A dangerous family legacy.A race to save a baby in jeopardy.
When journalist Lexi McKenna receives a desperate call for help, she rushes to her sister’s home, only to find her sister dead and one of her twin nieces missing. With her past mafia ties resurfacing, Lexi must go on the run with agent Noah Thompson to protect herself from her father’s enemies. Although Lexi is the daughter of the mob boss who murdered Noah’s brother, Noah will do anything to take down her family—even work with her. As danger looms from all sides, they must find the abducted baby and dismantle a criminal empire before Lexi and her nieces end up as collateral damage.
From Love Inspired Suspense: Courage. Danger. Faith.
About Deena Alexander
Deena grew up in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island, where she met and married her high school sweetheart. She recently relocated to Florida with her husband, three kids, son-in-law, and four dogs. Now she enjoys long walks in nature all year long, despite the occasional alligator or snake she sometimes encounters. Deena’s love for writing developed when her youngest son was born and didn’t sleep through the night, and she now works full time as a writer and a freelance editor. Author Links
What Lucy Heard: A PIP Inc. Mysteryby Nancy Jarvis
About What Lucy Heard
What Lucy Heard: A PIP Inc. MysteryCozy Mystery6th in SeriesSetting – Santa Cruz, CaliforniaPublisher : Good Read MysteriesPublication date : August 11, 2025PaperbackPrint length : 247 pagesISBN-13 : 979-8990936614DigitalASIN : B0FLYRXYSD
Pat Pirard, Santa Cruz Law Librarian newly turned private investigator, is asked to help with jury selection. She has one condition before she agrees: she must meet the suspect and believe he’s innocent. The accused’s story about how his fingerprints got on the murder weapon and why he was at the murder scene seems so outlandish that he convinces contrarian Pat he must be telling the truth. But as she listens to testimony during the trial she fears she’s been duped and is helping a killer get away with murder. Pat’s life turns into a race to solve the crime before the jury reaches a verdict.
About Nancy Lynn Jarvis
Nancy Lynn Jarvis wore many hats before she started writing cozy mysteries. After earning a BA in behavioral science from San Jose State University, she worked in the advertising department of the San Jose Mercury News, as a librarian, as the business manager for Shakespeare/Santa Cruz, and as a Realtor.
Nancy’s work history reflects her philosophy: people should try something radically different every few years, a philosophy she applies to her writing, as well. She has written seven Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries; six PIP Inc. Mysteries; a stand-alone novel “Mags and the AARP Gang” about a group of octogenarian bank robbers; edited “Cozy Food: 128 Cozy Mystery Writers Share Their Favorite Recipes,” and short story anthologies, “Santa Cruz Weird,” and “Santa Cruz Ghost Stories.” She also has an ebook on Amazon, which she keeps adding to as she writes more short stories.
Grave Words: A Deadly Deadlines Mysteryby Gerri Lewis
About Grave Words
Grave Words: A Deadly Deadlines MysteryCozy Mystery2nd in SeriesSetting – ConnecticutPublisher : Crooked Lane BooksPublication date : June 10, 2025Print length : 336 pagesHardcover ISBN-13 : 979-8892421133Paperback ISBN-13 : 979-8892422482Kindle ASIN : B0DGPF9R8PAudiobook ASIN B0F97G3PP3
Winter Snow has had it! With her business in a death drought, her best friend Scoop implicated in a string of arsons, and an obituary listing Winter herself as deceased, her life is heating up. But just as she’s trying to cool things down, she receives her newest assignment: an obituary for Chester, a homeless man found in a burning building.
Promising the local funeral home manager that she will have the obituary by the deadline, Winter is stonewalled at every turn, failing to discover Chester’s last name, or where he came from. When it is discovered that Chester was murdered and that the fire was set to cover it up, all fingers immediately point to Scoop. Not only is Scoop a person of interest in the arsons, he was also the last person to see Chester alive.
