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Hamish Kenneally is moving from Australia to the US for a fresh start, leaving behind a failed relationship and the suffocating expectations of his old life. He’s beginning with Christmas at his sister’s place in Idaho, looking forward to reconnecting with family and starting the next chapter of his life in a new country. When a snowstorm diverts his plane to Montana and leaves him stranded two days before Christmas, he hires a car and drives right into a blizzard, determined to make it to his sister’s despite the deteriorating conditions. ❄️
Ren Brooks has always called Hartbridge, Montana, and his family hardware store, home. It’s a place where everyone knows everyone, where handshakes still mean something, and where Ren has built a quiet life helping neighbors fix their homes and their problems. After a few failed attempts at love with guys who couldn’t wait to escape small-town life for bigger cities and more excitement, he’s resigned to being single forever—after all, no guy wants to stay in his sleepy little town for long. And after his dad’s passing earlier in the year, leaving a hole in both his heart and the family business, Ren’s Christmas is looking bleak. 💔
But when a car runs off the road in front of his property during the worst of the storm, nearly disappearing into a snowbank, Ren pulls the driver out and takes him home to get out of the cold. The Australian stranger is disoriented, freezing, and completely unprepared for Montana winter weather—but there’s something about his grateful smile and dry humor that catches Ren off guard.
With the storm and the holidays leaving Hamish with nowhere else to go—roads closed, flights canceled, and his sister’s house still hundreds of miles away—Ren kindly offers a place to stay until conditions improve. Hamish is certain he’s crashed right into a Hallmark Christmas movie, complete with a handsome small-town hero, a cozy house decorated for the holidays, and the kind of genuine warmth he hasn’t felt in years. Despite more car delays and road closures and the prospect of not seeing his sister for Christmas, he finds himself not minding the detour quite as much as he expected. 🎄
And with help from Hamish—his enthusiasm for decorating, his willingness to pitch in at the hardware store, his easy way of making Ren laugh for the first time in months—Ren is beginning to feel a little Christmas cheer returning. But as the snow piles higher and the days until Christmas tick down, both men have to face the question: what happens when the storm clears and the roads reopen? ❤️
What makes this irresistible: Walker delivers a pitch-perfect forced proximity romance with genuine heart, combining the cozy appeal of snowbound Christmases with authentic emotional depth. The Australian/American culture clash adds humor, while the small-town Montana setting wraps everything in holiday warmth.
Charleston attorney Hanna Walsh finds her life in emotional and financial ruin when her husband’s ties to a ruthless stranger unleashes a spiraling cascade of betrayal and murder in this twisting story of treachery and shattered dreams. Everything she thought she knew about her marriage, her finances, and her future dissolves in a matter of days as dangerous men come looking for what her husband promised them—and they don’t care that Hanna knew nothing about the deals he made. 💔
Escaping to her last refuge on Pawleys Island, seeking safety and clarity in the one place that’s always felt like home, she discovers a letter and journal hidden in the attic of her family’s old beach house. The pages are yellowed with age, the handwriting elegant but urgent. She learns of a distant great-grandmother who owned the same house as a young widow during the Civil War, a woman who suffered a similar path of devastating loss and betrayal when her own husband’s secrets came to light after his death. 📜
The parallels are eerie, unsettling. Both women found themselves suddenly alone, their reputations destroyed by their husbands’ actions, facing dangers they never anticipated. As Hanna reads deeper into the journal, she begins to see her great-grandmother not as a distant historical figure but as a kindred spirit who might hold answers about survival, resilience, and finding truth in a world built on lies.
Charleston police detective Alex Frank comes into Hanna’s life at the worst possible moment—investigating her husband’s death and the criminal network he was involved with. But as Alex digs into the case, he realizes Hanna is a victim, not a conspirator, and joins an FBI team to help her through the chaos and danger coming at her from all directions. Threats escalate, bodies pile up, and someone is determined to silence Hanna permanently before she uncovers the full extent of what her husband was involved in. 🔍
As past and present intertwine, Hanna must piece together both mysteries—her great-grandmother’s secrets and her husband’s betrayals—before the enemies circling her strike again.
What makes this compelling: Lindley weaves dual timelines seamlessly, connecting Civil War-era Charleston with modern-day mysteries while exploring how betrayal and survival transcend generations. The combination of legal thriller, historical mystery, and romantic suspense creates a multilayered page-turner.
