Showing results by narrator "Loretta Rawlins" in All Categories

The 23-year-old heiress from one of Charleston's oldest families vanished a month ago. When her father hires private investigator Liz Talbot, Liz suspects the most difficult part of her job will be convincing the patriarch his daughter tired of his overbearing nature and left town. That's what the Charleston Police Department believes. But behind the garden walls South of Broad, family secrets pop up like weeds in the azaleas.

Carnage is a Gargoyle. He's also volatile, dangerous, unpredictable, and lonely. One evening minding his own business at the edge of the sanctuary he calls home, he spies a female. A human female, and she's running headlong into his swamps, with no regard for her own safety. Then he sees the reason; three men, and they're hot on her trail, torches in hand, hell bent on catching her before she can get away.

Ellie: I married Jake Talley when I was 16 because I was an orphan left with a cattle ranch to run, and getting hitched was the only way to keep me out of a foster home. It was supposed to be easy; a marriage of convenience. Only I'm not a kid anymore and my husband is the hottest guy in Riverbend, Montana. The plan was to get divorced when I turned 18, but life got in the way. Life, my feelings...the kiss. Did I mention the kiss? Only now he won't let himself touch me. The right thing to do would be to divorce Jake. But I can't help wonder, what would it be like to be Jake's wife?

A faceless name. That's all she was when I agreed to play a part in deceiving her. And then the unexpected happened. We met. I yearn for her skin against mine. I crave her scent on my body. I want to make her laugh and then moan. And I do...in secret. I promised my business partner I wouldn't touch his sister. But I broke that promise. Our little dirty weekends together are no longer enough. I want my bohemian girl in my bed every night. She wants a ring, marriage vows, and babies...all things that I can't give her. Our romance is explosive. Our ending, miserable...unless I bend.

Kate Reilly is having a bad month. She's on trial for murders she didn't commit. She's next on the list of a serial killer. The parasitic vampires known as the Thrall want her to investigate the murder of their young, and will use any means necessary to force her to bow to their demands. And - possibly worst of all - her boyfriend Tom's werewolf pack is trying to break them up so Tom can mate with a werewolf to ensure the survival of his pack.

Colter Greyson is off limits. There's a long list of reasons why I can't give into the attraction that simmers between us. But quite possibly, the biggest reason being . . . He's my best friend's father. With my sarcastic sense of humor as a weapon, I fight off all of his advances. My heart is safe behind the titanium walls I've carefully constructed. Until it isn't. Until the night the life I knew is snatched away, and I find myself with nowhere and no one to turn to. Colter transforms once again from my sparring partner into my white knight.

Two years after losing her husband in Afghanistan, Carly Lowry has rebuilt her life in Tallgrass, Oklahoma. She has a job she loves teaching third grade and the best friends in the world: Fellow military wives who understand what it means to love a man in uniform. She's comfortable and content...until she meets a ruggedly handsome stranger who rekindles desires Carly isn't quite sure she's ready to feel.

As a long-time Christian, Heather Kopp never expected to become an out-of-control alcoholic. Engaging, funny and bracingly honest, Kopp shares her remarkable journey into darkness... and back to the light again. Her story reveals the unique challenges and spiritual conundrums Christians face when they become ensnared in an addiction. If you love Jesus but shop too much, drink too much, eat too much, crush on men who aren't your husband, or otherwise fixate on doing things you hate but can't stop doing, Sober Mercies is for you.

Know your enemies. It's good advice - and Kate always thought she did. But everything has changed: there’s a new force at the head of the Thrall collective. A force brilliant enough and ruthless enough to hide its sinister plan behind humanitarian work - building and funding halfway houses to ease the victims of drugs and the Thrall back into society

Romance isn't an option for Holly Greenwood. With her wedding planner career on the line, she needs to stay focused, and that means pleasing her demanding boss, not getting distracted by her mind-alteringly hot neighbor.... Ex-marine Kevin Vandemeer craves normalcy. Instead he has a broken-down old house in need of a match and some gasoline, a meddling family, and the uncanny ability to attract the world's craziest women. At least that last one he can fix.

