This book gave me an entirely new perspective on God's love and his character. The descriptions of creation were fascinating. You will not think of things the same way after this!

Unfortunatly I did not find this series when it was first written, and now the entire series of four is out of print! I want 2, 3, and 4!!!!!! Please!

Before Eden book is one of the most beutiful and enthralling books I have ever read. Mark Littleton has captured the essence of the Great Mystery of God: a truely soveriegn, omnipotent, and good God who creates creatures of free will, and therefore the possibility of evil.

I DESPERATELY WANT THE REST OF THE SERIES, PLEASE HELP ME FIND THEM!!!

Van Burbach

This book was captivating. We could hardly put it down. We found ourselves staying up to the wee hours of the night just to know what the next chapter said. What a beautiful picture the author portrayed of our Fathers love for us. I feel this book, though it is fiction, gave me a greater understanding of just how much God loves mankind.

I highly recomend this book. We are hoping the author will continue the series. I know three other people who read this book who feel the same as we do.Awsome book!! Please finish the series!!!!!!!!!!!

There are certain phrases that the families of soldiers never want to hear: "wounded in action", "missing in action", "killed in action", and "prisoner of war." But every time the United States enters a conflict, it is almost inevitable that some wife or husband, some mother or father, or some child will hear those words. They are words that many of us will never really understand. Even with the advent of imbedded reporters and glamorized battle coverage on television, there are some aspects of war that the average American simply cannot comprehend. But in 1993, the family of CW4 Michael J. Durant would learn about the true horrors of war.

For those who have read Mark Bowden's BLACK HAWK DOWN or seen the movie, Chief Warrant Officer Michael J. Durant is a familiar character. He was one of the Black Hawk pilots shot down in the United Nations' peacekeeping effort in Somalia. Fortunately for Durant, he was not killed in the crash or the frenetic firefight that ensued. Rather, he was dragged through the streets with a fractured leg and broken back, loaded into a pickup truck, and held hostage by a Somalian militia. During his ten days of captivity, Durant was held in filthy "prisons", shot by angry militiamen, and given only aspirin for the pain caused by his wounds. But during his entire ordeal, Durant and his positive attitude survived. In fact, even his captors were eventually mesmerized by him in a somewhat reversed kind of "Stockholm Syndrome." They gave him a radio through which he kept up with the peacekeeping efforts and received dedications from other soldiers in his unit. They fed him more food than he could eat, bathed him, and allowed him to read his Bible. It was in that Bible that Durant first wrote IN THE COMPANY OF HEROES, scribbling codes in the margins so that he would remember all of the harrowing details.

IN THE COMPANY OF HEROES is much more than Durant's story of being a prisoner of war. While that would have made an excellent book in and of itself, Durant goes further, giving the reader insights into the rest of his military career. IN THE COMPANY OF HEROES is exceptionally written and gives the reader profound insight into the ugliest parts of war. It is a story that everyone should read and learn from --- not only about war, but also about the human spirit and its willingness to survive in even the harshest of situations.

--- Reviewed by Melissa Brown

Night Stalkers Don't Quit. And Michael Durant and his whole team of Task Force Ranger most certainly never did. Durant's tenacity, perseverence, and sheer will to survive through indescribable adversity prove a testament to his unwavering duty to his country and his fellow 160th Special Ops Night Stalker comrades. Durant, although bruised and battered almost beyond recognition, incredibly survived against all odds after losing his whole crew and 2 of the most valiant and selfless soldiers America will ever call her own: Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon.

Durant tells how rightfully disappointed he and his team were that they were refused permission to finish their mission for which 17 lives were lost in Somalia. When asked to come to The White House to visit President Clinton, Durant wisely demurred. Clinton, whose administration sent its young men into harm's way to participate in a highly dangerous mission without giving them the proper tools requested in order to assure victory, dropped the ball big time in Somalia.

As Durant so aptly states, "Trust and empower your people to do their jobs, then stand behind them." Too bad Clinton failed to do so.

