Reviews
Three Rules
Hope Wellman has a childhood full of horrific memories, a bone chilling recurring nightmare, and a persistent paranoid sense of being followed that she would rather keep repressed. Is evil reaching from beyond the grave to capture the tattered remnants of her soul once and for all, is it only a machination of her disturbed mind, or is there something happening more sinister than even she can imagine?
Attending the funeral of her abuser is the first step in putting her life back together as she is about to turn twenty-one. She struggles with the fact she never told anyone what happened to her, and that the grave they are mourning over is empty. She'd find it a lot easier to move on and believe in the future if he were in the box, ready to be covered with dirt. She fears the last thread of her sanity has snapped when she sees Lucas everywhere she turns, and can't escape a recurring nightmare. Is her tormentor alive, or is she imagining it? Is her dream triggered by past fears or is it a prediction of the future?
When Camels Fly (Parched #1)
Seconds after Grace shoots Maggie's abductor, a handsome shepherd drops from the sky to kill a second assassin. The women's world crumbles in two blinks of an eye.
Running for their lives, they quickly unearth a global evil poised to sacrifice millions. Their pursuit of justice plunges them into a vortex of intrigue and espionage, endangering friends and family while the world teeters toward disaster. As they crisscross the "cradle of civilization," they unexpectedly extinguish old flames and ignite new loves.
How far will they have to go to save everyone and everything they hold dear? From the shadowy alleyways of old Jerusalem to a congested caravanserai in Jordan, and from elderly operatives hiding under Masada to youthful rescuers disguised as snake charmers in Jericho, the mother-daughter team soon realizes that nothing is as it seems. Even each other.
Because sometimes, doing what's right is all that's left.
The Heartbreak Café (Lakeview #1)
One morning in the small town of Lakeview, Ella Harris finds a cardboard box on the doorstop of her cafe. At first she thinks it's her usual muffin delivery but is shocked to find that the box actually contains a newborn baby. But what kind of mother would abandon a defenseless baby like that, and why?
Could it have been newly single Nina who, after being rejected by the father of her unborn child, has no choice but to return to Lakeview to stay with her estranged (and slightly peculiar) dad? Or was it Lakeview-born Hollywood actress Eva Seymour, who on the eve of her triumphant return home from LA, has a completely ill-advised fling with a handsome co-star. A baby is certain to ruin her hard-fought-for career. Or perhaps it's happily married Jess who, as the only non-mum amongst her friends, finds herself increasingly left out. Terrified that she will lose them altogether, she embarks on becoming a mother too. But is she really rushing into something she really knows nothing about?
The Brother’s Keeper (Parched #2)
While cataloging looted antiquities in Brussels, Grace learns that her son's bride has been attacked in Switzerland. Her day careens from bad to catastrophic when daughter Maggie, a hydrologist, disappears in France.
Coincidence is a luxury that Grace cannot afford. Particularly when near-fatal history—saturated in espionage—is repeating itself.
Family members convene in Paris, where they discover the key to the danger consuming them. Embedded like a taproot in the Ancient Near East, the cuneiform clay tablet is their only lifeline. But before they can save themselves, they must first find and rescue their elderly friend—if he'll let them.
On an epic journey following two brothers, crossing three continents, and spanning four thousand years, the Madison family risks it all to save it all. They rediscover and reinvest in love. Offer and receive redemption. And summon the courage to face truth: about themselves, each other, and the difference in right and wrong.
The Madman’s Daughter (The Madman’s Daughter #1)
Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true.
Accompanied by her father's handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father's madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island's inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it's too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father's genius—and madness—in her own blood.
Light’s Bane (Daughters of the People #2)
Daniella Nehring is a fierce warrior with a turbulent past. Born in the earliest days of World War II to unknown parents, she was raised by Rebecca Upton, one of the People’s most notable leaders. Dani has always had questions about her parents’ identities, information Rebecca refuses to reveal, leaving a gaping hole in Dani's own identity.
