Showing results by author "Melinda Leigh"

After the devastating loss of her husband in Iraq, Morgan Dane returns to Scarlet Falls, seeking the comfort of her hometown. Now, surrounded by family, she's finally found peace and a promising career opportunity - until her babysitter is killed and her neighbor asks her to defend his son, Nick, who stands accused of the murder.

Private investigator Lance Kruger was just a boy when his father vanished twenty-three years ago. Since then he's lived under the weight of that disappearance - until his father's car is finally dredged up from the bottom of Grey Lake. It should be a time for closure, except for the skeleton found in the trunk. A missing person case gone cold has become one of murder, and Lance and attorney Morgan Dane must face the deadly past that's risen to the surface.

Young mother Chelsea Clark leaves the house for a girls' night out...and vanishes. Her family knows she would never voluntarily leave her two small children. Her desperate husband - also the prime suspect - hires Morgan to find his wife and prove his innocence. As a single mother, Morgan sympathizes with Chelsea's family and is determined to find her. She teams up with private investigator Lance Kruger. But the deeper they dig, the deadlier their investigation gets.

While fighting in Afghanistan, Major Grant Barrett receives devastating news: his brother and sister-in-law have been murdered in Scarlet Falls, the sleepy suburb of Grant's youth. Emotionally scarred from war, the career soldier returns home on emergency leave to temporarily care for his orphaned nephew and niece. But when someone tries to kidnap the kids and their teenage babysitter, Grant knows it's not a random act... and neither were the murders.

After corporate attorney Hannah Barrett tries - and fails - to stop a kidnapping in Vegas, she can't shake the haunting image of the terrified young girl she couldn't save. She tells herself that a visit to her hometown in Scarlet Falls could be a welcome distraction. But soon, Hannah realizes the kidnappers have all the info they need to track her every move. And when chilling e-mails about the victim appear in her inbox, it's frighteningly clear what happened in Vegas has followed her home.

Wildlife biologist Mac Barrett avoided his hometown of Scarlet Falls for years - too many bad memories. But when he receives the news that his father is dying, he rushes home only to discover he's too late. Shaken, Mac retreats to his remote cabin seeking peace and solace. Instead, he crashes his jeep to narrowly avoid running over the naked body of a woman lying in the road. Even more disturbing, when he regains consciousness, the body is gone.

When Detective Seth Harding responds to shots being fired, he faces a familiar sight: a double homicide. However, he is shocked to find a young boy chained in the basement. The terrified child refuses to speak, but Seth knows he is the key to something sinister. Reluctantly, Seth calls the only social worker he trusts with the traumatized boy - his wife. Carly is recovering from her own trauma suffered on the job, but she can't turn away from this case, not from another child in trouble.

Ten months ago, Elizabeth Baker uncovered a dangerous secret about her politician husband - a secret that nearly got her killed. Now she and her children are running for their lives. When Beth is hired as the caretaker of a remote Pennsylvania estate, she dares to hope she has found a corner of the world where Congressman Richard Baker can’t find them. But when her new boss dies suddenly and his nephew inherits the estate, Beth is faced with outwitting a former homicide detective who is very smart, very suspicious - and very attractive.

When two hikers disappear, their Maine hometown blames the blinding storms. But the truth is far more sinister. Unaware of the danger, tabloid photographer Jayne Sullivan follows an anonymous tip to rural Maine to find the most reclusive sculptor in the art world. Instead, she finds sexy, mysterious handyman Reed Kimball — and a small town full of fatal secrets.Five years ago, Reed buried his homicide detective career along with his wife. But when a hiker’s body is discovered, the local police chief asks Reed for help. Why was a Celtic coin found under the remains?

Four months ago, a ruthless murderer killed two people and kidnapped three more, including Danny Sullivan’s sister, who barely escaped. Unfortunately so did the killer, vanishing without a trace into the vast wilderness. When the police fail to find his sister’s captor, Danny returns to Maine to hunt him down. He begins his search with another survivor, bed-and-breakfast owner Mandy Brown, but her refusal to cooperate raises Danny’s suspicions.