As more nails are pounded into Scoop’s coffin, Winter’s uncle Richard hopes to help by inviting the notorious town gossips, The Nosy Parkers, to a neighborhood food fest. Unfortunately, the breadcrumbs they toss set murder in motion.
More determined than ever, Winter must figure out the twists and turns of the case to clear Scoop’s name, putting her on a deadly deadline to solve the murder and avoid meeting the same grave consequences.
About Gerri Lewis
GERRI LEWIS is the author of The Last Word (2024) and Grave Words (June 10, 2025), the first two books in her Deadly Deadlines Mystery series published by Crooked Lane Books. Set in her Hallmark-worthy hometown of Ridgefield, Connecticut, this cozy mystery is about obituary writer Winter Snow, who solves murders along with a cast of lovable characters. During her career as an award-winning reporter, columnist, and feature writer, Gerri has become a go-to person in her community for obituaries. When she is not helping her protagonist solve mysteries, she writes magazine features and is the Public Information Officer for the Ridgefield Office of Emergency Management. She lives with her husband in Ridgefield, Connecticut, the picture-perfect setting for her books.
Molly should be on her honeymoon, but her husband had disappeared.
Thomas should be preaching, but the bishop had other ideas.
Lynette should be in Aspen, but her doctor refused to let her fly.
Instead, they’re sailing on a five-day round trip between Sydney and Hobart.
At 5.00am on the fourth day of the cruise, Captain Jonas Strong announces that five passengers have died overnight.
Were this a cruise with the usual guest profile, such news may have caused a temporary flutter of nerves before being forgotten. But the Oceanic Wanderer was hosting a Crime Writers’ Conference with hundreds of amateur sleuths who were now wondering, if there was more to the announcement than they were being told.
Was there a murderer among them?
CRIME QUIZ delivers a cosy-mystery caper in a cruisy setting.
About TJ Stanley
Tracy Stanley has been in love with storytelling since she left university in 1984. In 2017, she started publishing, and as of August 2025, Tracy has independently published fifteen books across five genres, including business books, travel memoirs, cosy mysteries, romantic suspense, and action-adventure novels. These last two genres have been written under the pen name of Jane Ellyson.
Her writing approach for novels recognises that creativity in storytelling comes from mixing the familiar with a twist, combining comfort and intrigue.
TOUR PARTICIPANTS September 25 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT September 25 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT September 26 – Salty Inspirations – AUTHOR GUEST POST September 26 – Baroness Book Trove – CHARACTER INTERVIEW September 27 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT September 28 – StoreyBook Reviews – AUTHOR GUEST POST September 29 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT September 29 – Reading Is My SuperPower – SPOTLIGHT September 30 – Cozy Up With Kathy – CHARACTER GUEST POST September 30 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW October 1 – Maureen’s Musings – REVIEW October 1 – Novels Alive – REVIEW October 2 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR GUEST POST October 2 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT October 3 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW October 4 – Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – REVIEW October 5 – Infinite House of Books – SPOTLIGHT October 6 – Books1987 – SPOTLIGHT
October 7 – Sarandipity’s – CHARACTER INTERVIEW October 7 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT October 8 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT
Birds, Puppies, and Murder (Chocolate Martini Sisters Mystery)by Joyce Proell & Brenda Whiteside
About Birds, Puppies, and Murder
Birds, Puppies, and Murder (Chocolate Martini Sisters Mystery)Cozy Mystery4th in SeriesSetting – ArizonaPublisher : Independently PublishedPublication date : September 23, 2025Print length : 327 pagesISBN-13 : 979-8294753788Digital ASIN : B0FK3P31T5
Lost puppies, endangered birds…The sisters are birddogs on a murder most fowl.
The sisters are thriving like mountain sage in an Arizona autumn. Nicole’s yoga business is gaining a foothold in Wyatt. Emma’s first mystery novel is scheduled for release. But a proposed, expansive building project in the pristine area of the bird sanctuary has the community in an uproar. It’s Environmentalists versus Big Business, and the sisters are caught in the cross-fire.
