With eight adults to contend with, making the celebration a pleasant experience for all is going to be tricky. In fact, the obstacles seem insurmountable. Number One: the two families are from vastly different social backgrounds. Number Two: there are severe tensions between the exes. Number Three: some of the new relationships are falling apart.Things go from bad to worse during the week leading up to the engagement party and the stress of it all is threatening Wayne and Clarissa's relationship.This laugh-out-loud dive into family life will help the reader appreciate that however bad things are in their own family, it could be a lot worse!

    

    His career, the only thing he ever knew how to do well, is over. The single solace each day brings is the ever-growing contemplation of suicide. But when his estranged brother and sister-in-law are brutally murdered in their bucolic town set on the banks of the Mississippi River, he is drawn into an investigation surrounding a string of killings unlike anything he has ever seen before. The murderer is ruthless, cunning, and without conscience. Soon Liam learns that the river is dark. And so are its secrets.Contains explicit language and violence.

    American genealogist Jefferson Tayte is hired to find out what happened, but it soon becomes apparent that a calculated killer is out to stop him.In the Blood combines a centuries-old mystery with a present-day thriller that brings two people from opposite sides of the Atlantic together to uncover a series of carefully hidden crimes. Tayte's research centres around the tragic life of a young Cornish girl, a writing box, and the discovery of a dark secret that he believes will lead him to the family he is looking for. Trouble is, someone else is looking for the same answers and will stop at nothing to find them.In the Blood is the first in the Jefferson Tayte mystery series.

    But Black does not take the ambush lying down and while defending himself kills two of the three attackers. After being interviewed, the police decide not to press charges against Black. Unbeknownst to Black, the men who assaulted him have links to a vicious criminal, Peter Grant, who swears revenge.Black is not a man to mess with. But neither is Peter Grant and when he begins a campaign of terror against Black, his wife and daughter, Black refuses to be intimidated.But at what cost?

    He belongs on his family’s rugged Montana ranch, following in the respected footsteps of both of his grandfathers and his father. Convincing his mother he should forgo experiencing life outside of the ranch, and all of the possibilities that come along with the rest of the world, was another story. Maybe because she knows a little something about the cost of staying. Amara Morris, affectionately referred to as “Grams”, and Jonny share a close connection; a zeal for Morris ranch. Over a late-night snack, Grams shares with him a twine bound book written in her own hand. Inside is a story she had never fully told anyone. Her story. And a legend. Join the tantalizing journey through the trials of life, and ranching, where countless decisions leave a wake of lasting discoveries and loyalties - and gut-wrenching sacrifices - in this merciless land of beauty and splendor. Holder of the Horses will leave you fulfilled, and breathless. Check out www.slaterlife.com for more novels by Lisa Slater

    Drugged. Abandoned.A rural area in the north of England is put on edge as teenage girls start to go missing. The local authorities are stumped in their search for the one responsible.Charles Lee lives a very normal life, in stark contrast to his troubled past. Putting years of abuse, neglect and loss behind him, he has built a new life in the countryside with his beloved family and border collie. However, his past soon starts to haunt him as burned bridges are resurrected, old grievances resurface and a lust for revenge takes over.Will Detective Taylor and psychological profiler Georgina Riley suss out the clues and piece together the jigsaw in time to stop the disappearances?

    You can’t read just one! Broken Ferns: Lei accepts an offer to join the FBI. Her first case on the island of Oahu draws media attention, and involves the stolen airplane of a mogul and a young burglar with a cause. Twisted Vine: Mai tais and stunning beaches hide evil as FBI Agent Lei Texeira works closely with MMA-fighting tech agent Sophie Ang to uncover the hidden face behind an online suicide ring. Shattered Palms: Maui’s pristine rainforest is the setting for a bizarre murder involving the poaching of rare native Hawaiian birds. Lei is so caught up in catching a killer that she may not make it to her own wedding. “Neal’s writing is persistently riveting...Masterly.” Kirkus Reviews Grab this fast paced box set with a twist of romance, and take a trip to Hawaii with the series that’s sold more than a million copies!

    Susan Isaacs has praised The Dieter as "a delightful novel, intelligent, witty, and very moving". Available in mid-January.

