Patricia writes here an interesting story that happens in Jesus times. The book is very interesting and at the same time it brings a clear and clean message about the Lord's teachings. I would recommend this to you if you want to read a book for yourself or for your kids.

Philo is a boy in the first century (Jesus's time). His sister is posessed by a demon. Because he can't stand to be at home anymore, he runs away and he learns about Jesus and he is never the same again. This book has a great ending. (I don't want to spoil the surprise.)

This book is historical fiction. It takes place during the time of Christ's ministry in Palestine. It gives powerful imagery of those times and events. Even more powerful are inspiring insights into certain specific events such as His ministry in the regions of Samaria, Tyre and Sidon as well as the casting out of evil spirits into a herd of swine and the calming of the Sea of Galilee. I feel grateful and uplifted to have found this book.

I agree with the other customers review on this book. This is a wonderful, sweet, beautiful book! A keeper! Another book I enjoyed from this author is Joe's Wife, another must read, I guaranty it!

Every once in a while, a book comes along that touches your heart and soul. Sweet Annie by Cheryl St. John is one such book.

This is the inspiring story of Annie Sweetwater, a young girl who has been coddled by her protective parents because of an illness that has left her weak and unable to walk well. When a young boy named Luke Carpenter dashes into her life, Annie discovers she longs for a world beyond her wheelchair. The resulting story is one of inspiration, love and strength.

Cheryl St. John has a wonderful gift for writing beautiful stories that not only entertain, but make you think.

- Sharon Galligar Chance

Annie Sweetwater had been treated like a fragile porcelin doll for her entire life. Everyone saw her in terms of her physical limitations. But Luke Carpenter saw the woman no one else had ever looked for...a woman Annie didn't even see until she looked at herself through his eyes. With his love, she learns to trust herself, to see that life is full of endless possibilities, if only she can learn to stand on her own two feet, knowing that Luke will be there to lean on if she needs him.

Every time Cheryl St. John has a new book out, I practically race for the bookstore. Her books are such sweet poignant tales of love, and they never fail to touch my heart. Sweet Annie was no exception...no, it was simply exceptional!

I first read this book about 16 years ago after my Dad gave it to me. I have read it about ten times since and still have it. I honestly do not think I will ever read a book again in my life that will have the same profound effect on me that this book accomplished. Everyone has someone who they look up to, Pat Pattle, to me is that person. If there is anyone who has any photos of Pat Pattle other than the general two published in books I would be most interested in getting a copy from them.

I do hope this book will be printed again. My Dad flew with "Pat" Pattle in 80 squadron in the Western Desert and was one of his best friends. The book cannot be faulted for accuracy as I gave my parents a copy some years ago and they read it avidly. My Dad, by the way, was "Old Man Evers ", so called because he was the oldest pilot on the Squadron. Enjoy the book and remember those brave lads.

this book the most intriging book because he was the youngest pilot ever to become the worlds ace of aces.

I wish I had met this book before I went to St. Kitts & Nevis for the first time. It tells you everything about them and you can count on it. Very easy to find out what to do, where to go, stay and eat. Very organized and easy to read. Many pictures in this book.

I have been traveling to Anguilla for several years but just found some new discoveries in this guidebook.

I just returned from a trip to St. Kitts and Nevis and found this book very useful, from the time I was selecting a hotel until I was on the island and looking for a place to eat. Through this guide, I learned about many out of the way spots that were overlooked by other guides. I am looking forward to using other sections of the book on a trip next year to St. Martin and Anguilla.

"Colorado Wife" by Cheryl St. John. In 1875 Needle Point, Colorado, Rosalyne Emery decides that local businessman Sam Calhoun needs to take on the obligation of caring for the two preadolescent orphans she found freezing outside her restaurant. Instead Rosalyne and Sam end up in a pretend engagement that is heated by their true feelings for one another. Will the mogul realize how vacuous his vision for the town and himself is by accepting the Yuletide present of three people who dearly love him and want him to love them?

