Carries Book Reviews

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Stolen by the Billionaire
Blair Babylon
(Twisted Billionaires, #5)
Publication date: March 5th 2024
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Suspense

From USA Today bestselling author Blair Babylon comes a new edge-of-your-seat romantic suspense thriller between an Iowa farm girl and the ex-Navy SEAL billionaire who kidnaps her.

I am an American Navy SEAL, and I will not be blackmailed by a goddamn Russian mafia boss.

Years ago, I parlayed a loan into a billion-dollar crypto fortune. The head of the White Russian Syndicate is demanding I pay it back in illegal military-grade weapons, but I won’t. I will not be responsible for adding to the misery of innocents.

It’s time to hit back at the head of the White Russian Syndicate.

So I kidnap the mafia boss’s niece.

Who I did not realize is my best friend’s estranged little sister.

Who he’s never mentioned.

Not even once.

Sarah is a sweet little hayseed right off her Iowa farm, but when the mafia boss decides she’s a liability to eliminate, she becomes my responsibility to protect.

We’re on the run. But with each passing day, with each attack I defend her from, every hotel room with only one bed, I’m starting to fall for her.

The Russian mafia wants Sarah dead, and her brother is going to murder me when he finds out I’ve gone too far with his sister.

If you like:

✓ Enemies to Lovers

✓✓ Only one bed!

✓✓✓ On the run thrill rides!

✓✓✓✓ Hot, ripped billionaires

✓✓✓✓✓ Spicy stuff with ropes

You’ll love Blair Babylon’s Thrillers that Bang!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blair Babylon writes bestselling romance books that will free your mind. These five star billionaire boss, enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, and romantic novels quickly turn into suspense thriller books that will make your pulse pound and soothe your heart. Whether the couple are trapped in a pretend marriage or there’s only one bed, Blair’s books are like romancing your own duke, mister, or billionaire. Some are an ugly cry, some are an affair to

remember with a king or a prince, and some are a few shades darker, but all are unputdownable. Fans of E.L. James, Rina Kent, Nicole Snow, Sadie Kincaid, Catharina Maura, and Shantel Tessier will love Blair’s romantic books and romance audiobooks. Set your heart free with these fantastic, complete series!

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

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EXCERPT:

Blaze

 

Blaze Robinson crossed his ankle over his knee as he sat in front of his lawyer’s desk, trying to get comfortable but not fidget in the chair that was scaled for someone much smaller than he was. The squat seat made his knees stick up like a grasshopper, and his shoulders were broader than the chair’s back. He growled, “I am an American Navy SEAL, and I will not be blackmailed by a goddamn Russian mafia boss.”

 

The lawyer behind the desk, Bình Huong, broke eye contact and looked down at the letter and documents he was holding. The corner of the paper in his hands wavered, and his fingers tightened. His hair on the top of his head stuck up where it had been cut too short. “This Mary Varvara Bell, whom you say is involved in organized crime, never specifically threatens you with physical harm in the letter. If she had, I would’ve recommended that you take it directly to the FBI.”

 

Blaze bent one elbow, squeezing his bicep. His suit jacket tightened around his arm, and he rubbed his chin. “We will not be involving the authorities.”

 

Dealings with foreign agents like Russian oligarchs could get his Top Secret security clearance revoked, even unwilling dealings.

 

“I’m shocked that she rejected your settlement offers,” the lawyer said. “They were overly generous, assuming she doesn’t want to go to court.”

 

“She knows I won’t.”

 

The lawyer glanced up at Blaze again before he hurriedly shuffled the papers on his desk. “I can’t believe a competent attorney allowed you to sign this loan.”

 

Blaze shrugged. “I didn’t have a lawyer. I was twenty years old and fresh out of BUD/S.” The elation and trauma of surviving the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training course, also called “A” school, had colored his perception with a blue sheen of invincibility for months. “I owned nothing except a few uniforms and my boots. It seemed low risk at the time.”

 

“But then the original signatory, Stanley Bell, died, and Mary Varvara Bell inherited the company.”

 

“Confiscated his assets in a hostile takeover is more like it,” Blaze muttered. She’d taken over the White Russian Syndicate in a maneuver like a military coup.

 

“And now she’s threatening you with fulfilling the conditions of this contract.” The attorney flipped his gaze up to meet Blaze’s eyes again. “You haven’t disclosed your financials to me, so I’m unsure what to recommend. Most career military people wouldn’t be able to come up with the money to purchase what she’s demanding unless they had invested the initial loan in something with a thousand-percent return,” he chuckled.

 

Blaze didn’t answer. He had accountants for financial advice.

