The whole idea of even owning a business, let alone one that had an out-of-the-ordinary sideline like producing charms for those in need, is still new to Lexie Ravenscraft. A few months ago, she'd received a letter informing her that she had inherited her great-aunt Pandora Ravenscraft's estate.
Unfortunately, she'd soon discovered that her old life had been one big lie and the picture of herself as a wealthy heiress was about as far from reality as her name.
Turns out, she wasn't Lexie Green, she was Alexandra Ravenscraft. And if that wasn't enough to blow her mind, she was the Ravenscraft Shield. An entity that wielded magical powers to be used for the benefit of the citizens of Echo Springs, her new hometown.
Although Lexie is beginning to settle into her new role, there is still a lot she doesn't understand. While she's aware that having supernatural skills is apparently the norm in the community, it's considered impolite, or maybe even dangerous, to ask what type of abilities her fellow Echo Springians possessed.
Which is why rescuing her mother from the Wizard of Washington, figuring out how said Wizard ended up dead, and keeping Echo Springs from the dark magic is so difficult.
When author Sheridan Davis is forced to return to Sutton Falls, Illinois to care for her estranged father, the last person she wants to run into is Ridge Sutton. Meeting Ridge, who has matured from handsome to gorgeous, while she looks as if she's spent the night in a cardboard box is so not how Sheridan pictured seeing her high school crush again.
Ridge is stunned that he didn't recognize Sheridan. As often as he's thought about her, her image should be permanently imprinted on his brain.
Ridge is tired of being dependable. Tired of trying to live up to his mother's expectations. And most of all, tired of the life in which he'd allowed himself to become trapped. Tricked into a disastrous marriage that ended in a divorce and stuck in the role of Sutton Falls' mayor, Ridge is ready for a change.
With the town under the threat of a flood, and the levee that could save it owned by the Davis family, Ridge must balance his personal desires against his duty to the citizens of Sutton Falls.
While floodwaters creep higher and higher, can Sheridan and Ridge make peace with their past? Or will their growing love be swept away in a sea of doubt?
Contains mature themes.
Delaney believes life is an adventure, but when she receives a lottery ticket for a birthday she's not having, from a father she hasn't heard from in eighteen years, not even her horoscope can predict the astonishing outcome.
Spencer is responsible, decisive, and in control, but his world was destroyed when he couldn't stop his wife's downward spiral into alcohol, drugs, and depravity. When she died in the arms of her lover during a high-speed automobile accident, Spencer lost all faith in his ability to right the wrongs evident all around him. Renouncing his affluent lifestyle, he moves to a small town in Illinois, determined to save his daughter from a life of too many dollars and not enough sense.
How can a man whose guilt makes him believe he doesn't deserve love and a woman who doesn't trust men ever find each other? With her newfound wealth, Delaney and Spencer can't agree on anything, except the chemistry between them.
When everything around them spins out of control, will Delaney and Spencer take the ultimate gamble and realize what's truly important in life? Or will they give up on the game of love and lose everything?
Contains mature themes.
For twenty-eight years, cruise critic Darcy Simons has followed the rules. And what did it get her? A broken heart, an unfaithful fiance, and a pile of bills taller than her uneaten four-tiered wedding cake. Clearly, it's not blondes, but bad girls, who have more fun, and she is determined to become one of them.
While Darcy is on the maiden voyage of the Ocean Starr cruise liner to write a snarky review that will earn enough money to pay off her canceled wedding, she's determined to break some personal rules and have a wild sexual adventure-she just needs to find the perfect man. When she bumps into Captain Mitch James, and both his briefcase and sparks fly, she knows Mitch is just the guy for the job.
Too bad Mitch has a firm no-messing-with-female-passengers rule. But when he discovers Darcy's true reason for taking the cruise, he decides to use his charm to get a thumbs up for his ship. Breaking his own rules, he sets out to seduce her. Now, if he can just convince himself that his only interest in Darcy is a good review, he might make it back to port with his heart intact.
Contains mature themes.
Next in New York Times bestselling author Denise Swanson's chef mystery books, Dani Sloan will have to solve the murder of a bride to clear her crush's name. Once again, it looks like Dani will get a slice of the action . . .
In the small town of Normalton, Illinois, there aren't a lot of opportunities for small business owner Dani Sloan to cater big-ticket events. But that's about to change-a client named Yvette Joubert is marrying Franklin Whittaker, the richest guy around, and they want Dani to cater their engagement party! The swanky event is the perfect opportunity to put Dani on the map for wealthier clients.
But when a storm hits the party after guests arrive, it becomes clear that more than the dinner is ruined: Yvette is found dead beneath the marquee. Is her death a tragic accident, or a perfectly orchestrated murder? Then the case gets even juicier-it turns out that Yvette's ex-husband is Spencer Drake, Dani's almost-boyfriend, and the police start circling. Now Dani must follow an unending list of clues to save her business, her better half, and catch a criminal. Let's just hope they get their just desserts!
Deanna Sloan has worked too hard, dieting herself from a chubby teenager to a sleek businesswoman, to give in to her hunger now. Enduring four years as the target of her high school classmates' cruelty taught her that only three things matter-power, money, and looks.
Leaving her small town behind, shedding the excess pounds, and obtaining a job with a six-figure salary are all steps in the right direction. However, in order to keep on target, she needs to outshine the other twenty venture capitalist associates at her new firm, maintain her weight loss, and be prepared to double-cross anyone who gets in her way. Walk in the park, right?
