Book picks similar to
Red Lory by Dave Newell


fiction
romance
literary-fiction
romantic-suspense

The Scent of Lies


Debra Burroughs - 2012
    He wishes he didn’t want her. Can they stave off a killer long enough to give love a second chance?Emily lost her P.I. husband far too soon. To pay the mounting bills and solve his cold-case murder, she dives headfirst into the family business. When she takes the case of a wrongfully accused wife, Emily’s biggest obstacle is a sexy cop who refuses to back down.Detective Colin Andrews catches killers to forget his tragic past. When a cute PI doubts his hunch about a murderer, he can’t close the case or get the gorgeous rival off his mind. But if he’s not careful, his budding feelings may prove to be a fatal distraction.As Emily and Colin’s clash brings them closer, can they uncover the truth before a murderer kills off their happy ending?The Scent of Lies is the first book in the Paradise Valley romantic cozy mystery series. If you like captivating characters, juicy intrigue, and clean romance, then you’ll love New York Times bestselling author Debra Burroughs’ engaging stories.

Six of Hearts


L.H. Cosway - 2014
    Mentalist. Trickster. I think in triangles. You think in straight lines.I show you a table and make you believe it’s a chair.Smoke and mirrors, sleight of hand, misdirection. I trick and deceive.But most of all, I put on a good show.The world thinks I killed a man, but I didn't. Bear with me. It’s all a part of the plan.Revenge is what I want. I want it for me and I want it for her.I want it for all six of us.She doesn't remember me, but she’s the reason for everything. She’ll be my prize at the end of all this–if I can hold onto my willpower, that is. Maybe I’ll slip up a little, have a taste, just a small one.So go ahead and pick a card. Come inside and see the show. Look at my hands, look so closely that you can’t see what’s happening while you’re so focused on looking. I’ll be destroying your world from right here in the spotlight.You’ll never see me coming until it’s too late.I've only got one heart, and after I've pulled off my grand deception I’ll hand it right to her.So, sit back, relax, and let my girl tell you our story. You’re in for one hell of a ride.

Sex, Lies & Sweet Tea


Kris Calvert - 2013
    Coming home to bust a white-collar crime ring, Mac intends to execute his usual practice with work and women¬ – get in, get it on and get out. Instead, he finds himself unexpectedly drawn to the legacy of his family, his plantation, and the charms of a Southern girl. Samantha Peterson possesses everything he needs in a woman, including the evidence to wrap his case. As the investigation heats up, so does their passion and a dangerous game ignites. But, then again, everything’s hotter in the South.

The Gates of Evangeline


Hester Young - 2015
    . . When New York journalist and recently bereaved mother Charlotte “Charlie” Cates begins to experience vivid dreams about children she’s sure that she’s lost her mind. Yet these are not the nightmares of a grieving parent, she soon realizes. They are messages and warnings that will help Charlie and the children she sees, if only she can make sense of them.After a little boy in a boat appears in Charlie’s dreams asking for her help, Charlie finds herself entangled in a thirty-year-old missing-child case that has never ceased to haunt Louisiana’s prestigious Deveau family. Armed with an invitation to Evangeline, the family’s sprawling estate, Charlie heads south, where new friendships and an unlikely romance bring healing. But as she uncovers long-buried secrets of love, money, betrayal, and murder, the facts begin to implicate those she most wants to trust—and her visions reveal an evil closer than she could’ve imagined.A Southern Gothic mystery debut that combines literary suspense and romance with a mystical twist, The Gates of Evangeline is a story that readers of Gillian Flynn, Kate Atkinson, and Alice Sebold won't be able to put down.

Meant for Her


Amy Gamet - 2012
    Ordered to the scene of a fiery homicide, Navy officer Hank Jared wants nothing more than to wrap it up and get to his sister's wedding. His sense of duty won't let him walk away from a case, even if he can't figure out why his boss insisted he handle this one personally.When the key to a safe deposit box is found among the ashes, Hank finds himself staring at two pieces of paper--on one is a coded message, on the other, a name that will change the course of his entire life.Julie Trueblood wouldn't trust a Navy man if he handed her a life jacket on board a sinking ship. Her father was a cryptologist for the Navy, who went into hiding a decade earlier to avoid charges of treason. In his absence, Julie was harassed and interrogated by Naval officers who believed she was a traitor, just like her father.Hank tracks Julie down and confronts her with the cipher. She can't stand what he represents and sends him away, insisting she knows nothing about the message. But when she realizes someone is after her, Hank is the only person she can ask for help. He finds the perfect place to hide Julie, right by his side, pretending to be his girlfriend at his sister's wedding. Now he just needs to remember their relationship is all an act.The coded message brings Hank and Julie together, but its secrets hold the power to tear them apart. Guided by her generous and quirky Aunt Gwen, Julie will gather the courage to unravel the cipher that was meant for her to decode, as she learns to trust the man she was meant to love.

Buried Secrets


Emme Rollins - 2010
    But Nick is dead, found murdered in their local cemetery, and Dusty simply can’t rest until she finds out who–or what–has killed her brother.Sure the local authorities aren’t being straight with her–or anyone else–about what’s been going on in their little upper Michigan town, Dusty delays going off to college for a semester, defying her father and stepmother and taking a job in the local bar to start doing some digging.Her focus soon fixes on Shane, her brother’s best friend and the town bad boy. The tension and rivalry between Dusty and Shane has always been palpable and sparks fly as the two collide. Dusty finds herself sinking in deeper with Shane and the mystery of what happened to her brother–and a lengthening list of victims–grows even stranger.When everything comes to a head, Dusty focuses on one thing: What happened the night her brother was killed in the cemetery? She’s sure Shane is keeping a secret and she’s determined to find out what it is, one way or another.

