Returning from assignment in Afghanistan, foreign correspondent Lola Wicks is looking forward to a restful reentry at a friend’s Montana cabin. Instead, she’s greeted by her former colleague’s corpse. Lola learns that Mary Alice had been writing for the local paper, digging into the past of Native American gubernatorial candidate Johnny Running Wolf. Lola doesn’t trust that the local sheriff has the skills to find Mary Alice’s killer, so she extends her stay and uses her investigative expertise to reconstruct Mary Alice’s last days. She learns that there’s a lot more than meets the eye going on in Magpie, Montana. Beyond the unemployment and the anti-meth billboards, there’s big money to be made in the mountains—enough to kill forFrom BooklistReturning from assignment in Afghanistan, foreign correspondent Lola Wicks is looking forward to a restful reentry at a friend’s Montana cabin. Instead, she’s greeted by her former colleague’s corpse. Lola learns that Mary Alice had been writing for the local paper, digging into the past of Native American gubernatorial candidate Johnny Running Wolf. Lola doesn’t trust that the local sheriff has the skills to find Mary Alice’s killer, so she extends her stay and uses her investigative expertise to reconstruct Mary Alice’s last days. She learns that there’s a lot more than meets the eye going on in Magpie, Montana. Beyond the unemployment and the anti-meth billboards, there’s big money to be made in the mountains—enough to kill for. The sparsely populated Big Sky setting will be one of the major sources of appeal for readers of this gripping debut mystery. --Karen Keefe Review''Outstanding . . . Quirky and cantankerous, Lola is grudgingly willing to learn from experience. Believable action complements razor-sharp observations of people and scenery.'' --Publishers Weekly, starred review ''Crammed with atmosphere and intriguing characters . . . Florio dips into her own background to make the protagonist competent and believable . . . The author does a great job of writing a book that's both evocative of the Montana countryside and a satisfying, hair-raising ride. A promising debut.'' --Kirkus Reviews ''In Gwen Florio's entertaining debut, war correspondent Lola Wicks finds the greatest threat to her safety is not dodging bullets in Afghanistan but discovering who killed her friend and fellow correspondent in Magpie, Montana. Florio knows her territory. She gives us wind on the high plains and the soft and velvety nose of a horse hungry for sugar. There's fire in the hills, trouble in the governor's race, and a county awash in drugs. Magpie's the old West with daunting new problems, and the scrappy Lola Wicks takes them on.'' --Leonard Rosen, author of All Cry Chaos ''Lola is a layered and complex character -- smart, resourceful, and driven, a woman coming to a deeper understanding of how war and ambition have both damaged her and made her stronge . . . With a deft hand and rich, evocative descriptions of the Montana landscape, Florio weaves an intricate mystery with subtlety and finesse.'' --Jaden Terrell, author of Racing the Devil ''Drawing on her experiences covering everything from the killing fields of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia to home-grown American evil, Gwen Florio concocts a riveting tale of murder, hard times in a hard place, and the value of human bonds.'' --Howard Owen, author of Oregon Hill ''In her first novel, Gwen Florio demonstrates she's a good storyteller, but it's the irreverent, often cantankerous, indomitable protagonist Lola Wicks who will keep the reader turning pages to reach the exciting conclusion.'' --Connie Dial, author of Dead Wrong Views: 25
Vampire King of New York, A Romance book by Susan Hanniford Crowley Views: 25
Opposites attract in a sexy tale of unexpected love When the Dempsey patriarch suffers a heart attack, Lucas Dempsey steps up to keep the doors of the family restaurant open. The proverbial prodigal son returns home to Anchor Island—putting family first and his quest to make partner at his high-powered law firm on hold. Sporting a bruised ego after losing his fiancée to his older brother, Lucas would rather walk on glass than spend six weeks within spitting distance of the happy couple. But family duty calls. And that duty includes working side-by-side with a tantalizing spitfire intent on driving him mad. Tough-as-nails boat mechanic Sid Navarro is happy to trade her tools for an apron to help the Dempseys in their time of need. That is, until she realizes she’ll be working alongside Lucas, the man she’s loved from afar since she first laid eyes on him in high school. Lucas could charm the paint off a schooner, but Sid knows she doesn’t fit his girl-next-door type. To show her true feelings would mean certain heartbreak, but the temptation of Lucas in her bed might be more than she can resist. After a rocky start punctuated by verbal barbs and exasperating arguments, things heat up between them—big-time—but their steamy affair turns more than casual in a matter of weeks. Sid’s life has become the dream she’s always wanted, and Lucas has fallen hard for the last woman he ever expected to love. But this affair has an end-date, as Lucas must return to his life and career in the big city, a place where Sid would never fit in. When the end comes earlier than expected, walking away turns out to be a challenge neither of them wants to win. Up to the Challenge is a sexy, fast-paced, romantic story of family, island life, and finding love in unexpected places. Views: 25
Star-crossedHannah understood what it meant to be a Marsh. She belonged on the coast of Maine in her little house on Marsh Point. Her family was fiercely loyal to each other, and to the memory of their ancestor, Priscilla Marsh, who'd been wrongfully executed three hundred years ago. And Hannah knew her enemies-- Judge Cotton Harling, who'd sentenced Priscilla to death, and every Harling since.At least, she'd understood all of that until she met Win Harling. The handsome, urban businessman was everything Hannah didn't want, and yet somehow, he was everything she needed. But he was a Harling, and she was a Marsh. Three hundred years of history said they could never have a future.Unless they could make a little history of their own.... Views: 25
Ex-CIA master assassin Court Gentry has always prided himself on his ability to disappear at will, to fly below the radar and exist in the shadows—to survive as the near-mythical Gray Man. But when he takes revenge upon a former employer who betrayed him, he exposes himself to something he’s never had to face before. A killer who is just like him. Code-named Dead Eye, Russell Whitlock is a graduate of the same ultra-secret Autonomous Asset Program that trained and once controlled Gentry. But now, Whitlock is a free agent who has been directed to terminate his fellow student of death. He knows how his target thinks, how he moves, and how he kills. And he knows the best way to do the job is to make Gentry run for his life—right up until the moment Dead Eye finally ends it... Views: 25
Grey Calderwood was furious to discover that his mother had employed Lucia Graham--the woman he believed had defrauded him... Lucia knew she'd wronged Grey, but she had been desperate to help her father. Now that they'd been thrown together, the atmosphere between her and Grey was explosive--part antagonism, part burning attraction... Could this proud, powerful man ever trust Lucia again, and believe her to be worthy of his love? Views: 25
