The Books

Contemporary Romance & Romantic Suspense

• Burning Up by Susan Andersen (Contemporary Romance - Paperback - $22). Though it's been years since the infamous Macy O'James stepped foot in Sugarville, Washington, everyone remembers what she supposedly did. The tiny town is still buzzing about her crime and lack of punishment … Now back to lend her family a hand, Macy vows to hold her head high - especially at her high school reunion. But forget about the hottest man in Sugarville escorting her. Though she and fire chief Gabriel Donovan generate enough sparks to burn down the town, he's a law-abiding, line-towing straight arrow. So not her type … But, maybe - just maybe - he could change her mind about that.
• An Unforgettable Lady by Jessica Bird aka J.R. Ward (Contemporary Romance - Paperback Reissue - $24). Forced into the spotlight by her fabulous wealth, heiress Grace Hall isn't always prepared for the consequences of her standing. When a string of attacks against the city's most prominent women leaves Grace vulnerable, the refined beauty reluctantly hires a bodyguard. Now she finds herself subject to the ironclad will of her new protector. In spite of her frustration, Grace is drawn to John Smith in ways she can't explain. For beneath his tough exterior and dark past, there's an inner core that is tantalizingly seductive … John knows that when you're a professional bodyguard, it needs to be all business. But such conduct makes for a solitary life with few ties and too many goodbyes. Grace was supposed to be just another assignment on a long list. Yet there's something about her that gets under his skin. With each passing day, the attraction grows more intense - until John is faced with a decision he never thought he'd have to make. Can he give up the only life he's ever known to be with the only woman he's ever loved?
• Time Enough For Love by Suzanne Brockmann (Contemporary Romance - Paperback Reissue - $22). Maggie Winthrop never expected her love life to turn into science fiction. Then a Navy SEAL-trained scientist named Chuck Della Croce turns up one day in her backyard - naked and with an impossible-to-believe explanation: He has come back from the future in a time machine of his own creation in order to stop terrorist killers from laying waste to America. Maggie sympathizes with the rugged, handsome stranger - but can she trust him? … Chuck can't complete this mission of mercy alone. He needs Maggie to use all the wiles a beautiful woman has at her disposal to convince his younger self not to create the technology responsible for the tragedy … But when Maggie falls for both versions of the same irresistible man, she confronts a wrenching choice no woman should ever have to face: abandon a love she's waited for all her life or stay with Chuck and watch the future she longs to build with him go up in flames.
• Tough Customer by Sandra Brown (Contemporary Romance/Romantic Suspense - Hardcover - $40; Trade Paperback - $35). Colleagues, friends, and lovers know Dodge Hanley as a private investigator who doesn't let rules get in his way - in his private life as well as his professional one. If he breaks a heart, or bends the law in order to catch a criminal, he does so without hesitation or apology. That's why he's the first person Caroline King - who after a thirty-year separation continues to haunt his dreams - asks for help when a deranged stalker attempts to murder their daughter … the daughter Dodge has never met. He has a whole bagful of grudging excuses for wishing to ignore Caroline's call, and one compelling reason to drop everything and fly down to Texas: guilt. Dodge's mind may be a haze of disturbing memories and bad decisions, but he arrives in Houston knowing with perfect clarity that his daughter, Berry, is in danger. She has become the object of desire of a co-worker, a madman and genius with a penchant for puzzles and games who has spent the past year making Berry's life hell, and who now has vowed to kill her. Dodge joins forces with local deputy sheriff Ski Nyland, but the situation goes from bad to worse when the stalker begins to claim other victims and leaves an ominous trail of clues as he works his way toward Berry. Sensing the killer drawing nearer, Dodge, who's survived vicious criminals and his own self-destructive impulses, realizes that this time he's in for the fight of his life.
• Shut Up and Kiss Me by Christie Craig (Contemporary Romance - Paperback - $24). When PR expert Shala Winters gets hired to increase the tourist trade in a Texas town mostly populated by Native Americans, her schemes stir up a storm of trouble - with both the town's commanding lawman and someone after Shala's life!
• Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie (Contemporary Romance - Hardcover - Available by Order - $40). Andie Miller is ready to move on with her life. She wants to marry her fiancé and leave behind everything in her past, especially her ex-husband, North Archer. But when Andie tries to gain closure with him, he asks one final favor of her. A distant cousin has died and left North the guardian of two orphans who have driven away three nannies. He needs someone to take care of the situation, and he knows Andie can handle anything … When Andie meets the two children, she realizes the situation is worse than she feared. Carter and Alice aren't average delinquents, and the creepy old house where they live is being run by the worst housekeeper since Mrs. Danvers. Making matters worse is Andie's fiancé's suspicion that this is all a plan by North to get Andie back. He may be right because Andie's dreams have been haunted by North since she arrived at the old house. And that's not the only haunting … Then her ex-brother-in-law arrives with a duplicitous journalist and a self-doubting parapsychologist, closely followed by an annoyed medium, Andie's tarot card-reading mother, her avenging ex-mother-in-law, and her jealous fiancé. Just when Andie's sure things couldn't get more complicated, North arrives to make her wonder if maybe this time things could turn out differently …
• Blood Ties by Kay Hooper (Contemporary Romance/Romantic Suspense - Paperback Release - $24). Bishop/Special Crimes Unit Series. A series of grisly murders has left a trail of blood across three states, bringing the Special Crimes Unit to a small Tennessee town. There, two more brutal killings lure Noah Bishop and the SCU into what may be the ultimate trap, and lead Special Agent Hollis Templeton into a dangerous attraction - and a serial murder investigation that turns very personal. In her time with the SCU, Hollis has shown an uncanny ability to survive even the deadliest attacks. But what she can't know is that this killer intends to destroy the team from within. As the body count climbs, and Bishop and his agents race to uncover the true identity of their enemy, not even their special senses can warn them just how bloody, and how terrifyingly close, the truth will be.
• Burn by Linda Howard (Contemporary Romance/Romantic Suspense - Paperback Release - $24). Money certainly changes Jenner Redwine's life when she wins a lottery jackpot. But it also costs her plenty: Her father rips her off and disappears, her fortune-hunting boyfriend soon becomes her ex, and friends-turned-freeloaders give her the cold shoulder when she stops paying for everything. Flush with new money, Jenner can't imagine ever finding a place in the world of the wealthy. Seven years later, though, she's rubbing elbows with the rich, despite the fact she still feels like a party crasher. Luckily she finds an ally and a guide to the rarefied realm of privilege in shy, kind-hearted heiress Sydney Hazlett, who quickly becomes Jenner's confidante and surrogate sister … When Sydney invites Jenner on a charity cruise aboard a luxury liner, Jenner reluctantly agrees. But while she's expecting and dreading two weeks of masquerade balls, art auctions, and preening glitterati, what she gets is more like a Hitchcock movie than a Love Boat episode. Taken hostage by a stranger, Jenner must cooperate in a mysterious cloak-and-dagger scheme or else. With nowhere to run, and with Sydney's life as well as her own at risk, Jenner is drawn into a game of intrigue and harrowing danger. But as her panic gives way to exhilaration, and fear of her captor turns to fascination, Jenner rediscovers feelings she hasn't had in years and realizes she's found a life worth living. If she survives.
• Veil of Night by Linda Howard (Contemporary Romance/Romantic Suspense - Hardcover - $40). Jaclyn Wilde is a wedding planner who loves her job - usually. But helping Carrie Edwards with her Big Day has been an unrelenting nightmare. Carrie is a bridezilla of mythic nastiness, a diva whose tantrums are just about as crazy as her demands. But the unpleasant task at hand turns seriously criminal when Carrie is brutally murdered and everyone involved with the ceremony is accusing one another of doing the deed. The problem is, most everyone - from the cake maker and the florist to the wedding-gown retailer and the bridesmaids' dressmaker - had his or her own reason for wanting the bride dead, including Jaclyn. And while those who felt Carrie's wrath are now smiling at her demise, Jaclyn refuses to celebrate tragedy, especially since she finds herself in the shadow of suspicion … Assigned to the case, Detective Eric Wilder finds that there's too much evidence pointing toward too many suspects. Compounding his problems is Jaclyn, with whom he shared one deeply passionate night before Carrie's death. Being a prime suspect means that Jaclyn is hands-off just when Eric would rather be hands-on. As the heat intensifies between Eric and Jaclyn, a cold-blooded murderer moves dangerously close. And this time the target is not a bride but one irresistible wedding planner, unaware of a killer's vow.
• Renegade by Lora Leigh (Contemporary Romance/Romantic Suspense - Paperback - $24). Elite Ops Series. As a bridal shop owner, Mikayla Martin helps make women's wedding dreams come true. Her own life, however, has become a nightmare since she witnessed a murder - and got an up-close-and-personal look at the killer. What's worse: She knows she knows him. But the police, after doing an alibi check, don't believe her. It's up to Mikayla to prove them wrong … and do whatever it takes to solve the murder by herself … Elite Ops agent Nikolai Steele, code name Renegade, is asked to pay an old comrade a favor. This friend swears he's no killer - and Nik believes him - even though he's been mistaken as one by Mikayla. So Nik goes to set her straight … but the moment he lays eyes on the fiery beauty, he knows he's in too deep. A woman this irresistible can only mean trouble and, sure enough, after sticking her nose in too many places, someone wants Mikayla dead. Now Nik must find a way to keep her safe, clear his friend's name, and find the real killer, who remains on the loose.
