June 1, 2012
Bloody Murdock, by Robert J. Ray
PI and ex-cop Matt Murdock is picky about the cases he takes on. Being a bodyguard isn’t his favorite gig, especially when the client is a high-handed number-cruncher like Ellis Dean. But Murdock is a little short on funds, and the case is a puzzler. It doesn’t hurt that it features the death, accidental or otherwise, of a beautiful woman. Murdock has a weakness for damsels in distress, even after it’s a little late for rescue. Gayla Jean Kirkwood, killed in a car wreck on the Pacific Coast Highway, was a good-time girl, high-class waitress and wannabe starlet.
Dean fires Murdock and ends up dead, clearing the way for Murdock to sign on with Gayla Jean’s sister, Meg Kirkwood, a gorgeous dead ringer for her sister. The case will offer other female distractions, including a fresh-faced and overly eager girl reporter.
Who would want Gayla Jean dead? Was it a scorned lover? Someone at the chic club where she worked? The men who paid to photograph her naked? Or was she simply collateral—the real target being the Mexican actor driving the doomed car? As his investigation continues, Murdock and his client will discover just how dirty the deals in Hollywood can get. If they live long enough.
July 1, 2012
Daughter of Fortune, by Carla Kelly
Maria Espinosa should not have survived the 1679 cholera epidemic in Mexico City that killed her parents, already reeling from the loss of their fortune, nor should she have survived an Apache raid on the caravan transporting her to a sister in remote Santa Fe, in the royal colony of New Mexico. Rejected by her sister because she is penniless, Maria struggles to stay alive in a society unaware of impending disaster. A charismatic Tewa Indian named Popé is determined to drive the hated European overlords from the land. Maria’s refuge is no refuge at all.
When Mary is taken in by a Spanish ranching family living uneasily among the Pueblo Indians, her beauty and spirit inspire a rivalry between two brothers—one a Spaniard, the other half-Indian. Will she find security and purpose in this harsh land only to lose her heart?
In the midst of personal turmoil, Maria discovers a rare talent in this colony of believers. She learns how to carve discarded branches and tree stumps into statues of saints. She also learns the larger lesson: the grace that can transform an object of little value into a masterpiece.
But trouble lies ahead. Maria can reveal the saint buried in a block of wood. What mysteries lie deep within her own heart?
July 15, 2012
Breakfast in Stilettos, by Liz Kingswood
As Lifestyles Editor for The Seattle Sun Times, thirty-three year old Emily Royce covers stories about the strange and unusual. When her boss assigns her to write about Seattle’s “slutterati”—a community that celebrates sensuality in literature and the arts—she finds herself researching websites with couples engaged in every Latin conjugation she knows. A challenge, considering that her own mother calls her a prude. Yet she perseveres—learning to read between the erogenous zones.
The slutterati congregate at the The Slutterati Salon, a fact Emily learns from her not-quite-ex-boyfriend, Frank Mullen. At Frank’s suggestion, Emily interviews a fetish-friendly therapist, lurks in late night chat rooms, and inadvertently gains a following among online submissives begging to be typographically spanked. She shops the world of fetish clothing—seemingly beamed right out of Star Trek—but her prudishness prevails. She falls prey only to a devilish pair of scarlet stilettos.
Emily finally braves her way to the Salon, with Frank on her arm and the stilettos safely locked in the trunk. Once inside, Frank disappears. Upon seeing her distress, hunky programmer Joe Stratton takes over as her guide. Determined to confront her own inhibitions, Emily decides to humor Joe’s request to don her new stilettos.
Does Emily have a little Dominatrix in her after all?
August 1, 2012
Sasha Plotkin’s Deceit, by Vaughn Sherman
It is 1972, and the Soviet Union has succeeded in planting a mole in the top echelons of the Central Intelligence Agency. Three years earlier, CIA officer Chris Holbeck took part in a failed mission to engineer the defection of a Soviet KGB officer who may know the mole’s identity. His name is Sasha Plotkin.
When they were both stationed in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1969, Chris and Sasha connected on a personal level. Chris was excited to find a KGB officer interested in changing sides. Then, on the day of the Soviet agent’s defection, Sasha was a no-show. Chris would soon discover the full extent of Sasha Plotkin’s deceit.
