Prettier if She Smiled More


Book Description

'Jordan is a kind of Australian Marian Keyes, combining overdrive pace and throwaway humour with a razor intelligence and a deft, illuminating touch on darker subjects and themes . . . A sharp-eyed, engaging, endearing and ultimately optimistic story' Sydney Morning Herald 'Taps into the humour and pathos of ordinary life in a way that has you nodding with recognition . . . while at the same time laughing out loud' PIP WILLIAMS 'I just loved this very smart, very funny and at times moving novel' SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM One perfect life. One disastrous week. The brand-new novel from bestselling, acclaimed and beloved author Toni Jordan As the eldest child in a single-parent family, Kylie's always had more important things on her mind than smiling for random strangers. Controlling her job, her home, her romantic life and - most importantly - her family takes all her concentration. She's always succeeded, though, because that's just who Kylie is. When her fiercely independent mother breaks an ankle and needs help, it's up to Kylie, as usual, to fix things. She reluctantly packs her bags and moves in, but back in her childhood home, things start to unravel. Could it be that Kylie's carefully curated life is not so perfect after all? Prettier if She Smiled More will make you laugh and make you cry. Is it ever too late to start over? 'Hilarious . . . A funny take on menopause, caring for an ageing parent, perfectionism and midlife crises told with Toni's signature observational humour and wit on ordinary life' Woman's Day 'A magic mix of domestic drama, self-doubt, self-discovery and learning to laugh in the face of mayhem . . . A sensitive, amusing read' Adelaide Advertiser 'A funny and smart family drama' Weekend Australian 'Fabulous' Who Weekly 'Such a clever book . . . The author has used both quiet wry humour and laugh aloud moments to speak about the nature of family and of love . . . Prettier if She Smiled More is a life manual for us all' Living Arts Canberra 'Pitch perfect with just the right amount of humour . . . Jordan brings all her well-honed creative skills to the fore with this delightful tale' Good Reading Praise for Dinner with the Schnabels: 'I loved every page of this funny, warm, delightful novel!' LIANE MORIARTY 'Told with great humour and pathos. It is a tonic and a delight' PIP WILLIAMS 'A smart, funny novel about love, marriage and family' Weekend Australian 'A contemporary comic masterpiece. Practically every page boasts lines redolent of humour, wit and sarcasm that will make you snigger if not laugh out loud' ArtsHub




Torn Hart


Book Description

A torn Hart can only be mended by the right woman. A romantic suspense, thriller with lots of steamy bits and a few laugh out loud moments. Fired from her dream job, Lydia Sullivan loses hope. How else do you drown your sorrows than in a cheap bottle of rum? Seems like a good plan until she runs smack into the hard chest of her dreamy neighbor Rex. Despite her not-so-adorable drunkenness, they strike up a friendship that quickly turns into more. But just when Lydia’s life is starting to look up—she’s got the job, the great guy with deep dimples, and the sun is shining—weird things begin to happen that make her question whether she’s losing her mind ... or someone is out to get her. Retired special operative and now security specialist Rex Hart normally falls in love with a new woman every night, but not this time. His neighbor with the hazel eyes and thin filter has him under her spell. He’d like to think she’s the one, but the way she’s acting has him torn between his heart and his head. He wants to believe she’s innocent, but instinct has him questioning everything—including his feelings. Is Lydia who she claims to be? Is she the one … or the one he needs to turn loose? keyword: neighbors to lovers, gaslighting, thriller, mystery, suspense, dog dad, cat mom, fired heroine, military, SEAL, Joint Task Force 2.




The last exodus


Book Description

This collection of short stories is about the traumatic and heart wrenching experiences of a community that was hounded out of their motherland of nearly five thousand years. The only apparent reason was, that they belonged to a different faith and refused to convert. Many of them had nowhere to go, and were forced to live in refugee camps. The unhygienic conditions in the camps, the hostile weather, the unsympathetic and callous attitudes of the state machinery and the public at large, added to their woes. It was the holocaust of a different type. Although there were neither concentration camps, nor gas chambers, but living in those tents when the temperature would go up to fifty degree Celsius, was no less traumatic and tortuous. There are no appropriate words to describe the hardships that this self-respecting community had to face. Their disillusionment and deprivation; pain and agony, helplessness and frustration, torture and torment; their unceremonious exit from their homeland; the severing of their roots, and the loss of their beliefs and faith threw them into a stupor. This collection of short stories raises these questions in their poignancy.




