Books 37-44

The Secrets We Keep by Nolon King

He thought what happened in London would stay in London. He was wrong.
John Treadwell should be happy. He’s a successful author with a wife and two daughters that he loves. But while an ocean away from his family, he drunkenly hooks up with one of his biggest fans to chase away the loneliness.
After his one-night stand, John is sure he’ll be able to hide this moment of weakness from his wife and daughters. After all, the woman he slept with lives in London, and there’s no way they’ll ever see each other again. He’ll be able to pretend it never happened.
But John isn’t about to get away so easy. His biggest fan has much bigger plans than a single drunken night..

I read 12 by this author and really enjoyed it but it's like another person wrote it !  This is very much a 'Fatal Attraction' story.  A one night stand between a married author and an obsessed fan who turns out to be his worst nightmare.  Pretty raunchy in parts. Lots of twists and turns, fairly predictable, but it does keep you guessing at times.

Secret Seal Isle Mysteries by Lucy Quinn

Book 1:  New Corpse In Town

FBI agent Cookie James is enjoying her extended leave from the agency on Secret Seal Isle, managing her quaint inn and flirting with the oh-so sexy-handyman, Dylan Creed…until her sixty-year-old mother goes skinny dipping and is almost drowned by a corpse.
A phone call to the sheriff should mean the end of Cookie’s involvement, but when it’s clear the sheriff has no interest in the investigation, Cookie calls in reinforcements…her ex-partner Hunter O’Neil. Suddenly it’s like old times while the pair questions the residents of Secret Seal Isle. Except it’s not. Now she has both Hunter and Dylan vying for her attention, a wayward hippy mother, and a potential killer on the loose.
With her love life heating up, her mother lighting up, and all signs pointing to the most unlikely suspect, Cookie does the only thing she knows to do—focus on solving the case.

Cookie and her mother Rain have moved to this island because of Cookie's past involvement with the FBI and the mob.  She isn't on the right side of the mob so she is trying to lie low and protect herself. However, those FBI instincts kick in with the dead body and the lack of interest from the deputy on the island. Cookie calls in her ex-partner Hunter, and life gets interesting for them and the town. This is just a light, fluff summer type read.

Book 2:  Life In The Dead Lane

All Cookie James, FBI agent and Innkeeper extraordinaire, wants is a romantic date with her hot handy man… but what she gets is a corpse presented with a big red bow.
When she and Dylan discover a boat with a dead body, not only is her picnic ruined, but a woman from Dylan’s past returns to the island. The famous rock star appears to want a comeback tour with her former bodyguard. But Cookie doesn’t have time to worry about that, because her oh-so-sexy ex-FBI partner has arrived, too. And he’s ready to make a little music of his own.
With an entangled love life, too much manscaping, and a songbird in trouble, it’s once again Cookie’s job to wrap up another murder.

The local sheriff calls in Hunter, Cookie's former FBI partner to assist in the investigation as her department does not have that much experience with murders.Cookie and Hunter are at it once again to solve another mystery. Rain continues to be quirky and amusing with her outrageous behavior, I still don't find her Mom funny - just annoying. Completely did not see the reason for the drama in the story until the end.

 The body winds up being the brother of a famous singer who is being forced to do some things to keep her secret secret.
The local sheriff calls in Hunter, Cookie's former FBI partner to assist in the investigation as her department does not have that much experience with murders. The love triangle continues.

Book 3: A Walk On The Dead Side

All Cookie James wanted was a romantic island picnic with her sexy handyman, Dylan Creed. What she got was a lobster trap full of drugs. As an ex-FBI agent, Cookie's determined to hand the evidence off to local authorities and stay out of the fray. But when a package arrives with a gory warning, she has no choice but to call in her former partner, Hunter O'Neil and investigate the case.
Hunter’s arrival brings more than crime fighting expertise. He'd like his connection to Cookie to finally be more than professional. There's no denying the sparks between them. Except with Dylan in the picture, Cookie's realizing someone else might be lighting her fire. Unfortunately, her love life is going to have to wait. Between kidnappings, attempted murder, and stolen kisses, Cookie James has a case to solve.

Even though it was obvious to figure out the outcome it didn't take away from the book at all.  It did leave off in a sort of cliffhanger. Cookie has found more trouble and requires the help of Hunter yet again. With all the excitement she's always getting into, in this addition we find Cookie facing the fact that she isn't quite over being in the FBI. This takes a toll on her love life, and we finally see her forced to make a decision between the men in her life.