When Santa’s daughter leaves the North Pole on a baking quest, will her sweet dreams turn fatally sour? 🎅
Cindy Claus is excited to open her own bakery, finally pursuing her passion beyond the shadow of her famous father and the endless expectations that come with being Santa’s daughter. She’s determined to have her holiday treats prove she’s more than a Yuletide heir—that she has talent, skill, and vision all her own. Moving to the human world is her chance to build something from scratch, to be judged on her own merits rather than her last name. But before she can whisk up a success and establish herself as a legitimate baker, her roommate is murdered in their apartment and Cindy is the prime suspect. 🍪
With finding the real killer the only way to beat the rap and clear her name, Cindy relies on the kindness of strangers who don’t know about her famous parentage and her father’s trusted arctic fox, who followed her from the North Pole and now serves as both companion and magical assistant. The fox has abilities that come in handy for investigation—heightened senses, the ability to go places Cindy can’t, and a connection to North Pole magic that occasionally manifests in useful ways.
But without a recipe for success in the unfamiliar human world where she doesn’t understand the rules, the customs, or the way murder investigations actually work, grilling the wrong suspects could put her behind bars. The human justice system doesn’t care that she’s Santa’s daughter—if anything, revealing her identity would make things worse. She’s an outsider in a close-knit community, a stranger with no alibi and plenty of motive as the police see it. 🦊
Can Cindy sift out the clues before she’s done and dusted? And can she navigate the human world’s dangers while keeping her magical heritage secret, all while trying to save the bakery business she’s barely launched?
What makes this delightful: Silvertale creates a charming paranormal cozy that blends Christmas magic with mystery in a fresh way. Cindy’s fish-out-of-water status as Santa’s daughter learning to navigate the human world adds humor and heart, while the arctic fox sidekick steals scenes.
After years of dreaming, Jessica is finally getting married, but the marriage isn’t exactly what she thought. Not the fairy-tale romance she imagined as a girl, not the passionate love affair she read about in books, but something more practical—and potentially more heartbreaking. 💍
Daniel is her best friend, and she’s known him all her life, sharing every milestone from childhood through adulthood. But he’s never gotten over losing his wife two years ago in a car accident that left him shattered and struggling to function beyond basic survival. His dream is to become the pastor of the church in their hometown of Willow Park, following in his father’s footsteps and serving the community he loves. But the small-town congregation keeps balking over calling an unmarried minister, citing concerns about his ability to counsel married couples and families when he’s alone. 💔
Since Daniel needs a wife to secure his calling and Jessica wants a husband and family before her biological clock runs out completely, she proposes an arrangement that benefits both of them. It’s practical, logical, and based on genuine affection even if not romantic love.
They can get married. They can build a life together as partners and friends. They can celebrate Christmas as a couple and present a united front to the congregation. It’s fine that he doesn’t love her the way he loved his first wife—Jessica tells herself she can live with being second choice, with being the convenient solution rather than the great love. And it’s fine that she’s not exactly suited to be a small-town pastor’s wife, with her tendency to speak her mind and her lack of interest in church committee politics and casserole recipes. And it’s fine that she’s more attracted to her sexy, brooding husband every day, feeling her heart engage in ways she promised herself she wouldn’t allow. 🎄
Jessica can be practical about this marriage. She knows what she’s getting into, after all. She’s a realist who doesn’t believe in fairy tales. Except her heart didn’t get the memo about keeping things practical, and loving Daniel while he grieves someone else is slowly breaking her apart.
Why this touches the heart: Adams crafts a marriage-of-convenience story with real emotional stakes, exploring grief, friendship, and the courage it takes to risk your heart when you’re not sure it will be cherished. Jessica’s journey from practical to passionate feels genuine and earned.
Meet Roger and Bess, an unlikely detective duo whose quiet retirement plans are about to be spectacularly derailed by murder, mystery, and the kind of trouble that finds people who ask too many questions. Roger is a retired academic with a sharp mind and a tendency to notice details others miss, while Bess is his practical, no-nonsense wife who would prefer a peaceful retirement but has a knack for getting to the truth when people are being evasive. 🔍
When a friend of theirs dies under suspicious circumstances in their small town, circumstances that the local police are too quick to dismiss as natural causes, Roger and Bess can’t let it go. Something doesn’t add up—the timing, the victim’s recent behavior, the people who suddenly won’t meet their eyes. What starts as asking a few questions to ease their consciences quickly spirals into a full-blown investigation as they uncover layers of secrets in their seemingly quiet community.
