In this dark and dangerous Texas small town, Annie Lakes' nightmares come alive when a cold case from her past reveals family secrets that put her life in jeopardy.
Annie Lakes has had the same recurring nightmare for years. Her heart pounding in her chest. A panicked voice, begging her to run faster. Her own bloodcurdling scream. But now Annie is starting to realize it's more than just a bad dream. She's starting to remember things about the night her cousin Jenny disappeared all those years ago. Things that make her believe her family was involved--and what they're hiding is much worse than she ever imagined. But she can't unravel this alone. She needs someone she can trust, someone like sexy Detective Mark Sutton ....
Mark has seen enough--too much--to assume that Annie's story is a dead end. It turns out that her family is hiding some killer secrets. A long time ago, Annie was just an innocent little girl who saw something she shouldn't. Now she's a target, and Mark's running out of time to protect the woman he's starting to fall for. But how does Mark face off against a murderer who just may be someone Annie loves?
Smart and sassy . . .
Sheri Thompson knew better. She could spot a horn dog from a mile away, especially when she'd been warned about him countless times by her best friend. Still, when Danny started smooth-talking Sheri at that same friend's wedding, she couldn't resist. It was the best one-night stand of her life. Heck, the best night of her life. And then she woke up alone.
Divorced and determined to stay that way . . .
Detective Danny Henderson didn't like fear, but he'd felt a lot of it that morning he'd woken up feeling all warm and cozy next to the one woman that might just make an honest man of him. Six months later, fear has punched him in the gut again, but worse this time. He's investigating a murder plot . . . a planned hit. The target: Sheri Thompson. This time his fear won't get the best of him. He'll kick ass to keep her safe and make sure he gets a second chance at countless more nights with the woman of his dreams.
After a disastrous marriage and divorce, Detective Cary Stevens vowed he'd never let another woman into his heart. But when his latest investigation puts him in the way of a bullet, his bachelor days-and one-night stands-may be numbered. On the brink of death, he finds himself in Room Six, a waiting room in the hereafter where in-betweeners' fates are truly decided. He resigns himself to dying of boredom, if nothing else, in the lineup of senior citizens with their AARP magazines, when in walks the one woman who could make him want a second chance at life . . . and love.
Chloe Sanders learns the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished when she pushes a little girl out of the way of a moving car and wakes up in some type of purgatory. Or maybe it's heaven, because she couldn't have asked for a hotter guy with whom to await her final judgment. The sweeping glances of his bedroom eyes and sharp-tongued flirtatiousness tell her Cary's certainly no angel, but is he real? When she finally wakes up, Chloe's determined to find out if he's truly a man of magnificent flesh and blood or just a figment of her imagination. But before she can track him down, will the murderer that first put them both in Room Six come back to finish the job?
Reese Morris has run away from home. She's left behind her adoring but overbearing grandmother, her broken heart . . . and most importantly, the no-good Texan jerk who broke it. She told him her secrets. He told her lies. He was nothing more than an undercover cop wanting one thing-it wasn't her-and he was out to bust her brother and his thug boss. How could she let him con her into feeling so damn much?
For two months, Detective Turner Calder hasn't been able to forget the betrayed look in Reese's eyes when she found out he'd deceived her. Now two witnesses from that case have been murdered, and he's traveling halfway across the country to protect her. If that means taking on her seventy-year-old grandma who has a black belt in karate, a hired assassin-who scares him less than Granny-and the whole bat-shit crazy town of Hung, Georgia, he's up for the challenge. Because the biggest danger of all would be losing her.
Of the Divorced, Desperate and Delicious club, Kathy Callahan is the last surviving member. Oh, her two friends haven't died or anything. They just gave up their vows of chastity. They went for hot sex with hot cops and got happy second marriages-something Kathy can never consider, given her past. Yet there's always her plumber, Stan Bradley. He seems honest, hardworking, and skilled with a tool.
