When an act of harrowing betrayal threatens to burn the cities, a courageous young woman becomes the world's only defender against a universal darkness in a confrontation that reverses the fortunes of powerful and oppressed people.

"He should have thrown her out. But when club owner Alexander Lavoie catches a mysterious blonde counting cards at his vingt-et-un table, he's more intrigued than angry. He has to see more of this beauty-in his club, in his office, in his bed. But first he'll have to devise a proposition she can't turn down. Gossip said he was an assassin. Common sense told her to stay away. But Angelique Archer was desperate, and Lavoie's club offered a surefire...

"Miss Venus Merriwell has been waiting for her prince to come since the tender age of fourteen. She wants a man who is a selfless academic like her, and free from all the wretched vices her gambler father enjoyed far too much before he left the Merriwell sisters practically destitute. Unfortunately, after a slew of romantic disappointments, there is still no sign of that prince at twenty-three and the only one true love of her life is the bursting-at-the-seams...

"Long ago, a wealthy man stole an angel and hid her in a chapel, where she remains imprisoned to this day. That's the legend, anyway. A clerical student who's racked up gambling debts to a local gangster is given an ultimatum - deliver the angel his grandfather kidnapped, or forfeit various body parts in payment. And so begins a whirlwind theological paradox - with the student at its center - in which the stakes are the necessity of God, the existence...

Three noble brothers are offered a preposterous opportunity to restore their family's mortgaged lands. An eccentric uncle promises a lavish inheritance, but only if each marries -- thus redeeming -- a fallen woman. And if even one brother fails to fulfill the old man's decree, none will gain the windfall. Lady Serena Grantley was born to the nobility, but fortune's whim placed her in control of her gamester stepfather, who uses her beauty to lure...

A collection of 14 stories proves that Boyle has his finger firmly on the pulse of our times. They offer a vivid collage of millennial American life and include: 'Dogology; Here Comes; Kind Assassin; Jubilation, ' and 'Up Against the Wall, ' to name just a few.

"Vienna Mortenson isn't your typical gambler. She prefers to stay under the radar, using her poker winnings to support her family and her community, including the local search and rescue team, which she heads up. Out in the backcountry there's no time for hesitation when lives are on the line. Vienna prides herself on being tough and decisive. She's not the sort to make a fool of herself over a guy, especially one who left her high and dry without...