Romantic Suspense books

Sequel to Rarer than Rubies
Precious Gems: Book Two

In this exciting sequel to Rarer Than Rubies, gay romance author Trent Copeland and former FBI agent Reed Action head to Italy for a Roman holiday. What should be a relaxing and romantic vacation is interrupted when Reed’s not-so-former boss asks for his help with a case. Trent's shocked to discover in the six months they’ve been living together in LA, Reed hasn’t been completely honest about his “retirement.”

Reed heads for Sicily on the trail of a suspected antiquities-smuggling ring and to find Peter Isett—a former FBI partner he also hasn’t been completely truthful about. Stung by Reed’s dishonesty, Trent questions what else Reed might be hiding. But when he overhears something that tells him Reed's life is in danger, Trent follows Reed to a remote chain of ancient volcanic islands off Sicily's northern coast. Soon Trent is caught up in the smugglers’ web, and Reed must decide between his heart and his mission—a decision complicated by his past with Peter. Reed’s position is perilous: unless he can learn to put the past behind him, he risks destroying everything he's built with Trent.

Read more...

Sequel to The Thirteenth Pillar
A Section Thirteen Story

After his last somewhat disastrous assignment, sidhe special detective Tuulois MacColewyn effectively got benched. But when a break-in at a high-tech storage facility leaves no witnesses—alive or, Cole’s specialty, dead—and just one missing canister, he’s recalled to Section Thirteen, the NYPD’s paranormal branch. It’s nice to get to work again with his current flame, Inspector Joss Vallimun, even if they do have their hands full: some mysterious force is cutting a swath through the city in search of that canister. If Cole and Joss figure that out, there’s the disappearances of employees connected to a local children’s television program to solve. Meanwhile, Internal Affairs is breathing down their necks.

But while Section Thirteen is working to find the stolen property and figure out what it is, something even stranger starts happening. Children’s imaginary friends are somehow manifesting themselves—and they’re coming after Section Thirteen. Even with a newly deputized witch and an ogre to bolster their numbers, the detectives have their work cut out for them.

Read more...

Eight years ago, Jake Anders was a college kid from the wrong side of the tracks. Then Trace Michelson recruited him into The Trust, a CIA-backed agency whose “executives” eliminate rogue biotechnology operations. Trace was everything Jake ever wanted in a man: powerful, brilliant, and gorgeous. But Jake never admitted his attraction to his mentor, and Trace always kept Jake at arm’s length.

Now Trace is dead and Jake is one of The Trust’s best operatives, highly skilled and loyal to the organization. But the secret agent has his own secret: six years ago, before he was assassinated, Trace designed a Sim chip containing his memories and experiences—and now that chip is part of Jake. It’s just data, designed to augment Jake’s knowledge, but when Sim becomes reality, Jake wonders if Trace is still alive or if Jake really is going crazy like everyone claims. He doesn’t know if he can trust himself, let alone anyone else.

To learn the truth about Trace and the chip, Jake embarks on a dangerous mission—except he’s not the only one looking for the information. Some of the answers are locked in his head, and unless he finds the key, he’ll be killed for the technology that’s become a part of him.

Now, more than ever, Jake wishes Trace were here to guide him. Too bad he’s dead... right?

Read more...

Sequel to Pale as a Ghost
A Duncan Andrews Thriller

Private detective Duncan Andrews has the home-team advantage when it comes to solving paranormal crimes: His best friend, Gina, is a centuries-old witch. His dog is a zombie. And his boyfriend, Robbie, is a ghost.

Duncan certainly has his work cut out for him with this case. Someone’s been using the skull of a powerful wizard to control animals, and whoever it is, they’re not out to set up a petting zoo. For Gina, the case hits close to home—she knows just how dangerous it is, since the wizard was her father.

Just when he thinks they&rssquo;re close to breaking the case, tragedy strikes, leaving Gina in a coma. Then, after years as a ghost, Robbie finally decides to move on, leaving Duncan to protect young Ashton Marsh, the victim of several strange animal attacks. Suddenly Duncan is working without his supernatural safety net. Without his friends, can Duncan defeat the power of Eleazar’s skull and keep Ashton alive? Or will the struggle for his life end in broken bodies as well as broken hearts?

Read more...

Sequel to What Happened to Jan Phillips?

What do three sons—one murdered by Iraqi terrorists, one who lost his mother in a fire, and one involved with an underworld sex ring—have to do with Jan Phillips?

Two sons bring fear and death, forcing Jan to wield the awesome power of his office as the North American head of Mundus, a sub rosa organization with roots in the ancient order of the Knights Templar. The other son threatens Jan’s life and the world he shares with Michael Lin, his partner of twelve years.

As Jan struggles to survive another man’s quest for revenge, the love of fathers for their sons is the only constant among shattered lives, despoiled love, and an unknown yearning for family.

