Зарубежная современная проза — Бренда Новак

The Reverend Lee Barker went missing nineteen years ago… And the people of Stillwater, Mississippi, believe they know why. They’re convinced he was murdered – by his stepson, Clay Montgomery. But only Clay – and his mother and sisters – can say for sure. They were the only ones there that fateful night, the only ones who know what really happened. And they’re not talking.Allie McCormick is a cold-case detective from Chicago. After a particularly difficult divorce, she’s returned to Stillwater...

The people of Stillwater, Mississippi, are asking questions about murder. Again.Twenty years ago Madeline Barker’s father disappeared. Despite what everyone else thinks, Madeline’s convinced her stepfamily had nothing to do with it. But the recent discovery of his car finally proves he didn’t just drive away. Worse, the police find something in the trunk that says there’s more to this case than murder.With no other recourse, Madeline decides to hire a private investigator – even if the cops...

You're invited to a wedding in Whiskey Creek, Heart of the Gold CountryUnfortunately, it's the wrong wedding. Olivia Arnold is arranging the festivities–and it's the hardest thing she's ever done. Because she should be marrying Kyle Houseman. They were together for more than a year…. But her jealous sister, Noelle, stole him away–and now she's pregnant.All their friends in Whiskey Creek know as well as Olivia does that Kyle's making a mistake. His stepbrother, Brandon, knows it, too. But Kyle's...

www.BrendaNovak.comFirst love. Second chance? As the daughter of a hoarder, Phoenix Fuller had a tough childhood. So when the handsome, popular Riley Stinson became her boyfriend in high school, she finally felt as though she had something to be proud of. Phoenix was desperate not to lose him–especially once she found out she was pregnant. Yes, she might have acted a bit obsessive when he broke up with her. But she did not run down the girl he started dating next.Unfortunately, there was no way...

Claire O'Toole's mother, Alana, went missing fifteen years ago.That was big news in Pineview, Montana, the kind of town where nothing much ever happens. Then, last year, Claire's husband, David, died in a freak accident—after launching his own investigation into Alana's disappearance. Is Alana dead? Or did she simply abandon her husband and daughters?Claire is determined to find out—and her former boyfriend, Isaac Morgan, wants to help. Although their relationship didn't end well, he still has...

Just call her Christmas Eve…Eve Harmon has always enjoyed Christmas, but this year it reminds her of everything she doesn't have. Almost all her friends are married now, and that's what Eve wants, too. Love. A husband and kids of her own. But the B and B she manages, and even Whiskey Creek, the small Gold Country town where she was born and raised, suddenly seem…confining.Eve's worried that her future will simply be a reflection of her past. There's no one in the area she could even imagine as a...

Did she once have a sister? Has her mother lied all these years? Why?After a painful divorce, Maisey Lazarow returns to Fairham, the small island off the North Carolina coast where she grew up. She goes there to heal–and to help her brother, Keith, a deeply troubled man who's asked her to come home. But she refuses to stay in the family house. The last person she wants to see is the wealthy, controlling mother she escaped years ago.Instead, she finds herself living next door to someone else...

When Katie Rogers returns to Dundee, Idaho, it's not because she wants to.It's because she's disillusioned, broke–and pregnant. She was going to make something of her life in the big city. Instead, she's paying a high price for trusting the wrong man. Booker Robinson is the man she didn't trust, the man she'd left behind in Dundee…and the first person she sees when she comes back.But despite Booker's notorious past, he now has a successful business and a home of his own. He's also spent two...

The small town of Florence, Arizona, is known for one thing–its prison. Gabrielle Hadley is in Florence for personal reasons, though; she's seeking the mother who abandoned her more than two decades ago.In order to support herself and her two-year-old daughter, Gabrielle is working as a prison guard–just about the only job available in this bleak desert town.Randall Tucker is a prisoner at Florence, convicted of murdering his wife. He has one goal: to survive until he can prove his innocence–and...

