As a former novice of the Convent of the Paraclete, the young Catherine LeVendeur's life has been filled with adventure and intrigue. When she fell in love with her Saxon nobleman, Edgar, it was hoped that married life would settle this headstrong woman. But fate will have its way and, after suffering several miscarriages, Catherine is inspired by a prophetic dream that she and Edgar must embark on a pilgrimage to the fabled monastery of Compostela, to petition for a child. During their journey Catherine and Edgar encounter mad monks, bawdy crusaders, and a motley collection of pilgrims whose past deeds bind them all in a bizarre game of chance. When several pilgrims are gruesomely murdered, the trail of evidence points to an old and blackening sin, and a hidden villain whose quest for revenge may lead to Catherine's untimely death . . .

A transcription of Lucy Peel’s wonderfully readable journal was recently discovered in her descendent’s house in Norwich, England. Sent in regular installments to her transatlantic relatives, the journal presents an intimate narrative of Lucy’s Canadian sojourn with her husband, Edmund Peel, an officer on leave from the British navy. Her daily entries begin with their departure as a young, newlywed couple from the shores of England in 1833 and end with their decision to return to the comforts of home after three and a half years of hard work as pioneer settlers. Lucy Peel’s evocative diary focuses on the semi-public world of family and community in Lower Canada’s Eastern Townships, and fulfils the same role as Susanna Moodie’s writings had for the Upper Canadian frontier. Though their perspective was from a small, privileged sector of society, these genteel women writers were sharp observers of their social and natural surroundings, and they provide valuable insights into the ideology and behaviour of the social class that dominated the Canadian colonies during the pre-Rebellion era. Women’s voices are rarely heard in the official records that comprise much of the historical archives. Lucy Peel’s intensely romantic journal reveals how crucially important domesticity was to the local British officials. Lucy Peel’s diary, like those of such counterparts as Catherine Parr Traill, also suggests that genteel women were better prepared for their role in the New World than Canadian historians have generally assumed.

A DUEL OF HEARTS Broad daylight streamed down into the vast studio through a skylight in the ceiling, which showed a large square of dazzling blue, a bright vista of limitless heights of azure, across which passed flocks of birds in rapid flight. But the glad light of heaven hardly entered this severe room, with high ceilings and draped walls, before it began to grow soft and dim, to slumber among the hangings and die in the portieres, hardly penetrating to the dark corners where the gilded frames of portraits gleamed like flame. Peace and sleep seemed imprisoned there, the peace characteristic of an artist's dwelling, where the human soul has toiled. Within these walls, where thought abides, struggles, and becomes exhausted in its violent efforts, everything appears weary and overcome as soon as the energy of action is abated; all seems dead after the great crises of life, and the furniture, the hangings, and the portraits of great personages still unfinished on the canvases, all seem to rest as if the whole place had suffered the master's fatigue and had toiled with him, taking part in the daily renewal of his struggle. A vague, heavy odor of paint, turpentine, and tobacco was in the air, clinging to the rugs and chairs; and no sound broke the deep silence save the sharp short cries of the swallows that flitted above the open skylight, and the dull, ceaseless roar of Paris, hardly heard above the roofs. Nothing moved except a little cloud of smoke that rose intermittently toward the ceiling with every puff that Olivier Bertin, lying upon his divan, blew slowly from a cigarette between his lips. With gaze lost in the distant sky, he tried to think of a new subject for a painting. What should he do? As yet he did not know. He was by no means resolute and sure of himself as an artist, but was of an uncertain, uneasy spirit, whose undecided inspiration ever hesitated among all the manifestations of art. Rich, illustrious, the gainer of all honors, he nevertheless remained, in these his later years, a man who did not know exactly toward what ideal he had been aiming. He had won the Prix of Rome, had been the defender of traditions, and had evoked, like so many others, the great scenes of history; then, modernizing his tendencies, he had painted living men, but in a way that showed the influence of classic memories. Intelligent, enthusiastic, a worker that clung to his changing dreams, in love with his art, which he knew to perfection, he had acquired, by reason of the delicacy of his mind, remarkable executive ability and great versatility, due in some degree to his hesitations and his experiments in all styles of his art. Perhaps, too, the sudden admiration of the world for his works, elegant, correct, and full of distinctions, influenced his nature and prevented him from becoming what he naturally might have been. Since the triumph of his first success, the desire to please always made him anxious, without his being conscious of it; it influenced his actions and weakened his convictions. This desire to please was apparent in him in many ways, and had contributed much to his glory.

Thomas appears only four times in John's Gospel, yet despite this he is crucially important in understanding the function of the Johannine message. Dennis Sylva provides the first major study which examines the paradox that Thomas is both opposed to a dominant theme in the Fourth Gospel - the eternal life that is a gift to Jesus' followers - and yet is in support of Jesus himself. Thomas appears to have a foot on both sides of the Johannine dualistic divide. He seems to be existentially at home on one side and yet ideologically at home on the other. No other character in John's Gospel so tenaciously hold on to companionship with Jesus while just as resolutely distancing himself from Jesus' central teaching. Thomas breaks down the barriers between the disciples (those who walk in the light) and the world (those who walk in the darkness) that John takes pains to establish. Sylva's new work demonstrates the importance of Thomas in fully understanding the message of the Fourth Gospel.

She met him in a supermarket parking lot of all places... Sarai Jenkins. You can call her a "Born-Again Virgin". She has kept her heart (and body) tightly locked down and guarded, maintaining her celibacy - for ten years. But what she really wants is to love and be loved for the first time... and forever. A sharp-witted petite beauty with a successful career as a Los Angeles journalist, Sarai has a haunting secret she has never told, shrouded by a marred past she's tried to bury. Her Christian faith reshapes her complicated world, but on a hot June day RJ thrusts into that world with "handsomosity" and drawing power she can't deny. Within months Sarai has found that love she never knew could exist, and is increasingly tempted by RJ's captivating devices. Slowly pulling away from her family while falling deeper into his arms, Sarai is then rocked by a life-shattering tragedy. At the apex of guilt, regret, and fear she's never known, she holds onto RJ's enrapturing promises -- but when his meticulous mask suddenly cracks before her, she suffers the brutal consequences of loving a man she never knew. Written with powerful prose and raw emotional honesty, Love Is As Strong As Death will grip you with intrigue until the last page. Ci'Monique was a flight attendant for nine years, formerly based in Boston, New York, and Los Angeles. She wrote and illustrated the adorable children's book Have You Ever Tasted a Rainbow? before venturing into adult fiction. Born and raised in Seattle - along with three teenage years in Anchorage, Alaska, she now resides in the LA area. This is her debut novel. Visit her website at cimoniquegreen.com. She would love to hear from you!