New Releases by Jennifer Ryan

Some secrets are meant to be revealed … Or so you’ll discover, in three sexy, unforgettable Valentine’s Day stories from New York Times & USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Ryan and contemporary romance stars Candis Terry and Jennifer Seasons. Waiting for You by Jennifer Ryan Rancher Grant Devane has waited for Taylor Larson’s return to Fallbrook for more than ten years. Now that the fearless beauty has come home on her terms, he’ll do anything and everything necessary to win back her heart. Sweet Fortune by Candis Terry Sarah Randall is tired of being invisible to the opposite sex. So when a leap of faith sends her to Sweet, Texas, and into the path of ridiculously hot Deputy Brady Bennett, she’s determined to catch his eye … even if it means staying hidden just a little bit longer. Major League Crush by Jennifer Seasons Professional baseball player Drake Paulson can’t help wanting to know more about his cute, shy neighbor. But when he discovers her deepest secret and she flees, it’ll be up to him to win her trust—and her love—one gift at a time.

From Emma Cane, Jennifer Ryan, and Katie Lane come three wildly romantic holiday stories featuring snowstorms, proposals, a sleigh ride … and, yes, cowboys. The Christmas Cabin by Emma Cane Sandy and her young son, Nate, are Christmas tree–hunting when a snowstorm strikes and an old ranch hand points them to an abandoned cabin. Little does Sandy know he sent cowboy Doug Thalberg to the same place. It''s a Christmas all of Valentine Valley will remember. Can''t Wait by Jennifer Ryan Before The Hunted Series began … Though she is the woman of his dreams, Caleb Bowden knows his best friend''s sister, Summer Turner, is off limits. He won''t cross that line, which means Summer will just have to take the reins if she wants her cowboy for Christmas. Baby It''s Cold Outside by Katie Lane Alana Hale hits the internet dating jackpot when she finds Clint McCormick. He''s sensitive and responsible—not to mention wealthy. When he invites her to spend the holidays on his family''s ranch, she readily accepts. But on the way there, a blizzard strands her with a womanizing rodeo cowboy who could change everything …

Book Four in The Hunted Series … FBI agent Tyler Reed trusts only facts and evidence, until the day a beautiful blonde delivers a life-saving warning ... based on nothing more than a vision. Five years later, the mysterious Morgan Standish has used her talents to help Tyler and the FBI bring down countless criminals. Still, Tyler knows next to nothing about her. She contacts him by phone—and by some sort of psychic connection he''s not prepared to admit exists—but has not shown herself once. Until now. Morgan''s gift may let her see things others can''t, but it comes at a price. Getting too close to anyone is dangerous, especially the gorgeous, moody Special Agent Reed. For she''s seen the future: if they meet again too soon, an innocent could be lost. But when Tyler''s latest case forces Morgan out of hiding, she is the one thrust into the path of a serial killer, the Psychic Slayer, who will stop at nothing to protect the secrets only Morgan can see.

High-powered businessman Cameron Shaw doesn''t believe in love—until he falls head over heels for beautiful, passionate, and intensely private Martina. She''s perfect in so many ways, immediately bonding with his little girl. Martina could be his future bride and a delightful stepmother … if only Cameron weren''t blinded by his belief that Shelly, the gold-digging woman he''s promised to marry, is pregnant with his child. No matter how much his friends protest his upcoming marriage to Shelly, Cameron knows he has a duty to his children, so he''s determined to see it through. Will he find out in time that Shelly''s lying and Marti''s the one who''s actually carrying his child? It''ll come down to the day of his wedding. After choosing Shelly over Marti at every turn, will he convince Marti she''s his world and the only woman he wants?

The Hunted series continues as Special Agent Sam Turner discovers that protecting the FBI''s star witness is more difficult than he thought! Bakery owner Elizabeth Hamilton''s quiet life is filled with sweet treats, good friends, and a loving family. But all of that is about to turn sour when an odd sound draws her outside. There''s a man lying unconscious in the street, a car speeding toward him. Without hesitation, she gets the man out of harm''s way before they''re run down. Unwittingly, Elizabeth has put herself in the path of a serial murderer, and as the only one who can identify the FBI''s Silver Fox Killer, she''s ended up in the hospital with a target on her back. All that stands between her and death is Special Agent Sam Turner. Against his better judgment, Sam gets emotionally involved, determined to take down the double threat against Elizabeth—an ex desperate to get her back, despite a restraining order, and a psychopath bent on silencing her before she can identify him. They set a trap to catch the killer—putting Elizabeth in his hands, with Sam desperate to save her. If he''s lucky, he''ll get his man . . . and the girl.

