Book picks similar to
Désirée, A Woman of Defiance by Mariella Starr


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A Ghostly Shade of Pale


Merle Temple - 2013
    History files on a bygone era are ripped open and rewritten in temporal games with eternal consequences at the intersection between heaven and hell, between the visible and the Invisible.Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics Captain Michael Parker is an unlikely player in a struggle for the soul of America. A ghostly pale embodiment of evil becomes his obsession, and his tormentor leaves a trail of bodies across the South.As snipers ambush Michael and his agents on frozen fields of regret and the woman he loves is stalked by death, he learns that he is not alone as he has to fight for his life against enemies seen and unseen.

The Heart of a Soiled Dove


Sarah Jae Foster - 2012
    A new beginning. A calling to fulfill.Aurora Young is one of the lucky ones. Her freedom from San Francisco’s Red Light District came by way of an anonymous benefactor. After coming into the knowledge of God’s love and redemption, Aurora realizes her destiny is to save sisters still working in brothels. Leaving the past behind, she heads to Montana and buys a large spread of land to house women of ill-repute. But a run-in with an infamous cattle baron threatens the plans she's put in place…and everything she’s come to love. Donovan Ramsey owns the largest cattle ranch in the region and has plans to purchase the land adjoining his. When newcomer Aurora Young arrives and purchases it before he can, his goal is to do all he can to acquire it back, even if that means trumping the good will of his tenacious yet lovely new neighbor. He is a man used to getting what he wants and isn’t thrilled when his heart begins to soften. Donovan must decide if it’s worth fighting his growing admiration for Aurora, or taking back what is rightfully his.

Deadly Switch


Karen Dodd - 2013
    Each obsessed and tormented.Both harboring too many secrets. He’s on the run; she’s in the chase of her life.What they discover changes everything. From the gruesome discovery in an exclusive enclave of West Vancouver, British Columbia, DEADLY SWITCH takes you on a wild ride from Italy’s Amalfi coast, to the idyllic seaside town of Carmel, California. Gavin Stone’s tormented daughter, Alexis, searches frantically for her missing father, matching wits with devious criminals. With demons of her own to fight, she shouldn’t care about proving him innocent of murder and embezzlement—but she does.Murder…intrigue… a romance built on a house of cards: this thriller will satisfy your thirst for the adrenaline rush that this intricately plotted story delivers. A delicious stay-up-all-nighter, DEADLY SWITCH stuns with its heart-pounding conclusion. You will not see it coming.If you love suspense/thrillers, you will devour DEADLY SWITCH.

The Murders of Christopher Watts


Cheryln Cadle - 2020
    Cheryln Cadle contacted him and started visiting him in prison. Christopher started writing her letters from his prison cell in Wisconsin. These letters had his confessions of things he had never told anyone else. Now she shares the letters and the truth about what happened that fateful night in Frederick Colorado to Shanann, Nico, Bella and Celeste Watts at the hands of their father. Was he just a monster or was it truly his girlfriend that he wanted to start a life with the reason he was willing to kill his family?

The Peyton Brooks, FBI Box Set: Volume One: Books 1-5


M.L. Hamilton - 2018
    Over 1,000 pages of action and adventure from San Francisco’s top special agent. The Peyton Brooks, FBI series follows the career of Special Agent Peyton Brooks and her team, the Ghost Squad, as they tackle crimes around the world. This compilation includes titles: Zombies in the Delta, Mermaids in the Pacific, Werewolves in London, Vampires in Hollywood, and Mayan Gods in the Yucatan.

In the Dying Minutes


J.A. Baker - 2020
    He attempts to help her through the trauma but whenever Leah is in his presence, strange things occur. She suffers from hallucinations that include visions of her dead brother, Ellis. As Leah reveals to Will that her friends Jacob and Chloe wronged her, further flashbacks of her childhood and parts of her life she would sooner forget begin to surface, troubling Leah even more.But what is actually bothering her and what led Leah to be on that train? Nothing is as it seems, and soon she will learn the heart-breaking truth…J.A. Baker is also the author of the bestselling psychological thrillers The Other Mother, The Woman at Number 19 and The Girl I Used to Be. In The Dying Minutes is a tense and completely compelling novel which will keep you guessing until the very end. It will appeal to fans of authors like S.E. Lynes, K.L. Slater and Lucy Dawson.

