Murder She Writes Press (Feb 21, 2012)
Digital Novella – Contemporary
ISBN-10: 061560479X
ISBN-13: 978-0615604794
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Murder She Writes presents a one-of-a-kind romantic suspense anthology with ten all-new, never-before-published short stories and novellas that promise thrills, chills, romance, intrigue, passion, danger, murder…and love. Penned by New York Times and award winning authors, some stories in this exclusive collection will make you laugh out loud while others will force you to sleep with the lights on.
Dead Flowers by Lori Armstrong
Cynical, bad girl PI Julie Collins isn’t the hearts and flowers type, especially not after she’s spent the last few weeks spying on cheating spouses. So when Julie suspects her man, Martinez, may be stepping out on her, she sees red and decides to take matters into her own hands. Let’s just hope Cupid’s Bow gets to Martinez before Julie does.
Above Reproach by Allison Brennan
Sex crimes detective Selena Black knows high-powered government attorney Greg Keller is the River City Rapist; proving it is another matter. Keller enjoys the cat and mouse game with the blonde detective, and makes sure she knows she’s exactly his type. As every possible avenue of investigation is shut down by the courts or her boss, Selena realizes that if someone doesn’t do something to stop Keller, more women will suffer–and she may be next.
The Housewife Assassin’s Bloody Valentine by Josie Bown
What is CIA contract assassin Donna Stone’s idea of a Valentine’s Day getaway? Certainly not orchestrating a jailbreak out of a Mexican prison for a notorious drug lord. But because he has intel as to the whereabouts of an international terrorist organization planning a Valentine’s massacre, there will be no intimate dinner for two or couples massage for Donna and her ops leader, Jack Craig. Just plenty of sun, surf, submarines, sharks… oh yeah, and sex.
Bobbie Faye’s Whacked Out, No Good, Really Sucky, Hot Mess of a Wedding by Toni McGee Causey
Bobbie Faye Sumrall, Cajun Contraband Days Queen, gun expert, and ultimate professional in being in the wrong place at the wrong time, absolutely positively does not want to go through with the ridiculous wedding that Trevor’s forcing her to agree to, but she soon finds out she has more important things to worry about–like surviving the plot to make her disappear when she’s set up as a fall guy for the theft of a priceless religious icon. And that’s the good news.
Blood and Roses by Sylvia Day
When insurance investigator Anastasia Miller sets out to retrieve the rose-hued pink diamonds stolen in a recent heist, she finds herself working alongside former flame, deputy U.S. Marshal Jake Monroe—the man she loved enough to leave behind.
Nightfall by Laura Griffin
Stranded on an icy road as darkness falls, Holly Henriksen knows she is in trouble. A charming stranger stops to help and Holly decides to trust him, but soon finds out he is harboring a deadly secret.
King of Hearts: a Rough Riders short story by Lorelei James
Deputy Cam McKay is devastated after dealing with a Valentine’s Day murder/suicide in his small county. Will allowing his family to see the dark past that haunts him, help heal him?
A Punishing Night by Sophie Littlefield
Detective Joe Bashir returns to his alma mater to investigate the stabbing death of a male college student. Rumors of date rape and fraternity hazing complicate a sensitive case as Joe tries to balance the demands of the investigation with caring for his elderly father. Help – and possibly romance – come from an unexpected source.
Pick Your Poison: A Bullet Catcher Novella by Roxanne St. Claire
Benjamin Youngblood’s only chance to prove he’s worthy of being a Bullet Catcher is to find and stop an assassin. On probation from the elite security force, Ben has to rely on instinct and brains… and one feisty flower farmer. When Callie Parrish discovers her entire crop of rare black roses has been stolen, she’d partner with the devil himself to recoup her loss. It doesn’t take her long to realize she’s done just that… and the road to hell is paved with poisonous petals and deadly kisses.
Rebel Rose by Karin Tabke
For Detective Cash Cantrell, hunting down a University serial killer is as routine as strapping on his gun each morning. Until he comes face to face with meddlesome coed, Rebel Yell Culpepper. He doesn’t know if he should arrest her or kiss her, but one thing Cash knows for sure, Rebel is key to finding the murderer, and the killer knows it too…
Holy hell, Rebel thought. Her head pounded worse than a handful of M-80’s on the Fourth of July and she was feelin’ sicker than a goat full of peppers. Somewhere, in the periphery of her alcohol-soaked brain, she knew she was sprawled out in a most unladylike position and her cell phone was ringing. She couldn’t see it, and even if she could, she was too darn sick to her stomach to give a care. She just wanted to crawl back into that dark hole she just rolled out of and go back to sleep.
Slowly, it dawned on her that the Dixie ring tone was Jami’s. Jami. She’d been looking for that flighty girl last night. Jami had been real upset, but why? Rebel couldn’t remember.
Blindly, Rebel felt around the smelly damp carpet for her phone. As her fingertips brushed against it she snatched it up. Fumbling around, she hoped she hit the answer button, and pressed the phone to her ear.
“Hull-oh—” Her voice came out like a croak and Rebel swallowed back the bile rushing up her throat. “Jami? You there, girl?”
“Who is this?” a deep husky voice demanded from the other end. His booming voice reverberated around her. Goosebumps skittered across her skin. It sure as heck wasn’t Jami, and didn’t sound at all like Drew, her boyfriend.
Rebel struggled to open her eyes, but just the slightest bit of sunlight made her stomach roil. She squeezed them shut to block out even the slightest sliver. “Who is this?” she hissed even as she tried not to inhale the nasty scents wafting off the carpet. She swallowed again, harder this time.
“Don’t answer a question with a question,” that ornery male voice said.
Her stomach lurched hard when she opened her eyes. “Hold on,” she gasped. “I’m gonna—” Jose Cuervo and his friend, Goldschlager, came rushing back for an encore. Her belly seized and twisted as she puked up last night’s party. She kept puking until the dry heaves were heaving on dry heaves. She rolled over onto her back to get her nose out of the stench of her puke and the gnarly crap imbedded into the carpet. Dragging the back of her hand across her mouth, ever so slowly, and most reluctantly, Rebel opened her eyes and looked directly up into two furious hazel ones.
The cell phone still in her hand, she raised it to her ear and said, “Jami, I gotta call you back.” She set the phone down and smiled what she imagined was a sly seductive smile. ‘Coz truth be told, even in her incapacitated state, she couldn’t ever recall seeing such a beautiful man in all her twenty-two years on earth. Even if he was pissed as hell that she’d just puked all over his shoes.
He had one of those fallen angel kind of faces: all moody and sexy. The features almost too much, but not quite so much that they didn’t blend all nice and sensual-like. His skin was lighter than milk chocolate, more like the color of the café au lait gran liked to drink. His full lips were pulled tight, and those hazel eyes were blazing like an angry cat’s. Speakin’ of cats—her smile deepened as she sat up and smoothed back her hair. “Well, ain’t you just the Tom cat’s kitten.”
