Generated by All in One SEO v4.9.9, this is an llms.txt file, used by LLMs to index the site. # Brenda Novak New York Times & USA Today Best Selling Author ## Sitemaps - [XML Sitemap](https://brendanovak.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website. ## Posts - [News Archive](https://brendanovak.com/about/news/news-archive/) - [Read an Excerpt](https://brendanovak.com/2023/06/17/talulahs-back-in-town-read-an-excerpt/) - Talulah's Back in Town is arriving on shelves August 22, but you can already read the first chapter on Brenda's website. Enjoy! START READING - [Cover Reveal: TOURIST SEASON](https://brendanovak.com/2023/10/01/cover-reveal-tourist-season/) - Available April 2, 2024 A summer by the ocean promises new beginnings—until old secrets resurface. Ismay Chalmers is ready for a relaxing summer reconnecting with her fiancé at his family’s luxurious beachfront cottage. But before Remy can join her, a hurricane bears down on Mariners Island. Alone in the large house, Ismay makes a disturbing - [Cover Reveal: THE MESSY LIFE OF JANE TANNER](https://brendanovak.com/2023/06/17/cover-reveal-the-messy-life-of-jane-tanner/) - Available February 20, 2024 Jane Tanner’s friends are settling down, while she’s been settling for less. She longs for adventure and the big city, but caring for her ailing grandfather means she's shackled to her small town. She’s excited her vintage gift shop is finally up and running, but it’s not enough. Longing to fulfill at least - [Meet Brenda at the 2026 California State Fair!](https://brendanovak.com/2026/07/02/meet-brenda-at-the-2026-california-state-fair/) - Meet Brenda (including the Bookstream) and other local writers, discover diverse genres, and purchase signed books at the California Authors Booth at the State Fair. Located in the air-conditioned Building A/B at Cal Expo (1600 Exposition Blvd, Sacramento), the booth is open daily from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM. 2026 California State Fair July 17 - [July's Brenda Novak Book Box](https://brendanovak.com/2026/07/02/2026-julys-brenda-novak-book-box/) - This box will contain an autographed copy (via bookplate since she lives in Canada) of our July book group read—a debut title called THE BOOK TOUR by Emily Ohanjanians, who used to be my editor (or you can substitute for one of my books)! It will also contain an autographed hardcover of SINGLE GIRLS by - [Free Lemon Bag Charm](https://brendanovak.com/2026/03/14/free-lemon-bag-charm/) - We have good news! We ordered more of the darling lemon bag charms we've been including as our appreciation gift, so all copies of MEET ME IN ITALY purchased through our store will be autographed and continue to come with the darling FREE lemon bag charm (while supplies last) we are including to show our - [Listen to Meet Me in Italy](https://brendanovak.com/2026/04/15/listen-to-meet-me-in-italy/) - MEET ME IN ITALY is also available in audio! Listen to a sample: Get your copy here: Amazon Apple Audiobooks Audible Barnes & Noble Google Play Kobo Libro.fm - [MEET ME IN ITALY — Read an Excerpt](https://brendanovak.com/2026/03/11/meet-me-in-italy-read-an-excerpt/) - Read the first two chapters of MEET ME IN ITALY today! Read Excerpt - [Now Available in KU: Pieces of Perfect](https://brendanovak.com/2026/03/11/now-available-in-ku-pieces-of-perfect/) - In One Perfect Summer, three women who had never met—and seemed to share nothing but a DNA match—discovered they were sisters. Their search to uncover how and why brought them together and transformed strangers into family. Now, in Pieces of Perfect, those bonds are tested, deepened, and celebrated as they continue to explore what it - [Snow Baby Audiobook](https://brendanovak.com/2025/12/13/snow-baby-audiobook/) - Revisit this heartfelt romance — Coming December 30 in Audio! Chantel Miller is on her way to repair her complicated relationship with her sister, Stacy, but she gets caught in an unexpected snowstorm. When Dillon Broderick finds and rescues Chantel, they survive the storm by keeping each other warm, creating a special bond in the - [2026 Book Tracker](https://brendanovak.com/2025/12/14/2026-book-tracker/) - Get our 2026 Book Tracker that has 264 pages to record your reads (500 books), write reviews (222 reviews), create a book wishlist, make notes and utilize a monthly/weekly planner with a beautiful cover design by In Every Line Illustrations! Plus, you'll get the 2026 challenge card and matching bookmark. It's a great way to - [Cover reveal for MEET ME IN ITALY](https://brendanovak.com/2025/08/25/cover-reveal-for-meet-me-in-italy/) - Of all the books I’ve written, this is the cover I was most eager to see—and my publisher did not disappoint. Isn’t the cover for MEET ME IN ITALY spectacular? Last year, when we went for Alexa and Vinny’s wedding, we spent nearly a month in Italy—much of it on the Amalfi Coast—and I completely - [Dundee, Idaho — The Complete Collection — Now in Audio!](https://brendanovak.com/2025/06/12/dundee-idaho-the-complete-collection-in-audio/) - Over 70 hours runtime! The Dundee, Idaho series is a small town contemporary romance series. The audio collection consists of the eight full-length books That One Night, Falling for You, First Love Second Chance, Say You Love Me, Meant for You, Finding You, Just the Two of Us, and The More I Love You. The - [Beach Ready Package](https://brendanovak.com/2025/04/28/beach-ready-package/) - Build-your-own package to get beach ready! You could get a 6 ft by 8 ft. striped beach blanket, any of Brenda's beach reads, a cute brown floppy beach hat, nail kit, seashell magnets and/or a pink insulated wine mug! Brenda's Beach Reads: THE SUMMER THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING THE SEASIDE LIBRARY TOURIST SEASON SUMMER ON THE - [Read the first three chapters from The Summer That Changed Everything](https://brendanovak.com/2025/04/28/read-the-first-three-chapters-from-the-summer-that-changed-everything/) - She returned to prove her father's innocence, but there's no telling what she'll find… It's been fifteen years since Lucy Sinclair saw her father. Fifteen long years since she sat in a courtroom and watched him sentenced to life in prison for the murder of three victims. Now she’s back in Virginia to talk to - [Our 2025 Book Group / Book Box Schedule](https://brendanovak.com/2024/12/15/our-2025-book-group-book-box-schedule/) - EDDIE WINSTON IS LOOKING FOR LOVE by Marianne Cronin LAST TWILIGHT IN PARIS by Pam Jenoff THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND by Patti Callahan Henry THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MIRA by Sonali Dev ... READ MORE - [Read an Excerpt from THE BANNED BOOKS CLUB](https://brendanovak.com/2024/07/31/read-an-excerpt-from-the-banned-books-club/) - THE BANNED BOOKS CLUB will be available from September 17, but you can already read the first two chapters on Brenda's website. Enjoy! START READING - [Read an Excerpt from TYING THE KNOT](https://brendanovak.com/2024/07/31/read-an-excerpt-from-tying-the-knot/) - TYING THE KNOT will be available from August 20, but you can already read the first three chapters on Brenda's website. Enjoy! START READING - [Read an Excerpt from the TOURIST SEASON](https://brendanovak.com/2024/03/29/read-an-excerpt-from-the-tourist-season/) - TOURIST SEASON will be available from April 2, but you can already read the first chapter on Brenda's website. Enjoy! START READING - [Cover Reveal: Tying the Knot](https://brendanovak.com/2024/02/28/cover-reveal-tying-the-knot/) - Available August 20, 2024 They’re taking a chance on love…by marrying the wrong person All of Grady Amos’s brothers are married, and he's feeling left behind. Aja Kermani wants to break away from the man chosen by her parents and marry for love. This leads them both to Tying the Knot, a reality TV show where - [Read an Excerpt from THE TALK OF COYOTE CANYON](https://brendanovak.com/2023/11/01/the-talk-of-coyote-canyon-read-an-excerpt/) - THE TALK OF COYOTE CANYON is arriving on shelves November 28, but you can already read the first chapter on Brenda's website. Enjoy! START READING - [Read an Excerpt from THE MESSY LIFE OF JANE TANNER](https://brendanovak.com/2024/02/06/read-an-excerpt-from-the-messy-life-of-jane-tanner/) - THE MESSY LIFE OF JANE TANNER is arriving on shelves February 20, but you can already read the first chapter on Brenda's website. Enjoy! START READING - [Cover Reveal: THE TALK OF COYOTE CANYON](https://brendanovak.com/2023/05/04/cover-reveal-the-talk-of-coyote-canyon/) - Available November 28, 2023 With her piercings, tattoos and spiky blond hair, Ellen Truesdale doesn’t quite fit in with the other folks in Coyote Canyon—and that’s just fine with her. She’s only here to put her father out of business, as payback for abandoning her when she was young. Or is she more interested in - [Cover Reveal: TALULAH’S BACK IN TOWN](https://brendanovak.com/2023/04/01/cover-reveal-talulahs-back-in-town/) - Available August 22, 2023 Talulah Barclay doesn’t like complications. Unfortunately, they seem to love her. Fourteen years after leaving her fiancé at the altar, Talulah returns to her hometown of Coyote Canyon, Montana, to settle her great-aunt’s estate. As she’d feared, her “runaway bride” reputation is waiting right where she left it, and her ex’s - [2023 Brenda Novak Reading Challenge](https://brendanovak.com/2022/12/31/2023-brenda-novak-reading-challenge/) - I have a great year of reading planned and would like to invite you to take the 2023 Brenda Novak Reading Challenge. This challenge coincides with the books we'll be reading in my online book group on Facebook and requires just one book per month. If you're interested in joining the group as well as - [2023 Book Tracker](https://brendanovak.com/2022/12/31/2023-book-tracker/) - The 2023 Book Tracker* will have pages to track your books, pages for reviews, a book wish list, the 2023 book group schedule, monthly and weekly planner with important book group dates and a list of all Brenda Novak books! You'll also get the 2023 challenge card and matching bookmark with the option to add - [THE SEASIDE LIBRARY Cover Reveal](https://brendanovak.com/2022/11/06/the-seaside-library-cover-reveal/) - Ta DA!! Isn’t this cover for my next release, THE SEASIDE LIBRARY, a thing of beauty? You might’ve seen a different one on Amazon or elsewhere (if you pre-ordered—I can’t thank you enough if you have because preorders mean so much to authors and publishers), but we decided we liked this cover direction better. What - [SUMMER ON THE ISLAND is now available! 