The Wedding Trap


Adrienne Bell - 2013
    Everyone is expecting her successful music executive boyfriend, Charlie, to be her date for her best friend’s wedding. There’s one hitch: Charlie doesn’t exist. Unless she can think of something fast, she’s headed for the most humiliating weekend of her life.Alex Tanner has a problem. The former Navy SEAL's search for a double agent lands him at the Kensington Hotel, and he needs a cover to finish the job. When the sexy maid of honor blackmails him into pretending to be her lover, he thinks he's been handed the solution.Except Beth has a way of stumbling into trouble, and when the man Alex is hunting starts targeting Beth, Alex has to decide between duty and the woman who has stolen his heart.

Meridian File


C.B. Samet - 2018
    He wants an uncomplicated assignment. As a celebrity stalker targets Aurora Meridian, the Rider team--Mason and Maxine--are drawn into the sinister underworld of the Russian mafia. Aurora and Mason fight for their lives and each other while Maxine Rider discovers the lines she must cross and the sacrifices to be made to keep her client and her team safe.

True North


Marie Force - 2010
    He doesn't immediately recognize the world-famous super model who is attending her cousin Enid's wedding at the country club he owns.Thanks to Enid's shameless matchmaking, Travis and Liana become acquainted and later embark on a two-week fling intended to be free of emotion and entanglement. As Liana's return to work gets closer, however, Travis wonders how he'll ever let her go when the time comes while Liana considers whether he might be her true north.Two high-powered careers, two amazing weeks and a love that comes along just once in a lifetime. Is she ready to give up her career for a different kind of life? Does he want the same things she does? After insisting on an emotionless affair, she can't very well ask him. Or can she?

Ghost Gifts


Laura Spinella - 2016
    Her remarkable gift may help others rest in peace, but it also made for an unsettling childhood and destroyed her marriage. Finally content as the real estate writer for a local newspaper, Aubrey keeps her extraordinary ability hidden—until she is unexpectedly assigned the story of a decades-old murder.Rocked by the discovery of a young woman’s skeletal remains, the New England town of Surrey wants answers. Hard-nosed investigative reporter Levi St John is determined to get them. Aubrey has no choice but to get involved, even at the terrifying risk of stirring spirits connected to a dead woman’s demise and piquing her new reporting partner’s suspicions.As Aubrey and Levi delve further into the mystery, secrets are revealed and passion ignites. It seems that Aubrey’s ghost gifts are poised to deliver everything but a normal life.

Angels & Whiskey


Kimberly Knight - 2015
    Serving his country was his destiny. Until he fell in love…When Gabe’s love affair is cut short, he turns to whiskey for comfort and swears he will never fall in love again.Until he bumps into an unexpected angel…By all appearances, Autumn Jones has the perfect life. Her husband, Richard, is a loving man who wants to be a father to her unborn children. But Autumn knows the truth. Richard has a controlling, dark side that leaves nothing to chance, especially Autumn. He’ll stop at nothing to make her the trophy wife he wants her to be.When Autumn bumps into Gabe, he consumes her every thought, but she can’t act on her feelings. She’s married to a dark man she can never leave. When he learns who Autumn’s husband really is, Gabe knows he will stop at nothing to protect her. Or is it too late for him to save his angel?

Watch Me


Cynthia Eden - 2014
    Chance Valentine had tried to keep his distance from the sexy socialite for years, but when her father hired him to keep watch on her—as a twenty-four, seven bodyguard—Chance knew his control was about to be pushed to the limit.He’d never wanted another woman the way he desired her. Hot. Intense. Consuming. Being so close to Gwen, Chance knew that he wouldn’t be able to resist her. So he gave into his need, her need, and he took them both to the edge of a dark and consuming desire.But Chance soon realizes that he isn’t the only one watching Gwen. Someone else is out there, a stalker who won’t rest until Gwen is destroyed. Every day, every moment…Gwen is in danger. And Chance knows that if he can’t unmask the stalker, then he may just lose the only woman he has ever loved.

The Vigilante's Lover


Annie Winters - 2015
    Seduction. Bondage ropes. Descriptions of things Mia has never experienced or known. The man’s words are desperately passionate. He longs for a woman who must have given him a fake address. Mia’s address. She plans to send the letter back. He’s a convicted felon. But his words gnaw at her. She’s never done anything dangerous. And no man has ever talked to her like this. So Mia writes him, pretending to be the woman he desires. It's her one dark thrill in her dull, solitary small-town life. The man is in prison for another fifteen years. It's harmless. She is safe enough. Until he escapes.

Out of the Dark


Geri Foster - 2013
    His boss arranges for him to hitch a ride with the corporate attorney Emily Richards, who is in Russia as a mediator.Emily Richards wants only to return home then on to a peaceful vacation with her best friend. When armed men invade her hotel room minutes after Mac arrives, Emily is forced to depend on Mac to stay alive. Anger that Mac has entangled her in a life or death struggle quickly turns to fear when the men pursuing them call her by name.Together Mac and Emily engage in a tumultuous ride to escape with their lives and capture a crazed bomber and a vindictive drug lord. More difficult is tearing down their own emotional walls. Can they succeed and admit love is the most precious thing in life?

Forever Only Once


Carrie Ann Ryan - 2020
    Since then, she's healed, found herself, and connected with a group of women she's proud to call her friends. However, when make a pact to start looking for love, Hazel finds herself not only up first, but also forced to face a past she thought she'd escaped.Cross Brady has no need for a relationship. As the oldest of five, he's always been the one his family can rely on. Now, all he want is to work in peace and live his life. His priorities shift dramatically, though, when Cross finds himself in Hazel's path.Though the two initially fight their connection, they soon learn that it's safer to fall for each other than keep running from what's holding them back - not to mention, who wants them dead.