Their investigation takes them into the hidden corners of small-town life, where everyone knows everyone’s business except when it comes to the things that really matter. Roger’s academic training in research and analysis combines with Bess’s intuitive understanding of human nature and her ability to get people talking when they should probably stay silent. Together, they make a formidable team—even when they’re bickering about proper investigative procedure or whose hunch they should follow. 🕵️
But amateur sleuthing is more dangerous than they anticipated, and asking the wrong questions of the wrong people puts them directly in a killer’s crosshairs. The silence surrounding their friend’s death isn’t just suspicious—it’s protective, and breaking through it means threatening powerful people who have a lot to lose.
What makes this series starter engaging: Prescott creates a relatable detective duo in Roger and Bess, whose long-married banter and complementary skills make them both entertaining and effective. The small-town setting provides the perfect backdrop for secrets, lies, and the kind of murder that disrupts everything.
Falling into Place
Accountant and freelance personal stylist Carly Porter, daughter of a compulsive gambler, knows the personal cost of a bad bet. She’s spent her entire adult life playing it safe, building a stable career with numbers and spreadsheets, avoiding risks at every turn. But when she partners with her best friend, Sasha—publisher of a floundering fashion magazine desperately in need of a circulation boost—Carly can’t resist. The highly publicized makeover of an Oklahoma City bachelor could boost sales and be Carly’s ticket to her dream profession as a full-time stylist. The bachelor in question is none other than Sasha’s older brother, Brooks. 💄
Hardly the party boy Carly remembers from high school—the one who seemed to have everything and everyone at his fingertips—Brooks is now an antisocial, work-obsessed physician still struggling with a devastating loss that’s left him emotionally shut down. He barely leaves the hospital except to sleep, lives in scrubs, and has essentially given up on any life outside medicine. But if it means helping his sister save her magazine and her livelihood, he’s in. It’s Carly’s job to get him out of those lived-in scrubs, style him to the nines, and bring Brooks back to life—reminding him there’s more to existence than just surviving.
But so far, the only real connection is between Brooks and Carly—and falling for a client could cost Carly the career she’s worked so hard for. Every styling session becomes charged with unspoken attraction. Every conversation reveals another layer of the man beneath the grief. The professional boundaries she’s supposed to maintain keep blurring, and the makeover project that was meant to launch her career is threatening to derail it entirely. 💕
To move forward, they’ll both have to overcome their painful pasts—Carly’s fear of taking risks stemming from her father’s destructive gambling, and Brooks’s guilt over a loss he couldn’t prevent. And whatever the risk to her career and his carefully constructed walls, maybe even take a chance on love.
Why this romance delivers: Ashley crafts a tender story about two damaged people helping each other heal, with the makeover trope serving as a clever vehicle for emotional transformation. The Oklahoma City setting feels authentic, and the slow-burn chemistry between Carly and Brooks simmers beautifully.
Camille Prescott has it all. A doting husband who still looks at her the way he did on their wedding day, two beautiful children who are thriving, a charming home in a picturesque seaside enclave where neighbors wave and everyone knows everyone, and a beautiful, fixed smile that exudes normalcy to everyone who sees her. But behind her polished mask lurks a much different Camille—one with a padlocked vault of secrets she’s spent decades protecting. 😨
Raised by a vindictive and psychotic woman whose cruelty knew no bounds, Camille has gone to great lengths to bury her past and for good reason: if her mother ever finds her, she will kill her. It’s not paranoia—it’s a promise her mother made years ago, and Camille knows she meant it. She’s built her entire adult life around staying hidden, changing her name, cutting off all ties, creating a new identity from scratch.
But nothing can prepare Camille for the day her six-year-old daughter, Georgie, starts showing signs of unsettlingly familiar behavior—sudden mood swings, inexplicable knowledge, an eerie maturity that doesn’t belong in a child. Even more disturbing is Georgie’s imaginary new friend who casts a disturbing influence on everything the little girl says and does, whispering things in her ear, telling her stories that make Camille’s blood run cold. 👻
Worse than that, Georgie’s imaginary friend knows things about Camille’s childhood, things Camille has never told a soul—not her husband, not her closest friends, not even her therapist. Details that only someone who was there could possibly know. Specific incidents, names, places that Camille buried deep in her memory and swore never to speak of again. Is it a coincidence or is Georgie’s imaginary friend not so fictional after all?
As the family’s stability cracks under the weight of Georgie’s increasingly strange behavior, so does Camille’s carefully constructed facade, because the past isn’t just coming for her and everyone she loves—it’s already here. And it’s using her daughter as a vessel to torment her.
What makes this unputdownable: Kent masterfully blends psychological horror with domestic suspense, creating an atmosphere of mounting dread that keeps you guessing until the final pages. The question of whether the threat is supernatural, psychological, or all too real drives the tension to almost unbearable levels.
