Just six months ago, Cooper was a youth on the edge of manhood, one looking for adventure. Now he wonders if he will live long enough become a man. With a few items he had hidden-a bit of pemmican, a few strips of jerky, two shards of flint, and his penknife-he heads off into the teeth of winter. When he goes down under the weight of an attack by a pack of wolves, he figures his time has come... until he awakes in a Shoshone lodge. Nursed back to health, it is time for him to become a man, and keep the vow he had made while fighting for survival-kill Josiah Weeks.

     Set against the shattering events of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, at the tale’s heart are an American schoolteacher—dynamic and imaginative—and an Irish musician, homeless and hated—who have survived bloodshed, poverty, and sickness to be thrown together in an English village. Together they quietly hide from the world in a small cottage. Too soon, reality shatters their serenity, and they must face the parochial community. Unknown to all, a legend is in the making—one that will speak of courage and resilience amidst the forces that brought the couple together even as outside forces threaten to tear them apart.

     THE WINTER WISH Lady Sarah Dawson has one simple wish for Christmas: to gain the attention of Devlin Heathcliff, the handsome viscount who she has loved for as long as she can remember. Unfortunately for Sarah she is plain, quiet, and embarrassingly shy – the exact opposite of the type of woman Devlin is attracted to. All hope seems lost… Until one afternoon fate steps in and Sarah learns that sometimes, with a little magic, winter wishes can come true. THE RISQUE RESOLUTION Due to a clause in her father’s will, Lily has until Christmas to find a husband. She fears all hope is lost… until she meets the mysterious, insufferable, and oh so handsome Captain James Rigby. Recently returned and still recovering from the bloody battlefields of war, James is missing an arm and, it would seem, a heart. The last thing on the embittered soldier’s mind is marriage, especially to Lily Kincaid, a woman who is as infuriatingly stubborn as she is beautiful. With time running out, can Lily convince James – and herself – true love really exists? Or will she lose everything, including her heart? PLEASE NOTE: Both 'The Winter Wish' and 'The Risque Resolution' are previously published novellas and are available for purchase individually.

    Available for free download at Claire's website.

    A Children of Graistan Novella Injured in body and soul, Jocelyn, Lord of Freyne, is reluctantly swept into Yuletide festivities--only to find redemption in the arms of Avice of Lavendon, the woman he spurned.

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    But after she scorns one too many suitors, her father loses his temper with her spoiled ways and declares that she must marry the next man who dares to seek her hand! Unfortunately for her, the next man who proposes - albeit unintentionally - is only a humble, traveling minstrel.Now, cast off and penniless, she finds herself at the mercy of her handsome betrothed who intends for her to become a proper peasant. But after a lifetime of being pampered, ordinary chores and tasks are not as easy as she expected, and she soon realizes she will need her prospective husband's help if she hopes to salvage anything of her future. Will the two strangers be able to find a way to work together and perhaps free themselves from their forced betrothal? Or might they find that "happily ever afters" sometimes happen in unexpected ways?...(A retelling of the timeless Grimm fairy tale King Thrushbeard. This book is a clean and proper romance.)

    But even as she began that long ride down from the mining camp, a silver coin was being tossed into the air a few miles away that would change everything.

    Peter is educated and can conduct himself as white; however, Claire understands that deep in his heart, her husband is very Indian. In the prequel to this story (CAPTURE MY HEART), it was the “Indian” Two Wolves, a scout for the U. S. Army, who rescued Claire from a fate worse than death and who saved her life more than once in a flight from those who would harm them. Now, as a married couple running a supply business near Fort Collins, Colorado, a restless hatred from Colorado citizens and the Colorado Militia toward the Cheyenne threatens to tear Peter and Claire apart. Peter adores and respects Claire’s strength in standing up for the man she loves against those who would condemn her for loving an Indian. He has promised Claire to always be by her side and help her run their business … until the United States Army asks him to accept another scouting mission. Because he thinks it will help the Cheyenne, Peter agrees, but events that follow challenge his promises to Claire. When Peter comes across the aftermath of the horrible Sand Creek Massacre committed by the Colorado Militia and their leader, Colonel John Chivington, his Cheyenne blood rises to the surface, and he is once again Two Wolves, a warrior who wants revenge. Will Two Wolves’s rage be stronger than his love for Claire and their unborn child? Only true love can hold these two together against a land torn by the changes of a growing West. Power, passion, true history and romance all make this story another winner for “The Queen of Western Romance,” Rosanne Bittner.

