Book picks similar to
The Wedding Gift by Kathleen McKenna
mystery
paranormal
horror
fiction
The Ghost of Blackwood Lane
Greg Enslen - 2010
He’s got a new career and new friends, but they can never know his real name or where he comes from. But the program can’t protect him from the relentless dreams of a young woman in danger. It’s the same dream, night after night, and Gary is helpless, unable to stop the dream’s inevitable and horrifying conclusion. The woman seems strangely familiar…is she someone from his dark past? Is she even real? All he knows for certain is that she needs his help, or she will die.
Chosen
Denise Grover Swank - 2011
She and Jake, her five year old son who can see the future, are running from the men intent on taking him. Emma will do anything to protect him even when it means accepting the help of a stranger named Will. Jake insists she needs Will, but Emma's never needed help before. And even though she's learned to trust her son, it doesn't mean she trusts Will. Mercenary Will Davenport lives in the moment. Hauling Emma to South Dakota should have been an easy job, but his employer neglected to tell him about Emma's freaky son and the gunmen hot on her trail. Instinct tells him this job is trouble, but nothing can prepare him for Jake's proclamation that Will is The Chosen One, who must protect Emma from the men hunting her power. A power she doesn't know she has. Will protects Emma and Jake on a cross-country chase from the men pursuing them, while struggling with memories from his past, his apprehension of Jake, and his growing attraction to Emma. Will's overwhelming urge to protect Emma surprises him, especially since it has nothing to do with his paycheck and possibly everything to do with the tattoo Jake branded on his arm. Rich and powerful men are desperate to capture Emma, and Will must discover why before it's too late.
The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall
Katie Alender - 2015
Long ago, it was the Piven Institute for the Care and Correction of Troubled Females—an insane asylum nicknamed “Hysteria Hall.” However, many of the inmates were not insane, just defiant and strong willed. Kind of like Delia herself.But the house still wants to keep “troubled” girls locked away. So, in the most horrifying way, Delia gets trapped.And that’s when she learns that the house is also haunted.Ghost girls wander the halls in their old-fashioned nightgowns. A handsome ghost boy named Theo roams the grounds. Delia finds that all the spirits are unsettled and full of dark secrets. The house, as well, harbors shocking truths within its walls—truths that only Delia can uncover, and that may set her free.But she’ll need to act quickly, before the house’s power overtakes everything she loves.From master of suspense Katie Alender comes a riveting tale of twisted memories and betrayals, and the meaning of madness.
Trouble in Mudbug
Jana Deleon - 2009
The woman was rude, pushy, manipulative and used her considerable wealth to run herd over the entire town of Mudbug, Louisiana. Unfortunately, death doesn’t slow down Helena one bit.DEA Agent Luc LeJeune is wondering what his undercover assignment investigating the sexy scientist has gotten him into – especially as it seems someone wants her dead. Keeping his secrets while protecting Maryse proves to be easier than fighting his attraction for the brainy beauty. (Note: This book is part of the author’s backlist, originally released in print in 2009 by Dorchester Publishing)
The Shape of Night
Tess Gerritsen - 2019
So she flees Boston and rents an old home named Brodie’s Watch on a remote coastal peninsula of Maine, hoping to work on a cookbook inspired by New England cuisine that she’s been trying to finish for months. She immediately feels at peace in the isolated house–until she starts to hear strange noises.Rumor has it that a sea captain named Brodie has haunted the house for decades. Then, one night, Ava is awakened to find herself face to face with an apparition who looks–and feels–all too real. Meanwhile, there’s been a series of accidental deaths nearby that don’t add up. And as Ava starts to check into the previous renter’s mysterious disappearance, she starts to realize that there’s a disturbing secret some in town are desperate to keep hidden.Soon all of Ava’s waking hours are consumed by her investigation, and her nights are ignited by Captain Brodie’s ghostly visits. But even as she questions her own sanity, she knows she must uncover the truth before a killer strikes again.