Dani travels to New York on Rebecca's orders to search for the mysterious woman who stole a copy of the Prophecy of Light from the People. There, she teams up with Dave Winstead, an FBI agent working undercover with the People's most ancient and deadly enemy. Dave has a soft spot for the young warrior that divides his loyalties between her and the job he took in order to fulfill a promise he made a decade and a half before, a promise he's determined to keep, no matter what the cost.
As Dani and Dave are drawn deeper into the hunt for the missing artifact, Dani's immortality is jeopardized, and with it, her ability to reclaim the Prophecy. When she learns the truth about her heritage, Dani is forced to choose between her heart and her duty, and must confront her past in a struggle that will change her life forever.
Ryder: American Treasure (Ryder #2)
During of the War of 1812, British troops ransacked the White House and made off with valuables that were never returned. Two centuries later, a British curator finds a vital clue to the long-vanished loot. Within hours, the curator is assassinated—and Ayesha Ryder, a Palestinian-born antiquities expert, is expertly framed for his murder.
Who could be behind such a conspiracy? And why do they want Ryder out of the way? To find out, she picks up a trail leading from a mysterious nineteenth-century letter to the upcoming presidential election. As Ryder dodges killers in the shadow of hidden alliances, sexual blackmail, and international power plays, she finds that all roads lead to the Middle East, where a fragile peace agreement threatens to unravel . . . and another mystery begs to be discovered.
Ryder’s rarefied academic career and her violent past are about to collide. And her only hope of survival is to confront a powerful secret agent who has been waiting for one thing: the chance to kill Ayesha Ryder with his own two hands
Windy City Blues
Jules Landau feels right at home in the ethnic stew of the Windy City, where he’s indebted to the hopes and schemes of his criminal ancestors. Street-smart and college-educated, Jules wants nothing more than to go straight and atone for his family’s past. But when he investigates a horrific killing, Jules uncovers a hidden world of lucrative corruption.
Jack Gelashvili had his head bashed in and no one knows why. The most obvious answer is that he was a parking cop, a universally loathed job—especially in Chicago. Turns out there’s a lot of money to be made on expired meters, and when Jules starts making noise, he starts making enemies—from the head of a media empire to the mastermind of a prostitution ring. When rumors of bloodthirsty Mob connections arise, Jack’s gorgeous cousin Tamar objects, and Jules is increasingly swayed by the logic and charms of the sexy baker. Following this beautiful woman into the cloistered world of Georgian immigrants, Jules brings his hunches, his family connections, and his gun. But he’s just one man against a pack of criminals with a million reasons to shoot first.
Last Impressions (The Marnie Baranuik Files #3)
When an FBI Internal Affairs investigation lands the Preternatural Crimes Unit in a bureaucratic spank-fest, it feels like the perfect time for Marnie Baranuik to skip town and lend her expertise to a bear-sized Canadian cop who doesn’t want her help with his case, his love life, or his car stereo.
Back in her childhood stomping grounds, Marnie leaps into action, facing an exorcist in skinny jeans, a slap-happy specter, and an old friend up to new tricks. Are ghosts behind a string of unusual deaths? Why didn’t her revenant companion, Lord Harry Dreppenstedt, tell her he had a Combat Butler? Can she survive dinner with her parents?
With a shifty man of the cloth offering her soul’s redemption, and a revelation that could change the future of her love life, she has her gloved hands full. She may not make a great first impression, but no one makes a Last Impression quite like Marnie.
Motive
Just months before Hawaii's gubernatorial primary election, a body is found on the floor of the open air capitol, a macabre scene specifically manipulated to draw attention to a sitting governor with waning political support. Frantic, he calls on the Honolulu Chief of Police Walter Tseng, demanding that the perpetrator be brought to justice as swiftly and silently as possible, fearful a scandal might destroy whatever chance he still has at gaining re-election.
Blackmailed into complicity and unable to draw from his active force, Tseng calls in Kalani Lewis, a young detective three months off the job. Still battling her own demons from an investigation that resulted in the death of her partner, Kalani is forced back into action, pulled into a life she isn’t certain she still wants to be a part of, a family friend that was once a military policeman and now a full-time surfer as her only support.
Inch by inch they work their way through the investigation, navigating mounting crime scenes and intense bureaucratic pressures as the election looms ever closer, the killer growing more emboldened by the day…