When one of Nic’s yoga students is found dead near the planned resort, the amateur sleuths are back on the trail of a killer. Who has the most to gain from her death—the morally challenged developer, the money-grubbing boyfriend, her jealous brother, a nasty neighbor, or a co-worker with dark secrets? And where has Skittles, the dog, gone?
While the Chocolate Martini Sisters sort through the litany of villains, they’re leaving no mystery unsolved. The stakes are escalating, throwing the sisters on divergent paths that all come together at a dangerous intersection. As they unsnarl the tangled mysteries, will they expose the murderer before the killer finds a way to silence them?
About the Authors
After hearing countless stories as a mental health professional, Joyce Proell retired to create her own tales. An award-winning author, she writes historical romance and cozy mystery where all endings are guaranteed happy. She shares her home on the prairie with a husband and a little dog with a big personality. When she isn’t reading or writing, she likes to swim and finds baking almost as relaxing as a day at the spa.
Brenda Whiteside is the award-winning author of romantic suspense, cozy mystery, and romance. She’s a born and bred Arizona native who sets fictional stories in imaginary, but recognizable, Arizona locations. She and her husband live in Central Arizona. They share their home with a rescue dog named Amigo. While FDW fishes, Brenda writes.
Home Fries and Alibis (An All-Day Breakfast Cafe Mystery)by Lena Gregory
About Home Fries and Alibis
Home Fries and Alibis (An All-Day Breakfast Cafe Mystery)Cozy Mystery8th in SeriesSetting – FloridaPublisher : Beyond the Page PublishingPublication date : September 23, 2025Print length : 178 pagesISBN-10 : 1966322275ISBN-13 : 978-1966322276Digital ISBN-13 : 978-1966322269ASIN : B0FN8G8H1G
When a belligerent woman moves in across the street, café owner Gia Morelli has to call off the welcome wagon and call in the homicide squad . . .
When a nasty new neighbor moves into their peaceful community, Gia and everyone else in the neighborhood is ready to blow a fuse. The spiteful woman has quickly made a nuisance of herself, complaining to and about everyone there. Then she makes the grave mistake of falsely claiming Gia’s dog tore up her yard, and Gia goes ballistic, telling the woman to back off . . . or else. It was an impulsive move for Gia, but someone else decides an even more extreme approach is called for, and silences the woman—permanently.
Unnerved by the thought of a murderer living in her neighborhood, Gia begins digging into the victim’s life to figure out who would have wanted her dead. She soon discovers that the woman was not only malicious but was blackmailing people in the community. Even more surprising is that nearly everyone in the neighborhood has something to hide. Dead-set on rooting out the culprit, Gia has to determine who stood to lose the most if their secret was revealed, unaware that she’s perilously close to losing her own life . . .
About Lena Gregory
Lena Gregory is the author of the Bay Island Psychic Mysteries, which take place on a small island between the north and south forks of Long Island, New York, the All-Day Breakfast Café Mysteries, which are set on the outskirts of Florida’s Ocala National Forest, the Mini-Meadows Mysteries, set in a community of tiny homes in Central Florida, and the Coffee & Cream Café Mysteries, which take place in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island, New York.
Lena grew up in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island, but she recently traded in cold, damp, gray winters for the warmth and sunshine of central Florida, where she now lives with her husband, three kids, son-in-law, and four dogs. Her hobbies include spending time with family, reading, and walking. Her love for writing developed when her youngest son was born and didn’t sleep through the night. She works full time as a writer and a freelance editor and is a member of Sisters in Crime.
There’s nothing magical about midlife for Abby McBride, unless dealing with pesky ghosts counts.
Between hot flashes and brain fog and the dead paying a call at all hours, she’s had her share of spirited mayhem, while trying to hold up a perfect image among her cul-de-sac crowd. Not easy! But, after decades of suppressing her psychic gift, it all comes crashing down at the annual Halloween bash and her quiet suburban life goes up in spectral smoke.
