Book picks similar to
Broken Bayou by Rhonda R. Dennis
mystery
romance
wtf
z-emotica_bl
Take the Monkeys and Run
Karen Cantwell - 2010
Typical, that is until she sets out to find the missing link between a bizarre monkey sighting in her yard and the bone chilling middle-of-the-night fright fest at the strangely vacant house next door. When Barb talks her two friends into some seemingly innocent Charlie’s Angels-like sleuthing, they stumble upon way more than they bargained for and uncover a piece of neighborhood history that certain people would kill to keep on the cutting room floor.Enter sexy PI Colt Baron, Barb’s ex-boyfriend who would love to be cast as new leading man, filling the role just vacated by her recently estranged husband, Howard. When Colt flies in from out of town to help Barb, events careen out of control and suddenly this mini-van driving mother of three becomes a major player in a treacherous and potentially deadly FBI undercover operation. It’s up to her now. With little time to spare, she and she alone, must summon the inner strength necessary to become a true action heroine and save the lives of those she loves. The question is can she get them out alive before the credits roll?
Code Name: Genesis
Sawyer Bennett - 2019
She was an up-and-coming superstar and I was the security professional hired to keep her safe. We fell hard and fast, no matter how much we tried to resist one another. But not everyone around us was happy about our relationship, and a string of lies and deceit destroyed what we once had. I moved on from her and didn’t look back.Now I’ve taken the helm of a nationally renowned protective services company, and I’m looking to rebrand my career. The newly crowned Jameson Force Security is moving from the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas to the mountainous steel town of Pittsburgh, and the last thing I have time for is to deal with my past.More than a decade has passed since our split, but even a bruised and battered heart remembers its first love. So when Joslyn Meyers comes to me for help, I reluctantly agree to keep her safe from a terrifying stalker who keeps threatening her life.As the danger continues to intensify, it becomes clear that I’ll stop at nothing to protect the woman who turned her back on me all those years ago. Because one thing is certain—no matter how hard I try to convince myself otherwise, Joslyn still has my heart.
The Wicked Wager
Anya Wylde - 2012
A plan that should have brought the lovers together and had them married within a month. It was a simple matter of masquerading as the duke’s gardener, compromising the lady, and then having the duke rush them off to Gretna Green.Alas, he underestimates the duke’s intelligence and the tangled situation on the estate—never had he imagined that compromising a lady could be so difficult.His endeavours lead to a comedy of errors, charades, and knotty love affairs. Yet he forges ahead in spite of pesky house guests, a flea bitten mattress, his lovesick best friend, and a blackmailer.Just when things seem to be going well, someone is murdered (very inconvenient), and he happens to be one of the suspects (extremely inconvenient).His simple plan for winning the wager suddenly becomes … a tad complicated.
Defending Allye
Susan Stoker - 2018
Any other woman would have panicked during a rescue, but the wily dancer kept her cool — even after being kidnapped by an elusive human trafficker. And Gray couldn’t be happier when a grateful Allye follows him home to Colorado Springs…For Allye, finding sanctuary in the arms — and bed — of the former Navy SEAL is only temporary. People are disappearing off the streets of San Francisco, victims of the same underground trade that targeted her, and Allye could be the key to dismantling the entire operation. She’s willing to do anything to bring them down. Gray isn’t — for good reason. But you don’t say no to a tough girl like Allye who refuses to play it safe.Now Gray is risking more than ever before. The Mountain Mercenaries have his back. But is it enough to keep the woman he loves out of harm’s way?
Frosted Shadow
Nancy Warren - 2011
She’s also got a nose for trouble and a passion for solving mysteries. Imagine Columbo in a lavender suit. She never met a woman who wouldn’t look better with a little help from the Lady Bianca line of cosmetics. But don’t be fooled by appearances. Underneath the fake diamonds and the big hair is a sharp brain and a keen eye that sees the details as well as the funny side of life. When a Lady Bianca sales rep is murdered at the annual convention in Dallas, Toni is the one who notices things that some people, like sexy Detective Luke Marciano, might easily miss. Only someone who understands as much about how to make appearances deceiving could see into the mind of this killer -- a murderer who wants to give Toni a permanent makeover. Into a dead woman.
