Book picks similar to
Direct Threat by Kimberly Rose Johnson


suspense
celebrate-lit
dawn-s-books
romance

The Twelfth Hour Patriot


Jennifer Youngblood - 2019
     McKenna O’Brien is desperate to get her Private Detective Agency off the ground. She takes a job for professional football player Tate Campbell. Tate, whose father owns one of the largest ranches in Texas, wants to make sure his girlfriend is with him for love and not his money. Sparks fly between Tate and McKenna from their first meeting. McKenna fights against the growing attraction, but when the two share a kiss and Tate’s girlfriend walks in, everything implodes, jeopardizing her career. McKenna vows to never have anything further to do with Tate Campbell. Sure he’s charismatic and handsome with his dark lively eyes and quicksilver smile, but he’s a womanizing snake! When a deadly stalker becomes enamored with Tate, McKenna must put aside her grudge for the greater good. While McKenna has no intention of falling for Tate, her heart has other ideas. As the stalker’s net closes in tighter, McKenna questions if she has the skills necessary to keep Tate safe, especially when her heart keeps getting in the way. Georgia Patriot Romances: 1. The Hot headed Patriot 2. The Twelfth Hour Patriot The Twelfth Hour Patriot is part of the O’Brien Family Romances. Here’s the order: 1. The Impossible Groom (Chas O’Brien’s story) 2. The Twelfth Hour Patriot (McKenna O’Brien’s Story) Coming soon: Tess Eisenhart and Caden O’Brien’s story

Code of Justice


Liz Johnson - 2011
    They also convince her that the helicopter crash only Heather survived wasn't an accident. Sheriff's deputy Jeremy Latham is assigned the case--he's the one who can help Heather find the person responsible...once she convinces him they should work together. As they dig for the truth, they learn to trust and care for each other. Will they lose it all when the killer targets Heather? She's willing to risk her life to find her sister's killer--but her code of justice could cost her the chance to win Jeremy's love.

Random Acts


Alison Stone - 2012
     When a family emergency forces Danielle Carson to return to the hometown she’d rather forget, she must face the only man she had foolishly allowed close enough to break her heart. Patrick Kingsley, a police officer and widower, is surprised by the feelings Danielle rekindles, but is reluctant to allow anyone new into his daughter’s life. When Danielle learns her sister’s car crash was no accident, she’s forced to trust Patrick to protect her family. Just when Danielle thinks she can risk her heart, she learns Patrick knew more about her sister’s accident than he let on. This betrayal drives them apart, but Danielle must learn to forgive Patrick before it’s too late…for her sister, for her, and for their second chance at love. *Originally released in 2012/Revised 2017

Rocky Mountain Redemption


Lisa J. Flickinger - 2020
    If only she could out run the lingering nightmares.Charles Bailey, camp foreman and Stony Creek's itinerant pastor, develops a reputation to match his new nickname — Preach. However, an inner battle ensues when the details of his rough history threaten to overcome the beliefs of his young faith.Amid the hazards of camp life, the unlikely friendship growing between the two surprises Isabelle. She's drawn to Preach's brute strength and gentle nature as he leads the ragtag crew toiling for Pollitt's Lumber. But when the ghosts from her past return to haunt her, the choices she will make change the course of her life forever—and that of the man she's come to love.

Imperfect Justice (Seeking Justice, #2)


C.C. Warrens - 2020
    Collin has haunted her footsteps—and her dreams—for fifteen years, and she wants nothing more than to put that pain and fear behind her and build a new life. But before that can happen, she has to confront the man who tried to destroy her.Can she find the courage to face her monster in court, or will she trust the survival instincts that are screaming for her to run while there’s still time?DA Shannon Marx is known for her skill and force of personality in a courtroom, and she's determined to put Collin Wells where he belongs: behind bars and away from everyone she loves. But Collin Wells is unlike any defendant she's ever come up against in court. He's intelligent, charming, and completely devoid of conscience.Will the jury be able to see the monster beneath the civilized veneer?Collin Wells is a man accustomed to getting what he wants, and he has every intention of walking out of that courtroom a free man. He will fight with everything he has, and if Shannon and her loved ones can be certain of anything, it's that Collin Wells never fights fair.