Rings On Her Fingers
ReGina Welling - 2014
Newly engaged with a photography career just starting to take off, her life is almost comfortable. The only thing she lacks is enough money to repair the family home. But, when her best friend, Gustavia, drags her to a visit with a psychic thinking it will be a fun engagement gift, things get really crazy. A ghostly encounter provides a cryptic clue to the location of the lost family fortune and a warning that her fiancé is not what he seems. Launched into a wild adventure, Julie must learn to listen to her heart, her intuition and the ghosts that will guide her in order to solve the mystery. Journalist, Tyler Kingsley gets drawn into the search. What red-blooded male could resist a treasure hunt? The idea gets his blood pumping and so does Julie. When he realizes that her fiancé might be dangerous, he decides to protect her at any cost, even if he loses his heart. This is a clean, sweet, romance that combines mystery and humor with the paranormal.
Tuesday's Child
Dale Mayer - 2011
Shunned and ridiculed all her life for something she can’t control, Samantha Blair hides her psychic abilities and lives on the fringes of society. Against her will, however, she’s tapped into a killer—or rather, his victims. Each woman’s murder, blow-by-blow, ravages her mind until their death releases her back to her body. Sam knows she must go to the authorities, but will the rugged, no-nonsense detective in charge of tracking down the killer believe her? Detective Brandt Sutherland only trusts hard evidence, yet Sam’s visions offer clues he needs to catch a killer. The more he learns about her incredible abilities, however, the clearer it becomes that Sam’s visions have put her in the killer’s line of fire. Now Brandt must save her from something he cannot see or understand…and risk losing his heart in the process. As danger and desire collide, passion raises the stakes in a game Sam and Brandt don’t dare lose. Length - 90,000 words. Excerpt Agony. Pain. Terror. A voice whispered through the blackness of her mind, so odd, so different it caught her attention. She strained to hear the words. “Let go. It’s time to let go.” Sam stared through the flames, stunned. Let go of what? She couldn’t hear over the roaring fire and could barely see, but knowing that someone was there stirred her survival instinct, and she fought with the seatbelt buckle jammed at her side. She was saved. Just another minute and they’d open the door and pull her free. She’d be fine. “Please hurry,” she cried out. “Let go. You don’t need to be in there. Let it all go, and come with me.” She peered through the golden orange windshield to see a strange male face peering at her through the flames. He smiled. “Come with me.” “I want to, damn it. Can’t you see I’m trapped?” she screamed, her vocals crisping in the heat. “Release yourself. Come with me. Say yes.” The pain hit a crescendo. She twisted against it, hearing her spine splinter. The car seat melted into her skin. So much pain, she couldn’t breathe. Blackness crowded into her mind, blessed quiet, soothing darkness. She reached for it. “Let it go. You don’t need to go through this. Hurry.” She started. Why wasn’t he opening the door or getting others to help? He should be trying to save her. Shouldn’t he? Sam, so confused and so tired, she could barely feel the pain overtaking her body. Where had he gone? She tried to concentrate. His face was now only a vague outline that rippled with the heat waves. A soft smile played at the corner of his mouth. The flames burned around him, weird as they centered him in the warm glow. She wanted to be with him. To live. “Here, take my hand.” Dazed and on the brink of death, Sam focused on the hand reaching for her. She struggled to raise the charred piece of flesh that had been her arm and reached out to grasp his. She was free. Overwhelmed, she turned to hug her savior, her head just reaching his shoulder. He stood beside her, the same radiant beaming look on his face. His blond hair glowed, and he had the brightest teeth. She sighed. This beautiful man pointed to her right arm. Confused, Sam glanced down at her burned arm, realizing she could feel none of her injuries. Just like her other one, her broken arm had miraculously healed – whole, smooth and soft. Her skin hadn’t looked this good in ten years. She spun around to find a massive fireball below. What the hell? She had to be dead.
The Vines
Christopher Rice - 2014
But something sinister lurks beneath the soil of the old estate.After heiress and current owner Caitlin Chaisson is witness to her husband’s stunning betrayal at her birthday party, she tries to take her own life in the mansion’s cherished gazebo. Instead, the blood she spills awakens dark forces in the ground below. Chaos ensues and by morning her husband has vanished without a trace and his mistress has gone mad.Nova, daughter to Spring House’s groundskeeper, has always suspected that something malevolent haunts the old place, and in the aftermath of the birthday party she enlists Caitlin’s estranged best friend, Blake, to help her get to the bottom of it. The pair soon realizes that the vengeance enacted by this sinister and otherworldly force comes at a terrible price.
