Book picks similar to
Dividing Line by Heather Atkinson


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The Art of Fear


Pamela Crane - 2017
    A must-read thriller…” – Southern Editor ReviewsA life no girl should endure. A father no daughter could love. A twist no one would predict.From USA Today best-selling author Pamela Crane comes a terrifying tale of small-town secrets and murder.Ari Wilburn’s life ended long ago—the day she watched her little sister die in a tragic accident and did nothing to stop it. Crippled with self-blame and resented by her parents, she stumbles through life … and onto an unexpected clue that casts doubt on whether the death was accidental.Now a psychological wreck, Ari joins a suicide support group where she meets Tina, a sex-enslaved escapee who finds her long-lost father dead. Suicide, police ruled it. But Tina suspects foul play. As a bond develops between the women in their shared loss, they’re dragged into playing a dangerous game with a killer. A serial killer with a deadly message.Faced with a murderous wake-up call and two possibly linked deaths, Ari’s investigation puts her next on the killer’s list. But she’s never been one to back down from a fight. Needing closure, Ari must face her demons and the killer behind them … or lose everything she loves.“If Dexter and Gone Girl had a love child, this would be it.” – reader review

Captive


Samantha Jacobey - 2013
    When you grow up with a Motorcycle Gang of Mercenaries and Drug Lords like the Dragons, a normal life is more like a fairytale. For years, she accepted her dark reality, a world consisting of drugs, sex, violence and murder. In the end, she learned the most valuable lesson: survival.After years of being ruled by the Dragons, Tori uses her skills of seduction and assassination to free herself from the grasp of the people who vowed they would never let her go. Taken in by the FBI, she fears not everything is what it seems, and soon finds herself lost in a web of lies and deceit. She thought getting away from the Dragons would put her on a path to a new and better life, but now she must face the cold hard truth” there is always a price to be paid. ˃˃˃ Excerpt "Quietly, he explained to her that he was going to arrange for another group to kill the Dragons and send her to live with someone who would take care of her. Not understanding, she asked why she would have to go with someone else. If the Dragons were dead, why couldn't she just go with him? He refused to explain, and simply said, "You are going to have a different life, baby girl. A life I cannot give you. You must be strong and willing to do whatever it takes to make this happen. Promise me you will do this...." ˃˃˃ Book 1 of 7 in A New Life Series This is the first in a series that chronicles the life of a young woman who is raised by a group of men who work as freelance mercenaries in the dark world of drug trafficking and murder for hire. They acquired the young woman at a very young age, as she has no memory of life before them. The book opens as she has broken free and moves through a series of current events and flashbacks that explain the beginning of her story. It is very dark with an unfinished feel, because in the end, the past is not the real story - the real story is what happens from here. ˃˃˃ WARNING: GRAPHIC SCENES This book is intended for readers 18+ and contains scenes that may cause distress to some readers: Domestic Abuse, Kidnapping, Rape and Substance Abuse are described in detail.

Secret Maneuvers


Jessie Lane - 2013
    One ‘Dear John’ letter haunted Bobby Baker’s every living moment. It was the letter he’d stupidly written to his high school sweetheart, Belle, right after he had left to join the Army. The letter in which he’d told her that he wasn’t so sure they were ready for forever yet. Before he could let her know that the letter, and his second thoughts, were nothing more than a mistake, she disappeared from the small Georgia town they had both been raised in. Fifteen years after the letter, Belle unknowingly walked back into Bobby’s life when her job as an ATF Agent forced her to work with a group of men secretly headed by the CIA to help her track down whoever was involved in funneling black market weapons to a drug cartel in Mexico. Bobby planned to use this mission to try to soothe Belle’s hurt feelings while proving to her that their love was meant to be forever. He would use every dirty trick he’d learned since he had joined the Army to maneuver her back into his life for the long haul. Belle was not making it easy, though, as she continued to keep him at arm’s length in the hopes that mistakes of her own would never come to light. Warning: Mature themes and a secret baby! <- You've been warned.

