Book picks similar to
Contraband by Charlie Vázquez


science-fiction
writers-of-color
fiction
male-writers

Seven Fingers a' Brazos


Eric H. Heisner - 2018
    When a wagon train of homesteaders is massacred by outlaws, a young male survivor is determined to rescue his stolen siblings. Dragged from his now peaceful existence, former military scout, Holton Lang invests himself in the search for the stolen captives as well as the difficult task of keeping the young man alive. As the search continues across three states, Holton meets old friends and finds new meaning in life as his job of survival embraces a newfound kinship.

Witness Protection Collection: Books 1 – 3


H.L. Wegley - 2019
     Book 1 - No Safe Place When Randi, a world-class, middle-distance runner, literally runs into Matt on an Olympic National Park trail, she believes she's found someone who can help heal her heart. But she learns Matt has secrets that threaten both her heart and her life. Matt is a prodigal trying to come home from the far country, but how much is he willing to give to restore his honor? No Safe Place is a clean, action-filled, romantic-suspense story that races from the scenic beaches of the Olympic National Park to the beauty of Lake Chelan in Central Washington State, a story of courage, honor, faith, forgiveness, and love. Book 2 - No True Justice They forced Gemma Saint into witness protection, not to protect her, but to silence her. After testifying in a high-profile case, Gemma, a young intern at an influential media outlet, is forced into WITSEC by corrupt DOJ officials hoping to silence her. When Gemma’s testimony at a retrial threatens their elaborate conspiracy to control the upcoming presidential election. Gemma learns from her WITSEC Inspector her identity was compromised and someone in the DOJ has sent a team to kill her. Gemma seeks help from Lex James, a young investigative journalist and offers him the biggest story of his career. But Lex was recently given custody of his deceased sister’s four-year-old twins, Josh and Caleb. Sparks fly when Lex and Gemma meet, and the boys see their mother in her. But can she endanger this fragile family? Should she run away, sacrificing her life and the course of her beloved country? Lex has difficult choices, too. But the highly gifted boys, Josh and Caleb, have their own opinion about what should happen, and it is not wise to underestimate four-year-old boys with 200 IQs. No True Justice is a clean, high-action, romantic-suspense story set among the breathtaking canyons and rivers around Lake Billy Chinook in Eastern Oregon. Book 3 - No Turning Back When, Drew West, a young man much like her dead father, offers Beth Sanchez protection, will trusting him bring another massacre, one that takes her life too? How can a young cowboy from Central Oregon protect her from the vengeful leader of a Drug Cartel who wants her dead? Drew has reasons for wanting to protect Beth, reasons that run deep, all the way to his heart and even deeper yet, to his soul. No one in his charge will ever be hurt again, no matter the cost. But can he convince Beth of that or will she opt for witness protection? Set near Big Bend National Park and in Central Oregon, near the Deschutes River, No Turning Back is a clean, high-action, romantic-suspense story about love, courage, and the futility of human vengeance.

U.S. Marshal Shorty Thompson: Bullets and Determation


Paul L. Thompson - 2017
    He told his boss Mister Orlando Montano, he wanted to travel a bit before he got too old to stay in a saddle twelve hours a day. “Now Tim, you know this will always be your home. Come back anytime and we will be happy to see you.” Tim slowly rode out headed toward Raton, but looked back several times. Was he doing the right thing? A week later when he got within a few miles short of La Veta Colorado, and found a rancher sitting beside a Ponderosa Pine with a bullet in his leg, he guessed maybe God had sent him on this route.

Sherlock Holmes: The Curse of Pharaoh


Christopher D. Abbott - 2021
    Exactly who are the Cult of the Free? And what connects them to each event? It falls upon Sherlock Holmes and his faithful friend, Dr Watson, to determine the motives. But it soon becomes apparent that the clues are almost as difficult to discover as the ancient tombs themselves…--This book was inspired by Abbott's original short story, SHERLOCK HOLMES The Egyptian Ring. It was first published in Songs of the Osirian: Companion and was later included in the paperback edition of SHERLOCK HOLMES A Scandalous Affair.