"Jubal's Gift" by Elizabeth Lane. It took Jubal Trask almost a decade to find Thomas Curry who deserted him at Sharpsburg during the great war. However, now in 1873 in the Arizona Territory trading post, Jubal has caught up with the man he wants to kill. Instead of finding his intended victim who is away obtaining supplies, Jubal meets Thomas' sister Tess, who he knew from before the war, and his enemy's two young children, Lucy and Beau. However, it is hard to kill even a man you despsie when you love his sister.

"Until Christmas" by Mary Burton. In 1882 Timberline, Colorado, a depressed owner Laura Butler wants to sell her silver mine following the tragic death of six workers as she knew each of the deceased personally and sewed alongside their wives. Laura jut wants to go east, but her mine manager Roman Maddox wants to comfort her forever, but has only a couple months to persuade his beloved to be his wife.

These three late nineteenth century Americana romances are well written, warm holiday treats that fans of the sub-genre will take immense pleasure form reading. The stories contain delightful lead couples and strong supporting players that enable the audience to enjoy the Christmas holidays in the old west.

Harriet Klausner

As always, another snuggle under the covers and don't put down the book until it's finished, story by Cheryl Saint John. The characters are warm and lovable and the story is so sweet. I really rooted for Sam Calhoun to sweep Rosalyne Emery off of her feet. It's the only time I can think of that a man has actually been right... Well done!

Christmas Gold contains, Colorado Wife, by Cheryl St. John, Jubal's Gift, by Elizabeth Lane and Until Christmas by Mary Burton. All three stories will warm your heart as we move into the holiday season. This is a real treat!

.Excellent ...

Over twenty years ago, Roger Fisher and William Ury published a thin volume entitled Getting to YES and immediately and fundamentally changed the field of negotiations. They called their new approach "principled negotiations" and its central tenets are taught and practiced throughout the world, often labeled as "interest-based," "win-win" or "collaborative" negotiations.

In their work, Fisher and Ury recognized that one of the greatest weaknesses in the traditional positional approach to negotiations was that it operated on "... the assumption of a fixed pie" (Getting to YES, p. 58). Negotiators in this setting spent their resources on dividing it.

Fisher and Ury then postulated that if negotiators turned from positions to focusing on the interests of the parties and then worked together to seek creative options to satisfy those interests, negotiations offered an unlimited potential for adding value for all the parties. It was a true break through.

"How you negotiate may determine," Fisher and Ury wrote, "whether the pie is expanded or merely divided" (Getting to YES, p.177). Their approach offered the promise of changing negotiations from a zero-sum game to a collaborative effort to create new value.

When Fisher and Ury published Getting to YES in 1981, it was far more than a theoretical treatise. Their work provided multiple examples of negotiating situations and interactions to illustrate their approach.

In the two decades that have passed since their book appeared, however, author after author has written a primer on how to do collaborative negotiations. Training programs have abounded on the subject.

Why, then, the reader might ask, is yet another book on how to achieve the promise of the collaborative approach important. It is vital because negotiators continue to struggle with practicing the concept.

Expand the Pie uses the experiences of its three authors in consulting, training and coaching to teach the reader "what to say and do" on order to successfully practice collaborative negotiations (Expand, p.2). Two of the authors of this companion piece to Getting to YES, Grande Lum and Irma Tyler-Wood, were students of Professor Fisher. Fisher calls Expand the Pie "...perhaps the most useful book you will find"(Expand the Pie, p.i). This reviewer fully concurs.

At it's core, collaborative negotiating requires careful and thorough preparation, an orchestrated process towards clearly defined objectives during the negotiations and the patience and skill to keep the participants focused on creating value. Expand the Pie provides a tested, clear and easily understandable step-by-step guide to the process. I am convinced you can become truly a successful collaborative negotiating leader by using this complementary volume to Getting to YES.

The key to collaborative negotiating is clear in the Getting to YES and reinforced by the authors of Expand the Pie. "Prepare, then prepare some more, and finally, prepare again" (Expand the Pie, p.185). This said, what do we need to know?

The writers begin by focusing on the key elements of the negotiation and introduce a preparation model they call ICON, standing for Interests, Criteria, Options, and No agreement alternatives. It is these elements that the negotiator must explore in detail to ready themselves for negotiations.