    Brandy Alexander’s the real deal--yes, that’s her real name and she’s not even a stripper, although her best friend Julia is. YOU WILL LOVE THESE: The offbeat way Brandy goes about it all has a definite whiff of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum; fans of  Stephanie Bond, Jana DeLeon, Joan Hess, Lisa Lutz, Sarah Strohmeyer, and Elaine Viets may also find a kindred spirit in this New Orleans dawlin’. And animal lovers will flat-out swoon! Book 1 RESCUED BY A KISS Brandy gets an unexpected KISS TO KILL FOR. Brandy still lives with her parents in the Irish Channel and she’s sort of semi kind of engaged to the boy next door, who’s—what else?—one of  NOLA’s finest. And Italian! Dante, the BF, is such a thoroughgoing New Orleanian he always manages Mardi Gras parade duty on his own block. So you'd think Brandy might be a little self-conscious a suave Svengali in one of the gentlemen’s walking clubs mesmerizes her into a big fat Mardi Gras smooch right in front of him. But not a bit. Because after all, it's Mardi Gras, and also for another good reason--that kiss was long, slow, hot—unlike any kiss I’d ever had in my life. She makes a date to meet Mr. Great Kisser after the parade (Yes! Right in front of Mr. Right Next Door) but –horrors--arrives just in time to see him get shot. Although fortunately not shot dead. Before he passes out, he pulls her close and whispers, “Save Isabella. And with that we’re off on a screwball chase all over town, from Lee Circle to the Lakefront, with a stop at Charity Hospital, and finally to the French Quarter’s favorite gay dance club, at all times accompanied by Schnauzers, one of them named Geaux Cup. Vol. 2 DEAD AND BREAKFAST--DEAD IN BED…WHO YOU GONNA CALL? Brandy Alexander is a true and trusted friend – not to mention something of a detective-- who else would you call if you found a full-blown murder mystery in your bedroom? So when Brandy’s best friend Julia, the ex-stripper-turned hotelier, finds her first and only guest covered in blood, lying half on and half off a broken bed—with Julia’s panties swinging from the chandelier – she gets Brandy on the horn. And Brandy does the only sensible thing—makes coffee...with a shot of whiskey--then calls the police. And who should respond, but her recent ex-boyfriend, Dante, with a brand new daggers-looking female partner? But wait! This is not nearly complicated enough for Noo Awlins, where, after all, everybody knows everybody! Julia’s lawyer is none other than Jiff, Brandy’s new squeeze (and the reason Dante’s the ex-boyfriend). As the suspense mounts, the romance blossoms, and not just one. Jiff’s looking more and more like Mr. Right: a 100% Class Act, with his own Schnauzer and a soft spot for Brandy’s three. But Dante makes it clear that he doesn’t plan to go quietly; the former Mr. Right Next Door has a few very sexy moves he’s been holding in reserve, which knock Brandy’s socks--and truth be told, her panties --off! DRIVE THRU MURDER, Book 3 When Brandy pulls into the drive-thru, she expects to order a box of CLUCK IT!—CHICKEN BY THE BUCKET, not hear gunshots and see someone in high heels and a black leather miniskirt climbing out of the pick-up window dragging a body. Her boyfriend, New Orleans Detective Dante Deedler, is on this case and hers as bodies keep turning up and she knows about them before he does.

    The titles of the books are: Mail Order Mistake, Mail Order Maternity and Mail Order Matchmaker. Follow along as two new brides find their matches and then watch as the matchmaker, Harriett Long, finds her own true love.

    Lovers of traditional mysteries will appreciate the web of fierce loyalty tempered with fearful caution that links Jazz’s tiny but hardy support system—both at work and at home. In every tale, Amato manages to mix all the excitement of an action thriller with the swirling emotions of a mainstream psychological novel. STEELE RESOLVE "Don't think you're untouchable…you or your son." Then a dial tone... Home is no haven with that that kind of caller on the line. Shrewd, hardened New York homicide detective Jasmine (Jazz) Steele’s just come back from a grisly crime scene involving the body of a brutally-beaten young girl, the second she's investigated this week. That was horrendous, but with these eight words, ending ominously in “your son,” Jazz’s immediate fear is for her nephew Chase, who’s already been through hell in his seven short years. In Kimberly Amato’s hard-boiled yet deeply emotional police procedural, no one is spared tough breaks and turbulent anguish. A lesser cop than Jazz would barely be able to cope. MELTING STEELE In Jasmine Steele’s heartbreaking new case, an entire family's been viciously murdered. Hard-boiled alert: author Kimberly Amato pulls no punches. The mother's throat was slit while trying to call for help and the father was shot in the chest, then gruesomely sliced up while still alive, like a scene from a horror film. Also found, the body of their young son, about Jazz’s son’s age, left in the closet with a snapped neck.  But it's the remaining clues to a missing fourth victim--a teenage daughter named Kaley--that leave her reeling. Kaley's seemingly disappeared without a trace. Soon Jazz discovers that the family had plenty of disturbing skeletons in its closet. Skeletons possibly warranting hiring a hit man on the Internet. BREAKING STEELE Gory video game violence comes home to roost when two store managers are brutally murdered in the back room of their gaming shop just before peek holiday season. The corporation that owns the store is doing everything it can to keep the matter quiet—but they won’t succeed if detective Jasmine Steele cracks the case. A fast-paced police procedural that’s as gripping as it is eerily personal. And this one comes with a captivating (although, as Jazz might say, a slightly “nerdy”) bonus: a heaping dose of the fascinating ins and outs of video game subculture. Which is far more murderous than the average reader would suspect. COLD STEELE Jazz gets a rude awakening when a 3-year-old cold case comes back hot. New York City’s “Carnation Killer,” a serial rapist and murderer, leaves his fifth calling card on a woman named Emilia Smith. The calling card? A heart-shaped carving into the woman’s chest and a single white carnation.

    He discovers a quiet village deep in the countryside and settles there. He makes new friends and finds a new love, but there are undercurrents; events that threaten his newfound peace. Then a murder occurs and he finds himself drawn into the investigation, unsure of who among his new friends he can trust. How will he overcome this without losing all he has gained?

    

    Stone is apart of an elite fugitive task force known in the streets of Houston as the “Ghost Squad”. The young officer’s life is suddenly interrupted and he has to return to his hometown to bury his father. Stone discovers that his father, had unfinished business with a dangerous organization. The members of this organization will stop at nothing to maintain their secrets and power that has kept them wealthy for years. The reader will discover that a small city like Montgomery, Alabama can have serious big city crime. Get ready to dive into a book that is full of action and suspense.