Although unsure as to why a lowly spinster such as she would be invited anywhere by a duke, Victoria's trusted assistant, James Kensington, assures her it must concern her late father’s accounting firm, which she secretly runs.Unfortunately for them both, James is dead wrong.On the first night of her stay, events take a murderous turn when Victoria discovers her host dead from apparent poisoning. Worse still, the other guests believe Victoria may have played a part in the duke's untimely death.With a killer on the loose and her name on the line, Victoria sets out to solve the mystery of His Grace's murder. But discovering "whodunit" might prove more difficult than she first believed; it seems everyone at Stanting Estate has a motive to want the duke dead.Knowing that she cannot complete this task alone, Victoria turns to James for help. As the two work closely together, new feelings begin to emerge, yet Victoria attempts to suppress them. After all, it would not do to fall in love with an employee. For each clue she unravels, however, Victoria finds herself not only closer to unmasking the murderer, but closer to James, as well. Can she solve the murder before she loses both her reputation and her heart?A cozy, romantic Regency murder mystery that will keep you guessing til the end.

    An immediate impediment arises when she becomes involved in a murder investigation. Helping solve the crime is crucial, but Bella must work with Constable Jackson Hastings. Once part of her life, Jax turned his back on Bella after her brother, his best friend, died in the trenches. His cold attitude hasn’t softened, but she can’t let that stop her. Both her hometown and family resort, once popular tourist destinations, may not survive if the crime isn’t solved quickly.Jax, a war veteran, faces his own challenges. Wounded in body and spirit, his dreams shattered, he finds himself doing what he said he’d never do—follow in his father’s footsteps as constable. When a wave of crimes hit the town, culminating in murder, his competence is questioned. In a struggle to find the killer and save his job, Jax needs all the help he can get—but he doesn’t want assistance from Bella. Not when he feels responsible for her brother’s death. But more is at stake than his job. He can’t stand by and let Moreley become a ghost town. Nor can he watch while Bella loses Ballantyne.Working together is the only way to solve the crime and offer hope—to their community and for themselves. Will their efforts succeed, or will it be a precarious homecoming?

    Attacked and disabled by a broken leg, he rents a room in the humble home of Joanna Chapman, a silk merchant’s widow. Joanna, having learned not to trust handsome, charming devils like Graeham, lets him think her husband is still alive in order to keep him at a distance. Mindful of his mission—and the promised reward—Graeham tries to resist his feelings for Joanna, but the white-hot desire simmering between them cannot be denied.Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window

    There is no road surface strong enough to resist the return to dirt in this climate.Blue touched my thigh with his nose, a gentle tap to remind me he was there. Thick jungle lined our path. This hill had the fewest homes on our route. No neighbors to wave a hello to or children to smile at as they raced by on bikes either too large or too small for them. There was just me, Blue, the burst of vegetation, and this road of rocks. I reached the top of the hill, my thighs and calves burned. Panting, I struggled to keep my pace.A low growl narrowed my attention onto a black and white street dog in the brush. Ears flat to her head, she curled her lips and showed teeth. Noting the swollen teats hanging low and exposed, I kept moving. "I'm not going to bother you, mama," I said in a steady voice. "We are just passing by."Blue slowed, and when I patted my thigh for him to catch up he stopped. I turned to look back at him, my senses on high alert. Blue was a mutt the height of a Great Dane with the coat of a wolf and the long snout of a Collie, with one blue eye and one brown. Blue has saved my life more than once so when he stopped, so did I.I recognized a twitch on his lip and saw the hackles raise off his shoulders and back making him appear even larger. A deep and rumbling growl left his chest. It was answered behind me. There were suddenly three dogs in our path. None as big or strong as Blue but together they looked dangerous.I'd been warned about this pack. Growing larger by the day, it was led by an aggressive alpha male the color of dirty water. This must be him, I thought, as the largest of the three, his head wide, fur the silt brown of an engorged river, growled at Blue. The compactness of his body spoke of strength and survival. When he barked, the saliva that shot from his mouth caught a ray of sunlight streaming through the thick foliage around us.The alpha stepped forward, revving his growl like a teenager on a motorbike. The bitch in the brush flanked our left side and when I turned right, two young dogs, their ears still soft from puppyhood, glowered at me.The owner of the guest house where I lived warned me to take a stick if I planned on running. "Just in case," she'd said with a dip of her head and a flip of her hand. Because of her advice I carried a light but solid piece of bamboo about twice the thickness of my thumb. I tapped it on the ground in front of me as I backed toward Blue, keeping my eyes forward, focused on the alpha but paying close attention to my peripheral vision, watching the dogs to my sides.When I reached Blue he moved backwards with me, slowly and deliberately. But the dogs followed. We stopped, and raising the stick over my head, I brought it down hard onto a rock. The loud sound and sudden movement spooked the pups to my right, but the alpha male just growled louder.The two dogs flanking him went crazy barking, the force of their calls lifting their front paws off the ground. The mother and the young ones joined in raising a ruckus that certainly beat mine. Blue, his front paws planted on the road, exposed his teeth and growled, his pitch wavering up and down. He wanted me to tell him it was okay to attack. I could feel his energy bundling up inside him, roiling around.Soon I'd have no control.P.S. The dog does not die.**Beware: If you can’t handle a few f-bombs, you can’t handle this series.**

