Billy and Gracie Myers don’t believe in magic. Not even at Christmastime. They don’t believe in ghosts. Not even when they discover a haunted house in the woods behind their home. Filomena Albright lives in that house, and maybe, just maybe, she can bring a little magic into their lives—and their father’s. Evan Myers is overworked and stressed out, steering his chain of sporting-goods stores through the hectic pre-holiday retail season while raising his young son and daughter single-handedly. He has no time to think, let alone think about the woman who has taken up residence in the mysterious house through the forest. But when Gracie’s preschool teacher warns Evan that he’d better get some help, he turns to the Daddy School—and Filomena. That she dazzles him with her intelligence, her energy, and her beauty is irrelevant. She’ll be gone with the new year. For now, though, for these few weeks before Christmas, maybe she can be everything Evan and his children need her to be. Christmas is a time of magic, after all.

Love Unspoken

Never before had a guest at Stafford Cottage triggered sensual tremors in the reserved innkeeper, but Colin St. James was like an earthquake to her soul. Hurt once by false love, Lizbeth had poured herself into work, but she deeply desired a family. With Colin. But these were flimsy dreams, for he was filled with wanderlust??? and Lizbeth-lust??? not love. So each time he came near, she would skitter away. And with every kiss she would replace her sounds of pleasure with protest. But what if her ??? rejection??? worked and her dream man disappeared into the night? Maybe she should encourage him??? just a little....

Gentle and kind Natalie McMahon was everything rancher Jared Ryan wanted in his rambunctious children's nanny. While she was the perfect role model for his twin sons, she was also the embodiment of all of Jared's fantasies. But Jared sensed Natalie was hiding something from him, and before he'd open his wary, scarred heart he was determined to unlock the secrets of this beautiful woman. Caring for Jared's kids came naturally to Natalie. And falling for the single dad was just as effortless. Natalie knew the feelings they were both fighting against couldn't be denied--nor could the truth...that Jared's adopted sons were actually hers.

Amanda Shaw's life is almost perfect. She's about to make partner in her New York law firm, she has her own apartment, furnished to her taste and, best of all, she finally has financial security. Then Zach Porter- her childhood friend- shows up to tell her she's needed back home in Vermont. The usually idyllic mountain resort is in chaos. Amanda's father is in the hospital, her mother's at his bedside. Amanda's teenage sister is out of control and the business is losing money. And Zach- her father's new partner- refuses to sell the place. He loves the mountains. and he loves Amanda. As the weeks go by, Amanda realizes what was missing in her almost perfect life. Love and family. . . and Zach.

Buffalo Valley, North Dakota. A second-chance town! Like many small towns, Buffalo Valley is dying. Stores are boarded up, sidewalks are cracked, houses are in need of a coat of paint. But despite all that, there's a spirit of hope here, of defiance. The few people still left here are fighting for their town. Lindsay Snyder is a newcomer. She's an outsider, even though she spent childhood vacations here. Now she returns to see the family house again, to explore family secrets and to reevaluate her life. And soon after she arrives, she meets a local farmer named Gage Sinclair… Lindsay decides to stay in North Dakota. Her decision marks a new beginning for Buffalo Valley and for her. Because in this broken little town she discovers the love and purpose she's been seeking.

See Jane run? If that's what Jane Conroy's stalker had in mind, he was going to be disappointed. The feisty schoolteacher was more angered than frightened by her shadowy adversary's pranks. Thanks to him, she reluctantly found herself under the watchful deep blue gaze of a handsome lawman bent on keeping her safe — and restoring her lost faith.... See Jane fall... For Kyle Manning? The preacher's son and police officer figured that wasn't likely. After all, Jane made it clear that she didn't trust cops or religion — and that she could take care of herself. But Kyle wasn't just determined to guard her life...he was hoping to share it!

HE COULD HANDLE ANY RISK-EXCEPT HER She was his enemy's daughter. And soldier Jim "Dutch" Dutcher would never forgive Julia Ferrare for her part in the betrayal that killed his brother-or for the vulnerability she'd made Dutch feel. But now Julia had called him for help in escaping her father. And ten years hadn't changed a damn thing about her. She was still beautiful, fragile, kind-and most likely setting him up for another con. She'd stolen from him once-his family, his memories, his heart. He'd be a fool to trust her again. But sometimes even a hardened soldier could be a fool? ?for love.