I read "Black Hawk Down" and thought I knew the Michael Durant story. I was mistaken. Durant's new memoir provides many insightful details of his nearly two-week captivity (and its aftermath) not found in Mark Bowden's classic account of the Battle of Mogadishu. The book is an emotional roller-coaster. We are inspired by the heroic selflessness of Gordon and Shughart (the Delta Force operators), and Durant's own courage and stoicism throughout his painful confinement. Most often, he is preoccupied with concern for the well-being of his wife and infant son, as well as tortured anxiety over the fate of his colleagues at the crash site. Rarely is there hint of self-pity or rancor toward his captors. Indeed, he forges an interesting bond with his chief minder, finding ways to communicate despite language and cultural barriers. Especially uplifting is Durant's account of his Red Cross visitor, an event followed immediately by his negative experiences with a pair of international journalists, one French (it figures!), the other Canadian. A definite downer. The story's emotional nadir, however, is the chilling account of Durant's ordeal at the hands of the unruly Somali mob, including a vile, nauseating revelation about how his cheekbone was fractured.

"In the Company of Heroes" was a difficult book to put down. It should not be missed, even if you've read "Black Hawk Down."

I don't think anyone can read Feeding the Media Beast and not be entertained. Better yet they will learn valuable insights about dealing with the media. There has always been a mystique about the media, that somehow they are greater beings than mere mortals. Mathis easily puts that to rest through his personal stories and often humorous examples. Mathis knows the media and is generous in his willingness to share.

Once anyone with a product to sell or something to promote figures out that the media need US they will be halfway to meeting their goal. Knowing how the game is played, and how important we are to them, is what Mathis does an excellent job of teaching.

Prepare. That is the key principle that Mathis shares and that we need to remember over and over. The media can be intimidating and daunting if we allow it, but with the information in Feeding the Media Beast it doesn't have to be. The media should be our best friend and after reading this book you'll feel much more confident and remember that they need us.

This book's primary objective is to provide "an easy recipe for great publicity" and Mathis achieves that objective. I also think that all of the twelve "Rules" he identifies and then explains are directly relevant to internal and (especially) external communications wholly unrelated to media relations. It would be a disservice to both Mathis and to those who read this review to list the dozen. Each should be carefully considered within the context in which Mathis presents it. They meet a variety of needs which include but are not limited to media relations. Mathis does indeed enable his reader to gain a "systematic understanding of how all publicity works," a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective system which is "easy to learn, easy to remember, and easy to apply." In aggregate, they comprise what Mathis calls a "Media Rules methodology." Mathis suggests (and I agree) that most readers already know most of what he advocates. If true, why read his book? Good question. My response is this: Learning what to do with what we already know will determine the value of that knowledge. The 12 Rules are based on common sense in combination with the Golden Rule. Inorder to attract favorable attention and to achieve a desired objective, it is imperative to keep in mind that the media as well as business associates are generally handicapped by limitations (e.g. time), harried (e.g. by pressures and distractions), hungry (i.e. to improve their circumstances), and human (e.g. sensitive to perceived neglect and abuse). As Mathis explains, the "Beast" is an all-encompassing term "for the system that pushes the news gathering process." Perhaps Mathis would agree with me that "Beast" can also be used as an all-encompassing term for the community or communities within which one earns a living. The second "Beast" must also be "fed" with courtesy and consideration as well as with information and other resources.

Mathis divides the dozen Rules within four categories: Seducers (which attract attention amidst ever-increasing "clutter"), Enablers (preparation, simplicity, and repetition), Aggressors (which sustain initiatives), and Hazards (obviously, excesses and perils to be avoided). Mathis explains both HOW and WHY each of the 12 Rules is essential; also, HOW and WHY the 12 Rules are related, indeed interdependent. Throughout his book, he provides dozens of real-world examples to illustrate key points which include don'ts as well as do's. (Many years ago, I headed the regional PR operations of a huge advertising agency. I now regret that those don'ts and do's had been available to me then.) This is neither a textbook nor a manual, although Mathis does include at least some "how to do it" guidance.

For whom will this book be most valuable? First and foremost, those who are primarily responsible within their respective organizations for establishing and then nourishing cordial and mutually beneficial relationships with the media. It is important for many readers to understand that, if the Mathis' Media Rules are carefully and consistently followed, even small companies can obtain substantial and favorable publicity. Long ago, John Hill defined public relations as "truth well-told." I agree. Moreover, for most organizations, there are many different "publics" (other than the media) with which to establish and then nourish mutually-beneficial relationships: "stakeholders" such as employees, customers, vendors and suppliers, and service providers as well as shareholders. Hospitals also have patients among their "publics"; schools, colleges, and universities have alumni and benefactors among theirs. All of Mathis' Media Rules can also ensure "truth well-told" to these various constituencies

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to read Bossidy and Charan's Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done as well as Hammer's The Agenda: What Every Business Must Do to Dominate the Decade and Maister's Practice What You Preach: What Managers Must Do to Create a High-Achievement Culture.