When Lucky Caldwell was ten, her mother, Red–the best-known hooker in Dundee, Idaho–married Morris Caldwell, a wealthy and much older man.It didn't last, of course, but Morris's kindness was the highlight of Lucky's life. Mike Hill, Morris's grandson, doesn't feel too well-disposed toward Red or her kids. He believes they alienated Morris from his family. Even Morris's Victorian mansion, on the property next to the Hill ranch, wasn't inherited by one of his grandchildren. Instead the house went...

Thanks to a devastating revelation about her husband, Reenie Holbrook's once-perfect marriage is over.For eleven years she had the life she wanted–and now it's gone. Reenie decides that the first step in recovering from her ordeal is to find work; after all, she has three young children to support. She's thrilled when she lands a job at Dundee High teaching history–until Isaac Russell, the man who triggered the unraveling of her marriage, accepts a temporary position teaching science. Then she's...

Rebecca Wells desperately wants to overcome her reputation. She's finally trying to put an end to her twenty-four-year rivalry with the perfect Josh Hill, a rivalry that began when she was a kid and the Hills moved in across the street. Great-looking, popular, a successful horse rancher, Josh is Dundee's golden boy–and the son her father always wanted.But even when her father insists they call a truce, it's hard for Rebecca to drop her resentment of Josh. She refuses to acknowledge that she...

Jaclyn Wentworth is on her own with three little kids.She used to be married to the golden boy–former golden boy–of their small Nevada town. The marriage was a disaster because her ex-husband never grew up. And he sure wasn't much of a daddy. Now Jaclyn's living in Reno. And who, of all people, does she run into there but Cole Perrini, bad boy of Feld, Nevada. Former bad boy.He was her ex-husband's opposite in every way–and he still is. Because Cole's made good in every sense of the word. Will...

The car accident was Hannah Price's fault–a few seconds of inattention that changed Gabe Holbrook's life forever, destroying everything he'd been or ever wanted to be. He was a man who'd had it all. Intelligent, handsome, talented, rich, he'd been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Now he's come home to Dundee, the small town where he was raised, but he's a stranger to the people who once knew him. Folks think he's bitter and withdrawn; he knows he's just focused on recovering.But thanks...

Emma Wright has finally escaped the dangerous man who's controlled her every move for the past six years. Taking her five-year-old son, she has fled across the country–seeking freedom, safety and a fresh start. But Max's father isn't giving them up so easily.Preston Holman understands the lengths a parent will go for his child. He's given up everything to pursue the man he believes killed his son.When Preston meets Emma, he wants nothing to do with her or the boy who reminds him so much of his...

What Maggie does… Maggie Russell, a police reporter in Sacramento, works the night shift. She's divorced and the mother of a very active three-year-old son. Maggie may not have much time for a social life, but she's recently begun an e-mail correspondence with a man named John.What Maggie knows… She's finally stumbled on the big crime story that will truly establish her career–if it doesn't end her life. A serial killer who moves from one city to the next. A murderer who chooses a female...

The Seattle police suspect Madison Lieberman's father was the serial killer they call the «Sandpoint Strangler.» Madison refuses to believe it. Her father is now dead, and all she wants is the chance to create a new life for herself and her six-year-old child.Then she discovers something in the crawl space beneath her parents' house. Something that makes her question her father's innocence. Or the innocence of someone else who's equally close to her…When another woman turns up dead, crime writer...

The bodies of seven women have been discovered in Skull Valley, Arizona. Jonah Young, a private security operative from Department 6, has been hired by the Yavapai County sheriff to assist in solving these murders. But Jonah's not prepared for the complications that arise when he's forced to work with a woman from his past, private investigator Francesca Moretti. Jonah betrayed Francesca ten years ago. She hasn't forgiven him and she's pretty sure she never will. But the woman she was hired to...

When Harley Nelson got on his motorcycle and drove out of Portland, Oregon, ten years ago, he left behind a bad reputation–and a baby.Audra Worthington was the reason for both. Well, the baby, anyway. The reputation he already had. It's why rich girl Audra fell for him in the first place. Now Audra's dead. His son, Brandon, is being raised by her family–good girl Lauren, the perfect daughter, and her uncompromising parents.But Harley's a self-made success down in California and he's ready to...