A New York Times Bestselling Author She'd never trust a man again . . . and all Dana Westlake wanted was to be left alone to mend her broken heart. Then one stormy night, a wounded cowboy appeared on her doorstep. And though Dana tried to protect her emotions while she nursed Chay Lone Elk's wounds, she couldn't stop her pulse from racing at his touch, or her heart from melting.

Wessex, the last English kingdom to resist the raging Viking storm . . . Those defending the land had pledged their loyalty to the new king -- and in their hands lay the fate of a nation. Though English by blood, Ash had been raised among Vikings, and was driven beyond reason to prove his allegiance to king and country, only to find himself left for dead by an English traitor. The Lady Gemma risked all to rescue the mysterious Ash. But though the wounded stranger consorted easily with the enemy, she could not fear him. And as the growing danger surrounded them, Ash would prove to be a man with the courage to risk not only life, but honor to save Gemma and earn her love!

Sami Fontaine wanted a baby more than anything. But she didn't want a husband! Where could she find a man willing to father a child without gaining a wife? The solution was simple: advertise... When gorgeous Noah Hawke turned up on her doorstep, Sami knew she'd found the perfect man. Only Noah wasn't reporting for baby-making duties: he'd been hired to watch over Sami. And the very best way to protect her was to marry her!

With her family business to run, Kat Bennet doesn't have time for love - until a sexy stranger comes into her life! Kat quickly discovers that Daniel West has a hidden reason for being in town, and she's roped into helping him with his assignment. Working closely with Kat, Daniel realizes he wants her as his bride - but will she say yes when he reveals his secret agenda?

A mother for his son - Dedicated consultant and devoted single dad Hamish Adams is teh heartthrob of the emergency room. Hamish's life is a nonstop juggling act. Between caring for his young son and managing his demanding job, Hamish has no time for women. For the sake of his heart, and his child, that's how he intends to stay. That is, until beautiful nurse Charlotte Porter whirls into their lives! Vivacious, caring Charlotte is just what Jamish and little Cameron need. With Charlotte by their side, Hamish knows they would make a perfect family. But first he must put his heart on the line and ask Charlotte to be his wife.

Pilgrim Cove—where love can be as powerful as the ocean next door. On the surface, Pilgrim Cove seems like any other coastal town. Picturesque and peaceful with long stretches of unspoiled beach, fresh ocean breezes and the sense of time passing slowly. However…. …only in Pilgrim Cove live a group of friends called the ROMEOs whose sole aim to take care of the town. …only in Pilgrim Cove stands a unique house right on the beach. Sea View House. A very special place—some say magical—to the people who reside there each season. …and only in Pilgrim Cove, are strangers welcomed while everyone else takes a front row seat as a love story unfolds. No Ordinary Summer is the second of the four-book Pilgrim Cove series. Fun is what Shelley Anderson is trying to provide for her two young children when she rents the first floor of Sea View House a year after a painful divorce. The kids haven’t been adjusting well, and the house is perfect. She’s not sure about perfection, however, after she meets Daniel Stone, the man who’s renting the top floor of the house. A man who’s trying to find his balance after losing his wife. Her neighbor definitely wants to be left alone. He’s less than thrilled by the instant rapport between his beautiful golden retriever and her two active kids. And he’s definitely shaken by the rapport that springs up between himself and Shelley. When Shelley’s ex shows up, threatening to take the kids, Shelley must protect her little family while also protecting her budding happiness with Dan. With their painful pasts, will Shelley and Daniel find the courage to love again? It’s a question only they can answer.