 

The attorney rifled through the pages, referring from one text block to another. “The list of her demands in lieu of your assets will run to millions of dollars if not many millions. It’s twenty times more than what the initial zero-interest loan was for.”

 

“I’m aware of that.”

 

“I’m not even sure that some of these weapons she wants are legal,” Huong muttered.

 

Blaze knew a lot about weapons. “Some are not legal to buy or possess here in Illinois,

but it’s relatively easy to purchase the equipment in other states or, for a few, other countries.”

 

Huong looked over the top of the pages at Blaze, his eyebrows raised in exasperation. “Is she trying to set herself up like Blackwater, or Academi, or whatever they’re calling themselves these days? This list looks like she wants to equip a private mercenary force. I mean, private warfare is a lucrative field, but this can’t be legal.”

 

“I could not discern her motives from the letter.”

 

This time, the lawyer stared straight at Blaze. “But you know why she wants military-grade weapons like this.”

 

Blaze didn’t know, but he had theories. The lawyer didn’t have a need to know his thoughts on the matter, so he just shrugged again.

 

All the possible reasons for Bell demanding that particular shopping list were detrimental for the world and the US, which meant Blaze’s US Navy SEAL brothers-in-arms would be in harm’s way if she got those weapons.

 

And that was unacceptable.

 

Damn, he wished he’d refused that stupid loan all those years ago. Nothing was free in this world. Nothing was even cheap.

 

Huong went back to scanning the documents. “All right, let’s go through the three basic parts of a contract, just in case we can break it. There is an offer and an acceptance on your and Stanley Bell’s parts, so it’s a quid pro quo agreement. That’s two of the requirements.”

 

Blaze waited. He could outwait anything. He’d spent fifteen hours curled around a sniper rifle one time, waiting for a terrorist to come out of a building, and he’d made the shot.

 

The lawyer continued, “As for consideration, the third component of a legal and binding contract, both the loan and repayment were something of value, so that just leaves your competence. You signed the contract when you were of legal age to do so and weren’t inebriated or otherwise compromised, right?”

 

Blaze nodded. He’d been stone-cold sober. Stanley Bell, the Malefactor, had been drunk. Mary Varvara Bell would waive that stipulation if he tried to take her to court over it, so it didn’t count.

 

“You received the money from Mr. Stanley Bell, Mary Varvara Bell’s predecessor in the company White Holdings LLC, so that fulfills their end of the contract and makes you liable for the later repayment clause. The contract is with the company, not with Mr. Bell, so you were not

released from the debt when Stanley Bell died.”

 

That was where Blaze had made his mistake. When the Malefactor had died, he’d breathed a sigh of relief.

 

All four of them had erred in their supposed liberation. Tristan “Twist” King, Micah Shine, Logan Bell, and he had partied on Twist’s yacht in Monaco and toasted Stanley Bell’s probable descent into Hell.

 

But they’d breathed easy too soon.

 

The Devil always comes to collect a debt.

 

The lawyer shook his head. “I’m sorry, Mr. Robinson, but you need to liquidate all your assets and possessions and turn everything you own over to White Holdings. Otherwise, you’d have to figure out how to purchase this dictator’s wish list of weapons, ammunition, and sundry military items, including military-grade body armor and devices, and we both know that’s impossible.”

 

Not impossible. Just morally reprehensible.

 

And irresponsible on a global scale.

 

An irritated twinge snapped the corner of Blaze’s eye, and he rubbed the lid to dispel it.

 

Acquiring the military supplies and dumping them on Bell’s doorstep to discharge the debt wasn’t an option for Blaze. The guilt and shame would’ve been like his father was in the room and commenting on his homework or Little League game.

 

Huong tapped the documents on the desk, straightening the edges, and held the sheaf of paper out to him over the desk. “As your lawyer, I would advise you to discuss it with your financial advisors and determine which amount is less. If purchasing an army’s worth of weapons is less than your total net worth, then I would advise you to fulfill the contract. If your net worth is less, liquidate everything, hand it to her, and walk away. You’re young, not even twenty-seven. You have time to recover from this financial setback. Unfortunately, a lawyer can do little after a contract has been signed, particularly a contract as airtight as this one. Those are the rules.”

 

Blaze’s hands rested gently on the arms of the chair, not clutching, not cramping. His body was at ease, as were his mind and heart. “Rules? What rules are those?”

 

The lawyer shook his head like he was as exasperated by his uselessness as Blaze was. “Fighting this contract in court would be a waste of your money in lawyers ’fees. The outcome will be the same. Sorry, Mr. Robinson. I don’t make the rules.”

 

Rules. Fuck rules.

 

Blaze stood and straightened the slacks of the Armani suit he’d worn into the lawyer’s office. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Huong.”

