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When her Miami life falls apart, Sadie inherits a candy shop in Mistletoe, Alaska—and meets a mysterious toymaker who might just thaw her frozen heart. 🎄
When Sadie’s reality-show engagement imploded on national television, with millions of viewers watching her humiliation play out in real time, inheriting a candy store in remote Mistletoe, Alaska seemed like the perfect escape from everything that had gone wrong. No cameras capturing her every mistake. No gossip columnists dissecting her failed relationship. No risk of her heart getting crushed again in front of an audience that treated her pain as entertainment. She could disappear into the Alaskan wilderness and rebuild her life where nobody knew her name or her shame. 📺
But Mistletoe has other plans for the wounded woman who arrives expecting nothing but solitude and the simple routine of running a candy shop. The tiny town wraps around her like a warm blanket, and the residents welcome her with a kindness she hasn’t experienced in years. ❄️
Enter Martin Kringle: toymaker, single father to an adorable daughter who still believes in magic, and the most genuinely kind man Sadie’s ever met. He’s patient where others have been demanding, steady where her ex was chaotic, and his smile makes her feel safe in ways she’d forgotten were possible. When he places an order big enough to save her struggling shop from bankruptcy—custom candy for what seems like half the town—Sadie thinks maybe, just maybe, her luck is finally turning around after months of nothing but disappointment and loss. 🍬
Then the storm hits with a ferocity that only Alaska can deliver. Stranded in Martin’s cozy cabin while the blizzard rages outside, cut off from the rest of the world, watching her carefully guarded walls crumble with every shared story and tender moment, Sadie starts to believe in magic again. Not the fairy-tale kind that let her down before when her reality-show romance turned out to be nothing but scripted lies, but something real and grounded in genuine connection. Something lasting that doesn’t depend on cameras or ratings or public approval. The way Martin looks at her, the way he listens when she talks, the way his daughter crawls into her lap for stories—it all feels authentic in ways her previous life never did. 🔥
Until Martin reveals a secret that shouldn’t be possible, a truth about who he really is and where he comes from that defies everything Sadie thought she knew about the world. His revelation shakes the foundation of everything that’s been growing between them, and suddenly the magic she’d started to believe in feels like just another elaborate deception. ✨
Now Sadie faces an impossible choice: embrace a love wrapped in wonder and mystery that asks her to believe in things she can’t explain or see, or protect her fragile heart from one more shocking truth that might shatter it beyond repair. But as the town of Mistletoe rallies together to survive the storm’s aftermath and Sadie sees the genuine goodness in this community and in Martin’s impossible heritage, she discovers that the greatest magic isn’t in who Martin is or what extraordinary lineage he carries—it’s in who they could become together if she’s brave enough to trust again. Sometimes the most magical thing of all is simply letting yourself believe in love one more time. 💕
Why this enchants: Koops delivers a sweet holiday romance with a fantastical twist, blending small-town Alaska charm with Christmas magic while exploring themes of trust, healing, and second chances. Perfect for readers who love holiday romance with a touch of the supernatural and wounded heroines finding unexpected love.