The Ever Open Door


Glenice Crossland - 2008
    Jim's only complaint is that Sally is too soft hearted for her own good, always at the beck and call of any neighbour, friend or even stranger. Sally, on the other hand, accuses Jim of being a soft touch for anyone after a drink or two at the Rising Sun. Both accept that neither will ever change and they love each other and their daughter Daisy deeply. Theirs is a close-knit family in a close-knit community where gossip - both good and bad - abounds and neighbour looks out for neighbour and friend for friend. And when Sally's generosity leads to an inheritance it should mean a change of life for the better, instead it brings danger and difficult choices for them all...

Marriage Jitters


Madhuri Tamse - 2020
    She struggled organizing the wedding as Viren Dewan’s classy extravagant attitude kept hurdling her work. Least did she know they had a history together, a knot which his family easily forgot and hers denied to accept. What would happen when that past resurfaced?A roller coaster ride of a forgotten accidental marriage, claiming its identity between Innocence versus Power.

A Much Anticipated Bride: Country Brides & Cowboy Boots (Lime Peak Ranch, #2)


Lucy McConnell - 2017
      Lime Peak Ranch is home to the Dumont and Ruggles families who raise cattle, train horses, and compete in PRCA rodeos. Life down the dirt road isn’t as perfect as it seems and secrets have roots deeper than the maple trees.   Ellie Dumont isn’t ready to face the music and return home to Lime Peak Ranch. She’s done the unthinkable and put a fence right down the middle of the family. To overcome her betrayal, the family will have to forgive thirty years’ of wrongs and look beyond her new last name. Dr. Robert Canton is falling in love with Olivia Dumont. After an electric kiss, he knows she’s aware of what’s happening between them. That’s why he has to tell her why he really came to the ranch. If Olivia understands, then they have a future together. If not, then he’ll have to pack his things and go because the Lime Peak Ranch isn’t home without Olivia’s hand in his. Carol Dumont agreed to move to the ranch so her son, Levi, could be closer to his father. In subtle ways, George has changed, he’s softer, more considerate of her feelings. And in other ways he’s still the same. He can melt her knees with a look and make her heart pound like a queen’s horse circling the arena. She’s fallen for his charms before and ended up alone and lonely. She’ll have to work extra hard to keep her heart safe with this cowboy living down the lane. Bonnie Ruggles is on the move. She has the money she needs to make one of her lost dreams come true and she’s feeling crazy enough to follow through even though. This leap may mean the end of her marriage—or it could save her soul from withering away.    Follow this family full of heart and love and loyalty as they work to navigate the revelation of long-buried secrets, bitter rivalries, and love in the second book in the Lime Peak Ranch series.

Out of Time


Michael Stewart - 2015
    Searching for answers from his own past, James suddenly finds himself back in war torn Britain in December 1944 facing a new and very dangerous reality. James is enlisted as a member of an RAF bomber crew and is forced to face the horror of war in the skies over Nazi occupied Europe, an icy death in the English Channel and an execution at the hands of a crazed Gestapo officer. He also finds love amidst the drama of war and finally discovers that the reality of life on our world isn’t quite what we think it is.Out of time follows on from the extraordinary success of The Angel of Time by Michael Stewart. If you enjoy the thrill of historic war-time fiction coupled with a thought provoking twist. All sales during November will be donated to The Poppy Appeal!

The Paradise Gig (Key West Capers Book 15)