The ghosts of 125 Magnolia Lane have demands and are not opposed to dragging the living into their hellish afterlife if that’s what it takes. Can Abby finally embrace the powers she’s long denied in order to save her family and friends from eternal destruction? But at what cost to her reputation, her sanity, marriage and possibly even her freedom?
When Ghost Whisperer meets Bad Moms, haunted hijinks are inevitable among dysfunctional friendships and an intrepid heroine who’s so done playing nice. That’s right! DONE! Get set for a thrill ride that will leave readers with a tale of laugh out loud, heart-tugging midlife magic and mayhem.
About KC Freeman
After leaving the corporate world to raise her five rambunctious children with her husband in North Carolina, KC Freeman eventually found her way back to her lifelong desire to write paranormal fiction.
First, she dipped her toes in the writing world by ghostwriting cozy mysteries and romance novels. Once confident of her creative writing skills, she struck out on her own to write urban fantasy and paranormal romance with her debut novel, Rekindled Prophecy: Greylyn the Guardian Angel Book 1. A few books later, KC added the label, “USA Today Best-Selling Author” with her paranormal romance, Renegade Angel, incorporated into the Realm of Darkness box set.
KC writes mostly urban fantasy and paranormal romance novels. She also spends a lot of time editing manuscripts with her company, Book Mage Editing, and is certified by the Professional Book Editors Association.
Now that her five children are grown and flown, KC spends her time writing, editing, reading, hiking, exercising (in an attempt to get back a semblance of her pre-menopause body), and spoiling her fur baby chihuahua, Harley.
A Murder Most Fowl: A Food Truck Mysteryby Carmela Dutra
About A Murder Most Fowl
A Murder Most Fowl: A Food Truck MysteryCozy Mystery1st in SeriesSetting – CaliforniaPublisher : Crooked Lane BooksPublication date : September 9, 2025Print length : 336 pagesHardcover ISBN-13 : 979-8892423175Paperback ISBN-13 : 979-8892423182Digital ISBN-13 : 979-8892423199
A food truck run by twins serves up a clucking good murder in this cozy debut mystery, perfect for fans of Lucy Burdette and Joanne Fluke.
When their late aunt Dolly passes away, twins Beth and Seth Lloyd inherit a chicken themed food truck. Despite the challenges, the siblings rise to the occasion, even going as far as signing up their truck Kluckin’ Good to compete on a top cooking show and ruffle a few feathers for some good publicity. But the competition goes from heated to lethal when a contestant is found dead.
With the elimination competition becoming far too literal, Beth and Seth will need all the help they can get to get out of the frying pan without landing in the fire. With their loyal assistant–and Beth’s best friend–Rylie by their side, they’ll have to follow the bread crumbs to untangle a very twisted case before either one of them is put on the chopping block.
This humorous series debut with a mouthwatering mystery will charm readers and keep them guessing right until the not-so-bitter end.
About Carmela Dutra
Hailing from the Bay Area of California, Carmela Dutra cherishes her family, rainy days, and making others laugh.
After years of working on her award-winning indie children’s picture books, she transitioned into crafting cozy mysteries filled with emotion, humor and heart.
When she’s not penning her latest tale, Carmela enjoys sketching, sipping copious amounts of coffee, and over-cuddling her allergy-inducing cats and dog. She shares her life with her best friend and husband, raising two dinosaur-obsessed sons. A lover of alternative rock, Carmela often writes to its rhythm and finds comfort in rewatching The Big Bang Theory and M*A*S*H.
Seven Hundred Beachfront Ligia de Wit Publication date: July 22nd 2025 Genres: Adult, Magical Realism, Romance, Women’s Fiction
Some places hold memories. Others have opinions.
I didn’t mean to run again. But when life gets tangled, I untangle it by leaving. And this time, my escape came with strings attached: a five-year-old brother I never signed up to care for, a seaside town I barely remember, and a tattered house on stilts that belongs in Renter’s Hell.
