Temptation

A Dickensian coming-of-age tale about poverty, sex, World War I, and the darker side of human nature as seen through the eyes of a lobby boy in a Budapest hotel. Temptation is a rediscovered masterwork of twentieth-century fiction, a Dickensian tale of a young man coming of age in Budapest between the wars. Illegitimate and unwanted, Béla is packed off to the country to be looked after by a peasant woman the moment he is born. She starves and bullies him, and keeps him out of school. He does his best to hold his own, and eventually his mother brings him back to live with her in the city. In thrall to his feckless father, Mishka, and living in a crowded tenement, she works her fingers to the bone, while Béla shares a room with a hardworking prostitute. Finally, Béla secures a job in a fancy hotel. Though exhausted by endless work, he is fascinated by the upper-crust world that his new job exposes him to; soon he is embroiled with a rich, damaged, and dangerous woman. The atmosphere of Budapest is increasingly poisoned by the appeal of fascism, while Béla grows ever more aware of how power and money keep down the working classes. In the end, with all the odds still against him, he musters the resolve to set sail for new future.

Shy student Penny Taylor always follows the rules. At least, that's how it appears to her classmates. But she has one illicit secret - she's fallen hard for her professor. And she's pretty sure he's fallen for her too. Everyone loves Professor Hunter. He's tall, dark, and handsome. And completely unobtainable. But it's the secrets hiding behind his deep brown eyes that allures Penny. Secrets darker than she could ever imagine. James Hunter gave up his billionaire lifestyle in NYC last year to become a professor. The easiest new rule to follow: don't fraternize with the students. It's easy to follow because he's become quite the recluse in his new town - the only way he knows how to keep his secrets buried. But he never expected to be teaching such a beautiful student. He has to resist her. He needs to walk away. Penny deserves better than a man with his demons. But she's daring him to cross the line. And he's never been one to resist temptation.

Rose and Noah are in love, but there's just one problem: he's Amish, and she's not.

Kyla and Jefferson Blake count their 16 years together as a wonderful blessing from God. Their marriage is passionate, their daughter is a joy, Jefferson's medial career is prospering and they have loyal friends. Kyla knows her newly divorced and lifelong friend, Jasmine, is desperately unhappy and no amount of prayer or encouragement seems to help. But what Kyla doesn't know is that Jasmine has a plan to move her life forward with the type of man she feels she should have married in the first place. A man like Jefferson. Alexis Ward, Kyla's, best friend, is single and successful and willing to wait for the right man for all the right reasons. But, when "Mr. Right," Dr. Brian Lewis, finally appears she finds herself facing a new challenge. Does she really have to walk away from what she believes in order to have a man in her life? As people who love God, Kyla, Jefferson and Alexis discover, each in their own way, what happens when they truly allow God to be first in their relationships. Full of contemporary characters who struggle to keep their strength, friendships and daily lives framed by the Word of God, Temptation is a novel no reader will soon forget.

Penny and James defied the odds. A professor and his student were never supposed to become husband and wife, let alone a father and a mother. The couple created a foundation in NYC that is held together with love, family, and friends. A foundation that they believed was impenetrable. But what happens when the life they know is threatened? If a struggle that should bring them closer together begins to tear them apart? All it takes is - One. Single. Slip. Foundations crumble. Will Penny and James continue to defy the odds?

Vance Hale has everything. A ridiculous amount of money, an Ivy-league education, and a 1,000-watt smile that can charm the designer dress right off a girl. He’s also going to have a future that includes me—whether he wants it or not. I don’t care that he’s trying to reform his playboy ways, or that he made a bet to go 90 days without the touch of a woman. I’ve spent the last decade planning my revenge and I need a partner in crime. This gorgeous, cunning man should do fine. So, we strike a deal. I’ll help get him across the finish line and he’ll bring me into his world among the Cape Hill elite. Our relationship may be fake, but our chemistry is shockingly real. One innocent kiss and I’m struggling to hold up my end of the bargain. Wanting him wasn’t part of the plan when everything else I desire is within my grasp. The only problem? Neither of us is any good at resisting temptation.