The Counterfeit Bride


Liberty Blake - 2013
    Cassidy is a woman of secrets; the deepest is the identity she was born with and thought she had escaped long ago. If this bride is impersonating Cassidy, what trouble will that cause Cassidy and her infant son?Greek tycoon Theron Christofides needs to gain possession of Dolmides Cruise Lines and the little Greek island where it left a shipwrecked eyesore. A lot of people are at risk without his intervention. Old man Dolmides will sell on one condition: Theron must marry Dolmides’ illegitimate daughter. Seeing no other way to rescue the island’s people, Theron agrees to sacrifice himself and his future. As Theron stands at the altar with his bride-to-be, a fiery-haired woman in snakeskin boots and a cowboy hat interrupts their vows by calling his bride a fraud. In order for the wedding to continue, Theron must convince Cassidy Flynn to drop her lawsuit. Can he withstand Cassidy’s allure while he gains her cooperation? Or will they both be consumed by the fire of desire?

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.

Al Capone at the Blanche Hotel


Linda Bennett Pennell - 2013
    Lake City, Florida, June, 1930: Al Capone checks in for an unusually long stay at the Blanche Hotel, a nice enough joint for an insignificant little whistle stop. The following night, young Jack Blevins witnesses a body being dumped heralding the summer of violence to come. One-by-one, people controlling county vice activities swing from KKK ropes. No moonshine distributor, gaming operator, or brothel madam, black or white, is safe from the Klan's self-righteous vigilantism. Jack's older sister Meg, a waitress at the Blanche, and her fiancé, a sheriff’s deputy, discover reasons to believe the lynchings are cover for a much larger ambition than simply ridding the county of vice. Someone, possibly backed by Capone, has secret plans for filling the voids created by the killings. But as the body count grows and crosses burn, they come to realize this knowledge may get all of them killed. Gainesville, Florida, August, 2011: Liz Reams, an up and coming young academic specializing in the history of American crime, impulsively moves across the continent to follow a man who convinces her of his devotion yet refuses to say the three simple words I love you. Despite the entreaties of friends and family, she is attracted to edginess and a certain type of glamour in her men, both living and historical. Her personal life is an emotional roller coaster, but her career options suddenly blossom beyond all expectation, creating a very different type of stress. To deal with it all, Liz loses herself in her professional passion, original research into the life and times of her favorite bad boy, Al Capone. What she discovers about 1930’s summer of violence, and herself in the process, leaves her reeling at first and then changed forever.

Shattered Daddy


Charlize Starr - 2017
    My best friend in high school. Biggest crush I ever had. We made a deal when we were kids. We’d marry each other if we were still single at 30. Guess what. We’re both turning 30. But there are things he doesn’t know. Like a dead body in my closet. Will the truth set me free? Or will it haunt me forever? This is a 93-page small town suspense romance with a bad boy single dad and a good girl. It is a stand-alone story with an HEA, so no cliff-hangers! It includes lots of steam, secrets, and mature language. Most definitely for 18+ readers only.

Sex, Lies & Sweet Tea


Kris Calvert - 2013
    Coming home to bust a white-collar crime ring, Mac intends to execute his usual practice with work and women¬ – get in, get it on and get out. Instead, he finds himself unexpectedly drawn to the legacy of his family, his plantation, and the charms of a Southern girl. Samantha Peterson possesses everything he needs in a woman, including the evidence to wrap his case. As the investigation heats up, so does their passion and a dangerous game ignites. But, then again, everything’s hotter in the South.

