Book picks similar to
Friends in Low Places by Evelena Evans


contemporary-romance
ebooks
suspense-thriller
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Beautiful Storm


Barbara Freethy - 2015
    Now a news photographer in Miami, Alicia covers local stories by day and chases storms at night. In a flash of lightning, she sees what appears to be a murder, but when she gets to the scene, there is no body, only a military tag belonging to Liliana Valdez, a woman who has been missing for two months. While the police use the tag to jump-start their stalled investigation, Alicia sets off on her own to find the missing woman. Her search takes her into the heart of Miami's Cuban-American community, where she meets the attractive but brooding Michael Cordero, who has his own demons to vanquish. Soon Alicia and Michael are not just trying to save Liliana's life but also their own, as someone will do anything to protect a dark secret…

All the Blue-Eyed Angels


Jen Blood - 2012
    The Solar Temple. Heaven's Gate. In the summer of 1990, the Payson Church of Tomorrow joins the ranks of those infamous cult suicides when thirty-four members burn to death on a small island off the coast of Maine. At ten years old, Payson member Erin Solomon watches helplessly as the church and its congregation are reduced to ash and embers.More than twenty years later, Erin is an accomplished investigative journalist when she receives word that she has inherited Payson Isle... and all its ghosts. She returns to Maine to learn the truth behind the tragedy that has haunted her since childhood, aided by the rakish mentor who's stood by her side since she was a teenager, her trusty mutt Einstein, and a mysterious stranger with his own dark past.Soon, Erin is enmeshed in violence, conspiracy, and scandal, as she fights to unearth the secrets of the Payson Church of Tomorrow -- secrets someone will kill to keep buried.

I Saw Him Standing There


Holly Kerr - 2019
    When she’s offered tickets on the legendary Oceanic Aphrodite, Siggy jumps at the chance to get away.  A week on a luxury cruise ship, with a suitcase full of clothes and all expenses paid? Yes, please! The only catch is that she has to pretend to be someone else. No problem. Siggy has no intention of getting close enough anyone to discover her secrets.But this is the Oceanic Aphrodite and love is in the air. When Siggy sees assistant cruise director Will taking tickets, Cupid’s arrow hits the target. Luckily, Will’s too busy smiling at her to check out her fake passport because he’ll toss Siggy off the ship if he finds out about the scam.  Onboard, dolphins and cameras and runaway ferrets bring Siggy and Will together. The more time they spend together, the more Siggy wants to tell him the truth. Cupid’s arrow has struck deep but can Siggy stop running? This novella-length romantic comedy is the first book in the Oceanic Dreams series.

Twenty-Five Years Ago Today


Stacy Juba - 2009
    She blames herself for the violent death of her cousin when they were kids and has let guilt invade every corner of her existence. Now an editorial assistant and obit writer for a Massachusetts newspaper, Kris stumbles across an unsolved murder while compiling "25 Years Ago Today" items from the microfilm. She grows fascinated with the case of a young cocktail waitress who was bludgeoned to death and dumped in the woods. Determined to solve the case and atone for the death of her cousin, Kris immerses herself in the mystery of what happened to Diana Ferguson, a talented artist who expressed herself through haunting paintings of Greek mythology. Not only does Kris face resistance from her family and her managing editor, she also clashes with Diana's suspicious nephew, Eric Soares - until neither she nor Eric can deny the chemistry flaring between them. Kris soon learns that old news never leaves the morgue and that yesterday's headline is tomorrow's danger, for finding out the truth about that night twenty-five years ago may shatter Kris's present, costing her love, her career, and ultimately, her life.

Murder Notes


Lisa Renee Jones - 2018
    And she is very good at her job. When a series of murders surface—the victims all stripped naked and shot in the head—Lilah’s instincts tell her it’s the work of an assassin, not a serial killer. But when the case takes her back to her hometown in the Hamptons and a mysterious but unmistakable connection to her own life, all her assumptions are shaken to the core.Thrust into a troubled past she’s tried to shut the door on, Lilah’s back in the town where her father is mayor, her brother is police chief, and she has an intimate history with the local crime lord’s son, Kane Mendez. The two share a devastating secret, and only Kane understands Lilah’s own darkest impulses. As more corpses surface, so does a series of anonymous notes to Lilah, threatening to expose her. Is the killer someone in her own circle? And is she the next target?