Dark Water


Christy Barritt - 2020
    In an effort to heal and start again, he moves to Lantern Beach, NC. Working with his new team offers him hope for his future, but when the wife of his deceased best friend shows up asking for help, he knows he can’t refuse to revisit his past.  A WIDOW WHOSE HUSBAND HAD SECRETS For the past year, Elise Oliver hasn’t been able to shake the feeling that there’s more to her husband’s death than she was told. When she finds a hidden box of his personal possessions, more questions—and suspicions—arise. The only person who can help is his former best friend, Colton Locke. WITH THE TRUTH COMES A FIGHT FOR JUSTICE Soon, it becomes clear that someone wants Elise dead. Is it because she knows too much? Or is it to keep her from finding out the truth? The team must uncover secrets best left buried if they want to move forward and save Elise. But someone with deadly intentions is determined to silence them . . . for good.

Christmas on Breakers Point


Chautona Havig - 2019
     Mallory Barrows has one last Christmas with her uncle. She’s determined to make it the best one he’s ever had. She knows when she asks what he wants as his final gift, it won’t be a tie or a new mug. He won’t need those where he’s going, and he’s quite happy about that. Mallory just didn’t think he wanted a miracle wrapped in paper and tied with a shiny red bow! Christmas on Breakers Point is the introductory book to the Independence Islands Series.

Lie for Me


Karen Young - 2011
    Tucker claims to have been alone at a job site at the time, but he needs Lauren to lie for him so that he won't become a suspect in the murder. She refuses; now as a prime suspect, Tucker disappears without a trace. Years later, she sees him at an antique fair, and worried that Lauren will reveal his carefully constructed life, he forces his into her hotel room and tells her that he's trying to find evidence to clear his name. As Lauren tries to help Tucker, she questions her ability to judge character as she uncovers a labyrinth of deceit, putting her very life in danger."Karen Young has written an exciting thriller with the second chance romantic subplot enhancing the suspense. Readers will root for the embattled lead protagonists caught in the crosshairs of a ruthless diabolical killer. . . . Lie For Me is a gripping one sitting read." --Harriet Klausner (5 stars)

The Ornament Keeper


Eva Marie Everson - 2018
    The Ornament Keeper, a contemporary Christmas novella, features Felicia and Jackson Morgan who are spending their first Christmas apart after twenty years of marriage. But a lifetime of gifted ornaments helps Felicia piece together the story of their marriage and the one mistake of unforgiveness she made before they said, "I do." Can these memory-filled ornaments reunite this family before Christmas? Only time will tell.

The Chase


DiAnn Mills - 2012
    To Kariss Walker it’s a hot idea that could either reshape or ruin her writing career. And it’s a burning mission to revisit an event she can never forget. Five years ago, an unidentified little girl was found starved to death in the woods behind a Houston apartment complex. A TV news anchor at the time, Kariss reported on the terrifying case. Today, as a New York Times bestselling author, Kariss intends to turn the unsolved mystery into a suspense novel. Enlisting the help of FBI Special Agent Tigo Harris, Kariss succeeds in getting the case reopened. But the search for the dead girl’s missing mother yields a discovery that plunges the partners into a witch’s brew of danger. The old crime lives on in more ways than either of them could ever imagine. Will Kariss’s pursuit of her dream as a writer carry a deadly price tag? Drawing from a real-life cold case, bestselling novelist DiAnn Mills presents a taut collage of suspense, faith, and romance in The Chase.

Freefall


Jodie Bailey - 2012
    A Special Forces soldier insists that Cassy's Fort Bragg-based unit is smuggling drugs. And the accuser? It's Cassy's handsome, stubborn ex-husband, Major Shane Logan. Shane knows Cassy is innocent, which is why he's sure she's being set up to take the fall. Proving it, though, means working together…and trying to ignore the feelings they still share. The closer they get—to the truth and each other—the more the danger grows from a ruthless criminal who'll stop at nothing to destroy them both.

Color of Danger


Alexa Verde - 2014
    Dallas surgeon Dr. Luke Goodman turns her world upside down with terrifying news. A recent murder has her late brother's - aka the Smiling Killer - signature and MO. When attacks on her escalate, Mari fights her growing attraction to the good doctor as fiercely as she fights for her life. To rescue herself and those she loves, will she be able to stop the murderer before he strikes again? Luke couldn't save his fiancée from the Smiling Killer, but he'll do anything to prevent more murders, even ask help from the serial killer's sister. Finding a kindred tortured soul and the perpetrator's next target in Mari, Luke is determined to protect the stubborn ex-rebel. But Mari would rather face danger than risk the safety of the man she comes to love.

