Disappearances, deaths, drug deals in broad daylight, arrests but no convictions, and residents’ distrust of their new police officers have turned life in the idyllic lake town into a nightmare.While the nation is focused on the southern border, Tony, his partner, Don Hanson, and receptionist-turned-investigator, Denise Richardson, learn first-hand how Mexican cartel drug trafficking has infiltrated the northern border. Quiet little Grand Rock Lake could become a hub to supply illegal drugs to the surrounding states! If dirty cops and drug dealers are in collusion, it would put his team into an explosive situation. Can they untangle the truth in time, before more victims fall?

    Katy’s driving home for Christmas – except an empty, cold caravan hardly seems like home, and it’s not feeling much like Christmas. It wasn’t supposed to be like this: a few months ago she had her dream cottage, a loving fiance, and big plans for a perfect wedding. Now she’s in her car, travelling through the snow along dark, country lanes, heading towards a Christmas spent by herself, with nothing more to look forward to than a frozen turkey dinner and a box of Quality Street. With her friends busy with their guests, her parents on a cruise, and her ex-fiance miles away, the only person Katy is expecting to see at all is Luke, the builder who has been working hard to transform Katy’s cottage before it goes up for sale on the other side of Christmas. Arriving at last in the Holderness village of Weltringham, she’s disappointed to find both the cottage and the caravan in darkness, and Luke nowhere to be seen. It seems everyone in the world has abandoned her to her gloomy fate. Is she doomed to have the worst festive season ever, or is someone about to save Katy’s Christmas? After all, it is the time of miracles … Take a break from those Christmas preparations and curl up by the fire for a couple of hours with this seasonal cosy read.

    Sophia had not thought twice about taking up her friend's offer to move to Oregon to help her run the successful general store she had started some years before when faced with a spinster's lot in life. Levi Kirtman was more than irate at being denied his birthright. When his paternal uncle gave him the ultimatum to find a wife in order to get the deeds to the ranch which should by all rights be his after his father's passing, he dug his heels in and refused. He would live without the ranch rather than be pushed into marrying. Then he met the woman his uncle had in mind after reading her advertisement, and he saw her as a pretty enough solution to his many problems. Can a man cure his greed and addiction through deception and cruelty? Was this the life the Lord had intended for a widow and her young son in a strange town? Would Eli find a loving family to finally call his own?

    And whether you were there by choice or circumstance, there were lessons to be learned as well as taught. Nobody knew The Bricks better than the women who lived between them. These are their stories of lessons, blessings, love, and loss, brought to you brick by brick. Ladies, and fellas too, you ever invested time in somebody that you knew was no good for you, holding on and waiting for them to change because you thought that you were special? Well I have, and I’m here to tell you that there’s a one percent chance of that change ever taking place, a two percent chance of them becoming a better person than they were before you found them, and a staggering ninety-seven percent chance of someone more deserving coming along if you’ll open your eyes, stop being stupid, and sit down with a common-sense calculator to tally up your worth. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s okay to waste a little time, because contrary to popular belief, there can be a happy ending on the other side of stupidity. And to prove it, I’m gonna take you for a walk through my own experience. I’m Camille, by the way, a resident here at The Rose Palms, aka The Bricks, apartment B17. Glad you stopped by.

    She had suffered an unimaginable amount of abuse in her short life. Although she couldn’t tie her shoe laces, she could smash a room to pieces; she fought against everything like a wild cat.At the age of five Kira moved permanently to live with Mia and her family, but by the time she was nine years old the whole family was at breaking point.Mia is the kind of person who won’t give in and believes she can always change things for the better, but try as she might she can’t change Kira. So after six years, with a very heavy heart, she is forced to question whether she can really help this lost and damaged child.Raw, shocking and honest, this short story will shed new light on the role of foster carers, revealing the kind of heartbreaking real life situations carers like Mia Marconi are confronted with every day.

    A stranger, Duncan, seeks her out, claiming to be searching for the apparition who murdered his wife. Duncan, with the aid of gruesome photos and Angus’s diary, makes Elizabeth suspect she may be living with an evil presence.Angus, a nebulous force, finds he must now make himself known in more substantial ways as he tries to convince Elizabeth Duncan is lying. He twists her compassion and friendship into a sexual love that threatens to turn into obsession.Duncan also seeks Elizabeth’s heart and uses every sensual skill at his mortal disposal to steal her love and loyalty, and persuade her to allow an exorcism that would vanquish Angus.Elizabeth finds herself spinning into a vortex of love and lust, lies and deceit. She desires them both, even though Duncan may not be the man he claims to be, and Angus may be a spiritual serial murderer. Elizabeth is unwilling to give up either, until a shocking discovery forces her to choose between them.

    Literally. He talks to animals to see clues other people would overlook. Like when the proud owner of a pair of Scotties goes missing, Griff knows foul play has to be involved, because the dogs tell him there’s no way she’d leave her pampered pooches alone in the winter. But when he shows too much interest in what the Scotties have to say, an attractive police detective takes the wrong kind of interest in him. Viewing him as a possible suspect, she digs up secrets about Griff he would have preferred left buried. And that’s not even his biggest problem—taking the dogs into his home has made him a target of the victim’s abductor. This makes him scurry to solve the case, because as an expert on animal behavior, there’s one thing Griff knows to be true: the most dangerous animal is the human animal.

    Keeping her job as a barmaid in the East End wasn’t easy, but with the support of her sweetheart Jack Adams, a local constable, and Frankie Buchanan, whom she loves like a brother, she dreams of a bright future.But there is no love lost between the men. Hackney is ‘Frankie’s manor’ and because of his protection racket, Jack is determined to put its ringleader behind bars.When talk of wedding bells for Jack and Rose meet opposition, Rose isn’t prepared to have her happiness ruined for family pride. But when Rose finds herself alone and heartbroken, Frankie is there to pick up the pieces… A gripping and emotional saga, perfect for readers of Rosie Goodwin and Val Wood.

    

    Part One holds 12 stories of Family Annihilators - men who murder their entire family. It is more common than you might think. Part Two is called A Six Pack of Murder which is a random collection of six more true crime stories of murder.

    

    At first taking their cue from the previous struggle of the then fledgling United States, the rebellion soon degenerated. The initial violence began to feed upon itself and bloody revolution spread across all of France. Surprisingly, the struggle spread into neighboring countries. Early in 1793, Great Britain and Republican France went to war. This lasted, with a pair of short interruptions, until 1815. For much of this war, Britain strained at every seam to prevent French forces from crossing the Channel. For much of the war, the Royal Navy was the bulwark that prevented invasion, just as it did a century and a half in the future. Our fictional Royal Naval officer in this book is representative of those larger than life figures that saved the British Isles from conquest.

    

    Robert Hunter is eagerly awaiting the return of his father from the war. Next door, Ruth Cooper's family are also preparing to welcome her dad, whose ship was lost at Jutland. After five years of separation and anxiety - and, for Bob, the worry of caring for his frail mother - emotions are running high for both young people. But Alf Hunter, who saw action in the trenches, returns a changed man, and when he takes to drink, Bob must put his own happiness on hold to support his family.