Still Life with Murder
P.B. Ryan - 2003
Born into dismal poverty, young Nell Sweeney scratches by on her wits and little else until fortune blesses her with a position as nursery governess to the fabulously wealthy Hewitts. But she soon learns that ugly secrets lurk beneath the surface of their gold-plated world.The Hewitts’ eldest son, William, a former Union Army battle surgeon and the black sheep of the family, was reported to have died three years before in a notorious Confederate prison camp. But one snowy February afternoon, his parents learn that he is, in fact, still alive—and in jail for having murdered a man while intoxicated on opium. Infuriated by his son’s deception and convinced of his guilt, August Hewitt forbids his wife from coming to Will’s aid, so she begs Nell to help exonerate him. Nell finds that she must delve into the kind of dark and treacherous underworld she thought she’d left far behind if she is to unearth the truth before the hangman’s noose tightens around William Hewitt’s throat.
Blue Midnight
Tess Thompson - 2014
“If you change your mind, here’s this.” It was the last kiss that ever weakened her knees, the last sky she noticed for over a dozen years. Then she left, returning to her fiancé, the wedding she’d committed to, and the secure life she’d yearned for since she was a little girl. Thirteen years later, her husband leaves Blythe for his young associate. Devastated, she’s unable to imagine the next chapter of her life as she packs her family’s belongings. With only the name of the small town where he once lived and the memory of their last kiss, Blythe heads across the Pacific Northwest in search of Finn. What she finds in the foothills of Blue Mountain challenges everything she thought she knew. She never expected the changes that face her, but it is her destiny…and destinies cannot be denied. The first book of the Blue Mountain series, laced with Thompson’s lovable but complex characters, Blue Midnight is a mature love story about second chances, family, and the complexities of trust and vulnerability after betrayal.
A Duchess to Fight For
Abigail Agar - 2018
Around them, couples enjoying their season pair up motivated by dowries, titles and alliances, but not by love.Percy and Louisa reject marrying on those terms but fear they won't find a partner or worse, they will have to break their vow and risk losing out to being joined in an unhappy marriage.What happens after Louisa rejects Percy's proposal? And how do their feelings for each other change?A Duchess to Fight For is a historical romance novel of approximately 80,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.
Taken!
Donald Wells - 2012
All twenty-three women shared the same look as Karen Ryan and now Karen Ryan is being stalked, hunted like prey by a man who will stop at nothing to possess her. Will Karen become victim number twenty-four? Or does the prey hide a secret that will bring her predator down?***************SPOILER ALERT*****SPOILER ALERT************Reading the descriptions of TAKEN! 2-6 may spoil the twist ending of TAKEN!TAKEN! 2 – Young BloodThere’s a killer at large in the Colorado community of Eagle’s Bluff, and the death toll is frightening. Three families have been brutally murdered, but what really sets the town on edge is the fact that the killer is one of their own. Gregory Michael Rouse, a seventeen-year-old loner, was on the outside looking in among the affluent residents. Gregory just never seemed to fit and was often the butt of cruel jokes. Now, no one’s laughing after Gregory surfaces as the prime suspect in the slayings. Criminal Profiler, Dr. Jessica White is called in to help capture Gregory, but she didn’t come alone. Her husband has also traveled to the town of Eagle’s Bluff to track down the killer. Dr. White knows that Gregory’s days of freedom are numbered, because the only thing more dangerous than the man they hunt, is her husband.TAKEN! 3 – RegretAfter Sandra Jenkins’ six-year-old daughter was taken, the young mother trusted the authorities to get her little girl back. But when the man who holds the only possible lead to her daughter’s whereabouts is set free, Sandra goes after him. Hours later, the man is dead and Sandra is following a trail that she hopes will lead to her daughter, Chrissie. As the young mother’s quest makes the news, it catches the attention of Dr. White and her husband. As the path to her daughter grows more dangerous, Sandra gains new allies and closes in on the men who have Chrissie. The odds against her are high, and when Sandra walks into a trap, her only hope of rescue is Dr. White and her husband. What comes next is a violent climax that forces husband and wife to break all the rules and, in the end, will leave them changed forever.TAKEN! 4 – Mirror ImageWhen Jeffrey Mitchell abducted eighteen-year-old Hanna Jones, he had every intention of killing her. But now, years later, as husband and wife they play games that have only losers. Dr. White and her husband share a similar past, but when these two couples collide, only one pair can come out on top.TAKEN! 5 – Young LoveCouples meet in many ways, but when beautiful, young, Jessica White awakened to find herself naked and tied to a bed, the last thing on her mind was romance. However, terror soon morphed into an intense fascination with her captor and her innate understanding of human nature allowed her to see past his actions and into his heart Meanwhile, Jessica’s father was being threatened by a serial killer with a personal grudge. But Dr. White is in luck, because his daughter’s made a new friend, and he may be the only thing deadlier than the man that stalks him.TAKEN! 6 – Red, White and BlueWhen Dr. Jessica White is taken captive by fugitive, Sebastian Rojo, her husband will stop at nothing to get her back. Aided by a sexy female bounty hunter named Blue Steele, and the ever-efficient Carly Zhang, he races against time as a winter storm threatens, and corrupt government officials plot his wife’s death.With time running out, and a dozen armed men against them, he’ll do anything to ensure his wife’s safe return, and in the end, Sebastian Rojo will learn the folly of abducting the wife of a man, who is quite possibly, the deadliest man alive.