A sprawling country mansion. A tense family gathering. Someone under this roof won’t live to see morning. 🏛️
When Dr Patrick Grant, Oxford don and reluctant amateur sleuth, visits the quiet Hampshire village of Winterswick, he expects nothing more than a weekend of genteel conversation, good food, and the odd glass of fine wine in the company of old acquaintances. A respite from university politics and academic pressures. But at Pantons, the Ludlow family’s imposing country house with its elegant Georgian facade and perfectly manicured grounds, tensions simmer beneath the polite smiles and carefully maintained British decorum. Something feels off from the moment Patrick crosses the threshold. 🍷
Gerald Ludlow is back from his travels abroad, with a stunning new American bride on his arm who seems too young, too glamorous, and far too self-assured for the stuffy English countryside. And not everyone is delighted by the match—not least Gerald’s waspish mother, who makes her disapproval clear with every cutting remark disguised as concern and every pointed silence during meals. The family dynamic crackles with unspoken resentments and barely concealed hostility. 💍
Even the housekeeper, dear old Mrs Mackenzie, is less than welcoming to the new bride. One look at Gerald’s wife and she almost drops the soufflé in shock, her face draining of all color. The poor woman turns deathly pale, as if she’s seen a ghost or witnessed something that shouldn’t be possible. Her hands tremble as she sets down the serving dish, and she can barely meet anyone’s eyes for the rest of the evening. Patrick notices everything, filing away details with his academic’s mind for observation and analysis. 😱
Next morning, the house wakes up to a terrible shock. Mrs Mackenzie lies dead in her bed, her body cold and still, discovered by a maid who screams loud enough to wake the entire household. 💀
The police arrive promptly and say she died of natural causes—heart failure, most likely, given her age. Case closed. But Patrick’s not so sure about their hasty conclusion. The Mrs Mack he knew was strong as an ox, still hauling heavy trays up and down stairs, still managing a household with military efficiency. She’d never complained of chest pains or shown any signs of illness. And that reaction to Gerald’s wife the night before—that wasn’t the behavior of a woman whose heart was about to give out. That was the reaction of someone who’d seen something deeply disturbing. 🔍
As gossip ripples through the village like wildfire, with speculation growing more lurid by the hour, Patrick’s sharp mind and love of a puzzle draw him deeper into the investigation despite his initial reluctance to get involved. He begins asking questions that make the family uncomfortable, noticing inconsistencies in their statements, observing the way certain people avoid certain topics. ☕
Everyone at Pantons has a secret to hide, from Gerald’s mysterious years abroad to his mother’s financial troubles to the servants’ whispered conversations that stop whenever family members appear. The new bride isn’t who she claims to be. Gerald’s business dealings may not be entirely legitimate. Even the village vicar seems to know more than he’s saying. It’s only a matter of which secret was worth killing for—and whether Patrick can uncover the truth before the killer decides he knows too much. ⚠️
What makes this a classic British mystery: Yorke crafts an elegant country house mystery in the tradition of Agatha Christie, complete with class tensions, family secrets, and an amateur detective whose academic training proves invaluable. Patrick Grant’s understated intelligence and careful observation make him a compelling sleuth in this atmospheric debut.
THIRTY DAYS. That’s all Adam Steinbeck demands of his wife. Thirty days in a remote cottage, doing everything he commands, submitting to his every instruction without question or hesitation. After that, he’ll sign her divorce papers and give her complete ownership of their company—the business they built together from nothing, the empire that’s now worth millions. 📅
That’s how long he has to rediscover the man he once was, before success and responsibility buried him. The Dominant Master he hid when he fell in love with her five years before, suppressing that essential part of himself to be the husband he thought she needed. He became softer, more accommodating, pushing down desires he thought would frighten her away. But in doing so, he lost himself—and lost her in the process. 🔥
She wants the business they built badly enough to go to the cottage for a month, to endure whatever games he has planned. Cut off from ties to the world, no phone, no internet, no escape from whatever Adam has in mind. She can submit to him with her body, follow his commands, play whatever role he demands. But her heart will never yield to him again—not after the way their marriage fell apart, not after the distance that grew between them until they were strangers sharing a bed. She’s already mourned what they lost. 💔
She thinks this is his pathetic attempt to repair their marriage, a desperate bid to recapture what they once had before ambition and resentment drove them apart. She thinks he’s going to spend thirty days trying to remind her why she fell in love with him, showering her with romance and apologies. 🌹
She’s wrong. ⚡
Adam isn’t trying to save their marriage. He’s trying to discover whether the man he was and the man he’s become can coexist—and whether the woman he married can accept all of him, including the dominant desires he’s kept hidden for years. This isn’t about reconciliation. It’s about revelation, about stripping away everything they’ve pretended to be until only raw truth remains. 🎭
In the isolation of the cottage, with no distractions or escape routes, Adam will push every boundary they’ve ever established. He’ll demand her complete submission in ways she never imagined, testing her limits and his own. And she’ll discover that the man she thought she knew has depths she never suspected—desires that terrify and intrigue her in equal measure. 💎
But as the days pass and the lines between dominance and devotion blur, both of them face an impossible question: can they rebuild a marriage on a foundation of complete honesty, or will thirty days of truth destroy whatever remains between them? And when Adam reveals his real reason for demanding this month together, she’ll have to decide whether their love is worth fighting for—or if some things, once broken, can never truly be repaired. 🔓
Why this captivates: Reiss delivers an intensely emotional, sensual exploration of power dynamics, identity, and marriage, with a hero who isn’t trying to save his relationship but rather to discover if honest desire can be the foundation for something real. For mature readers who appreciate psychologically complex romance with dominant/submissive themes.