A must-use desk top reference book for nurturing the Media Beast.
Mark Mathis explains his insights into the media world in a straight forward manner -- and no hype -- that even mere mortals can understand. Spiced with personal experiences and humorous stories (often at his own expense), he is able to demonstrate precisely how the media game works and how the Beast lives and feeds. I'm not going to plan another PR event or do another interview without pouring over page 103 again and again.

Read it -- and re-read if often!!

The PRINCESS AND THE GOBLIN proves yet another of MacDonald's fantasy charmers (q.v. AT THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND), as the novel presents the adventures (psychological as well as physical) of protected Princess Irene (aged 8) and a brave miner boy with the unlikely name of Curdie. The tale involves the schemes of evil goblins who lurk below the earth, who exult to tease and torture the "sun people" as they call humankind. Can a mere youth foil the callous machinations of these subterranrean fiends?

Princess Irene meets a mysterious but loving old lady at a spinning wheel (have we heard this somewhere before?), while Curdie proves himself a useful ally to her King-papa. Her faithful but outspoken nurse, Lootie, learns some bitter lessons, as she is almost dismissed by the king and (even worse) by Irene herself. Grown ups must learn to believe what they hear from honest children; children must learn to believe what can not always be seen or what makes scientific sense. Any little girl who sees herself as an unrecognized princess can learn to behave with the grace and dignity of a True Princess. Boys will admire the courage and resourcefulness of the miner's son--the only one in the kingdom to realize what the goblins are plotting. A quaintly spun yarn (with gentle edification for children) for readers of all ages.

This wonderful children's novel tells the story of eight year old Princess Irene. Cared for by her nurse Lootie, she lives in a mountain farmhouse while her father rules over the region from a mountain top castle. The local folk work as miners but are beset by the Goblins who inhabit the underground. Irene is saved from the Goblins by Curdie, a thirteen year old miner, and she in turn saves him. The whole thing is told in a pleasant conversational style and is filled with humor, word games, magic, derring-do, and pure wonderment.

George MacDonald, a Congregational minister turned novelist, who seems nearly forgotten now, was one of the seminal figures in the development of Fantasy. His influence on other Fantasy authors is obvious, he was a childhood favorite of JRR Tolkein, who especially liked this book, and C.S. Lewis named him one of his favorite authors. His own stories draw on many of the themes and characters of classical European fairy tales. But where they were often merely horrific and meaningless, MacDonald adds a layer of Christian allegory. Thus, Irene and Curdie are eventually saved by a thread so slender that you can't even see it, but which leads them back to safety, teaching Curdie that you sometimes have to believe in things that you can't see.

The book would be interesting simply as a touchstone of modern fiction, but it stands up well on its own and will delight adults and children alike.

GRADE: A

So many fine reviews here already about MacDonald's powerful text (for children and adults). I would only add that this edition which includes 8 or 10 gentle and mysterious drawings (watercolors?) by Jessie Wilcox Smith portrays the fearful goblins (also Curdie, Irene, and her father, etc.) without weakening the strength of the tale or scaring the young reader. I purchased this book for an avid seven-year-old reader who loved the story and also commented on the "beautiful" pictures. The book is also good to read aloud to a number of children in a broad age range. My too-cool 11-year-old became mesmerized after the first chapter and found himself talking with his younger brother (!) about the story.

Alias, now in it's second season and recently picked up for a third on ABC, is my favorite show on TV. Every week a new itelligent plot is set in motion, which also develops continuing storylines. This book sheds new light on the cast, crew, and storyline of Alias. You'll learn how it was created, about the writing process, the scoring of the music, the costume designing, prop creation- everything, including a summary and director/producer/guest star info for every first season episode. The book also comes with a DVD featuring clips from the pilot episode, interviews with the cast, and character profiles. Well worth the money for any fan of the show!

This behind-the-scenes book is a treat -- no padding nor aimless commentary, and very little of the unabashed fawning that often dominates such books. It's an excellent mini-episode guide to the first season. Moreover, it explains how the creative team has shaped the distinctive feel and plotting of the series. ALIAS DECLASSIFIED is also chock full of technical details, from the magic used to create certain effects, to the problems of functional yet sexy costume design, to the composition of the score which underpins the action. The DVD that accompanies the book (apparently only offered in the first 100,000 copies, so I have no idea as to its current availability) is a nice bonus. It features a lengthy ABC promo for the show, interview snippets with all of the main cast, and biographical information for the cast and characters.