🌊🌊🌊](https://brendanovak.com/2022/04/05/summer-on-the-island-is-now-available-🌊🌊🌊/) - SUMMER ON THE ISLAND hits bookstore shelves TODAY! I don't know if I've ever been this excited about a release. Finally being able to go out on tour has made it a real celebration. Do you have your copy? If not, I hope you'll grab one and escape to my fictional island. GET AUTOGRAPHED COPY - [2022 Brenda Novak Reading Challenge](https://brendanovak.com/2022/01/01/2022-brenda-novak-reading-challenge/) - I have a great year of reading planned and would like to invite you to take the 2022 Brenda Novak Reading Challenge. This challenge coincides with the books we'll be reading in my online book group on Facebook and requires just one book per month. If you're interested in joining the group as well as - [SUMMER ON THE ISLAND Cover Reveal!](https://brendanovak.com/2021/08/02/summer-on-the-island-cover-reveal/) - I'm so excited to reveal the cover for my next trade release, SUMMER ON THE ISLAND. I love, love the way this story turned out, so I was really hoping for a nice cover, and I think my publisher did an excellent job! What do you think? Can't you just feel the emotion on the - [Download for Free: Reading with Brenda Novak — Issue No.2](https://brendanovak.com/2021/09/25/download-for-free-reading-with-brenda-novak-issue-no-2/) - Download Brenda’s first Reading with Brenda Novak magazine for free. This issue contains the holiday novella Pieces of Perfect. FREE DOWNLOAD - [Cover Reveal for A CALIFORNIA CHRISTMAS](https://brendanovak.com/2020/05/01/cover-reveal-for-a-california-christmas/) - A CALIFORNIA CHRISTMAS, the latest in the Silver Springs series, will be available October 13. It will be our book group read for October, and October's Brenda Novak Book Box will contain an autographed copy. We're so excited about it and want to make sure we have enough for everyone, we put the October box - [First Love, Second Chance: Available in Audio August 3!](https://brendanovak.com/2021/06/29/first-love-second-chance-available-in-audio-august-3/) - Look what's coming to audio in August! You can pre-order the FIRST LOVE, SECOND CHANCE audiobook here: Amazon Audible Downpour Google Play Kobo Libro.fm - [Download for Free: Reading with Brenda Novak — Issue No.1](https://brendanovak.com/2021/04/06/download-for-free-reading-with-brenda-novak-issue-no-1/) - Download Brenda’s first Reading with Brenda Novak magazine for free. This issue contains the holiday novella HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS. FREE DOWNLOAD - [The Brenda Novak Backlist Award](https://brendanovak.com/2020/06/30/the-brenda-novak-backlist-award/) - Anyone who has read 50+ Novak books (no matter how long it has taken) will receive this lovely commemorative pin. In order to receive your pin, download this list of my titles, mark off the books you’ve read, and scan and email the list to my assistant at readingchallenge@brendanovak.com. (If you’d like to snail mail - [FACE OFF won the Bookseller's Best Award](https://brendanovak.com/2019/07/31/face-off-won-the-booksellers-best-award/) - FACE OFF won the GDRWA* Bookseller’s Best Award for Romantic Suspense this year! *Greater Detroit Romance Writers of America - [Now Available in Audio](https://brendanovak.com/2019/02/26/now-available-in-audio/) - UNFORGETTABLE YOU is also available in Audio! It's available from Audible, iTunes, Downpour for download as well as Audio CD from Amazon. Listen to a Sample: - [CHRISTMAS IN SILVER SPRINGS is also available in audio](https://brendanovak.com/2019/10/29/christmas-in-silver-springs-is-also-available-in-audio/) - CHRISTMAS IN SILVER SPRINGS is also available in audio from Audible, iTunes, and from Amazon as Audio CD and MP3 CD! Listen to an Excerpt: Of course, you can also read an excerpt here. :) - [One of the Best Books of April](https://brendanovak.com/2021/04/06/one-of-the-best-books-of-april/) - The early reviews for THE BOOKSTORE ON THE BEACH are in! Not only got it a starred review from Publishers' Weekly, it has also been selected as one of the best books of the month by Amazon AND Apple Books. I think the review written by the editor at Apple is my favorite so far: - [Listen to a sample!](https://brendanovak.com/2021/03/09/listen-to-a-sample/) - THE BOOKSTORE ON THE BEACH will also be available in audio. You can listen to a sample by clicking the cover or go here. - [When I Found You Cover Reveal](https://brendanovak.com/2020/12/01/when-i-found-you-cover-reveal/) - Pre-Order Today Book 8 in the Silver Springs series Available June 29, 2021 Sometimes the biggest emotional risk can reap the best romantic reward… After everything she worked for is destroyed, pediatrician Natasha Gray is determined to build a new life. Divorced, bankrupt and suddenly a single mom, she’s ready to start over in Silver - [Autographed Copies of A CALIFORNIA CHRISTMAS are available!](https://brendanovak.com/2020/10/13/autographed-copies-of-a-california-christmas-are-available/) - Get an autographed copy of Brenda Novak's new release, A CALIFORNIA CHRISTMAS! With the option to upgrade to an autographed hardcover of A CALIFORNIA CHRISTMAS. GET YOUR COPY TODAY! - [National Readers' Choice Award Winner!](https://brendanovak.com/2020/08/01/national-readers-choice-award-winner/) - I’m so excited! UNFORGETTABLE YOU, which is one of my favorites of the Silver Springs series, just won the National Readers' Choice Award! Have you read this book? If not, I hope you’ll give it a try, especially because the next installment in the Silver Springs series comes out on October 13th (A CALIFORNIA CHRISTMAS). - [Check out my brand new cover!](https://brendanovak.com/2020/08/01/check-out-my-brand-new-cover/) - Ta DA!! What do you think of the cover of my next trade paperback novel,THE BOOKSTORE ON THE BEACH, which will be out April 6th? Isn't it gorgeous? It makes me want to head to a bookstore, fill my bag with all the wonderful novels I haven't had time to read and head to the - [Together for Christmas Reissue](https://brendanovak.com/2020/06/30/together-for-christmas-reissue/) - TOGETHER FOR CHRISTMAS, including Brenda's When We Touch, re-releases October 27. It's the first time it will be available as (trade) paperback. - [Recipe Cards](https://brendanovak.com/2020/06/30/recipe-cards/) - We've added some new recipes for Cherry Tarts, Coffee Cake, Apple Pie, Caramel Sauce, and Chex Mix. You can download them here for FREE. Enjoy! - [A new reissue: First Love, Second Chance](https://brendanovak.com/2019/12/01/a-new-reissue-first-love-second-chance/) - The third book in the Dundee, Idaho series is being reissued in Harlequin's Bestselling Author Collection in June 2020 and the best news: It will also be available in print! Originally published in 2004 under the title A Family of Her Own, the book has already been retitled as FIRST LOVE, SECOND CHANCE and re-issued - [Back to You (9 Months Later)](https://brendanovak.com/2019/10/29/back-to-you-9-months-later/) - Originally published as Expectations, this charming story takes you back to where you first found love… This re-release will be available in ebook January 13, 2020. You can read more about it here. - [Cover Reveal](https://brendanovak.com/2019/07/01/cover-reveal/) - It's here! It's here! I'm so excited. The cover for ONE PERFECT SUMMER, the book that will be released April 7th of next year, is my most favorite cover ever! - [Blind Spot's UK Cover](https://brendanovak.com/2019/06/28/blind-spots-uk-cover/) - Isn't it pretty? Readers from the UK can pre-order BLIND SPOT in ebook and paperback here. The UK edition shares its release date with the US version: August 27, 2019. - [Now Available in Large Print](https://brendanovak.com/2019/06/28/now-available-in-large-print/) - UNFORGETTABLE YOU is now available in Large Print from Thorndike Press. ISBN 9781432862954. - [NRCA Finalists!](https://brendanovak.com/2019/05/13/nrca-finalists/) - Both, BEFORE WE WERE STRANGERS in the Contemporary Single Title Category, as well as FACE OFF in the Romantic Suspense Category, are National Readers' Choice Awards Finalists. Winners will be announced at the NRCA reception held during RWA National Conference on Thursday, July 25 from 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM. - [Get a FREE copy of FINDING OUR FOREVER](https://brendanovak.com/2019/04/20/get-a-free-copy-of-finding-our-forever/) - For a limited time only, download a FREE copy of FINDING OUR FOREVER, the first book in my popular Silver Springs series right here. - [UNFORGETTABLE YOU Launch Party Photos](https://brendanovak.com/2019/03/30/unforgettable-you-launch-party-photos/) - We had the Launch Party for UNFORGETTABLE YOU on Saturday, March 2nd at The Poisoned Pen (an indie bookstore in Scottsdale, AZ). Thank you to everyone who came! I had a wonderful time meeting you and discussing my work. You can view all the photos from the party right here. - [BEFORE WE WERE STRANGERS has been named a finalist in the RITA®](https://brendanovak.com/2019/04/01/before-we-were-strangers-has-been-named-a-finalist-in-the-rita/) - Romance Writers of America (RWA), the trade association for romance fiction authors, announced the finalists for the 2019 RITA® and Golden Heart® Awards. The RITA® — the highest award of distinction in romance fiction — recognizes excellence in published romance novels and novellas. The Golden Heart recognizes excellence in unpublished romance manuscripts. BEFORE WE WERE - [Cover Reveal: CHRISTMAS IN SILVER SPRINGS](https://brendanovak.com/2019/03/31/cover-reveal-christmas-in-silver-springs/) - What's next for Brenda Novak and the Silver Springs series? CHRISTMAS IN SILVER SPRINGS—Tobias' story—will be released on October 29th! Pre-order your copy right here ». - [Blind Spot Cover Reveal](https://brendanovak.com/2019/01/22/blind-spot-cover-reveal/) - I've got a cover for BLIND SPOT, Evelyn Talbot Chronicles #4, with a heavily pregnant Evelyn being held hostage. Release Date is August 27. READ MORE » - [Doing some holiday baking?](https://brendanovak.com/2018/12/01/doing-some-holiday-baking/) - Download the cookie recipes that have been entered into Brenda Novak's Annual Cookie Bake-Offs. - [THE HEART OF CHRISTMAS gets Starred Review from Library Journal](https://brendanovak.com/2014/10/07/the-heart-of-christmas-gets-starred-review-from-library-journal/) - The reviews are rolling in for THE HEART OF CHRISTMAS, the next book in the Whiskey Creek series! “Novak is always a go-to author for sassy romance set in small towns loaded with charm. Her latest in the Whiskey Creek series is naughty and nice, and readers will fall in love with the magic of - [COME HOME TO ME is an RT Book Reviewers Choice 2014 Nominee!](https://brendanovak.com/2014/11/11/come-home-to-me-reviewers-choice/) - I’m excited to announce that COME HOME TO ME has been nominated for the RT Book Reviewers Choice Award in the contemporary romance category. Winners will be announced in Dallas at the 2015 RT Convention. - [THE HEART OF CHRISTMAS gets 4.5 stars and a TOP PICK from RT Book Review Magazine….](https://brendanovak.com/2014/10/06/the-heart-of-christmas-gets-4-5-stars-and-a-top-pick-from-rt-book-review-magazine/) - “Novak is always a go-to author for sassy romance set in small towns loaded with charm. Her latest in the Whiskey Creek series is naughty and nice, and readers will fall in love with the magic of the season portrayed throughout. Eve and Rex are a hoot when they’re together, and the supporting characters are - [HOME TO WHISKEY CREEK is a Booksellers Best Award Nominee!](https://brendanovak.com/2014/06/08/home-to-whiskey-creek-is-a-booksellers-best-award-nominee/) - This morning I received word that HOME TO WHISKEY CREEK (which is a RITA nominee this year) has finaled in the Booksellers Best