After the composition of the Decameron, and under the influence of Petrarch's humanism, Giovanni Boccaccio(1313-1375) devoted the last decades of his life to compiling encyclopedic works in Latin. Among them is "Famous Women," the first collection of biographies in Western literature devoted exclusively to women.

The 106 women whose life stories make up this volume range from the exemplary to the notorious, from historical and mythological figures to Renaissance contemporaries. In the hands of a master storyteller, these brief biographies afford a fascinating glimpse of a moment in history when medieval attitudes toward women were beginning to give way to more modern views of their potential.

"Famous Women," which Boccaccio continued to revise and expand until the end of his life, became one of the most popular works in the last age of the manuscript book, and had a signal influence on many literary works, including Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" and Castiglione's "Courtier." This edition presents the first English translation based on the autograph manuscript of the Latin.

"Momus" is the most ambitious literary creation of Leon Battista Alberti, the famous humanist-scientist-artist and "universal man" of the Italian Renaissance. In this dark comedy, written around 1450, Alberti charts the lively fortunes of his anti-hero Momus, the unscrupulous and vitriolic god of criticism. Alberti deploys his singular erudition and wit to satirize subjects from court life and politics to philosophy and intellectuals, from grand architectural designs to human and divine folly. The possible contemporary resonance of Alberti's satire--read variously as a humanist roman-a-clef and as a veiled mockery of the mid-Quattrocento papacy--is among its most intriguing aspects. While his more famous books on architecture, painting, and family life have long been regarded as indispensable to a study of Renaissance culture, "Momus" has recently attracted increasing attention from scholars as a work anticipating the realism of Machiavelli and the satiric wit of Erasmus. This edition provides a new Latin text, the first to be based on the two earliest manuscripts, both corrected by Alberti himself, and includes the first full translation into English.

The more than 100 women whose life stories make up this volume range from the exemplary to the notorious, from historical and mythological figures to Renaissance contemporaries of its author, the master storyteller Giovanni Boccaccio. The first collection of biographies in Western literature devoted exclusively to women, Famous Women affords a fascinating glimpse of a moment in history when mediaeval attitudes toward women were beginning to give way to more modern views of their potential. Virginia Brown's translation, commissioned for the I Tatti Renaissance Library, is the first English edition based on the autograph manuscript of the Latin.

Find out who's trying to kill one of the best-known drag queens in Memphis? No problem. Harley's on the case. Until someone decides she's getting a little too close to the truth . . .
Halloween's just around the corner, and business is brisk at Memphis Tour Tyme. Harley doesn't need an extra job, but when her pal Tootsie asks her to help Jordan Cleveland, his fellow drag queen, she can't resist poking around in the mystery. How dangerous could it be for her? After all, Jordan's the target of the threats, not her. He's had his brake line cut, a concrete flower pot dropped over his head, a pickup truck nearly ran him down, and someone tried to push him off a sidewalk into heavy traffic. He and Harley think his ex-wife is the most likely culprit, but after Jordan is sideswiped by a car and ends up in the hospital, trouble starts to turn Harley's way. The next thing she knows, she's dangling off the side of the city's famous Peabody Hotel while an anonymous thug tells her to mind her own business . . . or else.
Things can only get worse, and she ought to heed the demands of her hunky police boyfriend, Mike Morgan, who's really worried. Even the guests at a local Halloween party start to look like suspects. Maybe the guy dressed up as Jay-Z is out to get her. Or one of the Kardashian sisters.
But how dangerous can it be to leave the party just long enough to retrieve her brother's coveted Fender guitar from Tootsie's empty house? Harley will return safe and sound, right?
Virginia Brown is the author of more than fifty novels in romance, mystery, and mainstream fiction. In addition to the Blue Suede Memphis mysteries, she writes the bestselling Dixie Divas mysteries.

