Adam worries how his shy wife, Mercy, will cope with having to share the only room left. Bored at having to ride out the storm with only two channels on TV, Nelson suggests an innocent game of truth or dare. As Mercy sheds her usual bashful demeanor, the situation turns explosive. How low will Adam let his wife descend?

    Having married into wealth, she lived for a number of years surrounded by every luxury money could buy. Now, with her husband gone, the truth is revealed. And it’s worse than she could possibly have imagined. Penniless, alone, and shunned by the friends she used to know, Greta is desperate.Wesley lives a happy but simple life in Lost Creek, a long way from his rich family and a heartbreak he never recovered from. When he receives a letter from his grandmother, he discovers he needs a wife. He needs one soon.Neither of them are looking for love, but they are soon to learn that sometimes life’s not about what you seek, but what you find. Can our two heroes leave their pasts behind them? Can they open their eyes to the possibilities that lay ahead?Join them as they navigate the scenic streets of Lost Creek, carefully finding their way to their own, and each others’, hearts.

     Abandoned as a baby Maise never gave up hope that one day her mother would return to claim her as her own, but as she stood in the dirty river water that dream soon washed away. She soon learnt that life was like the river; dark, fast moving and dangerous. Life would teach her lessons she had never wanted to learn, but would fate mend what had been broken, before she succumbed to the Thames as so many had before her?

    This story deals with overcoming the obstacles that are thrown your way and persevering. What would you do if you knew the one person meant to protect you was the one bringing you the most harm? For Kahina Martel this question is very much her reality. The day of her mother’s murder changes everything for Kahina, a 17-year-old high school senior. She goes from being one of the top high school athletes in the state of Florida, to having her world turned upside down at the hands of her own father, Clarence Martel. The entire world looks on as Clarence gets away with murder and is granted custody of his only daughter. As Kahina adjusts to her new life she gains new friendships and relationships. Will these relationships help her, or will they turn her heart cold? Dive into part one of this enticing, drama filled African American Urban Fiction Hood Love Story.

    When she fell in love with a charming bad boy named Tommy, she was ready to risk it all, until a devastating secret shattered her world. After getting her heart broken, Armani refused to give up on love, so she picked up the pieces of her heart and tried to move on with her life. That’s where Alpha came in. He and his brother Omega were two of the deadliest, most ruthless men in Chicago, but they had a soft spot for the women they loved. The moment Alpha laid eyes on Armani, he knew she was the perfect girl for him. The fact that she was sexy, spoke different languages, and had a feisty attitude was a bonus, but everything that glitters ain’t gold. Old skeletons resurface, and Alpha finds himself fighting to secure his spot in Armani’s future, even if that meant getting rid of someone from her past. When Armani’s best friend Summore begins dating Omega, she didn’t expect things to take off so fast. Still dealing with old feelings and secrets of her own, Summore finds herself playing a dangerous game that could cost her everything. Omega was blind to Summore’s ways in the beginning, but once her betrayal hits too close to home, Omega snaps and the hitta in him returns more savage than ever. Things quickly spiral and Summore must make a critical decision or lose her life. With all the drama and secrets, which couple will make it? Two men with the hearts of a lion; two women fighting to tame the beast in them. These women prove that Capturing a Hitta’s heart may be easy; keeping it is the hard part.

    But the moment Jared Parsons sailed the Sea Gypsy into Pamlico Sound, she knew her quiet refuge was ruined. She wasn't sure what bothered her more about this stranger—his arrogant attitude or the passions he inspired. Was Cathy running away again, or was she heading straight into the arms of the man she hated to love?Golden LassoAfter Jan Warren inherited a ranch in the beautiful Arizona desert, she put everything she could into making a success of Rancho Arroyo. But managing a resort had its problems from the start—problems that were not at all helped by the commanding presence of Derek Bannon. Owner of the Golden Lasso, the neighboring vacation hot spot, Derek was determined to buy Jan out. And he wasn't taking no for an answer. Somehow this business venture had become intensely personal and the stakes were dangerously high—her trust and her heart.

