. . Thirteen year old Ephraim Wright suffers the depredations of war along with the white family who reared him. Raised with the family since he was two years old, he is never once required to call Jonathan Wright, his benevolent owner, "master." His speech, manners and outlook on life are more akin to his white "siblings than the other slaves in the community who chide him for being a "pet" and "talkin' like white folk." He is stranded between two worlds; that of free whites, and of enslaved blacks. His life is irreversibly changed when Confederate conscript officers take the family's oldest son at gun point and a bushwhacker gang guns down Jonathan Wright. The law forbids a slave to touch a firearm, because a “negro with a gun is a nervous thing to white folks.” But where his family is concerned, Ep is never one to care about what the slave laws say. By seeking to send men to hell, will Ephraim send himself there as well?Advance Praise for The Secret of Wattensaw BayouWhile reading the book my feelings of anger and resentment toward the institution of slavery and those who fought to protect such rights were sometimes overwhelming and required me to take a deep breath. Nevertheless, the story from a historical perspective, although it was a work of fiction, was masterly woven and I found myself with the urge to continue reading. . . The book is well written and the author provides a fascinating glimpse into the everyday existence of many Southern families during the Civil War. Commander Harold Barnes (US Navy, retired)

    Promise me, Eadgyth, you will always be that for my son.”Eadgyth’s happy childhood as the adored daughter of King Edward of the Anglo-Saxons came to an abrupt end at the age of nine, when her mother was cast away. Distraught at the rejection by her father, she learnt to keep her heart closely guarded.After ten years shut in a convent Eadgyth is commanded by her half-brother, King Athelstan, to go with her younger sister to the court of King Henry of Germany, where his son, the brave, young Otto will choose one of them as his wife.Indifferent to her fate, she travels to Saxony where she is welcomed by King Henry and his wife, the beautiful Queen Mathilda. As her friendship with the Queen grows Eadgyth warms to her new life, while her relationship with Otto, little more than a boy at seventeen, takes a turn she had not anticipated. Despite the ever present threat of war on the nearby Slavic front, Eadgyth dares to believe she can be happy.But beneath the surface of this contented family, tensions are building. Otto’s brothers harbour concealed ambitions, Mathilda’s love for her son seems strangely uncertain and Otto himself reveals an unexpected secret. And as Otto prepares himself to take the throne of Germany, the hostility boils over leaving Eadgyth facing a desperate struggle to hold her family together, terrified that yet again she could lose the man at the heart of it…

    has dared to take on a difficult, grief-stricken period of English history, and done so with sensitivity and understanding; EARTH AND HEAVEN is the clever, compelling result' The Times

    In The Road Show we meet Zachary Edge, a Confederate soldier, on his way home at the war's close. He stumbles upon a traveling troupe, a chance encounter that is the start of an unforgettable odyssey. Edge hits the road with bawdy showgirls, roguish tricksters, and a host of colorful characters. He soon finds himself in the arms of Autumn Auburn, the lithesome artiste known for her breathtaking sensuality.

    Unwilling to give up, you pursued life relentlessly. This time you planned for love and happiness meticulously keeping it in the most secure cabinet of your body while you waited to welcome it with bated breath. Lo! the cabinet lock is broken, and you are left alone again.Do you have the right to give up now, lose hope and become a mental health case or will life give love and happiness another unprecedented chance? Read the story of Nimisha, Nitin, Pari and Jhumki embroiled with unconditional love, inevitable misfortunes, unexpected blessing and the unfolding of a divine decree or preordained fate.

    Further political machinations have secured a command for this new officer. It is now up to the new Lieutenant Charles Mullins to make a success of his new command on his own.

    

    They’ll share memories, surprises and another wonderful time of closeness. Legacy Series: Book 1: Buying Time Book 2: In Her Own Time Book 3: Matter of Time Book 4: Taking Time Book 5: Just in Time Book 6: All in Good Time A Map for Bella: Book 1: Bella’s Hope Book 2: Bella’s Holiday Book 3: Bella’s Heart Book 4: Bella’s Home Legacy Series Reunion: Book 1: Christmas in Tuscany Book 2: Birthday Surprise Book 3: A Summer Together

    

    Lana Johnson - young, intelligent and strikingly attractive - is getting serious with the local small-time villain, Ben Ferris. Next door to the Johnsons lives Lottie Curtis, a kind-hearted widow they have taken under their wing. For decades Lottie has been foster mother to children from broken homes. Only Jimmy Bailey has ever demonstrated in a practical way the debt he owed to Lottie. But it's 1946 and Lottie is facing her eightieth birthday alone. When Jimmy, now demobbed, teams up with Lana to organise a reunion of all the old lady's children as a birthday treat, there's more than one surprise in store...

    The first time she sees Zeb, she sneers to see a slave working in the hot sun who smiles from sunup to sundown. He finds slavery tolerable? Livy will never accept it! No matter that Zeb's sweet spirit draws her, she will be free whatever it takes. Zeb is smitten by Livy the first time he sees her, but it's a challenge to even get her to say good morning. Brought up to find happiness and hope in every day, he begins his campaign to win her, his easy-going manner never faltering – until slavery's big boot crushes the spirit of his niece Faith, the child he loves as if she were his own. Even if it means he can't have Livy, he has to save Faith from living a cruel life among the master's family. From different paths, Zeb and Livy arrive at the safe haven hidden in the swamps, a place of wild flowers and abundance. But like the first Eden, Orchid Island harbors treachery and heartache. Leaving their refuge behind, Zeb and Livy and their new family begin the journey to their true heaven-on-earth.

    When Portland lawyer, Maggi McGuffin, suddenly shows up at Ben’s off-the-grid hobby farm, he is skeptical of her intentions. But she agrees to get the IRS and EPA off his back for a little investigative work. In the Air Force, Ben worked as a special agent with the Office of Special Investigations, their version of the FBI and CIA. He spent years interrogating terrorists and debriefing airmen. Strange things are happening in normally sedate Cantina Valley. In his quest for answers, Ben must sift through a cast of quirky characters and unknown entities with hidden agendas. Does his investigation have anything to do with a recent murder? Ben must unravel a case as complex as a fine Oregon pinot noir to discover the truth.

    While he misses his late wife, Emily, he must do his best to be both a father and mother to his young daughters.

    

    He decides to clean up old business and stops at the restaurant known as, The Ponderosa, to see if his talk with the owner has had any effect on its service. Charles leaves the restaurant in anger and is determined to bring his problem to an end.Charles and the family travel to Denver and Charles encounters problems. Charles sets about solving the issues with his construction crews.Charles is recruited by Hunt to help remove bandits that took over his ranch and ordered his tenants to leave at gunpoint.Horse owners seeking breeding privileges from his prize stallion begin to irritate Charles when they show up with their attorneys and demand that he sign irrational contracts. Charles starts to question if he should continue offering stud services after ordering several horse breeders to leave and never return.George decides to stay in Denver to get the food store running. Charles needs to find a dependable man to travel with him and is shocked by an offer from an old friend.Charles is forced to go to Baltimore to resolve an issue with a rich and powerful man that is determined to put an end to the railroad construction.While traveling to a construction site to address an issue, the train is attacked by bandits, and they plan to steal Charles’s horse, Wind Fire. Charles becomes angered. Being attacked on the ocean only six weeks ago was bad enough. But to be robbed, and possibly shot while riding a train on American soil by a gang of thieves was more than he could handle. He refuses to submit to the thieves and explodes in anger. A shootout with armed bandits follows and ends with a dramatic scene when his gun is out of bullets.