Showing results by author "Denise Grover Swank" in All Categories

I’m cursed. Yes, really. I broke a boy’s heart, because he wasn’t romance hero material, and his nonna cursed me to live out my favorite plotlines...without the happy ending. Consider my track record: Second-chance romance? Turns out my old flame returned home to cook meth, not take care of his parents.

When Magnolia Steele started digging into her father's disappearance, she had no idea she'd find so much dirt. The secrets she unearthed have changed the official story of what happened to him. Everyone other than her now believes that he embezzled from a client with the help of several accomplices, one of whom got greedy and killed the rest, but Magnolia's convinced there's more to it. She finds plenty of conflicting evidence, including startling links between several recent deaths and her father's past.

After her assistant DA boyfriend's near brush with death, Rose Gardner hopes to make it through the holiday season with a minimal amount of drama. But she can't forget the promise she made to the king of the Fenton County underworld in exchange for Mason's life.

Just when Piper begins to accept her new role as demon slayer, a fresh threat rises. People are disappearing, and Piper is sure a sinister, otherworldly force is at play. Add to that, ghosts who show up out of thin air, warning her of a danger she won’t be able to outrun, and a freaking bevy of supernatural creatures hiding in the background, and Piper suddenly has her hands full.

She’s a hopeless romantic...for everyone but herself. Can the least romantic man alive convince her love isn’t just for other people? Willow: There are certain expectations when you’re born into a multigenerational family of matchmakers, which is why I fled my hometown and tried to build a life of my own. But it turns out matchmaking is hard to quit, and I can’t stop trying to match the customers at the bakery I manage - including my boss and the tea shop owner next door - even though I’m hopeless at love.

For as long as Magnolia Steele can remember, the past has had its hooks in her. Her time as a Broadway actress in New York City was an escape that ended in public humiliation, but now that she's back home in Franklin, Tennessee, she's feeling the grip of the two incidents that stole her innocence. The first was the disappearance of her father when she was a teen, who left home for a meeting and never came back. The other incident...well, her memories have returned, but it's best left where it belongs - in the past.

I used to believe in what we do at Mayberry Matchmakers, but now? Love is just another four-letter word. Too bad my grandmother hasn’t gotten the memo. When tech billionaire Rory Byrne approaches us, wanting to develop the matchmaking app my sister and I dreamed up (and Nana shot down), she jumps at the chance. My grandmother is nothing if not opportunistic. Of course, there’s a catch. She’ll only do it if Rory lets us matchmake him the old-fashioned way. He’s going to say no. Please God, let him say no. The last thing I want to do is matchmake an entitled rich jerk.

I’m usually the first person on my block to decorate for Christmas. This year? Humbug. My six-year-old son, Aidan, just had a meltdown after learning some hard truths from a drunk Santa impersonator, and I can no longer deny we both need help. Change is hard for Aidan, and right now he’s dealing with several big ones, including A) his father abandoning us, B) our move to Asheville, and C) the Santa snafu.

A demon army is descending on Asheville, prepared to drag Piper and her friends to hell for defying Okeus, the god of war and hell, a threat her band of battered and weary defenders is nowhere near strong enough to hold off. To add to her worries, a crescent moon is destined to appear on her left palm that will compel her to kill Kieran Abel, the demi-god son of Okeus. Now that Okeus has discovered his long coveted human son, he will torture Piper for eons if she follows through.

While Rose might be reeling from the news that Joe's ex-girlfriend is pregnant, she's got bigger issues to deal with. One, putting her business back together - albeit with a new partner - and into two separate entities; and two, trying to keep the Fenton County Sheriff's Department from figuring out the true identity of the Lady in Black.

Carly Moore is finally feeling settled in Drum, Tennessee. She likes her job waitressing at Max’s Tavern and her boyfriend...she should have known both were too good to be true. The previous waitress Lula unexpectedly returns, threatening Carly’s job and stability in Drum. But when Lula disappears, Carly is the only one who believes she didn’t leave of her own violation. Lula has a few secrets of her own, and one person is front and center on Carly’s suspect list—the town’s drug lord.

Crashing weddings is so not my thing. I’d much rather stay home and watch HGTV...and ignore the fact that my life is messier than those fixer-upper houses. Because my jerk ex left, and the only thing keeping a roof over my sons’ heads is my crappy telemarketing job. But then, I get a challenge from the Bad Luck Club, the group I joined to turn my luck around: Do something that breaks the rules.

Neely Kate’s life is finally coming together. She’s living and working with her best friend, Rose. Her newly discovered brother, Joe, has decided he’s done hiding that she’s his sister, and her new boyfriend, Jed, is everything she could have dreamed of and more. Only things aren’t going as well as she’d hoped. Neely Kate is still keeping secrets from Rose.

Rose Gardner hates seeing her normally flamboyant best friend Neely Kate struggle with depression. So when Rose stumbles onto a piece of evidence indicating her birth mother might have been involved in a crime, she does the one thing guaranteed to cheer Neely Kate. She convinces her friend to help her solve a mystery. Though their penchant for investigating has gotten them into plenty of pickles in the past, what can go wrong?

Rose is called into action when Neely Kate's cousin goes missing and the police refuse to take it seriously. But while the authorities - Rose's ex-boyfriend, included - are certain the missing woman has run away, mounting evidence points to foul play. Rose agrees to help her friend, even if it means partaking in Neely Kate's shenanigans, including an impromptu trip to a strip club.

Rose Gardner is trying to build a new normal. One that leaves the Fenton County crime world - including James "Skeeter" Malcolm, the current king - behind. Her best friend and roommate is a big part of that effort, but Neely Kate is busy building her own life anew. She disappeared for a few days, scaring the spit out of Rose - which is why Rose finds it impossible to deny her when she suggests they look for a missing parrot. Only this time Neely Kate isn't interested in the reward money - she's set them up to work with a cranky private investigator.

Violet Gardner Beauregard is barely cold in her grave, but she’s still stirring up trouble. When Neely Kate Coulson accompanies her best friend, Rose, to Violet’s attorney for the reading of the will, they get the shock of their lives, one that leaves them both reeling. If that weren’t enough, special prosecutor Mason Devereaux is still calling witnesses for his grand jury, digging into the corruption in Fenton County. Neely Kate is approached by an unexpected source who reveals shocking news from the grand jury testimony - information about her wayward husband, Ronnie Coulson.

One night. Just one night. Or at least that’s what Maisie tells herself when she brings Jack Durand home. Because even though his arms are a thing of beauty and he can charm wild animals, she’s in no position to start anything with anyone. So she pretends she’s just scratching an itch. Jack is pretending, too. His little sister is moving to Asheville as his ward, and between getting her through her senior year of high school and working at the family brewery, he doesn’t have time for a girlfriend. Even a sexy, no-nonsense powerhouse like Maisie.

Emma Thompson and Will Davenport may have escaped from the Vinco Potentia, but the secret political organization is far from their only problem. The trail to Jake is growing colder every day, but when Emma begins to display unusual powers of her own, Will wonders if her role in the prophecy is more significant than anyone ever believed. To find out, they delve into Emma's past while she struggles against a subconscious force - a force that takes the form of a man who knows too much.

Everything Emma Thompson owns fits in a suitcase. She moves from one roach infested motel to another. She and Jake, her five-year-old son, who can see the future, are running from the men intent on taking him. Emma will do anything to protect him, even when it means accepting the help of a stranger named Will. Jake insists she needs Will, but Emma's never needed help before. And even though she's learned to trust her son, it doesn't mean she trusts Will.