He's a legendary gunslinger working for the powerful business baron she intends to bring down. When he takes her captive, desire makes a prisoner of them both.
Leaning his hard body against hers to pin her to the rock again, Jake asked roughly, "You could try by remembering that it's against the law to rob trains."
"You work for Durant-what do you care about the law?"
"I might go easy on you if you'll talk. Where's the rest of your gang?"
The mutinous stare she gave him was indicative of the answers he would receive, and Lassiter shrugged. "Fine. Stay quiet. I'm getting paid to stop 'Colorado Kate, ' and I guess that's who I'm taking back with me."
"You're taking me to Durant?" she asked softly. He nodded. So this was really the end. She had no illusions as to Durant's intentions. He'd kill her just as ruthlessly as he'd killed her parents.
"Care to tell me where I can find the Lost Canyon Gang?" Jake asked.
When she refused to answer, he curled his fingers around her wrists and straightened, pulling her up with him. Caitlin stared at him warily, seeing in his dark, reflective gaze something she didn't recognize. The sun beat down in a blaze of heat; a hot, dry wind blew, lifting her hair to drift around her face, yet she felt a sudden shiver. To her sudden, intense surprise, Lassiter lowered his head and kissed her.
Virginia Brown is the award-winning author of nearly fifty novels in historical romance, mystery and general fiction.

He's the most dangerous gunman in the West. She's a "lady doctor" he can't resist. Will his secret torments keep them apart? How can she handle a wounded outlaw no respectable woman should go near? Romance and intrigue are about to collide in a steamy Texas town where sin, scandal and violence rule the night.
A strange sort of current flowed between them, charged with as much intensity as a bolt of lightning. Devon felt it tighten around him, binding him to her in some inexplicable way that he couldn't explain and didn't want to acknowledge.
His tone was involuntarily savage when he muttered, "If I don't leave soon, Maggie Malone, I may do exactly that."
"Do-?"
He stood up, blood boiling in his veins as if heated. The memory of her soft skin was a temptation that he did his best to resist. "You know what I mean, dammit."
"No. I don't think I do. Devon . . . what are you-?"
Without pausing to think, he reached out to pull her to him, one hand around her wrist and the other hand moving to the small of her back. Maggie seemed to melt into him, her body boneless, soft breasts pressing against his chest as he pulled her close.
His mouth found hers, and he kissed her with a fierce urgency that grew hotter and higher when she made a small noise in the back of her throat. Ah God, she was so sweet and fine, so damn fine. He couldn't help himself. He knew better than to touch her, better than to kiss her. He knew he wouldn't want to stop at kisses, and Maggie deserved to be treated with more respect.
So why wasn't he stopping?
Virginia Brown is the award-winning author of nearly fifty novels in historical romance, mystery and general fiction.

Lights Camera Murder Trinket and the gang, beware
Hollywood descends on Holly Springs, and soon it's up to the Divas to keep the stars from falling like magnolia blooms in a trailer-park tornado. Someone doesn't want DARK SECRETS UNDER THE HOLLY to reach the big screen. He-or she-is willing to kill locals, movie stars, and maybe even Divas to stop it.
Diva-sister Dixie Lee Forsythe wrote the juicy tell-all about a historic Mississippi town very much like Holly Springs, and a lot of townsfolk would be happy to strangle her. Bitty is in a blond lather over a gossipy story line about a philandering Senator who very much resembles her late husband. And even Trinket's a little miffed at Dixie Lee's oh-so-recognizable Trinket Truevine character, described as, "built like a girls' basketball coach-not necessarily a female one."
Dixie Lee starts getting mysterious death threats, an actress brings being a diva to heights even Bitty can't match, and a production assistant is murdered.
If Trinket, Bitty, and the Divas don't solve this case quick, Oscars season in Tinsel Town will be short a whole bunch of stars.
Virginia Brown is the author of more than fifty novels in romance, mystery, and general fiction. Her bestselling Dixie Divas Mysteries continues in 2014 with a sixth novel. She lives in a small Mississippi town that inspires her stories about Holly Springs.

The Comanches did her a favor when they killed her loutish husband on her wedding night. But now this Southern belle is the possession of a fierce, blue-eyed warrior called Hawk . . .
Zach Banning, known as Hawk among the Comanches, is caught between two races, two cultures, two lives. Deborah Hamilton is a Mississippi beauty who came to the Texas territory for an arranged marriage. Little did she know, her new husband's people have earned the Comanches' hatred. They enact their vengeance on her wedding night, kidnapping Deborah along with other women and also the settlement's children.
She expects the worst at the Comanches' village, but instead finds kindness alongside the challenges. But when Hawk barters her away from her owner, intending to seduce and possess her, Deborah finds herself in a battle of wills laced with deep desire.
Virginia Brown is the author of more than fifty novels, including the bestselling Dixie Divas mystery series. Look for many more of her classic historical romances, coming soon from Bell Bridge Books.