Using their model, the authors clearly define and discuss the importance of each of the elements and offer solid suggestions on how to prepare fully. We follow real negotiating cases, use simple negotiating worksheets and encounter quick summations and review questions at the end of each chapter as we move along. It is a brilliantly constructed self-learning approach.

When the first section is completed, the reader will have identified the interests of all the stakeholders, prioritized them and tagged complementary and opposing interest clusters. Also, the reader will have searched for potential options, identified criteria that might be used to evaluate various options and analyzed their position and alternatives in the event that no agreement is concluded.

Having planned the basic elements of the negotiation, the reader moves to the next section on formulating a strategy for conducting the negotiation in a collaborative manner. The authors present another organizing device for this phase that they call the 4D Process: Design, Dig, Develop and Decide. At this stage, the reader is setting goals for the negotiations, devising methods to probe for interests and brainstorm for creative options and learning to develop decisions through a variety of interim steps.

Once again, the reader examines accounts of actual negotiations, explores clear expositions of the essential steps in each process and employs negotiating worksheets and review questions to reinforce the learning process. It is practical and clear direction that the reader will find absolutely on target.

Finally, recognizing that even the most carefully planned negotiation may go astray, the authors address a litany of "difficult tactics" the negotiator may encounter and offer a strategy for dealing with each of these ploys and tricks. Additionally and importantly, they focus their strategies beyond merely countering these tactics and give the reader some solid ways to redirect the negotiation back to a collaborative format. The redirection advice is particularly valuable.

You will find much more in this book including some valuable observations on the nature of negotiations in general. The authors correctly point out, for example, that "the reality of negotiating is that the parties involved are advocates for their interests or the interests of their organization" (Expand the Pie, p. 142). As advocates, negotiators, of course, owe it to themselves and their organizations to "aim for the best possible agreement" (Expand the Pie, p. 139). Implicit in that need are the two key messages of this book:
"Until you create value, any price is too high," that is, expanding the pie (Expand the Pie, p.64)
"Prepare, then prepare ... (Expand the Pie, p.185).

Expand The Pie will show you how to negotiate, guide you as you do it and pay-off in creating more value in your negotiations. It is not just a follow-on book, but a true companion piece to its intellectual wellspring.

I strongly recommend it.

John D. Baker, Editor
The Negotiator Magazine

Collaboratively written by professional business negotiators Grande Lum, Irma Tyler-Wood and Anthony Wanis-St. John, Expand the Pie: How To Create More Value In Any Negotiation is a straightforward and "user friendly" guide to improving one's skill at negotiation and bargaining. Individual chapters cogently address the importance of abandoning preconceptions and readying oneself before approaching the negotiation table; the 4D process (Design, Dig, Develop and Decide) to see discussion through to closure; using objective standards; and much more. An excellent self-help guide useful in both business and daily life, Expand The Pie is especially recommended for those new to negotiating business contracts.

Collaboratively written by professional business negotiators Grande Lum, Irma Tyler-Wood and Anthony Wanis-St. John, Expand The Pie: How To Create More Value In Any Negotiation is a straightforward and "user friendly" guide to improving one's skill at negotiation and bargaining. Individual chapters cogently address the importance of abandoning preconceptions and readying oneself before approaching the negotiation table; the 4D process (Design, Dig, Develop and Decide) to see discussion through to closure; using objective standards; and much more. An excellent self-help guide useful in both business and daily life, Expand The Pie is especially recommended for those new to negotiating business contracts.

I came upon this book by chance through a reference to an early Christian text which was based upon the story of the Buddha. I was intrigued and needed to read the book for myself.

This book, Barlaam and Iosaph, has long been attributed to St. John of Damascus and was written in about 750 A.D. subsequent to the Nicene Creed (mentioned in the text) and about the time, the editor informs us, of the Iconoclastic Controversy within the Christian Church.

The book begins with an introduction which describes a journey of an Apostle to India for purposes of encouraging conversions to Christianity. A remarkable feature of the story is the clear parallels it has to the life of the Buddha.