Take You Apart


T.J. Spade - 2015
    Her hair is matted to her face with a mixture of blood and tears and she screams again before subsiding into body wrenching sobs. Her voice is slightly slurred as she begs, “Please, stop. Please, I want to go home. Please don’t do it again.” A pair of black gloved hands comes into view. They hold pliers. The girl screams again. Lovely. Successful artist Caleb Everett lives each day with a real-time film inside his head, playing … murder. Since he was a child, Caleb has been able to see into the minds of killers. Working alongside veteran Homicide Detective Jack Rafferty, Caleb now uses his unique ability to balance the scales of justice. With a new case afoot, Caleb is himself being targeted by a killer, and with attractive journalist Makayla Dawson on the scene, it becomes a race against time to save them all. With the odds savagely stacked against them, will this case take apart everything Caleb holds dear?

Fire and Ice


Dana Stabenow - 1998
    But that was before his life unraveled. Transferred in disgrace to this rough-and-tumble fishing town on the shores of Bristol Bay, Liam knows Newenham is the end of the line. It's also his last shot at getting his life back.. He's about to come in for a very rough landing. Stepping onto the airstrip at Newenham, Liam walks into a crime scene: a body torn apart by the propeller of a Piper Super Cub. As if that isn't enough of a welcome, the woman bending over the corpse is Wyanet Chouinard, the only woman Liam ever truly loved - and soon to be his prime suspect. Next, a man is held hostage in the town's only decent burger joint--held for shooting out a jukebox that was playing Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. And Liam still doesn't have his uniform on.

Dying Eyes


Ryan Casey - 2013
    But for DS Brian McDone, there is no respite from the frenzy. An unidentified teenage girl has been found brutally murdered in a seedy section of the city, her body laced with bruises, her sharp fingernails digging into her palms. Her eyes are staring up at something in pure fear. Nobody knows who she is. As Brian and his team begin to piece together the clues, the answers lead him to places he would least expect. The further Brian digs, one question soon becomes apparent: who can he trust? The answer, it seems, may be life-threatening. The first in a new series from author Ryan Casey, Dying Eyes is a dark detective mystery with complex characters and a twisting, turning plot that is sure to please fans of the genre.

A Killing Tide


P.J. Alderman - 2006
    But now a man is dead, an arsonist has set the Anna Marie ablaze and her brother is missing, accused of both crimes. How much more can she take?THERE'S FIREMichael Chapman knows how to take the heat-- as the new fire chief of Astoria, Oregon, he's dealt with more than his share. No way can he afford to get involved with the sister of a suspect. But the scorching attraction between him and Kaz burns out of control and when someone takes a shot at her, his protective instincts kick in. Whatever happens, he can't allow another woman to die because of him.

The Protective Patriot


Sarah Gay - 2019
    The night gets even more interesting when the woman he saves wakes in the hospital and tells him that if she dies, she wants Miles and the librarian to raise her child together. The catch: they need to get married, and quick, to gain custody of little girl or she risks being funneled into the government foster care system. Tessa Stevens longs for a family she knows she’ll never have, but when she’s swept off her feet by Miles Moore, the handsome new football player in town with an impromptu kiss, she starts to wonder if she might get her own fairytale love story, after all. When her friend is mortally injured by her estranged husband, Miles sprints into action, becoming the ultimate protector. But who will protect Tessa’s heart when Miles finds out she’s been keeping secrets from him? Secrets that would change how he sees her. Will she live the fairytale and not tell him? Or will she live true to herself and risk everything she’s ever wanted? Georgia Patriots Romance.