Bridgett Rawlings is known in her small town of Prairie Rose, Iowa as The Bad Luck Widow—a title she earned through unimaginable tragedy. She just lost her father to a farming accident on the same land that claimed both her husbands. Before that it was her second husband, killed in a tractor rollover. And before that, her first husband, crushed in the grain elevator. Every man Bridgett has ever loved has been killed on her family farm, creating a pattern so cruel that the entire town has taken notice and drawn their own conclusions. 💔
But the farm is all she owns and the basis of her livelihood, the only inheritance she has from generations of her family who worked this Iowa soil. It seems there is no escaping the curse laid upon her—or upon any man foolish enough to get close to her. The townspeople whisper when she walks by, mothers pull their sons away from her, and even the pastor struggles to meet her eyes. She’s become a pariah in the community that once welcomed her, isolated by grief and superstition. 🌾
So, when Shawn Barclay, the son of an old friend of her father’s, shows up from Arkansas to help on the farm as he promised before her father died, Bridgett tries to deter him with everything she has. She explains the curse in brutal detail, recounting every death, every funeral, every time she’s buried a man she loved. She tells him how the town has shunned her, how local men won’t even bid on her hay at auction for fear of bringing her bad luck home with them. She begs him to go back to Arkansas, where he came from, before whatever darkness hangs over her claims him too. 😢
But Shawn doesn’t believe in curses, and he’s not the type to abandon a promise or a person in need. When he looks at Bridgett, he sees past the town’s superstition and gossip to the truth underneath: a kind and thoughtful woman with a backbone of steel, forced to endure incredible grief alone in a community that should be showering her with support instead of treating her like a jinx. The least he can do is stay on the farm to help her through harvest season. He owes her father that much, and he won’t let baseless fear drive him away. 💪
As they work alongside one another through long Iowa summer days—mending fences, bringing in hay, caring for livestock—Shawn begins to see Bridgett in a different light. Not as the Bad Luck Widow the town fears, but as a woman of incredible strength with more capacity for love than anyone he has ever met despite all the loss she’s endured. A woman who gets up every morning and faces the land that took everything from her because giving up would dishonor their memory. A woman he is falling in love with, deeply and irrevocably. 🌻
Bridgett is falling for him too, feeling her frozen heart thaw under the warmth of his steady presence and genuine affection. But what if the locals are right? What if she really is bad luck? What if there’s something dark about her land or her bloodline that she doesn’t understand? She is not willing to risk Shawn’s life to prove the town right yet again, to stand over another grave and hear the whispers that confirm what everyone already believes. She’d rather die alone than watch him die because he cared about her. ⚠️
But will she be giving up a heartland of joy by not daring to prove them wrong? And can Shawn convince her that love is worth any risk, and that sometimes the only curse is the one we allow others to place on us? 🎄
What makes this heartwarming: Gussman tackles themes of small-town prejudice, grief, and second chances in this sweet Christian romance that balances genuine emotion with prairie charm. Perfect for readers who love faith-filled stories about overcoming fear and finding love despite impossible odds.