There was a mighty king, Abener, a pagan who persecuted the Christians. He had a son, Iosaph. At his birth, it was predicted he would be either a world ruler or a Christian holy man. The king sheltered Iosaph in a palace and gave him every pleasure imaginable. At Iosaph's entreaties, he was allowed to see the palace grounds. During these sheltered trips, he encountered an old man, a sick man, and a beggar and became aware of the transitory, suffering character of human life.

This story, of course, will be familiar to every student of Buddhism.

Iosaph is tutored in secret by a Christian ascetic, Barlaam. After many lengthy discourses on the nature of Christian doctrine, based primarily upon the Hebrew and Christian Bibles and upon Church fathers, Iosaph converts to Christianity. He is persecuted by his father. We see a debate between defenders of Christianity and the idolators. Iosaph is tempted in the flesh by a lovely wanton woman but with the help of God resists the temptation -- with great difficulty. Abener offers Iosaph one-half his kingdom. Iosaph accepts and Christianity is spread throughout this land.

Abener sees the error of his ways, repents of his persecution of the Christians and of his son, converts to Christianity, and dies redeemed. Then, Iosaph meets his destiny. He renounces his kingdom and leaves to assume the life of a mendicant monk in the desert.

He is able to find Barlamm and continues under his tutelage until Barlaam's death. Iosaph renounces his kingship at the age of 25, we are told, and spends 35 years as a monk wandering the desert.

There is much Buddhism here but much of early Christianity as well. The closing scenes of the book, including Iosaphs' renunciation of his kingdom and the description of his life in the desert as a monk, are for me powerful moments, strange as they may be to current sensibilities. There are also a good many digressions and parables throughout the text that help take the weight from the lengthy expositions of doctrine.

This book is one of the earliest in the Loeb Series of the classics. I didn't know about early Christian awareness of Buddhism and this book showed it to me. There many books that explore current relationships between Buddhism and Christianity and Judaism. Here we have it at and early date, and I would love to learn more.

This is a tale of the life of the spirit which still has power to move the reader with the power of the religious, ascetic life.

To place this on the shelves of classic christian literature would indeed be appropriate. This book is essential for the layman or scholar alike. I would also suggest reading it to your children at home. The content of the text has a serene fluidity that will keep you paced and at ease with the storyline. Although, there are no really big climatic peaks in this story, but the book just seems to maintin a poetic and heartwarming balance the whole way through. I will read this masterpiece again, and I hope you will grasp ahold of this wonderful relic of Christian literature.

