Showing results by narrator "Marli Watson" in All Categories

What makes love stick? Is it the irresistible spark when you lock eyes across a piazza in Rome? Is it feeling the earth move under your feet? (Wait—that was an actual earthquake.) In these six serendipitous short stories, bestselling authors turn improbable first encounters into hopelessly romantic happy ever afters.

On a humid summer day in Alabama, a mayor’s wife turns up brutally murdered under a railroad bridge. Standing next to her body is fourteen-year-old Mason Hill, the autistic son of former Miss USA Genevieve Hill. The locals are quick to level their verdict on young Mason: he did it. The town detective calls in local autism expert Casey Walker to consult on the case. At first, Casey tries to keep an open mind. But the more time she spends with Genevieve, the more her unease grows, and she suspects that Genevieve is doing more than just protecting her son.

One typo, and a boy and girl connect by chance. Wishing each other a happy Valentine’s Day isn’t the end. In fact, it becomes a friendly annual tradition—with rules: no pics, no real names, nothing too personal. As years pass, the rules for their email “dates” are breaking, and they’re sharing more than they imagined—including the urge to ask…what if we actually met?

Gage came home to the Ozarks to mend fences with the friends he’d left behind. But when a solar storm reconnects Earth to the Fae Nexus, the world is engulfed in magical energy, altering the laws of nature...violently. Fuel, ammunition, and electronics explode, leaving the world in a dark apocalypse. As the flames die down, demons emerge through the Fae Nexus, swarming Gage’s hometown and enslaving the survivors. To fight back, Gage and his reunited friends harness Fae powers, becoming the Wizard, Ranger, and Fighter they’ve always played in their favorite roleplaying game.

Gage has 10 days to rescue his loved ones before they're sacrificed, but if he's going to fight through an army of demons to get them out of the prison camp, he's going to need a powerful weapon. An ex-Demon Hunter turned lich is rumored to have just the thing: The claws of an ancient storm dragon that will give Gage the powers of a Storm Lord. But, the lich was banished into the Dreaming a century ago, so tracking him down won't be easy. Stealing treasure from a lich is no simple task, but if he has to, Gage will pry the weapon from the monster's cold, undead hands.

Margo Zimmerman is gay, but she didn’t know until now. An overachiever at heart, Margo is determined to ace her newly discovered gayness. All she needs is the right tutor. Abbie Sokoloff has her own gayness down to a science. But a flunking grade in US History is threatening her acceptance to her dream school. All she needs is the right tutor. Margo agrees to help Abbie get her history grade up in exchange for “Queer 101” lessons. But as they spend more and more time together, Margo realizes she doesn’t want just any girl—she wants the girl.

Reporter Lee Ellerin’s investigation into a young woman’s unsolved murder gained national attention—only for her to lose everything due to a tragic mistake. After being publicly ridiculed for causing a suspect’s death, Lee is forced to leave her career behind. Five years later, pregnant college student Amanda Hartley lies in a coma. The police say she attempted suicide, but the details don’t add up. Where is the father? Who was paying for Amanda’s Manhattan penthouse? Why did Amanda have a note with Lee’s name in her backpack?

It's been eight months since the body of Eloise Parrish was found in the woods. Eloise's surviving sister, Oli, is numb with grief and shock. But Oli's also angry. Her sister's killer was never identified or caught. There are no leads, no clues. The case is growing cold, and only Oli seems to care. Until Oli finds another girl left for dead, in the exact spot Eloise's body was found. Except this girl is alive. She can't remember how she got there, but Oli knows that she's the key to solving Eloise's murder.

1857. Three women—once strangers—come together in unpredictable Utah Territory. Hopeful, desperate, and willful, they’ll allow nothing on Earth or in Heaven to stand in their way. Following the call of their newfound Mormon faith, Tamar Loader and her family weather a brutal pilgrimage from England to Utah, where Tamar is united with her destined husband, Thomas Ricks. Clinging to a promise for the future, she abides an unexpected surprise: Thomas is already wedded to one woman—Tabitha, a local healer—and betrothed to still another.

