An original publicationSynopsisIs he reaching out from the grave to ask her to solve the mystery of his death? A romantic mystery with ghostly overtones.Cara Donnelly is sure she's never visited the sleepy Florida town of Secret Sound. So why does the very name ring a haunting bell? Why does so much of the scenery look familiar? Most importantly, why does she see a little boy get hit by a car thirty years after the incident happened?Cara wants to get out of town fast after experiencing the strange vision despite the connection she feels to police chief Gray DeBerg. The townspeople, including Gray, are not happy about Cara stirring up the pain of that tragic event.But after Cara learns the boy was kidnapped shortly before the event and his kidnapper never found, she feels the boy is reaching out from the grave to beg her to solve the mystery of his death. If she runs from him and Gray, she fears she'll also be running from herself.Reviews“Darlene Gardner creates characters with substance by giving them problems and heartaches and making it easier for the readers to understand them... [She] crafts magnificent romances. “ -- Fresh Fiction, June 2011“Darlene Gardner continues to perfect the art of writing amazingly heartfelt romances.”-- Noveltalk, May 2010“Ms. Gardner writes fabulous, real-life characters readers can care about... [She] likes to create an intriguing family situation to see how characters react to it -- and each other."-- Romance Reader at Heart, July 2007 Views: 69
SPECIAL $1.99 RELEASE WEEK PRICE Ava Malone knows all about being broken-hearted. Born with a severe heart defect, she’s spent her whole life in and out of hospital desperately needing a transplant. Just days from death, her weak prayers are finally answered, and she receives a new heart; one that not only saves her life, but changes it forever. Now fit and healthy, Ava is able to do things she only dreamed of, like get a job and some independence, fall in love, and finally live life to the fullest. But her journey of self-discovery takes her to places she never expected. Along the way, Ava doesn’t just find the woman she was always meant to be, but she also finds out more about the woman who no longer is. The one who gave her this new life because she lost hers. Faced with a devastating dilemma, Ava must decide whether the heart that’s pumping inside her body now belongs to her, or is still beating for someone else... What people are saying about This Old Heart of Mine: “A.J. Compton is most definitely an author and a poet. She writes with her whole heart all the way down to her soul. She left it all on the page in this book and it’s absolutely beautiful! A beautiful book, through and through, cover to cover, inside and out.” – BexLovesBooks “This Old Heart of Mine is one of the most gut wrenching, heartbreaking, magical stories I have read… This story reached in and touched my soul in ways I can’t express in words.” – Bookalicious Babes Blog “A.J. Compton's words are utterly earth-shattering, yet so refreshing and soothing. They were magically intertwined to one another that there's not a chance you won't be touched and shaken up by how powerful they are...If you're hungry for a new author who has words so encompassing they will seep through your bones and all the cracks in your armor, A.J. Compton is your girl and This Old Heart of Mine is your book for it.” – Rentastic Reads “A.J. Compton has a way with words that strike me somewhere deep. They leave a mark on me…She writes about the fragility of life and love in a way that resonates so deeply. I defy anyone not to be moved beyond tears by this book. An utterly beautiful and poetic tale that I've not been able to stop thinking of weeks after reading.” – EmmBooks “This book. How can you even form words to explain how amazing and wonderful, captivating This Old Heart of Mine was? I laughed, I loved, I lived through this book with the main character Ava. This has become one of my all-time favorite books.” – Beyond Boyfriend Reviews “A.J. Compton’s This Old Heart of Mine is one of those books that gobbles your heart and soul right up when you open its pages… This book was exceptional. It’s one that you must pick up and read for yourself and enjoy the ride of emotions, the laughter, and the story Compton has to tell.” – Southern Vixens Book Obsessions “I've read before than an author's main goal is to evoke feelings in people when they are reading their stories, A.J. did more than that for me. Her words consumed me and kept me in their clutches right until the very last one. The emotion poured through the pages of this book and seeped into me.” – Reflections of a Book Geek “The emotional connection to the characters in this book is hazardous to your heart, your eyes, and your sinuses.” – Reviews from the Heart “This book is the definition of a life-ruiner, in my world. This book challenged me, pushed me out of my comfort zone...and made me stop to really think about things in a different way. The sheer number of pulse-stopping moments, the ones that make you step back and catch your breath? I can't even try to guess how many there were in this read.” – Betwixt These Pages ** Views: 69
An unusual engagement causes hilarity. Views: 69
Ema was in a bad situation with a married man. She was visiting him in Washington, D.C. His wife was out of town. He had gotten them an outrageously expensive hotel room, out of respect for his wife and their home. Ema took that as a sign of his decency, and as a sign of her doom.So begins "The Real Sloane Newman," one of the stories in Amie Barrodale's debut collection, You Are Having a Good Time. In these highly compressed and charged tales, the veneer of normality is stripped from her characters' lives to reveal the seething and contradictory desires that fuel them. In "Animals," an up-and-coming starlet harbors a complicated attraction toward her abusive director. In "Frank Advice for Fat Women," an ethically compromised psychiatrist is drawn into the middle of a dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship. And in "The Imp," a supernatural possession ruins a man's relationship with his pregnant wife.Barrodale's protagonists drink too much, say the... Views: 69
From Publishers WeeklyShallow and sketchy plotting undermine Ross's (Legacy of Lies) otherwise well-written romantic intrigue. One wonders if the murder emphasized on the back cover, but occurring quite late in the story, were actually an afterthought. Celebrity journalist Chelsea Cassidy has been asked to write Roxanne Scarborough's (the Diva of Domesticity) biography. Meanwhile, architect Cash Beaudine, Chelsea's sexy, never-to-be-forgotten college lover, has been hired to restore Roxanne's Southern plantation house. While sparks fly between Cash and Chelsea, Roxanne's past?a forgotten husband?rears his low-life head only to be found dead in the ashes of the plantation house. Had the plot allowed for more development, the reader could have become engrossed in figuring out the perpetrator and the reason for the murder, but as it stands, it's hard to care. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. Product DescriptionWelcome to Raintree, Georgia -- Steamy Capital of Sin, Scandal and Murder.To her fans, Roxanne Scarbrough is the genteel Southern queen of good taste -- she's built an empire around the how-to's of gracious living. To her critics -- and there are many -- Roxanne is Queen Bitch. And now somebody wants her dead. Chelsea Cassidy, Roxanne's official biographer, knows that Roxanne is determined to keep her dark secrets buried, whatever the cost. But when Chelsea begins to unearth the truth about Roxanne's life, her search leads her back into the arms of Cash Beaudine, a man Roxanne wants for herself. And suddenly Chelsea's investigation takes on a very personal nature -- with potentially fatal consequences. Views: 69
Ester's life has changed for the better. When she found Bones she'd been adrift for a long time, homeless and living on the edge of humanity. Those days have left their scars, on her mind and body. Finally settled into their relationship, she wants to give Bones the greatest gift, only to realize those dreams are a casualty of her past. Views: 69
