Showing results by narrator "Lia Frederick" in All Categories

Ben Logan fell in love once, to a city girl who left him at the altar to run off with another man. A mail-order bride appears to be the answer to his need for a wife to warm his bed, as long as she loves the country life as he does. He doesn't need much, but he won't risk his heart again. When Emily arrives, her curves tempt him nearly as much as her smile. But his ex-fiancée is back, and determined to have Ben for herself, even if it means murder.

A young girl’s escape from a life of horrific abuse...and the killer from her past that continues to haunt her... Elenore Griffin is finally free of the abuse she’s suffered most all her young life. But some demons never die, and the road to freedom is laced with a new kind of pain. To break free, Elenore must confront her troubled past head-on. But deep beneath the trauma lies something dark and dangerous. With every buried memory she unearths, Elenore finds herself more and more trapped in a web of lies and deceit.

Silence is golden, unless you’re permanently hushed up. When Lillian Johnson was found dead one hot summer day, no one in the town of Bradley, North Carolina, was all that surprised. Lillian had always talked about the trials of her various health problems, and was sure to share with everyone exactly how much she suffered. The townspeople were only slightly more surprised to discover that Lillian had been murdered. That’s because Lillian, like most folks, had a dark side. And a fair number of people had experienced this dark side.

Retired octogenarian schoolteacher Myrtle Clover is fit to be tied when her book club votes to change to a supper club. Who wants chips and dip when they can have Dickens and Twain? The first supper club is a progressive dinner... where Myrtle loses interest during the hors d'oeuvres. But when a body is discovered during the main course, the evening quickly gets interesting. Myrtle pits her sleuthing skills against her police chief son's to find the killer.... if the killer doesn't find her first.

Are all killers spawned from abuse? Some are...After a lifetime of surviving the most horrific abuse imaginable, Eleanor Griffin finds herself slipping deeper into her own personal hell, until the lines of reality begin to blur, and Elle, her alternate personality, emerges. And Elle is out for blood. Fueled by murder, rage, and vengeance, Elle cuts a swath through the men responsible for her torment. But she doesn’t stop there. For there are far too many sadistic monsters walking the Earth, and Elle intends to destroy them.

Born on a small farm in Alabama, Elenore Griffin spends her days in a Hell of her father’s making. The system has failed her, leaving her trapped in a world of unimaginable torture and pain. Sold to the highest bidder, Elenore finds her nightmares have only just begun. And those responsible for her abuse begin disappearing around her without a trace, while the local authorities seem to be at the center of it all. Step inside the world of a young girl who suffered the most heinous acts imaginable. And survived. This is her life. This is her story....

Nellie Wallace is a young widow with two children. In post-Civil War New York, the men are scarce and none want the burden of a wife with children. Her dead husband's family is wealthy, and cruel. Desperate to escape their influence, and eager for a home, a husband, and a stable life for her children, Nellie decides to make a new life in San Francisco as a mail-order bride.

Cosette Whitlow is a society matron if tiny Bradley, North Carolina, has one. She kindly volunteers for all the town's charities, but isn't nearly as kind to her own family, neighbors, and friends. In fact, Cosette is emphatically disliked by much of the town - including octogenarian Myrtle Clover. And Myrtle knows that dislike in Bradley can quickly turn deadly. No one seems surprised when Cosette's body is discovered during a party she's hosting - she was struck on the head with a croquet mallet.

Annie Markum grew up with a Bible in one hand and a disapproving father holding the other. At 22 she dared to dream of a different life and risked everything to become a mail order bride. One year later she finds herself on a friend's doorstep, penniless, pregnant, and a widow. Her husband was an honorable, churchgoing man, and she believes her father will allow her to come home. To get back to her father in New York will take money she doesn't have. She's got no choice but to accept work as a cook in a local saloon.