    Not a dream job. But it does come with perks. There’s John Roberts, a devastatingly attractive neighbor who is almost too wonderful to be real.And there’s the new computer program Beautiful Houses—also too amazing to be real. No one knows how it works, but with it she can rewind and fast-forward the lives of all the people who ever lived in the house, including Charlotte Miles.In 1858, the house is a train stop on the Alton & Chicago Line. And Charlotte is stuck there serving meals to the passengers, wondering if she’ll ever get to have any fun. And then she meets two travelers who change her life forever. There’s James McGuire with whom she falls in love. And there’s his boss, a young Springfield lawyer named Abraham Lincoln. His debate with political opponent Stephen Douglas catapults him onto the national stage. And it inspires Charlotte to take up the cause of abolition.The HouseA stop on the Alton & Chicago Line. A stop on the Underground Railroad. Watching the house’s history unfold, Abby and Merrideth gain a new perspective on their own lives as time and again they see God’s loving hand in the lives of its inhabitants.

    Was it suicide or was it something else?Spokane County Detective Shane McAfee must unravel the mystery.Discover The 509 Crime Stories with this free short story.Then check out the books The Side Hustle The Long Cold Winter The Blind Trust The Suit What readers are saying about The Side Hustle★★★★★ “… just looking for my next thriller fix, I discovered this gem.” – John Barksley★★★★★ “… a great read! A different kind of police procedural.” – Mickey★★★★★ “This book was hard to put down.” – Amazon Customer★★★★★ “…kept me reading.” – Mary Arnold★★★★★ “Loved my first foray into the 509 series… and Quinn!” – Cynthiareads★★★★★ “The story is well crafted and kept me quickly ‘turning the pages.’” – Sally★★★★★ “Great read.  Very enjoyable.” – Amy Dalton

    A vision that could save her ...Nicolas Crystan, struggling to cope with his traumatic past, shuffles through life keeping mostly to himself ... until he has a disturbing daydream of a woman's death. At first he tries to forget it, but when real life mimics the daydream, he realises it was no ordinary fantasy—it was a vision of the future. To save a life, he must act fast.When Juliet Maystone escapes death, defying fate, she becomes 'displaced' in this world. All she wants is to return to her bustling day-to-day routine, successfully running her own business, but as hard as she tries, she can't ignore that things have changed for her. She has to face up to the fact that being 'displaced' comes with an unexpected ability.On Lansin Island, a quaint place with a dark history of its own, Nicolas and Juliet must learn to use their newfound abilities and work together to unravel a mystery more connected to Nicolas than he could ever have imagined ...A Death Displaced is the first book in a paranormal suspense/contemporary fantasy series with light romance.

    But her biggest challenge will be their father; masterful and strong in everything—especially his kiss. Poor and without dowry—and even worse—now orphaned, Miss Carly Blakemore is thrown into the Victorian world without aid. Carly is forced to seek a position as governess in the house of Lord Huntington, the Earl of Dunfordshire—a man alone in his own right—and under suspicion for the tragic murder of his well-known and adulteress wife. His governess’s honesty and forthrightness quickly offend his noble person, finding himself reeling from her constant evaluation of his lack of parenting skills. However, in the midst of his resentments, he finds himself strangely drawn in by her very no-nonsense ways that drive him to madness. Carly stands her ground in head-to-head battles of will that take her to the brink of dismissal. Carly and the earl continually fight the feelings growing between them. Both are oblivious to the clouds of deceit and intrigue that are growing around the manor house, some bent upon removing the beautiful, headstrong governess permanently. A final desperate chase leads to an interception of a ship upon the high seas headed for the Mediterranean and a secret society of white-slave traders, opening the way for this book’s sequel.