Awards! Winners will be announced this summer in San Antonio. - [WHEN SUMMER COMES & THROUGH THE SMOKE are NRCA Finalists!](https://brendanovak.com/2014/06/07/when-summer-comes-through-the-smoke-are-nrca-finalists/) - Happy to announce yet more good news! Both WHEN SUMMER COMES and THROUGH THE SMOKE have finaled in the National Readers Choice Awards (for best Contemporary Romance and Best Historical Romance respectively). Winners will be announced this summer. - [HOME TO WHISKEY CREEK is a RITA Finalist!](https://brendanovak.com/2014/03/26/home-to-whiskey-creek-is-a-rita-finalist/) - HOME TO WHISKEY CREEK, book #4 in the Whiskey Creek series, has been nominated for the RITA for Best Contemporary Romance! Nominations in the romance world don’t get bigger than this and I am truly thrilled and honored to be included with such amazing authors. Winners will be announced this summer in San Antonio, but - [THIS HEART OF MINE receives TOP PICK! from RT Book Review Magazine](https://brendanovak.com/2015/02/17/this-heart-of-mine-receives-top-pick-from-rt-book-review-magazine/) - "Novak's Whiskey Creek novels are a favorite among romance readers because of their small-town charm and sweet storylines. This delightful novel in particular tugs on the heartstrings hard with its focus on family and second chances. Many will find a true connection with the characters from the get-go and invite these newfound friends into their homes, hoping - [THIS HEART OF MINE receives STARRED REVIEWS from BOOKLIST & Library Journal](https://brendanovak.com/2015/03/30/this-heart-of-mine-receives-starred-review-from-booklist/) - "With great sensitivity and an exquisite flair for characterization, Novak explores the ideas of redemption, forgiveness, and the healing power of love. This Heart of Mine is a potently emotional, powerfully life-affirming contemporary romance that can be read and enjoyed on its own, but it also serves as an excellent addition to Novak's popular Whiskey - [THE SECRET SISTER gets a TOP PICK from RT Book Reviews Magazine!](https://brendanovak.com/2015/05/13/brenda-receives-a-career-achievement-award-from-rt-book-review-magazine/) - “This emotional novel showcases Novak’s exceptional talent at creating genuine characters and real-life situations we sometimes try to dodge. The power of family is strong, and the element of mystery is stable throughout this romance. Fairham Island is painted as a picturesque seaside town, but the debut to this series could have readers believing there - [HANOVER HOUSE gets 4.5 stars from RT Book Reviews Magazine!](https://brendanovak.com/2015/09/03/hanover-house-gets-4-5-stars-from-rt-book-review-magazine/) - "This novella is the e·starter to Novak's Hanover House Chronicles. The premise is on exciting one, dealing with the makeup of the minds of psychopaths. There is violence in this installment, and the glow of a budding romance. Novak writes on excellent buildup, enticing the reader lo continue with the remainder of the series. It - [THIS HEART OF MINE is one of Booklist's Top 101 Romances of the Last Ten Years!](https://brendanovak.com/2015/09/13/this-heart-of-mine-is-one-of-booklists-top-101-romances-of-the-last-ten-years/) - [The Dundee Series is out on audio!](https://brendanovak.com/2015/10/10/the-dundee-series-is-out-on-audio/) - Listen to a short sample of each story here: https://soundcloud.com/harperaudio_us/sets/dundee-idaho-series - [Named one of the FIVE best romances of the year by LIBRARY JOURNAL](https://brendanovak.com/2015/11/09/library-journal-names-this-heart-of-mine-one-of-the-5-best-romances-of-the-year/) - And one of the best romances of the year by Booklist and one of the twenty best romances of the year by Amazon! Read synopsis and first chapter here. - [A WINTER WEDDING gets a TOP PICK from RT Book Reviews Magazine!](https://brendanovak.com/2015/10/28/awwtoppick/) - “…a romance that tugs at the heartstrings. Novak knows exactly how to make the magical holiday season even more extraordinary." — RT Book Reviews, 4.5 stars & a TOP PICK! - [Check out the spooky new trailer for HANOVER HOUSE!](https://brendanovak.com/2016/01/19/check-out-the-spooky-new-trailer-for-hanover-house/) - [THIS HEART OF MINE wins Best Contemporary of 2015!](https://brendanovak.com/2016/04/17/this-heart-of-mine-wins-best-contemporary-of-2015/) - To read more about THIS HEART OF MINE just click here. - [Will India Sommers be able to resist bad boy Rodney Amos?](https://brendanovak.com/2016/04/17/will-india-sommers-be-able-to-resist-bad-boy-rodney-amos/) - View the Trailer for DISCOVERING YOU - [HANOVER HOUSE and A WINTER WEDDING named finalists in 2016 National Reader's Choice Awards](https://brendanovak.com/2016/05/19/hanover-house-and-a-winter-wedding-named-finalists-in-national-readers-choice-awards/) - Read more about HANOVER HOUSE Read more about A WINTER WEDDING - [THIS HEART OF MINE named 2016 Golden Quill Contemporary Romance Finalist](https://brendanovak.com/2016/05/19/this-heart-of-mine-named-2016-golden-quill-contemporary-romance-finalist/) - Read more about THIS HEART OF MINE - [THIS HEART OF MINE wins the Holt Medallion](https://brendanovak.com/2016/07/02/this-heart-of-mine-wins-the-holt-medallion/) - Read more about THIS HEART OF MINE - [HER DARKEST NIGHTMARE gets a Top Pick from RT Book Reviews Magazine!](https://brendanovak.com/2016/07/26/her-darkest-nightmare-gets-a-top-pick-from-rt-book-reviews-magazine/) - You can read the review here. (When you are on the page just click on reviews.) - [HER DARKEST NIGHTMARE receives a starred review from Booklist!](https://brendanovak.com/2016/08/31/hdnm-starred-review-from-booklist/) - You can read the review here. (When you are on the page just click on reviews.) - [Watch the trailer for HER DARKEST NIGHTMARE....](https://brendanovak.com/2016/10/07/watch-the-trailer-for-her-darkest-nightmare/) - Click here to view the trailer. - [Want me to dedicate one of my books to you? It’s not too late to take the Brenda Novak Reading Challenge…](https://brendanovak.com/2018/05/29/take-the-brand-new-2018-brenda-novak-reading-challenge/) - To download your card and to submit your monthly reads click here. - [NO ONE BUT YOU has been named a finalist for the prestigious RITA Award!](https://brendanovak.com/2018/05/29/noby-rita-award/) - You can read more about NO ONE BUT YOU here. ## Pages - [Home Page](https://brendanovak.com/) - Brenda Novak is the NY Times, USA Today and Award-Winning Bestselling Author of over 50 Contemporary Romance and Romantic Suspense novels. - [MAY 2026 | Brenda Novak's Reading Challenge](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/reading-challenge/may-2026/) - THE LAST LADY B by Eloisa James is May's Challenge Read. Record that you've read the book (or a Brenda Novak title of your choice instead) by June 15, 2026 for the chance to win a $100 Gift Card to The Brenda Novak Store. Record Your Monthly Read: The challenge reads coincide with the books I've selected for my online book group this year. Each month we'll discuss the book with the author via a live video. If you complete all twelve reads and record by January 15, 2027, you will be entered into the GRAND PRIZE drawing, a dedication in one of my upcoming books. - [Record Your Reads | Reading Challenge 2026](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/reading-challenge/record-monthly-read/) - The monthly challenge reads are the same books we are reading together in Brenda’s online book group. If you read along with us each month and record that you’ve read our read that month by the 15th of the following month, you’ll be entered in to win a $100 Gift Card to The Brenda Novak Store. Winner will be posted in the book group. The deadline to submit for each month is the 15th of the following month. (For example: January’s information needs to be entered by February 15th.) - [Events](https://brendanovak.com/events/) - I hope you’ll be able to meet me at one of these fun events! To RSVP to the event is free, but you have the option of adding an autographed book... - [Book Group](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/) - Welcome to my book group. We are over 21,000 members strong and are quickly becoming friends as we share our love of books. - [Upcoming Books](https://brendanovak.com/bookshelf/upcoming-books/) - Available August 20, 2024: TYING THE KNOT. They’re taking a chance on love…by marrying the wrong person. - [Book Buddy Sign-Up](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/book-buddy-sign-up/) - Looking for a fun way to connect more deeply with other members of the Brenda Novak Book Group? Book Buddies is a four-month program that pairs you with another reader so you can share your love of books, cheer each other on, and maybe even make a new friend for life! - [Bookshelf](https://brendanovak.com/bookshelf/) - Now Available: MEET ME IN ITALY A sun-soaked trip to the Amalfi Coast promises a fresh start—and reveals secrets never imagined in New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak’s tender new novel. - [2026 Brenda Novak Reading Challenge](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/reading-challenge/) - If you decide to take the Reading Challenge, make sure you return to this page every month to record your read to be entered to win a $100 gift card. - [APRIL 2026 | Brenda Novak's Reading Challenge](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/reading-challenge/apr-2026/) - MEET ME IN ITALY by Brenda Novak is April's Challenge Read. Record that you've read the book (or a Brenda Novak title of your choice instead) by May 15, 2026 for the chance to win a $100 Gift Card to The Brenda Novak Store. Record Your Monthly Read: The challenge reads coincide with the books I've selected for my online book group this year. Each month we'll discuss the book with the author via a live video. If you complete all twelve reads and record by January 15, 2027, you will be entered into the GRAND PRIZE drawing, a dedication in one of my upcoming books. - [Order Meet Me in Italy](https://brendanovak.com/pre-order-meet-me-in-italy/) - A sun-soaked trip to the Amalfi Coast promises a fresh start—and reveals secrets never imagined. Order your copy today! - [FEBRUARY 2026 | Brenda Novak's Reading Challenge](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/reading-challenge/feb-2026/) - AND THE CROWD WENT WILD by Susan Elizabeth Phillips is February's Challenge Read. Record that you've read the book (or a Brenda Novak title of your choice instead) by March 15, 2026 for the chance to win a $100 Gift Card to The Brenda Novak Store. Record Your Monthly Read: The challenge reads coincide with the books I've selected for my online book group this year. Each month we'll discuss the book with the author via a live video. If you complete all twelve reads and record by January 15, 2027, you will be entered into the GRAND PRIZE drawing, a dedication in one of my upcoming books. - [MARCH 2026 | Brenda Novak's Reading Challenge](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/reading-challenge/mar-2026/) - SERVED HIM RIGHT by Lisa Unger is March's Challenge Read. Record that you've read the book (or a Brenda Novak title of your choice