Coke adds life. Just do it. Yo quiero Taco Bell. We live in a commercial age, awash in a sea of brand names, logos, and advertising jingles—not to mention commodities themselves. Are shoppers merely the unwitting stooges of the greedy producers who will stop at nothing to sell their wares? Are the producers' powers of persuasion so great that resistance is futile? James Twitchell counters this assumption of the used and abused consumer with a witty and unflinching look at commercial culture, starting from the simple observation that "we are powerfully attracted to the world of goods (after all, we don't call them 'bads')." He contends that far from being forced upon us against our better judgment, "consumerism is our better judgment." Why? Because increasingly, store-bought objects are what hold us together as a society, doing the work of "birth, patina, pews, coats of arms, house, and social rank"—previously done by religion and bloodline. We immediately understand the connotations of status and identity exemplified by the Nike swoosh, the Polo pony, the Guess? label, the DKNY logo. The commodity alone is not what we are after; rather, we actively and creatively want that logo and its signification—the social identity it bestows upon us. As Twitchell summarizes, "Tell me what you buy, and I will tell what you are and who you want to be." Using elements as disparate as the film The Jerk, French theorists, popular bumper stickers, and Money magazine to explore the nature and importance of advertising lingo, packaging, fashion, and "The Meaning of Self," Twitchell overturns one stodgy social myth after another. In the process he reveals the purchase and possession of things to be the self-identifying acts of modern life. Not only does the car you drive tell others who you are, it lets you know as well. The consumption of goods, according to Twitchell, provides us with tangible everyday comforts and with crucial inner security in a seemingly faithless age. That we may find our sense of self through buying material objects is among the chief indictments of contemporary culture. Twitchell, however, sees the significance of shopping. "There are no false needs." We buy more than objects, we buy meaning. For many of us, especially in our youth, Things R Us.

John Owen's Classic Works on the Evil of Sin and the Power of Grace, Updated for Modern Readers Regarded as one of the greatest theologians in history, 17th-century pastor John Owen remains influential among those interested in Puritan and Reformed theology. The Complete Works of John Owen brings together all of Owen's original theological writing, including never-before-published work, reformatted for modern readers in 40 user-friendly volumes. Volume 15, The Christian Life—Sin and Temptation, includes the treatises "Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers"; "Of Temptation: The Nature and Power of It"; "The Nature, Power, Deceit, and Prevalency of Indwelling Sin"; and "A Treatise of the Dominion of Sin and Grace." Each work has been edited with extensive introductions by Kelly M. Kapic, Justin Taylor, and Shawn D. Wright. Released over a number of years, The Complete Works of John Owen will inspire a new generation of Bible readers and scholars to deeper faith. Edited and Formatted for Modern Readers: Presents Owen's original work, newly typeset with outlines, text breaks, headings, and footnotes Informative New Introductions: Provide historical, theological, and personal context Supporting Resources Enhance Reading: Include extensive annotations with sources, definitions, and translations of ancient languages Part of the Complete Works of John Owen Collection: Will release 40 hardcover volumes over a number of years Perfect for Churches and Schools: Ideal for students, pastors, theologians, and those interested in the Puritans

It is l909 and Temperance O'Neil is a woman ahead of her time. She's happy and devoted to helping single mothers on the streets of New York. But her new stepfather, Angus McCairn, does not approve and insists she quit her career and, as a respectable unmarried daughter should, live in his house in Edinburgh. Furious, but with no other choice, Temperance heads for Scotland determined to drive Angus crazy. Soon, an exasperated Angus makes her an unlikely offer: to pose as housekeeper to his nephew James, and find him a wife, secretly. If she succeeds, he'll allow her back to New York. Temperance, smart, passionate, as stubborn as her stepfather, is determined at any cost to win her return passage. But she has taken on far more than she expected. James McCairn, Laird of Clan McCairn, is no cultured gentleman but a strapping, rough-mannered farmer, rude and brusque. There are pigeons roosting in the kitchen and chickens in the bedroom. Marriage is the last thing on his mind.

In his most challenging work to date, Czech playwright Vaclav Havel has given the Faust legend a provocative twist. His setting is 'the Institute, ' whose mission is to combat the 'irrational tendencies' in society through its scientific work. Personal and professional relationships at this 'lighthouse of truthful knowledge' are a tissue of lies and sycophancy in which all concerned willingly collude.