Celebrate Valentine''s Day with Avon Books and an enchanting free e-book sampler, It Happened One Valentine''s Day. With excerpts from fourteen new, upcoming, and fan favorite Avon and Avon Impulse novels and novellas, including an introduction from Eloisa James. It Happened One Valentine''s Day: An Avon Romance Valentine''s Day Sampler includes excerpts from: The Trouble with Valentine''s Day by Rachel Gibson Once Upon a Tower by Eloisa James Immortal Ever After by Lynsay Sands Twice Tempted by Jeaniene Frost Bride by Moonlight by Liz Carlyle "V is for Vampwoman" (from Vampires Gone Wild) by Kerrelyn Sparks "A Forever Love" (from Vampires Gone Wild) by Pamela Palmer True Love at Silver Creek Ranch by Emma Cane "Love Me Tender" (from Kiss Me: An Avon Books Valentine Day Anthology) by Cheryl Harper Saved by the Rancher by Jennifer Ryan The Earl in My Bed by Sophie Jordan What Happens in Scotland by Jennifer McQuiston Destiny''s Embrace by Beverly Jenkins The Maclean Groom by Kathleen Harrington

The journey to leadership is not easily mapped; there is no typical path, no always right choice. Just as each person has unique qualities, each journey is unique. The book accomodates that uniqueness. It encourages leaders, and aspiring leaders, to browse chapters and sections, identify issues, concerns or strengthsm and then apply analysis techniques that are clearly described and documented.

"Keeping Pace" has several goals. First, it strives to add to the body of knowledge about online education policy and practice and make recommendations for advances. Second, it serves as a reference source for information about programs and policies across the country, both for policymakers and practitioners who are new to online education and for those who have extensive experience in the field. Third, because there has been so much online education activity in the past year, the report attempts to capture new activity. A Definitions section immediately precedes the body of text. Because there are many terms in online learning without commonly understood definitions, this section defines the key terms used in this report. The National snapshot and the year in review captures a picture of the state of online learning in 2009 and provides a short summary of some key developments over the past year. Key issues in online learning presents a more in-depth summary of the information and data within the state policy profiles and the online program profiles. This section contains most of the analysis within the report; it provides more depth than the national snapshot without the raw data in the profiles sections. For Notes from the field the authors invited researchers and practitioners to contribute short articles on specific subjects that in most cases were not major areas of focus for "Keeping Pace". The resulting articles raise several key issues that are not discussed in depth elsewhere in the report. The Outlook and conclusion looks to the future and explores the role of online learning within the context of educational reform and other changes that are occurring across public schools. Following the sections listed above are two sections that provide much of the data on which the summaries and conclusions are based. The Program profiles describe a subset of the programs that responded to the "Keeping Pace" program survey, divided by program type. For each program type common attributes are discussed, and exceptions to the common attributes are noted. The State policy profiles contain online learning profiles of all fifty states, divided into four geographic regions. Most state profiles include footnotes that reference state laws, state policies, and websites of programs. However, in some cases, the information is general and was gathered through numerous website reviews and phone interviews with state agencies; in these cases footnotes are not included. The primary purpose of footnotes is to provide the source documents that will be most valuable to readers. Methodology is appended. (Contains 6 figures, 6 tables, and 265 footnotes.) For "Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning: A Review of State-Level Policy and Practice, 2008," see ED535908.].

We consider a dual channel supply chain in which a manufacturer sells a single product to end-users through both a traditional retail channel and a manufacturer-owned direct online channel. We adopt a commonly used linear demand substitution model in which the mean demand in each channel is a function of the prices in each channel. We model each channel as a newsvendor problem, with price and order quantity as decision variables. In addition, the manufacturer must choose the wholesale price to charge to the independent retailer. We analyze the optimal decisions for each channel and prove the existence of a unique equilibrium for the system. We compare this equilibrium solution to the solution for an integrated system, in which the manufacturer owns both the online store and the retailer. To enable supply chain coordination, we then propose two contract schemes: a modified revenue sharing contract and gain/loss sharing contract. We show that such contracts enable the manufacturer to maintain price discrimination, selling the products in different channels at different prices. Finally, we perform a comprehensive numerical study to consider the impact of the model parameters on the equilibrium and to demonstrate the performance of the proposed coordination contracts. We conclude that coordination is most critical for products which are highly price sensitive and for systems in which the online and traditional retail channels are not viewed as close substitutes.

