To be qualified to earn the coveted prize, a book (published in 2011), must score higher than 8.0 on twenty questions provided to six randomly selected reader judges. This year's winners were the best of the best!NEW FORMATTING!Lies have consequences…Twelve years ago, Max Crayton had no choices. Honor bound to hunt a traitor, the government declared him dead to the outside world. He completed his mission, but lost the only woman he ever loved and a child he never knew existed.And so does breaking a woman’s heart…Max was her life, her very heartbeat. After his death, alone and haunted by a dangerous past, Kat Jannsen made the ultimate sacrifice to keep their daughter safe.When Kat discovers Max is alive her carefully constructed jigsaw puzzle life is torn to pieces. But an old enemy has been watching…waiting to strike. As the danger mounts, she has nowhere to turn but to Max. She can trust him with her life, but does she dare trust him with her heart?

    Rafael never gave up hoping for Chloe’s return. She inherits her father’s shrimp boat and irascible crew, enabling her to make a living. Rafael’s passion breaks down her emotional barriers, but her impetuous nature draws her into a cruel vortex where she runs afoul of old and new enemies. Previous rivalries emerge, pitting Rafael against the heir-apparent to a crime dynasty. With the body count rising, Rafael and Chloe battle an infatuated but vicious drug lord, kidnappers, and a twisted curandero (Mexican healer). Will they survive the violence and be able to forge a life together?

    Reese Woodward had returned to town with dark secrets, and he was determined to unravel them. While evil lurks in the darkness, seduction burns between them...only time was their enemy.Will her secrets destroy what they've built, or can he earn her trust before the killer strikes again?

    Dr. Christina Paxton, however, is growing accustomed to living with ghosts. Recently widowed, the emergency room physician has returned to the shore with her young daughter, house-sitting a sprawling beachside Victorian home. One night, her two-year-old calls her by a name that makes Christina’s blood run cold and sends her thoughts spiraling back thirty years.Deeply unnerved, and certain someone else is in the house, she flees with her child into the cold night, only to come face-to-face with Chief Harris Bowers, a former classmate with whom Christina has a complicated history. Now divorced, Harris hopes to mend their past, but Christina is wary of being played for a fool again. As threats emerge, Christina and her small family find themselves in grave danger. It seems there is no one she can put her trust in—least of all herself.

    She meets Trent Williams, a Ridge City police detective, and something else definitely sparks. Not only does he know her, Trent takes on her case and promises to do everything he can to solve it. He wants to know why she left town, with her parents, but without a word to anyone. She doesn’t remember that life. She can only tell him she knew her parents briefly before they died . . . or were murdered, she’s not sure. She hopes regaining her memory will help answer that question. Trent has his own secrets, but they have a mystery to solve. As they work together, and Molly meets their old friends, she realizes her relationship with Trent went deeper than memories. In fact, she grew up in Ridge City, even though her parents had said they lived there just a few years. How could she have forgotten her lifelong friend and love? Has he really been looking for her—waiting for her—for the last four years? Can she love him again if she doesn’t remember him? There’s also the possibility that she did something awful –and maybe that’s why she’s afraid to remember her old life. Molly knows she wants Trent now, but the truth might destroy their love.

    She thought her biggest issue would be adapting to life in the middle of a National Forest, so very different from her upbringing in the deserts of Arizona.But that was before she met State Trooper Fire Marshall Jamison "Jazz" Maddox at the scene of a mysterious fire. As they both become acquainted with the close-knit Klondike residents, things get complicated as Cherie and Jazz find themselves in the middle of a local crime wave where arson, kidnapping, embezzlement and a decades old murder are just the tip of the iceberg.Be sure get your free copy of the Klondike Kompanion from the author's website and read the "Meet the Characters" interviews

    Suspecting a serial killer, Avery joins forces with medical examiner Jackson Bryant to solve the crimes and prevent another murder. But it doesn't take long for them to realize that there is much more to the case than meets the eye. As they venture deep into a sinister world of human trafficking, Avery and Jackson are taken to the very edge of their abilities--and their hearts.Dangerous Passage exposes a fully-realized and frightening world where every layer peeled back reveals more challenges ahead. Romantic suspense fans will be hooked from the start by Lisa Harris's first installment of the new Southern Crimes series.

    After escaping an abusive relationship eight years ago, Sarah finally has the quiet life she’s always wanted, and she’s less fearful than she’s ever been. Until a random act of brutal violence reminds her that safe is only an illusion.Mark Summers’ plan was always to marry his high school sweetheart and have a large family with her. He never doubted this plan until he finds his wife in the arms of another man. Left heartbroken, he devotes himself to running his security business and following his passion for protecting the vulnerable.And Sarah Jennings is as vulnerable as they come.Scared and wanting to run again, Sarah can’t deny there’s something extraordinary about this handsome stranger dead set on protecting her. Mark will stop at nothing to keep her safe from the madman out to get her, but as love becomes a distraction, he realizes he might be in over his head.Just as things start to settle down and Sarah feels safe again, her past comes back and threatens her happily ever after. Mark will have to rewrite the rules if he wants to save the woman he loves and secure their future together.

