Deadly Assumption

When a young man witnesses the rescue of a woman’s body from the ocean, he is shocked to recognize the tattoo on her shoulder as belonging to his prospective fiancé, Sarah. Traumatized, he flees the scene, unaware of the ensuing homicide investigation into the suspicious drowning and its findings.

Having arranged his business schedule hoping for a reconciliation following their disagreement in England, he had planned on proposing to Sarah during her visit to Vancouver Island. Devastated by her loss, he relocates to Germany, committing to a life without his soulmate. Struggling with grief, he is persistently tormented by the circumstances of her death and how her body came to be floating off Vancouver, more than 100 miles from her intended destination. Homesickness eventually drives him back to England, where he learns the shocking truth about the homicide investigation and the twist of fate that forever changes his chosen path.

As the story unfolds, it reveals the dramatic impact the deceased woman had on those whose lives she touched, particularly the man suspected of murdering her. The characters are tightly intertwined in this generational, multicultural saga of suspected homicide, enduring love, emotional trauma, and the fight to recapture those closest to the heart. With its roots set in England, Deadly Assumption is a tale rich in history, encompassing Canada, Germany, and France, and spanning the period from the years prior to World War II into the 1980s.

Daler: A Novel

Daler is a coming-of-age story that follows a young man navigating life and relationships from his teenage years into early adulthood. Over the course of the nonlinear narrative, Daler experiences friendship and heartbreak, lust and love, wisdom and betrayal. He tries to make sense of a confusing world as he grows into his own. Though introspective and reserved, Daler has a kind heart and forms meaningful connections. The story provides a window into universal questions around purpose, integrity, and human nature. With vivid scenes and contemplative passages, Daler attempts to reconcile his ideals with reality.

Connected

“The restaurant was loud and the music was even louder. I turned my head, our eyes met and everything just stopped.”

Iris Jacobs grew up on a dairy farm in Western Maine. She had everything she ever wanted, living in New York City, a dream career, and a great circle of friends. Her love life was a different story. She didn’t have one. That all changed the night she met Luca Ravello. The connection was something she never felt before.

Reality hits when Luca introduces Jane, his long-time fiancé.

Will Luca’s commitment to Jane stop him and Iris from exploring a new love? Can Iris live with the arrangement Luca expects from her?

Close Enough

Nicole’s life in the sunshine state of Florida was once warm and comfortable, having escaped an abusive marriage over a decade and a half ago. Her fulfilling career in the medical field provided stability, but the arrival of a new doctor named Mark would soon ignite a passion she had only fantasized about. As their paths intertwined at the prominent rehabilitation center where they worked, Nicole’s sexual desires transformed into breathtaking realities, surpassing her wildest dreams. Under the guidance of Anita, the managing director who had taken her under her wing, Nicole embarked on a journey of sexual exploration that revealed an unexpected array of colorful and edifying encounters.

Amidst the corridors of the rehabilitation center, the tantalizing encounters between Nicole and Mark fueled her imagination, igniting a creativity that soared beyond the confines of their working relationship. Their world became a wonderland of lust and love, each rendezvous fueling their insatiable appetites. However, their passionate escapades were abruptly halted when an angry patient intentionally struck Mark from behind with a chair, shattering their idyllic existence and plunging them into uncertainty.

In this sensually charged tale, Nicole’s pursuit of sexual enlightenment takes center stage, illuminating the depths of desire and the transformative power of intimate experiences. As they navigate the aftermath of the devastating blow that threatens to extinguish their flame, Nicole and Mark must confront the complexities of their connection and redefine their relationship in ways they never anticipated.

Cherry Blossom Blues

Delve into a lyrical love story shared between two Afro-American men living in the District of Columbia during the ethos of the roaring 1920s and the Harlem Renaissance. In spite of their class differences, their clandestine affairs thrive among their respective travels, marriages, careers, and time itself. Experience exhilaration as the main characters intertwine with real-life figures: Al Capone, Marcus Garvey, Herbert Hoover, Stephanie St. Clair and Albert Khan in Harlem, Macon, Georgia and Paris, France. Get goosebumps observing the living commune with the dead during ritualistic and mysterious séances. Observe how history often repeats itself by encountering the ramifications of the Spanish Influenza, World War I, Prohibition, and the threat of rising fascism foreshadowing the Jewish Holocaust. Most importantly, glean the profundity of our interconnections with everything in the universe in order to achieve authentic bliss.

Chambers

Samantha, a talented cardiac surgeon from South Africa, finds herself in unfamiliar territory when she accepts a job offer in a distant land. With a new home, new hospital, and a fresh set of rules to navigate, every day is a challenge. Among the unfamiliar faces is Devon, a celebrated architect with mysteries of his own.

Life is a delicate tapestry of emotions, and as Samantha soon discovers, escaping the past doesn’t always lead to a clear path forward. Their budding romance is a dance of passion, vulnerability, and unexpected turns. As she grapples with the complexities of the operating room, Samantha must also confront the trials of the heart.