 

The lawyer rose and extended his hand for a concluding handshake. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help. If you need someone to draw up an NDA or negotiate with White Holdings on your behalf for a payment plan or time for you to liquidate, I can do that. I’m sorry I don’t have better options for you, but the only rational option is conceding.”

 

Blaze wrapped his much larger hand around the attorney’s and looked down at his lawyer. “A Navy SEAL always has options.”

 

“Contractually, you don’t. I’m sorry, but there’s no way you can win this fight in court.”

 

Like hell.

 

Out of sheer force of habit, Blaze recited, “No matter how much it hurts, how dark it gets,

or how far I fall, I am never out of the fight.”

 

Huong jerked his hand out of Blaze’s grip and shuffled back from his desk, presumably out of Blaze’s reach.

 

Blaze didn’t realize he had growled the common inspirational SEAL quote until he noticed microdroplets of sweat welling from the pores on Huong’s nose and cheekbones and felt the dampness of the lawyer’s hand in his own palm.

 

Dammit, Blaze hadn’t meant to scare the guy. The lawyer was just doing his job.

 

Huong stared at his hands splayed on the wood of his desk. “Always a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Robinson.”

 

Blaze nodded. “Likewise.”

 

He turned and left the office, walking through the rotating door of the lobby and into the Midwestern summer morning.

 

Sunlight reflected off t

breeze skidded over Lake Erie and threaded through the grid of streets. A park down by the waterfront was lush with dark green grass and June flowers.

 

Signing that deal with the Devil seven years ago had been one of the greatest mistakes of Blaze’s life, but he would be damned if he’d go down without a fight.

 

Rules.

 

In warfare, the larger force dictated the rules of engagement.

 

US Navy SEALs were always the smaller fighting force, so a Navy SEAL was taught that they must break the rules to win.

 

Blaze knew how to break the rules. All the rules. Every time.

 

Mary Varvara Bell had threatened him, so he’d threaten something of hers.

 

 

Author Bio:

“I’m passionate about books and literature. Books delve into what it means to be human and connect us to each other. I write intense, deeply imagined romance novels for serious readers because the world needs more love.” ~~Blair Babylon

Blair Babylon is an award-winning, USA Today bestselling author who used to publish literary fiction. Because professional reviews of her other fiction usually included the caveat that there was too much deviant sex and too much interesting plot, she decided to abandon all literary pretensions, let her freak flag fly, and write hot, sexy, suspenseful romance.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook Page / Facebook Group / Instagram / Youtube

 

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**This post contains Amazon affiliate links which will allow me as an associate to earn a small commission on any purchase made through the link of the products I share. This commission in no way changes the pricing of any items for the buyer.**

Elements & Flame
Jillian Beane
(The Elemental Series, #1)
Publication date: March 4th 2024
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

After losing a hard fought battle, Suleima finds a new home in the wilderness outside a small town to heal her wounds and recover her Elemental magic.

A small town which houses a werewolf pack.

When that past begins to encroach on her new territory, she and her friends, new and old, must figure out a way to win this time.

Will her dragon shifter best friend and the Alpha of the pack be enough to permanently remove the evil that threatens?

Rumors of a flower hidden in a cave could be what they need to tip the scales in their favor. But to get to this cave, she must face challenges that threaten everything that she has ever known.

**** Action Adventure Fantasy with Slow Burn Romance. Werewolves, Magic, Dragon shifters, Mythical Creatures. Join the characters in their Epic Journey to the top of a mountain.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

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EXCERPT:

Tracking a doe through the forest, Suleima could feel the earth breathing beneath her feet. There was nowhere near the connection to the earth and her elements in the city that she’d found here in her new home. Here, she was on her own, and away from the rapid pace of the city, away from her past, and she preferred it that way.

There was a squirrel foraging for nuts to the west, a snake sunning on a rock somewhere to the south. A pack of predators were a couple miles north—too far to judge the species. Using the earth’s essence more than her own sight, she could see the trees. Each individual leaf pulsed and vibrated with the slight breeze in the air, straining for the sun. The screech of a hawk, soaring above, brought her back to her task.

Using the vibrations, the ebb and flow of the earth and her elements, she was able to silently track the doe deep into the forest to a small clearing just beside a shallow creek. Even that small trickle of water was enough to make her muscles sing. If not for the rain last night, the creek would likely be dry. She crouched, placing her right hand on the ground, physically connecting with the soil below. Her

fingers tingled and her blood raced. As the power of the elements raced through her, she knew her eyes had drifted from their usual gray to a vibrant violet.