    Honouring the last wish of a dying friend, he is irresistibly drawn into a web of intriguing clues, hinting at a long forgotten treasure.Joining forces with Cecilia Crawford, a glamorous New York journalist, and Tristan, a remarkable boy with psychic powers, Jack soon finds himself on a precarious journey of discovery, exposing dark secrets from a distant, violent time, when life was cheap and cruelty ruled without mercy.Will Rogan succeed? Can he find the forgotten treasure he has been searching for, or will it be lost forever, depriving the world of a masterpiece that belongs to all mankind

    But when it comes to selling secrets, India's price cannot be paid by any man...In the winter of 1876, the beautiful, young madam, India Black, is occupied with her usual tasks—keeping her tarts in line, avoiding the police, and tolerating the clergyman bent on converting her girls. But when Sir Archibald Latham of the War Office dies from a heart attack while visiting her brothel, India is unexpectedly thrust into a deadly game between Russian and British agents who are seeking the military secrets Latham carried.French, the handsome, British spy, discovers India disposing of Latham's body and blackmails her into recovering the missing documents. Their quest takes them from the Russian embassy to Claridge's Hotel, from London to the English coast, all the while dodging Russians intent to do them harm.But it is their own tempestuous relationship they will have to weather as India and French attempt to resist the mutual attraction between them—an attraction that can prove as deadly as the conspiracy entangling them.

     After their father, the Earl of Pennington, dies and their older brother inherits the title and estate, English born Robert and James Bassett escape to the New World. The adventures and difficulties they encounter in the untamed colony of Virginia begin at the Tyler plantation where they meet and marry twin brides, Elizabeth and Evelyn. Follow their saga in Parts 1,2,&3 as they face life's challenges, family betrayal and the torment of an Indian attack and war. Full of drama, excitement, humor, romance and details of early American life, Riverbreeze will appeal to a wide range of readers.

     Montana Bound Brides: Book 1 Declan O'Bryan left Ireland to seek his fortune in the New World, but the journey was long for a man without a penny to his name. It took years of back-breaking work as a sailor and a journeyman for him to finally reach Montana, and to have enough money to his name to earn the title of proud homesteader. There's only one thing missing from his life now, and unlike the boys in town, he's not convinced a man should find a wife in a catalog, the same way he buys a plow. But for Margaret McGreggor, answering an advertisement for a wife is the only way she can get out of her sister's cramped apartment and start a new life for herself. She came to America for adventure and opportunity, and marrying a stranger just might provide her with both.

     On a gorgeous morning in paradise, tourists find a dead body on the pristine white beach of St. Killian, an island in the Caribbean. The victim was killed in a ritualistic murder. The dead man was castrated and branded. Burned into his skin is a strange word—“eros.” Investigative journalist Vivian Thomas-Bronson heads to the scene of the crime. She’s got to cover the story alone. Her husband, Leo Bronson, has to do a mysterious favor for his father. Leo is less than thrilled when he’s asked to find the missing son of a billionaire. There’s only one clue to go on—something known as “eros.” Could the missing scion be connected to the dead man on the beach? And what is the mystery behind “eros"? Their investigation uncovers an ultra-secret cult whose members perform bizarre rituals. When Leo goes undercover to get more information, he finds himself face to face with a demented killer. Can he escape with the truth? Or, will he fall prey to a psychotic villain who believes that murder is a sacrifice worth making?

    He’s an outlaw, was forced into his father’s gang at the age of thirteen, and is wanted Dead or Alive in more than one territory. But now his father is dead, he hates the life, the blood, and his brother’s rages. When a stagecoach robbery goes awry, Ed ends up with a satchel full of charming letters from an enticing young miss. Unfortunately for Miss Lizzie Cobb, her betrothed is now dead, and Ed Talbot sees a way out. Impersonating a fine, upstanding young man shouldn’t be too difficult. Despite the risks, falling in love with her proves to be all too easy. Isolated on her mother’s ranch just outside of Tombstone, Miss Lizzie Cobb doesn’t have the time or the means to find a respectable husband. As a half Apache woman in the Arizona Territory, being a mail order bride seems like the only solution to her problem until she realizes that San Francisco is too far away, and she’ll have to leave her vulnerable mother and baby brother behind. Her solution? Call off the wedding. When her groom shows up on her doorstep, she’s shocked. He’s handsome, strong, and has traveled hundreds of miles to claim her. His kisses inflame her body and his presence soothes her soul. Falling for the rugged man is beyond her control. But the past has a way of catching up to outlaws, and facing the truth is going to be hard…for both of them.

     Her father, Lord Audley, is determined that she should marry a gentleman of his choice. However, when his favored suitor is one Lord Haddington, Marion finds herself bitterly disappointed. Alexander, the Earl of Haddington, finds himself quite caught up with Lady Marion. Determined that he will not allow himself to feel anything for her, he seeks to court her but holds his emotions back. However, a sudden illness begins to strike Alexander down each time he draws close to Lady Marion. Weak and confused, he does his best to find a remedy but finds himself quite lost. Lady Marion, however, soon realizes that there is more to her suitor’s illness than there first appears. Both she and Lord Haddington are forced to draw close together until the truth is revealed. Will their greatest challenge bring them together or force them apart?