Spotlight: Someone Knows by Lisa Scottoline

Bestselling and award-winning author Lisa Scottoline reaches new heights with this riveting novel about how a single decision can undo a family, how our past can derail our present, and how not guilty doesn’t always mean innocent.

Allie Garvey is heading home to the funeral of a childhood friend. Allie is not only grief-stricken, she’s full of dread. Because going home means seeing the other two people with whom she shares an unbearable secret.

Twenty years earlier, a horrific incident shattered the lives of five teenagers, including Allie. Drinking and partying in the woods, they played a dangerous prank that went tragically wrong, turning deadly. The teenagers kept what happened a secret, believing that getting caught would be the worst thing that could happen. But time has taught Allie otherwise. Not getting caught was far worse.

Allie has been haunted for two decades by what she and the others did, and by the fact that she never told a soul. The dark secret has eaten away at her, distancing her from everyone she loves, including her husband. Because she wasn’t punished by the law, Allie has punished herself, and it’s a life sentence.

Now, Allie stands on the precipice of losing everything. She’s ready for a reckoning, determined to learn how the prank went so horribly wrong. She digs to unearth the truth, but reaches a shocking conclusion that she never saw coming–and neither will the reader.

A deeply emotional examination of family, marriage, and the true nature of justice, Someone Knows is Lisa Scottoline’s most powerful novel to date. Startling, page-turning, and with an ending that’s impossible to forget, this is a tour de force by a beloved author at the top of her game.

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About the Author

Lisa Scottoline is the New York Times-bestselling author and Edgar Award-winning author of thirty-two novels. She has 30 million copies of her books in print in the United States and has been published in thirty-five countries. After a successful career in corporate law, Scottoline released her first legal thriller, Everywhere that Mary Went, in 1994. Her debut was nominated for an Edgar Award, the most prestigious award given in crime fiction. Her second novel, Final Appeal, won the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original in 1995. Since then, she has gone on to write 30 more critically acclaimed novels, and her recent, After Anna, was a #1 bestseller. Scottoline also writes a weekly column with her daughter, Francesca Serritella, for The Philadelphia Inquirer, and those universally beloved stories have been adapted into a series of bestselling memoirs. In addition to writing, Lisa reviews popular fiction and non-fiction, and her reviews have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Lisa has served as President of Mystery Writers of America and has taught a course she developed, “Justice in Fiction” at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, her alma mater. She lives in the Philadelphia area.

Spotlight: Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly

The million-copy bestseller Lilac Girls introduced the real-life heroine Caroline Ferriday. Now Lost Roses, set a generation earlier and also inspired by true events, features Caroline’s mother, Eliza, and follows three equally indomitable women from St. Petersburg to Paris under the shadow of World War I.

It is 1914, and the world has been on the brink of war so often,many New Yorkers treat the subject with only passing interest. Eliza Ferriday is thrilled to be traveling to St. Petersburg with Sofya Streshnayva, a cousin of the Romanovs. The two met years ago one summer in Paris and became close confidantes. Now Eliza embarks on the trip of a lifetime, home with Sofya to see the splendors of Russia: the church with the interior covered in jeweled mosaics, the Rembrandts at the tsar’s Winter Palace, the famous ballet.

But when Austria declares war on Serbia and Russia’s imperial dynasty begins to fall, Eliza escapes back to America, while Sofya and her family flee to their country estate. In need of domestic help, they hire the local fortune-teller’s daughter, Varinka, unknowingly bringing intense danger into their household.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Eliza is doing her part to help the White Russian families find safety as they escape the revolution. But when Sofya’s letters suddenly stop coming, she fears the worst for her best friend. 

From the turbulent streets of St. Petersburg and aristocratic countryside estates to the avenues of Paris where a society of fallen Russian émigrés live to the mansions of Long Island, the lives of Eliza, Sofya, and Varinka will intersect in profound ways. In her newest powerful tale told through female-driven perspectives, Martha Hall Kelly celebrates the unbreakable bonds of women’s friendship, especially during the darkest days of history.

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About the Author

Martha Hall Kelly is the New York Timesbestselling author of Lilac Girls. She lives in Connecticut, where she spends her days filling legal pads with stories and reading World War II books. Lost Roses is her second novel.

Spotlight: The Cowboy Next Door by R. C. Ryan

From New York Times bestselling author who “delivers it all with page-turning romance” (Nora Roberts) comes a story about a down-on-her-luck teacher, a carefree cowboy, and finding second chances in the most unlikely places.

