_GARNET LAKE by Liz Hunter (Troubled Waters Series, Book 2) romantic suspense
LeeAnn Armstrong is reeling from back-to-back blows: she’s lost her job of 12 years with a Chicago ad agency, and even worse, she’s lost her beloved grandmother. LeeAnn seeks solace in the Northern Wisconsin cabin Gramma bequeathed her on Garnet Lake, where she spent summers growing up. Former Milwaukee policeman Mike Hastings is licking his wounds at his parents’ home on Garnet Lake after the death of his wife and two children. He’s vindicated their deaths, having sent the drug kingpin responsible for their deaths to prison. Now Mike lives day-to-day with his sorrow. When he reads an article in the local paper that LeeAnn is back and looking for a handyman, he volunteers. The article includes the mystery surrounding a fabulous garnet ring that her grandfather named the lake after, claiming the sunset turned the water into garnet sparkles. Mike was LeeAnn’s first love, first lover, first heartache. Despite the grief in their past, she’s grateful to have him around now since someone seems determined to find the garnet ring and is willing to kill for it. Will love heal their emotional wounds and keep them safe?

_THE TURQUOISE CAT by Jane Toombs (North of Nonesuch Series, Book 1) paranormal romance
When an eccentric great-aunt dies, Olivia Sumner unexpectedly inherits her old mansion on Lake Superior, plus an odd turquoise curio of a creature half human, half cougar. With no idea of what this talisman means, she faces a terrible danger, one she never dreamed could exist. Is Raoul DeKalb, the enigmatic DNR officer, on her side, or is he part of the danger?

_FOR THE LOVE OF SAPPHIRE by Nancy Pirri american historical
Spinster school teacher Sapphire Jameson learns that her brother, George, has wagered away his inheritance and is begging for hers as well since the debt hasn’t been paid in full. Sapphire leaves her teaching position at a New York City school and arrives in St. Louis, ready to straighten things out. Her heart beats wildly at the idea of being indebted to her brother’s childhood friend Patrick—the very man she’d been engaged to eight years ago. She’d broken their engagement, believing neighborhood gossip about his possible involvement with another woman. Sapphire has learned from her brother that Patrick’s wife died four years ago in childbirth, leaving him sons to raise. Patrick needs a nanny for the boys. He offers the position to Sapphire to help her pay off her brother’s debt. She’s never forgiven him for his betrayal, but, with no other choice, she accepts.
Having Sapphire in his home, Patrick wants nothing more than to win her into his arms, his bed, and his heart again. His heart’s desire is to make this precious jewel his own.

_THE AMETHYST STAR by Karen Wiesner futuristic romance
They live in a time when humans have become an endangered species... Thirty years ago, the men and women of Earth went off to fight in an intergalactic war, an event which left their world forever altered. Herbivores have all but disappeared while carnivores have flourished and slaughtered most of the human race. Answering Earth’s call for help to avoid extinction are the Patrollers, with extrasensory perception and the ability to camouflage themselves and their charges, and the Hunters, with ultra-strength, speed and instincts, allowing them to destroy the elusive carnivores. Greatly outnumbered by the male sex, women have become earth’s most valuable prizes in their roles as Procreators. Pair-bonding is rare and families no longer exist since children are gestated in labs. Lady Sher of the Amethyst Star is mankind’s last hope for survival. While Sher dutifully upholds her obligations to her people, her loneliness and desire for true love and a family go unmet. Her heart’s desire can never be fulfilled...especially not with the hunter Randolf, who fills her every thought with forbidden longings. On Randolf’s home world, all inhabitants mate for life. In a traditional Chaashane ceremony, Randolf and his clan priest shared a vision of the rare star of amethyst for Randolf’s life-mate. But his ceremony also revealed the prophecy that if he loses the star of amethyst, the hunter will become the hunted for all time. Will destiny and desire prove impossible goals?

_HEART OF OBSIDION by Michele Bardsley (Angels On Patrol Series, Book 2) paranormal romantic comedy
Rich and beautiful Delphi Malloy is the Queen of Charitable Causes. When she agrees to handle the first annual Haunted Hearts Spookapalooza, a benefit for down-on-their-luck expectant mothers, she doesn’t figure a missing obsidian necklace will get her trapped in a basement with the mega-hot Max the Marvelous. Max is not a psychic. He’s a mechanic filling in for his younger brother, who does a clown act for parties. But if faking otherworldly powers allows him to spend the evening with Delphi hunting down lost jewelry—just call him Max the Medium. Then there’s the angel named Sophie who thinks the mechanic and the socialite are perfect for each other...and plans to give them much more than a ghost of a chance...for everlasting love.

_MISBEHAVIN’ IN MOONSTONE by Christine DeSmet (A Mischief in Moonstone Story, Book 2) humorous romantic mystery
When the men of Moonstone, Wisconsin, suddenly seem to be off fishing a lot in the summer evenings, thus cutting down on her new restaurant’s business, chef Kirsten Peplinski becomes suspicious. She discovers a topless touring boat has set up business in Lake Superior, just outside the jurisdiction of Moonstone. The town’s women object in great furor, giving the old mayor a mild heart attack. Kirsten becomes the reluctant interim mayor to negotiate with the boat’s owner. But after she comes aboard, Jonathon VanBrocklin announces she’s going to be his wife as part of the trade. He sets sail, kidnapping her for an evening of romance, insisting on planning their wedding! The rogue even has a safe full of a dozen white moonstone necklaces—for her bridal attendants. Once back in town, Kirsten gathers the women for a little unmasking of this pirate…only to discover the ladies have Kirsten’s “undressing” him more on their minds.