Suleima basked in the warmth of the sun, filtered through the leaves of the trees behind her. Taking a deep breath, Suleima released the energy she was holding while touching the soil, and slowly stood. She retraced her steps out of the clearing and headed in the direction of her home. She had waited too long to use the elements; she was tired and needed to recharge.

She never should have let it go for this long. She needed to keep her skills honed. Although she was away from the city, the reason she left was still out there, and her past would catch up with her sooner or later. Hearing a slight huff to her left, she cursed herself for letting her guard down. The pack of predators she sensed earlier had closed in on her without her knowing it. Wolves . . . werewolves.

 

Author Bio:

I have been writing since I was in high school and have finally found the courage to put some of that writing out for all to see. I have a love of all things artistic and crafty. Reading books, watching movies and listening to music makes my heart happy. I am a self-proclaimed Jack of All Trades, Master of None. I live in the mid-west with my husband, two amazing and crazy kids, and a cat who we think is part squirrel.

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook / Instagram

 

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Double Vision
Shaolin Poe
Publication date: July 24th 2023
Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy

Magic gifts are rare, and they’re a closely guarded secret for mystos—the name for those who possess such abilities. Wyatt Glasson’s talent is speculomancy—an uncommon type of magic that grants him the ability to see any reflected image. Modern civilization and its reflective surfaces mean people are always in view of Wyatt’s magic. And he’s used that advantage to create a wealthy, insulated existence for himself, tucked safely away from magical society. After all, being powerful offers little protection when you’re part of a tiny minority who would rather cut your throat to protect themselves than back you up and risk their safety. But Wyatt’s comfortable life is about to be turned upside down.

When the Arcane building is attacked by a team of rogue mystos, Wyatt is forced to choose between maintaining his anonymity or displaying his unique and powerful ability. Unfortunately for Wyatt, both choices come with grave consequences.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

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EXCERPT:

The sun shone like a beacon in the brilliant blue sky, casting shimmering rays of light that made everything on the café patio appear vibrant. Mulched areas around the patio boasted pockets of colorful flowers. Carefully placed trees lent their shade to tables on the outskirts of the dining area. The setting was picture-perfect, as if it had captured life in full bloom.

A dark-featured, handsome man in a sleek business suit smiled wolfishly. He stood up from his seat at the outdoor café table and shook hands with the short, overweight, balding man standing across from him. The handsome man’s smile faltered and his features fell slack as a bullet ripped out of his forehead and sprayed blood all over his lunch companion’s face.

The short man sputtered, backing away from the scene. He stumbled into a nearby table, knocking over drinks as he tried to regain his balance. Diners around him stopped talking to gawk, while others looked in shock at the spilled spaghetti dinner that was the other man’s forehead. The balding man’s ruddy face went pale, and tiny droplets of cold sweat coated his face as comprehension clicked. Baldy stood frozen for a few precious seconds. Maybe baldy thought the hit was complete. Maybe terror was replaced by hope. Maybe he thought he could

outrun the next bullet. Whatever the fleeting thought was, baldy snapped out of his stillness, turned, and ran.

His movements were jerky and uncoordinated. It looked like he was trying to rev his out-of-shape body from zero to sixty miles per hour, and his current configuration wouldn’t allow it. He made it exactly four steps before a bullet pierced the back of his skull, adding to his forward momentum and throwing him to the ground like a limp, overstuffed doll. The diners, who hadn’t screamed at the initial hit, finally seemed to realize what was happening. They howled and ran for their lives almost in unison.

Wow. Whoever the operator was on this job was a special kind of sick bastard. Instead of putting a bullet in the first target and immediately moving to the second, he (or she, because girls can be messed up too) waited a couple of seconds. It’s like the sniper wanted to give baldy time for the dark realization to dawn that he was going to die. Someone definitely missed out on a few hugs as a child.

With sick fascination, I changed the scene I was viewing on Horus. I captured the reflection of a single, squinting, green eye looking into a high-powered rifle scope. As if the eye saw me back, it jerked away and its owner snapped the scope cover shut. This eye was new. I’d have to keep an “eye” on it in the future. I chuckled at my pun, then sighed. I needed to get out more.

I often watched the assassinations on a wall-sized plate of tinted glass I’d nick-named “Horus.” The name had Egyptian roots. It referred to what people now knew as the All-Seeing Eye. The nickname kept me from accidentally giving away my little secret. They said clothes made the man, but it had been my experience that careful habits made the man. Horus was my “source,” and I was an information broker, of sorts. It rolled off the tongue to say I needed to check with “Horus.” And people assumed Horus was the name of my contact or a cover name for my network of contacts. Honestly, that wasn’t too far from the truth.