Rachel Parker never planned on going back home. But when a terrible accident abruptly ends her riding career, she has little choice but to return to Pennsylvania and rebuild the family horse farm. Not everyone is happy to see Rachel, though - someone is vandalizing her property, leaving ominous warnings she can’t ignore. It’s as if the creep knows her. As if he’s watching her. Police Chief Mike O’Connell never counted on Rachel Parker getting in his way. Mike is frustrated as his investigation turns up too many suspects and a shockingly turbulent past Rachel refuses to discuss.

Curator Dr. Louisa Hancock left behind Maine and her troubled past for Philadelphia and a job at a prominent museum. Just when it seems that Louisa’s new life is safe from her dark secrets, the body of a museum intern is found - the victim of a brutal and baffling murder.

When a mysterious package lands on Louisa Hancock's doorstep, the Philadelphia museum curator can hardly anticipate the nightmare that's about to envelop her. The package is addressed to her father - an expert in Viking culture - and inside is a ninth-century sword, a chilling thank-you note, and photos of two dead bodies in a tableau evoking a Nordic funeral. The gruesome images match a recent crime scene.

Reformed assassin Cristan Rojas just wants to raise his daughter in peace. But after twelve years on the run, he learns that even the quiet little town of Westbury, Pennsylvania, has many hidden dangers. Although he can't shake the feeling he's under surveillance, Cristan's attraction to Sarah Mitchell continues to grow, as do his concerns that his secret past could jeopardize anyone who gets too close to him.

In one moment, high school teacher and single mother Brooke Davenport interrupts a vicious assault, saves a young woman’s life, and attracts the attention of a serial killer. Sixteen years ago, Brooke lost her roommate to a brutal murder. Now she teaches women’s self-defense, still trying to heal from the guilt and grief that plague her. Convinced the predator knows his victims and is stalking his prey online, she is determined to find him before he strikes again.

When security expert Sean Wilson takes his wife, Amanda, along on a business trip to an isolated bed and breakfast, he's hoping to combine work and pleasure. But when four armed men storm the inn and take the staff and his wife hostage, the romantic getaway is over. A former army Ranger, Sean will do anything to save his wife, and when he finds the seven-year-old granddaughter of the innkeeper in the snowy woods, the situation becomes more dire.

Abby Foster just wants a quiet, normal life. The high school teacher left everything about her past behind when she moved to the mountains of Pennsylvania, but only three years after surviving a brutal attack, Abby awakes in an icy river, facing death once again. This time, though, she doesn't have to face it alone - if she can manage to trust the sexy cop who just risked his life to save her. Officer Ethan Hale's gut tells him there's more to Abby’s "accident" than meets the eye....

County investigator Seth Harding intends to spend the holidays with his newly reconciled family, but a few days before Christmas, a homicide thwarts his plan. Seth arrives at the scene and makes a painful discovery: the victim is his brother-in-law's girlfriend. Her apartment has been ransacked and her toddler left motherless. To make matters worse, Seth's brother-in-law, Bruce, is missing. With Solitude locked in a rare, deadly deep freeze and the temperature plummeting, the residents launch a desperate search.

When Chase Ryan, a popular crime TV star, turns up dead, the entire town of Solitude is shaken - but the show isn't over yet. The confessed murderer is violently abducted on the way to the county jail, and now Detective Seth Harding must find both the killer and the kidnapper. Seth's investigation unearths unsavory secrets from the celebrity's life that incriminate a cast of suspects: Chase's family, his sleazy agent, and a fanatical stalker with a troubled thirteen-year-old daughter.

When she believes a teen is falsely accused of drug dealing, social worker Carly Taylor takes on a high-risk case and her estranged husband - the detective in charge of the investigation - to prove the boy innocent. A deadly new designer drug has taken hold of her small rural hometown of Solitude, Oregon, and Carly is determined to find the real dealer and clear the teen’s name. But the deeper she digs into the case, the more danger she unearths, until someone decides it’s time for Carly to move on… permanently.