    Madeleine Schier heeds her husband's panicked call and runs home, only to witness his brutal murder by a crime boss and become a target herself. Under police security, she vows to testify. But when the police protecting her are killed, the last of her NYC life disintegrates, leaving her no place to hide. She flees, relying on her wits and imagination to survive on a dangerous journey to become someone else. Who can she trust? The helpful widower who advises her on farming? The damaged recluse who's always near? The neighbor who brings cherry pie? With the murderer still searching, one wrong move could be her last.

    He spent his youth sowing his oats and living life for the moment. Then he met Amber and after one incredible night, Raylan was ready to give up his wild ways. But then a call from his ex turned his world upside down. Raylan sacrificed his tender new feelings and left town to raise a son he’d never even known existed. All the while, dreams of a beautiful brown haired girl haunted his dreams. Amber Atkins had given everything to Raylan. Her virginity and her soul. Convinced she could tame the notorious bad boy, she was devastated when he left without a word. Now six years later, Raylan has returned to Mercy to convince Amber that they can’t live without each other. But can Amber find the strength to trust again? As a stalker grows bolder, Amber’s life is in danger and she’s forced to turn to one man for help – Raylan Wilde. In order to survive, she must trust the man that nearly destroyed her with her body and soul.

    She's just moved out of her mother's home, and out from under her thumb, to a new city across the country. Sure, she loves her family, but it was definitely better when they loved each other from a distance. For the first time in her life she's all alone, but she’s also happy. Special Agent Reece Knight’s latest case has him completely stumped. He's been an FBI agent for four years, but he'd never had one like this. There are no leads and no witnesses. At least, none that have ever survived. Someone out there is killing women in his town, and Reece is going to bring him down. Then, Emily's peaceful night is interrupted in a way that scares her half to death and shakes the foundations of her entire world. This isn't something she can go to the police about, but if she doesn't do something she'll be left to face a killer alone. In desperation, she reaches out to an old friend, Hannah Mitchell and her US Marshal boyfriend Luke. What she tells them sounds familiar to Luke, too familiar. His buddy Reece has been chasing a killer with the same M.O. for months. No one knows just how he manages to lure and kill his victims in major cities without being seen, and now Emily might just be the only person to ever escape with her life. A life she might not have for long if Reece can’t protect her from a serial killer, a man that’s tasted her fear once and doesn't intend to fail again.

    Until she meets Sam Travis. One kiss from Sam and suddenly her whole world is turned upside down as she finds herself falling madly in love with him. But when death threats are sent to Beth and an old scandal involving Sam conspire against them, she is forced to make some of the toughest decisions of her life.

    Three months ago, her sister’s murdered body was found in the California desert. When a second body is found at the same site, Dena jeopardizes her public relations position to go undercover and investigate. But falling for the main suspect isn’t part of her plan.Zeke Cabrera needs help. He sold a portion of his family’s Three C’s Estates to keep his citrus farm afloat, but when bodies are unearthed on the site, he’s suspected of murder. Help comes in the form of a communications expert who makes all the difference in his life and business-–and in his heart.Amidst an attack on her life and run-ins with a cantankerous foreman, Dena digs for the truth, even as she forms a strong bond with Zeke. But can their newly found love survive all the deep secrets hidden at Three C’s Estates?

    Maybe a little too good. As a professional counselor who's been unintentionally clocking hours after work with her advice-seeking friends, Emily decides it's time to hang up the counselor hat when she's out of the office and make something happen in her own life. She has just two rules: No men with emotional baggage and no risk takers.Bryan “Mac” McAvoy is tormented by the death of a teenage boy, shot during a robbery gone wrong, and fellow police officer, Sean Simon, is convinced his sister Emily is just the person to help Mac get back his edge.With his dangerous vocation and giant suitcase full of guilt, Emily vows to steer clear and guard her heart. But when she receives a death threat from a deranged client, she finds that Mac may be the only man who can guard her life.

    Meanwhile, she is grieving for her beloved German shepherd. She heads for the Grand Canyon to get away from it all. Three men are chasing her. One wants her money. One wants her life. And one wants her heart.Russ Camino is a bounty hunter with a haunted past. He made a promise that he must keep, and he has no time for women. Not even when he meets one who makes his pulse race. When he discovers that the hit man he is following is after Terri, he knows that he must protect her at all costs.