Showing results by narrator "Madeline Mrozek" in All Categories

Francesca "Franki" Amato is a straight-shooting rookie cop in Austin, Texas, until an embarrassing 911 call prompts her to take a job at her best friend’s PI agency in New Orleans. But Franki soon learns that solving crime in The Big Easy is no Bourbon Street party. Case in point, her first investigation involves the murder of a beautiful boutique manager who was strangled with a cheap yellow scarf, and her primary suspect is her client.

To break away from her overbearing brothers, Fallyn O'Keefe opens a bakery to show them she can do it on her own. She thinks her biggest problem will be defending her storefront from the violence of the rival family, who would much rather see her chased back into the east end of the city with the rest of the brawling O'Keefes. When Vince, the older, terrifying head from the enemy family shows up with flowers instead of his gun, Fallyn worries the fighting between her family and his will escalate from fists to firearms.

In a world not divided by race, creed or color, but by blood type, Blue Anders finds herself on the wrong end of fortune's mercy. Born with a lesser blood type, Blue is raised in The Way, a work camp for A-bloods.

Sofia, Brendan, and Aidan and the rest of the gang are back in this fun and funny mystery set in glamorous Malibu, California. Sofia goes undercover in a seemingly harmless cult called The Church of The Divine Goddess. At the same time, she has to protect an overly amorous English Bulldog from crazed Aussie movie star, Bruce Brunt, who wants to do to Harvey what legions of women would love to do to Bruce - cut off his marble pouch!

In a town I love for its warmth and charm, the only thing burning hotter than the holiday lights is a series of ruthless arson attacks. When my beloved video rental shop becomes the latest target, I find myself caught in a dangerous game with a shadowy arsonist who seems determined to destroy the very heart of my home. As the townspeople flee in fear, including the guy I'm dating, I’m faced with a choice: leave behind the place I’ve come to love or stay and fight to protect it.

Roxanne Bloom quit her job as a lawyer, divorced her cheating husband, and moved to the quaint town of Honey Springs, Kentucky where she'd spent many of her teenage summers visiting her eccentric and fun-loving Aunt Maxi. Roxy follows her dream and opens The Bean Hive, Honey Springs first coffee house on the town's newly revitalized boardwalk. that opens just in time for Honey Springs annual Honey Festival. Roxy's life couldn't be better.

It’s a slow, steamy summer in New Orleans’ French Quarter, but Franki Amato is busy planning her bridal shower—that is, until a hit-and-run outside a coffee shop gets her PI senses percolating. The victim is linked to crimes at a fancy society wedding in a haunted hotel where Franki’s fiancé’s family is staying. As for the java joint, it’s straight out of a hardboiled detective movie, and there’s something hinky about its walnut liqueur coffee.

Franki Amato is in Venice to celebrate her best friend’s Christmas Eve nuptials. She’s looking forward to a relaxing break from the PI grind and a romantic gondola ride with her Casanova. But when a chef goes belly-up after making violet risotto for the reception, her holiday plans start sinking like La Serenissima. Dead set on finding the killer and saving her BFF’s wedding, Franki navigates the city’s streets and canals, which are darker and more twisted than catacomb tunnels, and all while the ghosts of past and present are quite literally haunting her.

An ax murder leaves Franki less than jazzed.... Jazz Fest is in full swing in The Big Easy, but PI Franki Amato is singing the blues. The owner of an historic Italian grocery and deli is murdered in a manner eerily reminiscent of the Axeman of New Orleans, a notorious serial killer who hasn’t struck in over a century, and someone Franki knows has been arrested for the crime. Adding to her distress, Franki, her mom, and her meddling Sicilian nonna finally meet her fiancé’s family, but the tone of their encounter is decidedly downbeat.

When Sofia returns from vacation, she discovers that her pet seagull Fred has become her greatest enemy: the paparazzi. Her former agent has dressed him with a tiny camera and created a wildly successful YouTube channel using his footage. To ensure his loyalty, her agent has been bribing Fred with caviar, feeding into his addiction and stoking a fire within his tiny bird heart that can only be quenched by more caviar.

