Lawrence Sutherland, Royal Navy Captain and the Viscount of Glenrith, has just struck a devil’s bargain that would make Mephistopheles himself take notes. His family estate is drowning in debt, the creditors are circling like sharks, and the only way to save everything his ancestors built is to make a brilliant marriage to a woman with a massive fortune. Enter his closest childhood friend Violette, who holds the key to his salvation—not through her own modest dowry, but through her access to her wealthy cousin, a spoiled heiress who needs significant coaching before she’ll be remotely marriageable to a man of Lawrence’s standing. 💍The plan is coldly practical: Violette will help Lawrence win her cousin’s hand through strategic social maneuvering, teaching him how to flatter the difficult young woman, navigate her moods, and present himself as an irresistible match. It’s a sound business arrangement that benefits them both—Lawrence saves his family from ruin, and Violette receives the one thing she covets most: freedom. With Lawrence’s support and influence, she can finally escape her cruel family and leave England behind for a new life on the Continent where no one knows her painful history. They’ll work together as friends, execute the plan with military precision, and both get what they need. What could possibly go wrong? 🎭
Everything, as it turns out. Because there is a vital flaw in this near-perfect plan, one that neither of them acknowledged when they shook hands on their arrangement: Violette Pélet de Castelmarou is secretly, desperately, hopelessly in love with Lawrence, and has been hiding it for years. Now she finds herself in the exquisite torture of feeding him romantic lines to use on another woman, coaching him through sticky social situations, and watching him deploy the charm that could have been hers on someone else entirely. Every smile he gives her cousin, every compliment she helps him craft, every staged moment of courtship feels like a knife to her heart—yet she continues because she gave her word, and because his friendship means too much to betray. 💔
As the scheme progresses and Lawrence grows closer to securing his advantageous match, emotions that were supposed to remain neatly contained start spilling everywhere. Lawrence begins noticing things about Violette he’d somehow missed during all their years of friendship—the way her eyes light up when she laughs, her quick wit, her unwavering loyalty. And Violette, who thought she could maintain her emotional distance through sheer force of will, discovers that hearts are not so easily controlled. When feelings get involved, hearts become inextricably entangled, plans fall apart, and what began as a cold business transaction threatens to become something neither of them knows how to handle. 💕
Why this captures the heart: A Royal Navy viscount desperate to save his estate enlists his closest friend to help him win her wealthy cousin’s hand—never suspecting that his loyal friend has been secretly in love with him for years and is slowly breaking her own heart to help him marry someone else.
Hope Harper has spent four grinding years working her way up from entry-level positions on the Caribbean Honey cruise ship, paying her dues, learning every aspect of the operation, and building relationships with both crew and passengers. She’s been promised that a promotion to assistant cruise director is finally coming her way—she’s earned it, everyone knows it, and she’s already mentally spending the salary increase. Then management passes her over for a pretentious young man with half her experience, better family connections, and absolutely none of her qualifications. She could just…well, you know. The rage is real. 🚢Before Hope can decide whether to quit in a fury or stay and prove she’s irreplaceable, a cruise guest is murdered in spectacularly suspicious circumstances, and suddenly she’s thrown into the middle of a murder mystery on the high seas. With limited options for suspects—you can’t exactly flee a cruise ship mid-ocean—and ship security more concerned about avoiding bad publicity than finding justice, Hope realizes she might be the only person motivated enough and positioned well enough to actually solve this. The killer is trapped on board with hundreds of innocent passengers, and Hope knows the ship’s layout, the crew’s routines, and the guests’ habits better than anyone. If she can crack this case, maybe management will finally see her value. 🔍
But one murder is just the beginning of Hope’s unexpected detective career. The cases keep coming: a deadly beach party at a pristine Caribbean port where someone’s rum punch contained more than alcohol and fruit, a lethal bidding war at a charity auction where the prize turns out to be death, and a string of “accidents” that are anything but accidental. Each mystery tests Hope’s skills in different ways—reading people, connecting disparate clues, understanding motive and opportunity, all while maintaining her regular job duties and not getting herself killed in the process. Turns out working on a cruise ship is excellent training for amateur detective work: both require staying calm under pressure, managing difficult personalities, and cleaning up messes that other people created. 🌴
The Dead in the Water Boxed Set contains the first three books in the Caribbean Cruise Cozy Mystery series, delivering fast-paced mysteries with interesting characters, exotic Caribbean locations, and unexpected twists that keep you guessing until the final reveal. Can Hope put her justified anger at being passed over aside long enough to solve these mysteries, or will the criminals get the best of her and the crew? Will she prove she’s more valuable than the golden-boy management hired instead of promoting her? And most importantly—can she do all this without ending up dead in the water herself? 🏝️
What makes this a must-read: A cruise ship employee passed over for promotion channels her rage into solving murders on the high seas—three complete cozy mysteries featuring deadly beach parties, lethal charity auctions, and killers with nowhere to run.
