They've never been out on a date. They can barely speak a civil word to each other when they find themselves in the same room. But Aunt Bertie, who is not crazy, just—eccentric—knows that John and Ellie belong together, and she's doing all she can to further their cause.

A little white lie never hurt anyone. When Clarissa takes a much needed nannying job under slightly false pretenses, she doesn't think it will be such a big deal. She may have told her movie-star boss that she was married, but that shouldn't matter—even though it was a specific job qualification. After all, the man is just worried about love-struck groupies applying for the position, and Clarissa doesn't want anything to do with men for a long, long time. Men have been nothing but trouble. But the love-struck groupies have a point.

After an attempt on her life, Elliana's parents hire a bodyguard to protect her. And not just any bodyguard. Nope. They hire her teenage crush, Mateo Alvarado. Handsome, tall, muscular, and way too cocky.

Alexia has never known who her father is, and desperately wants to find out the truth about him. She wants a relationship with the mysterious man her mother refuses to talk about. She can handle being poor and looked down on...but a girl should know her father. When she's offered a job doubling for rock star Kari Kingsley, Alexia realizes she’ll have the resources to finally track down her father and meet him.

Back in college, Marco Dawson never thought of Belle as anything more than a friend. If she had crossed his mind on his wedding day, it was probably only to wonder why she hadn't shown up to be a bridesmaid. After all, his new wife was her old roommate. Seven years have passed since then, and Belle just found out that Marco is divorced and vacationing with his family in an elegant Cancun resort. She's not about to let the right man get away twice. She heads to the resort where she plans to casually bump into Marco and ignite some romantic flames.

Maren Kelly and her friend Penny may be lost in the Scottish Highlands, yes. They may be caught in the blizzard of the century, sure. But despite their dire straits, Maren is going to honor her ailing mother’s wish for them to experience all the magic, mystery, and whimsy Scotland has to offer, even if she freezes to death trying. When they’re rescued by the dashing Duncan Campbell, who seems like he walked straight out of the seventeenth century, Maren is more than a wee bit bewildered.

When Charlotte's grandmother invites her to accompany her to Norfolk, Charlotte jumps at the chance to visit the sea and escape the fuss surrounding her sister's wedding preparations in London. Lord William Cheston, on the other hand, is most unhappy when his mother informs him that her old friend and a granddaughter are coming to stay. Not only is it lambing season, but he's also dealing with the mysterious loss of several sheep. The last thing he needs is a child underfoot.

Amelia Grayson is propelled into an unlikely match with Montana cowboy Garrett Strong, when they bid against each other for the Double J Ranch. Financing is tight for Garrett, but he is determined to preserve his beloved rodeo mentor’s historic ranch—the place he considers a second home. Amelia’s dream of starting a teen addiction recovery ranch is within grasp, but first she needs the money from her trust fund. Unfortunately, her grandmother included a marriage clause in the irrevocable trust, stating Amelia must be wed before she sees a dime.

To fulfill her mother’s last request, 24-year-old historic design specialist Catherine Pressley-Coombes travels to England in order to investigate an elusive family line. Armed with an illegible diary, she is determined to discover the identity of her mysterious ancestress. Distracted by an Elizabethan manor and unused to British country roads, Catherine runs her car into a ditch. Luckily, Nick Davidson, a handsome, hard-working local rides in - on his tractor - to save the day.

I’ve had a crush on my brother’s best friend my entire life. Once, in high school, I even got a taste of what it would be like to be with him thanks to some well-placed mistletoe: incredible and humiliating. We always spend Christmas with Max’s family at our cabin, and every year I have to suffer through a blissful week with him in a completely platonic way. His steady stream of girlfriends have made him off limits . . . until now. It’s Christmas. We’re at the cabin together. And Max Dawson is single.

In the wideopen landscape of Pennsylvania, Charlotte Martin and her father live a peaceful life on their farm... or so it seems. In truth, the rural locale provides the perfect front for the father/daughter NSA operatives as they expertly carry out their mission: using a high-tech computer system, they protect a team of undercover agents. Some would kill to have access to this system, and it makes Charlotte and her father prime targets.

Only twice had she set foot inside the building since the massacre. The first time had been just a month after the tragedy .. . . The second time she had returned to the scene of the crime had been two days ago when she forced herself to enter the building to check on the temporary office for the SEAL team. The counselor she had seen in the months after the shooting had encouraged her to face her fears, but now . . . Riley wasn’t sure she was ready to face them after all.

Java Island, 1941. Six-year-old Rita Vischer cowers in her family’s dug-out bomb shelter, listening to the sirens and waiting for a bomb to fall. Her charmed life on Java—living with other Dutch families—had always been peaceful, but when Holland declares war on Japan and the Japanese army invades Indonesia, Rita’s family is forced to relocate to a POW camp, and Rita must help care for her little brother, Georgie.

When Franki Amato leaves her cheating ex and erratic job as a rookie cop in Austin, Texas, she hopes for a quieter existence at her best friend Veronica’s New Orleans PI firm, Private Chicks. But life in The Big Easy is anything but quiet. Or easy. Her furnished apartment resembles an old French brothel, and her aging ex-stripper landlady has some rather odd policies.

There is nothing like hiding a secret identity from your roommate besties to complicate... everything. And when they decide I need a love life makeover, I can't tell them why I don't have time for their schemes. Retirement home nurse by day, lead singer of a rock band by night. Not on the schedule: Men. I'd rather cuddle with Bernice, the hangry boa next door. I can't think of an excuse fast enough to get out of betting my prime parking space against them finding me true love, but luckily, they pick the worst possible guy for me.

Lizzie Kent wasn't supposed to babysit the night she was murdered. She was covering for her best friend, Nell. Nell has lived with the guilt ever since. Eighteen years later, Nell returns to the area, desperate to escape a bad relationship after inheriting her aunt's rundown guesthouse. But her return isn't welcomed by everyone - in particular Sam Kent, who blames Nell for his sister's death. And after a few unsettling incidents, it becomes apparent that someone is trying to scare her. Is Sam responsible or has Nell's abusive ex-boyfriend managed to track her down?

It's been said that all great literature boils down to one of two stories—a man takes a journey, or a stranger comes to town. While mystery writers have been successfully using both approaches for generations, there's something undeniably alluring in the nature of a stranger: the uninvited guest, the unacquainted neighbor, the fish out of water. In the newest collection of stories by the Mystery Writers of America, each author weaves a fresh tale surrounding the eerie feeling that comes when a stranger enters our midst, featuring stories by prolific mystery writers.

Ellery Hathaway knows a thing or two about serial killers, but not through her police training. She's an officer in sleepy Woodbury, Massachusetts, where a bicycle theft still makes the newspapers. No one there knows she was once victim number 17 in the grisly story of serial killer Francis Michael Coben. The only victim who lived. When three people disappear from her town in three years, all around her birthday - the day she was kidnapped so long ago - Ellery fears someone knows her secret. Someone very dangerous.

Lyla Moody loves her sleepy little town of Sweet Mountain, Georgia. She likes her job as a receptionist for her uncle's private investigative firm, her fellow true-crime obsessed Jane Doe members are the friends she's always wanted, and her parents just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. But recently, with her best friend Melanie on vacation and her ex-boyfriend and horrible cousin becoming an item and moving in next door to her, her idyllic life is on the fritz. The cherry on top of it all is finding Carol, a member of the club, dead and shoved into a suitcase.

Prepare for thrills and chills as three acclaimed authors unite in Twisted Fate, a spine-tingling collection of stories: Hunted by Traci Hunter Abramson; Death House by Gregg Luke; and Haunting Reminders by Stephanie Black.