Showing results by narrator "Amy McFadden" in All Categories

Git O'Rourke is from the wrong side of the tracks - even if, in the depressed Rust Belt town of Baxter, it's not always clear where that designation begins. A single mother, she works hard to support her daughter, Charlie, but still finds time to cut loose every once in a while, to go to a local bar, drink martinis, and find a companion for the night. Which is exactly how she ends up in a hotel room with a strange man passed out on heroin and how she comes to possess the bag of money and guns that he left open as he got his fix. 

Young librarian Samantha Watkins has always been perfectly content with her humdrum existence. Never easily fitting in with anyone anywhere, she feels most at ease in silence, among stacks of books. Sam believes in leaving fantasy and drama to the characters in her beloved novels. But one night when she leaves work late, she finds herself center stage in a tale of vengeance and terror.

Daisy Kincaid is in her 60s and heiress to a fortune. Now she wants to make a name for herself as a romance author...with a little help from Jaine, that is. As Jaine labors away on love scenes, she gets to know the wealthy woman's gentleman friend, her household staff, and her social circle - every one of whom is horrified when Daisy falls under the spell of a much younger stud named Tommy, a rude, crude lothario who's made himself a fixture in Daisy's Bel Air mansion. It doesn't take long for someone to stab him in the neck....

Grace first met Mimi when she blew into their sons’ toddler playgroup like a warm bay breeze that loosened Grace’s tight spaces. Despite differing approaches to life and parenting, the fast friends raised their kids together while cementing a sisterlike bond that neither believed could be broken. But when a string of ill-fated decisions results in a teen party with a tragic outcome for Grace’s son, the friendship is ripped apart and an already-splintered community explodes.

Autumn Buchanan has spent twenty-five years hiding a secret: she’s in love with her best friend. Officer Judd Hamilton has always been her anchor, her protector, and her greatest temptation. But timing, fear, and a lingering past have kept her from telling him the truth—until now. Just when Autumn decides to take a chance on love, a ghost from her past shatters her world. The man who nearly killed her is being released from prison—and Judd, now interim Chief of Police, is the only one standing between her and a nightmare she thought was long buried.

“You know what people really need? Somebody who will listen hard and then find a way to tell them, ‘It’s not all your fault. It’s going to work out fine. Don’t give up.’” So advice columnist ‘Dear Lily’ Brown deeply believes. But Lily could write a letter to herself, asking what to do about an ex-husband who still wants her dating advice, how to redecorate the family home she’s kept exactly the same since her parents died tragically young, how to move on with her strangely becalmed life...and what to do when your wild-child estranged sister storms back into town.

Julie White's once-sweet son has morphed into a teenage terror. She hoped it was normal growing pains but a glimpse into his private messages shatters that illusion. Now she wonders if her moody teen is actually a ticking time bomb. Varvara Perlman's researcher job is hard, but caring for her emotionally-complex daughter is harder. After dismissing the latest call from the school counselor as another ploy for attention, she can only hope it's not too late when she finally understands. This latest crisis may not only be real, but deadly.

Alyssa Armsworth, a world-renowned photographer, has no intention of honoring the billionaire bride pact she made at camp to avoid getting whipped cream smeared on her face while she slept. Marriage is the last thing on her to-do list, and when her father forces his wealthy friends on her, she runs to Maui.

Alexis Owens is settling into her new routines at The Lighthouse Grill, the beloved family restaurant in Rosewood Beach. She originally planned to stay just long enough to help her mother cope with the aftermath of her father’s passing, but the town’s gentle waves and familiar faces are starting to feel like home. Still, even the fresh sea breeze can’t erase the uncertainty looming over her marriage to Grayson, who remains in Los Angeles… or so she thinks.

Just because her husband's naked, dead, and in a hotel bed . . . it might not be what it seems. But there's that scarf in his mouth.... Given the situation, Kiki Lowenstein can't help remembering that her (late) husband got her pregnant while cheating on his girlfriend. True, he did the right thing at the time, and their much-loved daughter Anya is now eleven years old. But suddenly he's dead, and Kiki's financially embarrassed—that jerk disinherited his own family!

The follow-up to her critically acclaimed Lie to Me, J.T. Ellison’s Tear Me Apart is the powerful story of a mother willing to do anything to protect her daughter even as their carefully constructed world unravels around them. One moment will change their lives forever… Competitive skier...

FBI Agent Lucas Raines is a man on a mission, desperate to find a kidnap victim, the billionaire CEO of a video game company, who disappears during a horrific home invasion that leaves two people dead and others terrorized. Kat Parrish never thought that sneaking into a billionaire's party would end with her hiding in a closet, her clothes spattered with blood, her ears ringing from the sound of gunshots. But her problems don't end with the arrival of the police.

When Savannah disappears soon after arguing with her mom's boyfriend, everyone assumes she's run away. The truth is much worse. She's been kidnapped by a man in a white van who locks her in an old trailer home, far from prying eyes. And worse yet, Savannah's not alone: 10 months earlier, Jenny met the same fate and nearly died trying to escape. Now as the two girls wonder if he will hold them captive forever or kill them, they must join forces to break out - even if it means they die trying. 

Whenever his childhood became too much, Simon Bennett could always find comfort and escape in music. Like any kid, he’d thought about becoming a big star, but he’d never imagined the level of success he’s found. When documentary producers approach him for some behind-the-scenes footage for his fans, he isn’t prepared for the painful memories they unearth that he’d rather keep quiet. But when you’re known as one of the sweetest guys in the business, no one takes you seriously when you try to push back.

When Sam's best friend goes missing from a joint bachelor/ette party, no one takes her concerns seriously. Except the ex she's forced to pair up with for bridal party bonding. She starts a search herself--and ends up with an unwanted bodyguard whose very presence reminds her of a hot Vegas night she’s tried hard to forget.

I was working at my sister's clothing boutique in Carmel when I got the call. The hospital told me that my mother had been shot and was in critical condition. This could be my last chance to see her, and I needed to go to San Francisco immediately. I was stunned. Not just because of the horrific news, but also because my mother had died in a storm twenty years ago….

For Lorelei Warner, being perfect isn't everything it's cracked up to be. She did what her straitlaced parents wanted: Became a lawyer, married her college boyfriend. But since her husband ran off with another man and her career became a nonstop bore-fest, Lorelei has turned to her best friends and Fool Me Once Investigations to find fulfillment and adventure.

Vivienne embarks upon the summer of her dreams as one of the few students selected for a training program back east at Liberty Farms. But as focused as she is on her riding, Vivvie also has a secret agenda: to investigate the death of Joel Parker, her friend who she believes was tragically murdered. Vivvie has hardly set foot in the state-of-the-art barns before things start to go amiss.

Ford Donoghue broke my heart a decade ago. And no matter how hard I tried, I was never really over it. I perfected the art of ignoring him whenever he came home to Hatterwick Island—cold shoulders, polite smiles, and walls a mile high. It worked. Until the day his thirteen-year-old daughter walked into my bar, scared and looking for a father she’s never met. One phone call later, Ford’s back in Hatterwick. And so are all the feelings I swore I’d buried. But this isn’t about us. At least, it wasn’t supposed to be. When a body washes up on the beach, the whole island goes on edge.

Emily Callaghan never expected to spend another summer on Wenniway Island. Yet here she is, back in her quaint northern Michigan hometown of Trillium Bay, divorced, flat broke, and dragging along her precocious 12-year-old. It's a simple arrangement: Emily, a house flipper, will renovate one of her grandmother's rental properties in exchange for a much-needed loan. Once a wild child, the reformed Emily also hopes to remodel her reputation and show her family she's all grown up.