The Unknown


Lara Henley - 2013
    She has learned to trust no one, and that you can't depend on anyone but yourself when the chips fall. Finally free of the states clutches she sets out on a whirl wind adventure called LIFE....But she never expected Drake....Drake... is Use to being in the lime light just graduated from college. Wondering what's next? Misty is a welcome surprise. So different from his everyday mundane experiences..Can two completely different people share a journey that could change both of their lives forever? Or will they end up destroying each other in the process?Escape to The UnKnown

Feels like Home


Evelyn Adams - 2014
    But when her carefully constructed life crumbles around her, Autumn's forced to return to the small southern town that never let her forget she came from the wrong side of the tracks. Jude Southerland, the town doctor, is used to taking care of people and with a pedigree that has the Ladies Auxiliary reaching for their fans, he’s easily the town’s most eligible bachelor – a status he has no intention of changing. That is until he almost runs down the Maddox girl he never noticed in school and suddenly finds her lush curves, dark curls and blue eyes consuming his thoughts, day and night. Autumn would like nothing more than to live happily ever after with Jude. But with every local matron in the valley trying to marry him off to their own daughters, she knows they won’t let her forget that she's not good enough and never will be. With the chance to finally find happiness, can she overcome her family history and find the confidence she needs to believe in herself or will she let love pass her by?

Telling Lies


L.A. Dobbs - 2017
    Someone murdered Lynn Palmer and staged the scene to make it look that way.With a pool of suspects who aren’t telling the truth and a corrupt mayor who wants the case solved yesterday, Sam and Jo follow a puzzling trail of clues with a surprise ending. And when a stray dog points them in the right direction, Sam discovers the killer is closer than he thought.Just when Sam and Jo think they can rest after having solved Lynn’s murder, a shocking discovery proves that sometimes even those you trust can be telling lies.

Beautiful Ruin


Amy Olle - 2015
    Soon, she's face-to-face with a man from her past. The one man she never stopped longing for.Renowned archaeologist, Noah Nolan, swore he’d never return to the small, remote island in Lake Michigan. After agreeing to complete a short-term excavation project, he realizes the site belongs to the woman who inexplicably rejected him years before. A woman he’s never forgotten – or forgiven.When Noah’s affinity for uncovering all things lost, forgotten, and buried stirs Mina’s repressed memories of a terrifying secret, she must find the courage to unearth the past, or risk losing the treasure of her heart forever.

Mister Mom


Piper Rayne - 2017
    Unfortunately, there are about as many people trying to sell a script in L.A. as there are vegans in the pacific northwest.But lucky for me, a few weeks ago my agent found an investor for my script. Hooray, all my problems are solved! NOT.Because the investor will only agree to fund my film if I use one specific actress. And that one specific actress? Well of course, it just has to be the same actress I screwed over only months before. But she doesn’t need to know about that one tiny detail, does she? All that matters is getting her to agree to do the film and I’ll do whatever it takes. We can leave the past, in the past, right?I thought my charm would win her over. Never would I have been prepared for the terms she laid out on the table.

Be All


Marie Wathen - 2013
    Invited to a welcome home party for Morgan Walker, playboy and future heir to Walker Corporation, Breesan’s self made world of exile begins to fall away.An introduction to Morgan only initiates the downfall of her self-contained world. His brother, undercover Drug Task Force Enforcer, Marcus Walker’s return adds to the chaos by uncovering family secrets, lies and evil plans to destroy her that will make protecting her heart and those around her extra difficult.Family responsibilities, deceits and the criminal behavior twist these three lives together threatening their meager existences. One brother could offer her a love that will be all worth the downfall.

The House of Closed Doors


Jane Steen - 2012
    Yet Nell is determined to elude the duties and restrictions of matrimony. So when she finds herself pregnant at the age of 17, she refuses to divulge the name of the father and even her childhood friend Martin is kept in the dark.Nell's stepfather Hiram sends Nell to live at the Poor Farm of which he is a governor, to await the day when her baby can be discreetly adopted. Nell is ready to go along with Hiram's plans until an unused padded cell is opened and two small bodies fall out.Nell is the only resident of the Poor Farm who is convinced that the unwed mother and her baby were murdered, and the incident prompts her to rethink her decision to abandon her own child to her fate. But the revelations to which her questions lead make her realize that even if she manages to escape the Poor Farm with her baby, she may have no safe place to run to.