I told myself it was just for the summer. A break. A pause. A way to escape the people I care about but can’t seem to fit with anymore, and the choices I don’t know how to fix.
But the sea doesn’t let you stay distant for long.
Then there’s him. Quiet. Grumpy. Mysterious. The kind of man who doesn’t ask questions, but somehow sees more than he should. I don’t even like talking to him, and yet… here we are. Sharing long silences. Unexpected moments. Maybe even something more.
And as for the house? Let’s just say it has opinions—and it’s not afraid to share them.
Seven Hundred Beachfront is a heartfelt, magical story about learning to stay, letting people in, and discovering that healing doesn’t always come the way you expect it. But when it does, you’ll feel it down to your bones.
Carole hadn’t sent a thing to keep him busy, damn woman, and I’d only used the TV for movies. Wait a sec—Jessie left a Star Wars movie at my place, the first one, so I should have it here.
“No Scooby, kiddo,” I said while looking in the boxes, “but you’re gonna like this one. It’s the real thing, not a single goofy character one mile near it.”
“ ’Kay.” He sat on the old, flowery couch and gazed at me, expectant.
“How do you want your fish?” I asked while putting the movie on, realizing I had no idea what Bobby liked.
“Dead.”
I gave a small smile. “But how do you like it prepared? Pan fried?”
“No. Like Mom does it.” He lifted his little arms and mimed putting something in a pan. “Like this.”
“You’re not much help, kiddo. I’ll cook it pan fried.”
“ ’Kay,” Bobby whispered, gaze down.
After leaving him with the movie, I got ready to cook. The stove burners were a little rusty but worked. I prepared pan-fried fish, along with steamed vegetables and wild rice. Maybe I didn’t have many accomplishments in my life, but, damn, I could cook. It had been either that or be resigned to eating frozen dinners.
When other kids watched cartoons, I watched cooking shows. At ten, I prepared chicken cordon-bleu. Even Aunt Marie was impressed. Carole just grimaced. It’s overcooked, she’d said.
The aroma of spices and well-cooked fish filled the space, and any knot in my body vanished.
My cell rang, and I picked it up, frowning at the caller ID. “Hey,” I answered flatly.
“Honey!” Carole’s voice came clear. “Darling, you have no idea what a marvelous flight we had.” She laughed, evidently delighted. “First class. The only way to fly. Don’t you ever dare fly coach again, Beverly.”
“Sure. Will do that next time I fly overseas in, I don’t know, my next life, I guess.”
“Oh, don’t be such a bore! Don’t you want me to spill the tea, girlfriend?”
She giggled. Giggled.
“Are you drunk, Mother?”
She sobered up. Nothing like reminding Carole of the maternity role she’d never wanted.
“Sweetheart, you are such a bore.”
I put her on speaker and placed one of my unopened boxes on the counter while Carole talked nonstop about her marvelous, fantastic flight and the wonderful five-star hotel in Madrid.
My Lladró figurine lay wrapped in newspaper. Carefully, I unwrapped it and placed it on the counter. Crap, one of the fruits had broken off.
“Bobby and I are okay,” I managed to say when she took a small pause. “The house’s too old, though. I don’t know if this is a good place for me.”
The wind moaned, and the noisy branch thumped above.
“You haven’t asked me a thing about Madrid,” Carole complained. “Make sure to check the pictures I posted because they are a-ma-zing. I already have more than one-hundred likes!”
“Thank heavens for the social media gods.”
“Don’t give me that snarky tone of yours. You need more good energy in your life, girlfriend. You need a man.”
“Ugh, please.”
“You do. And not that silly cowboy—”
“Gary’s a friend. One of my best friends, actually. Since you’re my girlfriend, then you certainly remember I’ve known him since the seventh grade.”