The Mercy Series 3-Book Bundle


Book Description

New York Times bestselling author Mariah Stewart writes compelling stories of romantic suspense—perfect for fans of Nora Roberts, Catherine Coulter, and Karen Robards. Now, here are the three novels in Stewart’s pulse-stopping series about the Mercy Street Foundation, an elite missing-persons unit able to go where the federal and local law enforcement cannot. This eBook bundle includes: MERCY STREET After two high school seniors are shot dead in a park in Conroy, Pennsylvania, the authorities conclude that one of the other two kids in the park that night—a boy and a girl, both now missing—was the killer. Private investigator Mallory Russo is hired by reclusive billionaire Robert Magellan to figure out what happened. Mallory teams up with police detective Charlie Wanamaker to uncover the truth and find the missing kids, dead or alive. What they discover will take them down a twisted path that leads to an old unsolved murder—and justice for a killer with a heart of stone. The resolution leads Magellan to fund the Mercy Street Foundation, a private organization whose focus is on finding missing persons whose cases have gone cold. CRY MERCY After Ann Nolan, a California beat cop, adopts the daughter of a notorious drug dealer, the ruthless father vows to take back his only child. In response, Ann flees across the country, changes her name, and starts a new life as an investigator for the Mercy Street Foundation, the billionaire-endowed organization dedicated to finding missing persons. As Emme Caldwell, she takes the lead on the Foundation’s first case: Nineteen-year-old Belinda Hudson disappeared from her sorority house leaving behind only one cryptic clue. But the closer Emme gets to the chilling truth, the more apparent it becomes that she’s escaped one dangerous man only to run head-on into another—one who’s far more determined and every bit as deadly. ACTS OF MERCY Former FBI agent Sam Delvecchio brings the keen skills of a profiler to his new position as a Mercy Street Foundation agent—and not a moment too soon. His first assignment, the cold-case murder of a local soup kitchen volunteer, has all the telltale signs of a serial killer’s work. That grim suspicion is confirmed when FBI agent Fiona Summers shares the details of two other killings with eerie similarities to Sam’s case: The bodies in all three cases have been carefully posed. But as Sam and Fiona race to prevent more killing, messages from their target lead to the most chilling realization of all. Praise for Mariah Stewart’s Mercy series “Fantastic . . . The author’s finely drawn characters, and her rapid-pace, intelligent stories, keep the suspense flowing and the pages turning.”—Fresh Fiction “Superb, well-developed characters; wonderful pacing; just the right amount of romance; and enough twists and turns for a mild whiplash.”—Reader to Reader




Colorado Fireman


Book Description

"Colorado firefighter Adam O'Malley risks his own life to rescue Carly Spencer's young son and a dog named Molly from a burning building... and assumes that's the last he'll see of them. But Spruce Lake is a small place, and Carly and her four children are new to town. Before he knows it, Adam's mother has invited Carly, her children and the dog to stay at the O'Malley ranch! As the widow of a firefighter, making a good life for her kids is Carly's number one priority. Meeting-- and falling for-- another firefighter is not. Adam, meanwhile, has been avoiding relationships because of a painful secret he's kept from everyone, including his brothers. But the more time he spends with Carly, the more he wants to move past it."--P. [4] of cover.




No Ordinary Family


Book Description

Find your Happily Ever After with two feel-good stories of dogs unleashing romance in small-town settings. A new kind of family Colorado Fireman When firefighter Adam O’Malley risks his life to rescue Carly Spencer’s young son, he assumes that’s the last he’ll see of them. But then Adam’s mother invites Carly, her children and Molly the dog to stay at the O’Malley ranch! Adam has been avoiding relationships, but the more time he spends with Carly, the more he begins to imagine a different future…one that includes a family. Stand-In Mom After a night of passion, Scott Matthews hoped he’d see Ginger Winchester again—just not as his daughter’s new teacher! Ginger’s happy to offer Scott tips on handling rambunctious kids. She’s even willing to help the Matthews family adopt a big, lovable puppy. But when it comes to handing over her heart, Scott must first prove to her that she’s the only one for him.