Nora and Sophie Linden may be sisters, but they're not friends. Not since the party last month. Not since the night Sophie's boyfriend, Garrett, disappeared. Half the town thinks Garrett is dead, the other half believes he ran away, but Sophie knows something no one else does -- Garrett left that party with Nora. And straight-A, Ivy-league-bound Nora had never been to a single party before that night.

Desperate to break free of small-town Florida, Addie Anne Buckley dreams of following in the path of her glamorous aunt Jean—known to the world as Marilyn Monroe. When Aunt Jean plans a trip to Hollywood for Addie’s eighteenth birthday, Addie sees her chance to escape. One thing stands in her way: her boyfriend. Truitt Holt is Addie’s first and only love and will be joining her in California. But days before Addie’s due to leave, Truitt does an about-face and gives her a painful ultimatum: stay and marry him, or they’re through. Addie chooses her dream.

With her sister’s medical bills mounting, Diana Parker can’t say no to a high-paying opportunity like this: accompany a wealthy couple to Aspen and nanny their precocious five-year-old son for three months. Necessary qualifications? She must know how to ski and teach math, speak fluent French, excel at social graces, and hold a master’s degree in childhood development. Who’ll be the wiser that Diana’s only skill is packing for Colorado?

I wasn’t supposed to be in Sunset Harbor for more than a weekend. But thanks to—let’s just call it—an unforeseen act of stupidity on my part, I’m here for the whole summer. And for the first time in my life, I’m in a whole lot of trouble. The sentence? Community service paid toward the person I accidentally wronged. The problem? That person happens to be Dax Miller. The guy who always spent more time fighting the law than obeying it. Also, the guy I once told to have a nice life amounting to nothing. So… it’s been fun that I’m court ordered to serve him now.

In the wake of her son’s sudden death, Margaret Dobrescu struggles to keep it together in the face of her grief…and her guilt. She can’t help but blame herself for Kyle’s own lifelong struggles—namely, the alcoholism that plagued him. But within mere days of his funeral, secrets and suspicions begin to surface, and Margaret’s husband admits that Kyle once confessed to having a daughter. Clinging to the hope that some part of her son is still out there, Margaret embarks on a search to find her rumored granddaughter.

Mina’s dream has come true. Mina and her best friend, Vanessa, set out for the ultimate summer adventure, but Count Dracula is worried that the evil robot SILVIA is still on the loose and looking for revenge! At camp, Mina and Vanessa discover that something is horribly wrong with the animals at the zoo. Will Mina’s dream vacation become a nightmare?

Eleven-year-old Mabel Cunningham is a quiet loner who only feels free to be herself when she’s “extreme treasure hunting” with her grampa—much to her perfectionist mother’s disapproval. Nothing excites Mabel more than discovering a heart find, an item that calls to her heart, and the maybes that come along with it. But when her friendships start to crumble and her grampa suffers a stroke, Mabel quickly learns that real-life maybes are harder to handle than imagined ones.

Once upon a time...Ellie bid farewell to her childhood friend Prince Alexander eight years ago and never thought their paths would ever cross again. After all, the two of them lived in separate worlds. He was a prince, and she was a humble servant. Surely it was better for her to leave their old friendship in the past and accept her dreary fate.

She has never lived a normal life outside of the dance studio. He has never fallen in love. Levi O’Connor is trouble. At 22, there are a few things that he was sure he would never do: go back home, and fall in love. After spending months on tour with his band and making bad decisions that landed him on the front cover of numerous tabloids, it is not until an incident happens at one of his shows that everything changes.

Lightning and thunder crash around her as Elizabeth runs from her pursuer. She rests for only a moment...or so she thinks. Castles...swords...men of war...Elizabeth is stunned! How did she arrive in England? Who brought her here? As she struggles to uncover the events that landed her at Fairwick Castle, nothing is as it should be. Danger surrounds her. Forced to put her trust in the arrogant Lord Nicolas Fairwick, Elizabeth prays for God's intervention.

When the Headless Horseman goes on a mysterious vacation, Mina takes on her biggest pet-sitting job ever - Nightflower, the headless horseman's horse! But a new monster is searching for an ancient treasure and is willing to destroy the entire Monsterhood to find it!