Author Bio:
Ligia de Wit writes fantasy romance adventures with heart, humor, and just the right dose of magic. A lifelong romantic with a soft spot for fairy tales and found family tropes, Ligia writes characters who are strong in more than just a physical sense. Her characters face fears, fight for themselves, and find love in the most unexpected places.
When she’s not writing (or rewriting) her imaginary worlds, she works for a global distribution company and dreams up stories during lunch breaks. You’ll often find her with her nose in a book, exploring a new city, hiking through forests, or acting like a total goof at theme parks. She’s a proud kid at heart—and owns it.
Running Hott Serena Bell (Hott Springs Eternal, #4) Publication date: July 14th 2025 Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance
A jilted bride. A jaded divorce lawyer. A full tank of gas. What could go wrong?
Rhys: As a cutthroat New York City divorce lawyer, it’s my job to end marriages. Lifetime commitment? It’s for the birds. I do everything in my power to avoid it…until my grandfather’s will says that to save our family’s land, I have to become a wedding planner.
Worse, my first client is Eden Becker. She’s the sunshine-y disaster whose ex-husband I represented a few years ago in their divorce. Eden’s first marriage was a nightmare, so why does she think another one is a good idea?
Turns out, I’m not wrong. Her jerkwad fiancé jilts her, and as her wedding planner, I’m also her getaway vehicle. Now we’re on the road together—and all my complicated feelings about this beautiful, naive optimist are in the car, too. Along with a wild attraction I’ve been fighting since we first faced off across a conference table.
If this road trip goes on too much longer, I’m going to do something I’ll regret forever.
Like fall in love.
A spicy, grumpy-sunshine, jilted bride, enemies to lovers, standalone road trip romantic comedy set in the beloved small town of Rush Creek.
His hand snakes in and blocks mine. “Driver controls the radio.”
“No, dude. Everyone knows the passenger controls the radio. Besides, if you won’t let me drive at all, that’s not fair. I had to listen to ninety-seven minutes of your dirge list and way too much sports ball. We need a mood change.”
I cue up my playlist and set it on shuffle. “What I’ve Been Looking For” from High School Musical comes on. Rhys groans.
“What?” I demand.
“This is from a kid’s movie.”
“Which you must have seen, if you know that.”
“It was one of Hanna’s favorites. We watched it a thousand times. Which was a thousand times too many.”
“What I’ve Been Looking For” is followed by “Surface Pressure” and “All You Wanna Do,” and Rhys says, “Please tell me this isn’t all from musicals and Disney movies.”
“This isn’t all from musicals and Disney movies,” I say as Taylor Swift’s “You Belong with Me” fills the car.
Rhys’s jaw ticks. His eyes roll. His shoulders twitch.
“What’s wrong with this one?” I demand.
He heaves a long-suffering sigh. “He obviously doesn’t belong with her. Let’s look at the facts: She’s clearly not his type. He wants someone who wears short skirts and high heels, and she’s not comfortable in those clothes. If she keeps trying to convince him he belongs with her, they’re both going to end up miserable.”
I stare at his way-too-good-looking profile in the dimly lit car, agog. “Are you serious?”
“Would you argue with anything I’ve said?”
“It’s a friends-to-lovers song!” I cry. “They’re obviously going to end up together and be super happy. Because she sees him! And understands him. He’s happy when he’s with her, and that isn’t true with the short-skirts-and-high-heels girl.”
“I thought you were swearing off love and marriage.”
“Just because I’m personally swearing off love and marriage doesn’t mean I wish ill on other people who have found their perfect matches.”
“This,” he says. “This is why so many marriages end in divorce. Because we hear what we want to hear. And two people can hear the same song and find completely different meaning in it. Imagine if you were with a guy and this was your song, and every time you heard it you thought about how cool it was that he’d finally seen you for the awesome bleachers girl you are, and he thought about his ex-girlfriend and her short skirts and high heels and how he wished you’d get some personal style.”
“Grim!”
“Realistic,” he corrects.
One of his hands leaves the wheel. Settles briefly near his knee. Creeps into my Cool Ranch Doritos bag.
