Crime and Passion: Three Short Stories

Love and betrayal—the ingredients in any crime of passion. But how dangerous can desire be? For the women in these tales, falling in love may prove to be deadly.

"Readers who love strong women and terrific writing will applaud this anthology." —Barbara Nickless, Wall Street Journal and #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author

A Not So Rosy Vintage

Problem. I didn’t recognize my ex-girlfriend when she died in my arms.


Now I have to explain to the police (and my girlfriend) why I didn’t recognize my ex. Funny how ex-boyfriends make great suspects.
It’s been years since I’ve seen my ex. Still, you’d think I’d recognize her.


I can’t even have a long weekend in a Washington vineyard without trouble. Even worse, my sister invited my new girlfriend’s family to tag along.
If I solve the murder, will this whole mess go away? There’s a reason why I like to stay in Seattle.


Holt Jacobs isn’t f ...

Collecting Can Be Murder

Coming out of retirement can be deadly… After tragedy struck three years earlier, art sleuth Carmen De Luca vowed to never work in the field again. But fifty is too young to fill her days with water aerobics and bingo, so when her former partner calls and begs for her help, Carmen gladly agrees. Yet after their first assignment – the recovery of a rare medieval prayer book from an eccentric collector living in rural France – goes horribly wrong, Carmen ends up in the crosshairs of both the local police and a murderer! With her target dead and the stolen book missing, she and her partner ...

The Case of the Missing Peke

Jacob’s Well

As newly appointed small-town Sheriff Angus Reid settles into Weyport, it doesn’t take him long to discover just how corrupt his new town is. With a desk full of suspicious open cases and too much to prove, he is determined to rid his town of crime and win the hearts of his people. But when two teenagers suddenly go missing, it lays bare sinister secrets and emotional ties that threaten to derail his investigation. And as the case untangles, the secrets buried deep within the coastal borders of the tight-knit community slowly bubble to the surface. Determined to find justice for the missing bo ...

Picture That

The man she married wasn’t who he said he was; in fact, she didn’t even know his real name. When he was arrested, and her apartment was broken into, Kenna needed to disappear. She had someone more important to protect. The small town of Pine Mountain, Arizona, felt like the right place to take a break from running.

Prowling at the Premiere - A Norwegian Forest Cat Cafe Cozy Mystery - Book 23

Besides running the Norwegian Forest Cat Café with her cousin Lauren, Zoe Crenshaw has written a princess movie script which got turned into a real film! Now, the small Californian town of Gold Leaf Valley is hosting a premiere night for all the locals. The town is buzzing over the big night, especially Zoe. She’s thrilled to be interviewed by three journalists, including a TV reporter. But what happens when Lauren and Zoe stumble over a dead body? Mitch, Lauren’s police detective husband, is on the case, but Zoe and their senior friend Martha insist on sleuthing, too. Lauren reluctantl ...

Catch A Falling Star (An Eden Mystery)

When mystery novelist Kate Rawlings accepts a summer teaching position at her alma mater in the peaceful college town of Eden, Kentucky, she expects to have time with her ailing mother and time to write. But when her college boyfriend, Michael Mabry, makes a surprise appearance, trouble follows. Michael is on the run from his partners in a Chicago museum heist in which a valuable ancient Indian artifact called the Shooting Star was stolen and two people killed. Michael escaped with the Star and his life, but he needs money to get out of the country. After so long, Eden should be the last place ...

Boulevard Dreams

In this intelligent and darkly funny mystery set in 1958 San Francisco, a private eye endures surrealistic dreams of a friend's suicide and discovers he disappeared weeks before the dreams began. His investigation sends him spiraling down an unrelenting road to face the shocking reality of his friend’s fate and the final desperation of his own.

Relentless

Delve into the world of vengeance, retribution, and bioterrorism as Lily "Devil" Devillier and Commander Darius Washington join forces. As each day passes, they come to realize that relying on one another might be their best option. Their journey unveils a plot rooted in Lily's homeland, one that could trigger a global war, and only their combined efforts can avert the impending international crisis.

Soul Sentinel

When she’d run away from foster care, Layla Sandor dreamed of having a normal life, of education, a career and a family. Living and working at Stone House Inn, she’s on her way to fulfilling that dream. If only the dead would leave her alone. Bad things always happen when she allows her ability to communicate with the dead to be part of her life. A few people know about her unwanted gift and don’t think she’s a freak, including Jeff Knox, the man she hopes to build a future with. Animal lover and gifted horse whisperer, Jeff has dreams of his own, to someday own a horse farm. When he resc ...

Shadowed Obsession: A Shadow Defense Security Thriller Book 1

Her stalker’s message is deadly clear. She’s his.

When Keira O’Ryan starts receiving photos of herself at business events, she assumes it’s just another office prank. Then the situation takes a menacing turn when the spotlight shifts to her personal life. As the photos pile up, Keira comes to a chilling realization—she has a stalker.

Her faceless predator continues to evade the Montana police, and Keira’s fear grows. When she discovers cameras scattered throughout her home, she turns to her neighbor and Navy SEAL Cade Hartford for help. Together, they plunge headfir ...

The Beating Heart of a Mind

Bullied to death in the boardroom … or just the product of a damaged mind? Following her kidnapping, Nicole Veles moves to escape her past and try to rebuild her life. But when the husband of a friend commits suicide and she suspects foul play, she can no longer hide from the world. Not wanting to let her past taint her new life, she returns to St. Louis to hire PI Rebecca Marte. But as Rebecca begins her investigation, one thing is abundantly clear to the PI: the chance that anyone bullied the man to his death is much greater in Nicole's mind than anyone else's ... including hers. “As with hi ...