2nd Edition
First Edition published by Book Surge Publishing (2007)

Read more...

When Texas Ranger Tell Hadley is sent to investigate rustling in Oklahoma Territory, he finds two dead men and signs of a survivor on the run. Were the killings lynchings or simply frontier justice? Tracking the one man left standing leads him to Noel Ivory, a tenderfoot East Coast journalist who claims his friend Jack Rogers was murdered. Neither man trusts the other, and both have secrets to keep, but if they’re going to solve the murder at the Rocking R, they’re going to have to let down their guards and show their hands.

Read more...

Precious Gems: Book One

When Trent Copeland runs into Reed Acton at a Bangkok airport, he thinks the handsome American is too good to be true. Why would someone like Reed be interested in a quiet, introverted gay-romance writer? After all, even an obvious tourist like Trent can see that there is more to Reed’s constant unexplained appearances in his path than meets the eye.

Reed Acton has one mission and one mission only—he needs to get the map that was accidentally slipped into Trent's bag and keep the mobsters who want the priceless artifact from taking deadly revenge. Trent Copeland is a delicious and damned near irresistible diversion, but Reed can’t afford distractions right now, especially if he wants to keep Trent safe.

From Bangkok's seediest back alleys to the sacred north, the two men will fight to stay one step ahead of the bad guys and learn that the only treasure worth finding is... each other.

Second Edition
This second edition contains over 4000 words of added material not contained in the previously released eBook.
First Edition published as Thief of Hearts: Tempted in Thailand by Ravenous Romance, 2011.

Read more...

San Francisco P.I. Nick Cutter spent one night with the man of his dreams—and then the man disappeared. Three years later, on a routine missing-person assignment in Weller Falls, Montana, Nick is shocked to find his dream man living under the alias of Tori Tanaka.

Tori won't talk about where he's been or why he changed his name, but Nick soon learns that Tori fled because he witnessed a murder—and now the killer may have followed him to Weller Falls.

Read more...

Eighteen-year-old Jan Phillips is down and out, hustling johns in Philadelphia’s Tenderloin District, when he catches the eye of Tim Morris, a powerful lawyer with ties to a secret organization. Against his better judgment, Jan is soon caught up in a web of intrigue that will change his life forever—or end it prematurely.

It’s 4:00 a.m., and the phone is ringing. Waking from an uneasy sleep, Jan answers and in so doing allows two strangers into his life. One is a victim of a heinous crime, a man to whom Jan feels an instant connection. The other is a deadly enemy. Their appearance will lead to murder—and the first plight Jan faces as Master of the Mundus Society.

Previously published as two novels: Bought and Paid For published by iUniverse and Scimitar published by Author House.

Read more...

Sean Andros is tired—tired of hustling, tired of trying to make the rent, tired of running from his past.

But the past can chase you down in a heartbeat. Suddenly Sean’s living a nightmare again and casualties are stacking up around him. The only person he can trust is Harry, a man twice his age and the closest thing to a friend Sean has ever known. Harry Connors has loved Sean since their first night together, and now, with danger hard at their heels, Harry will do anything to protect the tough, strangely vulnerable young man who begs him for help.

Harry had better be serious about offering protection, though, because the demons threatening Sean’s life are no joke. Only a hard winter rain will wash away the evil that drove Sean Andros to the streets, and Sean and Harry are going to have to be strong if they plan on sticking around for the sun.

Read more...

Former Marine Will Marlowe dreams of being a great classics scholar, but his subversive street art, Bad Toys, is what he does best. When he’s sent to London to retrieve Tommy Jones, what he’s really interested in is a chance to take Bad Toys global. He doesn’t expect cancer survivor Tommy to captivate him or to become the pet project of a real live—dead—author.

Meanwhile, Tommy is struggling to write a dissertation about Christopher Marlowe while conveniently ignoring the fact that he knows Marlowe didn’t die in 1593. And Marlowe’s ghost? He has an agenda all his own that seems to involve two parts mystery, one part romance.

Read more...

It’s nine o’clock the morning after his father’s funeral, and Ezra Jones already knows it’s going to be a bad day. He wakes up hungover, sore, and covered in blood. Then it gets worse: the handsome and compelling Callum Dawson shows up on his doorstep claiming Ezra’s been turned into a werewolf. Ezra wants to be skeptical, but the evidence is hard to ignore.

Ezra doesn’t have a lot of time to get used to the rules Alpha Callum imposes—or the way his body responds to Callum’s dominance—as he’s busily working for the CDC to help uncover the origins of a lycan epidemic. When the sexual tension finally breaks, Ezra barely has time to enjoy it, because a new danger threatens. Someone wants Ezra for their own unscrupulous purposes and will do anything to get him.

Read more...

