Posted August 25, 2025 by Marsha in Kensington Books, Mystery, NetGalley / 0 Comments
Growing up, Madison Taylor and her younger brother Lincoln lived in privilege, but their sheltered existence abruptly ended when their father was arrested for fraud and the family assets were seized. Since then, Madison has carved out a new path, studying fashion and working her way up to editor in chief of La Femme magazine, while Lincoln teaches wealth management at a small college outside the city. Both have separated themselves from their family and their past—until an unexpected bequest arrives from their late uncle.
Madison and Lincoln are now the new co-owners of a marina at Smugglers Cove on the Navesink River. Instead of a fabulous, Hamptons-style property, Smugglers Cove offers little beyond a dilapidated dock, a few gas pumps, and a handful of clam boats. Madison’s plan to sell the property goes awry when a dead body is found floating under their dock and transforms their new inheritance into a crime scene.
Suddenly, Madison is swapping her city-girl wardrobe for cargo pants and flannel shirts, while she and Lincoln receive a crash course in small-town Jersey shore life, complete with quirky characters, pirate legends, and a mysterious treasure map. They’re discovering more about themselves and each other every day, but with a mystery to solve, and big decisions to make, these are lessons they’ll need to learn fast . . .
Titles in the Twin Lives series include: Smuggler’s Cove ~
This is an adult 18+ story that contains language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.
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Posted August 24, 2025 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Harlequin, Mystery, NetGalley, Police Procedural, Romantic Suspense, Series, Sexual Content, Small Town Romance, Thriller / 0 Comments
Murder brings the FBI to her door.
Past secrets could get two old friends killed.
When Allie Foster becomes the prime suspect in a murder, the small-town loner reaches out to the one person she can trust.
Convinced Allie’s innocent, Colby Agency investigating attorney Steve Durham uncovers a shocking connection to a decades-old cold case in her past.
The twisting path to the truth unleashes an attraction that plunges the high school friends into deeper danger. Now Steve and Allie must outmaneuver an elusive killer in a case where nothing and no one is what they seem…
Titles in the Colby Agency: The Next Generation series include: A Colby Christmas Rescue ~ Alibi for Murder ~ Memory of Murder ~ Witness to Murder ~
This is an adult 18+ story that contains language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.
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Posted August 23, 2025 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Harlequin, Love Inspired (Harlequin), Mystery, NetGalley, Trigger Situations Possible, Women's Fiction / 0 Comments
A threatening note.
Long-buried secrets.
Their friendship tested.
The last time lifelong friends Payton, Isley, and Clara were together, Clara broke their unwritten rule and brought up the one thing they never talk about. And now, more than twenty years after their friend Cece took her life, they must confront that night as the three women and their husbands—plus one unexpected guest—gather at Isley’s Breckenridge vacation home. With tension already simmering just below the surface of their relationship, they’re each left shaken when a cryptic note arrives: Tell the truth or I will.
Who is the message for, and what does it refer to? The women fear it could be linked to the truth they’ve kept hidden since the night Cece died…or maybe it has something to do with one of the problems they’ve each brought with them.
Isley’s son is in rehab after narrowly avoiding jail time, spurring her to a reckless act of her own. Clara, usually so careful to follow rules, is haunted by the one night that she didn’t. And Payton has been in denial regarding her husband’s so-called plan for their marriage.
As the weekend unfolds, all three will revisit the bonds they share and the challenges that have shaped their lives. And by the trip’s end, a truth that shocks them all will be revealed.
~Standalone~ Trigger Warning ~
This is an adult 18+ story that contains language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.
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Posted August 21, 2025 by Marsha in Booksprout ARC, Crime, Mystery, Series, Tule Publishing / 0 Comments
Will her life philosophy, “Do right, fear no man,” get her killed?
A string of bad luck has left former Army helicopter pilot Dot Ybarra with a serious case of wrecked nerves and a need for peace and solace at her family’s Idaho ranch. Instead, she encounters a desperate mother who stumbles onto their land, begging Dot to rescue her kidnapped daughter.
There’s a bounty on the kidnapper’s head, and fugitive recovery agent T.J. Roman is not about to let that paycheck slip through his fingers. Together, he and Dot rescue the child.
But their actions set off an explosion of secrets in Euskadi. The sheriff is slinking around with a new shady sidekick, Dot’s friends are stabbed, and armed mercenaries attack her ranch, forcing her to use her hunting and archery skills to defend her family. Cornered by the unknown enemy’s three-pronged attack, Dot and her charges retreat deep into the Payette National Forest. Isolated in the mountainous forest, separated from T.J. and any help, Dot must make a hard choice: fight or walk away?
Will her first recovery job be her last?
Titles in the A Bounty of Shadows series include: Ride a Dark Trail ~
This is an adult 18+ story that contains language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.
