I’ve been working on a secret project… (Long post ahead!)

Each year, I like to release a holiday romance—it’s become a Christmas tradition for me. But, *this* year, I thought…let’s mix it up a bit. I was chatting with my buddy Katie Reus, and we decided it would be super fun to invite other romantic suspense authors to participate in a holiday romance anthology with us. The rules were simple: All of the stories would be set in the same small town (North Pole, Montana), and each author would contribute a NEW, short story for the collection.

And we wanted to make this anthology FREE for readers. FREE—as in, our Christmas gift to you.

That’s how MISTLETOE AND MAYHEM was born.

MISTLETOE AND MAYHEM will be officially releasing on November 10, 2026. The entire collection contains over 100,000 words—and, again, our goal is to give this anthology to readers as a free gift.

Right now, you can pre-order MISTLETOE AND MAYHEM for free at Nook, Google Play, and the Amazon US store. Please note—for my international readers—the international Amazon stores are NOT showing the free price at this time. I am working to try and get the international Amazon stores to price match for me. However, my international readers can currently pre-order the anthology for free at Google Play.

Also, when the book is released, it will be available at Kobo Books and Apple Books (and both US and international readers will be able to download the book for free at these retailers). Apple Books and Kobo do not allow pre-orders on free books, so that is why you do not have a pre-order option at those retailers. But rest assured, when the title goes live on November 10th, it will be free at Apple Books and Kobo.

MISTLETOE AND MAYHEM will contain five stories:

CHRISTMAS RECRUIT by Janie Crouch

FALLING FOR A HITMAN by Katie Reus

WHEN THE SNOW FALLS by Isabel Jolie

FEELING FROSTY by Ivy Beck

WHEN HE SLEIGHS by Cynthia Eden

My contribution to the anthology, WHEN HE SLEIGHS, is actually going to be a “Protector and Defender Christmas Romance” novella…and here’s the blurb for you…

𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐇𝐞 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞…

US Marshal Flynn Krane has one item on his holiday to-do list—protect Kate Sawyer. Two years ago, he gave gorgeous Kate a new identity, a new home, and he walked away—even as it broke his heart. He fell hard for Kate but staying with her wasn’t a possibility.

𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤.

Kate’s criminal ex has found her—and sent a hitman to take her out. But Flynn is not going to let that happen. He’ll guard Kate, they’ll set a trap for the contract killer, and, if he’s lucky, Kate will give Flynn a second chance to win her heart. Because this time, nothing will make him walk away.

I am super excited for this anthology! You guys all know how Christmas obsessed I can be.

Thank you all so very, very much for the support and encouragement that you have given to me over the years. I hope that you enjoy the holiday gift!!

It’s book release day! My new romantic suspense, ICE COVERED HEART, is available now!

“A perfect October read!! This book was so much fun. I was hooked from the prologue.” -AvidReader, GoodReads

His dream woman just walked right through the front door…and now Hunter McQueen has to figure out a way to keep her. Keep her alive. Keep her close. Keep her…forever. Good thing he’s good at strategizing.

Hunter McQueen is a former Ranger, a part-time Ice Breaker, and an all-around badass. It’s not like he looks for trouble—more like, trouble looks for him. And this time, the trouble that has come to hunt him down appears in the beautiful form of Shelby Carter, the famous “final girl” who survived the Sorority Seven Killer and sent the perp to death row.

Once he manages to pick his jaw off the floor, Hunter wants to know how he can help Shelby. Also, how in the hell he can convince the woman to go out on a date with him? Fan boy much? Embarrassing but…yes. If there is one thing that Hunter respects, it’s strength, and Shelby has a spine of steel.

She fought alone before, but this time, she needs…him.

The big, dangerous stranger is supposed to be the protector that Shelby needs. He’s also supposed to be the man who can help her uncover the truth about a night that still torments her.  Seven years ago, Shelby took down a killer who murdered her friends. During the attack, Shelby lost the hearing in her right ear. She avoids crowds, she trusts no one, and she spends her days and nights alone.

But new memories are cracking through the darkness in her mind—a darkness left behind by the attack that wrecked her world—and she is now wondering…is the right man on death row?

He’ll help her find the truth. And she’ll thaw the ice around his heart.

As they begin investigating the past, deadly attacks plague Shelby. It’s clear someone does not want her digging up the truth, but there is no way Hunter will let Shelby be hurt. He’ll be her full-time bodyguard, her hired gun—he will be whatever she needs him to be. Simply put, Hunter intends to stand between her and any threat. He will eliminate all of the threats to her.

As for Shelby, desire burns through her with each touch and kiss that she shares with Hunter. Shelby is not interested in some slow burn romance with him. She wants passion. She wants desperation. She wants a desire that breaks past all control. And with Hunter, that’s exactly what she will get.

Provided, of course, that the killer closing in doesn’t take out the final girl on his list…

Author’s note: The Ice Breakers are back! Time for cold (and current) case solving as Hunter McQueen falls first and falls hard for a woman who has survived hell and lived to tell the twisted story. Shelby doesn’t expect to want Hunter as badly as she does, but the Ice Breaker sneaks past her guard. He’s dangerous, unpredictable, and a vicious fighter—exactly what she needs and soon…he’s everything that she wants.