Join Samantha on a journey of love, resilience, and self-discovery, where the past and present intertwine, and the future remains beautifully uncertain.

Catherine, Child of the Night

Fourteen-year-old Lady Catherine Thibeault leads a privileged and charmed life. She is heir in her own right to the title and demesne of Dove Castle. Whether picking daisies for the May Day festivities with her best friend Master Robert de Valiens and her beloved cat, Frere, or racing through the countryside on her Arabian stallion, Chimere, Cat’s life is perfect. Little does she know that her peaceful happy existence is about to come to an end with the unexpected arrival of her betrothed, knight extraordinaire Sir Geoffrey de Valiens. Catherine has never bowed to convention and has never given her betrothal much thought. Life at Dove Castle with her father and her companion, Mistress Drucilla, is idyllic and she has no wish to change it.

Sir Geoffrey not only reminds her of the dreaded realities of marriage and the eventual necessity of leaving Dove Castle but he also introduces the quagmire of politics that is the reality of the first decade of the Fourteenth Century during the reign of King Edward II of England. With war raging in Scotland and discontent rampant between England and France, evil elements emerge who will threaten the lives of not only Catherine but of everyone whom she loves.

The deadliest of Catherine’s enemies is her own cousin, Giles Thibeault, who upon learning that Dove Castle is no longer entailed swears vengeance on not only Catherine but on her family as well. If he cannot inherit Dove Castle then no one will.

Bloom of the Desert Rose

Marie Bensworth has been married now for 10 long years, living in the Wyoming plains’ beautiful empty spaces with her husband, Lewis. Childless and lonely, it seems her life is faced with replaying the same hot, long days again and again.

That is, until an outcast stranger moves to town. In the weeks to follow, thoughts and feelings arise within her she never knew she had, pushing and guiding her to this new and mysterious man. When their worlds abruptly collide, their attraction, at first ignored, becomes something much more powerful, stirring deeply within each of them.

Now, as the golden band on her left hand sets her life, she must decide if this man is worth the cost of her reputation and marriage. But when Lewis becomes suspicious, Marie will be faced with the choice to stand firm or fall into the strong arms of a man she was destined to love.

Are You Free?

The Morettis are a Sarasota family of Cafeteria Catholics, (rejecting some Vatican doctrines—mainly pelvic issue ones). Widower Dante goes to his first Confession in decades. He confesses gossip: telling his two daughters of his brother Nick’s fling with the caterer for his wedding vow renewal with Nick’s then-wife Rosemary. An unusual Penance surprises Dante. Tantrums of Nick’s ex-wife Rosemary impact events. Dante wants another good woman to love, but dating yields only stories that amuse his girls.

Dante’s gossip is repeated, changing with each teller. Floridians talk about freedom (yet yearn to mate). An undreamt-of source for finding love and fulfilling Dante’s Penance offers challenge and hope. Her name is Abigail.

Soon they’re doing everything in a pandemic. How could anything go right?

Are You Free? offers a witty rumination on family, religion, and the search for love in many forms – grief, longing, regret, surprise.

Always My Forever

In her captivating second novel, Always My Forever, acclaimed author Lorie O’Brien masterfully tells the poignant story of Kristin and Britt, childhood sweethearts whose love was once unbreakable. However, as they embarked on separate paths after their post-college breakup, their hearts were left shattered and their souls yearning for what they had lost. Two long and arduous years passed, filled with countless questions and restless nights.

Fate, with its mysterious ways, intervenes when a chance encounter unexpectedly reunites them. As they cautiously re-enter each other’s lives, they must confront the lingering shadows of their past and the unresolved emotions that still tie them together. Will their newfound connection be enough to reignite the flames of their once-unbreakable bond, or are they destined to remain forever apart?

Alchemy's Reach

Jennifer Murphy, deputy sheriff in a small town in New Mexico, has closed her heart to love. She throws herself into her job as well as running the ranch she and her brother, Ethan, inherited from their parents. Ethan’s wanderlust has taken him away in search of odd jobs. When he returns home, Jennifer entices him to stay for a while by telling him about Alchemy, a ghost town, once drowned by a reservoir, but now exposed by drought. Local barflies think there is treasure buried there. Others believe it is cursed. Intrigued, Ethan packs up his dog, Fi, and heads to the town. What happens at Alchemy will change Jen’s life forever, but will it open her heart to love?

A Widow's Kiss

Cara Danforth, a beautiful young woman with a fiery temper and the tenacity to match, is setting out to save her beloved home, Danforth House, and protect her three siblings from the ruination left in the wake of their father’s death. Piecing together reasons for their current economic state, Cara devises a plan to take back what was rightfully theirs.

Arriving home after years in the field, Roland Acworth, the Duke of Fairhaven, pondered his current situation. He was a spy not a guardian. What on earth was he going to do with four small children? It would appear, he would have time to figure it out. For before he could venture to Danforth Estates, Roland’s superiors tasked him with finding the thief responsible for a string of robberies amongst England’s elite.