Winter Shadows

Cass feels the long winter shadows on her heart. Her mother died of cancer and her father has remarried a woman who has moved into their old Manitoba house with her nasty, babyish daughter and an attitude that's very hard to take. Christmas promises to be a miserable time. More than a century earlier, Christmas is proving to be difficult for Beatrice, too, for she has shadows of her own. Some are cast by her circumstances. She sees the growing prejudice against people like her who are of mixed Cree and Scottish backgrounds. And like Cass, she has a stepmother. Her father's new wife is threatened by Beatrice and is driving a wedge into the family. Beatrice can only be sure of her beloved Cree grandmother, relegated to a room upstairs. When a way of escape presents itself to Beatrice by way of an eligible bachelor, she is torn by the choice it offers her. Should she settle for a man she doesn't love or address the problems at home? Through her journal, she explores the answer and, at the same time, inspires Cass to find the strength she needs to face her own situation. Margaret Buffie's great skill as a storyteller creates a splendid, engaging novel that offers readers a rich combination of fine history, suspenseful shifts in time, and unforgettable characters.

A car accident on a Sioux Reservation leaves a young boy and his siblings homeless.They are sent to live on a farm, where his much older stepbrother is recuperating from war injuries. Clarence only agrees to move because of his brothers and sisters for whom he has been the main caregiver would otherwise be split up for placement. He finds it difficult to adjust. He never did well in school and hates it. He has trouble with cultural changes, new people and situation; but mostly, the stack of rules. His old life; though not the best, was a life he understood. He will give it a chance, nut seriously considers running away.

The High Sky of Winters Shadows by W. Jack Savage is a collection of thoughts, reminiscences, eyewitness accounts and random opinions gleaned from journals, various notebook entries, graduate school projects, letters and at least two previous attempts at putting together a compilation such as this. They represent first person accounts spanning more than six decades through the eyes of one baby boomer. Told in essays of four-hundred words or less, Savage holds his bias as one whose eyes remained open through it all. However, this is also an exercise in soul searching as by his own account Jacks extraordinary memory offers a reminder that peering into the past can be a two-edged sword. While it may at times be painful, it may also provide valuable lessons that may re-color our first impressions. In the end however, it is the memories of a lifetime: of struggling through school, trouble at home, service in Vietnam and a career in radio of over thirty years; of little snapshots of life and crossroads remembered; of marriage, parenthood, acting, disappointment and the determination to share his stories in the hope that someone may find a sliver of light in the midst of their struggles.

It is the winter of 1856, and Beatrice Alexander has just returned from Upper Canada to her home on the Red River, in what is now Manitoba. Her father's new wife is threatened by Beatrice and is driving a wedge into the family. Five generations later, in the same house, Christmas promises to be a miserable time. Cass's mother died of cancer and her father has remarried a woman with an attitude that's very hardto take. Miraculously, when Cass discovers the star brooch belonging to Beatrice, her visions lead her to Beatrice's diary. Is she really able to communicate with Beatrice across time, or is it all in her imagination? Margaret Buffie's great skill as a storyteller creates a splendid, engaging novel that offers readers a rich combination of fine history, suspenseful shifts in time, and unforgettable characters.

The conclusion to the dramatic, lyrical trilogy of the Arthurian legend begun with Hawk of May and continued in Kingdom of Summer. Arthur's Empire of Light begins to fade, as he wages a perilous campaign against a friend's betrayal, a bastard son's hateful revenge, and his adored wife's secret desires.

Claudette Duchamp was born running. Running from a man she has never met, named Victor Bonnaire. And the men who serve him, the Devil's Bane. She does not know why she runs. Only that she must. Her family has a secret. One her parents refuse to tell Claudette or her twin brother, Blake. It has something to do with why Victor pursues them. And something to do with her dreams ... For Claudette has begun to feel a strange stirring in her heart. A wildness that is both thrilling and frightening. Soon, she will uncover the truth of her family's haunted legacy. She will discover the world that lies on the other side of midnight. She will take her place in the shadows and embrace the darkness within. Claudette in the Shadows is a prequel to the critically acclaimed paranormal novels Winter's Shadow and Winter's Light. Praise for MJ Hearle "spooky, romantic and utterly compelling" – Rebecca James, author of Beautiful Malice "Dark and haunting. A stunning tale of love, loss and hope that kept me reading well into the night." – Jessica Shirvington, author of Embrace