instead) by April 15, 2026 for the chance to win a $100 Gift Card to The Brenda Novak Store. Record Your Monthly Read: The challenge reads coincide with the books I've selected for my online book group this year. Each month we'll discuss the book with the author via a live video. If you complete all twelve reads and record by January 15, 2027, you will be entered into the GRAND PRIZE drawing, a dedication in one of my upcoming books. - [DECEMBER 2026 | Brenda Novak's Reading Challenge](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/reading-challenge/dec-2026/) - A DATE WITH SANTA by Debbie Macomber is December's Challenge Read. Record that you've read the book (or a Brenda Novak title of your choice instead) by January 15, 2027 for the chance to win a $100 Gift Card to The Brenda Novak Store. Record Your Monthly Read: The challenge reads coincide with the books I've selected for my online book group this year. Each month we'll discuss the book with the author via a live video. If you complete all twelve reads and record by January 15, 2027, you will be entered into the GRAND PRIZE drawing, a dedication in one of my upcoming books. - [OCTOBER 2026 | Brenda Novak's Reading Challenge](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/reading-challenge/oct-2026/) - A HARD LUCK CHRISTMAS by Brenda Novak is October's Challenge Read. Record that you've read the book (or a Brenda Novak title of your choice instead) by November 15, 2026 for the chance to win a $100 Gift Card to The Brenda Novak Store. Record Your Monthly Read: The challenge reads coincide with the books I've selected for my online book group this year. Each month we'll discuss the book with the author via a live video. If you complete all twelve reads and record by January 15, 2027, you will be entered into the GRAND PRIZE drawing, a dedication in one of my upcoming books. - [SEPTEMBER 2026 | Brenda Novak's Reading Challenge](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/reading-challenge/sep-2026/) - MOTHER DAUGHTER SISTER STRANGER by Hank Philippi Ryan is September's Challenge Read. Record that you've read the book (or a Brenda Novak title of your choice instead) by October 15, 2026 for the chance to win a $100 Gift Card to The Brenda Novak Store. Record Your Monthly Read: The challenge reads coincide with the books I've selected for my online book group this year. Each month we'll discuss the book with the author via a live video. If you complete all twelve reads and record by January 15, 2027, you will be entered into the GRAND PRIZE drawing, a dedication in one of my upcoming books. - [AUGUST 2026 | Brenda Novak's Reading Challenge](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/reading-challenge/aug-2026/) - THE ONE WHO WALKED AWAY by Karen Rose is August's Challenge Read. Record that you've read the book (or a Brenda Novak title of your choice instead) by September 15, 2026 for the chance to win a $100 Gift Card to The Brenda Novak Store. Record Your Monthly Read: The challenge reads coincide with the books I've selected for my online book group this year. Each month we'll discuss the book with the author via a live video. If you complete all twelve reads and record by January 15, 2027, you will be entered into the GRAND PRIZE drawing, a dedication in one of my upcoming books. - [Trade Paperback Releases](https://brendanovak.com/bookshelf/trade-paperback-releases/) - Before We Were Strangers, One Perfect Summer, The Bookstore on the Beach - [Fairham Island](https://brendanovak.com/bookshelf/fairham-island/) - The Fairham Island books drift into women’s fiction—but with a heavy dose of romance at the same time—and are set on a small, fictional island off the coast of South Carolina. - [Discussion Questions for Meet Me in Italy](https://brendanovak.com/bookshelf/discussion-questions-for-meet-me-in-italy/) - Charlotte travels to Italy to meet a half-sister she never knew existed. How would you feel in Charlotte’s position—excited, overwhelmed, skeptical, or something else? What emotions do you think would be strongest? - [JANUARY 2026 | Brenda Novak's Reading Challenge](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/reading-challenge/jan-2026/) - WHATEVER HAPPENED TO LORI LOVELY by Sarah McCoy is January's Challenge Read. Record that you've read the book (or a Brenda Novak title of your choice instead) by February 15, 2026 for the chance to win a $100 Gift Card to The Brenda Novak Store. Record Your Monthly Read: The challenge reads coincide with the books I've selected for my online book group this year. Each month we'll discuss the book with the author via a live video. If you complete all twelve reads and record by January 15, 2027, you will be entered into the GRAND PRIZE drawing, a dedication in one of my upcoming books. - [Giveaway Claim Form](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/giveaway-claim-form/) - Please fill out the form below in order to claim your prize. - [How to join Brenda's Facebook Book Group?](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/how-to-join/) - [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” admin_label=”Header” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color=”#b7b9c7″ custom_padding=”0px|0|0px|0px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_fullwidth_header title=”How to join Brenda’s Book Group” subhead=”Interested in joining Brenda’s online Facebook book group and not sure how? Just follow the steps below and you’ll be all set.” text_orientation=”center” background_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.35)” content_max_width=”90%” disabled_on=”off|off|off” _builder_version=”4.19.0″ title_font=”Abhaya Libre|700|||||||” title_text_align=”center” title_font_size=”50px” title_line_height=”1.1em” content_font=”Noto Serif|700|||||||” content_text_align=”left” content_font_size=”32px” subhead_font=”Noto Sans|||on|||||” subhead_text_align=”center” subhead_text_color=”#c0b283″ subhead_font_size=”26px” - [Box Grant Program](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/box-grant-program/) - [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” admin_label=”Page Title Section” _builder_version=”3.22″ background_color_gradient_direction=”90deg” background_image=”https://brendanovak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/spines2.jpg” custom_padding=”50px||100px|” custom_padding_tablet=”” custom_padding_phone=”” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_color=”#373737″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” max_width=”950px” custom_margin=”||40px|0px” custom_padding=”27px|40px||10%” animation_direction=”left” custom_css_main_element=”z-index:100;” border_radii=”||6px|6px|” border_width_right=”30px” border_color_right=”#dcd0c0″ box_shadow_style=”preset3″ box_shadow_vertical=”35px” box_shadow_blur=”70px” box_shadow_spread=”-35px” box_shadow_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.6)” use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”950px” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding_tablet=”|||10%” custom_padding_last_edited=”off|desktop” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Title” _builder_version=”4.11.3″ header_font=”Cabin|500||on|||||” header_text_align=”left” header_line_height=”1.2em” header_4_font=”Times New Roman||||||||” header_4_text_color=”#dcd0c0″ header_4_font_size=”26px” header_4_line_height=”1.2em” background_layout=”dark” custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”|||” - [The Bookstore on the Beach Launch Party Goody Bag](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/tbotb-launch-party-goody-bag/) - Get The Boookstore on the Beach Bonus Epilogue for free! - [Brenda Novak’s Online Book Group’s Marketplace](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/marketplace/) - [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” admin_label=”Page Title Section” _builder_version=”3.22″ use_background_color_gradient=”on” background_color_gradient_start=”#ded1c2″ background_color_gradient_end=”#f4f4f4″ background_color_gradient_direction=”90deg” background_color_gradient_start_position=”45%” background_color_gradient_end_position=”75%” background_color_gradient_overlays_image=”on” background_image=”https://brendanovak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Book-Group-bg.jpg” background_blend=”screen” custom_padding=”50px||100px|” custom_padding_tablet=”” custom_padding_phone=”” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_color=”#373737″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” max_width=”950px” custom_margin=”||40px|0px” custom_padding=”27px|40px||10%” animation_direction=”left” custom_css_main_element=”z-index:100;” border_radii=”||6px|6px|” border_width_right=”30px” border_color_right=”#dcd0c0″ box_shadow_style=”preset3″ box_shadow_vertical=”35px” box_shadow_blur=”70px” box_shadow_spread=”-35px” box_shadow_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.6)” use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”950px” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding_tablet=”|||10%” custom_padding_last_edited=”off|desktop” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Title” _builder_version=”3.27.4″ header_font=”Cabin|500||on|||||” header_text_align=”left” header_line_height=”1.2em” header_4_font=”Times New - [Halloween Stencils](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/halloween-stencils/) - [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” admin_label=”Header” _builder_version=”4.9.3″ background_color=”RGBA(0,0,0,0)” custom_padding=”0px|0|0px|0px|false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_fullwidth_header title=”Halloween Stencils” text_orientation=”center” button_one_text=”Download” button_one_url=”https://brendanovak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Pumpkin-Stencils.pdf” background_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.35)” content_max_width=”90%” disabled_on=”off|off|off” _builder_version=”4.9.3″ title_font=”Abhaya Libre|700|||||||” title_text_align=”center” title_font_size=”50px” title_line_height=”1.1em” content_font=”Noto Serif|700|||||||” content_text_align=”left” content_font_size=”32px” subhead_font=”Noto Sans|||on|||||” subhead_text_align=”center” subhead_text_color=”#c0b283″ subhead_font_size=”26px” subhead_line_height=”1.4em” background_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0)” background_image=”https://brendanovak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/news-bg3.jpg” parallax=”on” parallax_method=”on” custom_button_one=”on” button_one_text_size=”17px” button_one_text_color=”#ffffff” button_one_bg_color=”#373737″ button_one_border_width=”7px” button_one_border_color=”#373737″ button_one_border_radius=”100px” button_one_font=”Noto Sans|700||on|||||” button_one_use_icon=”off” background_layout=”light” custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”50px||270px|” custom_padding_tablet=”50px|||” custom_padding_phone=”” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|desktop” animation_style=”fade” animation_direction=”top” - [Christmas Coloring Page](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/christmas-coloring-page/) - [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” admin_label=”Header” _builder_version=”4.9.3″ background_color=”RGBA(0,0,0,0)” custom_padding=”0px|0|0px|0px|false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_fullwidth_header title=”Christmas Coloring Page” text_orientation=”center” button_one_text=”Download” button_one_url=”https://brendanovak.