Become an advanced practitioner with this progressive set of master classes on application-oriented machine learning About This Book ? Comprehensive coverage of key topics in machine learning with an emphasis on both the theoretical and practical aspects ? More than 15 open source Java tools in a wide range of techniques, with code and practical usage. ? More than 10 real-world case studies in machine learning highlighting techniques ranging from data ingestion up to analyzing the results of experiments, all preparing the user for the practical, real-world use of tools and data analysis. Who This Book Is For This book will appeal to anyone with a serious interest in topics in Data Science or those already working in related areas: ideally, intermediate-level data analysts and data scientists with experience in Java. Preferably, you will have experience with the fundamentals of machine learning and now have a desire to explore the area further, are up to grappling with the mathematical complexities of its algorithms, and you wish to learn the complete ins and outs of practical machine learning. What You Will Learn ? Master key Java machine learning libraries, and what kind of problem each can solve, with theory and practical guidance. ? Explore powerful techniques in each major category of machine learning such as classification, clustering, anomaly detection, graph modeling, and text mining. ? Apply machine learning to real-world data with methodologies, processes, applications, and analysis. ? Techniques and experiments developed around the latest specializations in machine learning, such as deep learning, stream data mining, and active and semi-supervised learning. ? Build high-performing, real-time, adaptive predictive models for batch- and stream-based big data learning using the latest tools and methodologies. ? Get a deeper understanding of technologies leading towards a more powerful AI applicable in various domains such as Security, Financial Crime, Internet of Things, social networking, and so on. In Detail Java is one of the main languages used by practicing data scientists; much of the Hadoop ecosystem is Java-based, and it is certainly the language that most production systems in Data Science are written in. If you know Java, Mastering Machine Learning with Java is your next step on the path to becoming an advanced practitioner in Data Science. This book aims to introduce you to an array of advanced techniques in machine learning, including classification, clustering, anomaly detection, stream learning, active learning, semi-supervised learning, probabilistic graph modeling, text mining, deep learning, and big data batch and stream machine learning. Accompanying each chapter are illustrative examples and real-world case studies that show how to apply the newly learned techniques using sound methodologies and the best Java-based tools available today. On completing this book, you will have an understanding of the tools and techniques for building powerful machine learning models to solve data science problems in just about any domain. Style and approach A practical guide to help you explore machine learning—and an array of Java-based tools and frameworks—with the help of practical examples and real-world use cases.

Build scalable, reliable, and cost-effective applications with a serverless architecture About This Book ? Design a real-world serverless application from scratch ? Learn about AWS Lambda function and how to use Lambda functions to glue other AWS Services ? Use the Java programming language and well-known design patterns. Although Java is used for the examples in this book, the concept is applicable across all languages ? Learn to migrate your JAX-RS application to AWS Lambda and API Gateway Who This Book Is For This book is for developers and software architects who are interested in designing on the back end. Since the book uses Java to teach concepts, knowledge of Java is required. What You Will Learn ? Learn to form microservices from bigger Softwares ? Orchestrate and scale microservices ? Design and set up the data flow between cloud services and custom business logic ? Get to grips with cloud provider’s APIs, limitations, and known issues ? Migrate existing Java applications to a serverless architecture ? Acquire deployment strategies ? Build a highly available and scalable data persistence layer ? Unravel cost optimization techniques In Detail Over the past years, all kind of companies from start-ups to giant enterprises started their move to public cloud providers in order to save their costs and reduce the operation effort needed to keep their shops open. Now it is even possible to craft a complex software system consisting of many independent micro-functions that will run only when they are needed without needing to maintain individual servers. The focus of this book is to design serverless architectures, and weigh the advantages and disadvantages of this approach, along with decision factors to consider. You will learn how to design a serverless application, get to know that key points of services that serverless applications are based on, and known issues and solutions. The book addresses key challenges such as how to slice out the core functionality of the software to be distributed in different cloud services and cloud functions. It covers basic and advanced usage of these services, testing and securing the serverless software, automating deployment, and more. By the end of the book, you will be equipped with knowledge of new tools and techniques to keep up with this evolution in the IT industry. Style and approach The book takes a pragmatic approach, showing you all the examples you need to build efficient serverless applications.

A practical guide to help you undertand the ability of Apache jMeter to load and performance test various server types in a more efficient way. About This Book ? Use jMeter to create and run tests to improve the performance of your webpages and applications ? Learn to build a test plan for your websites and analyze the results ? Unleash the power of various features and changes introduced in Apache jMeter 3.0 Who This Book Is For This book is for software professionals who want to understand and improve the performance of their applications with Apache jMeter. What You Will Learn ? See why performance testing is necessary and learn how to set up JMeter ? Record and test with JMeter ? Handle various form inputs in JMeter and parse results during testing ? Manage user sessions in web applications in the context of a JMeter test ? Monitor JMeter results in real time ? Perform distributed testing with JMeter ? Get acquainted with helpful tips and best practices for working with JMeter In Detail JMeter is a Java application designed to load and test performance for web application. JMeter extends to improve the functioning of various other static and dynamic resources. This book is a great starting point to learn about JMeter. It covers the new features introduced with JMeter 3 and enables you to dive deep into the new techniques needed for measuring your website performance. The book starts with the basics of performance testing and guides you through recording your first test scenario, before diving deeper into JMeter. You will also learn how to configure JMeter and browsers to help record test plans. Moving on, you will learn how to capture form submission in JMeter, dive into managing sessions with JMeter and see how to leverage some of the components provided by JMeter to handle web application HTTP sessions. You will also learn how JMeter can help monitor tests in real-time. Further, you will go in depth into distributed testing and see how to leverage the capabilities of JMeter to accomplish this. You will get acquainted with some tips and best practices with regard to performance testing. By the end of the book, you will have learned how to take full advantage of the real power behind Apache JMeter. Style and approach The book is a practical guide starting with introducing the readers to the importance of automated testing. It will then be a beginner’s journey from getting introduced to Apache jMeter to an in-detail discussion of more advanced features and possibilities with it.