Sir Thomas's Bride


Vanessa Brooks - 2016
    However, when he weds Lady Margaret Beauchamp, it appears that she has other ideas about who should be in charge. Thomas finds that his patience as a gentleman is sorely tried and tested. Lady Margaret is of a peevish and sour disposition, and she has as low an opinion of her new husband as she has a high opinion of herself! In fact, she is downright furious to find herself married to a mere 'Sir', no matter how well- connected Thomas might be. Margaret dislikes almost everyone and almost everyone, it seems, dislikes her. Sparks fly from the very beginning of their marriage. Margaret quickly discovers that she has misjudged her new husband – he is not the easygoing milksop she first took him to be. When she defies him the moment he carries her across the threshold, she is stunned by his swift reaction in tossing her over his knee. Being soundly spanked was not quite the response she was expecting from the polite man who had courted her so shyly before their nuptials. Despite her hateful behavior, Thomas deeply loves his new bride. He has absolutely no doubt that he'll be able to uncover the loving woman he knows lies deep inside the shell that Margaret presents to the world. Under his strict discipline and passionate lovemaking, he hopes to remove the stinger from the wasp that is his bride and find his sweet honey bee. In this sexy Georgian romp, we meet familiar characters from the prequel story 'His Colonial Rose' co-authored by Vanessa Brooks and Beth Bennett. This is a standalone tale and you do not have to have read 'His Colonial Rose' to enjoy this book. Disclaimer: Sir Thomas's Bride is a book of deep passion with elements of harsh discipline and explicit sexual scenes, including figging. If any of these offend you, please do not purchase this book.

Ravenhill (Jackie Shaw, #1)


John Steele - 2017
    He treads a fine line keeping psychotic hard-man Rab Simpson in check while sleeping with gang leader Billy Tyrie’s beautiful wife on the side. When a bomb claims nine lives, he is given the role of the getaway driver in a planned reprisal killing, a key role in a major operation. But Jackie may not be who he seems... Twenty years later, Jackie returns to the city for his father’s funeral after disappearing in mysterious circumstances. He wants to mourn then leave, but when figures from his past emerge, he is left with no choice but to revisit his violent former life. The first in the Jackie Shaw series, RAVENHILL is a gripping début novel from a brilliant new voice in crime fiction. The second in the series, SEVEN SKINS, is coming soon. ‘Tense, unsparing, compassionate and exceptionally well-written, this brilliant thriller brings vividly to life East Belfast in war and peace, its self-appointed community defenders turned brutal predators, and the security forces who struggled to contain them.’ Ruth Dudley Edwards

The Nurse Agnes Mysteries: Part One (Agnes Carmichael Book 1)


Anthea Cohen - 2019
     Working in St. Jude's Hospital, our anti-heroine is often overlooked by her colleagues and patients as awkward and insignificant, but little do they know that behind her strict exterior is a woman on the verge, as dangerous as a black widow spider. Nurse Agnes is currently stuck on the children's ward and, not a naturally warm person, she is desperate to escape the little ankle-biters. Standing in her way is the cruel Superintendent Nurse, but not for long... Despite her morally questionable choices, it is impossible not to admire our ruthless nurse as she punishes wrongdoers in this addictive mystery series. Praise for The Nurse Agnes Mysteries: ‘Continues to be one of the most original chiller series around’ - Mail on Sunday ‘Distinctly unsettling portrait of a murderer among us … baleful and persuasive psychology projects the action from the criminal’s point of view. Anthea Cohen is doing something quite remarkable here’ - Literary Review ‘A medical shocker in the grand tradition of P.D. James’ - Chicago Sun-Times

Old Habits


John Carson - 2019
    Women were being abducted and murdered, then their corpses were displayed in open shallow graves. Marshall's FBI partner, Jessie Kent, was taken. During the hunt for her, Marshall tracked the killer down, but he was shot five times and left for dead. Less than an hour later, the killer took his own life. None of the remaining victims were ever found. Until now. A female detective comes down to Marshall's home town to ask for his help. Somebody has found the decomposed victims and is displaying them. Despite no longer being with the FBI, Marshall sees this as a chance to find Jessie, and take her home for a proper burial. And to lay to rest the feelings of guilt he's been carrying for the past four years. He agrees to go back with Dani Fox, but it's soon clear somebody doesn't want him back in town. He's warned off, but he ignores it. Then the killings start. Somebody has just accelerated the game from displaying corpses to adding new victims. And this time, he's making it personal...

The Kurt Vetter Trilogy (The Reluctant Hero)


William Esmont - 2014
    With Amanda's help, he uncovers a rogue CIA plot to detonate a nuclear bomb in Moscow. Meanwhile, the assassins who killed his brother launch an all-out hunt to silence him and anyone else who may thwart their plans.In a frantic sprint across Europe, Kurt and Amanda must stay one step ahead of the killers while racing against the clock to prevent the bomb from incinerating millions of innocent people.Book Two: PressedBruised and battered from a recent mission, ex-CIA analyst Kurt Vetter is pressed into service once again when hackers launch a devastating cyber-attack on the United States Strategic Early Warning System, nearly triggering a nuclear confrontation.When Kurt and his partner Amanda Carter investigate the security lapse, they discover that elements of a Russian sleeper cell have compromised the integrity of the National Military Command Center. To further complicate matters, Kurt and Amanda also learn that a Chechen arms dealer with a stolen nuclear warhead is about to start selling suitcase nukes to the highest bidder.With membership in the nuclear club poised to explode and the United States effectively blinded to the threat, Kurt and Amanda are the last line of defense before the world descends into anarchy.Book Three: Blood in the StreetsA routine trip to China turns disastrous for intelligence agent Kurt Vetter when a deadly series of attacks on civilian targets plunges the country into anarchy. Trapped in a disintegrating nation, Kurt and his team take to the war-torn streets of Beijing to locate a Chinese double agent who may know the truth behind the source of the violence.As the politicians in Washington struggle with how to respond to the imminent collapse of the United States' largest trading partner, the responsibility falls on Kurt to prevent the destruction of the modern global economy.When the conflict begins to spread beyond China's borders, Kurt and his team learn the threat is larger and more insidious than anyone could have imagined. If they don't act fast, the entire region, and perhaps the entire world may be draw into a conflict unlike any seen before.

