This story is an attempt to understand what drove men to build a monastery on a near vertical pillar of rock off the coast of Ireland. The author has sought to use imagination to bring to life the men who were driven to seek this kind of complete isolation. More than hermits, more than any other monks, they chose a life filled with hardship, back-breaking labour and danger. Those results of their efforts that remain are among the best preserved buildings from the period. The Skellig monastery is a world heritage site and rightly so. It is unique and a thrilling place to visit. Even if you don't feel up to the massive climb and a sea-tossed journey by boat, you can still get a feel for the place in the visitor centre at Valencia.

Conflict is often a crucible for evil and pain but out of a dirty little war a thing of unique and loving beauty is created. In this urban conflict two beautiful children meet. Later in life, when they have grown into fierce non-conformist warriors for freedom and justice, conflict thrusts them together again. Into their war comes Bonny, destined to be a victim, but their unexpected love rescues her and sets the three on a hard-fought path to total liberation.

Daniel's unconventional family pyramid is more complex than ever before. The four children are now into their teens so their side is becoming more volatile. Lauren is comfortable and content in her role as the central point and Bonny is as upbeat and bubbling with sexual energy as ever. Daniel is struggling with the lack of drama in his work and with the ongoing after-effects of his physical trauma. During this working holiday with the family in Rome, extreme drama will come at the Dawes from an entirely unforeseen source.

When you spend years living a double life, hiding your true nature and passions from the world, the stress can become unbearable. When revealing those truths may cost you, and those you love, life itself, those stresses become magnified to levels even the most imaginative people can scarce comprehend. Daniel and Lauren, and to lesser degree Bonny, have been living that life for nearly a decade. Daniel and Lauren have been undercover intelligence officers working in the murky world of paramilitary violence. Several attempts have been made on their lives and many have died in those attempts. Daniel and Lauren withdraw, exhausted and spent. They try to re-build. Those they threatened have not forgotten them. The knowledge they fear they carry hangs over the conspirators in Belfast and London like the sword of Damocles. They think Daniel Dawes wields that sword. He must die to keep their secrets safe and hidden. As Daniel, Lauren and Bonny take a holiday, a plot to silence Daniel is unfolding. He will be tested like never before. When it's over, his grip on his sanity and his life will hang in the balance.

Daniel Dawes has come back from the war in the Falklands with a broken back and a burden of guilt for the stress he has caused Bonny and Lauren. His healing will be aided by the love of Bonny and Lauren and by the attention of his physiotherapist, Kris. The healing will flow to Kris, who nurses a deep secret. Old conspiracies, fear of discovery and a need for revenge creates danger that they must defeat and resist or run from - forever living in fear. This is a story of three who resist. The engine that drives them is passion.

Bonny and Lauren face the greatest challenge of their lives as they try to rescue their man Daniel from an impossible predicament. His helicopter has crashed behind enemy lines, he is injured and cannot move. If the Argentine secret police get hold of him he will be tortured and may die. If they do nothing, he will surely die. They must act alone. They set out on an impulsive and dangerous mission to bring back the man whom they both love. Daniel is husband to Bonny and unknown to him, father to the baby she carries. Lauren too carries a secret that might threaten her relationship with Bonny, but she dare not reveal it; not until Daniel is safely home. All three face formidable challenges.

David Rory O'Neill's The Prairie Companions is a beautiful, heartfelt, and breathtaking work of historical fiction, transporting readers to the Canadian wilds in the early years of the twentieth century. A stunning evocation of a unique time and place-and a powerfully moving story of courage, commitment, love, loss, and endurance-this unforgettable saga follows two extraordinary young women from their boarding school in Victorian England to the North American wilderness. For Pat and Clara, young friends and inseparable companions, the search for freedom and a new life together brings undreamed of challenges, uniting them with their indigenous neighbors in a continuing struggle for survival against the unrelenting cruelties of the natural world. O'Neill's The Prairie Companions is a magnificent celebration of self-discovery and the pioneer spirit, and the poignant tale of singular bond of love and loyalty that only grows stronger in the face of nature's grim adversities.

Daniel's trial takes many forms. There is the legal trial he must face knowing if he reveals the truth behind the conspiracies he's been fighting, those conspirators and others unseen will attack his family and friends. There will be the trial of isolation and fighting the demons within that are perhaps the greatest threat. The loved ones he has left behind, Lauren, Bonny and their four children also face their own personal trials. The warrior Lauren must unravel the conspiracy to try to free Daniel and protect the family without his guiding hand to calm her vengeful rage. Bonny must be mother, shaman and guide to her now adult family and face trials without the rock of her man, Daniel. She begins to crumble but the love of friends new and old and the wisdom of an ancient Cree shaman will bring her back to the centre of the loving pyramid she created. She built a new thing when she met Lauren and Daniel so that with the children they created a family pyramid that withstood the trials of life. As their sphere of influence grows, new pyramids are made - and on into the infinity of possibilities that are life's trial.

Lauren was safer now and Bonny didn't worry for her the way she now worried about Daniel. Daniel had never found his escape. He was still trapped by his overwhelming sense of responsibility and his inability to be as self-centred and single-minded as Lauren. He took on the responsibility for all he cared for and sacrificed his own desire for peace of mind and health of body. He still suffered that dreadful burden of guilt laid on his life so thickly by his monster of a mother. He tried to bend and not break and he tried to understand and mend himself. To protect his family from his pain and confusions but it wasn't working. Daniel had been near death after being shot getting his children back from their kidnapping ordeal. He stood on the edge of the abyss and killed many as he came close to the madness that is revenge. He'd crossed that line briefly and now he was afraid and unsure of his motivation. That vile act perpetrated on his children had disturbed his previously certain moral compass so now he doubted why he pursued these monsters. Daniel had stared death down and refused to die but he hadn't yet healed and he was embarking on some huge and dreadful thing. Compelled to end the fear and tackle the threat head on. He would not run or hide from his fear but would do what he'd always done - he would strip it bare and face it. Let it rip at him and when he'd found its foul heart, he'd kill it, no matter what the risk, no matter how much damage he suffered - he'd find its dark heart and end it.

Regan was just seven years old when her mystical beauty became a curse rather than a gift. That was when her father began to ruthlessly profit by selling her image. The exploitation of youthful beauty is an eternal struggle of good and evil. A stubborn non-conformist Detective Inspector of the Garda is fighting that fight. DI Jim Burrows will play a critical role in Regan's ability to survive and recover from that exploitation. Regan's journey from childhood to womanhood will be thrilling and dangerous but ultimately it will be a warm and inspiring story of a young girl's brave journey to adulthood, her struggle to survive the exploitation of her innocence, and above all - the healing power of love.

Regan celebrates her twenty-first birthday at Mimosa near Nice. She's with her family and her lover David Dawes and his exotic family and friends. Regan and David struggle with their past, self-doubt, baggage, and obsessions. Mary, Regan's freind and one time lover, struggles too. Envy and self-loathing grips her as she sees Regan, once so close, move away from her. The physiological drama intensifies following a dramatic accident that throws all into turmoil. Love's power to heal is tested and Regan, Mary and David face the greatest challenge of their young lives. Can they pay beauty's price?