I switched the view back to the outdoor patio scene and watched the remaining diners scatter like gazelles. I had no qualms about enabling the deaths of those men. They’d sown enough evil to earn their bloody ending several times over.

A moral compass was important when wielding the type of power I had, or at least that’s what I told myself. I refused to deliberately use my gift against people unless they had proven their guilt. Work of this nature usually waded in the waters of moral ambiguity and often swam out to the depths of moral depravity. I’d learned that lesson the hard way, so I was unbending when it came to rules. I did have a half-depleted case of scotch in the pantry, just in case the lines became “grayer” than usual while I was working a job. But my regular clients usually toed the line, or at least lied convincingly.

 

Author Bio:

Shaolin Poe is the pen name for a husband and wife writing duo. Shaolin is a combination of their first names, and Poe is an homage to Edgar Allen Poe. They met in the military while flying on the same spy plane. They love to transport readers to unexpected places and showcase the humor of situations. When they aren’t creating make believe worlds, they enjoy music, traveling, board games, stand-up comedy, and posting to their blog shaolinpoe.com.

Website / Goodreads / Instagram / Bookbub

 

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Their Shattered Hearts
Angie Cole
(Cardinal Creek)
Publication date: March 1st 2024
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

A story of love, loss, and redemption unfolds in the rustic charm of Cardinal Creek, Texas. Will Deluca, a stoic firefighter and ranch owner, bears the weight of his wife’s untimely demise. His world once filled with warmth, now echoes with the silent grief of his two children and the unyielding Texas plains.

Enter Anna Samuels, a heart that’s seen its share of sorrow. Leaving Missouri’s memories behind, she hopes to find solace and new beginnings in the small Texas town. As a dedicated palliative care nurse, she embarks on a mission to bring comfort to families grappling with illness. Destiny leads her to Rockin ’D Ranch, where her path crosses with Will, a man whose rugged charm and piercing blue eyes hide a world of pain.

Amidst the rolling hills of Cardinal Creek, Will and Anna find their lives intricately entwined, linked by a forgotten encounter from their youth. Anna’s arrival sparks a glimmer of hope in Will’s heart, inspiring him to fulfill a promise to his late wife: to create a sanctuary for children with autism. Together, they begin to weave dreams of a brighter future.

But shadows linger in the corners of their newfound happiness. Anna grapples with a dark secret that threatens to destroy the life she has built in Cardinal Creek. As Will confronts his own fears, he risks losing the one person who could help him heal. In the face of adversity, will they find the strength to conquer their demons and embrace a second chance at love?

In Their Shattered Hearts fate, passion, and dark secrets collide. Join Will and Anna as they journey through the complexities of the heart, learning that sometimes, the path to happiness is paved with the courage to face the ghosts of the past.

Goodreads / Amazon

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CHARACTER QUOTES:

Will Deluca: “Every star in the Texas sky reminds me of what I’ve lost… and what I still hope to find.”

Anna Samuels: “Healing others is my calling, but healing my own heart? That’s a journey I didn’t expect to take.”

Will Deluca: “They say time heals all wounds, but here in Cardinal Creek, it’s love that does the healing.”

Anna Samuels: “In every patient’s smile, I see a piece of my grandfather’s legacy… and a part of my heart healing.”

Will Deluca: “I never thought I’d find love again. Turns out, it was waiting for me in the last place I expected.”

 

Author Bio:

My journey as a romance author is deeply rooted in my personal experiences of love, loss, and resilience. The profound impact of the losses I have endured, including the passing of my grandparents and my parents, has shaped my perspective on life and love.

My own love story is one of healing and finding joy after heartache, and it mirrors the themes I explore in my novels.

As a survivor of grief and a believer in the power of love, I channel my experiences into crafting stories that resonate with the complexities and triumphs of the human heart. My writing is a testament to the idea that love can emerge from the most unexpected places, offering hope and healing. The one thing that can be learned from grief is that it’s a very personal experience and isn’t the same for every person.

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GIVEAWAY!

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**This post contains Amazon affiliate links which will allow me as an associate to earn a small commission on any purchase made through the link of the products I share. This commission in no way changes the pricing of any items for the buyer.**

While this week’s post may seem overly large with fourteen new books I did really stay within my goal numbers but instead missed last week’s post making this two weeks worth of books. Sure, I’ll still be testing the limits of my ever towering TBR but at least I didn’t break my streak and fall off the wagon!

As always clicking the covers will take you to the book on Amazon!**

New additions from Netgalley Feb 18th  – Mar 3rd

An aimless young woman starts writing to an accused serial killer while he awaits trial and then, once he’s acquitted, decides to move in with him and take the investigation into her own hands in this dark and irresistibly compelling debut thriller.