The Protective Billionaire: A Clean Billionaire Romance (Billionaires Find Love)


Christine Kersey - 2018
    Then, while on a walk on the wooded property, she catches a glimpse of a man nearby. Terrified that her stalker's found her, she overreacts.Billionaire Cameron Shah just wants to enjoy the solitude of his new mountain cabin. But when his beautiful yet baffling neighbor threatens him with a branch, he's intrigued. Too bad she won't tell him her name.When Cameron cooks up a plan to help Aubree, she has to decide if she wants to stay in hiding forever, or if with Cameron's help, she's ready to come out of the shadows.

The Reluctant Detective


Adrian Spalding - 2019
    He just wanted a quiet life. Something his mother was not going to allow. There again he never for one moment imagined he would have to look into the death of a 90-year-old lady who was gambling away her family fortune. The Hayden Detective Agency has no need of clients. The very existence of the Agency allows Martin Hayden to claim his large monthly allowance from the family fortune - without lifting a finger. Martin’s biggest problem is his interfering mother, who understands her idle son too well. She takes steps to find him not just clients but also a personal assistant to keep an eye on him. Under pressure from the women in his life, Martin agrees to take on his first client. How hard can it be to follow a 90-year-old woman who spends her time losing money at roulette tables? As it turns out harder than Martin ever thought possible, especially with the old lady dying in strange circumstances. Soon the Reluctant Detective is grappling with shady estate agents, an intellectual artist, missing charity money and an irritating Indian waiter. Luckily for Martin there is help in the form of Colin, a transvestite who, apart from having very good fashion sense, is an expert at breaking into houses.

Good Cop Bad Cop (Maggie Delaney Police Thriller Book 2)


Linsey Lanier - 2020
     Tonight she’s been sent out to investigate a tragic domestic homicide. But it's much worse than that. And when she realizes who the likely killer is, she can’t believe what the evidence is telling her. Maybe she shouldn’t. She knows this man. Or thought she did. Now she has to prove him innocent of crimes he didn’t commit. But is he innocent or a sadistic serial killer? And will she be the next victim? THE MIRANDA'S RIGHTS MYSTERY SERIES Someone Else's Daughter Delicious Torment Forever Mine Fire Dancer Thin Ice THE MIRANDA AND PARKER MYSTERY SERIES All Eyes on Me Heart Wounds Clowns and Cowboys The Watcher Zero Dark Chocolate Trial by Fire Smoke Screen The Boy Snakebit Mind Bender Roses from My Killer The Stolen Girl Vanishing Act Predator Retribution Most Likely to Die (more to come) MAGGIE DELANEY POLICE THRILLER SERIES Chicago Cop Good Cop Bad Cop

The Wife Of A Kingpin 2: Malik & Micah's Story


Twyla T. - 2017
    The collaboration between authors Twyla T. and Patrice Balark in this series is off the chain as the magic between the pages leaps off in bounds. Unlimited pandemonium, uncovered secrets, and revealing truths are exposed as the drama continues in the second book of this series. After losing not only his mom, but his high school sweetheart, life became different for Malik Jefferson. He began to show everyone in the streets who the real boss was. Along with his best friend and right hand man, Rico “Goo” Grady, Malik is that Kingpin that people know not to mess with. However, it seems like someone didn’t get that message and decided to take the reign from the duo. Malik and Goo are being challenged again, and blood will be shed. Will the culprits ever learn their lessons? Or, will Malik lose his position as Kingpin. Micah Sanders’ life was good, with the exception of her brother’s death. While attending college and making boss moves on the sides, her silent, but efficient transport still caught the attention of the boss. Malik and Micah had undeniable chemistry and found themselves in a relationship that was good for both business and pleasure. Even though things were changing for Micah’s life, she still had one goal and one goal only…to find her brother’s killer. When the road leads to the man that she has totally fallen in love with Malik Jefferson, Micah’s world is instantly thrown into a world wind. Just when Malik and Micah think that everything is on an even kilt…BAM! Life comes right on it and knocks everything right off of its axis. Nothing will remain the same. No one will be left unaffected. Find out how all the chaos unfold in this installment of The Wife of A Kingpin 2. Warning: This book contains a cliffhanger.