Lady Diana vowed to remain a spinster, and she meant it. After watching enough society marriages turn into elegant prisons, she decided long ago that independence beats matrimony every single time. No man gets to dictate her life, control her choices, or turn her into a decorative accessory for his ambitions. So when the notorious Cold Duke arrives at her family’s estate demanding her terrified younger sister’s hand in marriage, Diana does something both heroic and incredibly reckless: she offers herself instead. If someone in her family has to be sacrificed to this stone-hearted aristocrat’s dynastic plans, better her than her gentle sister who would be crushed by such a match. 👑Duke Mathew has built his life around ruthless pragmatism—every decision calculated for maximum advantage, every alliance measured by what it adds to his wealth and power, every marriage prospect evaluated like a business transaction. Emotions are weaknesses to be exploited in others but never indulged in himself. When Lady Diana substitutes herself for her sister with that defiant gleam in her eye, he should walk away and find a more biddable bride. But something about her fire intrigues him, and the marriage would still accomplish his practical goals. How difficult could one stubborn woman be to manage? He’s negotiated with hardened businessmen and manipulated corrupt politicians—surely he can handle one headstrong lady. 💎
Except Mathew discovers too late that he’s miscalculated badly. Diana is not just stubborn; she’s principled, clever, and absolutely unwilling to be “managed” by anyone, including her husband. She fights him on everything—his social schemes, his political alliances, his attempts to mold her into the conventional duchess society expects. Their household becomes a battlefield where every dinner is a negotiation, every social event a competition, and every private conversation a war of wills. Even through their constant bickering, there’s one thing they can both agree on: love is completely out of the question. This is a marriage of convenience, strategy, and mutual advantage—nothing more. 💔
But no one tells Mathew what to do, not even his impossibly stubborn Duchess. And the more Diana resists his commands, the more he finds himself fascinated rather than frustrated. Somewhere between their verbal sparring matches and forced proximity, something unexpected begins to grow—something far more dangerous than either of them anticipated. Can two people who’ve sworn off love, who’ve built walls around their hearts, who communicate primarily through arguments, actually fall for each other? And if they do, will their pride let them admit it? ❄️
Why this sizzles: A determined spinster saves her sister by marrying the Cold Duke herself, only to discover that their marriage of convenience might become something neither of them wanted—or can resist.
Weapons Free
The Chinese Navy has just unleashed a game-changing weapon system that fundamentally alters the balance of power in the strategically critical Pacific region. This isn’t an incremental improvement in existing technology—it’s a revolutionary leap that makes previous naval defenses obsolete and threatens American military superiority in ways that keep Pentagon analysts awake at night. The geopolitical implications are staggering 🚢Harrison Kohl, newly appointed Director of the CIA’s Special Activities Center, faces what may prove an impossible assignment: somehow acquire the detailed plans for China’s new long-range, superfast torpedo before it becomes operational. This weapon represents years of Chinese research and billions in development funding, protected by layers of security that make penetration nearly impossible. But if America can’t counter this technology, the entire Pacific fleet becomes vulnerable ⚡
As Commander Janet Everett, commanding officer of the nuclear submarine USS Illinois, tracks the Chinese Navy from beneath the contested waves of the South China Sea—playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse in waters both nations claim—Kohl’s intelligence team back in Langley makes a risky, desperate move. They attempt to recruit an asset from within the Chinese torpedo development team itself, someone with access to the blueprints and specifications. It’s espionage at its most perilous 🎯
The recruitment effort yields devastating news: the new Chinese weapon is far more advanced and more dangerous than American intelligence initially realized. The technology represents a quantum leap in underwater warfare capabilities. Worse, the Chinese are preparing to test-fire the torpedo in a dramatic demonstration, proving its lethal power to the world and announcing their naval dominance. Once that test succeeds, the strategic landscape changes forever 💣
But amidst this catastrophic intelligence assessment, Harrison Kohl sees an opportunity to execute one of the boldest, most audacious covert actions in the entire history of the CIA. The plan is brilliant, insane, and requires perfect coordination between intelligence operatives and military forces. However, an operation of this unprecedented scale demands a massive diversion—something to draw Chinese attention and resources away from what’s really happening 🔥
The U.S. Navy and Commander Everett must challenge the powerful Chinese Navy directly in the hotly contested waters of the South China Sea, pushing right to the edge of armed conflict without letting their high-stakes power play spiral into World War Three. David Bruns and J.R. Olson deliver military action where submarine warfare meets espionage, where one wrong move triggers global catastrophe, and where going “weapons free” might be the only way to prevent war ⚓