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Posted August 20, 2025 by Marsha in Cliffhanger Ending (for now), Closed Doors/ Fade to Black, Contemporary Romance, Kindle Unlimited, Mystery, Series, Small Town Romance, Women's Fiction / 0 Comments
Just when the tide seemed to be turning…
Becca thought she’d finally found her place at Amberjack Shores, the idyllic beachfront inn owned by her former mother-in-law. After years of putting her legal career first, she’s ready to embrace the warmth of family connections and the promise of new beginnings on Florida’s sun-drenched coast.
But the past is never truly buried—especially in a small beach town.
When unexpected visitors arrive with shocking claims about her late husband, Becca’s newfound peace shatters. As decades of secrets begin to surface, Becca must question everything she thought she knew about the man who once broke her heart.
With the business finally flourishing and her relationship with the charming but guarded Tyler Dalton cautiously deepening, Becca finds herself caught between uncovering the truth and protecting the family she’s come to love. Meanwhile, Linda’s determination to welcome everyone under one roof could either heal old wounds or tear the family apart forever.
Against the backdrop of crashing waves and swaying palms, the women of Amberjack Shores will discover that family—whether bound by blood, choice, or circumstance—is the anchor that holds fast through life’s fiercest storms.
Titles in The Amberjack Shores series include: The Island Inn ~ Island Secrets ~Island Storms ~ The Island Guest ~ Island Dreams ~ The Island Wedding ~
This is a clean, sweet romance with either closed doors or fade to black, or only kissing.
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Posted August 17, 2025 by Marsha in Cliffhanger Ending (for now), Closed Doors/ Fade to Black, Contemporary Romance, Kindle Unlimited, Mystery, Series, Small Town Romance, Women's Fiction / 0 Comments
Three generations of women. Two weeks at the beach. One decision that changes everything.
When Becca Dalton inherits part of a coastal Florida resort from the husband who abandoned her twenty-four years ago, she intends to sell her share quickly and return to her carefully constructed life as a corporate attorney. The last thing she needs is to get tangled up with the family her ex left behind.
But Amberjack Shores—with its charming beachfront cottages, historic inn, and struggling fishing business—awakens something in Becca she thought long buried. As she reluctantly works to revitalize the business, she finds herself drawn to both the stunning coastal property and the complicated family that calls it home.
Meanwhile, Becca’s artistic daughter Katie finds herself swept into an unexpected romance with local photographer Jake, whose laid-back approach to life challenges everything she thought she wanted. Between crashing weddings, surfing lessons, and moonlit beach walks, Katie begins questioning the rigid path she’s always followed.
As mother and daughter imagine new possibilities at Amberjack Shores, the long-buried secrets surrounding Chris Dalton’s disappearance begin to surface. With her heart newly open to love and belonging, Becca must confront the mysteries of her ex-husband’s past—a past that threatens to unravel the fragile new connections she’s only just begun to trust.
Titles in The Amberjack Shores series include: The Island Inn ~ Island Secrets ~Island Storms ~ The Island Guest ~ Island Dreams ~ The Island Wedding ~
This is a clean, sweet romance with either closed doors or fade to black, or only kissing.
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Posted August 11, 2025 by Marsha in Booksprout ARC, Modern Western Romance, Mystery, Series, Sexual Content, Small Town Romance, Tule Publishing / 0 Comments
More secrets lurk in the Montana mountains…and the past.
Private investigator Samantha Price savors a slow summer at her firm, Honor’s Edge Investigations, along with Nate Bennet, who recently received his license to join her as an investigator. They make a strong, though still uneasy team. When a new, but familiar client requests help, the case seems like a slam dunk, but of course, there are complications. Aly Cartwright works on the Bennet ranch and is engaged to Nate’s brother. One clue leads to another, and what starts as a vandalism investigation widens to connect to a recent murder and another nearly two decades old.
Nate, who left home at fifteen, isn’t sure he’s back for good or ready to make peace with his brothers. Samantha, too, has made enemies with the Bennets. But when Aly’s estranged mother reappears on the heels of increased vandalism, threats, and danger, can Samatha and Nate negotiate a truce with the Bennetts long enough to untangle the mysteries and save Aly and each other from a grisly end?
Titles in the Western Edge Mystery series include: Double-Edged Reckoning ~ Dark Mountain Ambush ~ Long Lost Winter ~
This is an adult 18+ story that contains language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.
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Posted August 4, 2025 by Marsha in Booksprout ARC, Contemporary Romance, Mystery, Paranormal Romance, Series, Small Town Romance, Tule Publishing / 0 Comments
She can touch an object and sense the emotions of the people who’ve held it before…
After solving the mystery of her predecessor’s death, geologist Petra Cloch wants to focus on her new job as the rocks and minerals curator at a quirky, small-town New Mexico museum. But her friend and colleague, Liberty, is suspicious of the “accidental” death of Frank Underwood, a retired petroleum engineer and rockhound who unexpectedly died while hiking. Frank acted odd and secretive in his last weeks—mumbling about an incredible find in the desert and aliens. Was he showing the first signs of dementia, or were more sinister forces at work?