    Eden, Julie Daines, Heather B. Moore, and Annette Lyon.MAIL-ORDER PRINCESS by Jessica Day George: Elise flees her small kingdom and arrives in the New World with only her two trunks and seven swans—her seven brothers to be exact. But Elise will do anything to get her brothers away from their cruel stepmother’s curse, even if it means accepting the long-distance marriage proposal to a former count turned farmer. THE MILLER’S DAUGHTER by Julie Wright: When Isa meets Thomas Rumple, she is quickly infatuated with his good looks and natural charm, until she learns his true identity. Due to a wild claim by her insufferable father, Isa’s life is threatened by the king if she can’t spin a room full of straw into gold, and Thomas may be the only one who can save her. THE PEBBLED PATH by Sarah M. Eden: Deep in the heart of a mysterious forest, Gretel trades her freedom to save her beloved father from the spell of an evil enchantress. Even attempting to escape would cost her father his life. Gretel’s determination to fulfill her promise wavers when she meets Hansel, a young man who captures her heart. For, she loves him too dearly to put his life in danger, and he loves her too much to simply leave her to her fate.BLACK FERN by Julie Daines: Rós is desperate to find work in order to care for her ailing father and younger sisters. She applies to the mysterious owner of a crumbling castle and is soon swept up in dark secrets. Unsure if the owner of the castle is man or beast, Rós determines to help him at all cost. She soon discovers that the cost may be too great, even for her.SCARLET by Heather B. Moore: When Scarlet needs to fetch a healing tonic on the night when the wolves are at their most dangerous, she has no choice but to apply to her nemesis, August, for help. He agrees to help her, but they encounter a pack of wolves that put up a fierce fight, marking Scarlet as their newly targeted prey. SO RARE A POWER by Annette Lyon: Stella knows she’s taking a risk each time she meets Patrick in the rose garden that they’ve cultivated together. And no matter how much her mother will disapprove of their relationship, Stella can’t deny her feelings for him. When the Snow Queen steals away Patrick to drain him of his powers of creating beauty and life, Stella must decide what she’s willing to risk to rescue him.

    But his well-honed strategy to acquire the perfect countess goes awry when he finds himself captivated, not by the suitable young lady he intended to court, but by her unusual companion—the quiet, charming, and alarmingly unpredictable Miss Patience Byerly.Originally published as "Traditions" in the anthology A Christmas Ball.

    Now three of their best short novels are collected in a single volume. Zane Grey’s From Missouri has been restored from the author’s own manuscript and is appearing in paperback in its corrected form. Max Brand’s Over the Northern Border is a classic tale of stage coach robbery and relentless pursuit, also corrected and restored from the author’s original manuscript. Louis L’Amour’s Riders of the Dawn debuted in Giant Western magazine in 1951 and appears here in that original version, as L’Amour himself first intended it. Enjoy these three classic tales and experience the Western the way it was meant to be.

    The characters are familiar to readers of Bienvenido N. Santos: the hurt, homesick men of YOU LOVELY PEOPLE; the people back home of Tondo, of Bicol, and thus of BROTHER, MY BROTHER and THE VOLCANO; and the confused characters of VILLA MAGDALENA who bear burdens of guilt, and come and go on unscheduled flights to lonely places. And yet the range is different, the insights are new, and humanity here wears other familiar faces.

    But as the Black Death reaches its hand into his uncle’s workshop, young Tonino is faced with making a choice to survive. From the author of THE GONDOLA MAKER and MADE IN VENICE comes a short tale of pestilence, Venetian artisanship, and the will to live.

    . . the snake-haired Greek Gorgon Medusa, whose gaze turned men to stone . . . Kaggen, creator of the San peoples of Africa . . . the Holy Grail of Arthurian legend . . . Freyja, the Norse goddess of love and beauty . . . Ys, the mythical sunken city once built on the coast of France . . . Ragnarok, the myth of a world destroyed and reborn . . . Jason and the Argonauts, sailing in search of the Golden Fleece . . .Myths and legends are the oldest of stories, part of our collective consciousness, and the source from which all fiction flows. Full of magic, supernatural powers, monsters, heroes, epic journeys, strange worlds, and vast imagination, they are fantasies so compelling we want to believe them true.This new anthology compiles some of the best modern short mythic retellings and reinvention of legend from award-winning and bestselling authors, acclaimed storytellers, and exciting new talent, offering readers new ways to interpret and understand the world. Adventure with us on these Mythic Journeys . Stories and authors include are:“Lost Lake” – Emma Straub and Peter Straub“White Lines on a Green Field” – Catherynne M. Valente“Trickster” – Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due“Our Talons Can Crush Galaxies” – Brooke Bolander“A Memory of Wind” – Rachel Swirsky“Leda” – M. Rickert“Chivalry” – Neil Gaiman“The God of Au” – Ann Leckie“Faint Voices, Increasingly Desperate” – Anya Johanna DeNiro“Ogres of East Africa” – Sofia Samatar“Ys” – Aliette de Bodard“The Gorgon” – Tanith Lee“Merlin Dreams in the Mondream Wood” – Charles de Lint“Calypso in Berlin” – Elizabeth Hand“Seeds” – Lisa L. Hannett and Angela Slatter“Wonder-Worker-of-the-World” – Nisi Shawl“Thesea and Astaurius” – Priya Sharma“Foxfire, Foxfire” – Yoon Ha Lee“Owl vs. the Neighborhood Watch” – Darcie Little Badger“How to Survive an Epic Journey” – Tansy Rayner Roberts“Simargl and the Rowan Tree” – Ekaterina Sedia“The Ten Suns” – Ken Liu“Armless Maidens of the American West” – Genevieve Valentine“Give Her Honey When You Hear Her Scream” – Maria Dahvana Headley“Zhyuin” – John Shirley“Immortal Snake” – Rachel Pollack“A Wolf in Iceland Is the Child of a Lie” – Sonya Taaffe