First line: Dare Barron heard the commotion in the police station center earlier as his least favorite offender was brought in on a drunk and disorderly charge. From the back cover: Office Dare Barron has had a crush on Liza McKnight ever since he was a teenager. But despite his lifelong attraction, the closest he’s ever come to interacting with Liza is watching her regularly bail out her brother down…

First line: The rain is coming down on this old stone house so  hard, it seems there are a hundred tap dancers on the roof. From the back cover: It’s been eight years since Ave Maria Mulligan married Jack MacChesney, moved up into the hills, and dug her roots in even deeper. In this enthralling second installment in the Big Stone Gap series, their honeymoon haze has evolved into a…

First line: Tori Sinclair had always prided herself on being a relatively calm person – the kind of woman who kept a cool head and a professional demeanor at all times. From the back cover: Tori Sinclair is basking in the warmth of her new circle of friends. That is until local author Colby Calhoun reveals an unflattering secret about the town’s historic past. He soon finds that when you…

First line: “Everyone, shut up!” From the inside cover: The first time she speaks to him is at midnight. Seven-year-old Autumn Backman needs a hero. When she sees Special Agent Dillon Savich on TV after he’s brought down bank robbers in a Georgetown bank, she knows she’s found him.  She called Savich, but she didn’t use the phone.  They were burying dead people in my daddy’s grave … they’re coming…

First line: A fat winter moon poured light over the old stone and brick of the inn on The Square. Summary from Goodreads: Owen is the organizer of the Montgomery clan, running the family’s construction business with an iron fist – and an even less flexible spreadsheet. And though his brothers bust on his compulsive list-making, the Inn BoonsBoro is about to open right on schedule. The only thing Owen…

First line: A good-looking man in his forties sat in the back row of the auditorium at the exclusive Morton Academy of Music. From the inside cover: Detective Lindsay Boxer is pregnant – and investigating the discovery of severed heads in a movie stars garden. YOUR BEST FRIEND  Lindsay Boxer is pregnant at last! But her work doesn’t slow for a second. When millionaire Chaz Smith is mercilessly gunned down,…

First line: An old geezer of a reporter I used to work with once said that I had a rotten habit of biting off my nose to spite my face. From the inside cover: Bailey Weggins, the Manhattan-based thirty-something true crime journalist, is in a good place. She’s enjoying her regular gig at Buzz, a leading celebrity magazine, getting freelance work, and hoping her first book will garner attention. In…

First line: There are some men who enter a woman’s life and screw it up forever. From the back cover: Trenton native Stephanie Plum is out of work, out of money, and her car’s in repo-hell. So who does a hardly working girl turn to when the going gets tough? Meet cousin Vinnie, bail bondsman. Stephanie figures it’s nice work if you can get it – shagging bail jumpers for…

First line: I’m going off to war tomorrow.” From the back cover: Michelle Sanderson may appear to be a strong independent woman, but on the inside, she’s still the wounded girl who fled home years ago. A young army vet, Michelle returns to the quaint Blackberry Island Inn to claim her inheritance and recover from the perils of war. Instead, she finds the owner’s suite occupied by the last person…

First line: “Where the hell are they?” From the inside cover: It’s the deadliest poison known to man. He’s the only one who knows its true power. She’s the only one who can stop the evil. The chase is on… Catherine Ling was abandoned on the streets of Hong Kong at age four. Schooled in the art of survival, she traded in the only commodity she had: information. As a…

First line: The scalloped hem of Caterina Lazzari’s blue velvet coat grazed the fresh-fallen snow, leaving a pale pink path on the bricks as she walked across the empty piazza. From the inside cover: The majestic and haunting beauty of the Italian Alps at the turn of the twentieth century is the setting of the first meeting of Enza and Ciro, who meet as teenagers despite growing up in villages…