Introducing twenty-one-year-old Amy Rowlings, a vivacious, quick-witted collector of imported American music who saves her shillings for the latest jazz and swing records, a movie buff who knows every Ginger Rogers dance number by heart, and an avid reader of crime fiction who devours Agatha Christie novels as fast as they’re published. She thinks she knows how murder investigations work—until she finds herself in the middle of one. 🎵
January 1939 and the residents of the snow-covered streets of a small Kentish town awake to horrific news that shatters their quiet community. Murder has come to their respectable corner of England, and nobody feels safe anymore. ❄️
When young Amy Rowlings meets Detective Sergeant Bodkin at the scene of a robbery on the way to work at The Mill one snowy January morning, she is blissfully unaware of how much her life is about to change. She offers him directions like any helpful local would, and he seems charmed by her knowledge of the town and its inhabitants. She thinks nothing of it beyond a pleasant encounter with a handsome policeman. 👮
She is drawn into the murky world of murder when the body of Edward Handsley is found lying on the floor of the clothing factory where Amy works as a secretary. Edward, a libertine and philanderer of the worst sort, the ne’er-do-well son of George, the factory owner—a young man with many enemies, many of them female and all of them with excellent reasons to hate him. He’d seduced half the female staff with promises he never intended to keep, ruined at least one girl’s reputation completely, and generally behaved as though his father’s money entitled him to treat people as disposable playthings. 💀
Bodkin is new to the area, transferred in from London, and accepts Amy’s offer to provide local knowledge about the town’s residents, their relationships, and their secrets. But she soon becomes an invaluable source of information beyond simple geography. Working inside The Mill, she hears the whispered conversations in the ladies’ room, notices who avoids whom, observes the tension that crackles through the workspace whenever certain names are mentioned. 🔍
When Adam Smethwick is arrested for the murder—a gentle soul who works in the cutting room and couldn’t hurt a fly—Amy, a family friend who’s known Adam since childhood, is convinced of his innocence and sets out to prove that the detective has arrested the wrong man. She knows Adam’s character, knows his capacity for violence (which is to say, none), and refuses to stand by while he hangs for a crime he didn’t commit. Her amateur investigation begins in earnest, much to Bodkin’s mixed feelings of amusement and concern. 👔
Amy befriends Justine, the young, French fiancée of the elderly George Handsley, and soon discovers that it was not all sweetness and light in the Handsley family home. Justine, barely twenty-five to George’s sixty-something, reveals tensions and secrets that cast Edward’s murder in an entirely new light. There were violent arguments behind closed doors, mysterious visitors late at night, and financial troubles that George kept hidden from the factory workers. Meanwhile, back at the factory, Amy is sure that the foreman, Mr Pilling, has something to hide—the way he blanches when Edward’s name comes up, the documents she catches him burning in the office stove, his sudden absences that no one can explain. 🏭
As Amy digs deeper, juggling her secretarial duties with her unauthorized investigation, she discovers that nearly everyone connected to The Mill had a motive to want Edward Handsley dead. The question isn’t who wanted him gone—it’s who actually did it, and whether Amy can uncover the truth before an innocent man pays the ultimate price. And whether her growing partnership with Detective Sergeant Bodkin will blossom into something more than professional collaboration. 💕
Why this charms: Belshaw creates an engaging 1930s mystery with a spirited heroine who brings period detail and authentic historical atmosphere to life. Amy’s enthusiasm, wit, and determination make her a fresh voice in historical crime fiction, perfect for fans of British mysteries and amateur sleuths.
The Girl in the Letter
A heartbreaking letter. A girl locked away. A mystery to be solved. 💔
1956. When Ivy Jenkins falls pregnant out of wedlock, her shame becomes the family’s burden. She is sent in disgrace to St Margaret’s, a dark, brooding house for unmarried mothers hidden away from polite society, where young women are punished for their sins and forced to give birth in conditions that range from neglectful to cruel. Her baby is adopted against her will, torn from her arms before she can even hold the child properly, before she can memorize every feature. The authorities tell her it’s for the best, that she’ll forget, that she’ll move on. But Ivy will never leave St Margaret’s—not alive, anyway. 🏚️
Present day. Samantha Harper is a journalist desperate for a break, struggling to make her mark in a competitive field where meaningful stories are hard to come by and editors are losing interest in her pitches. When she stumbles on a letter from the past while clearing out a building slated for demolition, the contents shock and move her in ways she didn’t expect. The letter is from a young mother, begging to be rescued from St Margaret’s, her words desperate and terrified. Before it is too late, she writes. Before something terrible happens.
