Short Game

F. X. Toole knew boxing. Between bouts, he wrote, and two years before his death he published this collection of stories, giving listeners an unprecedented look at the gritty life around the ring. He tells of a cutman with a sweet tooth, young fighters with dreams of celebrity, and a talented boxer who goes to Atlantic City for his biggest bout, only to be humiliated by the prejudices of a callous promoter. In "Million $$$ Baby", the inspiration for the Oscar-winning Clint Eastwood film, an aged trainer takes on a female fighter, guiding her through disappointment, pain, and tragedy.

The nine stories and one poem in this volume formed the basis for the astonishingly original film Short Cuts, directed by Robert Altman. Collected altogether in this volume, these stories form a searing and indelible portrait of American innocence and loss. With deadpan humor and enormous tenderness, this is the work of "one of the true contemporary masters" ( The New York Review of Books).

I walk through the automatic doors with a mix of excitement and determination in my heart. Another day of saving lives in the middle of chaos. Dr. Ethan Matthews walks into the busy emergency room. As soon as I look into his eyes, I feel a sudden rush of desire. There’s something about the way he moves that makes me think there’s more to him than his charming smile. Dr. Matthews’ brown hair is a little messy from the chaos of the ER, but it only adds to his charm. His brown eyes are guarded, and he wears his expression in a stoic mask to hide his real feelings. I can’t resist their ...

The victims are the most popular girls in school, each murdered and arranged in a grim fairy-tale tableau. To find the killer, rookie detective Callum Pederson has gone undercover where the Princes hold court. He’s found enough secrets among the bros to bring them in for questioning - but he could very well get lost in the games the Princes play.

The battle for the promotion at TG Times Chicago heats up in more ways than one! Ashley is a twenty-one year old reporter trying to do what she can to survive. Steve is a forty-two year old page designer with more than work on his mind. When these two come together, sparks fly. Can they stop the back-stabbing Aubrey and help Kayla get the big promotion? Or will all the fun and games in the TG Newsroom come to an abrupt and unsettling end? Find out in this next exciting installment of TG Newsroom Chicago. You're in for quite a surprise if you make it all the way to the end of this hot ...

Richard just wanted a girlfriend - not the apocalypse. Richard Peak's senior year is looking painfully ordinary - fighting for position on the soccer team, his parents' constant arguing, a glaring lack of a girlfriend. He can't wait to graduate and join a soccer team overseas, preferably as far from home as possible. Then the president is assassinated and his life changes forever. As an alarming chain of nationwide terrorist attacks trigger a civil war, Richard finds himself on a dangerous journey for survival.

These women all want to hook up an alien, and what better way to find one than on a TV show? Too bad the show isn't all that it seems. These high-heat short stories include women who are just looking to hook up with aliens and didn't plan to become fated to one. The Bolan men are dominant in the bedroom and know exactly how to thrill their human mates. Contains all four stories in the Mated to the Bolan series, as well as Halloween Mating, which is a related story. Alien Love Games: The Arena Ava's tired of her life and is obsessed with aliens. When she's handed the opportunity to go on the...

SCP means secure contain and protect. I have compiled one of the top tales from the foundation, which is SCP. I put it together as a book to bring more presence to the website. In this book, we are following the story of the subject 231 or SCP-231. Please, sit tight and enjoy the stories as it goes through the SCP universe. Tales range from mystery to horror stories. If you are looking for inspiration or creative ideas, the original website the SCP Foundation has, has tons of authors and ideas to look through.

She only wanted to find her brother. Finding a true mate definitely wasn't part of the plan! Ruby didn‘t care. She cared about nothing. Her brother was gone. Just like her parents were gone. And she definitely didn't need a man, let alone an alpha bear shifter. But Ruby felt the strangest feeling rise up within her. It was like she was filling and emptying at the exact same moment. Half of her, the half that had spent the last year almost entirely alone, wanted Ansel Keto.

Stella spends her days in the snowboard slopes practicing tricks and dreaming of one day competing in the X-games. Such a shame that she has to share the slope with the new kid who makes her wipe out. Every. Single. Day.

