Book picks similar to
Not a Whisper by Donna B. McNicol
mystery
romance
first-in-series
freebie
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.
HOT Pursuit
Lynn Raye Harris - 2013
He broke her heart. He's the only one who can save her life...Evie Baker hasn’t seen Matt Girard in ten years. Not since the night she gave him her virginity. Now the Black Ops soldier is back in town and looking to make things right. Too bad she doesn’t believe a word he says. But when her sister goes missing and Evie’s suddenly a suspect in a murder, Matt’s the only man she can trust to keep her safe.Matt knew Evie wanted forever ten years ago, but all he wanted was escape. He’s older and wiser now, and he knows what matters. He’ll do whatever it takes—break any rules necessary—to protect Evie and find her sister. And then he’ll do everything he can to win his best friend’s heart and prove he’s the man she needs him to be.
Finding Sarah
Terry Odell - 2007
Neither was falling in love with the detective who arrived to solve the case. All Sarah wants is success for her gift boutique, the one she and her husband created. Now, she’s living a hand-to-mouth existence. Her husband died a year earlier in a car accident—an accident that was ruled suicide, denying her his life insurance money. Burdened by guilt that she was somehow to blame for his death, Sarah faces one business setback after another. Determined to succeed on her own, she fights off a meddling sister-in-law as well as offers of financial assistance from a former boyfriend. Unaware someone is setting her up for failure, she’s totally unprepared to find herself fighting for survival. Police Detective Randy Detweiler thinks the crook is a thief who’s been evading cops all over the state. A routine robbery investigation turns into the biggest challenge of his career when he falls in love with the victim, and he starts crossing professional boundaries. When Sarah disappears, he's afraid all his detective skills might not be enough to find her in time to save her life. Finding Sarah was previously published by Cerridwen Press. This version has been revised, updated, and includes some material not found in the original.
Waiting for You
Heather Huffman - 2014
She has a successful career and a promising engagement, but when she meets the compelling and creative Aidan Donnelly, his down-to-earth charm provides the wake-up call Karise badly needs. Moving cross-country to start over, Karise devotes herself to her work, convinced she needs to be independent. But with handsome Aidan just down the road and a mischievous group of friends determined to set her up, Karise must face her concerns about life and romance head-on.Waiting for You is the eleventh installment in the surprisingly warm and funny series The Throwaways, twelve novels that don’t shy away from the dark corners of this world but always shine the light of hope. At the core of the series is a group of strong but often unlikely heroes and heroines coming from all walks of life whose lives intertwine as they fight for justice, for love, and to leave their indelible mark on this world.Immerse yourself in a world of friends, laughter, and love with The Throwaways.
The One You Love
Paul Pilkington - 2011
Her fiancé vanishes, leaving the battered and bloodied body of his brother in their London apartment. Someone is stalking her, watching her every move. And her family are hiding a horrifying secret; a secret that threatens all those she loves. In a desperate race against time, Emma must uncover the truth if she ever wants to see her fiancé alive again. The One You Love is a fast-paced suspense mystery, full of twists and turns, following in the tradition of writers such as Nicci French and Sophie Hannah.
Cranberry Bluff
Deborah Garner - 2014
Accused and cleared of the crime, she flees both media attention and mysterious, threatening notes, to move across the country to Cranberry Cove, where she has inherited her Aunt Maggie's bed and breakfast on the Northern California coast. Her new beginning is peaceful - that is, until five guests show up at the inn for a weekend, each with a hidden agenda. Mix together one blushing honeymoon couple, one flamboyant boutique owner, a deadpan traveling salesman, and a charmingly handsome novelist, and there’s more than scones cooking at Cranberry Cottage Bed and Breakfast. As true motives become apparent, will Molly's past come back to haunt her or will she finally be able to leave it behind?
Zack
Cheyenne McCray - 2014
Then he comes striding back into her life—bigger, badder, and sexier than before. Zack Hunter never thought his job as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent would lead him back to his small hometown, and he never thought he’d set eyes on Sky again. Leaving her behind had been the stupidest thing he’d ever done, but this time he isn’t going to let her go. And as soon as Zack lays eyes on Sky, he makes it clear that he intends to make her his all over again. When Sky becomes entangled in the case he’s investigating, Zack can’t help but take the threat personally. As the danger mounts, their passion burns even hotter. **Please note: Zack was published in print only with St. Martin’s Griffin. Zack was originally published in eBook and print with Ellora’s Cave under the title "Wildfire". Character names were changed at St. Martin's request, and the Armed & Dangerous versions were expanded considerably from the original "Wild" series.
Unmasked: Volume One
Cassia Leo - 2014
I have a night job that pays the bills. Every night, I put on my mask and walk to work.Then one night, I hear and see something that will change my purpose in life... forever: a murder that will bring him to me.He says he wants to protect me. And, through a series of events I can’t fully make sense of, I find myself believing him. But our nightly visits are always cloaked in darkness. I don’t know his face and he will never know mine. I was born into this world unwanted. I will leave this world unmasked.