Is there anything hotter than a growly, overprotective Marine cradling a baby? My melted ovaries don’t think so. 👶
When you work hard and have the bank account to prove it, you’re entitled to play hard. I’ve seen some crazy things—from Monaco yacht parties to underground clubs in Tokyo. I’ve caused some crazy scenes—like the time I chartered a helicopter just to avoid traffic on the way to brunch. And there’s no shame in my game. I earned every penny through strategic real estate investments and ruthless negotiation skills, and I’m going to enjoy every moment of my success.
But I’m still knocked off my stilettos when an insane chain of events leads to me inheriting a baby. A real, live, screaming, pooping, completely dependent human baby who needs me to keep him alive. The craziest part? The baby comes with a by-the-books, no-nonsense retired Marine who’s so regimented that I wouldn’t be surprised if he irons his boxer shorts and color-codes his sock drawer. We’re talking about a man who has a schedule for his schedules. 💪
Parenting? Bring it on. I don’t need sleep—I once started my day with business meetings in Cairo and ended it three days later at a club in Melbourne, surviving on nothing but espresso and sheer determination. Changing diapers? Please. It can’t be any more challenging than changing out of Spanx on the back of a moving motorcycle in the middle of Rome (don’t ask). Training the little guy to run the family’s real estate empire? He’ll be all our bosses by the time he’s four—I’ve already started teaching him to evaluate property values.
But living with my new co-guardian? The gruff, muscled, tattooed former military man who manages to check all my boxes while trying to sneak under my skin with his stern looks and protective instincts? He needs to go. Because the longer he stays, the more layers he’s peeling off my heart—layers I’ve spent years building up to protect myself from getting hurt again. 💕
He sees through my outrageous behavior to the lonely woman beneath. He catches me crying over the baby at 3 AM. He makes me coffee exactly how I like it without me ever telling him. And every time he cradles that baby with those strong arms and gentle eyes, something inside me cracks a little more.
What makes this irresistible: Grant delivers her signature blend of laugh-out-loud humor and surprising emotional depth. The forced proximity of co-guardianship creates perfect rom-com chaos, while the opposites-attract dynamic between the wild billionaire and the disciplined Marine crackles with chemistry.
Every instinct is screaming at her that something is wrong. ‘Lorraine?’ The door stands open when it should be locked, the kettle cold when tea was supposed to be brewing, the house dark and silent when laughter should be filling the rooms. Behind an overturned chair, she sees a figure crumpled on the floor. Rushing forward, a gasp of fear escapes Karen’s chest: her future mother-in-law will never open her eyes again… 😱
DS Karen Hart’s happy world is shattered the moment she finds her fiancé Mike’s mother murdered on what should have been a night of celebration—they were supposed to be announcing their engagement, toasting to their future, making plans for the wedding. And even worse, someone has sewn the soft skin around Lorraine’s eyes shut in a ritualistic manner that speaks of rage, obsession, and a deeply disturbed mind. The medical examiner confirms what Karen already knows in her gut: this wasn’t random violence. This was personal.
Karen’s entire soul aches to uncover Lorraine’s killer and bring justice for the warm, kind woman who welcomed her into the family with open arms. But her team cannot let her be a part of the investigation due to her obvious personal connection, and she is forced to watch from the sidelines as her colleagues process the scene, interview witnesses, and pursue leads that she should be following. Every clue haunts her: the page mysteriously torn from Lorraine’s address book—what name was someone desperate to hide?—and the whispers about Lorraine’s troubled history that Karen never knew existed. 🔍
Then another of Mike’s relatives is found dead—eyes sewn shut in the same horrifying way, the same meticulous stitching, the same symbolic brutality. The killer is working through Mike’s family tree, and Karen realizes with growing horror that everyone Mike loves is in danger.
Karen is sure the key to this case lies somewhere in Mike’s family history, in secrets that have been kept for decades, perhaps generations. But as she gets closer to the truth, digging into places Mike never wanted her to look, the killer’s attention turns directly to her. Now she must solve this case alone, off the books and against direct orders, before someone else she loves becomes the next victim—and before the killer closes Karen’s own eyes forever…
Why this entry grips from page one: Butler takes the series to deeply personal territory, forcing Karen to navigate the impossible position of being both investigator and victim’s family. The “eyes sewn shut” signature creates genuine horror, while the ticking clock of multiple family members in danger drives relentless tension.