Soul music''s creation in the early 1960s was the result of a stylistic innovation in which young musicians blended the sounds of the African American church with the secular themes of rhythm and blues. But as religious musicians brought gospel and preaching into popular music, they often felt a conflict between their faith and their career. Memphis, home to several major soul labels and a center for many black churches, was an important site of this transformation in African American music. While the formation of soul music can be situated in its historical moment, the underlying cultural processes at work in its development remain in use in contemporary Memphis. My ethnographic research in Memphis has revealed a persistent religious worldview among musicians, even in the nightclub or juke joint. This dissertation treats the processes by which soul musicians--both past and present--negotiate their faith in a secular context.

This technical brief describes the large-scale assessment measures and practices used in the jurisdictions served by the Pacific Regional Educational Laboratory. The need for effective large-scale assessment was identified as a major priority for improving student achievement in the Pacific Region jurisdictions: American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia (Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap), the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Republic of Palau (National Education Association 2007; Pacific Regional Advisory Committee 2005; South Pacific Board for Educational Assessment 2008). These needs assessment efforts made it clear that educators want information related to the adoption, development, and revision of large-scale assessments for use with the culturally and linguistically diverse students in the Pacific Region jurisdictions. To provide timely information about large-scale assessment across the Pacific Region, the study identifies for each jurisdiction: (1) currently used large-scale assessment measures; (2) whether the measures are norm- or criterion-referenced; (3) content areas assessed; (4) languages used in the assessments; (5) grade levels at which tests are administered; (6) frequency of test administration; and (7) when the tests are administered during the school year. Analyses indicate that all the jurisdictions implement large-scale assessments, using a variety of assessment measures and practices. The majority of the large-scale assessments are specific to the jurisdiction in which they are implemented, criterion-referenced, in English, and administered annually. (Contains 10 tables and 1 note.) [This REL Technical Brief was prepared for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) by Regional Educational Laboratory Pacific administered by Pacific Resources for Education and Learning.].

Using various approaches to identify English language learners, several Pacific Region jurisdictions are developing English language proficiency standards and assessments aligned with those standards. Others are working on content standards, including language arts, and have expressed interest in developing English language proficiency standards but lack formal assessment mechanisms. Title I of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires that all students in a school, including English language learners, take the same state academic assessments in reading/language arts, mathematics, and science beginning with school year 2007/08. This mandate is of special concern to the Regional Educational Laboratory for the Pacific Region (REL Pacific), because all jurisdictions within its service region have large numbers of English language learners or limited English proficiency students in their school systems. To determine the current status of English language proficiency standards and assessment across the Pacific Region, REL Pacific surveyed each jurisdiction, gathering information about the existence and implementation of standards and assessments and future plans for them. The results provide an opportunity to share information across jurisdictions about approaches to English language proficiency standards and assessment and provide insights into critical needs in the region that can be used to guide future program activities. The detailed research questions guiding this study focused on the methods used to identify English language learners, the status of English language proficiency standards, and the status of aligned English language proficiency assessment. The authors make several recommendations to improve the development of services and programs. These include: (1) develop clear language development policies; (2) Review content standards; (3) collect student information; (4) develop programs to address the specific needs of English language learners; (5) conduct research on ways to assess English language proficiency in large populations as well as on attributes and practices associated with successful bilingual programs; (6) provide professional development; (7) develop a Pacific assessment consortium; and (8) conduct a randomized control trial of the Pacific-CHILD professional development program. The following are appended: (1) Study questions and data collection methodology; and (2) Status of English language proficiency (ELP) standards and assessment interview questions. (Contains 2 boxes and 2 notes.) [This report was prepared for the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education by Regional Educational Laboratory Pacific administered by Pacific Resources for Education and Learning.].