Catch Me If You Can
Nina Bruhns - 2000
Kit Colfax knew the parish sheriff always got what he wanted, but to protect her future she couldn't let him have his way... or her.Kit sought to put Beau's thieving cousin behind bars. Beau sought to stop her. And painful experience had taught Kit how powerful men operated... and manipulated. Well, not this lady. Not this time. Sure, Beau made her FEEL as she never had before. Made her WANT to trust him as he so unwaveringly trusted in his cousin's innocence. But was that a lover talking, or a deceiver bent on saving his family... whoever paid the price?
The Obituary Society
Jessica L. Randall - 2014
Lila is charmed by the people of Auburn, from the blue-eyed lawyer with the southern drawl to the little old lady who unceasingly tries to set Lila up with her grandson. But when strange things begin to happen, Lila realizes some of her new friends are guarding a secret like it's a precious family heirloom. It's a dangerous secret, and it has come back to haunt them. Lila is caught in the middle, and her life may depend on uncovering it. But even if she can, can she stay in Auburn when not everyone is what they seem, and even the house wants her gone?
Heart Raider
Sophia Knightly - 2013
A scorching summer. Danger lurks... After a raging media storm nearly destroys him, financial whiz Nick Cameron finds himself isolated and laying low on a barrier island off the Florida coast, far away from the reporters and scandals that threaten him. But when little Ronnie Whitcomb shows up on his doorstep, all grown up and breathtakingly beautiful, he tries to deny his feelings for her. Fate intervenes when a hurricane strands them on the island together, and suddenly, keeping Ronnie at arm's length becomes almost impossible. But daredevil TV reporter Veronique Whitcomb has an agenda of her own -- an agenda that could quite possibly get her killed. Recalling the hunky boy who rescued her at summer camp, Ronnie knows there's more to Nick than the hot and juicy scandal he's embroiled in, and she is determined to get the exclusive interview with him that will expose the real criminal. Whether Nick likes it or not, Ronnie refuses to sit by while the world slanders the most honorable and decent man she's ever known...and loved.THE HEARTTHROB SERIES: Book 1: Heart Raider (Nick and Veronique) Book 2: Heart Melter (Ian and Natasha) Book 3: Heart Tamer (Alec and Kate) Book 4: Heart Hunter (Cameron and Evie) Book 5: Heart Tempter (Leo and Teddy)
Invisible
Lorena McCourtney - 2004
So when vandals romp through the local cemetery, she takes advantage of her newfound anonymity and its unforeseen advantages as she launches her own unofficial investigation.Despite her oddball humor and unconventional snooping, Ivy soon becomes discouraged by her failure to turn up any solid clues. And after Ivy witnesses something ominous and unexplained, she can't resist putting her investigative powers to work again. Even the authorities' attempts to keep Ivy out of danger and her nosy neighbor's match-making schemes can't slow her down. But will the determination that fuels this persistent, quirky sleuth threaten her very safety?
Hostile Witness
Rebecca Forster - 2004
Josie, once a hot-shot criminal defense attorney, left the fast track behind for a small practice in Hermosa Beach, California. But Hannah Sheraton intrigues her and, when the girl is charged as an adult, Josie cannot turn her back. But the deeper she digs the more Josie realizes that politics, the law and family relationships have created a combustible and dangerous situation. When the horrible truth of the murder is uncovered it could save Hannah Sheraton or destroy them both.
Fire and Ice
Dana Stabenow - 1998
But that was before his life unraveled. Transferred in disgrace to this rough-and-tumble fishing town on the shores of Bristol Bay, Liam knows Newenham is the end of the line. It's also his last shot at getting his life back.. He's about to come in for a very rough landing. Stepping onto the airstrip at Newenham, Liam walks into a crime scene: a body torn apart by the propeller of a Piper Super Cub. As if that isn't enough of a welcome, the woman bending over the corpse is Wyanet Chouinard, the only woman Liam ever truly loved - and soon to be his prime suspect. Next, a man is held hostage in the town's only decent burger joint--held for shooting out a jukebox that was playing Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. And Liam still doesn't have his uniform on.
Just Add Water
Jinx Schwartz - 2004
Pushing forty and still single, Hetta is the epitome of the b word: bold, bossy, brassy, breezy and brash. After leaving a lifelong swath of failed multi-national affairs in her jet stream, it is no wonder Hetta prefers living with her dog R.J. But old habits die hard, and trolling for triceps is Hetta s hobby. Plying the waterfront in search of Saturday brunch, Hetta s attention is snagged by a parade of passing yacht--especially their predominantly male skippers--and experiences a champagne-induced epiphany: if she had a boat, she could get a man. In hopes a floating Valhalla will overcome an all-time low-water mark in her life, Hetta buys her dream boat in spite of a spectacular ignorance of all things nautical. But a shadowy stalker, an inconvenient body, and Hetta s own self-destructive foibles imperil not only her new life, but a newly- found romance.