Recently ghosted and sick of watching her friends fade into the suburbs, thirty-something Hannah finds community in a true-crime forum that’s on a mission to solve the murders of four women in Atlanta. After William, a handsome lawyer, is arrested for the killings, Hannah begins writing him letters. It’s the perfect outlet for her pent-up frustration and rage. The exercise empowers her, and even feels healthy at first.

Until William writes back.

Hannah’s interest in the case goes from curiosity to obsession, leaving space for nothing else as her life implodes around her. After she loses her job, she heads to Georgia to attend the trial and befriends other true-crime junkies like herself. When a fifth woman is discovered murdered, the jury has no choice but to find William not guilty, and Hannah is the first person he calls upon his release. The two of them quickly fall into a routine of domestic bliss.

Well, as blissful as one can feel while secretly investigating their partner for serial murder…

A horror-tinged National Lampoon’s Vacation: This is one family getaway they’ll never forget…

Leigh Somerset wants to spend some quality time with her kids before they grow up, and her husband has always fancied himself sort of a Clark Griswold figure. So the Somersets will be spending their family vacation on the road, driving from suburban Milwaukee to Orlando, Florida. Already off to a rocky start, when they stumble upon an abandoned, half-burned farmhouse in Indiana, the Somersets inadvertently unleash an eerie past that will follow them the rest of their trip.

From creepy indoor waterparks to paranormal-activity plagued Cracker Barrels, it’s one thing after another in the pursuit of the great American summer road trip. Will the Somersets be able to shake these bad vibes and get on with family bonding, or will the road less traveled become the highway to hell?

From the author of The Christmas Café, a romantic comedy about a woman who’s determined to save Christmas for her sons, even if it means waging a holiday cookie war with their handsome principal…if she can resist falling in love with him.

Melody Monroe will do anything to help her nine-year-old twin boys muster up the holiday spirit. Especially since they lost their father, the boys have started questioning the point of Christmas at all. 

So, when Melody learns the school’s Yuletide Cookie Club has disbanded due to dissension in the top ranks, she knows she must take over the cookie club herself, even if it means dealing with the infuriating school principal, Jonathan Braxton.

But when a small argument turns into a town-wide bake-off between her and Jonathan, Melody finds that her competitive spirits have turned romantic. Love can’t be in the cards. Her focus is on her boys, and saving Christmas. This year, will Melody be willing to let go of the past and embrace the magic of the holidays for herself?

A woman inherits a beach house, along with a series of weekend guests, while butting heads with the irritable (and irritatingly handsome) man next door, in this sparkling new escape from Jane L. Rosen.
 
When a Zoom disaster upends Addison Irwin’s decade-long career at a posh Manhattan advertising agency, things look bleak for the thirty-something mid-western transplant. But an unexpected inheritance from an aunt she barely remembers—a property on Fire Island, complete with guest house and artist’s studio—changes everything.
 
While debating whether to stay or sell, Addison learns that she’s also inherited her aunt’s list of eclectic guests, tying her to the island for seven summer weekends. Eager to convince Addison to keep the house rather than let a new buyer build a monstrosity in its place, the neighbors welcome her to their laid-back community. Well, all except the moody guy next door, who seems intent on glowering his way through life.
 
Steadfast in her path since college, Addison is determined not to let this detour on Fire Island throw her off track. But soon, between the revolving door of weekend visitors and the up-and-down relationship with her neighbor (and his adorable dog), she finds herself in unfamiliar territory. Should she try to pick up where she left off—or embrace entirely new possibilities?

After the Jacobson siblings win a life-changing fortune in the lottery, they assume their messy lives will transform into sleek, storybook perfection–but they couldn’t be more wrong.
 
The four Jacobson children were raised to respect the value of a dollar. Their mother reused tea bags and refused to pay retail; their father taught them to budget before he taught them to ride a bike. And yet, now that they’re adults, their financial lives are in disarray.
 
The siblings reunite when their newly widowed father puts their Jersey Shore beach house on the market. Packing up childhood memories isn’t easy, especially when there’s other drama brewing. Matthew is miserable at his corporate law job and wishes he had more time with his son; Laura’s marriage is imploding in spectacular fashion; Sophie’s art career is stalled while her boyfriend’s is on the rise; and Noah’s total failure to launch has him doing tech repair for pennies.
 
When Noah sees an ad for a Powerball drawing, he and his sisters go in on tickets while their brother Matthew passes.  All hell breaks loose when one of the tickets is a winner and three of the four Jacobsons become overnight millionaires. Without their mother’s guidance, and with their father busy playing pickleball in a Florida retirement village, the once close-knit siblings search for comfort in shiny new toys instead of each other.
 