A body in the sand. A killer on the loose. A detective with everything to prove. 🔍
DI Jordan Carr is still settling into his new role, navigating department politics and trying to earn the respect of officers who remember his predecessor fondly, when a woman’s body is found on the beach at Crosby. No witnesses despite the popular location, no ID in her pockets or nearby, no obvious cause of death visible to the first responders. But it’s only the beginning of what will become Jordan Carr’s baptism by fire.
Over eight challenging investigations collected in this massive box set, Carr must lead a stretched team through a series of chilling cases that will test every skill he possesses: a missing woman whose disappearance might not be what it seems, a corpse discovered in someone else’s grave raising questions about two deaths instead of one, a killing in a derelict squat where no one saw anything and everyone’s hiding something, and a murder with only a “psychic” old woman for a witness—whose visions may be more accurate than anyone wants to admit. 🕵️
Carr faces threats from every direction—local gangs who see his promotion as an opportunity to test the new DI’s resolve, organised crime syndicates with long memories and longer reaches, and even colleagues within the force who resent his methods or question his decisions. But he’s not easily shaken. Methodical in his approach, compassionate toward victims and their families, and determined to get the job done regardless of politics or pressure, he follows the evidence wherever it leads, even when it hits too close to home or points toward people in positions of power.
Off the clock, Carr is doing his best to be a decent husband to Penny, who’s navigating her own career challenges, and a good dad to baby Harry, who doesn’t care about murder investigations when he needs a bottle at 2 AM. But the pressures of the job don’t stop at the door, and finding balance isn’t easy when the next murder could be just a call away, when Penny’s falling asleep alone most nights, and when Harry’s first steps might happen while Jordan’s processing a crime scene. 👨👩👦
The cases pile up, the bodies keep coming, and Carr must prove he has what it takes to lead—not just to his team, but to himself.
Why this collection is essential: Eight full-length novels deliver hours of compelling British procedural mystery with a protagonist who feels refreshingly real—skilled but not superhuman, dedicated but not without personal cost. Dickson captures the grind of police work alongside the emotional toll, creating a series that’s both entertaining and authentic.
A nuclear terrorist attack. American cities devastated. Chaos erupts as the fallout descends. ☢️
Dakota Sloane, a tough-as-nails former foster kid who learned early that the only person you can rely on is yourself, has spent her life running from the past—bad decisions, worse relationships, and a family history she’d rather forget. A man haunted by secrets he can’t share and demons he can’t shake, Logan Garcia has only one goal: to drink himself into oblivion and forget everything that went wrong in his life.
They’re two strangers in a bar on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon—until the news reports nuclear detonations in New York City and Washington, D.C. The screens show mushroom clouds rising over iconic skylines, then nothing but static. Before they can process what’s happening, before they can even finish their drinks and escape Miami, everything explodes. Buildings collapse in waves of dust and debris, fires rage out of control through downtown, and the sky turns an ominous shade of orange. 💥
As the fallout descends like deadly snow, utter chaos erupts. People stampede through streets in blind panic, looters smash windows and grab anything they can carry, and the fragile veneer of civilization shatters in minutes. The authorities are nowhere to be found—either dead, overwhelmed, or already evacuated to secure locations that regular people will never see.
Dakota knows of a place to ride out the storm: a safe house deep in the Everglades, stocked and fortified, that her mentor told her about years ago for exactly this kind of nightmare scenario. But first, they must escape the treacherous city where every street presents new dangers. Uncontrollable fires spread faster than anyone can run, unstable buildings collapse without warning, and deadly fallout contamination threatens them at every turn, invisible and lethal. And Dakota’s younger sister is still trapped somewhere in the hot zone, in an apartment building that may already be rubble.
To save her sister, Dakota needs Logan’s help—his military training, his knowledge of survival tactics, his sheer strength when hers is failing. But can she trust this enigmatic stranger who’s clearly hiding something, whose hands shake when he thinks she’s not looking, whose eyes hold shadows she can’t quite read? And how far is she willing to go to survive—what lines will she cross, what sacrifices will she make, what parts of her humanity will she abandon? 🔥
For the radiation isn’t the only threat. At every turn, deadly foes are determined to stop them—desperate people who see Dakota and Logan as competition for dwindling resources, opportunistic criminals who view the apocalypse as a chance to take what they want, and something far more organized and sinister. And in the background, a formidable enemy rears its head, one with resources and plans that suggest this attack wasn’t random terrorism but the opening move in something much larger…
What makes this omnibus essential: Stone delivers a complete, epic survival saga in one package, combining heart-pounding action with genuine emotional stakes. Dakota and Logan’s reluctant partnership evolves into something deeper as they face impossible choices, and the apocalyptic scenario feels terrifyingly plausible.
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