Standalone Novels

She Laughs

A haunting love story of guilt, grief, and the dangerous line between vengeance and forgiveness.

Brie MacDavies should have drowned that night. Two of her best friends—one like a sister, the other the boy she almost loved—never made it out of the water. But she survived… and someone doesn’t think she should have.

For months, anonymous notes have appeared, each carrying the same chilling message: It should have been you. Haunted by guilt and convinced her survival was a cruel mistake, Brie has stopped believing she deserves happiness—until a stranger named Brendan walks into her life.

Charming. Steady. Magnetic. Brendan feels like a lifeline she didn’t know she needed. But beneath his calm smile lies a secret that could destroy her. Brendan is the brother of the friend she lost—and the man who’s been searching for the person he believes caused his sister’s death.

Driven by grief and rage, Brendan came to punish her. Yet the more he learns about Brie, the less certain he becomes of what really happened that night—and the more impossible it becomes to let her go.

In a story where love and guilt collide, two broken hearts must face the truth about the past and decide whether forgiveness can heal what vengeance would destroy.

For readers of Tarryn Fisher, Megan Miranda, and J.E. Reed—She Laughs is an emotionally charged romantic thriller where obsession, memory, and redemption blur like reflections on dark water.

— Published April 13, 2019

When the Boughs Break

By the age of twenty-five, Cate Hamilton has survived living in a tent by the river, being orphaned by a drug-addicted mother, living out of her dead mother’s VW beetle, and an abusive relationship. Cate is a survivor, but it doesn’t mean she is without scars. Some visible, but most locked away inside of a fragile vault constructed from years of stubborn determination and grit. Until now, Lance Barstrom was her biggest mistake. Despite the law stating he cannot be within one hundred yards of her, he is still controlling her life. He has promised to destroy anyone who touches her before he kills her. He has never broken a promise—she has the scars to prove it. No one has ever tempted her to test Lance’s promise until James Payne shows up at Razzle, chaperoning his kid brother on his twenty-first birthday. Beyond superficial attraction, Cate feels her guarded heart beat a little faster when he smiles. His manners and kind demeanor are the opposite of what she has ever known and she is intrigued. For the first time in almost a year she tests out the reach of the law and accepts an offer to dance. A dance that catapults Cate onto a path full of tough decisions and risk, only now it isn’t just her life in danger. It might be her biggest mistake yet.
Content Warning:  When the Boughs Break contains child neglect and abuse, domestic violence, psychological abuse, and an instance of rape.

Completed Series

Taste of Freedom Trilogy

Tempted

All Allison Michaels ever wanted was to become a graphic designer, be like her big sister, and find the love of her life.But buried under mounds of student loan debt, working two dead-end jobs, she has no time for a social life. As things stand, she can’t see how any of her dreams will ever come true. That is until an opportunity of a lifetime lands in her lap. Tempted by the seductive promise of being debt-free, walking in her sister’s footsteps, and living it up in Chicago, small-town girl, Allie takes a chance. If she is successful, she will be debt-free and have real-world references from a big-time graphic design firm. It is a win-win-win situation. All she has to do is ruin a man. A very bad man. Finding the love of her life can wait, or can it? Never did she expect to find the man of her dreams in a Chicago theater, the timing is nothing short of inopportune. Maybe Bryant will wait for her and give her space while she seduces the wicked man she was hired to help destroy. Allison soon learns that “too good to be true” always is as she trades one burden for another. She may never truly be free.

Tempted is the first book in the Taste of Freedom trilogy. The story is continuous and not a stand-alone novel. The trilogy should be read in succession. Tempted and the second book, Tantalized have cliffhanger endings, the characters find their happily ever after with the conclusion of book three, Torn.

Tantalized

Allison Jane Michaels quickly learns she is in way over her head. Taking a design job with unscrupulous strings attached to ruin a man she doesn’t know spirals out of control, especially when she discovers the man is Bryant. He isn’t the evil monster her boss made him out to be. She soon finds out that she never could do the job. Allison can’t hurt the man she loves. She is determined to find a way to convince Martin Kirklen to let her out of the deal. But when she receives a cryptic message from her sister and Martin implies she would not only be risking her own life but the life of her sister, Allison is trapped. Hurt the man she loves or risk her sister’s life. There never was a win-win-win. 

Tantalized is the second book of the Taste of Freedom Trilogy, following the cliffhanger ending of Tempted. The trilogy is continuous and they are not stand-alone novels. The main characters find their happily ever after at the conclusion of book three, Torn.

Torn

Allison Jane Michaels never thought she could do it–be as callous and devious as her sister. Three weeks ago, she set out on an adventure that promised to leave her debt-free with a stacked portfolio and references that would allow her to break into the graphic design world. All she had to do was help destroy a horrible man. Then she fell for the very man she was supposed to help ruin. With her tail between her legs, debt-free, and opportunities to work at numerous design firms, Allison is running home heartbroken and with guilt the size of her high student loans. Allison is determined to start over. Now that Bryant knows what she had done she can never see him again. He was nothing like they said, the farthest thing from the evil she could imagine. She never knew freedom would come with such a high cost to her dignity, values and her very soul. Time would heal the wounds she caused herself as long as she could learn to forget him. However, when the police threaten to put a warrant out for her arrest, she begins to understand she never had a chance at freedom, as she just traded one prison for another. Not only do the police want to question her further, but now Martin Kirklen wants revenge and her hide. Before she makes it out the door and back to Chicago, Bryant shows up on her doorstep. With his beautifully masculine essence glaring down at her, Allison knows she will never be free.

Torn is the final book in the Taste of Freedom Trilogy.

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