It’s not long before the Jacobsons start to realize that they’ll never feel rich unless they can pull their family back together.

A struggling writer is forced to walk down the aisle at her best friend’s wedding with the man who gave her book a very public one-star rating in this fresh romantic comedy from Laura Hankin.

Natalie and Rob couldn’t have less in common. Nat’s a messy artist, and Rob’s a rigid academic. The only thing they share is their devotion to their respective best friends—who just got engaged. Still, unexpected chemistry has Natalie cautiously optimistic about being maid of honor to Rob’s best man.

Until, minutes before the ceremony, Nat learns that Rob wrote a one-star review of her new novel, which has them both reeling: Nat from imposter syndrome, and Rob over the reason he needed to write it.

When the reception ends, these two opposites hope they’ll never meet again. But, as they slip from their twenties into their thirties, they’re forced together whenever their fast-track best friends celebrate another milestone. Through housewarmings and christenings, life-changing triumphs and failures, Natalie and Rob grapple with their own choices—and how your harshest critic can become your perfectly imperfect match.

After all, even the truest love stories sometimes need a bit of rewriting.

A professional baseball player and his heckler prove that true love is worth going to bat for in the next swoony romance by USA Today bestselling author Alicia Thompson.

Daphne Brink doesn’t follow baseball, but watching “America’s Snoozefest” certainly beats sitting at home in the days after she signs her divorce papers. After one too many ballpark beers, she heckles Carolina Battery player Chris Kepler, who quickly proves there might actually be a little crying in baseball. Horrified, Daphne reaches out to Chris on social media to apologize . . . but forgets to identify herself as his heckler in her message.

Chris doesn’t usually respond to random fans on social media, but he’s grieving and fragile after an emotionally turbulent few months. When a DM from “Duckie” catches his eye, he impulsively messages back. Duckie is sweet, funny, and seems to understand him in a way no one else does.

Daphne isn’t sure how much longer she can keep lying to Chris, especially as she starts working with the team in real life and their feelings for each other deepen. When he finds out the truth, will it be three strikes, she’s out?

A professor of literature finds herself caught up in a work of fiction…literally, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Year Slip and The Dead Romantics.

Eileen Merriweather loves to get lost in a good happily-ever-after. The fictional kind, anyway. Because at least imaginary men don’t leave you at the altar. She feels safe in a book. At home. Which might be why she’s so set on going her annual book club retreat this year—she needs good friends, cheap wine, and grand romantic gestures—no matter what.

But when her car unexpectedly breaks down on the way, she finds herself stranded in a quaint town that feels like it’s right out of a novel…

Because it is.

This place can’t be real, and yet… she’s here, in Eloraton, the town of her favorite romance series, where the candy store’s honey taffy is always sweet, the local bar’s burgers are always a little burnt, and rain always comes in the afternoon. It feels like home. It’s perfect—and perfectly frozen, trapped in the late author’s last unfinished story.

Elsy is sure that’s why she must be here: to help bring the town to its storybook ending.

Except there is a character in Eloraton that she can’t place—a grumpy bookstore owner with mint-green eyes, an irritatingly sexy mouth and impeccable taste in novels. And he does not want her finishing this book.

Which is a problem because Elsy is beginning to think the town’s happily-ever-after might just be intertwined with her own.

This chilling, sizzling, and addictive thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Vi Keeland follows a New York psychiatrist’s dark descent into dangerous obsession.

This isn’t a love story.

It’s a story about obsession.

After experiencing a terrible loss, New York City psychiatrist Meredith McCall feels painfully adrift. When she crosses paths with a man with whom she has a tragic connection, she follows him, sparking an unhealthy obsession with Gabriel Wright. How is he doing so well while her life is in shambles?

But when Gabriel walks into her office as a patient, seemingly unaware of who she is, she knows it crosses all ethical and moral bounds to treat him. Yet, Meredith can’t bring herself to turn him away and becomes further entangled. With her life and career continuing to unravel, it appears that things could not get any worse…until they do.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong delivers a fun romantic comedy about a woman writing under a male pseudonym and the man she hires to play the role in public.

Daphne McFadden already knows that as a female author, the cards are stacked against her. Now she knows just how much. Because her sudden whim to pose as an “outdoorsy hunk of masculinity” male author for her new book just resulted in the unthinkable: a bidding war, a huge book deal, and the kind of fame every author dreams of. Now she’s in big trouble. Because she needs to convince the world that Zane Remington actually exists . . . but how?

By hiring an actor, of course.