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/BN-X-Mas-Coloring-Page.pdf” background_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.35)” content_max_width=”90%” disabled_on=”off|off|off” _builder_version=”4.9.3″ title_font=”Abhaya Libre|700|||||||” title_text_align=”center” title_font_size=”50px” title_line_height=”1.1em” content_font=”Noto Serif|700|||||||” content_text_align=”left” content_font_size=”32px” subhead_font=”Noto Sans|||on|||||” subhead_text_align=”center” subhead_text_color=”#c0b283″ subhead_font_size=”26px” subhead_line_height=”1.4em” background_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0)” background_image=”https://brendanovak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/news-bg3.jpg” parallax=”on” parallax_method=”on” custom_button_one=”on” button_one_text_size=”17px” button_one_text_color=”#ffffff” button_one_bg_color=”#373737″ button_one_border_width=”7px” button_one_border_color=”#373737″ button_one_border_radius=”100px” button_one_font=”Noto Sans|700||on|||||” button_one_use_icon=”off” background_layout=”light” custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”50px||270px|” custom_padding_tablet=”50px|||” custom_padding_phone=”” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|desktop” animation_style=”fade” - [Wine and Cheese Night](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/wine-and-cheese-night/) - Download How to Build a Charcuterie Board (PDF) and Wine Tasting / Wine List (PDF). - [Brenda Novak's Recipe Cards](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/recipe-cards/) - [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” admin_label=”Page Title Section” _builder_version=”3.22″ use_background_color_gradient=”on” background_color_gradient_start=”#ded1c2″ background_color_gradient_end=”#f4f4f4″ background_color_gradient_direction=”90deg” background_color_gradient_start_position=”45%” background_color_gradient_end_position=”75%” background_color_gradient_overlays_image=”on” background_image=”https://brendanovak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Book-Group-bg.jpg” background_blend=”screen” custom_padding=”50px||100px|” custom_padding_tablet=”” custom_padding_phone=””][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_color=”#373737″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” max_width=”950px” custom_margin=”||40px|0px” custom_padding=”27px|40px||10%” animation_direction=”left” custom_css_main_element=”z-index:100;” border_radii=”||6px|6px|” border_width_right=”30px” border_color_right=”#dcd0c0″ box_shadow_style=”preset3″ box_shadow_vertical=”35px” box_shadow_blur=”70px” box_shadow_spread=”-35px” box_shadow_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.6)” use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”950px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding_tablet=”|||10%” custom_padding_last_edited=”off|desktop” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Title” _builder_version=”4.4.8″ header_font=”Cabin|500||on|||||” header_text_align=”left” header_line_height=”1.2em” header_4_font=”Times New Roman||||||||” header_4_text_color=”#dcd0c0″ header_4_font_size=”26px” - [Taste Book](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/taste-book/) - [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Header” fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.2.1″ background_color=”#b7b9c7″ custom_padding=”0px|0|0px|0px|false|false” next_background_color=”#ffffff”][et_pb_fullwidth_header title=”Taste Book” text_orientation=”center” background_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.35)” content_max_width=”90%” _builder_version=”3.21″ title_font=”Abhaya Libre|700|||||||” title_text_align=”center” title_font_size=”50px” title_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” title_line_height=”1.1em” content_font=”Noto Serif|700|||||||” content_text_align=”left” content_font_size=”32px” subhead_font=”Noto Sans|||on|||||” subhead_text_align=”center” subhead_font_size=”26px” subhead_font_size_phone=”20px” subhead_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” subhead_line_height=”1.4em” subhead_line_height_last_edited=”on|phone” background_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0)” background_image=”https://brendanovak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/news-bg3.jpg” parallax=”on” parallax_method=”on” button_one_text_size=”17px” button_one_border_width=”7px” button_one_border_radius=”100px” button_one_font=”Noto Sans|700||on|||||” button_one_use_icon=”off” custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”50px||270px|” custom_padding_tablet=”50px|||” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|desktop” animation_style=”fade” animation_direction=”top” button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_size__hover=”null” button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_size__hover=”null” button_one_text_color__hover_enabled=”on” button_one_text_color__hover=”#ffffff” button_two_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” - [Valentine Day's Recipes](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/valentine-days-recipes/) - [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Page Title Section” _builder_version=”3.19.9″ background_color_gradient_start=”#ded1c2″ background_color_gradient_end=”#f4f4f4″ background_color_gradient_direction=”90deg” background_color_gradient_start_position=”45%” background_color_gradient_end_position=”75%” background_color_gradient_overlays_image=”on” background_image=”https://brendanovak.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/hearts.jpg” custom_padding=”50px||100px|” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” background_position=”top_center”][et_pb_row use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”950px” custom_padding=”27px|40px||10%” custom_margin=”||40px|0px” background_color=”#373737″ padding_1_tablet=”|||10%” padding_1_last_edited=”off|desktop” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” border_radii=”||6px|6px|” border_width_right=”30px” border_color_right=”#dcd0c0″ animation_direction=”left” animation_intensity_slide=”2%” box_shadow_style=”preset3″ box_shadow_vertical=”35px” box_shadow_blur=”70px” box_shadow_spread=”-35px” box_shadow_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.6)” custom_css_main_element=”z-index:100;”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Title” background_layout=”dark” _builder_version=”3.19.9″ header_font=”Cabin|500||on|||||” header_font_size_tablet=”30px” header_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”|||” header_4_font=”Times New Roman||||||||” header_4_text_color=”#dcd0c0″ header_4_line_height=”1.2em” header_4_font_size=”26px” header_text_align=”left” - [Pay It Forward](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/pay-it-forward/) - [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Header” fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.2.1″ background_color=”#b7b9c7″ custom_padding=”0px|0|0px|0px|false|false” next_background_color=”#ffffff”][et_pb_fullwidth_header title=”Pay It Forward” text_orientation=”center” background_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.35)” content_max_width=”90%” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ title_font=”Abhaya Libre|700|||||||” title_text_align=”center” title_font_size=”50px” title_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” title_line_height=”1.1em” content_font=”Noto Serif|700|||||||” content_text_align=”left” content_font_size=”32px” subhead_font=”Noto Sans|||on|||||” subhead_text_align=”center” subhead_font_size=”26px” subhead_font_size_phone=”20px” subhead_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” subhead_line_height=”1.4em” subhead_line_height_last_edited=”on|phone” background_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0)” background_image=”https://brendanovak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/news-bg3.jpg” parallax=”on” parallax_method=”on” button_one_text_size=”17px” button_one_border_width=”7px” button_one_border_radius=”100px” button_one_font=”Noto Sans|700||on|||||” button_one_use_icon=”off” custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”50px||270px|” custom_padding_tablet=”50px|||” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|desktop” animation_style=”fade” animation_direction=”top” button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_size__hover=”null” button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_size__hover=”null” button_one_text_color__hover_enabled=”on” button_one_text_color__hover=”#ffffff” - [Brenda Novak's Cookie Recipe Contest Entries](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/cookie-recipes/) - [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Page Title Section” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ background_color_gradient_start=”#ded1c2″ background_color_gradient_end=”#f4f4f4″ background_color_gradient_direction=”90deg” background_color_gradient_start_position=”45%” background_color_gradient_end_position=”75%” background_color_gradient_overlays_image=”on” background_image=”https://brendanovak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Book-Group-bg.jpg” custom_padding=”50px||100px|” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” next_background_color=”#ffffff” background_blend=”screen” use_background_color_gradient=”on”][et_pb_row use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”950px” custom_padding=”27px|40px||10%” custom_margin=”||40px|0px” background_color=”#373737″ padding_1_tablet=”|||10%” padding_1_last_edited=”off|desktop” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” border_radii=”||6px|6px|” border_width_right=”30px” border_color_right=”#dcd0c0″ animation_direction=”left” animation_intensity_slide=”2%” box_shadow_style=”preset3″ box_shadow_vertical=”35px” box_shadow_blur=”70px” box_shadow_spread=”-35px” box_shadow_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.6)” custom_css_main_element=”z-index:100;”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Title” background_layout=”dark” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ header_font=”Cabin|500||on|||||” header_font_size_tablet=”30px” header_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”|||” header_4_font=”Times New Roman||||||||” header_4_text_color=”#dcd0c0″ header_4_line_height=”1.2em” - [Book Group Invite](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/book-group-invite/) - [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Page Title Section” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ background_color_gradient_start=”#f4f4f4″ background_color_gradient_end=”rgba(244,244,244,0)” background_color_gradient_direction=”90deg” background_color_gradient_start_position=”45%” background_color_gradient_end_position=”75%” background_color_gradient_overlays_image=”on” background_image=”https://brendanovak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/paper.jpg” custom_padding=”50px||100px|” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” bottom_divider_style=”mountains2″][et_pb_row use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”950px” custom_padding=”27px|40px||10%” custom_margin=”||40px|0px” background_color=”#373737″ padding_1_tablet=”|||10%” padding_1_last_edited=”off|desktop” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” border_radii=”||6px|6px|” border_width_right=”30px” border_color_right=”#dcd0c0″ animation_direction=”left” animation_intensity_slide=”2%” box_shadow_style=”preset3″ box_shadow_vertical=”35px” box_shadow_blur=”70px” box_shadow_spread=”-35px” box_shadow_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.6)” custom_css_main_element=”z-index:100;”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Title” background_layout=”dark” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ header_font=”Cabin|500||on|||||” header_font_size_tablet=”30px” header_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”|||” header_4_font=”Times New Roman||||||||” header_4_text_color=”#dcd0c0″ header_4_line_height=”1.2em” header_4_font_size=”26px” header_text_align=”left” - [2025 Brenda Novak Reading Challenge](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/reading-challenge-2025/) - If you decide to take the Reading Challenge, make sure you return to this page every month to record your read to be entered to win a $100 gift card. - [2026 Brenda Novak Reading Challenge](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/reading-challenge-2026/) - If you decide to take the Reading Challenge, make sure you return to this page every month to record your read to be entered to win a $100 gift card. - [Completed 2026 Reading Challenge Form](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/reading-challenge/completed-challenge-2026/) - If you complete all twelve books, you’ll get a FREE enamel pin (you do not need to read and record monthly—there is no deadline to get your pin, it’s just as long as we have pins left). You’ll receive yours for free in 2027 February’s Brenda Novak Book Box (email store@brendanovak.com if you’re a subscriber to let us know to include your pin). Or if you’re not planning to get this box, we just ask that you pay the $5 shipping and handling . If you complete all twelve books of the 2026 Brenda Novak Reading Challenge, you'll also be entered into the GRAND PRIZE drawing at the end of the year, a dedication in one of my upcoming books! You just have to complete all twelve reads by January 15th, 2027. - [Completed 2025 Reading Challenge Form](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/reading-challenge/completed-challenge-2025/) - If you complete all twelve books in the 2025 Brenda Novak Reading Challenge, you’ll get a FREE enamel pin (you do not need to read and record monthly—there is no deadline to get your pin, it's just as long as we have pins left). You'll receive yours for free in 2026 February's Brenda Novak Book Box (email store@brendanovak.com if you're a subscriber to let us know to include your pin). Or if you're not planning to get this box, we just ask that you pay the $5 shipping and handling . If you complete all twelve books of the 2025 Brenda Novak Reading Challenge, you'll also be entered into the GRAND PRIZE drawing at the end of the year, a dedication in one of my upcoming books! You just have to complete all twelve reads by January 15th, 2026. - [2021 Brenda Novak Reading Challenge](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/readers-challenge-2021/) - If you've completed all twelve 2021 Brenda Novak Book Group reads / Brenda Novak challenge reads, you get a free enamel pin! We just ask that you pay for shipping and handling. - [2022 Brenda Novak Reading Challenge](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/reading-challenge-2022/) - If you’ve earned your FREE 2022 enamel pin, it will come in 2023 February’s Brenda Novak Book Box (just make sure to record your 2022 challenge reads by January 15, 2023), or you can pay the shipping and handling of $5 to have it shipped separately. - [2020 Brenda Novak Reading Challenge](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/readers-challenge-2020/) - If you've completed all twelve 2020 Brenda Novak Book Group reads / Brenda Novak challenge reads, you get a free enamel pin! We just ask that you pay for shipping and handling. - [2023 Brenda Novak Reading Challenge](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/readers-challenge-2023/) - If you decide to take the Reading Challenge, make sure you return to this page every month to record your read to be entered to win a $100 gift card. - [2024 Brenda Novak Reading Challenge](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/reading-challenge-2024/) - If you decide to take the Reading Challenge, make sure you return to this page every month to record your read to be entered to win a $100 gift card. - [NOVEMBER 2026 | Brenda Novak's Reading Challenge](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/reading-challenge/nov-2026/) - THE DUKE & I by Julia Quinn is November's Challenge Read. Record that you've read the book (or a Brenda Novak title of your choice instead) by December 15, 2026 for the chance to win a $100 Gift Card to The Brenda Novak Store. Record Your Monthly Read: The challenge reads coincide with the books I've selected for my online book group this year. Each month we'll discuss the book with the author via a live video. If you complete all twelve reads and record by January 15, 2027, you will be entered into the GRAND PRIZE drawing, a dedication in one of my upcoming books. - [JULY 2026 | Brenda Novak's Reading Challenge](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/reading-challenge/jul-2026/) - THE BOOK TOUR by Emily Ohanjanians is July's Challenge Read. Record that you've read the book (or a Brenda Novak title of your choice instead) by August 15, 2026 for the chance to win a $100 Gift Card to The Brenda Novak Store. Record Your Monthly Read: The challenge reads coincide with the books I've selected for my online book group this year. Each month we'll discuss the book with the author via a live video. If you complete all twelve reads and record by January 15, 2027, you will be entered into the GRAND PRIZE drawing, a dedication in one of my upcoming books. - [JUNE 2026 | Brenda Novak's Reading Challenge](https://brendanovak.com/book-group/reading-challenge/jun-2026/) - THE SHIPPERS by Katherine Center is June's Challenge Read. Record that you've read the book (or a Brenda Novak title of your choice instead) by July 15, 2026 for the chance to win a $100 Gift Card to The Brenda Novak Store. Record Your Monthly Read: The challenge reads coincide with the books I've selected for my online book group this year. Each month we'll discuss the book with the author via a live video. If you complete all twelve reads and record by January 15, 2027, you will be entered into the GRAND PRIZE drawing, a dedication in one of my upcoming books. - [Newsletter Sign-Up](https://brendanovak.com/newsletter-sign-up/) - [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” admin_label=”Header” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color=”#b7b9c7″ custom_padding=”0px|0|0px|0px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_fullwidth_header title=”Newsletter Sign-Up” subhead=”To update your subscriber info, please visit the Update Your Subscriber Profile page.” text_orientation=”center” background_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.35)” content_max_width=”90%” disabled_on=”off|off|off” _builder_version=”4.16″ title_font=”Abhaya Libre|700|||||||” title_text_align=”center” title_font_size=”50px” title_line_height=”1.1em” content_font=”Noto Serif|700|||||||” content_text_align=”left” content_font_size=”32px” subhead_font=”Noto Sans|||on|||||” subhead_text_align=”center” subhead_text_color=”#c0b283″ subhead_font_size=”26px” subhead_line_height=”1.4em” background_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0)” background_image=”https://brendanovak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/news-bg3.jpg” parallax=”on” parallax_method=”on” custom_button_one=”on” button_one_text_size=”17px” button_one_text_color=”#ffffff” button_one_bg_color=”#c0b283″ button_one_border_width=”7px” button_one_border_color=”#c0b283″ button_one_border_radius=”100px” button_one_font=”Noto - [Brenda Novak's Taste Books](https://brendanovak.com/book-group-back-up/brenda-novaks-taste-books/) - ALL MY FAVORITES: These are recipes I’ve collected throughout my life. Some are from way back, when I was a child. Others are a bit more recent. And they have come from many sources — my mother, my sisters, my daughters and my friends. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do! - [Update Your Subscriber Profile](https://brendanovak.com/newsletter-sign-up/update-your-info/) - [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” admin_label=”Header” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color=”#b7b9c7″ custom_padding=”0px|0|0px|0px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_fullwidth_header title=”Update Your Subscriber Profile” text_orientation=”center” background_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.35)” content_max_width=”90%” disabled_on=”off|off|off” _builder_version=”4.16″ title_font=”Abhaya Libre|700|||||||” title_text_align=”center” title_font_size=”50px” title_line_height=”1.1em” content_font=”Noto Serif|700|||||||” content_text_align=”left” content_font_size=”32px” subhead_font=”Noto Sans|||on|||||” subhead_text_align=”center” subhead_text_color=”#c0b283″ subhead_font_size=”26px” subhead_line_height=”1.4em” background_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0)” background_image=”https://brendanovak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/news-bg3.jpg” parallax=”on” parallax_method=”on” custom_button_one=”on” button_one_text_size=”17px” button_one_text_color=”#ffffff” button_one_bg_color=”#c0b283″ button_one_border_width=”7px” button_one_border_color=”#c0b283″ button_one_border_radius=”100px” button_one_font=”Noto Sans|700||on|||||” button_one_use_icon=”off” background_layout=”light” custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”50px||270px|” custom_padding_tablet=”50px|||” custom_padding_phone=”” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|desktop” animation_style=”fade” animation_direction=”top” title_font_size_tablet=”” - [Book Buddy Follow-Up](https://brendanovak.com/book-group-back-up/book-buddy-follow-up/) - The Book Buddy Program is a wonderful program—one that we would like to keep going—but we can only keep it going if everyone fulfills their obligation. This is just a quick check to see how things are progressing so far. If you have any questions or concerns please send an email to news@brendanovak.com. - [Contact](https://brendanovak.com/contact/) - [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” admin_label=”Page Title