“What are you doing?” I shriek.
“Stress eating,” he says. “Your playlist has driven me to it.”
I do everything in my power not to crack a smile. “You don’t eat junk food,” I point out.
“That was before I realized that despite being divorced by a sociopath and jilted by a personality potato, you still believe in true love.”
I can’t help it; I snort at personality potato. “I’m the one who has the stress. I’m the one who got jilted. And if I’d known I was going to have to share my precious Cool Ranch, I would have gotten a bigger bag.”
I sneak a peek at him. He’s definitely trying not to laugh. And unfortunately, it looks good on him. I let him have the Doritos.
“God, these are disgustingly tasty,” he says.
“Right?”
We’re both quiet for a moment, worshipping at the altar of fake food. He quietly licks Cool Ranch flavor off his fingers, and I absolutely, one hundred percent, do not wonder how his tongue feels licking up the inside of his finger and across the tip of his thumb. How it would feel rasping over my own fingertips, drawn into the heat of his mouth.
Oh, hell.
I’ve tumbled into a sexual fantasy about a man who disassembled me like a kid’s discarded playset.
We make our way through Maroon 5’s “Memories” (“Memories of how I cribbed this entire song from Pachelbel’s Canon,” Rhys says grumpily), past Lake Street Dive’s “Hypotheticals” (“Now this is actually a great song; you’re one for, what, a hundred?”) to “Try Everything.”
“That’s shitty advice,” he says. “‘Try everything.’ I mean, no. There are a lot of things that are straight-up bad ideas. Bull-riding. Free solo climbing. Base jumping. Heli-skiing. Recreational fentanyl.”
“She doesn’t mean literally everything,” I say.
“See?” he says. “And there we have it. Two people, same song, totally different interpretations.”
I roll my eyes. “I don’t see how that’s somehow a refutation of marriage. You’re so—”
“Pessimistic? Cynical? Misanthropic?”
“All of the above. You ready to tell me what childhood wound made you this way?” I ask, half-teasing…half…not.
He shrugs.
“Yes, Eden,” I say, pitching my voice low to roughly imitate his. “Since we have another five and a half uninterrupted hours of being stuck in this car together with absolutely nothing else to do, I would love to tell you all about my childhood.”
Rhys is quiet for a moment. Then with a sigh, he says, “What do you want to know?”
Author Bio:
USA Today bestselling author Serena Bell writes contemporary romance with heat, heart, and humor. A former journalist, Serena has always believed that everyone has an amazing story to tell if you listen carefully, and you can often find her scribbling in her tiny garret office, mainlining chocolate and bringing to life the tales in her head.
Serena’s books have earned many honors, including an RT Reviewers’ Choice Award, Apple Books Best Book of the Month, and Amazon Best Book of the Year for Romance.
When not writing, Serena loves to spend time with her college-sweetheart husband and two hilarious kiddos—all of whom are incredibly tolerant not just of Serena’s imaginary friends but also of how often she changes her hobbies and how passionately she embraces the new ones. These days, it’s stand-up paddle boarding, board-gaming, meditation, and long walks with good friends.
Missing at Christmas (Love Inspired Suspense) by Deena Alexander
Missing at Christmas (Love Inspired Suspense) Inspirational Romantic Suspense Christian Mystery & Suspense Setting – Montana Publisher : Love Inspired Suspense Print length : 208 pages Paperback ISBN-10 : 1335957367 ISBN-13 : 978-1335957368 Digital ISBN-13 : 978-0369772435 ASIN : B0DWN1VWZC 
Deena grew up in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island, where she met and married her high school sweetheart. She recently relocated to Florida with her husband, three kids, son-in-law, and four dogs. Now she enjoys long walks in nature all year long, despite the occasional alligator or snake she sometimes encounters. Deena’s love for writing developed when her youngest son was born and didn’t sleep through the night, and she now works full time as a writer and a freelance editor. Author Links