The ABC spy drama "Alias" is only into it's second season, but the hype and cult status created by it's fans almost forced the creation of "Declassified: The Official Companion". If, like me, you're a huge fan of the show, then "Declassified" is JUST what you need.

Packed within 202 pages are sketches, interviews, episode recaps, actor/character bios, show nomination information, and some neat trivia that the "Alias" fan should find interesting. Author Mark Cotta Vaz has done a subpurb job at bringing all of the show's elements together into an easy to read, highly entertaining book. He takes you from the creative minds behind the storylines (creator JJ Abrams and writer Jesse Alexander)to the sets and finally to post production, where the "magic" really happens. You'll also find storyboards, costume sketches, theme music compositions, and Rambaldi artifacts and information, which are VERY important to understanding if you watch the show.

The most enjoyable part of the book for me personally are the pictures. The cover is absolutely breathtaking, with the beautiful Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow and her signature red hair. Inside you'll find more pictures of Sydney, Vaughn, Dixon, and the rest of the characters that you love...and hate.

An added bonus, and something that I really enjoyed, was the limited edition DVD that was included with the book. On it are interviews, behind the scenes shots, bios, wallpaper, screen savers and information on the hottest online game at the moment, Alias Online Adventure.

In short, if you're a fan of the show, YOU MUST BUY THIS BOOK! For those who are just becoming fans, the book will fill you in on everything from last season so that you can understand and enjoy the new one. Let's hope that in a few years, another updated version of the companion will come out.

Gennie Bailey-Rogers

I first saw this book in the hands of my Dad a few weeks ago. Then in my older brothers. They both were very intrested in this book so i asked my mother to read it to me. I think i may never leave our family ranch and hed off into the forest again. Bears killing humans and eating them may not scare my dad and brother but it sure scared the pants off of me. I always thought that all bears were always cute and playful, who whould have thought. Scott McMillion did a great job on this book. It takes a very good or very funny writer to get me into a book and this man has done it. I applued him(i hope i spelt that right). Even though it may be quite some time before i will want to see a bear again.

Scott McMillion's "Mark of the Grizzly" is a very good bear book. As a man who has been interested in bears for many years, a man who has observed many bears in the wild for many years, and as a man who hunts black bears with primitive, single shot, muzzleloading rifles, I came to this book with many opinions of my own. McMillion anticipated my ever comment, my every question and my every objection. He responded to each of them and then he went on to teach me things I didn't know about bears.

This is an important book because it is a great study of the relationship between brown bears and man. But it is also an important book because as the human population grows and we edge out wildlife, and especially potentially dangerous wildlife, it may become one of the only reliable books on the kind of man/bear encounters described within its pages. Such encounters have been a big part of human history.

I had my local library buy this book for me. I read the book and now I am going to buy a copy for my home. If you have an interest in bears, this is a book you should read and own.

Incidentally Scott, If you're out there and you come across this post: A) Congratulations. B) Bears DO respond to a "dinner bell". C) Drop me a line sometime and I'll tell you a local bear story I heard recently.

The immense benefit of this book for the hiker or woodsman is obvious. Here you'll find examples of mistakes and misunderstandings which ineveitably led, as shown by McMillions' careful retrospective analysis, to serious maulings and fatalities. His discussion of the psychology of both bear and victim can enable much safer sojourns into the wilderness.

But the book isn't only for those most likely to encounter these magnificent animals. Even for those of us who live in the city, reading the book illustrates the great, atavistic fear which all of us might somehow carry in genetic memory. You need only experience the hair rising on the back of your neck as you read these accounts to understand how deep this feeling runs in all of us.

For myself, it took only a chance encounter with a paltry black bear rummaging around the trashcans outside my tent to bring this home. I spent the rest of the night trembling with unused adrenaline in my husbands arms.

Where did this fear come from? Someoplace I never knew existed, I assure you. But remember, one childhood psychology study I read said most children spontaneously begin to exhibit, at about the age of three, a deep, abiding fear of the dark woods.

