"You," she told him, struggling for calm, "are worse than a menstruating woman."He stopped what he was doing and turned, very slowly, to look at her. "What did you just say?""You heard me," she hissed softly. "You snarl and snap and order us around as if we are a herd of cattle. You lie, you keep secrets, and you demand trust when you give none back. I have had it with your moodiness and your militant attitude, and if you do not have it in you to be a decent and respectful human being to me, you will be a decent and respectful human being to them, or so help me, I will make you regret ever laying eyes on us." He only stared at her, unmoved, his face that cold mask she was beginning to hate, and unable to help herself, Lucia reached out, gripped his t-shirt and gave him a good shake. For all the good it would do. "Do we understand each other, cabrón?" ◆◆◆Lucia Sanchez has stolen two children. Two children who...

***2016 FINALIST IN THE DAPHNE DU MAURIER AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN MYSTERY/SUSPENSE***Cheyenne Elias has inherited a child.  A boy she doesn’t know and doesn’t particularly want; a boy whose mother was once Cheyenne’s most hated person in the world.   There are a million reasons to walk away: her anger, her past, her certainty that there is nothing benevolent in this act by a woman who almost killed her.  But abandoning the boy to a system she barely survived is not an option…Will Blackheart has lost everything.  His SEAL team, his country, and—upon occasion—his mind.  Worse, he’s lost something that has the capacity to kill thousands.  Left for dead in the Afghan desert, Will has risen solely for the purpose of regaining that which was taken...and to punish those who dared take it.His only lead is the son of a dead woman.  Her only goal is to save a child. ...

Book Three of The Guardians Series2022 Winner, Daphne Du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense After Ellie Broussard saves Sean McDougal's son from drowning, she walks away, unwilling to involve herself with the rakish Irishman and his charming boy. Ellie has suffered a devastating loss, and her world is one of chosen isolation and calculated vengeance. She has only one focus: to find the monster that stole her child and turn his world to ash. Sean can relate to Ellie's suffering. Having lost his wife to cancer, his sole focus has become raising his boy, and love...well, love can take a long walk. He's in Louisiana to locate a cache of stolen art, and even if he's taken aback—and reluctantly intrigued—by the mysterious and chilly Ellie Broussard, he knows better than to tumble down that rabbit hole. But when they're thrown together on assignment to recover the cache, Sean and Ellie have no...

When Ash Kyndal inherits her Uncle Charlie's PI firm, her only interest is in finding an out.   Circus veteran, social misfit, daughter of a madman—those are shoes that fit.  Card-carrying member of polite society?  Not so much.  But Charlie saved her once, and his staff of lost souls needs her.  So in spite of her reluctance—and the mysterious, taciturn Russian who's abruptly materialized on her doorstep, intent on repaying a debt to a dead man—Ash dives in.After all, how hard can it be?  And then her client goes missing.  And men in black show up.  And a crazy, utopian conspiracy designed to alter the very fabric of humanity begins to unfold around her…Suddenly, Ash finds herself on the front lines of an unexpected, vicious battle over the fate of the human race.  Running isn't an option; survival is debatable.  And it's the last place she wants to be.But lives...

Two guarded and wary people must confront their dark histories and navigate unexpected desires in this pulse-pounding journey of love and suspense. Peri O'Brien likes the quiet life. She's worked hard to survive the disastrous end of her distinguished career as a renowned climate scientist; to ignore the salacious and ruinous rumors; to find some small measure of peace among the wreckage. But when a stranger dies beside her in a darkened movie theater, Peri finds herself thrust into the center of an international murder mystery–and entangled in a past she can't seem to escape.FBI Agent Soren Blackbird hunts monsters. Serial predators and bone collectors; those for whom evil is a trusted friend. Fueled by the murder of his twin sister, Soren's sole focus is the hunt. When he's pulled from the field to investigate the murder of a foreign envoy, he's annoyed—and determined to make quick work of the case.But one death soon...

Book Two of The Guardian Series When the boy who broke her heart crashes back into Ruby Jones's life, she's determined to give him the boot. There are some things a girl simply can't forgive, and being forgotten is at the top of the list. The last person CIA Agent Rafferty Blackheart expects to find while retrieving the message left for him by his dead partner is the childhood friend he left behind two decades earlier. But the woman he discovers bears little resemblance to the girl he remembers, and even though the sight of her breathes life into everything he's spent years fleeing, walking away from her is an impossibility. Because Rafe is on a mission, one he can't complete without Ruby. So no matter their dark history, their mutual distrust, or the intense, unwelcome pull between them, they must come together. To avenge the death of an innocent; to save a child. And to stop a madman bent on reshaping the human race. Before it's...

When Ash Kyndal inherits her Uncle Charlie's PI firm, her only interest is in finding an out.   Circus veteran, social misfit, daughter of a madman—those are shoes that fit.  Card-carrying member of polite society?  Not so much.  But Charlie saved her once, and his staff of lost souls needs her.  So in spite of her reluctance—and the mysterious, taciturn Russian who's abruptly materialized on her doorstep, intent on repaying a debt to a dead man—Ash dives in.After all, how hard can it be?  And then her client goes missing.  And men in black show up.  And a crazy, utopian conspiracy designed to alter the very fabric of humanity begins to unfold around her…Suddenly, Ash finds herself on the front lines of an unexpected, vicious battle over the fate of the human race.  Running isn't an option; survival is debatable.  And it's the last place she wants to be.But lives...

"Hardy har har," Wynn retorted. "How did it happen?" "How did what happen?" The growl in his voice probably cowed a great many folks. She didn't happen to be one of them. Even if he was big and intense and talked about delivering death like it was the mail. "Your leg." He didn't respond. Instead, he stood at the sink and stared out into the storm. "Is it a state secret?" she wanted to know. "A matter of national security? An injury suffered while on a clandestine mission that you can't talk about under penalty of death? Did they make you swear on a Bible?" "You're a piece of work," he said. "I know." When he turned to glower at her, she smiled. "It's a gift." His gaze fell to her mouth, and awareness speared through her, a hot, electric slide that made her cheeks burn. He was attracted to her, the same way she was attracted to him. And he didn't like it. Not one bit. You and me both, bucko... ◆◆◆...