Secrets of Willow House by Susanne O'Leary

Maeve McKenna is on the verge of a breakdown. Having worked herself into the ground as a sought-after interior designer in London, she’s in desperate need of a vacation.
Philomena Duffy is a little lonely. After losing her husband, their crumbling mansion, Willow House, feels awfully empty.
With the rugged shores of Ireland calling, Maeve visits her aunt Philomena in Sandy Cove, where she once, as a teenager, kissed a wild, mysterious boy – a kiss she has never been able to forget. The beautiful night’s sky is dotted with stars as far as the eye can see, and Maeve is worlds away from her chaotic life in the city.
As Maeve throws herself into restoring Willow House to its former glory, a deep friendship with Philomena begins to blossom. Surrounded by the faded walls and peeling carpets of the old mansion, together they stumble across a secret that turns their family upside down.
All the while, she can’t stop thinking about the enigmatic boy from her past, and that magical kiss… Is he still in Sandy Cove?
Just as she’s beginning to feel at home, reality calls. Part of Maeve can’t bear to leave Willow House and its rocky beach. Does she have the courage to leave the security of her old life behind, and put down new roots in Sandy Cove, or is that just a daydream?

I quite enjoyed this book.  The secret was pretty obvious from the beginning but what they did with it solved a lot of problems.

Dead Man's Money by K.J. North

Private Investigators Troy and Eva Winters are thrilled when Troy’s sister, Sadie, announces that she and her family are moving to Elk River, only a twenty-five-mile drive from New Haven, where Troy and Eva live. Now, Sadie will be close to her family, and with their support, they can try to help her overcome her debilitating panic disorder of agoraphobia.
Troy’s joyful Christmas holiday is suddenly shattered when he receives a cryptic message from his ten-year-old niece, Willow. Her cry for help and the startling message that says, ‘the bad guys are here,’ sends Troy’s distress alarm into overdrive. It doesn’t take him long to realize the deadly consequences that lie ahead.
With Eva out of town, Troy sets out for Elk River on his own with no idea of the danger he’ll soon be facing. He’s close enough to Willow to know the threat is real, and the urgency in her voice confirms it. Just when a flicker of hope appears, Eva goes missing. Time is not on Troy’s side and the clock is quickly ticking down.

Lots of twists and turns as the story unfolds  Keept my interest throughout the story.  I would recommend.

Dare Game by Melinda Colt

One dead body, one ace of spades… Is the playing card an oversight—or a trademark?
Detective John O’Sullivan needs to find out if the murder was a one-off, or if the killer plans to work his way through a whole deck of cards. The plot thickens as his team discovers more unsolved murders with the same modus operandi—worldwide.
Amber Reed stumbles into the middle of the investigation when she discovers her teenage daughter is a key-player in the Dublin murder case. Determined to do the right thing, Amber and her daughter help John, even though doing so puts their lives in danger.
Pressed by time and duty, John has to protect them and crack the case before the killer strikes again. 

A move across the ocean, a murder across the street from her new home and a game on the dark web. This story was intriguing and had interesting twists and turns. Mystery, crime, police, teenage angst with a bit of romance. This was a page turning thriller worth reading.

Summer with a Star by Em Farmer

All Tasha Pike has wanted for the past twenty years is to rent Sand Dollar Point for a summer. The grand Victorian on the beach of Summerbury, Maine was the object of her childhood fantasy and her standard of romance—and it was finally happening.
Her dream summer is ruined, however, when she arrives in Summerbury to find that Hollywood superstar Spencer Ellis has muscled his way into the house instead. His offer that they share Sand Dollar Point is not only infuriating—it’s insulting.
He’s a celebrity—and one she’s determined to hate.
Spencer’s summer in Maine was supposed to help him get his head screwed on straight. One look at Tasha, however, made that impossible. She’s beautiful. She’s angry. She doesn’t care who he is. She doesn’t care about his fame. In fact, she doesn’t even like him.
She’s irresistible.
He’s only got the summer. She’s only got her heart. They’ve only got each other.

It’s the sort of book that once you start, you can work out what is going to happen and where it’s going to go after a few chapters, but in the main it is an easy to read piece.