Alice Carter found herself a widow, her doctor husband murdered as he left the hospital where he worked. Alice, too, is a doctor and thought she wouldn't have any trouble finding a position with the hospital where her husband had been so well regarded. She was wrong. Seems no one wanted a female doctor, especially one in mourning. Seeing no other way out, Alice becomes a mail-order bride to a doctor in Hope's Crossing in the Montana Territory. Can Alice and Jeremiah have a future when ghosts from her past still hold her heart?

In the historical western town of Fort Worth, Texas, matchmaking mother Eugenia Burnett has achieved her goals. Her three sons are happily married, and she has three grandchildren, with the fourth on the way. But she hasn't given up her matchmaking ways. Now she's introducing lonely widows and widowers. Until one widower, rancher Wyatt Jones, lets her know he's only interested in one woman: her. Sworn never to remarry, Eugenia doesn't want a husband. But Wyatt wants Eugenia and he's one determined cowboy.

The vineyard has been restored and Ladybug Farm Winery is on the verge of bottling its first vintage. Their friends Paul and Derrick are building a house next door. High school and college graduations are just around the corner for the two young people they have shepherded for the past four years. Life couldn't be more perfect. But Ladybug Farm still holds a few surprises for them all...

When octogenarian sleuth Myrtle Clover discovers Naomi Pelter's dead body during a book club meeting, the other members seem shocked. But Myrtle can read between the lines. Naomi had riled everyone up by flirting with other people's husbands, arguing with neighbors, and generally making a nuisance of herself. Murdering troublemakers is the oldest trick in the book.

It's Christmas Eve, and Cici, Bridget and Lindsay are busy preparing for their annual holiday party. The tree is sparkling, the turkey is roasting, the stockings are hung and the eggnog is chilled. The scene is set for the perfect Christmas...with one or two exceptions. The entire state is in the midst of a heat wave. No one can find any mistletoe. The Christmas tree lights keep exploding, and, perhaps worst of all, something has gone terribly wrong with Ida Mae's fruitcakes.

Ed Talbot isn't husband material. He's an outlaw, was forced into his father's gang at the age of 13, and is wanted dead or alive in more than one territory. But now his father is dead, he hates the life, the blood, and his brother's rages. When a stagecoach robbery goes awry, Ed ends up with a satchel full of charming letters from an enticing young miss. Unfortunately for Miss Lizzie Cobb, her betrothed is now dead, and Ed Talbot sees a way out.

Late Vietnam War era. Strapped for cash, Todd Jameson flirts with disaster. Caught robbing a liquor store to pay for his dad’s funeral and given the choice of jail or signing up for the military, he picks the best of two bad options and joins the army. But just as his fresh start reconnects him with a sense of honor and the friendship of a gracious woman, he’s deployed overseas into an unknown destiny.

When Bridget, Cici and Lindsay left behind their safe suburban lives for a stately old mansion in the Shenandoah Valley, they redefined the concept of family. The friends, like the house, have faced many challenges and undergone major changes over the years. But the one thing they never imagined was that one day they would be expanding their house of women to make room for a husband.

A train roars over the rails, carrying passengers on a trip that will change their lives. Among the many people aboard the 97 Silver Meteor are Andie Crystal, a lonely young woman hiding from her youth as a reality TV star; Matthew Scofield, a widower trying to manage his responsibilities to his two young children; and Janette Turlington, a middle-aged mother running from a situation that has destroyed the peace in her home and marriage.

Jesse Donovan spent the last four years chasing gold, hoping to convince his New York fiancée to join him. He's now rich, successful, and eager for his wife-to-be to make the trip out west. But now that it's time to travel to Hope's Crossing and marry Jesse, the New York socialite sends him a letter informing him of her intention to marry another. Heartbroken and lonely, Jesse contacts Matchmaker & Co. for a mail order bride.

Julia O'Brien is a practical woman. A nurse and midwife, she was perhaps the most surprised when she fell in love with Dr. Matthew Reynolds and agreed to be his mail order bride. She sets off for Tombstone carrying his letters and a heart full of hope.