Marketing is in critical condition. Hurled into the 21st century amid a storm of digital disruption, it has since focused on solely surviving in a hostile climate. But mere survival is no longer a mark of fitness. Audiences demand excellence, and marketing excellence requires agility. Using a detailed historical lens, Death of a Marketer charts a course toward marketing's Agile future.

Val, Sophie, Goldie, Mo, and Lily don’t have a lot in common. Mo is a pious Irish Catholic. Goldie is Jewish. Sophie is a brash irreverent New Yorker. Lily a straight-laced Georgia belle. Val is the meticulous, devious mother hen. Nevertheless, as the five widows have aged, they have become the closest of friends. They have supported each other through illness, trauma, and death. However, Val knows that nothing lasts forever. She learned that the hard way when the love of her life died and left her with nothing but memories. Soon, the same will happen with the others.

You always knew there was something fishy about Snow White's story, didn’t you? Seven lusty men. One young, nubile woman. Living innocently together in a cottage in the woods. But life ain't no fairy tale. Now Bitchy, the eighth dwarf, tells the real story of Snow White and it's nothing like you imagined. Or maybe it is.

Back in college, Marco Dawson never thought of Belle as anything more than a friend. If she had crossed his mind on his wedding day, it was probably only to wonder why she hadn't shown up to be a bridesmaid. After all, his new wife was her old roommate. Seven years have passed since then, and Belle just found out that Marco is divorced and vacationing with his family in an elegant Cancun resort. She's not about to let the right man get away twice. She heads to the resort where she plans to casually bump into Marco and ignite some romantic flames.

This thrilling new novel tells the story of a soccer mom turned soldier. Shay Donovan is separated from her family during an outbreak where millions of infected humans become enraged, destroying in their path and killing anyone they see. Shay finds herself in a brutal fight for her life in a desperate attempt to find her husband and two young daughters. This novel, is much different than other zombie stories. Shay is an average American house wife, finds herself alone during an outbreak where those who are infected become enraged.

Sofia Salgado's latest case at Maloney Investigations has some pretty tempting ingredients: blackmail, male strippers, and whipped cream. When a friend of Sofia's mom finds herself the victim of blackmail, stuffy Aidan has to go undercover as an exotic dancer, much to Sofia's delight. Can Aidan make it in the cutthroat world of male stripping? Can Sofia stop her mom getting too involved? Does whipped cream have fewer calories when it’s licked from a man’s naked torso?

This is the complete collection of the Molly Luco series. Molly Luco's life isn't what she had hoped for. Taking care of her abusive brother is just one of the many things threatening to hold her back. When a man from her past comes back into her world, Molly realizes that her carefully constructed mess might quickly become unraveled.

Private investigator Franki Amato has just turned 30, and she feels anything but festive. To add insult to birthday injury, she has to investigate a surreal strip club homicide - with her 60ish ex-stripper landlady. Adding to her troubles, she has to figure out what a missing amber pendant and a mysterious amaretto bottle have to do with the murder, not to mention why she's being followed. When a second dancer goes down and a third is threatened, Franki turns to a weird witch to crack the case and cancel a curse.

For PI Franki Amato, New Orleans is anything but The Big Easy. Her best friend and employer has assigned her an unsettling investigation - the murder of a gorgeous cosmetics CEO at an allegedly haunted plantation. Adding to Franki’s stress, her meddling Sicilian nonna is planning her engagement even though her boyfriend, Bradley, hasn’t popped the question, and his new secretary seems determined to ensure a proposal never happens. As Bradley grows distant and the plantation grows dangerous, Franki turns to a psychic who is deathly afraid of ghosts.

Laura Kinkaid's glamorous Hollywood life is falling apart. After years of reality television stardom beginning in high school on Laguna Nights, her career and relationship with her long-term boyfriend Scott are fizzling out. Laura decides to go home to Laguna Beach for the weekend to attend a baby shower for her high school friend. That decision - and a car accident - will lead her to a new future, if she's ready to take a chance at love.