Section” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color_gradient_direction=”90deg” background_color_gradient_start=”#f4f4f4″ background_color_gradient_end=”rgba(244,244,244,0)” background_image=”https://brendanovak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/spines2.jpg” custom_padding=”50px||100px|” custom_padding_tablet=”” custom_padding_phone=”” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color=”#373737″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” max_width=”950px” custom_margin=”||40px|0px” custom_padding=”27px|40px||10%” animation_direction=”left” custom_css_main_element=”z-index:100;” border_radii=”||6px|6px|” border_width_right=”30px” border_color_right=”#dcd0c0″ box_shadow_style=”preset3″ box_shadow_vertical=”35px” box_shadow_blur=”70px” box_shadow_spread=”-35px” box_shadow_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.6)” use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”950px” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding_tablet=”|||10%” custom_padding_last_edited=”off|desktop” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Title” _builder_version=”4.16″ header_font=”Cabin|500||on|||||” header_text_align=”left” header_line_height=”1.2em” header_4_font=”Times New Roman||||||||” header_4_text_color=”#dcd0c0″ header_4_font_size=”26px” header_4_line_height=”1.2em” background_layout=”dark” - [Coyote Canyon](https://brendanovak.com/bookshelf/coyote-canyon/) - A romance trilogy set in the fictional town of Coyote Canyon, Montana. Talulah's Back in Town, The Talk of Coyote Canyon and The Messy Life of Jane Tanner feature strong, independent young women each facing the challenges of running her own business in a small Montana town where everyone knows everyone. Talulah runs a dessert diner, the kind of place where we would all love to hang out over coffee and a delicious slice of cake. Ellen is a woman fighting to establish herself in a physically demanding, male-dominated industry of well-digging and Jane runs a vintage gift store while caring for her ailing grandfather. Each woman is fiercely independent, but the friendship and support they offer each other gives them the strength not only to succeed but to find the happiness they all deserve. Of course, these wouldn't be Brenda Novak novels without a little—or a lot—of drama, and there's plenty of that, especially when the handsome and rugged Elway brothers are involved. - [My Christmas Gift to You](https://brendanovak.com/book-group-back-up/my-christmas-gift-to-you/) - Get The Boookstore on the Beach Bonus Epilogue for free! - [Holidays with Debbie Macomber and Brenda Novak](https://brendanovak.com/book-group-back-up/holidaysdmbn/) - Debbie and Brenda created a group on Facebook so that everyone can share their favorite holiday recipes, traditions and, of course, Christmas books. - [Utah Authors Day 2023](https://brendanovak.com/utah-authors-day-2023/) - [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” admin_label=”Page Title Section” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color_gradient_direction=”90deg” background_image=”https://brendanovak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/spines2.jpg” custom_padding=”50px||100px|” custom_padding_tablet=”” custom_padding_phone=”” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color=”#373737″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” max_width=”950px” custom_margin=”||40px|0px” custom_padding=”27px|40px||10%” animation_direction=”left” custom_css_main_element=”z-index:100;” border_radii=”||6px|6px|” border_width_right=”30px” border_color_right=”#dcd0c0″ box_shadow_style=”preset3″ box_shadow_vertical=”35px” box_shadow_blur=”70px” box_shadow_spread=”-35px” box_shadow_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.6)” use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”950px” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding_tablet=”|||10%” custom_padding_last_edited=”off|desktop” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Title” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ header_font=”Cabin|500||on|||||” header_text_align=”left” header_line_height=”1.2em” header_4_font=”Times New Roman||||||||” header_4_text_color=”#dcd0c0″ header_4_font_size=”26px” header_4_line_height=”1.2em” - [Monthly Drawing](https://brendanovak.com/contest/) - MARCH DRAWING: For a chance to win a Brenda Novak book mug, please let us know where you pre-ordered her next release, THE SEASIDE LIBRARY (if you are a Brenda Novak Book Box subscriber, that counts as a pre-order). - [The BN 50+ Club](https://brendanovak.com/book-group-back-up/wall-of-fame/) - Congratulations to the following people, who have earned their Brenda Novak 50+ Commemorative Pin and this special place on my website for reading more than fifty Novak novels! Wow! Thank you for your tremendous support of my work! - [Audiobooks](https://brendanovak.com/bookshelf/audiobooks/) - [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” admin_label=”Page Title Section” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0)” background_color_gradient_direction=”90deg” background_color_gradient_start=”#f4f4f4″ background_color_gradient_start_position=”45%” background_color_gradient_end=”rgba(244,244,244,0)” background_color_gradient_end_position=”75%” background_position=”top_center” custom_padding=”50px||100px|” custom_padding_tablet=”” custom_padding_phone=”” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color=”#373737″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” max_width=”950px” custom_margin=”||40px|0px” custom_padding=”27px|40px||10%” animation_direction=”left” custom_css_main_element=”z-index:100;” border_radii=”||6px|6px|” border_width_right=”30px” border_color_right=”#dcd0c0″ box_shadow_style=”preset3″ box_shadow_vertical=”35px” box_shadow_blur=”70px” box_shadow_spread=”-35px” box_shadow_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.6)” use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”950px” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding_tablet=”|||10%” custom_padding_last_edited=”off|desktop” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Title” _builder_version=”4.16″ header_font=”Cabin|500||on|||||” header_text_align=”left” header_line_height=”1.2em” header_4_font=”Times New Roman||||||||” header_4_text_color=”#dcd0c0″ - [Books for Charity — All proceeds go to diabetes research...](https://brendanovak.com/bookshelf/books-for-charity/) - LOVE THAT! BRENDA NOVAK’S EVERY OCCASION COOKBOOK. Brenda’s very first cookbook contains 75 of her healthiest recipes—the recipes she used to raise her large and boisterous family. - [Anthologies & Novellas](https://brendanovak.com/bookshelf/anthologies-novellas/) - Together for Christmas, The Best Christmas Surprise, To Win Her Heart, On a Snowy Christmas, I’ll Be Home For Christmas, Be Mine at Christmas, and Once Upon a Christmas. - [Other Superromances](https://brendanovak.com/bookshelf/other-superromances/) - Snow Baby, Baby Business, Dear Maggie, A Family by Christmas, Shooting the Moon, Sanctuary, and Back to You. - [Other Single Titles](https://brendanovak.com/bookshelf/other-single-titles/) - Taking the Heat, Cold Feet, Every Waking Moment - [The Stillwater Trilogy](https://brendanovak.com/bookshelf/stillwater-trilogy/) - The Stillwater Trilogy is a romantic suspense trilogy set in Stillwater, Mississippi (a fictional place where some of the characters have minds as small as the town itself) and is made up of three tightly connected stories—Dead Silence, Dead Giveaway and Dead Right. In these books, the beloved town preacher is missing. The heroine of the first novel knows where he’s at and why he’s there. She was present the night he was killed and his body buried. These books can be read as stand alone novels, but because they have an overarching mystery, it would be best to read them in order. - [The Last Stand Series](https://brendanovak.com/bookshelf/last-stand-series/) - The Last Stand series is a romantic suspense series about a group of women who met at a victim’s support group. They formed a fast friendship and then a charity designed to help other victims—primarily those falling through the cracks of the criminal justice system, so they take on some difficult cases. Set in Sacramento, CA, this series starts with Trust Me and continues with Stop Me, Watch Me, The Perfect Couple, The Perfect Liar and The Perfect Murder. These books can be read as stand alone novels, but for maximum enjoying, it’s always better to read them in order. - [The Department 6 Trilogy](https://brendanovak.com/bookshelf/department-6-trilogy/) - The Dept. 6 trilogy is made up of White Heat, Body Heat and Killer Heat. These romantic suspense titles are set in Arizona and are about a private security firm that is hired to take on and do some things that a regular police force could not. - [The Bulletproof Trilogy](https://brendanovak.com/bookshelf/bulletproof-trilogy/) - Inside, In Seconds and In Close make up the Bulletproof Trilogy, which is a romantic suspense trilogy set in Crescent City, CA and then a small, fictional town in Montana. It’s about a man who, after being wrongly imprisoned, is exonerated, but the gang he clicked up with in order to survive what he thought was a life sentence, is not willing to let him go. The secondary character named “Pretty Boy” receives his own story when he moves to Whiskey Creek in The Heart of Christmas, so be sure to read that one if you read this trilogy! - [The Dundee, Idaho Series](https://brendanovak.com/bookshelf/dundee-idaho-series/) - The Dundee series is a small town contemporary romance series consisting of eight full-length books and a novella to cap it off at the end. Because these are older books, the first connected books Brenda ever wrote, the covers have been updated and so have some of the titles. - [Historicals](https://brendanovak.com/bookshelf/historicals/) - Brenda’s historical novels are not part of a series—they are each a stand alone novel. - [The Whiskey Creek Series](https://brendanovak.com/bookshelf/whiskey-creek-series/) - The Whiskey Creek series contains ten stories so far, and there will eventually be four more. It kicks off with When We Touch, which is a novella, and moves on to nine full-length books: When Lightning Strikes, When Snow Falls, When Summer Comes, Home to Whiskey Creek, Take Me Home for Christmas, Come Home to Me, The Heart of Christmas, This Heart of Mine and A Winter Wedding. Although this is a contemporary series, it’s set in a “gold country” town similar to those near Sacramento, CA where gold was discovered in January of 1848. These books can be read as stand alone novels, but for maximum enjoyment, it’s always better to read them in order. - [The Silver Springs Series](https://brendanovak.com/bookshelf/silver-springs-series/) - The Silver Springs series is an open-ended contemporary romance series that includes Finding Our Forever, No One But You, Until You Loved Me, Right Where We Belong, Unforgettable You and Christmas in Silver Springs. These books are set in a picturesque small town (fictional) in Southern California which has been modeled very loosely on Ojai—a place where even the hardest