Each of the major Christian traditions may be said to have a classic that expresses it's spirit in words. For Catholicism, Dante's "Divine Comedy" can arguably be said to be the greatest literary work by a believer. Reformed Protestantism might claim "Paradise Lost" in the same way. For Independant Protestentism, Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" serves as a common touchstone and expression of the faith. All are well-known to educated Westerners. From the East, nothing older than Dostoyevesky enjoys a wide reading. St. John Damascene's "Baralam and Iosaph" takes the place within Eastern tradition that the other classics do in their own. Early Church tradition held that St. Thomas converted India. That conversion did not hold. St. John of Damascus, writing in the 6th century, told the story of India's second conversion. The story may be a legend based on the life of the Bhudda, who lived a millenium before. Certainly there are resemblences: St. John writes of a prince, brought up in a palace, who never sees anything but beauty and ease, until he leaves as a young adult. On the first day of his journey, he meets with a cripple, a sick man, and an old man, and is thrown into a spiritual crisis. This is consistent with Bhuddist traditions regarding their founder. The stories differ with what comes after. Unlike the Bhudda, Iosaph does not found a religion; rather, in fleeing his father, King Abenneir, he takes counsel from a monk, Baralaam, who imparts the faith to him. Eastern Christanity, in the sixth century, was in a state of spiritual ferment, as the faith constructed what Malachai Martin called "castle visions" in his book, "The New Castle." The castle vision was a culture's original but fully-developed concept of how life on Earth ought to be, and what Man's relationship to God was meant to be. (The other great castle visions included Catholicism, the Lutheran Reformation, Angkor Wat, and American idealism, according to Martin.) St. John wrote in a century that saw the rise of Mohammad and Islam; the fall of the Zoroastrian Persian Empire; and the Iconoclast schism that threatned to tear the early church apart. Other heresies abounded: Arian kings ruled Gothic lands in the West; Nestorians abounded in the East, even reaching China. A writer of the previous century remarked that when one asked the baker for a loaf of bread, the reply was likely to include a discussion of the nature of the Son, or on His procession through the Father, or on the two Natures in one Person, and the like. Stylites stood upon pillars for as much as a half-century, praying and fasting, in all weather, wearing their beards for garments, living on what the birds and pilgrims brought them. The world was then near the zenith of what Spengler called "Magian" civilization, in his "The Decline of the West." Magian civilization was the name given to all the religous movements, beginning with Zoroaster in the 7th Century, B.C., and the post-Captivity Jewish prophets, including both Christanity, Islam, and the host of neo-Platonist, Gnostic, and other movements, that looked beyond this world to a Judgement Day and taught that a spiritual war was being fought between Good and Evil. Even as these religons were, in many cases, mutually exclusive, they shared the common characteristics noted above, and gave a distinct flavor to the age between the conversion of Constantine and the Crusades. In this milieu, St. John wrote of Iosaph's flight from his angry father, of his life in the desert with Baralaam, and of their eventual capture by Abenneir. Iosaph's meek and holy example broke through the old King's hard heart, and he, too becomes a monk, after a life lived as a bloody tyrant. (Abenneir is even named on the feast day of Baralaam and Iosaph in some Eastern communities.) The passages on Iosaph and Baraalam's life as desert monks will conjur strange feelings in Western minds: the joy with which they fasted, denied their bodies, and voluntarily endured pain in pursiut of holieness are utterly strange to our way of life. Whether or not St. John was passing on a legend of the Bhudda unknowingly or not, the spirit of the East, when it was first and fully the East, prevades this remarkable work. Reading it is like opening a wondow into the soul of a distant world, yet one that was, in time and space, much nearer to the beginning of Christanity than we are (and perhaps nearer spiritually, too). -Lloyd A. Conway

The cops and robbers game was played differently in St. Paul in the '20's and '30's than in most American cities. That's because in St. Paul organized crime was largely controlled by the Police Department. Consequently, it became the headquarters for fugitive gangs who found refuge there until Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and the Barker-Karpis gang brought federal heat to the Twin Cities in 1934. The story of the "public enemies" who found sanctuary through local mobsters and police contacts in St. Paul is told in full glorious detail here for the first time, thanks to author Paul Maccabee's great research and his battle for the release of long buried FBI files. It's a must read for all gangster buffs.

What the lengthy reviews don't really touch upon is the writing style of the author. Maccabee is has a great touch -- light, breezy and able to turn deadly serious without a wisp of melodrama. The book is organized in short snippets, little windows into the world of the times. It is tempting to grab the book and just read one of the snippets. Good luck. I've been late to work, appointments, dinner, etc, too many times because I've gotten sucked in to "just reading one more". Certainly, it's tantalizing to know the places Maccabee describes firsthand as a St. Paul resident (imagine my surprise when I found that my office was once home to a huge underworld betting parlor!) I would guess that Maccabee's storytelling insticts would enthrall people from any geographic location.

The editorial reviews above pretty much say it all--I'll just add that this book was my expert guide around St. Paul on a snowy Sunday in December. It's a class act--well-written and slickly designed on glossy paper, with plenty of rare photos. If you're interested in Depression-era crime, all you have to do is buy this book from Amazon and a plane ticket to the Twin Cities.

favorite scene with heather-
talking about her ex and his wife in bed.

favorite scene with mitch-
telling his girls he loves them and they love him. brought tears to my eyes.

favorite scene with heather and mitch together-
in the closet.

