Showing results by author "Michele Pariza Wacek" in All Categories

It seems like everything should be fine. So why isn't it? In the aftermath, Becca struggles to pick up the pieces, feeling like things should be easier. After all, they won. Didn't they? Then why are the nightmares back? And why can't she shake this nagging feeling that something is still out there, watching her, and biding its time to end this dance once and for all?

Meet Charlie. Better known as “Aunt Charlie” from the award-winning Secrets of Redemption series. She's back, making teas and solving cases in this funny, twisty, cozy mystery series set in the 1990s in Redemption, Wisconsin.

Charlie Kingsley’s tea customers have two things in common: They rave about her teas. And they have a knack for attracting trouble. There’s never been a connection between the two…until now.

On the surface, Kit Caldwell has it all. A senior in college with her future ahead of her, lots of friends, lots of parties - not to mention also having the eye of Tommy, the star quarterback of the football team. But underneath, Kit's life is a charade, built on a foundation of secrets and lies, including one so dark it threatens to tear her world apart: her twin sister, Cat, was kidnapped when they were both seven, never to be heard from again. That is, until one dark Halloween night.

Twenty-four years ago, five-year-old Tori walked into her newborn brother's room in the middle of the night to see a shadowy figure abducting him. The next morning, her baby brother’s lifeless body was found in the crib.

A fresh start. That's what Becca hoped the move from New York to Redemption, Wisconsin would be for her troubled family. A way to get her crumbling marriage back on track, and to bond with her difficult 16-year-old stepdaughter. But instead of a new beginning, Becca is thrust into a mysterious past she barely remembers. A past that includes the complications of interacting with her old teenage crush, Daniel, as well as living in her aunt's old house. A house with a violent past. A house the locals swear is haunted.

If something ails you, Charlie Kingsley likely has a tea to fix it. So when Charlie witnesses a young woman faint on the side of the road, she has no choice but to offer her services.

Unfortunately for Ike Krane, his parents had a wicked sense of humor. So, early on, he decided to embrace his challenges rather than run from them, which is how he become a ghost hunter and ended up visiting Redemption, Wisconsin. The problem—trouble seems to follow Ike just as it did his fictional predecessor.

It’s happening again - people are disappearing. And just like before, the finger is pointed at Becca. She knows how it looks...and that she’s being set up. Someone is following her. Sneaking into her house. Planting evidence to make her look guilty. The problem is, she has no idea why. The bigger problem is, no one believes her. And time is running out.

For the first time in her life, Charlie felt like she belonged. She loved living in Redemption, Wisconsin. She had everything she ever wanted: a home, friends, a new business, a new love. However, nothing is ever what it seems in Redemption. And you should never, ever, discount the darkness hiding under the surface.

Sure, Mia left. And no, no one knows exactly where she is. But Mia is an adult. And she has good reason to be angry at Becca, so it's not a huge surprise. But Becca knows in her gut something is wrong. After all, Mia had been staying in that room—the one at the top of the stairs. And she wouldn't be the first person to change for the worse because of it…

Janey hadn’t heard from her sister Kelly since she ran away from home eight years ago. Until the day the letter arrived; a disturbing letter. Before Janey could make contact, Kelly disappeared again. The only clue she had to work with was in Redemption, Wisconsin, where Kelly had worked as a nanny. So, Janey decides to retrace her sister’s steps...by taking over her job. The family she nannies for has secrets, and the more Janey digs, the more twisted the story becomes—and the more Janey realizes she might be the next to disappear.

When Charlie agrees to accompany her friend Claire to her late grandmother's reading of the will, she assumes she is simply there for moral support. She doesn't expect things to get so...strange.

Becca still can't remember the night 16-year-old Jessica disappeared from a party, never to be seen again. Which is bad enough (especially since she was supposedly the last person to see Jessica alive), but it's not the worst.... Strange events are making Becca think there's a link between what happened to Jessica 15 years ago and the darkness happening now. With help from her friends and her teenage crush, Daniel, Becca races against time to uncover the truth about Jessica before another 16-year-old girl is doomed to the same fate as Jessica....

None of this was supposed to happen. It all started so innocently. Charlie only stopped in Redemption, Wisconsin, because she was lost. She never meant to stay. She never meant to fall in love. She never meant to bring the danger she was running from into this wholesome midwestern town. Except Redemption had some secrets of its own...and they were even more deadly than what she was trying to escape.

Becca has always known something is off about that room. The one at the top of the stairs. The one CB stayed in. Yes, a terrible tragedy occurred within those walls, but there is more to it than that. She had heard rumors about it, as well. Rumors about something happening to anyone who stays there for long periods of time. For over a year now, she had dismissed them as exactly that—rumors. But now, Mia is the one living in it. And Becca doesn't like the changes she is seeing in her… at all.

While attending a funeral, a woman claims her daughter was kidnapped. Except…it appears she doesn’t have a daughter after all. Normally, this would clearly indicate the absence of a crime, but Becca isn’t so sure. There’s something fishy going on, and she’s determined to get to the bottom of it. As she peels back the layers of secrets and lies, what she unravels is far bigger than she ever imagined.

If you've got a problem, Charlie Kingsley probably has a tea that’ll help make it right. Except when it comes to love. She does not do love potions. Not even for Courtney, her pregnant new client who showed up three weeks before Christmas seeking a love potion because her husband was cheating on her.

When Charlie accepts an invitation for a potluck Thanksgiving feast, she immediately decides to bring dessert. Homemade pies, of course. And they look so delicious that two of the guests decide to sneak a few bites before the meal. Which wouldn’t be an issue, except they both end up dead! Obviously, Charlie didn’t poison the pies, but that’s not how it appears. Can she solve the case in time to save the day?

Redemption wouldn’t be redemption without something weird going on in one of its lakes. In this case, residents are torn between it being a Loch Ness Monster (named “Locky”) or some other water-based supernatural creature.