Advanced analytics on your Big Data with latest Apache Spark 2.x About This Book ? An advanced guide with a combination of instructions and practical examples to extend the most up-to date Spark functionalities. ? Extend your data processing capabilities to process huge chunk of data in minimum time using advanced concepts in Spark. ? Master the art of real-time processing with the help of Apache Spark 2.x Who This Book Is For If you are a developer with some experience with Spark and want to strengthen your knowledge of how to get around in the world of Spark, then this book is ideal for you. Basic knowledge of Linux, Hadoop and Spark is assumed. Reasonable knowledge of Scala is expected. What You Will Learn ? Examine Advanced Machine Learning and DeepLearning with MLlib, SparkML, SystemML, H2O and DeepLearning4J ? Study highly optimised unified batch and real-time data processing using SparkSQL and Structured Streaming ? Evaluate large-scale Graph Processing and Analysis using GraphX and GraphFrames ? Apply Apache Spark in Elastic deployments using Jupyter and Zeppelin Notebooks, Docker, Kubernetes and the IBM Cloud ? Understand internal details of cost based optimizers used in Catalyst, SystemML and GraphFrames ? Learn how specific parameter settings affect overall performance of an Apache Spark cluster ? Leverage Scala, R and python for your data science projects In Detail Apache Spark is an in-memory cluster-based parallel processing system that provides a wide range of functionalities such as graph processing, machine learning, stream processing, and SQL. This book aims to take your knowledge of Spark to the next level by teaching you how to expand Spark’s functionality and implement your data flows and machine/deep learning programs on top of the platform. The book commences with an overview of the Spark ecosystem. It will introduce you to Project Tungsten and Catalyst, two of the major advancements of Apache Spark 2.x. You will understand how memory management and binary processing, cache-aware computation, and code generation are used to speed things up dramatically. The book extends to show how to incorporate H20, SystemML, and Deeplearning4j for machine learning, and Jupyter Notebooks and Kubernetes/Docker for cloud-based Spark. During the course of the book, you will learn about the latest enhancements to Apache Spark 2.x, such as interactive querying of live data and unifying DataFrames and Datasets. You will also learn about the updates on the APIs and how DataFrames and Datasets affect SQL, machine learning, graph processing, and streaming. You will learn to use Spark as a big data operating system, understand how to implement advanced analytics on the new APIs, and explore how easy it is to use Spark in day-to-day tasks. Style and approach This book is an extensive guide to Apache Spark modules and tools and shows how Spark's functionality can be extended for real-time processing and storage with worked examples.

Learn the art of leveraging PowerShell to automate Office 365 repetitive tasks About This Book ? Master the fundamentals of PowerShell to automate Office 365 tasks. ? Easily administer scenarios such as user management, reporting, cloud services, and many more. ? A fast-paced guide that leverages PowerShell commands to increase your productivity. Who This Book Is For The book is aimed at sys admins who are administering office 365 tasks and looking forward to automate the manual tasks. They have no knowledge about PowerShell however basic understanding of PowerShell would be advantageous. What You Will Learn ? Understand the benefits of *ing and automation and get started using Powershell with Office 365 ? Explore various PowerShell packages and permissions required to manage Office 365 through PowerShell ? Create, manage, and remove Office 365 accounts and licenses using PowerShell and the Azure AD ? Learn about using powershell on other platforms and how to use Office 365 APIs through remoting ? Work with Exchange Online and SharePoint Online using PowerShell ? Automate your tasks and build easy-to-read reports using PowerShell In Detail While most common administrative tasks are available via the Office 365 admin center, many IT professionals are unaware of the real power that is available to them below the surface. This book aims to educate readers on how learning PowerShell for Office 365 can simplify repetitive and complex administrative tasks, and enable greater control than is available on the surface. The book starts by teaching readers how to access Office 365 through PowerShell and then explains the PowerShell fundamentals required for automating Office 365 tasks. You will then walk through common administrative cmdlets to manage accounts, licensing, and other scenarios such as automating the importing of multiple users,assigning licenses in Office 365, distribution groups, passwords, and so on. Using practical examples, you will learn to enhance your current functionality by working with Exchange Online, and SharePoint Online using PowerShell. Finally, the book will help you effectively manage complex and repetitive tasks (such as license and account management) and build productive reports. By the end of the book, you will have automated major repetitive tasks in Office 365 using PowerShell. Style and approach This step by step guide focuses on teaching the fundamentals of working with PowerShell for Office 365. It covers practical usage examples such as managing user accounts, licensing, and administering common Office 365 services. You will be able to leverage the processes laid out in the book so that you can move forward and explore other less common administrative tasks or functions.