• 1022 Evergreen Place by Debbie Macomber (Contemporary Romance - Paperback - $22). Cedar Cove Series. 1022 Evergreen Place, Unit B, Cedar Cove, Washington. Dear Listener, Guess what? I'm falling in love! With Mack McAfee. My baby daughter, Noelle, and I have been living next door to Mack since the spring. I'm still a little wary about our relationship, because I haven't always made good decisions when it comes to men. My baby's father, David Rhodes, is testament to that. I'm so worried he might sue for custody. In the meantime, the World War II letters I found are a wonderful distraction. Both Mack and I are trying to learn what happened to the soldier who wrote them and the woman he loved. Come by sometime for a glass of iced tea and I'll show you the letters. Plus I'll tell you the latest about Grace and Olivia, my brother Linc and his wife, Lori (who tied the knot about five minutes after they met!), and all our other mutual friends. Oh, and maybe Mack can join us … Mary Jo Wyse
• Finding Perfect by Susan Mallery (Contemporary Romance - Paperback - $22). Fools Gold Series. When Pia O'Brian's best friend dies, Pia expects to inherit her cherished cat. Instead, the woman leaves Pia three frozen embryos. With a disastrous track record in the romance department and the parenting skills of a hamster, Pia doesn't think she's meant for motherhood. But determined to do the right thing, Pia decides to become a single mother. Only to meet a sexy hunk the very same day … A former foster-care kid now rich beyond his wildest dreams, Raoul Moreno runs a camp for needy children in Fool's Gold, California. After his last relationship, Raoul thought he was done with women and commitment. Still, he can't get sweet, sexy Pia out of his mind - and proposes a crazy plan. But can such an unconventional beginning really result in the perfect ending?
• Close Quarters by Lucy Monroe (Contemporary Romance/Romantic Suspense - Trade Paperback - $30). To some, he is an assassin. To others, he's merely the man who gets the job done when no one else can. Now politico-military black-ops leader Roman Chernichenko has to take out the leak in an espionage plot that could destabilize all of Africa. Nothing will distract him from his mission. Not even the appealing blonde who's awoken his deepest desires - and just happens to be his target ... Tanya Ruston is a beautiful and brainy do-gooder - and now Roman is supposed to dispose of her when all he really wants to do is seduce her. Soon it's clear Tanya's no information agent - and now that his conscience has gotten the better of him, he and Tanya are on the run from the good guys and bad. If they're going to make it out alive, Roman will have to act fast - and stop thinking about how he's going to get his feisty new charge down the aisle ...
• Love Me If You Dare by Carly Phillips (Contemporary Romance - Paperback - $22). Most Eligible Bachelor Series. When hostage negotiator Rafe Mancuso takes a bullet to save Sara Rios, his former partner, his actions make him a bona fide hero - and New York City's newest most eligible bachelor. Then Rafe admits that Sara is much more than just another woman he's rescued. Suddenly, a firestorm of gossip turns him into exactly what he doesn't want to be: the Bachelor Blog's newest hot topic. His only solution is to leave town and get himself out of the spotlight … and sexy Sara out of his mind … NYPD officer Sara Rios has Rafe to thank for saving her life, and Rafe to blame for the media chaos surrounding her. She wants to throw herself back into duty, but until her injuries heal, she's on leave and in search of her rescuer. From the moment she finds Rafe and meets his boisterous family, she's hooked. But mutual attraction doesn't always mean happily-ever-after, and these two have a long way to go to find their fairy-tale ending …
• Kiss Me, Kill Me by Maggie Shayne (Contemporary Romance/Romantic Suspense - Paperback - $22). Secrets of Shadow Falls Series. A long-ago act of kindness to a desperate woman changed Dr. Carrie Overton's life forever. Before disappearing, the grateful stranger had given Carrie her newborn son. When the woman is murdered, the secret becomes Carrie's alone. She has kept both it and her son, Sam, safe for sixteen years. But now a friend of Sam's has gone missing. The police believe he's a runaway - until he's found dead. Then another teen disappears, and talk turns to that long-ago murder … Newcomer Gabriel Cain is asking too many questions, befriending Sam, getting too close. Carrie distrusts him even as she finds herself falling for him. But Gabriel has secrets, too … Is it time for the lying to end?

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