Laurence Shames - 2020
    FICTION: Poolside at their motel, the Fab Four fell into conversation with a snappy-dressing local named Bert the Shirt, who listened as the band worked out a harmony to the most beautiful song he’d ever heard--and wouldn’t hear again for over half a century. FACT: That night, the Beatles played an unannounced free concert in the motel bar. Everyone was welcome. Local musicians showed up with guitars and keyboards, and had the once-in-a-lifetime experience of jamming with the Beatles till 4 am. This legendary event has forever after been known to Key West locals as THE PARADISE GIG.FICTION: Next day, hung over and exhausted, the Beatles left for the airport, having somehow lost a stained and battered notebook that held a priceless stash of unrecorded songs. NOW CUT TO THE PRESENT: A beautiful woman is doing a yoga headstand on a Key West beach when she’s abducted by a pair of thugs. An aspiring young singer is offered a recording deal that seems a bit too good to be true. Bad things happen to a couple of one-hit wonders…And old Bert hears a new song that is hauntingly familiar, but that he can’t quite place.Could it possibly be the same song he’d heard at poolside so many years before? Could it be that all the present mayhem circles back through the decades to THE PARADISE GIG? Could the precious, even sacred, Beatles notebook possibly turn up after all these years? Could Bert be the hero who would rediscover that stash of unheard songs for music lovers everywhere—and save a young singer’s life in the process? With Nacho, his intrepid Chihuahua, at his side, and with no one but bumbling detective Pete Amsterdam for an ally, the undaunted Bert the Shirt sets out through the Florida haze to piece it all together, learning along the way how much the world has changed—and how much it has not. In equal parts suspenseful and nostalgic, funny and romantic, this time-bending caper celebrates the power of music and the many tricks of memory, the joys of youth and the comforts of age, and the free and funky spirit of Key West.

The Ghost of Harry Black


Dave Garty - 2015
    She decides to swap the hectic streets of London for a slower pace of life in the sleepy Kent village of Cloverdale St Mary, but her move to the countryside runs into problems when she finds that her new home is haunted. Meadow Cottage is still home to the man who re-built it from a derelict ruin twenty years before, the ghost of Harry Black. Candice defies his attempts to force her to leave and they agree to share the idyllic village home. The question is can a mortal and a ghost live together?

The Guns of the Broke Knife Mine


Tracy T. Thurman - 2018
    To the daughter he’d left many years before. After crossing the desert, at the Colorado River, he comes across a woman and her young grandson, survivors of a brutal stage robbery. He finds himself in a small mining town in Arizona territory, wearing the badge of a Deputy U.S. Marshal, being the arm of the law in the town, tracking down outlaws and uncovering a sinister plot based on deception and corruption. A plan to rob, kill and terrorize, in the interests of cleaning out the Broke Knife Mine once and for all. Taking the wealth, and leaving nothing but dust and dead men behind. Pete Cooper encounters men who are cold blooded killers. He encounters honest men who work hard for a living. He also encounters a refined woman who, in spite of his rough edges, falls in loves with him. ‘The Guns of the Broke Knife Mine’, is a tale of the west. There’s action, intrigue, adventure, and even a little romance. It’s a tale of good men overcoming evil, and in a few cases, men overcoming the evil that lives within themselves. Does he ever make it back to Kansas to see his daughter? You ask. Well, I reckon you’ll have to read it to find out. Saddle up pard.

Defender of Rome: A Tale of the Ancient Republic


Ken Farmer - 2016
    Ever hear of the term Pyrrhic victory? A young Roman soldier is a part of history in which the phrase was created.

Can't Get You Out of My Head


Sue Shepherd - 2018
    But it's time to get on with her life. Could a seductive Italian, a smooth-talking charmer or backpacking around Australia be the answer?Lisa feels she's always lived in her sister's shadow. Maybe now it's her turn for some fun, whatever the consequences. But will her drunken antics land Beth in trouble?And when it comes to the crunch, will one sister have to give up what she wants so the other can have what she needs?Another entertaining page-turner from the No.1 bestselling author of Doesn't Everyone Have a Secret? – where things, and people, are not always as they first appear!

Until I Find You (Billie Carlson #1)


Anna Smith - 2022
    Perfect for fans of Marnie Riches and Martina Cole.WHEN YOU'VE LOST EVERYTHING, YOU'LL STOP AT NOTHINGBillie Carlson left the police force under a cloud. Once a promising young officer she now works as a private investigator, rooting out insurance scams and spying on cheating spouses.One morning a distraught young woman comes into her office saying that her baby has been stolen. Her story seems unbelievable, yet something about her makes Billie want to help - Billie knows what it's like to lose someone too.To get to the bottom of the case Billie must rattle some dangerous cages and rely on old police friends for inside help. Soon she discovers a network of crime deeper and far more twisted than she ever could have imagined. But is she in way over her head?

When the Music Stops: Discover the most emotional, uplifting new love story for 2020


Joe Heap - 2020