Sam is pulled into the tragic story, unable to let it go even as colleagues tell her it’s ancient history, not worth pursuing. She discovers a spate of unexplained deaths surrounding the woman and her child—deaths that were never properly investigated, questions that were never asked, records that seem to have been deliberately obscured or destroyed. The more Sam digs, the more she realizes that St Margaret’s held darker secrets than anyone imagined, and that powerful people had reasons to keep those secrets buried. 🔍
With St Margaret’s set for demolition in a matter of hours, Sam has only a narrow window to piece together a sixty-year-old mystery before the truth, which lies disturbingly close to home in ways she hasn’t yet discovered, is lost forever under the wrecking ball. As she races against time and encounters resistance from unexpected sources, Sam begins to suspect that some people would prefer the past stay buried—and that her investigation might be putting her own life at risk. 🕰️
What makes this unputdownable: Gunnis weaves dual timelines masterfully, connecting past injustices with present-day revelations in a story that’s both heartbreaking historical fiction and gripping thriller. The exploration of mother-and-baby homes adds powerful social commentary to an already compelling mystery.
What if Mr. Bennet had changed everything—five years before Bingley let Netherfield Park? 📚
When old friends from his university days visit Longbourn and witness firsthand the chaos of the household and the embarrassing behavior of Mrs. Bennet and the younger daughters, Mr. Bennet is forced to confront the consequences of years spent in idle amusement and neglect of his family. The visit becomes a wake-up call he can no longer ignore. His friends’ barely concealed pity and concern make him see what he’s allowed his family to become—a source of ridicule rather than respect. Determined to do better by his wife and daughters before it’s too late, he takes a more active role in their upbringing, their education, and their futures, implementing changes that transform Longbourn from the inside out. 🎭
By the time Mr. Bingley leases Netherfield five years later, the Bennet family is very different from the one Jane Austen’s readers know. The daughters are accomplished in genuinely impressive ways rather than the superficial accomplishments typical of the era, poised in society without being affected, and sensible in their judgments and behavior. Elizabeth has had the benefit of a proper education and exposure to ideas beyond Meryton gossip. Jane’s beauty is matched by genuine cultivation. Even the younger girls have been guided toward maturity. The household is one that garners admiration rather than ridicule, and the Bennet name actually means something in local society. ✨
When Mr. Darcy first encounters Elizabeth Bennet at the Meryton assembly, he is immediately intrigued—not only by her beauty but by her wit, confidence, and keen mind that can match his own in conversation. She demonstrates knowledge of literature, politics, and philosophy that surprises him, and she’s not intimidated by his rank or fortune. She, in turn, is drawn to the man behind the proud exterior, sensing depths and complexity beneath his reserved demeanor. Sparks fly from their very first meeting, and a connection forms quickly as they discover shared interests and complementary temperaments. But not everyone welcomes their growing attachment. 💕
As whispers circulate through both Hertfordshire and London society, and schemes take shape among those who see the match as threatening their own interests or beneath Darcy’s station, Darcy and Elizabeth must navigate not only the complexities of figuring out their relationship but also the meddling of those who would keep them apart—from Caroline Bingley’s jealous machinations to Lady Catherine’s imperious interference. Can their connection withstand the pressures of pride, prejudice, and plotting minds determined to see them separated? 🌹
What makes this variation compelling: Anne’s fresh take on Pride and Prejudice explores how different the story might have been if Mr. Bennet had taken his responsibilities seriously, creating a more equal partnership between Darcy and Elizabeth while maintaining the wit and romance of the original. Perfect for Austen fans seeking a new angle on beloved characters.