Harley Jean must be on the right track if someone wants to kidnap her . . .
Memphis tour guide and amateur crime-solver, Harley Jean Davidson, is up to her handlebars in mystery, again. Last time, she was almost whacked by jewel thieves. Now her Aunt Darcy, an interior designer, needs Harley's help catching a smuggler of prized artifacts. When Harley finds Aunt Darcy's suspicious business partner hanging off her shop's elk antlers, Harley can't help but wonder if Aunt Darcy murdered him. Soon Harley's already quirky life spins way off the Normal Meter again, with another corpse in the mix, an assault by cranky farm animals, a kidnapping attempt, and surprise assistance from a temperamental Siamese cat. Add hunky detective Mike Morgan to the trouble, plus the usual collection of Elvis impersonators, psychics and unpredictable relatives.
The city of the blues, the King and the mighty Mississippi is about to get steamy. The jailhouse will rock, someone may get caught in a trap, and Harley's in the middle of it all-taking care of business.
Virginia Brown is the author of more than fifty novels, most recently the bestselling Dixie Diva Mysteries and the acclaimed mystery/drama, Dark River Road.

She s Named After A Motorcycle. Her Dad s An Elvis Impersonator. Her Mom Talks To Spirit Guides.
Someone s Kidnapped The Family Dog Named King, in Elvis s Honor. There s a Ransom Note.
And Then Things Really Get Weird.
Memphis tour guide, Harley Jean Davidson, is about to enjoy a rare day off when her parents call with news that King, their border collie, has been dognapped. Harley Jean s mom insists the culprit is Bruno Jett, their next door neighbor. Harley Jean would rather run over her own foot with a motorcycle than talk to him. He s drop-dead gorgeous with a dangerous attitude she d like to avoid.
But King has to be rescued, so she sets off to find him. Harley Jean gets more than she bargains for when she finds a body, as well. Bruno Jett is definitely involved, but how?
The Memphis P.D. wants to pin the murder on Harley Jean s dad. Now it s up to her to clear his name . . . and avoid becoming the killer s next victim.
Virginia Brown is the author of more than fifty novels, including the bestselling Dixie Diva mystery series.

The bestselling DIXIE DIVAS mystery series continues
Trinket and her pals are, once again,
caught in the middle of a murder scene...
"Professor Sturgis is dead."
"Hah " replied my cousin/best friend/partner in mayhem. "I'm not that lucky."
"It's true," I said as I pointed to her son's dorm room closet. "Look for yourself. But I warn you-it's not a pretty sight."
My warning did not deter Bitty Hollandale from peering into the closet where the dead professor was propped against a shoe rack. She immediately recoiled. "Good lord I thought you were joking . . . it . . . how horrible "
I didn't say "I told you so" although I could have. I was still too rattled myself to take a verbal swing at Bitty. What I'd thought was an untidy pile of clothing tumbling out of the closet turned out to be a professor with whom Bitty had just quarreled that very morning.
This was not a good thing.
Virginia Brown is the author of The Dixie Divas Mysteries, The Blue Suede Memphis Mysteries, and a mystery/drama, Dark River Road. As a long-time resident of Mississippi, award-winning author Virginia Brown has lived in several different areas of the state, and finds the history, romance, and intrigue of the Deep South irresistible. Although having spent her childhood as a "military brat" living all over the US, and overseas, this author of nearly fifty novels is now happily settled in and drawing her favorite fictional characters from the wonderful, whimsical Southerners she has known and loved.

He took her captive.
She stole his heart.
A rogue pirate. A beautiful Englishwoman. Who would win their battle on the high seas?
"I came down here to terrorize you into submission. I did not expect such easy capitulation."
"How dismaying for you. Should I put up a defiant front to assuage your disappointment?"
"You're a cool one, Miss Angela. I'll give you that much."
"Are you what they say you are, Captain Saber?"
A slight smile tilted his mouth up at one corner. "And what do they say I am, Miss Angela? Murderer? I've killed men, though I can't say I've derived any satisfaction from it. Pirate? Quite true. Though at times, I've stolen things that belong to me, so I'm not quite certain what that does to my redoubtable reputation as a thief and scourge of the seven seas."
He took a step closer, his voice lowering to a husky timbre that sent chills chasing down her spine. "That I am known as-let me see-a defiler of damsels? As for that reputation, I gladly plead . . ." His hand shifted, fingers tightening in her hair to draw her head back. "Guilty."
Virginia Brown is the bestselling author of more than sixty novels including the bestselling Dixie Divas mystery series.