By the authors of "Clone Brews" Beer Captured is also a book of copies of 150 commercially produced beers from around the world. I found this book to be an improvment over the Szmatulski's first effort in that with the book's new look you get a helpful hints section on each recipe along with serving suggestions. Divided into four sections pages 1-14 tell a lot about brewing (probably not quite enough for a complete novice), followed by pages 15-164, beer recipes, section three (165-174)has recipes for foods involving beer in them someplace (some sound very tasty. Part 4, pages 175-195,contains lists of mash guidelines, water mineral and modification charts, several other charts not given in most books that should really help in brewing something drinkable.

I can't believe it is finally here. The sequel to Clonebrews. This book is a MUST HAVE for every brewer. Whether you brew Extract, mini-mash, or all grain, this book is full of great information. The book is so complete that it comes with water tables in the back of the book that tell you how much water to mash and sparge with for both mini-mash and all grain brewing. It will help you adjust your water so it is the same as some of the greatest breweries in the world as well as help you adjust your tap water for each particular style you are brewing. Each beer recipe comes with food suggestions, the appropriate glass to drink the beer from, and helpful hints. The helpful hints will help you with determining fermentation time for each beer as well as when the beer peeks and how long it will stay drinkable. There are also hop charts, yeast charts, and grain, malt, and sugar charts. I almost forgot, there are 150 new recipes for commercial beers that were not in Clonebrews: Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, Fuller's London Porter, Otter Creek Stovepipe Porter, and Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout to name a few. This book also has an added bonus. There are food recipes as well. The pepper encrusted filet mignon and the chocolate stout cake are AWESOME. Get this book into your brewing library as soon as you can and start brewing award-winning beers. Thanks to Tess and Mark Szamatulski, the homebrewing world is alive and well.

Beer Captured is much more than a just a book of homebrew recipes.

While the recipes are the centerpiece, Tess and Mark have provided useful information for hombrewers of all skill levels and some interesting reading. The recipes themselves go beyond the basics. Alternative brewing methods are described (mini-mash & all grain) for each recipe and helpful hints are provided. Brief descriptions of the beers and interesting histories of the breweries appear at the top of each recipe.

Beer Captured also includes handy reference material - useful to any brewer - including hints and instructions on mashing techniques, water modification, grain, hop, and yeast choices.

There's even a section on food and beer which contains recipes to make delicious beer infused dishes and desserts!

As homebrew store owners (Maltose Express, Monroe, CT) and experienced brewers themselves, Tess and Mark have learned a lot. In Beer Captured, you and I get the benefit of their experience in a smart and easy to read reference book.

After sober reflection, I state my conviction that, if I lived the length of a dozen lives, I should never again be the spectator of such an amazing,
thrilling and magnificent finish to an Open championship.
-Bernard Darwin (1876-1961), The Times of London

Mark Frost has already proven himself a terrific writer, with such television series as the great Hill Street Blues and the innovative Twin Peaks to his credit,
and a few successful novels, including the excellent Sherlock Holmes homage, The List of Seven>, and a sequel, The Six Messiahs. But I don't know that
anything can have prepared even his fans for this book, which, though one must have some reservations about its form, is quite simply one of the best golf
books ever written.

To begin with, Mr. Frost has chosen his topic wisely. Harry Vardon (1870-1937) and Francis Ouimet (1893-1967)--both of whom came from working
class families, had difficult relationships with their fathers, and learned to golf as boys at the local courses where they caddied, Ouimet in Massachusetts, Vardon some twenty-plus years earlier on
the Isle of Jersey--are thoroughly compelling heroes. In 1913 their similar stories converged at The Country Club, in Brookline, MA--the very club at which Francis had caddied--in the United
States Open. Harry Vardon was at that time probably the best golfer in the world and in previous visits to America had been instrumental in marketing the game here. But it was to be the young
amateur Francis Ouimet's playoff victory over the professional Vardon and countryman Ted Ray that, or so Mr. Frost argues, gave birth to the modern golf era in America.

The book starts with extended biographical sketches of the two men and the events that brought them to the tee for their face-off. Numerous other characters are on hand to lend color--two of
whom stand out, and will be the star-making roles in the inevitable movie: the dashing young American professional Walter Hagen (golf's eventual answer to Babe Ruth) and Eddie Lowery,
Ouimet's preternaturally self-assured ten year old caddie. Digressions inform us about changes in rules and equipment, the professionalization of the sport, and its popularization. But it is the
tournament itself that forms the bulk of the book, particularly the final day, the Monday playoff, when the little known twenty year old, playing before large and enthusiastic hometown galleries, on a
course across the street from his own house, had to fend off two of the world's best.