Frosted Croakies

’Tis the season for great folly…walawalawalawalala…ribbit. The tree is up. The stockings are hung. And Christmas tunes are making me jolly. Obviously, everything is about to go sideways.

Serial Burn

She's out for justice. But the arsonist she's tracking is out for retribution.

Now the fire marshal of Lake City, Jesslyn McCormick is determined to find the person who started the fire that robbed her of her family when she was just seven years old. As the twentieth anniversary of the tragedy approaches, a string of fires--including at Jesslyn's church--brings up all those old feelings and offers new evidence.

Because church fires are considered a hate crime, FBI Special Agent Nathan Carlisle is called in to work with local law enforcement. Nathan has his own past--on ...

Deadly Desert

How do you make a Deadly Desert?
• Take a sleepy, border town like Las Cruces, New Mexico.
• Add three parts each of Mystery, Murder, and Mayhem.
• Season with True Love and Mirth.
• Let Steve Hartshorn stir it all up to perfection.
• Dress it with an ample slice of Unbridled Greed and VOILA you have the perfect Deadly Desert.
Salud

“Deadly Kalimantan was my first read by this author and I couldn’t put it down.
Well written, good characters, immersing story lines, and plenty of laughs.”
– Jessica
“The cast of characters Charles Glenn a ...

Deadly Inheritance

Sometimes what you want most is what you left behind… After her cousin disappeared without a trace, Christina Wade left rural Vermont behind. Nearly a decade later she inherits the family’s historic inn that should have gone to the missing girl. Compelled to return to the place she intended to forget, she must decide whether to sell or run the family business. An old love lures her to stay as they rekindle their relationship, and she finds herself falling in love again with handsome Kevin McKinley, a conservationist who wants to share his love for the rural setting with her. Family members c ...

Death Hampton

Burnt out after years of working violent cases in East Harlem, Detective Neil Jericho transfers to peaceful East Hampton. But after the mysterious disappearance of a wealthy real estate developer, Jericho is caught in a web of intrigue and lies centering around Susannah Cascadden, the missing man’s beautiful wife.

"Marks provides his intriguing principal characters with solid backgrounds without lingering too long on irrelevant minutiae, and he puts the central mystery front and center from the start. The relationship between Jericho and
Susannah gives the book a good, romantic ...

Stay With Me Complete Novella Series Box Set

Becoming K-9

A daring puppy. A vicious war. When the merciless desert craves her humans' lives, can this K-9 defend them, or will she pay with her blood?

Big Little Secrets

A suspenseful race against the clock thriller and a frantic exploration through Eastern Europe, as a worried father desperately searches for his missing wife. I DON'T KEEP SECRETS. UNLESS I HAVE TO. Nelli Horvath is a Hungarian immigrant seemingly living the American dream in Las Vegas with her husband, Clint, and their son, Ryan. After receiving an invitation to her 20th high school reunion, Nelli flies back to her home country after nearly two decades, and that’s the last time her American family hears from her. Determined to find his missing wife, Clint travels to Hungary for the first time ...

Christmas in Nutfield

Come home to Nutfield in two Christmas novellas, featuring Daniel from Innocent Lies and Caro from Convenient Lies, both grown up and living new adventures.

SLEIGH BELLS AND STALKERS...

Threats lurk in the shadows this Christmas season.

It was strange enough when a woman Daniel Nolan had taken on one date suddenly showed up everywhere he went, but when he discovered her in his college apartment, he knew he had to go to the police—who did little but snicker when he made his report. ...

Fruit Baskets and Holiday Caskets

Christmas comes with chaos—and a murder—in the fifth book in the Down South Café cozy mystery series! Amy Flowers thinks her biggest problem is going to be creating an enormous cake dummy to mount atop her car for Winter Garden’s upcoming Christmas parade. But when one of Roger's employees is murdered, making the float is the least of Amy’s worries. Her childhood friend is a prime suspect, Aunt Bess is making a new Pinterest board: Things That'll Probably Kill Me, and her boyfriend's mother is insisting on helping Amy make three-hundred-seventy-five sugar cookies to hand out along the parade r ...

Best Buddies

"Your son’s invisible friend is not imaginary." Kate’s little boy has a new buddy, one even he can’t see. Can’t hear. Can’t feel. Yet, it’s feeding him information about the world. And about the future. He is using this thing, this undetectable entity, to advance at school. And to help Kate gamble. Despite her addiction.

But, for every morsel of knowledge, his friend demands a favor in return. And those favors are growing increasingly cruel and depraved. It is only a matter of time until people start to die.

How can Kate defeat an entity that knows her plans before she think ...

No Second Chances

No Second Chances is one man`s story, told from his point of view regarding his first-hand experiences in the School of Hard Knocks. If you like thrillers, you`ll probably like this book...

Although it is non-fiction, its style has none of the dry, documentary-type language. It is compelling and entertaining, all while enlightening the reader.

You`ll read about a young, 20-year-old father of an infant girl, who went to prison for robbery, doing nearly 15 years. You'll see his ups and downs - including an escape - as he navigates life in prison. Once he gets out, life outside ...

Private Island

Only the invited get to stay. Only the lucky ones get to leave. When Katrina Darlington lost everything, she turned to a stranger for help. Desperate and grieving, she trusted the hand of friendship and travelled halfway across the world to a very private island. Blue skies, blistering sunshine, and luxury on a scale way beyond the average person’s means. The perfect place to start again, surrounded by warm and friendly people who have your best interests at heart. Or not! Catalina Island is paradise hiding a sinister secret. Will Katrina become just another one of its victims, and after havin ...