Sequel to Tainted Blood

Gabriel Jordan, part-time werewolf and full-time private investigator, should be living a happy life. Three years ago, he was a homeless thief; now he’s got a loving partner and a job he enjoys, he lives in a nice house, and he doesn’t have to worry about tomorrow. So why the sudden urge to cheat on Aleksei, the handsome and occasionally deceptive fae he loves? Why does Gabriel feel compelled to flee the life he’s built for himself?

Someone’s calling him. Someone’s looking for him. Someone holds his destiny in her hands. The portals to the hidden worlds have become unstable, even dangerous. Fear and madness linger in the dark. Panic and nightmares chase him, but Gabriel can’t fight an enemy he can’t see, and even turning into his wolf form may not be enough to save him.

Read more...

Sequel to The Thirteenth Child
A Section Thirteen Story

Tuulois MacColewyn’s simple life performing dirty jobs for fey hiding in New York City has died a quick death. Consulting for the NYPD on a case involving child abductions, losing a friend, laying siege to a stronghold at the end of Broadway, and being chased through a hospital by animated scarecrows combined to make last month hell. This month is shaping up to be much worse.

Yet, it’s not all bad. Cole has a new place to live, a steady-paying job working for the NYPD, and the heart of Inspector Joss Vallimun, head of Section Thirteen and, incidentally, Cole’s new boss.

Section Thirteen is understaffed and overworked, trying to solve every supernatural crime in New York, including a series of grisly child murders and evidence that local fey are being enslaved. When Vallimun is gravely injured just as the investigation reaches a fever pitch while a snowstorm blankets the city, Cole will need all the help he can get to have any hope of salvaging this month at all.

Read more...

Sequel to A Matter of Time Vol. 1 and 2

Jory Harcourt doesn't have to go looking for trouble. Wherever he goes, it seems to find him—particularly when his partner, Sam Kage, is working undercover on a federal task force.

After the recession forces him to close his business, Jory goes to work as a matchmaker and event planner. From there, it's only a matter of time before his big mouth and up-front attitude make him the rope in a tug-of-war between a trust fund baby and a drug-smuggling criminal. Then, as if that situation weren't delicate enough, Jory's undercover lover shows up working for the smuggler.

Between the men who want him and the men who just want him dead, Chicago is getting a little crowded for Jory, so on the advice of his brother, his boyfriend, and the FBI task force, he heads for Hawaii... where a serious accident threatens his quality of life. Can Sam and Jory keep the faith and prove that their relationship really is bulletproof?

Read more...

Police detective Patrick Flaherty has no illusions about Russian mobster Alexei Boczar, but that doesn’t stop his fascination with the bodyguard to one of the most ruthless families in Chicago’s growing Eastern European crime community. From the moment Patrick meets Alexei’s eyes over the body of another Russian mobster, Alexei is a thorn in Patrick’s side, refusing to cooperate with the police and turning all of Patrick’s questions back on him. Alexei’s hard-as-nails persona whets Patrick’s professional determination to get the information he’s sure the gangster is hiding, while personally Patrick just wants to get his hands on Alexei’s hard body.

The tattoos marking Alexei’s skin tell the story of his criminal past, but the more Patrick learns about Alexei, the more he wants to know, until he finds himself over his head in a relationship that might cost him his job and could well cost Alexei his life. Alexei is equally fascinated by Patrick’s willingness to overlook his past and even his present associations, but he has secrets of his own that could drive a wedge between them forever.

Read more...

When backpacker Jarold Lake runs out of money in Australia, an acquaintance gives him an address where he can find an under-the-table job without needing a work visa. He’s greeted by Russ Bridger, who none too subtly lets him know that the “job” involves being filmed having sex... with a man. Jarold is open to new experiences, but when he decided to take a trip Down Under, he never expected this!

Before long, Jarold is tangled up in the underworld dealings of Russ's boss, Jason Leith. Leith runs an empire on betting, pornography, and prostitution, and he is devoid of sympathy, among other human feelings. When Leith shows too much interest in Jarold, Russ decides it’s time to get out of the low life, something much easier said than done. But for Jarold, Russ will take the risk.

Read more...

The night before his wedding, Zander Walsh, his parents, and his husband-to-be are all shot when they return home and interrupt a mysterious robbery in progress. After three weeks in a coma, Zander wakes up to find out he is the only survivor, and his perfect life falls apart in an instant.

Hunky FBI Agent Jake Elliot is investigating the case, and he eventually apprehends the killer—who soon escapes. Following six months of searching, Zander and Jake realize they’re being stonewalled by the FBI... and that they have slowly formed an unbreakable bond that is beginning to turn into much more.

Once they embark on a journey to apprehend the killer for the second time, they’ll discover that one terrible night was much more than just an interrupted robbery. Can big business and politics cover up the truth, or will Zander and Jake’s quest to unravel the mystery be the end of their newfound love and their lives?

Read more...