's a dangerous distraction he can't afford, no matter how tantalizing her offer might be.

Haven Hart stands on the edge of good and evil. Having balance between the two is the only thing keeping the town from crumbling to the ground. For years, one man has been charged with maintaining that balance - Poe. The air of mystery surrounding Poe is one of necessity. He's the keeper of secrets, and for good reason. He's stood alone against the most ruthless men and women, always hiding behind the curtain to help his friends defeat what seeks to destroy them.

To society, Fawkes MacMillan is a nobody; a hanger-on at the edge of respectability with a murky past and an even murkier lineage. But to Lady Danielle Aycock, he is her only hope of salvation before a horrible Christmas deadline. Having recently lost both her husband and her father, Danielle's only chance to save herself and her stepdaughter from destitution is to announce her pregnancy with her husband's heir, therefore prolonging the settlement of the estate. The problem? She's never been pregnant, and time is running out.