My new romantic suspense, ICE COVERED HEART, officially releases tomorrow (10/13/16!)

His dream woman just walked right through the front door…and now Hunter McQueen has to figure out a way to keep her. Keep her alive. Keep her close. Keep her…forever. Good thing he’s good at strategizing.

Hunter McQueen is a former Ranger, a part-time Ice Breaker, and an all-around badass. It’s not like he looks for trouble—more like, trouble looks for him. And this time, the trouble that has come to hunt him down appears in the beautiful form of Shelby Carter, the famous “final girl” who survived the Sorority Seven Killer and sent the perp to death row.

Once he manages to pick his jaw off the floor, Hunter wants to know how he can help Shelby. Also, how in the hell he can convince the woman to go out on a date with him? Fan boy much? Embarrassing but…yes. If there is one thing that Hunter respects, it’s strength, and Shelby has a spine of steel.

She fought alone before, but this time, she needs…him.

The big, dangerous stranger is supposed to be the protector that Shelby needs. He’s also supposed to be the man who can help her uncover the truth about a night that still torments her.  Seven years ago, Shelby took down a killer who murdered her friends. During the attack, Shelby lost the hearing in her right ear. She avoids crowds, she trusts no one, and she spends her days and nights alone.

But new memories are cracking through the darkness in her mind—a darkness left behind by the attack that wrecked her world—and she is now wondering…is the right man on death row?

He’ll help her find the truth. And she’ll thaw the ice around his heart.

As they begin investigating the past, deadly attacks plague Shelby. It’s clear someone does not want her digging up the truth, but there is no way Hunter will let Shelby be hurt. He’ll be her full-time bodyguard, her hired gun—he will be whatever she needs him to be. Simply put, Hunter intends to stand between her and any threat. He will eliminate all of the threats to her.

As for Shelby, desire burns through her with each touch and kiss that she shares with Hunter. Shelby is not interested in some slow burn romance with him. She wants passion. She wants desperation. She wants a desire that breaks past all control. And with Hunter, that’s exactly what she will get.

Provided, of course, that the killer closing in doesn’t take out the final girl on his list…

She’s a final girl heroine. He’s the PI obsessed with keeping her safe. ICE COVERED HEART will be here on 10.13.26!

He stared straight in her eyes. “I’m sorry you were hurt.  I hate that ever happened to you. I will do everything in my power to make sure that you are never hurt again. That you are protected always.”

“You mean…protected during the case. Protected while we investigate.”

No, he meant exactly what he’d said. He wanted her protected, always. 

“That’s what you mean, isn’t it?”

“I mean I will protect you.”  Done. 

“I protected myself before,” she whispered.

Damn straight, she had.

“I was terrified, I was in pain, and I survived.”

He leaned toward her, helpless to stop himself.

“But it’s nice to have backup this time.” Husky words. So soft. “Very nice. It’s nice to have you with me.”

You have me. Done.

“This isn’t part of our contract.” Her voice had gone even huskier. “But, uh, Hunter, will you kiss me?”

Book news!!! The ebook for CRUEL ICE is on sale for just .99 from now until October 11th! (This the first of the surprises and fun that I have planned for the spooky month of October!)

The sins of the father…are coming back to wreck his world.

Make no mistake, Declan Flynn is not a good man. He’s never claimed to be. He’s rich, powerful, dangerous…and, apparently, on someone’s kill list. When he wakes up one night, tied to a chair in a dank basement, Declan is certainly less than pleased—and in a killing mood of his own. Then she appears. His most unlikely savior.

Marley Jones never expected to be the guardian angel to a man most people consider the devil.

But fate is often funny, and she’s in the wrong place at the right time in order to save one very ungrateful and gorgeous billionaire. She’s a low-rent PI, he’s crime royalty (if you believe the gossip) and she may have just stumbled onto the first big case of her career. Now her job is to protect her new client—and in order to do that, she plans to stick to Declan like glue. He’d better get used to having her around. Intimately close.

First, he could have saved himself. Second, there is no way that Declan ever intends to let Marley go.

Good things—and people—don’t come into Declan’s life often. And when Marley inserts herself into what will obviously become one very bloody battle, the only thing he can do is protect her…even as Marley mistakenly thinks she is protecting him. By saving him, Marley put a target on her delicate back, and he intends to make sure that no one so much as touches a hair on her head. He also intends to claim the brave and fierce woman who calls to a dark and savage hunger that he’s buried deep inside.

But an enemy wants vengeance, and he doesn’t care about the collateral damage.

Someone wants Declan to suffer. To pay for the crimes his father committed. To unmask the predator who is now hunting both Declan and Marley, they will have to face the hell of Declan’s past. Monsters aren’t born. They’re made. Declan was made into a monster long ago, and this beast will do anything to protect the angel that slipped into his world.

Try to take her from him? He will show you hell on earth.