12


Nolon King - 2015
     What Would You Do With the Last 12 Hours of Your Life? At 6 p.m. on a Wednesday in October, a gunman will enter Goldman’s Diner and commit one of the worst massacres the small coastal town of Palm Isles, Florida has ever seen. Twelve hours earlier: twelve lives are on borrowed time, unaware that death is coming, or that their paths will collide in one tragic moment. A young waitress and mother fights to protect her daughter from her violent estranged husband. Little does she know that a greater threat looms under her nose. A cop is forced to decide between his job and his marriage. A bullied teen with an abusive father is down to one friend when his world suddenly crumbles around him. An old man struggles to hold onto his memories and do one last thing to honor his wife. But in doing so, he will have to reveal his darkest secret. A cook with a shady past attempts to stay on the straight and narrow, until he gets a call which forces him to choose — his family or his honor? A woman attempts to meet her father’s expectations, clinging to a struggling diner even as her relationship with her son falls apart. TWELVE HOURS TWELVE LIVES WHO LIVES? WHO DIES?

Tangled Web


Wendy Saunders - 2017
    There's only one thing missing... her sister.Cassandra hasn't seen her sister since the night their wealthy, prominent father died from a massive heart attack. She had only been five years old at the time and can barely recall the events of that night. All she can remember was that men came to the house and that it was the last time she saw her sister. Her alcoholic, emotionally unstable mother refuses to discuss her and will only say that she had been sent away to an exclusive boarding school in Europe. But, as the years pass by with no word from her, Cassandra begins to suspect there is more to her father's death and her sister's disappearance than she first thought.Desperate to find answers she hires a private investigator, but when he turns up dead it becomes clear someone doesn't want her looking into her family's past. When wealthy businessman Jackson Evans stumbles into her life, with problems of his own, they realize his family and hers are inexplicably entwined in a web of deceit and murder, which spans two decades.One by one, everyone who was in her home the night of her Father's death, begin to die under suspicious circumstances and it becomes a race against time to uncover the truth, before she becomes the next victim.

The Case of the Flashing Fashion Queen


N.L. Wilson - 2011
    firm where she's worked for years, Dix Dodd has hung out her own shingle at the ripe age of 40. There are plenty of cheating husbands to go around, and Dix has a knack for busting them. Problem is, it doesn't always pay so well. Conscious that the guys back at the old firm are laying bets about how soon she'll come crawling back, she figures she's got six months to make a go of it.The going gets even tougher when she hires Dylan Foreman. But when he told her about getting fired from his law firm and disbarred for putting common decency before the firm's interests, she hired him on the spot. In addition to being smart, he's gorgeous enough to remind her she's a woman. And at 28, young enough to make her feel like a total cougar.Things start looking up when Dix gets hired by millionaire businessman Ned Weatherby's wife Jennifer Weatherby, to tail Ned 24/7 for a week, for a cool ten grand. Easy-peasy, right? Wrong! The job lands Dix in the middle of a murder investigation - with her as the prime suspect and her arch-enemy Detective Richard Head (a.k.a., Dickhead, one of the cheating husbands she'd nailed) gunning for her.Dix will need all her ingenuity, as well as the help of Dylan and her oddball cast of supporters to extricate herself from this one.

Lies


C.A. Harms - 2015
    Thrust into a world of drugs and criminal activity, integrating himself into the Russian Mafia turned out to be much more than Josh bargained for. It’s dark and it’s dangerous. The lives they destroy along the way will never be the same. The things he is forced to do will haunt him forever. Even more importantly, he never planned on meeting her… A chance encounter with Real Estate Agent Gabriella Shannon, has Josh questioning his ability to complete his mission. And now the dark world may consume them both. He’s in too deep. Leaving now would only risk the safety of those around him. But when his cover’s blown Josh is forced to make a decision that will reroute his future. One decision. The hardest decision he will ever have to make in his life. And those he meant to protect will be the ones who suffer the most…

The Lies that Save Us


J.L. Redington - 2013
    She purchased a diner in the quiet out of the way town of Startup, Washington and hired employees to help run it. She’s just beginning to feel secure in her loneliness. <br>Suddenly her world is jolted awake by Cayman, a handsome young stranger that enters her diner seemingly from nowhere. Event’s happen quickly, and soon Alexa is deep into secret lives, deception and desire. <br>Will she figure out the riddle of her father’s death? Will she be able to resist the temptation to fall in love with Cayman in spite of her suspicions? Will she live to tell the tale?