Barbara Bryan

Matt, a teenage boy from Chicago, is exiled to his grandfather's horse ranch in Topanga, California by his alcoholic mother. There, he must learn to adapt to an alien lifestyle filled with strangers and animals he finds terrifying. As Matt's new life unfolds and his love for horses grows, he realizes that his grandfather is in danger of losing his beloved ranch due to outstanding debts. Desperate to keep the ranch, his grandfather leases out one of the barns to an unscrupulous horse trainer named Robert Sinclair. Matt soon witnesses the antiquated and brutal methods of training Sinclair uses on his Tennessee Walking Horses. Confronted by an unwillingness by everyone at the ranch to oppose Sinclair and his use of horse soring, Matt searches for a way to make the outside world aware of the horse's needless torture. With the help of his friend Ariel, they devise a plan to expose Sinclair and his brutal methods. But will the fury of the yearly Santa Ana winds ignite a devastating fire and give Sinclair his chance for revenge? Topanga Canyon: Fire Season by Barbara Bryan weaves a tale that reignites the essential truth that we all intrinsically possess the courage to face the myriad of challenges in today's world and restores the knowledge that, through us, change is possible.

It is historical fiction set in events of the time. The story has resonances in today's society - suppression of freedom of expression and abuse of power of those in power."Citizens, we must rebel against the tyranny of power usurped."Thomas Paine: Rights of Man 1791John McCulloch is a young typesetter living in Edinburgh in 1792, a time of civil and political unrest in Britain; a time when Societies started to be formed throughout the land, all aiming to achieve voting reform to put an end to bribery and corruption; a time when the Establishment was terrified the masses would rise and bring about revolution as they had done in France and Lord Henry Dundas, Home Secretary, began to enlist a network of spies to catch and punish anyone printing or distributing any 'seditious material'.A chance encounter leads John to reconnect with his childhood friend Amelia - the daughter of a local landowner where his father is gamekeeper on the estate - who is destined to marry into wealth and status. They become swept up in a maelstrom of rapidly unfolding political events.At the heart of the novel is the quest for voting reform, and the quest for love in the face of adversity. "Great story. A page turner."