"Adrian Rizzo was seven when she met her father for the first time. That was the day he nearly killed her--before her mother, Lina, stepped in. Soon after, Adrian was dropped off at her grandparents' house in Maryland, where she spent a long summer drinking lemonade, playing with dogs, making a new best friend--and developing the stirrings of a crush on her friend's ten-year-old brother. Lina, meanwhile, traveled the country promoting her fitness...

U.S. Marshal Jake Taylor has seen plenty of action during his years in law enforcement. But he'd rather go back to Iraq than face his next assignment: protection detail for federal judge Liz Michaels. His feelings toward Liz haven't warmed in the five years since she lost her husband--and Jake's best friend--to possible suicide. How can Jake be expected to care for the coldhearted workaholic who drove his friend to despair? As the danger mounts and...

"They say there are no secrets in a small town... Criminal psychologist Audrey Harte is returning home after seven years. She'll have to face the whispers and the rumors that have haunted her family since she left. Because when Audrey was thirteen, she and her best friend Maggie killed Maggie's abusive father. Her first night back in town ends in a fight with a drunken Maggie, with her old crush Jake to witness it all. Audrey can't believe it can...

Über-sexy cowboys + strong women = love/hate relationships = smokin' hot, down-and-dirty, intensely sexual Westerns.

"Colin Hancock is giving his second chance his best shot. At 28, he's focused only on walking a straight line - getting his teaching degree, working out at the gym religiously, and avoiding all the places and people that proved so destructive in his earlier life. The last thing he's looking for is a serious relationship. But when Maria Sanchez crosses paths with him on a rainswept night in North Carolina, his plans are upended in a way that will rattle...

As the war on terrorism wages on, our nation's policymakers will continue to face the challenge of assessing threats that various terrorist groups pose to the U.S. homeland and our interests abroad. In addition, the struggle against terrorism likely will be in constant competition with other U.S. international policy issues that come to the fore. As part of the RAND Corporation's yearlong "Thinking Strategically About Combating Terrorism" project,...

"Revenge isn't the only dish served cold... Ali Reynolds's longtime friend and Taser-carrying nun, Sister Anselm, rushes to the bedside of a young pregnant woman hospitalized for severe injuries after she was hit by a car on a deserted Arizona highway. The girl had been running away from The Family, a polygamous cult with no patience for those who try to leave its ranks. Meanwhile, married life agrees with Ali. But any hopes that she and her husband,...

"Detective James Cross has been honorably discharged from the Army Criminal Investigation Division due to wounds sustained when an IED blew up near him. Now with the Lake City Police Department, he's rooming with this good buddy and partner, Cole, while he figures out his family dynamics. Physician Assistant Lainie Jackson is eighteen months out from an attempted murder perpetrated by her ex, which ended when she managed to grab the weapon and shoot...

"Halloween is approaching, and criminal psychologist Audrey Harte has been hired by the prosecution to help prepare for the trial of 19-year-old serial killer Ian 'Boy Scout' Monroe. His one surviving victim, Tori Scott, is the star witness, but when someone begins killing with Monroe's M.O., the authorities--and Audrey--begin to wonder if Monroe had a partner. Keeping Tori safe is the main concern, but Audrey has also attracted the copy-cat's attention....

PI Charlie Dodge knows what it's like to have something important disappear. His wife, Annie, suffers from early-onset Alzheimer's, causing her to remember little of the life she shared with her husband. Charlie has devoted his career to saving what he can--missing people, threatened lives. But when prominent Denver multimillionaire Carter Dunleavy vanishes without a trace, Charlie and his assistant, Wyrick, discover missing doesn't always mean gone....