After weeks on the trail, Sam Monroe is looking forward to a hot bath, a home-cooked meal, and a real bed. In that order. But he’s greeted by something even better when he opens the door to his family’s ranch house. Seems the new housekeeper is a gorgeous young woman who cooks like an angel and wrangles his family like a pro. If only she didn’t dislike him so much…

Penny Cash is down on her luck, and the last thing she needs is a flirtation with a wild, carefree cowboy. Sure, he’s funny and sexy, but they’re as different as whiskey and tea. And she’ll be leaving town as soon as she finds a full-time teaching position. But when trouble comes calling, Penny will find out how serious Sam can be when it comes to protecting the woman he loves…

Also includes the bonus novella Saved by the Cowboy by A.J. Pine!

Olivia Belle has always believed in fairy tales…until the moment her boyfriend dropped to one knee. When Olivia speeds into Cash Hawkins’ town like a modern-day Cinderella in a ball gown and glass slippers, Cash’s careful existence is thrown for a loop. Olivia could be his happily ever after . . . if this runaway bridesmaid doesn’t run off with his heart.

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About the Author

New York Times bestselling author R.C. Ryan has written more than ninety novels, both contemporary and historical. Quite an accomplishment for someone who, after her fifth child started school, gave herself the gift of an hour a day to follow her dream to become a writer. 

In a career spanning more than twenty years, Ms. Ryan has given dozens of radio, television, and print interviews across the country and Canada, and has been quoted in such diverse publications as the Wall Street Journal and Cosmopolitan. She has also appeared on CNN News, and Good Morning America. 

R.C. Ryan is a pseudonym of New York Times bestselling author Ruth Ryan Langan. 

You can learn more about R. C. Ryan and her alter ego Ruth Ryan Langan at:
RyanLangan.com
Twitter, @RuthRyanLangan 
Facebook.com

Spotlight: Between the Lies by Michelle Adams

In the vein of Allison Brennan, Michelle Adams's Between the Lies is an addictive psychological thriller with twists that keep the reader guessing until the last page, in which a woman who's lost her memory is back home with a family she doesn't know—who are keeping secrets of their own. 

The truth is hiding between the lies.

What would you do if you woke up and didn't know who you were?

Chloe Daniels regains consciousness in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. 
She doesn't recognise the strangers who call themselves family. She can't even remember her own name.

What if your past remained a mystery?

As she slowly recovers, her parents and sister begin to share details of her life. 
The successful career. The seaside home. The near-fatal car crash.
But Chloe senses they're keeping dark secrets—and her determination to uncover the truth will have devastating consequences.

What if the people you should be able to trust are lying to you?

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About the Author

MICHELLE ADAMS is a British writer living abroad in Cyprus. She is a part-time scientist and has published several science fiction novels under a pseudonym, including a YA dystopian series. If You Knew My Sister (published as My Sister in the UK) is her first psychological thriller.

Spotlight: A Wedding on Lavender Hill: A Sweetwater Springs Short Story by Annie Rains

USA Today bestselling author Annie Rains invites you to Sweetwater Springs for a wedding with all the feels!

Event planner Claire Donovan loves giving clients the weddings of their dreams. But that gets tricky when she has to work with the man who recently broke her heart-Bo Matthews. As the son of the groom and owner of the perfect venue in Sweetwater Springs, Bo will be impossible to avoid. But can Claire be this close to her sexy ex without falling for his charms all over again?

Bo’s happy for his dad, but he gave up on his own happily ever after when his fiancée left him at the altar. Until he met Claire. She was the first woman who made him think he could fall in love again, which is why he ended things with her so suddenly. But planning a wedding together may be just what this couple needs to remind them that love is always worth the risk.

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About the Author

Annie Rains is a USA Today bestselling contemporary romance author who writes small town love stories set in fictional places in her home state of North Carolina. When Annie isn’t writing, she’s living out her own happily ever after with her husband and three children.

Spotlight: The Runaway by Jennifer Bernard

Today we have the release week blitz for THE RUNAWAY by Jennifer Bernard! Check it out and be sure to grab your copy of this sexy romance today!

About The Runaway:

He knew she’d be nothing but trouble…

The moment she drifted into his marina, Mark Castellani knew Gracie was different. Resisting the blond pixie’s breezy approach to life is difficult, but Mark’s had years of practice living for simple pleasures that don’t extend beyond the next sunrise. Why long for anything lasting when he knows how quickly his whole world can be flipped upside down?