Heather Johnson has returned to Whitehorn in order to deal with her father's estate. Years ago she had escaped the bitter prison of her childhood. Ten years and three children later, Heather has found a measure of success as a public relations executive in San Francisco. It's a job that has given her a sense of self-worth and has helped to fend off the memories of her alcoholic father and the strict housekeeper he left her upbringing to. When she arrives at her father's ranch, she is advised to remodel it before selling so she reluctantly hires contractor, Mitch Fielding, to assist her. Mitch doesn't succeed in making a good impression on Heather or her children when his twin daughters wreak havoc during his interview. He can't help but admire Heather for how well-behaved her children are and arranges for her to take care of his girls during the day while he works in hopes that she might influence them in a good way. At first Heather manages to distance herself from Mitch and his motherless girls. But as she wins their hearts, she finds herself unable to extricate herself from their hope that together, they'd make a fantastic team.

"The Magnificent Seven" is by far the best of the Montana Mavericks series thus far. Cheryl St. John is to be commended for the wonderful way in which she has created two different families and integrated them into a dynamic one. It is refreshing to encounter a hero whose heart is as good as Mitch Fielding's. Though his twins are truly terrible brats who succeed in manipulating him, he finds himself helpless to deny them. But when he meets Heather, he finds himself falling in love with her beauty, her poise, and the wonderful way she disciplines her children without any fear of inadequacy. While Mitch does believe that his twins need a mother, he does not see Heather as merely fitting that role. Instead, he finds himself falling in love with her and admiring her success with the twins, a lesson she imparts to him. In an unusual but not unexpected reversal of roles, Heather balks at the idea of staying in Whitehorn and marrying Mitch. All of her childhood fears and misery are at this ranch. But her own children love living in Montana and as Mitch begins to remodel the house, she finds herself unable to dwell on the past that haunts her. Instead she begins to speculate what could be with Mitch and his girls. St. John has written a heartwarming and fluid installment of this series that will not disappoint at all.

Heather Johnson is coming home to Montana, and she'd not happy about it. Her father has died and she just wants to clear up his estate and head back to San Francisco. In order to sell her dad's place, she has to have some work done, and in order to get the work done, she's going to have to bargain with Mitch Fielding. He'll do the work for a more than reasonable rate IF she'll watch his twins. Heather has three children of her own, how much work could two more be? The deal's agreed upon. But what neither Mitch or Heather bargained for was the feelings the each had for each other, feelings that can't lead to anything since Heather's moving back to San Francisco, unless Mitch can find a reason for her to stay . . . maybe love?

Cheryl St. John pens a delightful addition to Silhouette's Montana Maverick series, creating a memorable love story that is as big as the Montana skies!

Cheryl St. John is a top notch writer who fills the pages of her books with genuine characters in heartwrenching situations. She puts her readers right there inside the hearts and heads of her characters, making it impossible not to care what happens to them. The Mistaken Widow was a joy to read. Watching these two people fall in love, in spite of the odds against them, renewed my own faith in love and romance. Not an easy thing to do. Keep it up, Cheryl, and I'll keep on buying.

This story was great fun. Knowing this was a take-off on the movie MRS. WINTERBOURNE, I kind of knew where the plot would lead, but the trip there was entertaining and fun. Sarah/Claire is a wonderful heroine, and I could imagine myself in her shoes as the situation steamrolls out of her control and carries her along for the ride. Nicholas is an interesting combination of hot passion and cool reserve, and watching him deal with his feelings for Claire/Sarah is like getting an insight into the male psyche. Again, if you like sweet, fun romance, I recommend this book. You won't be disappointed.

In Cheryl St. John's newest historical novel, Sarah Thornton finds herself trapped in another woman's identity and isn't quite sure how to escape it. As Claire Halliday she has servants and money, but the deception is eating away at her heart - a heart that finds itself aching for Claire's brother-in-law, Nicholas Halliday. The Mistaken Widow kept me up last night, reading it straight through. CSJ has the ability to not just create realistic characters, but to set their hearts beating and make them as real as any flesh-and-blood people. Sarah and Nicholas are a prime example of what she does best, creating characters that live long after the book is closed. Cheryl's on my must buy list and The Mistaken Widow is an example of why - she tells a story that doesn't just delight you for an evening, it takes up permanent residence in your heart.