Wrong! Her first assignment is an investment appraisal of one of Chicago's top chefs. Nico Thorne has come to her firm for the seed money to open his own restaurant. He is smoking hot and just a glimpse of his navy blue eyes in a photo clouds Deanna's brain and dampens her panties. Will the flesh-and-blood man make her dissolve into a puddle of mindless lust that will derail her fast track to success?
Marco Thorne was hired by Club Wilde's owner to open up the newest, most outrageous venue yet. He is absolutely certain that he can handle all the competition Las Vegas has to offer until his overbearing boss contracts with Lions and Tigers and More sanctuary to have live exotic animals present in the jungle-themed club. Still, he has no choice but to go along with his boss's idiotic scheme, even if he thinks it's the worst idea he's ever heard.
Dr. Sage DeSantis's entire life is devoted to keeping the animals under her care in the sanctuary healthy and happy. After the sanctuary's owner announces that he's renting out some of Sage's babies to Club Wilde, she's sickened that they will once again be exploited.
When Marco and Sage meet, the chemistry between them nearly knocks them off their feet. Although they both have experiences in their past that make them leery of love, and Sage is determined to guard her heart, Marco is all in. But will Marco be able to convince Sage to give them a chance?
Although Lucy and Curt grew up together, they didn't start dating until the end of their senior year of high school. Then once they went off to different colleges, Curt changed. He withdrew to the point that he almost seemed embarrassed to be with her. Curt was so preoccupied with being the perfect minister, Lucy never felt like she had his full attention, and when he stopped returning her calls, she convinced herself it was for the best.
Lucy Wheeler has haunted Curt Campbell's dreams. When he ended their relationship in college, he told himself that she deserved so much more than he could ever give her-a comfortable life and a husband who would never have to make her take a backseat to his parishioners' needs.
When Lucy corners Curt in the supply closet and informs him that she is forgiving him for dumping her and is giving him a second chance, he knows he shouldn't take it. But when she orders him to pick her up that night, he can't resist.
Will things be different this time? Or will Curt's ministerial duties come between them again?
Contains mature themes.
When Aaron Burgess is found slumped over the steering wheel of his tractor and rushed to the Underwood Medical Clinic by his friend and business partner Quito Escobar, no one expected that the situation would turn into a homicide investigation. But when it does, newly licensed private investigator Devereaux Sinclair and her fiance Jake Del Vecchio are hired to find the murderer. Was Aaron a random victim of some psycho killer or was his murder something much much more personal?
* * *
Love is in the air of Shadow Bend, Missouri. Dev and Jake are engaged and moving in together. Jake's ex-wife is working for and dating Dev's ex-boyfriend. And Jake's Uncle Tony has been reunited with his first sweetheart, Birdie. It even looks as if Dev's BFF, Boone St. Onge, has found his special someone.
But romance comes to a screeching halt when a mysterious murder takes place. This puzzle isn't just whodunnit, but how and why.
With a short list of suspects, Dev and Jake are in a race to figure out the answers before someone else gets planted six feet under.
Love turns deadly in Scumble River, and Skye is caught between a rock and a heart place.
School psychologist Skye Denison-Boyd is settling into the rhythm of being a working mom, but when school is put on lockdown, life gets messy again. Not only is she stuck in a room with her horrible superintendent, Dr. Wraige, it looks like the lockdown was a false alarm-someone left a cupid's bow and arrow in a classroom.Later, as Wally looks into an attempted break-in, he finds the superintendent murdered, his jugular cut with the arrow of a cupid statue. Did love just turn deadly in Scumble River? As the part-time psychological consultant for the police department, Skye joins Wally in investigating the murder. But things get even more personal when her godfather, Uncle Charlie, gets wrapped up in a state police sting. With a dead boss, a godfather under suspicion, and a mythical killer on the loose, Skye has more than enough work cut out for her!
If life had gone as she planned, Lexie Green would have been teaching English at a prestigious university, not persuading spoiled, rich women to buy overpriced clothes they didn't need and often looked ridiculous wearing. Can you say electric yellow see-through skirts and Torn jeans with unfinished hems?
Still, although this isn't the life Lexie would have chosen, all is going well. At least until Lexie is fired and her deranged ex-boyfriend tries to kidnap her.
Deciding that it's better to accept a mysterious inheritance from a great aunt she's never heard of rather than end up kept in a cage as her ex's pet poodle, Lexie packs up and heads to Kansas. So, what if she has to go by a new name and live in a town that she can't find on a map?
Unfortunately, once she arrives in her new hometown, everyone there seems just a tad off-kilter and Lexie's cousin insists that the citizens are magical.
Even though Lexie doesn't believe the nonsense about her being the Ravenscraft Shield, she does believe her father was murdered-a father she never knew existed, and she investigates his death.
Too bad whoever killed her father now wants Lexie dead as well.
There’s something fishy just below the surface of Scumble River …
School psychologist Skye Denison-Boyd is getting ready to return to work from her maternity leave and hoping for a peaceful year in her job as a school psychologist. But when an elderly woman disappears on her first day back and a disgruntled parent threatens to sue the school, Skye realizes that her return will be anything but quiet.
When the parent suing Skye’s school is found dead and with the missing woman’s case still unsolved, Skye suspects the crimes are somehow linked. With her chief of police husband, Wally, at her side, Skye dives into the investigations. But as tensions rise and Skye and Wally’s suspect list lengthens, they start to wonder whether a member of their own tight-knit community could be behind it all …