Mastering Drupal can lead to a mighty website - discover what Drupal 8 can really do with hidden techniques, best practices, and more! About This Book ? The most up-to-date advanced practical guide on Drupal 8 with an in-depth look at all the advanced new features such as authoring, HTML markup, built-in web services, and more ? If you are looking to dive deep into Drupal 8 and create industry-standard web apps, then this is the ideal book for you ? All the code and examples are explained in great detail to help you in the development process Who This Book Is For This book is ideally suited to web developers, designers, and web administrators who want to dive deep into Drupal. Previous experience with Drupal is a must to unleash the full potential of this book. What You Will Learn ? Discover how to better manage content using custom blocks and views ? Display content in multiple ways, taking advantage of display modes ? Create custom modules with YAML and Symfony 2 ? Easily translate content using the new multilingual capabilities ? Use RESTful services and JavaScript frameworks to build headless websites ? Manage Drupal configuration from one server to another easily In Detail Drupal is an open source content management system trusted by governments and organizations around the globe to run their websites. It brings with it extensive content authoring tools, reliable performance, and a proven track record of security. The community of more than 1,000,000 developers, designers, editors, and others have developed and maintained a wealth of modules, themes, and other add-ons to help you build a dynamic web experience. Drupal 8 is the latest release of the Drupal built on the Symfony2 framework. This is the largest change to the Drupal project in its history. The entire API of Drupal has been rebuilt using Symfony and everything from the administrative UI to themes to custom module development has been affected. This book will cover everything you need to plan and build a complete website using Drupal 8. It will provide a clear and concise walkthrough of the more than 200 new features and improvements introduced in Drupal core. In this book, you will learn advanced site building techniques, create and modify themes using Twig, create custom modules using the new Drupal API, explore the new REST and Multilingual functionality, import, and export Configuration, and learn how to migrate from earlier versions of Drupal. Style and approach This book takes a practical approach with equal emphasis on examples and illustrative screenshots.

A guide to mastering Visual Studio 2017 About This Book ? Focus on coding with the new, improved, and powerful tools of VS 2017 ? Master improved debugging and unit testing support capabilities ? Accelerate cloud development with the built-in Azure tools Who This Book Is For .NET Developers who would like to master the new features of VS 2017, and would like to delve into newer areas such as cloud computing, would benefit from this book. Basic knowledge of previous versions of Visual Studio is assumed. What You Will Learn ? Learn what's new in the Visual Studio 2017 IDE, C# 7.0, and how it will help developers to improve their productivity ? Learn the workloads and components of the new installation wizard and how to use the online and offline installer ? Build stunning Windows apps using Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Universal Windows Platform (UWP) tools ? Get familiar with .NET Core and learn how to build apps targeting this new framework ? Explore everything about NuGet packages ? Debug and test your applications using Visual Studio 2017 ? Accelerate cloud development with Microsoft Azure ? Integrate Visual Studio with most popular source control repositories, such as TFS and GitHub In Detail Visual Studio 2017 is the all-new IDE released by Microsoft for developers, targeting Microsoft and other platforms to build stunning Windows and web apps. Learning how to effectively use this technology can enhance your productivity while simplifying your most common tasks, allowing you more time to focus on your project. With this book, you will learn not only what VS2017 offers, but also what it takes to put it to work for your projects. Visual Studio 2017 is packed with improvements that increase productivity, and this book will get you started with the new features introduced in Visual Studio 2017 IDE and C# 7.0. Next, you will learn to use XAML tools to build classic WPF apps, and UWP tools to build apps targeting Windows 10. Later, you will learn about .NET Core and then explore NuGet, the package manager for the Microsoft development platform. Then, you will familiarize yourself with the debugging and live unit testing techniques that comes with the IDE. Finally, you'll adapt Microsoft's implementation of cloud computing with Azure, and the Visual Studio integration with Source Control repositories. Style and approach This comprehensive guide covers the advanced features of Visual Studio 2017, and communicates them through a practical approach to explore the underlying concepts of how, when, and why to use it.