Gone With The Ghost
Erin McCarthy - 2017
Except that’s exactly what happened. Ryan is very much dead, having shot himself with his own police-issued gun. Guilt and grief shouldn’t cause hallucinations though, but six months after Ryan went into the ground, Bailey is freaking out and swearing his ghost is standing in her kitchen. Which he is… Ryan claims he didn’t commit suicide, but was murdered, and he needs Bailey to help him find his killer so he can earn his ticket out of purgatory. Ryan’s counting on a stairway to heaven, as opposed to wings, since that might be a little unmanly for a cop, even a dead one. An expert in home design, with her own staging business, Bailey can tell you where to place a couch to improve flow and comfort, but solving a crime? Not her area of expertise. But with help from Ryan’s former partner, Marner, she is unraveling the mystery of what happened to Ryan that day… and unwittingly putting herself in grave danger. Murder By Design Series Book 1- Gone With The Ghost Book 2- Silence of The Ghost Book 3- Once Upon a Ghost Bestselling author Erin McCarthy offers her signature humor in this fun series about an uptight fashion-conscious home stager who finds herself stiletto-deep in murder...
Forever Road
Catie Rhodes - 2013
A reluctant psychic medium. Destiny only knocks once—then it kicks down the door.
Peri Jean Mace thinks seeing ghosts is a curse, but her murdered trailer trash cousin doesn’t care. She wants Peri Jean to expose her killer.Peri Jean figures out everyone in her one-stoplight East Texas town has something to hide. And one of them will kill to hide the truth. In over her head, Peri Jean has to face her curse or end up the next victim.Forever Road is the first book in the Peri Jean Mace Ghost Thriller series. If you like your urban fantasy served up with a heavy dose of goose bumps, a side of gut-busting laughs, and a fist-swinging heroine who will steal your heart, you’ll love Forever Road.
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.
Children of the Fog
Cheryl Kaye Tardif - 2011
Choose! Sadie O'Connell is a bestselling author and a proud mother. But her life is about to spiral out of control. After her six-year-old son Sam is kidnapped by a serial abductor, she nearly goes insane. But it isn't just the fear and grief that is ripping her apart. It's the guilt. Sadie is the only person who knows what the kidnapper looks like. And she can't tell a soul. For if she does, her son will be sent back to her in “little bloody pieces.” When Sadie's unfaithful husband stumbles across her drawing of the kidnapper, he sets into play a series of horrific events that sends her hurtling over the edge. Sadie's descent into alcoholism leads to strange apparitions and a face-to-face encounter with the monster who abducted her son--a man known only as...The Fog.
Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie She's Dead
Christiana Miller - 2011
At least, that's what her cards tell her and they've never been wrong. She's evicted from her apartment, loses her job and is banned from Beverly Hills. So when the tarot cards predict her imminent demise, she uses a little magic to make her world right.Suddenly, an aunt she's never met dies, leaving Mara as her sole heir. But when Mara moves into her inherited home, she discovers Aunt Tillie never moved out. She's still one pissed-off old lady, even post-mortem, and she blames Mara's magical meddling for her death.When Mara accidentally releases a demon and awakens the spirit of the most powerful witch in history, Tillie's ready to kill her -- literally. It's the only way she can think of to save the girl from herself. The witch and the demon, however, have other plans for Mara's body.
The Doll
J.C. Martin - 2011
On a trip to the island, Joyce Parker's daughter falls in love with a beautiful but sinister doll. Soon after, she starts developing strange mannerisms that concerns Joyce. Her research into the doll's past reveals a dark history, and the curse of a lonely child spirit.
Loose Ends
Terri Reid - 2010
Well, actually, coming back from the dead and having the ability to communicate with ghosts is really what did it. Now, a private investigator in rural Freeport, Illinois, Mary’s trying to learn how to incorporate her experience as a Chicago cop and new-found talent into a real job. Her challenge is to solve the mysteries, get real evidence (a ghost’s word just doesn’t hold up in court), and be sure the folks in town, especially the handsome new police chief, doesn’t think she’s nuts. Twenty-four years ago, a young woman drowned in the swimming pool of a newly elected State Senator. It was ruled an accident. But now, as the Senator prepares to move on to higher positions, the ghost of the woman is appearing to the Senator’s wife.Mary is hired to discover the truth behind the death. She unearths a connection between the murder and the disappearance of five little girls whose cases, twenty-four years later, are still all unsolved. As she digs further, she becomes the next target for the serial killers’ quest to tie up all his loose ends.