Only Chris Stanton is not an actor—not officially. He’s used to balancing the books, not pretending he wrote one. Still, he’s mostly certain he can pose as some overly macho bro-author. But when the media descend on Daphne’s gorgeous remote home in the Yukon, it’s not enough for Chris to just be the face of Zane Remington—he’ll have to become him. All while hilariously balancing the terrifying dangers of the wilderness, a massive femme fandom, and a serious crush on Daphne. But as the hype circus gets more out of control, it’s just a matter of time before someone discovers their little write lie . . .

Disturbing the Dead is the latest in a unique series with one foot in the 1860s and the other in the present day. The Rip Through Time crime novels are a genre-blending, atmospheric romp from New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong.

Victorian Scotland is becoming less strange to modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson. Though inhabiting someone else’s body will always be unsettling, even if her employers know that she’s not actually housemaid Catriona Mitchell, ever since the night both of them were attacked in the same dark alley 150 years apart. Mallory likes her job as assistant to undertaker/medical examiner Dr. Duncan Gray, and is developing true friends—and feelings—in this century.

So, understanding the Victorian fascination with death, Mallory isn’t that surprised when she and her friends are invited to a mummy unwrapping at the home of Sir Alastair Christie. When their host is missing when it comes time to unwrap the mummy, Gray and Mallory are asked to step in. And upon closer inspection, it’s not a mummy they’ve unwrapped, but a much more modern body.

What happens when a husband’s dying wish is for his wife to find a new love . . . before he’s even gone?

Ben and Harper have had a rough start to their marriage. After a surprise late-stage cancer diagnosis, Ben comes up with one final wish for his wife: he wants Harper to find a new partner before he dies. Harper is resistant to this wacky plan. If she can’t have Ben, then she doesn’t want anyone. Finally, he lets it drop, but not before the New York Times sends a journalist to do a feature story about Ben’s life . . . and his idea. When Harper opens the door, she is stunned to find the one man who got away. Or, the man she spent one perfect week with a decade ago and never saw again: Liam Hale.

Suddenly, Harper is faced with her ultimate what-if:

What if Harper had ended up with Liam instead of Ben?

What if she’d pursued life as an artist instead of teaching?

What if it had all turned out differently?

After making a wish, Harper wakes up to find herself in a parallel universe . . . where her what-ifs become a reality.

Is the grass really greener, or is she standing right where she should be, even as she inevitably faces the pain of losing the one she loves?

The best-laid plans may go awry, but the best-laid clues could frame a man for murder . . .

Never one to let a day off work go to waste, café owner Gia Morelli and a friend head out for a blissful kayaking trip through the local national forest. But the peacefulness of the day is soon shattered when they come across Cole, her head cook, standing over a dead body. Worse still, the victim was a lifelong enemy of Cole’s, and clues found on the body point to the cook as the culprit. When the police take Cole in and subject him to an intense grilling, Gia vows to do everything she can to prove his innocence.

As even more incriminating evidence surfaces—including when the murder weapon itself is found hidden at the café—Gia knows she’s up against someone brutal enough to kill and devious enough to frame Cole for the deed. With the police ready to make an official arrest and wrap up what they consider an open-and-shut case, Gia turns for help to an old friend who’s not above breaking the law himself. Because if she can’t find the killer, Cole may go from serving up hot dishes to serving a life sentence . . .

The fourth installment in the beloved Detective Annalisa Vega series

Is there such a thing as a good sociopath? Newly minted private investigator Annalisa Vega is skeptical, but her first client, Mara Delaney, insists that some sociopaths are beneficial to society. Mara has even written a book titled The Good Sociopath centered around Chicago neurosurgeon Craig Canning. Dr. Canning has saved hundreds of lives so it shouldn’t matter that he doesn’t actually care about his patients, should it? But Mara has a more urgent problem, she is now concerned that Canning might not be such a good sociopath after all. A young woman in Canning’s apartment building mysteriously plunged to her death from a balcony, and Mara fears Canning could be responsible. She needs to uncover the truth about Canning before the book comes out, so Annalisa has little time to search for answers.

Annalisa quickly discovers that more than one person wanted the young woman dead. Canning insists he didn’t do it. His charming, unflappable demeanor suggests that either he’s telling the truth or Mara is right and he’s cold-hearted to the core. But the cops believe the girl’s death was an accident. The more Annalisa probes, the more she becomes convinced it’s a fiendishly clever murder, one only a brilliant psychopath could pull off. She draws deeper into a battle of wits with Canning, so determined to prove his guilt that she forgets Mara’s most important warning—that sociopaths only care about winning at all costs. When Annalisa finally peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the horrifying truth of the girl’s death, she may be too late to save herself..