A bombshell long-lost memory finally explains why Gracie Rockwell never quite fit in with her boisterous family—she isn’t a Rockwell, after all. Desperate for answers, she leaves her beloved Rocky Peak Lodge in search of the little boy who saved her so long ago. Did he grow up to be the gorgeous-but-guarded Mark Castellani? What does he know about her true origins? If only she could pry some answers from her enigmatic new boss—and get rid of her massive crush.

But while she’s eager to uncover the past, he’d rather bury it forever. Mark was right—Gracie is the kind of trouble he never wanted. But she’s exactly the trouble he needs.

Excerpt

Finally, he gave up and shoved off his bedcovers. He padded barefoot down the quiet corridor toward Gracie’s room, pausing at every squeak in the floorboards.

This time her bedroom door was closed, so he could see it was painted with a sparkly silver ghost with a mermaid’s tail. He recognized her touch in the design. It was so…Gracie. Offbeat but beautiful and unique.

He tapped on the door, right over the ghost mermaid’s heart, which was covered by long, silvery hair. He heard soft footsteps, then the door opened a crack and Gracie’s sleepy face appeared. Her eyes widened at the sight of him. He was just launching into a smile when she slammed the door shut in his face.

Not quietly, either. Just a hard, classic, get-off-my-porch door slam.  

Okay, then. Wow, he’d really pissed her off. She didn’t even want him to apologize. She wanted nothing to do with him.

With a hollow pit in his stomach, he turned to go.

This was going to be one awkward road trip. Maybe he ought to go home instead. She didn’t really want him around. He’d probably wind up putting his foot in his mouth again.

No. He’d followed her to Rocky Peak for a reason, and that was to help her with Janus Kaminski. Anything else was just icing on the cake—and he’d just have to do without it.

He was halfway down the hall when he heard her soft “pssst.”

With an impatient gesture, she beckoned him back to her room. He hurried back, but before she let him in, she put a finger over her lips. No talking. He nodded to show he got the message, then she yanked him inside with a hand curled into the front of his t-shirt.

He stumbled through the door, already off-balance. She took him by the wrist and hauled him toward her bed. Was she…what was going…were they going to…?

The unpredictability was exhilarating. He felt his cock already going hard. But should they really do this, with all the unresolved stuff between them?

“Gracie.”

“Shh.”

“But—”

“If you say one more word, you can just go back to your room,” she hissed fiercely.

Why was everything with Gracie always so confusing? He couldn’t ever get a handle on her. Maybe that was why he couldn’t get her out of his mind, no matter how much he tried.

He gave in and spread his arms wide in a gesture of surrender. She pushed him onto the bed, then stripped off the little nightie she was wearing. Naked, her skin luminous in the dark, she stood before him, hands on her hips, like a general surveying her troops.

At least one of her troops was more than ready for battle. His cock was throbbing like a drum. He pushed his sleep pants off his hips to let it spring free. She surveyed him almost clinically, not a trace of emotion on her face.

That was when he realized what she was up to. She was trying to separate all emotion from what they were about to do. He remembered her last words to him at the cabin. “Thanks for the sex. That was fun.”

She was trying to make this all about sex.

She held up a finger, telling him to wait, then sauntered to a low table next to her bed. He couldn’t take his eyes off her—she was moving provocatively, sensually, parading her nudity.

All about sex. That was fine, right? It was better than no sex.

But as he watched her open a drawer and pull out a condom, he decided that…no. It wasn’t okay. The hell if this was just about sex. He had a say in this, too.

She settled onto the bed on her knees, condom in one hand, the other trailing between her own legs. He got the message, crystal clear. Anyone can touch my clit and make me come. Even me. I don’t really need you. But since you’re here…

He wasn’t going to play the “this doesn’t matter” game. Because it did matter. If he couldn’t tell her so in words, he could show her without them.

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About Jennifer Bernard:

 Jennifer Bernard is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance. Her books have been called "an irresistible reading experience" full of "quick wit and sizzling love scenes." A graduate of Harvard and former news promo producer, she left big city life in Los Angeles for true love in Alaska, where she now lives with her husband and stepdaughters.  She still hasn't adjusted to the cold, so most often she can be found cuddling with her laptop and a cup of tea. No stranger to book success, she also writes erotic novellas under a naughty secret name that she's happy to share with the curious.

Connect with Jennifer: Website | Newsletter | Facebook | Reader Group | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

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