Too bad not all memories are pleasant!Everyone in Whiskey Creek remembers Sophia DeBussi as the town’s Mean Girl. Especially Ted Dixon, whose love she once scorned. But Sophia has paid the price for her youthful transgressions. The man she did marry was rich and powerful but abusive. So when he goes missing, she secretly hopes he'll never come back—until she learns that he died running from an FBI probe of his investment firm. Not only has he left Sophia penniless, he's left her to face all the...

One Christmas can change your life…Kyle Houseman believes he’ll never find anyone he could love as much as Olivia Arnold, who’s now married to his stepbrother. Not only did he lose her, he's been through one divorce and has no desire to go through another. He’s determined to be extra careful about the next woman he gets involved with—which is why he fights his attraction to the beautiful stranger who rents his farmhouse for the Christmas holiday.Lourdes Bennett is a country music artist. She’s...

Adelaide Davies, who’s been living in Sacramento, returns to Whiskey Creek, the place she once called home. She’s there to take care of her aging grandmother and to help with Gran’s restaurant, Just Like Mom’s.But Adelaide isn't happy to be back. There are too many people here she’d rather avoid, people who were involved in that terrible June night fifteen years ago. Ever since the graduation party that changed her life, she’s wanted to go to the police and make sure the boys responsible – men...

She needs money, a lot of it, to pay for her daughter's operation.Macy McKinney will do anything for five-year-old Haley. Businessman Thad Winters, a widower, wants a child without the complications of a relationship. He's willing to pay for that.He interviews applicants–and hires Macy to have his baby. Once Macy's pregnant, they decide that a temporary marriage will simplify the situation–but it does exactly the opposite!

When Chantel Miller gets lost during an unexpected snowstorm, a stranger named Dillon Broderick rescues her.In the hours they spend together they become very close and the intimacy of that night creates a special bond between them. But real life intervenes. The woman Chantel was on her way to see is her sister, Stacy. They've been estranged for ten years and Chantel is determined to regain her affection. The woman Dillon was on his way to see is…Stacy.They've been friends for some time but now...

Home is where her heart isWhen Presley Christensen returns to Whiskey Creek with her little boy after two years away, she has completely changed her life. She's made peace with her past and overcome the negative behavior that resulted from her difficult childhood. Now she's back in the small town that was the closest thing to «home» she ever knew–the town where she can be with the sister who's her only family.There's just one catch. Aaron Amos still lives in Whiskey Creek, at least until he...

Welcome to Whiskey Creek—heart of the gold country! One day, Callie Vanetta receives devastating news… She needs a liver transplant. But her doctors warn that, in her case, the chances of finding a compatible donor aren’t good. Determined to spend whatever time she has left on her own terms, she keeps the diagnosis to herself and moves out to her late grandparents’ farm.She’s always wanted to live there. But the farm hasn’t been worked in years and she begins to fear she can’t manage it, that...

With her son, Ryan, Jenna's moved back to Mendocino, where she's living and working at the Victoriana Bed and Breakfast.It's owned by the elderly Durhams–whose grandson, Adam, was her first love. And, in some ways, her last…. But that was fifteen years ago, before Adam abandoned her and his family for the bright lights and big city. For a successful career and a fast-track life.When Adam and Jenna rediscover each other, he wants her back. But much as Jenna knows she could love him again, she...

Sometimes starting over means finding everything you've been missing…After catching her fiance cheating – with another man – straight-laced, workaholic Ellie Fisher liberates her wild side just long enough to indulge in a passionate one-night stand with a tall, dark stranger she never quite catches the name of. Embarrassed by her recklessness, she hopes never to see him again…until a pregnancy test turns positive.Professional football player, Hudson King has always been cautious around women....

