Book picks similar to
The McKenzie Artifact by Alison Kent


romance
romantic-suspense
contemporary
alison-kent

Risky Business


Nora Roberts - 1986
    But everything changes when her employee is murdered and his grieving twin brother storms into Liz’s life with revenge in his heart. Suddenly Liz is plunged into the dangerous world of drug smugglers, and she discovers how impossible it is to resist both the mystery…and the passionate man trying to solve it.

Trading Secrets


Jayne Castle - 1985
    She never dreamed the rugged expatriate would appear in Dallas to rekindle passionate memories she preferred to forget. They were, she discovered, two of a kind. Sabrina had dropped out of the corporate world, while Matt August seemed to have turned his back on the military. But Matt was a mystery. An ex-major trained in Central American operations, he was as evasive about his return to the Caribbean as he was persuasive about leaving his son behind. Sabrina was concerned about her ability to care for the troubled teenager, but concern turned to panic in the face of sudden danger. As they fled to a cabin in the wilds of Oregon, Sabrina knew it would be up to her to save them both, unless Matt -- who had shared only part of the truth even as he claimed all of her heart -- returned to find them... in time.

Danger Zone


Debra Webb - 2007
    The noise. The dirt. The roar. The furor.NASCAR's golden boy has only one regret: Jenna Williams.Not that he blames her for ditching him twelve years ago, but now she's back and has thrown a red flag.Jenna is downright frantic, clutching a ransom note demandinga cool million in exchange for her daughter's safety. Theirdaughter's, actually. Yes, she knows how it looks asking Buckfor help. But it's true. The child is theirs and Buck's the onlyone who can wrench her out of danger.Even if that means trading himself for a girl he's never known.

Perfect Weapon


Amy J. Fetzer - 2006
    That's all Dr. Sydney Hale can think. In one terrifying minute, her life was turned upside down. Now, the cops think she's a murder suspect, the government wants her to come in, and somebody will do anything, including kill, to get the knowledge only she has. Alone, she'll never survive on the run. What she needs is a perfect weapon, and Marine Jack Wilson just may be the answer to her prayers.Jack has always been clear about who the enemy is, but now, he's not sure. Why is Sydney Hale the only survivor of a government lab breach? What secrets is she hiding? Why is the government lying to him? Jack intends to find the answers to all his questions, but first, he has to keep Sydney alive long enough, and if there's anything this Marine knows, it's how to keep moving and fight back. What he doesn't know is what to do about the fierce desire she awakens in him. With no one to turn to but each other, sexual tension explodes into a passionate hunger and a tender love neither can fully trust--or live without. And with the stakes rising, Jack and Sydney will make their stand, gambling everything they have on a choice that could save--or destroy--them both...

Solitary Man


Karen Drogin - 2000
    When tough Boston cop Kevin Manning promised to care for his fatally wounded partner's family, an unexpected one night stand with the man's grieving sister wasn't part of the plan. No matter how intense the night had been, a woman like Nikki Welles deserves much more than a broken man like Kevin can give, and he leaves the next day. When he returns months later, he discovers everything has changed. Nikki can't regret the baby she's now carrying but she can't forgive Kevin for abandoning her either. Will their unexpected baby teach Kevin he's worthy of love and bring these two unlikely lovers together?

Prey


Linda Howard - 2011
    After all, why give Dare the satisfaction of knowing he can push her buttons and push her to the edge?Three years ago, Dare returned home to rural western Montana and opened a hunting business to rival Angie’s. Complicating matters is the fact that Dare has asked Angie out (not once but twice) and has given her a gift of butterflies in the process. Angie has no patience for butterflies. They only lead to foolish decisions. And now the infuriatingly handsome Iraq war vet has siphoned away Angie’s livelihood, forcing her to close up shop. Before Angie is to leave town, she organizes one last trip into the wilderness with a client and his guest, who wants to bag a black bear. But the adrenaline-fueled adventure turns deadly when Angie witnesses a cold-blooded murder and finds herself on the wrong side of a loaded gun. Before the killer can tie up this attractive loose end, a bear comes crashing through the woods—changing the dark game completely.Luckily, Dare is camping nearby and hears the shots. Forced together for their very survival, Angie and Dare must confront hard feelings, a blinding storm, and a growing attraction—while being stalked by a desperate killer and a ferocious five-hundred-pound beast. And neither will stop until they reach their prey.From the Hardcover edition.

Secrets Exposed


Lisa Renee Jones - 2004
    Her enemy is her passion, her passion is her enemy.Lindsey Paxton was once the number one defense attorney in New York. She fought for those who were innocent, but charged. Her instincts were her lifeline, never failing her, as they guided her in her choices of who to defend. Or so she thought. Until she won a case she would forever wish to have lost. Her client, an accused rapist, kills and rapes a woman only a day after being set free. Destroyed by her role in the woman's death, Lindsey blames her father's controlling ways for what she has become, and runs from her career and life. Years later - the past becomes the present . . . Her father has cancer, and Lindsey is forced to leave her career with the Washington branch of the FBI. She finds herself facing the responsibility of running her father's law firm with the reluctant help of hotshot attorney Mark Reeves, a man who sparks her temper while also managing to tempt her body, her mind, maybe even her heart. With his help she finds herself fighting the emotional battles of the past, tempted to trust both him and her instincts. Now, faced with a case inherited from her father so similar to her career-ending one, she now must decide if her instincts will lead her down the path to saving an innocent man or setting free another killer. But while she fights her own battles, someone watches, wanting from the past what he had failed to get the first time . . . Lindsey.NOTE: Previously released as Hidden Instincts. Title change to indicate prelude to the new TALL, DARK, AND DEADLY trilogy coming in late 2011. I wrote this in 2004 and it was published by a library publisher and is in hardback in many libraries. You will meet the first Walker Brother-- Royce

French Silk


Sandra Brown - 1991
    The founder of French Silk, a fabulous lingerie company, she has fought hard to make it a worldwide success. Then a TV evangelist attacks French Silk's erotic sleepwear as sinful. And when he is killed, Claire becomes the prime suspect. District Attorney Robert Cassidy knows Claire is damning herself with lie after lie about the murder, even as he feels her drawing him into her world and her very soul. But neither Cassidy nor her protests of innocence can save Claire unless she reveals a shocking truth—one she has sworn to take to the grave...