Now Sasha has resurfaced and wishes to make another attempt to defect. To Chris’ dismay, he is the only CIA officer the man will consent to deal with, even though their once close relationship is now riddled with mistrust. Chris’s wife, Lisa, has sworn to leave him if he abandons her and the family for one more perilous mission. His alluring young colleague Bisan seems determined to seduce him. Despite the risks to his life and his marriage, Chris answers the call of duty.
If Chris succeeds in transporting Sasha to the United States—come hell or high water—will the Soviet agent reveal the true identity of the mole? One thing is certain: the lives of the two men will be forever changed.
September 1, 2012
The Judas Line, by Mark Everett Stone
Jude Oliver hails from a long line of assassins. Tired of his family’s treachery and wanting more from life than power, he escapes with their secret weapon, the Silver—an ancient artifact so potent, so evil, that it could plunge mankind into a permanent state of ruin and despair.
After fifteen years on the run, Jude receives a surprise visit from a cousin who planned to murder him to obtain the family treasure. So begins Jude’s desperate quest to find another artifact powerful enough to destroy the Silver. His traveling companion is an unlikely friend, Mike Engle—a Catholic priest who found his calling on the brutal sands of Iraq. In the course of their journey, the two men clash with evil in many forms. Mike learns the details of Jude’s incredible history and the family secret that reaches back 2,000 years.
Before their final, earth-shattering battle, the duo will find surprising allies and the strength to carry on against seemingly insurmountable odds. Will the lessons Jude has learned about love, friendship and sacrifice be enough to save him from his family and his destiny?
Sept. 15, 2012
Reunion! by Mary Daheim
Serena Farrar’s world is on the brink of self-destruction. Determined to do her part to free the slaves, she dreams of joining the staff of her cousin’s newspaper in Springfield as a journalist. But the only way she can move to Massachusetts is to bow to her family’s wishes and marry sea captain Brant Parnell, who she believes is a reckless fortune hunter.
After Serena goes to work for the New Bedford Mercury, her hopes and dreams are quashed by an ugly scandal. Not even Brant can help or comfort her, for her coldness has sent him back to sea, feeling used and rejected. Serena’s only recourse is to flee to her sister’s home in New Bern, North Carolina. There, in the shadow of the growing conflict, she throws herself into her work on the local newspaper, still wondering why her passion for writing about truth and justice wasn’t enough.
When Brant arrives in New Bern, Serena begins to question everything she has lived for. As conflict engulfs the city, she struggles not only as a Yankee in enemy territory, but as a woman who was born to love and be loved. From the primeval forests of Maine to the lush Inner Banks of North Carolina, Serena and Brant discover that love trumps the worst of human follies.
October 1, 2012
Curveball, by Jen Estes
BACK ON THE BENCH
Baseball reporter Cat McDaniel specializes in exposés. Now that very talent has left her unemployed. Desperate to get off the bench and back into the lineup, she is thrilled to land an interview with the Buffalo Soldiers’ General Manager Roger “Rakin’” Aiken—Baseball legend, eight-time All Star … and oblivious father to a Major League bratty co-ed named Paige.
A CURVEBALL WITH A CAVEAT
Aiken offers Cat the team writer position for the following spring, but the opportunity is tempered by a curveball of a caveat: she must first spend the winter as a blogger reporting on the Latin American training facility. She is also supposed to look out for Paige, nominally the team’s newest scouting assistant. Being a glorified babysitter and chaperone still beats being an out-of-work sportswriter. Cat reluctantly leaves behind her gorgeous boyfriend Benji and accompanies the party girl to sunny Santo Domingo to balance baselines and conga lines.
HARDBALL … FOR REAL
Paige falls for Chance Hayward, an agent who plays hardball—the figurative kind. Joining them on the field is Paige’s ex, Junior DeLeon, one of the coaches who’d really like to score with Cat. When an aspiring player turns up dead, it is up to Cat and Junior to devise a game-changing strategy. Will Cat’s snooping work in her favor this time, or will she strike out … losing her job, her boyfriend and her life?
Curveball follows Big Leagues as Book 2 of the Cat McDaniel Mysteries, also known as the Foul Ball series.