Retired Spy


Vikki Kestell - 2019
    It means someone in authority over you has decided that “coming in from the cold” is out of the question. It means you’d better run. Laynie Portland has masqueraded as Swedish citizen Linnéa Olander for close to two decades, the last seven years as the companion of Vassili Aleksandrovich Petroff, a reputable Russian scientist, former officer of the KGB and, at present, senior technology advisor to the Secretary of the Russian Federation’s Security Council. What Petroff doesn’t know is that, during her time as his woman, Laynie (Linnéa) has ferreted out and fed her handlers a treasure trove of political and technological intel. However, Petroff is a man with a pathological need to control every aspect of Laynie’s life. When Petroff’s jealous rages worsen, Laynie has had enough and petitions her agency to pull her out. She is told, however, that she is too well-placed to decommission; she is too valuable an asset where she is—and she fears that someone, someone in her chain of command, would rather risk her death under Petroff’s hand than lose the value and prestige her intel engenders. She is told, furthermore, that her request to withdraw poses a larger danger—because the abrupt departure of Linnéa Olander would trigger an avalanche of Russian suspicions, and those suspicions would extend to her company, Marstead International, the front for a joint U.S./NATO covert intelligence gathering venture. But Laynie is desperate: She knows how close to the edge she stands. She has acted the part of Linnéa Olander too long and her ability to maintain the façade she presents to Petroff is fragile at best. A single misstep could blow her cover. Faced with no viable alternative, Laynie runs. Petroff views Linnéa Olander’s disappearance as a personal affront. In his eyes, Linnéa’s disloyalty is the ultimate act of betrayal, and he swears to find and punish her. Simultaneously, Laynie’s Marstead superiors brand her as a rogue agent, a loose cannon who can no longer be trusted—and the “retirement package” they order for her includes a short walk off the deck of a ferry into the black, icy rollers of the Baltic Sea. How can Laynie escape both the Russians and her own agency—the very people she once trusted? Will no one help her? Or will the God in whom her sister Kari trusts extend his protection over her life? But why would he do that, Laynie asks herself, given the life I have lived?Laynie PortlandBook 1: Laynie Portland, Spy Rising—The PrequelBook 2: Laynie Portland, Retired SpyBook 3: Laynie Portland, Renegade Spy 12.02.2019Book 4: Laynie Portland, Spy Resurrected 06.02.2020

Never Miss


Melissa Koslin - 2021
    She comes from a family of assassins, and by saving Lyndon Vaile's life she risks being found by them. Despite the danger, Kadance feels compelled to help Lyndon discover who is after him--and his research that seems to prove that the Ebola virus was manmade and is about to be weaponized.With shadowy figures pursuing them and a Mastermind watching their every move, Kadance and Lyndon must scramble to stop an impending bioattack at the State of the Union address. But their warnings fall on deaf ears, and it becomes increasingly clear that there's no one they can trust--except perhaps each other.Strap in for a breakneck story that will have you up all night, hurtling toward the last page as the clock ticks and time runs out.

Unintended Detour (Unintended #3)


D.L. Wood - 2021
    After Chloe's job loss, Jack's writer's block, and a disheartening personal disappointment, they could use a break. However, instead of hot chocolate and horseback rides through the snow, things are all wrong at the Stonehall Estate Resort. First, they learn of months of unexplained mishaps.Then there's a murder–and it's not the first at this historically tragic mansion.It soon becomes clear someone wants the resort to fail and will stop at nothing to make that happen. The question is…why?Eager to help the family business, Chloe picks up where the hotel’s last historical curator left off. But things quickly become dangerous when her research uncovers truths hidden for decades—clues related not only to mysteries sparked by a young girl’s death in 1931, but also those haunting the estate today. Before long Chloe finds herself in a deadly race to expose the mansion’s secrets before more innocents become victims of the malevolent force behind it all.Will Chloe bring the long-lost truth to light in time, or will she be the next to fall prey to the dark scheme that could claim everything, including her life?If you enjoy riveting intrigue, heart-warming romance and heroines and heroes you can't help but root for, you'll love USA TODAY bestselling author D.L. Wood's third installment in the award-winning Unintended Series of thrilling suspense novels laced with romance and faith.