Ellie: Quick recap. My dad died leaving me an orphan. Jake stepped in and married me rather than letting me go to a foster home. Did I mention I was only 16 at the time? It was okay for a while until it wasn't. Because those feelings that I had for Jake as my oldest friend slowly turned into something else over the years. Feelings he could not deal with. So I did the right thing and divorced him. It was the right thing. I'm pretty sure it was the right thing. Okay it was probably the wrong thing...but I don't think either of us know where we go from here.

After years of bit parts in forgettable Hallmark movies and embarrassing commercials for feminine hygiene products, I'd been given my big-budget break: the lead in an Edwardian era social drama set on a sprawling estate in Sussex. Everything was going great until I discovered my costar and current flame was banging his way through the cast. That's when this Southern girl channeled her inner Scarlet O'Hara by hurling a vase at him. Turns out the owner of said vase, the infuriating Earl Whittingham, did give a damn about the priceless heirloom.

Destroy is beautiful, strong, charismatic, and charming. He is also selfish, shallow, petty, and jealous - or is he? One misunderstanding centuries ago resulted in his being labeled as not good enough, untrustworthy, self-serving. To hell with them, he knew who he really was! A strong, dependable, good male of strong character who was very pleasant to be around and even more pleasant to look at. If only he had a female or even friends to notice those things. He'd been alone for so long the bitterness had begun to seep in.

Faculty wife Emily Stockwell Turner is beautiful, rich, and principled. However, five years in a marriage devoid of passion is enough to propel Emmy, despite her principles, into an affair with silver-tongued Will Thomas, a self-confessed libertine. The shocking, unforeseen consequences of their affair shatter Emmy's most cherished delusions about friendship, romance, and the ties that bind.

Setting up a dating website with the guy I've been in love with since I was five wasn't my smartest idea. Especially since he's my best friend's brother - thankfully, she's okay with the fact I'm pulling a Sandy, and I'm hopelessly devoted to him. Which is why it's time to get over him. So I do something crazy and ask Dominic Austin to find me a date. He does - if I find him one, too. Since we own Stupid Cupid, it should be easy, right? And it is. My date is perfect. His date is perfect. Everything is perfect. Until he kisses me.

If anyone asks, I knew better than to flash my boobs for Mardi Gras beads. I still don't know why I did it. Maybe it was the dare from my two best friends. Maybe it was the guys on the balcony saying they'd throw Fireball shots with the beads. Or maybe it was the quiet guy in the corner of that same balcony with piercing gray eyes, wavy dark hair, and a smile so tempting I wanted to climb up there and lick it off his face. Maybe it was because I never thought I'd see them again. Not that it matters. Not today. Because the hotel I manage was finally bought.

They call me Big Pickle. It's not what you think. (Although that's true, too.) I happen to be the oldest Pickle in the family deli business. And we have the best salami. Take that one however you like. But when my father announces the franchise will go to the most profitable of the three brothers, I learn that even though I'm the eldest Pickle, I'm dead last. I hightail it to Texas to see what's happened to my restaurant, only to find a sassy little spitfire named Nova Strong in charge. She's amazing. She's sexy. She runs our deli like she owns it.

Workaholic Lanie Rogers lives a completely nomadic lifestyle. Her job keeps her on the move, and relationships are a complication she doesn't need. That is until she meets Mr. Tall, Dark, and Hotness at a prewedding party. Complicated? Maybe. But lately, Lanie's life has been missing a little something—and sexy playboy Tyler Norris offers something she definitely can't refuse.

Matt Osborn had no idea coaching his five-year-old nephew's soccer team would get him so much attention from the mothers—attention he doesn't want now that he's given up on love and having a family of his own. Yep, Matt's the last of his bachelor buddies and plans on staying that way. That is until he finds himself face to face with the woman who broke his heart.

Somebody pushed Shelby Poinsett out her second-floor library window, and it wasn't her husband. At least that's what Charleston's most prestigious law firm wants Liz Talbot to prove. Liz must run the spectrum of Southern society, from the local homeless shelter where Shelby volunteered to the 100-year-old book club where Charleston's genteel ladies are dying to join, to bring a killer to justice.