But Kathy's best-laid plans have hit a clog. The guy snaking her drain isn't what he seems. He's handier with a pistol than a pipe wrench, and she's about to see more action than Jason Statham. The next forty-eight hours promise hot pursuit, hotter passion and a super perky pug, and at the end of this wild escapade, Kathy and her very own undercover lawman will be flush with happiness-assuming they both survive.
Sue Finley murdered people . . . on paper. As a mystery writer, she knew all the angles, who did what and why. The only thing she couldn't explain was . . . well, men. Dating was like diving into a box of chocolates: sometimes the sweetest-looking specimens were candy-coated poison. After a breakup with a bank robber and a divorce from a cross-dresser, she gave it up for good. Then came Detective Jason Dodd. Raised in foster homes, Jason swore never to need anyone as much as the parents who'd abandoned him. That was why he failed to follow up after experiencing the best kiss of his life: real passion was addictive. But when Sue Finley started getting death threats, all bets were off. The blonde spitfire was everything he'd ever wanted-and she needed him. And though this novel situation had a quirky cast of characters and an unquestionable bad guy, he was going to make sure it had a happy ending.
Ever since photographer Lacy Maguire caught her ex playing Pin the Secretary to the Elevator Wall, she's been content with her dog Fabio, her three cats, and a vow of chastity. But all of that changes when the reindeer-antlered Fabio drags in a very desperate, on-the-run detective named Chase Kelly, and he decides to take refuge in Lacy's house-a house filled with twinkling lights and a decorated tree. (Okay, so it's February, but she has a broken heart to mend, a Christmas-card shoot to do, and a six-times divorced, match-making mother to appease.)
For the first time in a long time, Lacy reconsiders her vow - because Chase, wounded soul that he may be, would be an oh-so-delicious way of breaking it. But, if she's going to do that, she'll have to keep them both alive and him out of jail...
Zoe Adams has always been content with her quiet nights at home, watching TV alone-until her life turns into a real-life episode of Unsolved Mystery Hunters. The story of a kidnapped girl triggers unexplained memories, and Zoe is dead-set on figuring out why. Her search leads her to one of the Lone Star State's richest families-and to sexy PI Tyler Lopez. Tyler has sworn off women, especially redheads with killer curves who poke their noses into his clients' private lives. Still, he can't deny the attraction any more than he can deny that some of Zoe's crazy story makes sense. But when she becomes a hit man's target, this cold case starts heating up. Suddenly, Tyler will do anything to protect Zoe-even risk his heart.
"Hold onto your Stetsons . . . A thrill ride of hunky heroes, hilarious high jinks, and heartwarming romance." -Lori Wilde, New York Times bestselling author on Only in Texas A HOTTER IN TEXAS NOVEL The last thing veterinarian Leah Reece needs is a man in her life.
They're nothing but trouble-and not even the fun kind. But when her apartment is broken into and Leah suspects Rafael, her dangerous half-brother, of foul play, she can't deny she could use a little help. She just never expected that help would come with twinkling blue eyes and a sexy smile... All PI Austin Brook wants is to nail Rafael DeLuna, the man who framed him for murder.
He'll do anything for information-even lie about his identity to charm Leah, DeLuna's half-sister. But her sweet dimples and fiery spirit soon make her more than just his only lead. Leah becomes his every desire. As Austin closes in on DeLuna, it's clear he won't go down without a fight. Now the only way Austin can protect Leah is to reveal all of his secrets and risk losing her for good.
Nikki Hunt thought her night couldn't get worse when her no-good, cheating ex ditched her at dinner, sticking her with the bill. Then she found his body stuffed in the trunk of her car and lost her two-hundred-dollar meal all over his three-thousand-dollar suit. Now not only is Nikki nearly broke, she's a murder suspect. Former cop turned PI, Dallas O'Connor knows what it's like to be unjustly accused. But one look at the sexy-though skittish-suspect tells him she couldn't hurt anyone. The lead detective, Dallas's own brother, has the wrong woman and Dallas hopes a little late-night "undercover" work will help him prove it . . . **Previously published as Don't Mess With Texas