    . . or the final ruse of a twisted serial killer?Three years ago, a deranged murderer dubbed the Halloween Killer butchered half a dozen people in New Orleans. He was caught and sentenced to die. Just before his execution, the Halloween Killer vowed to take revenge on the district attorney who put him behind bars.Less than a week after the lethal injection, Sebastian Gichaud, a wealthy playboy grieving over the death of his mother, threw on a black cloak and hacked the prosecutor to death with a giant scythe. Not only did Sebastian appear to be fulfilling the serial killer’s last wish -- he claimed that he was the Halloween Killer.Now, as the anniversary of the grisly murder approaches, Sebastian is facing trial. No one will touch the case. In a desperate attempt to save his son, Sebastian’s father hires Viktor Radek, professor of religious phenomenology, to investigate.If Sebastian is guilty, Viktor wonders, then why are he and his associate Dominic Grey being warned off the case? And why did the Halloween Killer visit a series of reincarnation experts before his death?None of Professor Radek’s doubts might matter, because he and Grey face the impossible task of convincing an Orleans Parish jury that Sebastian Gichaud is either a prisoner in his own mind – or possessed by the spirit of the Halloween Killer.(Note to fans of the Dominic Grey series: The Reaper’s Game is a standalone novella that takes place earlier in time than The Shadow Cartel.)

    Three mothers and their daughters have been found murdered in their homes. The mothers have been brutally stabbed while the little girls' have been smothered in their beds and posed to look like they're sleeping.Defying FBI protocol, Yoko makes a detour to Sarasota to entice Jefferson Winter to join the case. Winter has now graduated from college and is playing piano in a tourist bar. At first he's reluctant to get involved but that's the thing with Winter, what he says and what he means are usually two different things. All Yoko knows is that he's the only person who can help her before the Sandman claims another two victims . . . but what Winter doesn't know is that Yoko might be the only person who can help him come to terms with his past.A Jefferson Winter Novella

    Little did they know that underneath his cool exterior lay a twisted desire to kill.Behind the facade of normality lay a psychopathic mind struggling to control its homicidal urges. Having seduced and married his sweetheart Mary Gough, Whelan immediately began planning her brutal murder.While his young wife dreamed of a love-filled marriage, Whelan searched the internet for information on serial killers and the methods they used to strangle their victims.Compelling and disturbing, this book reveals how Whelan murdered his wife to claim a hefty life insurance policy, and how he faked his own suicide when he became the prime suspect for the murder.Till Death Do Us Part offers a fascinating insight into the true motivation behind one of Irelands most notorious murders, and is a horrifying story of love, lust, revenge and murder - all the more shocking because every word is true.

    The Hellbound Lovers are tough, ride hard, and love fiercely. And when they set their heart on something, There’s nothing stopping them from getting what they want. Especially when that something involves top of the line curves That make their engines rumble and purr like a smooth dream. When these men fall, they fall hard, And when impending danger threatens what they love most They’ll do whatever it takes to protect it. Duty and honor collide with wild passion in this sexy and dirty MC Romance.

    

    And certainly what Melville did for whaling Austen does for marriage--tracing the intricacies (not to mention the economics) of 19th-century British mating rituals with a sure hand and an unblinking eye. As usual, Austen trains her sights on a country village and a few families--in this case, the Bennets, the Philips, and the Lucases. Into their midst comes Mr. Bingley, a single man of good fortune, and his friend, Mr. Darcy, who is even richer. Mrs. Bennet, who married above her station, sees their arrival as an opportunity to marry off at least one of her five daughters. Bingley is complaisant and easily charmed by the eldest Bennet girl, Jane; Darcy, however, is harder to please. Put off by Mrs. Bennet's vulgarity and the untoward behavior of the three younger daughters, he is unable to see the true worth of the older girls, Jane and Elizabeth. His excessive pride offends Lizzy, who is more than willing to believe the worst that other people have to say of him; when George Wickham, a soldier stationed in the village, does indeed have a discreditable tale to tell, his words fall on fertile ground. Having set up the central misunderstanding of the novel, Austen then brings in her cast of fascinating secondary characters: Mr. Collins, the sycophantic clergyman who aspires to Lizzy's hand but settles for her best friend, Charlotte, instead; Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mr. Darcy's insufferably snobbish aunt; and the Gardiners, Jane and Elizabeth's low-born but noble-hearted aunt and uncle. Some of Austen's best comedy comes from mixing and matching these representatives of different classes and economic strata, demonstrating the hypocrisy at the heart of so many social interactions. And though the novel is rife with romantic misunderstandings, rejected proposals, disastrous elopements, and a requisite happy ending for those who deserve one, Austen never gets so carried away with the romance that she loses sight of the hard economic realities of 19th-century matrimonial maneuvering. Good marriages for penniless girls such as the Bennets are hard to come by, and even Lizzy, who comes to sincerely value Mr. Darcy, remarks when asked when she first began to love him: "It has been coming on so gradually, that I hardly know when it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley." She may be joking, but there's more than a little truth to her sentiment, as well. Jane Austen considered Elizabeth Bennet "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print". Readers of Pride and Prejudice would be hard-pressed to disagree. --Alix Wilber