Has she finally come home? 🏡
Fifteen years after the disappearance of ten-year-old Ellie Beckett devastated the town of East Plain, leaving behind a community that never quite recovered from the loss and a family frozen in grief, Tess Winters arrives as the new housekeeper for the Beckett family—a young woman bearing an uncanny resemblance to their missing daughter. The similarities are striking: the same green eyes, the same delicate features, even the same mannerisms that make Ellie’s father catch his breath every time Tess enters a room. 👤
Though Tess claims she’s just looking for work, needing employment and a place to stay after her own life fell apart, her presence in the grief-stricken household awakens long-buried secrets that some family members would prefer stay hidden. The house itself seems to respond to her arrival, as if recognizing something—or someone. As Ellie’s mother’s hostility intensifies beyond normal suspicion into something that feels almost like fear, and suspicions of a sinister plot emerge from multiple directions, Tess must unravel the truth behind the vanishing before she becomes the next to disappear. 😱
But the more Tess learns about what happened to Ellie, the more she realizes that the official story—that the girl simply wandered off and was never found—doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. There are gaps in the timeline, inconsistencies in witness statements, and a general reluctance among the townspeople to discuss that day. Someone knows what really happened, and that person is watching Tess very closely, waiting to see how much she discovers.
Why did the Becketts hire someone who looks so much like their lost daughter? Is it comfort or something more disturbing? And why does Tess sometimes feel like she knows things about this house, this family, that she shouldn’t possibly know? As the psychological tension mounts and the line between past and present blurs, Tess finds herself trapped in a web of deception where trust is impossible and the truth might be the most dangerous thing of all. 🔍
What makes this gripping: Carter crafts an atmospheric psychological thriller that plays with identity, memory, and the lengths families will go to protect their secrets. The small-town setting adds claustrophobic pressure while the question of Tess’s true identity drives relentless suspense.
Call to order the Friday Night Doom Crew. 🔨
They’re an eclectic group of true-crime enthusiasts—a forensic psychologist who analyzes criminal behavior for fun, a historian specializing in infamous murders, and a popular Instagram presence with hundreds of thousands of followers among them—dedicated to sleuthing out nefarious offenders and doing whatever it takes to set things right. They meet every Friday night to dissect cases, debate motives, and occasionally insert themselves into investigations that capture their interest. But when dark secrets threaten one of their own, the Doom Crew grapples with how far they are willing to go to protect her, and whether their amateur detective skills translate to real-world vigilante justice. 🕵️
Diana Pulaski is the crew’s meticulously organized beating heart, the one who keeps their research files impeccable and their meetings on schedule. Her physician husband, Peter, is secretly a swindler behind an illegal pill mill, prescribing addictive opioids to desperate patients for cash while maintaining his respectable facade in the community. He’s not to mention a loathsome cheater involved in an online romance with someone who thinks he’s single and successful, not married and criminal. When they discover the truth—through their own investigative skills and Diana’s growing suspicions—the amateur vigilantes have a plan to make Peter pay for his crimes and his betrayals. 💊
Unfortunately, the closer Diana’s friends are to hunting Peter down and exposing his operation, the closer they get to discovering a secret Diana has been hiding from all of them—something that complicates everything they thought they knew about her marriage and her motivations. What started as righteous anger on behalf of their friend becomes murkier as layers of deception peel away. 😱
As the fumbling Doom Crew’s wild ride of vengeance goes awry in ways that are both darkly comic and genuinely dangerous, they must navigate the consequences of their actions and confront the reality that true crime is a lot messier than podcasts make it seem. And Diana, forced to confront the past she’s been running from and the choices she made that led her to this point, must decide to whom she will remain loyal—her friends, her marriage, or the truth—no matter the cost. 💔
What makes this addictive: Lancaster balances sharp humor with genuine suspense, creating a story that’s both a send-up of true-crime obsession and a surprisingly tense thriller. The Doom Crew’s amateur bumbling provides comedy while Diana’s hidden secrets add real emotional stakes and moral complexity.