New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak welcomes readers to the town of Silver Springs, where surprises wait around every corner!The search for her birth mother brought Cora Kelly to the New Horizons Boys Ranch. Getting a job there was easy enough, but confiding in Aiyana, the ranch’s owner, that she's really her daughter? Cora's not sure she can do that, not unless she's confident the news will be welcomed. And once she gets to know Elijah Turner—Aiyana's adopted son and ranch...

Savanna Gray needs a do-over. Her life was seemingly perfect but then it unravelled when her husband was arrested.With her divorce settled, she takes her two children to Silver Springs to seek refuge between the walls of her late father’s house. And when Gavin Turner steps in to help Savanna fix not just her home but herself, Savanna must decide whether she can learn to trust again.

They're back…Laurel Hodges has changed her identity twice. She's been on the run for the past four years, trying to outdistance the gang members who blame her for the death of one of their own. She's finally found peace and stability in the small town of Pineview, Montana. But just when Laurel thinks she and her children are safe…the nightmare starts all over again.The Crew, a ruthless prison gang with ties to Laurel's brother, will never forget and they'll never forgive. And now that they've...

A dangerous cult has recently taken over the desert ghost town of Paradise, Arizona. Members worship at the feet–and in the bed–of its charismatic leader, Ethan Wycliff, and obey his orders blindly. They've already tried to murder one woman and they're implicated in the disappearance of another.Nate Ferrentino, who works for private security contractor Department 6, has been assigned to infiltrate this group. It's a challenge he welcomes–until he learns that colleague Rachel Jessop will be going...

WELCOME TO WINTER IN WHISKEY CREEK—HOME OF THE GOLD COUNTRY!Her name is Cheyenne. But who is she? After growing up in cheap motels, moving from town to town with her sister and mother, Cheyenne Christensen is grateful to be on her own. She’s grateful, too, for the friends she found once her family settled in California. But she’s troubled by the mystery of her earliest memories, most of which feature a smiling blonde woman. A woman who isn’t her mother.Although Cheyenne has repeatedly asked for...

For more than a year, Sebastian Costas has been trying to unravel the truth behind the murder of his ex-wife and son. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, he's convinced that her second husband–a cop–committed both murders, then faked his own death. Now Sebastian has followed the slimmest of leads to Sacramento…and that's where he finally gets the break he needs. Jane Burke, an investigator with The Last Stand, calls him in connection with a separate crime–a crime that could lead him...

There's a body buried behind a Mississippi farmhouse.Grace Montgomery knows who it is, and she knows why it happened. She was only thirteen the night it all went wrong. And now, like then, she has no choice but to keep her mouth shut. Grace left the town of Stillwater thirteen years ago, trying to forget, trying to make good.As an assistant D.A. in Jackson, she's finally achieved the success that was supposed to change her life. But it hasn't–so she's come back to confront her own history. Which...

Virgil Skinner served fourteen years for a murder he didn't commit. He's finally been exonerated, but he can't escape the gang he joined in order to survive. They'll do anything to keep him from telling what he knows. And if they can't get to Virgil they'll go after his sister and her kids.The California Department of Corrections needs someone to infiltrate another gang, one that's taking control of the state's most notorious supermax. Virgil agrees to do it under an alias–in exchange for his...

When air force captain Luke Trussell opens his door one Sunday morning, he's shocked to find the police–and even more shocked when they charge him with rape.He knows he made a mistake in judgment the night before, but he certainly didn't force his attentions on the woman who's been stalking him for months. Problem is…Karina Harter has the bruises–and the DNA evidence–to make her claim convincing.Determined to isolate Luke, Karina goes to victims' rights advocate Ava Bixby of The Last Stand,...

Who was the real killer?Romain Fornier lost his reason for living when his daughter was kidnapped and murdered. He used a cop's gun to mete out his own justice and spent the next few years in prison. Once he was freed, he returned to his Cajun roots in small-town Louisiana. But now he learns that he might have killed the wrong man. Jasmine Stratford, a psychological profiler, is convinced his daughter's killer is still alive–and that she and Romain have something in common. She believes the same...