    Both longtime fans and newcomers to Corcoran are sure to enjoy Crime Almost Pays, starring an offbeat pair of private eyes. Dubbie Tanner, a man of substance who used to live in his car, and Wiley Fecko, who once drank and slept in the weeds, are now Southernmost Aristocratic Investigations. While they call themselves The Aristocrats, certain members of law enforcement have been heard calling them the Bumsnoops. Introduced in The Quick Adiòs (Times Six), Tom Corcoran’s most recent Alex Rutledge novel, the rookie investigators have a case in their tropical in-box—and they are over their heads from the start. Rutledge plays no part here—but his friend Key West Detective Beth Watkins must deal with murders, street fights, an attempted kidnapping and a flaky federal agent. The Aristocrats—who now live in and work out of a home bought by Tanner—are hired for a simple task, but the pay is far too generous and the job goes haywire. By helping a stranger, Tanner draws Fecko and their lovely friend Kim Salazar, a Key West cab driver, into a crossfire of intrigue, dirty tricks, scams and potential double-cross. It gets worse. It gets ugly. Cuban tourism, island crazies, typical greed, wealthy fathers, good cops, fearful cops and—okay—there’s a car chase… As in previous Tom Corcoran novels, Key West, with its characters, history, natural beauty and isolation, plays a fundamental role in the story.

    The pressures of war threaten to tear apart two sisters traumatised by their mother's murder by their father.With her new husband Will, a merchant seaman, deployed on dangerous Atlantic convoy missions, Hannah needs her younger sister Judith more than ever. But when Mussolini declares war on Britain, Judith's Italian sweetheart, Paolo is imprisoned as an enemy alien, and Judith's loyalties are divided.Each sister wants only to be with the man she loves but, as the war progresses, tensions between them boil over, and they face an impossible decision.A heart-wrenching page-turner about the everyday bravery of ordinary people during wartime. From heavily blitzed Liverpool to the terrors of the North Atlantic and the scorched plains of Australia, Sisters at War will bring tears to your eyes and joy to your heart.

    Her fiancé taken from her. Esther Weiss sees only one way to fight back.Life is good for Esther and her Jewish family until Hitler annexes their home country Austria. Her wedding to fiancé Carl Bernstein is postponed, and her family's entire life is uprooted.Thinking they’ll be safe in Oslo, the Weiss’s hope is short-lived when Norway is invaded in 1940 and the fascist Quisling Regime is put into place. Esther returns home one day to discover her entire family has been deported. Gone. Without a trace.Something snaps inside Esther. The soft-hearted, gentle girl is no longer. Her desire to fight the enemy becomes her only drive. She joins the Norwegian resistance movement and with her blond hair and light eyes, all it takes is a false passport to give Esther the freedom she needs. The freedom to kill. No German or Norwegian fascist is safe when she’s nearby.Destruction of those who took her family gives Esther a license to live, but it has also hardened her heart. Not even Tore Ringdal, her rock and protector in the Resistance movement, is able to break through the walls she’s placed around her heart.When all she loves is gone, and only hate remains, can the Norwegian Assassin reopen her heart and find love again?