Petra agrees to help excavate the truth, and soon, instead of meeting for book club, she and her friends become amateur investigators. Petra uses her gift and her brains to sort through the contradictory stories and confusing clues as she and her friends dig for answers.
Did Frank’s heirs decide to hasten their inheritance? Or did his rock shop business partner decide to go solo? Petra joins the local geological club to discover whether someone there acquired a taste for murder, because they’ll need rock-solid evidence to catch a killer.
Titles in the Reluctantly Psychic Murder Mystery series include: A Stone Cold Murder ~ Death at Rock Bottom ~
This is an adult 18+ story that contains language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.
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Posted July 30, 2025 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Harlequin, Mystery, NetGalley, Romantic Suspense / 0 Comments
Someone has secrets
They’ll kill to keep buried
Erin Reed’s life spirals into terror after she barely escapes an arson attack with her little boy in her arms. As the threats against her life multiply, she discovers that Detective Sam McKeige is a man she can rely on to protect her and her son.
What begins as trust turns into something that might be love…if she and Sam get the chance to explore it. Can they uncover the identity of the serial killer who’s been stalking her before this monster rips the future away from them?
This is an adult 18+ story that contains language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.
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Posted May 24, 2023 by Marsha in Cozy Mystery, Kensington Books, Mystery, NetGalley, Paranormal Cozy Mystery, Series / 0 Comments
Josie is eager to show off Wilfred’s delights to her visiting sister, Jean—even though Josie must conceal her magic from her. In any case, Jean is excited to attend Cookie Masterson’s trademark “Ready-Set-Go!” workshop on becoming a life coach. Then there’s the grand reopening of Darla’s Café, where the doors are thrown open to reveal . . . a dead man, stabbed in the back. That was definitely not on the revamped menu…
Even more worrisome, the sheriff receives a report of a fresh corpse at the retreat center. Maybe murder isn’t so uncommon in Wilfred anymore, but two unfamiliar bodies within an hour certainly is! Josie’s willing to let law enforcement take the lead—after all, she’s gotten into some trouble from the hints the library’s spellbound books keep feeding her about the patrons. But when her sister receives the killer’s chilling calling card, she’ll use everything within her otherworldly powers to divine just who in town has homicide as his new slogan . . .
Titles in the A Witch Way Librarian Mystery series include — Bait and Witch —♦— Seven-Year Witch —♦— Witch and Famous —♦— Witch Upon a Star —♦—
NetGalley ARC
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Posted April 29, 2023 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Crime, Mystery, Owned, Paranormal Romantic Suspense, Romantic Suspense, Series, Sexual Content, Thriller / 0 Comments
True evil never dies. It only waits in the dark.
All book editor Megan Law wants is to bury the memory of her brutal kidnapping and move on with her life. So when her publisher asks her to spin her hellish experience into the next bestseller, Megan agrees only because it might help keep other women safe. Then a mysterious, gruesome package arrives in the mail—a reminder that the nightmare isn’t over just yet.
FBI investigator Ragnar Johnson is running out of time. He knows in his gut there’s more to the recent Embracer killings, and he needs Megan’s help. Even with their rocky past behind them, working together now isn’t going to be easy. But when things take a deadly turn, Megan and Ragnar discover a deep connection that they’ll have to use, because something is trying to tear them apart…forever.
Titles in this trilogy portion of the entire series include — Sound of Darkness —♦— Aura of Night —♦— Voice of Fear —♦—
The entire Krewe of Hunters series includes — Phantom Evil —◊— Heart of Evil —◊— Sacred Evil —◊— The Evil Inside —◊— The Unseen —◊— The Unholy —◊— The Unspoken —◊— The Uninvited —◊— The Night Is Watching —◊— The Night Is Alive —◊— The Night Is Forever —◊— The Cursed —◊— The Hexed —◊— The Betrayed —◊— The Silenced —◊— The Forgotten —◊— The Hidden —◊— Haunted Destiny —◊— Deadly Fate —◊— Darkest Journey —◊— Dying Breath —◊— Dark Rites —◊— Wicked Deeds —◊— ♦Fade to Black —◊— Pale as Death —◊— Echoes of Evil —◊— The Summoning —◊— The Seekers —◊— The Stalking —◊— Seeing Darkness —◊—Deadly Touch —◊—Dreaming Death —◊— ♦ The Unforgiven —◊— The Forbidden —◊— The Unknown —◊— ♦ Sound of Darkness —◊— Aura of Night —◊— Voice of Fear —◊—
While I’ve read the entire Krewe of Hunters series over the years, I have not reviewed each novel, and to go back now would be quite daunting and time-consuming. So, I stick to reviewing the more current trilogy.
This is an adult 18+ story that may contain language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.
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