FICTION · SUSPENSE
Marliss Melton
In the years since Jim had died, Julie Barenson had somehow found a way to start living again.
— from The guardian
Most acclaimed
The protector
2003
Eryn McClellan teaches ESL in Washington, D.C., until the day she's targeted by terrorists avenging her father's actions in Afghanistan. The FBI has stepped in, but when it looks like they are using her for bait, General McClellan enlists the aid of the only man he knows he can trust: former Navy SEAL Ike Calhoun. Embracing solitude in his remote cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Ike thought he'd left the War on Terror behind. Now he's stuck shielding a blue-eyed beauty from ambitious federal agents and crazed jihadists. More disturbing still, the charming Eryn seems intent on shattering his self-imposed isolation. Ike does his best to resist her welcoming ways, but he can feel his restraint eroding like a mountain in a mudslide. With the FBI hot on their heels and the terrorists not far behind, Ike willingly wages a one-man war in defense of the woman whose passion and faith have given him the strength to rise above his past.
In the dark
Following the overwhelming critical and popular success of A Man to Slay Dragons, Meagan McKinney triumphs once again with a new romantic thriller that sweeps from the rolling hills of Maryland's money-and-horses set to the perilous midnight playgrounds of New York's sexually bold. The newspaper headline read "Heiress Jacqueline Blum Missing. Authorities Believe Foul Play Likely". The news hit her niece, Alyn, particularly hard. She had only recently received an invitation from Jacqueline to visit Blumfield, the fabulous estate and horse farm. After years of estrangement, it seemed Jacqueline wanted to finally get to know her only living relative. Knowing there was probably nothing she could do, Alyn nevertheless headed to Blumfield in hopes that her aunt would return safely home. The sinister cast of characters in her aunt's employ and a dark and mysterious insurance investigator, Peter Youngblood, convince her to begin her own search for the truth about Jacqueline, a search that will lead her to discover the true definition of unthinkable betrayal.
Forget me not
I fell in love with a boy a long time ago. I was only a small girl. Scared and frightened, I was taken from my home and held against my will. His father hurt me, but he protected me and kept me safe as best he could. Until I left him. I ran the first chance I got and even though I knew he wasn’t behind me, I didn’t stop. The branches lashed out at me, punishing me for leaving him in the hands of a monster. I’ve never felt such guilt in my life. Although I survived, the boy was never found. I prayed for him to be safe. I dreamed he’d be alright and come back to me. Even as a young girl I knew I loved him, but I betrayed him. Twenty years later, all my wishes came true. But the boy came back a man. With a grip strong enough to keep me close and a look in his eyes that warned me to never dare leave him again. I was his to keep, after all. Twenty years after leaving one hell, I entered another. Our tale was only just getting started. It’s dark and twisted. But that doesn’t make it any less of what it is. A love story. Our love story.