Long Road Home


Maya Banks - 2007
    Manny is shocked by the change in the woman he once knew. Kidnapped by a shadowy organization, Jules has been forced to become the very thing he’s pledged his life to defeat—a terrorist assassin. Knowing her testimony will finally bring down the organization, Manny races to get her to Washington, D.C. in one piece. Just when there’s a glimmer of hope of overcoming her past, Jules must pull off one last job or Manny’s life will be forfeit. It’s a mission she must complete…even if it means betraying the only man she has ever loved. Warning, this title contains the following: Explicit sex, adult language, violence.

Kill Without Mercy


Alexandra Ivy - 2015
    Individually they're intimidating. Together they're invincible. They're the men of ARES Security.Rafe Vargas is only in Newton, Iowa, to clear out his late grandfather's small house. As the covert ops specialist for ARES Security, he's eager to get back to his new life in Texas. But when he crosses paths with Annie White, a haunted beauty with skeletons in her closet, he can't just walk away--not when she's clearly in danger. . .There's a mysterious serial killer on the loose with a link to Annie's dark past. And the closer he gets, the deeper Rafe's instinct to protect kicks in. But even with his considerable skill, Annie's courage, and his ARES buddies behind him, the slaying won't stop. Now it's only a matter of time before Annie's next--unless they can unravel a history of deadly lies that won't be buried.

Cape Cod SEAL Rescue


Elle James - 2015
    Plagued with survivor's guilt, he's reluctant to enter a new relationship, until he meets a feisty bartender with attitude and curves to go with it.Roxi Lanier was the typical young teen in the city, happy, full of life and bulletproof, until she became the victim of a violent crime. Her mother moved her to Wellfleet on Cape Cod, away from the scene of her misfortune to start over. Fourteen years later, she's still afraid to date and be intimate with a man, the scars of her past overriding the happiness she craves. Though she's an independent owner of a thriving beach bar, she has yet to find success in love. Tides change when she witnesses a suicidal widower diving headfirst into a riptide.Decker and Roxi struggle to stay afloat through the wreckage of their pasts and the storms of the present to sail into a future together.Note: This book was previously published as Love On The Rocks, but has since been edited and contains new content.

Breath of Scandal


Sandra BrownSandra Brown - 1991
    Robbed of her youthful ideals and at the center of scandal and tragedy, Jade ran as far and as fast as she could. But she never forgot the sleepy "company town" where every man, woman, and child was dependent on one wealthy family. And she never forgot their spoiled son, who, with his two friends, changed her life forever. Someday, somehow, she'd return, exact a just revenge -- and free herself from fear, and the powerful family that could destroy her.

Flash


Jayne Ann Krentz - 1998
    Soon, they find their unruly partnership has the power to set the night on fire….Olivia Chantry may leave her desk in disarray, but she’s a business dynamo: her Seattle-based company, Light Fantastic, creates the promotional flash her clients need. Her marvelous success has almost made up for a crumbled marriage that has left her wedded to a career instead of a mate. But all that may change when Olivia inherits 49 percent of Glow, Inc., her uncle’s high-tech lighting firm, and she butts heads with the interloper who bagged the other 51 percent: Jasper Sloan, a venture capitalist and deal-maker known as an orderly man with all his ducks in a row.From the start of their feisty business dealings, the so-called partners nearly crash and burn—and barely keep control of the sexual energy crackling between them. But when they discover a blackmailer is hard at work uncovering secrets inside Glow, Inc., Olivia and Sloan’s steamy joint venture faces the acid test of truth…and a need for absolute trust. For when extortion turns to murder, a union of their minds—and hearts—might be their only chance to stay alive.

Beyond Eden


Catherine Coulter - 1992
    The product of old San Francisco wealth, the daughter of a man who despises her, her life is forever changed when she is brutally assaulted by her sister's husband, and then rejected by her family.Lindsay is finally forced to face up to her past when she meets S.C. Taylor, a tough ex-cop, turned private investigator and computer troubleshooter. He is hired to protect her; but can he both win her trust and discover who is trying to kill her and why? Is it her family? A supposed friend or colleague? A faceless sicko or perhaps a mad psychiatrist? Ah, it's a mystery to savor.

The Unsung Hero


Suzanne Brockmann - 2000
    When he calls for help, the navy dismisses the danger as injury-induced imaginings. In a desperate, last-ditch effort to prevent disaster, Tom creates his own makeshift counterterrorist team, assembling his most loyal officers, two elderly war veterans, a couple of misfit teenagers, and Dr. Kelly Ashton-the sweet "girl next door" who has grown into a remarkable woman. The town's infamous bad boy, Tom has always longed for Kelly. Now he has one final chance for happiness, one last chance to win her heart, and one desperate chance to save the day . . .From the Paperback edition.