The Truth in My Lies
Ivy Smoak - 2018
But what my husband doesn't know won't kill him. I break his rules every morning on my runs. It's always been best when I have a routine. So every day I wake up, run, clean the house, wish for a better life, repeat. And every day is exactly the same. Except for Thursdays. I live and breathe for Thursdays. It's when he comes. I watch him from a distance. I can't help myself. But I was never supposed to talk to him. I know what you're thinking. But you don't know my story. You don't know the kind of monster my husband is. And trust me, you have no idea who I am.
Deadly Offerings
Alexa Grace - 2011
It is the first adventure in this sizzling romantic suspense trilogy.Anne Mason thinks she’ll be safe living in the Midwest building a wind farm. She may be dead wrong. Someone is dumping bodies in her corn field and telling Anne they are gifts—for her!As the body count rises, Anne realizes a cold-blooded serial killer is patiently waiting and watching her every move. And he won’t stop until he ends her life. It is clear there are no limits to this killer’s thirst for revenge or how far he will go to get it.After a nasty divorce, Anne Mason does not want to get romantically involved, especially with ex-husband’s attorney, Michael Brandt.The ruggedly handsome new County Prosecutor is the last person Anne can trust, but may offer her only chance at survival from a psychopathic killer. But will she survive the passion that rages between them?
The One You Love
Paul Pilkington - 2011
Her fiancé vanishes, leaving the battered and bloodied body of his brother in their London apartment. Someone is stalking her, watching her every move. And her family are hiding a horrifying secret; a secret that threatens all those she loves. In a desperate race against time, Emma must uncover the truth if she ever wants to see her fiancé alive again. The One You Love is a fast-paced suspense mystery, full of twists and turns, following in the tradition of writers such as Nicci French and Sophie Hannah.
He Can Take It
Melissa Devenport - 2020
I’ll teach him a lesson.He will pay for what he said about me.My car breaking down is annoying enough.An arrogant mechanic doesn’t help.Jay is the cocky kind of bastard I despise.He really thinks he’s God’s gift to women.Even worse; he might be right.He’s mouthwatering attractive.The sweat and grime just intensify it.I’m angry and he’s flirting with me.His smile is infectious and his charm...Wake up Laya! Remember; I hate him.Maybe my revenge is too evil?But I really want him to feel my anger.I’m normally a good person. Nice even.I don’t care. He can take it.So why all the butterflies inside?***The Bad Boys With Benefits series (originally published as Dirty Mechanic) revolves around the car repair shop where they all work. Some say it’s the hottest garage in town.He Can Take It (originally published as Forbidden Soulmates) is a steamy hot Enemies to Lovers Romance that will keep you up at night. Full length, standalone, no cheating, no cliffhangers and a Happily Ever After.
So Much More
Taryn Plendl - 2014
Blake Patterson has no trouble getting women, in fact as the owner of a popular club, women are practically throwing themselves at him.They couldn’t be further from each other’s type, but when a solid friendship is formed, little by little the lines become blurred.In this struggle between friendship and love, the desire between them becomes too much to resist.What happens when your friend suddenly becomes So Much More?
The Obituary Society
Jessica L. Randall - 2014
Lila is charmed by the people of Auburn, from the blue-eyed lawyer with the southern drawl to the little old lady who unceasingly tries to set Lila up with her grandson. But when strange things begin to happen, Lila realizes some of her new friends are guarding a secret like it's a precious family heirloom. It's a dangerous secret, and it has come back to haunt them. Lila is caught in the middle, and her life may depend on uncovering it. But even if she can, can she stay in Auburn when not everyone is what they seem, and even the house wants her gone?