Clinton couldn't believe his luck when he married Mary. The curvy blonde hottie is way out of the scrawny nerd's league. To make things even better, she's the spitting image of his favorite female video game character, Tammy from Back Alley Brawler. Mary is his walking wet dream, and not just for him. He recognizes the looks his wife gets. Hungry, lecherous, and filled with lust with no regard to her husband. Where other husbands are jealous, Clinton is aroused that so many men find her so attractive. No matter how hard they look, Mary is his and they're not allowed to touch. Until, they go...

Picture this: You’re scrolling through your usual books, but tonight, something’s different. You’re not just looking for the same-old vanilla story—you want raw heat, heart-pounding encounters, and scenes that make your skin tingle. You want the kind of forbidden, electrifying tales that could only exist in the darkest corners of your imagination. Well, lucky for you, you’re holding the ultimate collection of sinfully seductive stories, each more tantalizing than the last.

Roll the dice, pick a card, tell a lie, hide the truth. Whatever the move, it's all just part of the game. Follow the lives of four very different characters who are all trapped in an insidious game. Each story delves into the intricate web of misaligned motives and obscured half-truths. Stories include "In This Business", "The Joker", "Dolly", and "Escaping Avila Chase".

Florence Scovel Shinn was a gifted teacher who shaped the fields of spiritual growth and New Thought. Her practical, straightforward style empowered countless people to trust their inner knowing and overcome their challenges. With an Introduction by self-help luminary Louise Hay, who credits Florence as one of her early inspirations, this simple yet poignant book—which contains original, previously unpublished text—can help you positively transform your life. Powerful affirmations will show you how to cultivate your intuition and release any resistance, fear, and doubt.

Follow the adventures of Kiko the Kitty Cat, who isn't just a regular kitty. She is a detective cat, and she loves to help others. The cute and short stories can be shared aloud with friends and family and are also perfect listens for traveling and waiting rooms.

This is the audiobook for Sly Flourish's Fantastic Adventure, a book of 10 short adventures for the fifth edition of the world's most popular roleplaying game. This audiobook helps the listener bring these adventures into their head and is intended to be used along with the print copy of the book for use at the actual gaming table. Listening to these adventures helps prime your DM mind with the material you need to run the game at the table.

Sherlock Holmes is one of the most iconic and lasting figures in literature. In this new edition of Baker Street Irregulars, authors present the iconic detective in over a dozen wildly entertaining new ways. In Keith DeCandido's "Six Red Dragons", Sherlock is a young girl in modern New York City. In Sarah Stegall's "Papyrus", Sherlock is a female librarian in ancient Egypt. In Daniel M. Kimmel's mesmerizing "A Scandal in Chelm", Sherlock is a rabbi. Derek Beebe sends Sherlock to the moon, while Mike Strauss, in "The Adventure of the Double Sized Final Issue", casts him as a comic book character.

Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game is a science fiction classic. In Ender’s World almost two dozen writers offer new perspectives on the 1985 novel, along with insights gleaned from other Ender stories that fit within the Ender’s Game chronology. In addition, military strategists Colonel Tom Ruby and Captain John Schmitt offer insight into the human-Formic war.

It takes a lot of effort for Jimmy Crocker to become Piccadilly Jim – nights on the town roistering, headlines in the gossip columns, a string of broken hearts and breaches of promise. Eventually he becomes rather good at it and manages to go to pieces with his eyes open. But no sooner has Jimmy cut a wild swathe through fashionable London than his terrifying Aunt Nesta decides he must mend his ways. He then falls in love with the girl he has hurt most of all, and after that things get complicated. In a dizzying plot, impersonations pile on impersonations....

She's just a crew member, and he's not an artist Lacey I’ve always wanted to travel the universe, but my family is dirt poor and that was never in the cards for me. That is, until I got hired on as a production crew member for The Alien Love Games. Like the legit, Alien Love Games, I can’t believe my luck! Now I’ll be visiting space stations for other planets, meeting famous people, and seeing aliens for the first time. It’s a dream come true. My first assignment is shooting the season for the Bolans. Holy Smokes are these Bolan men hot. Whenever I see the contestants my mouth ...