Why this grips from page one: A new-release military thriller where CIA operatives and submarine commanders race to steal Chinese superweapon torpedo plans—requiring a South China Sea naval confrontation that risks World War Three. Perfect for readers who love techno-thrillers, submarine warfare, CIA black ops, Pacific theater tensions, naval action, and operations where success means preventing global conflict. 🌟
I won’t let it happen to my four-year-old daughter. I absolutely will not let my father do to her what he did to me and my sister when we were children, the unspeakable acts that destroyed our innocence and fractured our family in ways that can never be repaired. The cycle of abuse ends with me. I’ll protect her at any cost, even if that cost is unthinkable 👧I’ve spent years being the good daughter, the one who smiled at family gatherings and pretended everything was normal. I’ve been the perfect mother to my child, fiercely protective in ways that probably seemed paranoid to others who didn’t understand why I monitored every interaction, why I never left her alone with certain family members. I’ve been the wife who smiles on cue, who maintains appearances, who keeps the family secrets buried where they belong 💔
Last night, I finally did something unforgivable. Something I’d been planning in the dark corners of my mind for longer than I’d like to admit. I tried to kill my father. I prepared a drink laced with poison, my hands steady despite my racing heart, and I placed it where he would find it. It should have ended the threat. It should have protected my daughter and finally delivered justice for what he did to us 🍷
But in a horrifying twist of fate, my mom picked up the wrong glass. She’s the one who drank the poison meant for him, the innocent bystander who’s now fighting for her life because of my desperate attempt to protect my child. Alesha Dykema delivers a new-release domestic thriller where a mother’s protective instincts collide with catastrophic consequences, where the wrong person pays the price for justified revenge, and where family secrets explode in the most devastating way possible 😱
What makes this a must-read: A new-release domestic thriller where a mother tries to kill her abusive father to protect her daughter—but her mom picks up the poisoned glass instead. Perfect for readers who love psychological suspense, protective mother protagonists, family secrets exposed, moral ambiguity, and thrillers exploring how far parents will go to protect their children from generational abuse. 🔥
North Norfolk’s coastal air might smell of salt and sea, but it’s also thick with secrets that residents guard as fiercely as family silver. The landscape presents itself as peaceful—rolling countryside, charming villages, dramatic coastline—hiding a sordid underbelly that tourists never glimpse and locals pretend doesn’t exist. Nothing here is quite as it should be, despite the picture-postcard appearances 🌊Bodies in ditches discovered by morning dog-walkers. A farm torched in the middle of the night, flames visible for miles. A masked murderer stalking through quiet communities. This is absolutely not what Detective Sergeant Sara Hirst signed up for when she requested her transfer. She’d envisioned a complete change of pace from her previous life—something manageable, rural, safe 🔥
Sara thought she’d successfully escaped the relentless hustle and suffocating pressure of London policing in favor of a sleepy coastal beat where the most exciting calls would involve lost tourists or minor property disputes. But every town, no matter how picturesque, has its shady affairs lurking beneath the surface. Each case Sara investigates pulls her deeper into a world of deadly crime and corruption where her Metropolitan Police training and big-city instincts are not just unwelcome—they’re actively resented 🕵️♀️
Detective Sergeant Sara Hirst is an outsider in this tightknit rural community where everyone knows everyone, where family connections go back generations, and where newcomers—especially ones who ask uncomfortable questions—are viewed with suspicion. She transferred from the Met to rural Norfolk genuinely seeking a quieter life, but instead she’s finding herself facing something much darker and more dangerous than London’s urban crime 💔
Judi Daykin delivers a new-release police procedural where Sara—sharp, determined, and quietly resilient—finds herself constantly at odds with the stubborn attitudes of her provincial colleagues who resent her London background and methods. In a landscape where people guard their truths fiercely and prefer to handle problems “their own way,” Sara is prepared to dig into secrets and challenge the status quo no matter the cost to her career or her safety. North Norfolk’s peaceful facade is crumbling, and Sara’s about to discover just how deadly rural England can be 🌾
What makes this essential: A new-release British police procedural where a London Met detective seeking quiet coastal life discovers North Norfolk’s peaceful landscape hides bodies, torched farms, and masked killers—her training unwelcome in the tightknit community. Perfect for readers who love British crime fiction, outsider detectives, rural noir, secrets buried in small towns, and protagonists fighting institutional resistance. 🌟