Highway To Hellebore

Beware of men in fast cars...When a fancy sports car whizzes down the high street of Willow Waters in the Cotswolds, florist and witch Peony Bellefleur senses that it could bring trouble. She is right. Bad boy Dennis Ratslaff left Willow Waters many years ago, and the community breathed a sigh of relief. After a couple of decades in Australia, he's returned with an Aussie accent, a lot of money, and a plan to stay. He's bought a beautiful historic property with an award-winning English country garden that he plans to dig up for his swimming pool. The neighbors are angry, and the historical society is horrified, but Dennis doesn't care. He's rich, he's romancing the town's most eligible widow, and he'll worry about the rules after he's broken them. But when his digger unearths a major archaeological find, Dennis is forced to stop. Then it turns out there's more than a Roman burial site in his garden... Meanwhile, the town's most eligible bachelor, and secret werewolf, has asked Peony out on a date and her mother and housemates all want to help her prepare for the first real date she's had in years. Join Peony and friends for a cozy mystery that promises no gore, sex or bad language, just plenty of murderous fun. "Couldn't-put-it-down light hearted funny enjoyable story. Brilliant." *****

Hellebore wants some time off from the singing, from being pressured to perform. When she takes off in the beginning of December, she is shocked to find her normal portal turning into a one-way trip into a prison. With her head a bloody mess, she is taken to the doctor who treats her wounds with a confident touch. She gets the briefing on the prison, but one tiny detail is left out. Their prison is a holding area for a Christmas detachment. All eight men are being held for crimes against their peopleês traditions, but she finds that they are not all criminal. With a little bit of effort, she manages to send messages and get in touch with the outside world. Having friends is a very good thing when you are trapped for Christmas.

Mountain sheep epitomize wilderness for many people because they occupy some of the most inaccessible and rugged habitats known to man, from desert crags to alpine mountains. But of all hoofed mammals in North America, wild sheep present the greatest management problems to biologists. This book is a major reference on the natural history, ecology, and management of wild sheep in North America. Written by wildlife biologists who have devoted years of study to the animals, it covers Dall's and Stone's sheep and Rocky Mountain, California, and desert bighorn and examines a variety of factors pertinent to their life histories: habitat, diet, activity, social organization, reproduction, and population dynamics. Additional chapters consider distribution and abundance, adaptive strategies, and management guidelines. Discussions on diseases of wild sheep present a wealth of information that will be of particular use to wildlife biologists, including detailed clinical descriptions of conditions that threaten sheep populations, from pasteurellosis to capture myopathy. An appendix reviews the cytogenetics and genetics of wild sheep. North American wild sheep may face extinction in many areas unless critical questions concerning their management are answered soon. Prior to the publication of this book, there was no single reference available in which one could find such a synthesis of information. Mountain Sheep of North America provides that source and points toward the preservation of these magnificent wild creatures. Contents 1. Description, Distribution, and Abundance of Mountain Sheep in North America, Raul Valdez and Paul R. Krausman 2. Natural History of Thinhorn Sheep, Lyman Nichols and Fred L. Bunnell 3. Natural History of Rocky Mountain and California Bighorn Sheep, David M. Shackleton, Christopher C. Shank, and Brian M. Wikeem 4. Natural History of Desert Bighorn Sheep, Paul R. Krausman, Andrew V. Sandoval, and Richard C. Etchberger 5. Adaptive Strategies in American Mountain Sheep: Effects of Climate, Latitude and Altitude, Ice Age Evolution, and Neonatal Security, Valerius Geist 6. Diseases of North American Wild Sheep, Thomas D. Bunch, Walter M. Boyce, Charles P. Hibler, William R. Lance, Terry R. Spraker, and Elizabeth S. Williams 7. Management of Bighorn Sheep, Charles L. Douglas and David M. Leslie Jr. Appendix: Cytogenetics and Genetics, Thomas D. Bunch, Robert S. Hoffmann, and Charles F. Nadler