Mercy Street


Book Description

From New York Times bestselling author Mariah Stewart comes a novel of sexy romantic suspense for fans of Nora Roberts, Catherine Coulter, and Karen Robards. Mariah Stewart crafts compelling stories of romantic suspense, full of richly imagined characters, dazzling plot twists, and breathless action that keeps the pages turning. Now Stewart begins a thrilling new series–with a novel that proves to be her biggest and boldest yet. On a balmy spring evening, four high school seniors–three boys and a girl–enter a park in the small Pennsylvania city of Conroy. The next morning, two of the boys are found shot to death, and the girl and the third boy are gone. After three weeks with no leads and no sign of either of the two missing teenagers, the chief of police begins to wonder if they too were victims. But with no other suspects, the authorities conclude that one of these kids was the shooter. The missing boy’s grandmother, a secretary at the local parish church, maintains his innocence. On her behalf, the parish priest, Father Kevin Burch, hires former detective Mallory Russo as a private investigator to figure out what happened in the park that night. Mallory had ended her nine-year stint with the Conroy police force some time ago after becoming a target of a smear campaign. Now a true-crime author, Mallory is surprised to receive the priest’s offer–and highly intrigued by the case. She can’t help but accept the challenge–especially when she learns that her investigation will be financed by Father Burch’s cousin the reclusive billionaire Robert Magellan, a man whose own wife and infant son disappeared without a trace a year ago, a man who understands the heartache of not knowing what happened to a loved one. Detective Charlie Wanamaker is facing another sort of tragedy. He fled Conroy years ago with no plans to return to what he considered a dying factory town–until a family emergency brought him back. Finding the situation much worse than he’d thought, he trades his job as a big-city detective for one with the Conroy police department. Assigned to the park shooting case, Charlie quickly realizes that the initial investigation left a lot of questions unanswered. Unofficially, he teams up with Mallory to uncover the truth and find the two kids, dead or alive. What Charlie and Mallory discover will take them down a twisted path that leads to an old unsolved murder–and justice for a killer with a heart of stone. Mercy Street is tautly paced, resonant with emotion, and relentlessly gripping. It showcases Mariah Stewart at her most brilliant, as she ratchets up the suspense to new levels of excitement. Praise for Mariah Stewart “Mariah Stewart is one to watch and savor for a long time.”–The Philadelphia Inquirer “Stewart can always be counted on to write an exciting romantic suspense thriller.”–TheBestReviews.com




Invisible Triggers


Book Description

Welcome to a nightmare to remember. When a disguised shooter crashes a high school prom in the quiet suburban town of Downers Grove, Illinois, Charlotte Taylor doesn’t know if she’ll make it out alive. In order to survive the night with her date and long-time friend, she is forced to face her misconceptions regarding the identity of the gunman and the meaning behind the night’s horrific, bone-chilling circumstances. Throughout the startlingly short yet drawn-out evening, a harrowing series of events triggers pivotal flashbacks, jumping back and forth through time as seemingly trivial memories reveal incremental details—details that could be the difference between life and death. But precious time is passing. Lives are lost. And nothing is adding up in Charlotte’s panicked attempt to piece together this senseless nightmare of a puzzle. In the end, not everything is what it seems as hidden forces are at play…and those who once thought they were invisible now make themselves seen.




Game Changer


Book Description

No one ever got a second chance to make a great first impression. That was something Jack Daniels knew all to well. (Yes, that was his real name. No, he was not related to that Jack Daniels). Jack wouldn’t normally care what someone else thought of him, but when it impacted his job? That was another matter entirely. It wasn’t even his fault, not really. If anyone was to blame for Jack making an absolute fool of himself in front of his new neighbour it was his ‘friend’ Carter. But now Jack had to make things right…or he would miss out on the biggest coup of his career. Dianna Fletcher was just trying to live her best life. Yes, she suffered with chronic pain and no, it wasn’t all in her head. It made getting in to the office every day a bit of a challenge, but that was what the internet was for, right? Working from home was a legitimate way to do her job, even if some people didn’t agree. Besides, she was currently experiencing one of the highest points of her career as a game designer…the launch of a game she conceptualised and ran point on from design to production…and the biggest game to come out of Black Sheep Software and Gaming ever. She was living the dream and it should have been the best time of her life if not for the little snag of the grumpy DILF living next door. Dianna would have quite happily gone on ignoring Jack for the rest of eternity, but her boss had other ideas. Now Dianna and Jack had to work together in order to promote her game launch. Dianna would have been quite happy to work with anyone else at The Playbook, but that wasn’t an option. Jack—the grumpy DILF next door—was the guy who could take her game launch from good to great. Working with Jack would be a game changer…if only she didn’t hate him so much.




Bayou Dreaming


Book Description

New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake’s heartfelt contemporary romance set in Louisiana's Butterfly Bayou Roxanne King left the big city looking for a simpler life, but after years of proving herself on a SWAT team in New York City, being deputy in a sleepy Louisiana parish is something of an adjustment. She's settling in, but she knows she made some mistakes in the beginning--Zep Guidry being the worst of them. Zep drifts through life on his looks and Cajun charm. Roxie learned the hard way he's not for her. Zep is a man who knows what he wants, and what he wants is Roxie. He's just not sure how to get her. They spent one hot night together a year before and now all the lovely deputy seems interested in doing to him is arresting him. He's not used to a woman he can't charm, but Roxie seems immune. He's determined to win her back by any means necessary. Including becoming the kind of man she desires. And when Roxie's past comes calling, it might be the opportunity Zep needs to show Roxie that the town bad boy might just be the man of her dreams.