Some secrets are worth stealing. Some hearts are harder to escape. 💎
Lady Elsbeth Caldwell has long suspected that her stepfather is hiding something far more sinister behind his polished façade and respectable position in society. The whispered conversations that stop when she enters rooms, the locked study she’s forbidden from entering, the occasional visitors who arrive late at night and leave before dawn—all of it points to secrets that make her increasingly uneasy. Determined to uncover the truth about what he’s involved in and protect her mother from whatever dangers might be lurking, she embarks on an investigation that leads her to take desperate measures, including robbing a passing coach under the cover of night while disguised as a highwayman. It’s bold, it’s dangerous, and it’s completely unlike anything a proper lady should ever contemplate. 🎭
Unfortunately, the coach belongs to Niles Drayton, Earl of Westcott—a man with a sharp tongue that can cut through pretense like a blade, a sharper wit that makes him a formidable opponent in any verbal sparring, and a maddening ability to remain amused in even the most scandalous circumstances. When he catches a glimpse of his mysterious robber, he’s more intrigued than outraged, recognizing something familiar in the thief’s bearing despite the disguise.
Niles has no patience for matchmaking schemes, particularly those orchestrated by his well-meaning but relentless aunt who seems determined to see him married off to the first eligible young lady available. But when he’s introduced to the opinionated and undeniably intriguing Lady Elsbeth at a society function shortly after the robbery, recognizing her immediately as his highwayman, he is determined to keep her as far away from his sister—and himself—as possible. The last thing he needs is a reckless young woman who thinks robbing coaches is an acceptable way to solve problems infiltrating his carefully ordered life. 😤
As threats begin to close in around Elsbeth from her stepfather’s increasingly dangerous associates, threats that put both her and her mother in real physical danger, Niles is pulled deeper into her world despite his best intentions to stay clear. What begins as a reluctant association born of his honor and her desperation soon becomes an uneasy alliance as they work together to uncover her stepfather’s secrets, and then something far more dangerous: a fragile, undeniable connection that neither of them planned for or knows how to navigate. When long-buried secrets come to light and the true extent of the deception surrounding Elsbeth is revealed—secrets that implicate powerful people and put everyone involved at risk—the two must trust each other if they hope to survive. 💕
Why this captivates: Beers delivers a Regency romance with genuine adventure and suspense, featuring a unconventional heroine who takes action (literally) and a hero whose protective instincts war with his determination to avoid entanglement. The mystery elements add stakes beyond the romance while maintaining the witty banter and period detail readers expect.
For Paris Gibson, her popular late-night radio drama is both an escape and her one real contact with the outside world after a tragedy that changed everything. Broadcasting from her studio in Austin, she creates an intimate space where listeners feel like they’re in conversation with a trusted friend. To her loyal listeners, she is a wise and trusted friend who not only takes their requests and plays the music that soundtracks their lonely nights but listens to their problems and occasionally dispenses advice with empathy and insight. They don’t know what she’s running from, and she prefers it that way. 🎙️
Paris’s world of isolation is shattered when one listener—a man who identifies himself only as “Valentino”—tells her on air that the girl he loves jilted him because of Paris’s advice during a previous broadcast. He blames Paris completely for ruining his chance at happiness. Now he intends to exact his revenge: first he plans to kill the girl who rejected him—then he will come after Paris, making her pay for interfering in his life and destroying his dreams. 😱
Joined by the Austin police department who take the threat seriously after Valentino provides disturbing details that suggest he’s genuine, Paris plunges into a race-against-time thrill ride to find Valentino before he can carry out his threat and claim his first victim. To her dismay, she finds that she must now work with crime psychologist Dean Malloy, a man with whom she shares a history she came to Austin specifically to escape. His presence arouses old passions and unresolved conflicts, forcing Paris to confront painful memories that she had buried deep and hoped never to face again. 💔
As the clock ticks down and Valentino’s threats come closer to becoming reality—with a young woman’s life hanging in the balance and Paris herself becoming increasingly targeted—Paris finds herself forced to deal with a killer who may not be a stranger at all. The more she learns about Valentino, the more she suspects he knows things about her, personal things that only someone close to her past could know. Is he someone from her life before Austin? Someone who followed her here? Or is he exactly what he claims—a stranger whose obsession has fixed on her through the radio waves? 🔍
What makes this a classic Sandra Brown thriller: Brown delivers her signature blend of romantic suspense and psychological tension, with a unique premise centered on the intimate yet isolating world of late-night radio. Paris’s vulnerability combined with her strength creates a compelling protagonist, while the mystery of Valentino’s identity drives page-turning suspense.
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