Mr. Frost's prose gets a tad purplish at times, but personally I thought that gave it the feel, of old time sportswriting. Besides, the story is so improbable that the reality seems like a clich?, so why not
write it like a sports movie? More troubling is that Mr. Frost has chosen to provide dialogue and to ascribe thoughts and feelings to the various players even though he has had to create some of it
himself, without ever differentiating which is which. Although it serves his purposes as a storyteller well, fleshing out the characters and letting us see them interact "naturally" with one another, it
actually becomes distracting because you can't help but wondering which thoughts and words come from people's memoirs and contemporaneous accounts of the event (which are apparently
sufficiently extensive so that much of what's here is genuine) and which are purely made up. It also--though we've seen experiments of this kind in recent years, like Edmund Morris's
Dutch--seems more than a little unfair to attribute imagined words and emotions to real people who don't have an opportunity to dispute or confirm them. It would, I think, have been preferable to
simply call the book a novelization, in the tradition of Michael Sharaa's Pulitzer Prize-winning account of Gettysburg, The Killer Angels. At the very least, there should be footnotes to indicate where
truth ends and fiction begins. From an author or publisher's point of view there may be reasons not to do these things--just in terms of the sales and marketing of novels vs. nonfiction and reader
dislike of footnotes--but from a standpoint of intellectual rigor it's somewhat disconcerting.

Once you get past these considerations--and take my word for it, the writing and the story are so exciting that you will get past any questions--you're in for an unbelievably thrilling tale. It's
especially recommended for golf fans, who will find the tangential stuff about the clubs and balls they used just as interesting as the championship, but it should really appeal to everyone, in much the
same way that Seabiscuit reached past horse race fans to a wide audience. It's a marvelous read and seems certain to make for a great movie.

Grade: (A+)

I grew up caddying at Wollaston Golf Course. We often heard about the legend of Francis Ouimet and the 1913 US Open. This books bring to life the life & times of not only Francis but also Harry Vardon and the many other golfers who competed in that historic tournament. I saw and heard much about Francis while working at the US Open in 1963. I saw his house across the street from the 17th green and this book brings us back to those days growing up on Clyde Street. The book is truly inspiring in the same category as the movie, Chariots of Fire. I hope Mr. Frost goes on to write similar books. We owe much to Francis as he was a man for the ages, a gentleman, a decent & compassionate person who on one fateful week shook the sporting world.

I enjoyed reading this book about as much as any book I've ever read. If you love golf history and you enjoy historical fiction, this book is for you.

The first African American serial novel written by ten authors detailing the erotic journey of a young man's quest for redemption. With different writing styles, this tapestry of fiction unfolds without a hitch. Each author wrote their own chapter with Sekou writing the first and last.

When Butterflies Kiss is loaded with redemption and desire. It is the story of a young man coming of age and finding his own place in the world. The first of ten authors begins the story with Dante, a poet who has more than one woman in his life and many desires.

Butterflies are very mysterious critters, imagining them kissing is tough. The correlation between Dante's struggle with life and the butterflies is truly a work of art.

"When Butterflies Kiss" is beautifully and fluidly written from the perspective of 10 distinct and diverse, dual-gender authors. What was most amazing to me was how these 10 authors were able to compose such a fluid novel independent of each other, dependent only on the previous chapters. The language used is very beautiful, filled with very descriptive and sensuous words to suck you in. Aside from the stellar writing (something missing from many current best sellers in my opinion), the self-discovery, coming-of-age and maturity story line was really well-developed as well. Buy the book and support these talented authors.

Run out and buy "When Butterflies Kiss"!!! It's a wonderful page turner. I've read it twice now, and it gets deeper, more insightful, more laugh-out-loud funny and more shocking each time. These 10 extremely talented writers all did a great job. The authors' voices, though individual, blend together so seamlessly it's easy to forget that this was a collaborative effort. I've read "Naked Came the Manatee", which is another collaborative novel, and I think "When Butterflies Kiss" vastly improves upon the form first in that it's so well written, but mostly because it presents such a cohesive story. All in all, Dante's story -- how he struggles to accept and then conquer his destructive (but funny at the time) behavior -- is one that will stay with you. I highly recommend this book!