hearts can learn to love again. These books can be read as stand alone novels, but for maximum enjoyment, it's always better to read them in order. - [The Evelyn Talbot Chronicles](https://brendanovak.com/bookshelf/the-evelyn-talbot-chronicles/) - The Evelyn Talbot books—Hanover House, Her Darkest Nightmare, Hello Again, Face Off and Blind Spot—are romantic thrillers about a psychiatrist who studies serial killers at a remote facility in Alaska. They have been optioned for major motion picture production and Peter Webber, the UK director of Girl With the Pearl Earring, has agreed to direct the first movie. - [Press and Media](https://brendanovak.com/about/press-and-media/) - [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ custom_padding_last_edited=”on|desktop” admin_label=”Page Title Section” _builder_version=”3.22″ background_color_gradient_direction=”90deg” background_image=”https://brendanovak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/news-bg3.jpg” custom_padding=”50px||100px|” custom_padding_tablet=”” custom_padding_phone=””][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_color=”#373737″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” max_width=”950px” custom_margin=”||40px|0px” custom_padding=”27px|40px||10%” animation_direction=”left” custom_css_main_element=”z-index:100;” border_radii=”||6px|6px|” border_width_right=”30px” border_color_right=”#dcd0c0″ box_shadow_style=”preset3″ box_shadow_vertical=”35px” box_shadow_blur=”70px” box_shadow_spread=”-35px” box_shadow_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.6)” use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”950px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding_tablet=”|||10%” custom_padding_last_edited=”off|desktop” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Title” _builder_version=”3.27.4″ header_font=”Cabin|500||on|||||” header_text_align=”left” header_line_height=”1.2em” header_4_font=”Times New Roman||||||||” header_4_text_color=”#dcd0c0″ header_4_font_size=”26px” header_4_line_height=”1.2em” background_layout=”dark” custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”|||” header_font_size_tablet=”30px” header_font_size_phone=”24px” header_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone”]Press - 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[Diabetes Fundraising](https://brendanovak.com/about/diabetes-fundraising/) - [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Page Title Section” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ background_color_gradient_start=”#f4f4f4″ background_color_gradient_end=”rgba(244,244,244,0)” background_color_gradient_direction=”90deg” background_color_gradient_start_position=”45%” background_color_gradient_end_position=”75%” background_color_gradient_overlays_image=”on” background_image=”https://brendanovak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/news-bg3.jpg” custom_padding=”50px||100px|” next_background_color=”#ffffff” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone”][et_pb_row use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”950px” custom_padding=”27px|40px||10%” custom_margin=”||40px|0px” background_color=”#373737″ padding_1_tablet=”|||10%” padding_1_last_edited=”off|desktop” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” border_radii=”||6px|6px|” border_width_right=”30px” border_color_right=”#dcd0c0″ animation_direction=”left” animation_intensity_slide=”2%” box_shadow_style=”preset3″ box_shadow_vertical=”35px” box_shadow_blur=”70px” box_shadow_spread=”-35px” box_shadow_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.6)” custom_css_main_element=”z-index:100;”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Title” background_layout=”dark” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ header_font=”Cabin|500||on|||||” header_font_size_tablet=”30px” header_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”|||” header_4_font=”Times New Roman||||||||” header_4_text_color=”#dcd0c0″ header_4_line_height=”1.2em” header_4_font_size=”26px” header_font_size_phone=”24px” - [Tips on love from experts (The Sacramento Bee)](https://brendanovak.com/about/press-and-media/tips-on-love-from-experts/) - [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Page Title Section” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ background_color_gradient_start=”#f4f4f4″ background_color_gradient_end=”rgba(244,244,244,0)” background_color_gradient_direction=”90deg” background_color_gradient_start_position=”45%” background_color_gradient_end_position=”75%” background_color_gradient_overlays_image=”on” background_image=”https://brendanovak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/news-bg3.jpg” custom_padding=”50px||100px|” next_background_color=”#ffffff” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone”][et_pb_row use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”950px” custom_padding=”27px|40px||10%” custom_margin=”||40px|0px” background_color=”#373737″ padding_1_tablet=”|||10%” padding_1_last_edited=”off|desktop” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” border_radii=”||6px|6px|” border_width_right=”30px” border_color_right=”#dcd0c0″ animation_direction=”left” animation_intensity_slide=”2%” box_shadow_style=”preset3″ box_shadow_vertical=”35px” box_shadow_blur=”70px” box_shadow_spread=”-35px” box_shadow_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.6)” custom_css_main_element=”z-index:100;”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Title” background_layout=”dark” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ header_font=”Cabin|500||on|||||” header_font_size_tablet=”30px” header_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”|||” header_4_font=”Times New Roman||||||||” header_4_text_color=”#dcd0c0″ header_4_line_height=”1.2em” header_4_font_size=”26px” header_font_size_phone=”24px” - [A Romance Star is Born with Brenda Novak’s debut novel, Of Noble Birth](https://brendanovak.com/about/press-and-media/a-romance-star-is-born/) - [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Page Title Section” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ background_color_gradient_start=”#f4f4f4″ background_color_gradient_end=”rgba(244,244,244,0)” background_color_gradient_direction=”90deg” background_color_gradient_start_position=”45%” background_color_gradient_end_position=”75%” background_color_gradient_overlays_image=”on” background_image=”https://brendanovak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/news-bg3.jpg” custom_padding=”50px||100px|” next_background_color=”#ffffff” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone”][et_pb_row use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”950px” custom_padding=”27px|40px||10%” custom_margin=”||40px|0px” background_color=”#373737″ padding_1_tablet=”|||10%” padding_1_last_edited=”off|desktop” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” border_radii=”||6px|6px|” border_width_right=”30px” border_color_right=”#dcd0c0″ animation_direction=”left” animation_intensity_slide=”2%” box_shadow_style=”preset3″ box_shadow_vertical=”35px” box_shadow_blur=”70px” box_shadow_spread=”-35px” box_shadow_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.6)” custom_css_main_element=”z-index:100;”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Title” background_layout=”dark” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ header_font=”Cabin|500||on|||||” header_font_size_tablet=”30px” header_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”|||” header_4_font=”Times New Roman||||||||” header_4_text_color=”#dcd0c0″ header_4_line_height=”1.2em” header_4_font_size=”26px” header_font_size_phone=”24px” - [Passions of a Modern Woman (The Sacramento Bee)](https://brendanovak.com/about/press-and-media/passions-of-a-modern-woman/) - [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Page Title Section” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ background_color_gradient_start=”#f4f4f4″ background_color_gradient_end=”rgba(244,244,244,0)” background_color_gradient_direction=”90deg” background_color_gradient_start_position=”45%” background_color_gradient_end_position=”75%” background_color_gradient_overlays_image=”on” background_image=”https://brendanovak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/news-bg3.jpg” custom_padding=”50px||100px|” next_background_color=”#ffffff” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone”][et_pb_row use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”950px” custom_padding=”27px|40px||10%” custom_margin=”||40px|0px” background_color=”#373737″ padding_1_tablet=”|||10%” padding_1_last_edited=”off|desktop” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” border_radii=”||6px|6px|” border_width_right=”30px” border_color_right=”#dcd0c0″ animation_direction=”left” animation_intensity_slide=”2%” box_shadow_style=”preset3″ box_shadow_vertical=”35px” box_shadow_blur=”70px” box_shadow_spread=”-35px” box_shadow_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.6)” custom_css_main_element=”z-index:100;”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Title” background_layout=”dark” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ header_font=”Cabin|500||on|||||” header_font_size_tablet=”30px” header_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”|||” header_4_font=”Times New Roman||||||||” header_4_text_color=”#dcd0c0″ header_4_line_height=”1.2em” header_4_font_size=”26px” header_font_size_phone=”24px” - [RT Interviews Brenda Novak, a 2001 nominee for Best Superromance](https://brendanovak.com/about/press-and-media/rt-interviews-brenda-novak/) - [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Page Title Section” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ background_color_gradient_start=”#f4f4f4″ background_color_gradient_end=”rgba(244,244,244,0)” background_color_gradient_direction=”90deg” background_color_gradient_start_position=”45%” background_color_gradient_end_position=”75%” background_color_gradient_overlays_image=”on” background_image=”https://brendanovak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/news-bg3.jpg” custom_padding=”50px||100px|” next_background_color=”#ffffff” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone”][et_pb_row use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”950px” custom_padding=”27px|40px||10%” custom_margin=”||40px|0px” background_color=”#373737″ padding_1_tablet=”|||10%” padding_1_last_edited=”off|desktop” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” border_radii=”||6px|6px|” border_width_right=”30px” border_color_right=”#dcd0c0″ animation_direction=”left” animation_intensity_slide=”2%” box_shadow_style=”preset3″ box_shadow_vertical=”35px” box_shadow_blur=”70px” box_shadow_spread=”-35px” box_shadow_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.6)” custom_css_main_element=”z-index:100;”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Title” background_layout=”dark” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ header_font=”Cabin|500||on|||||” header_font_size_tablet=”30px” header_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”|||” header_4_font=”Times New Roman||||||||” header_4_text_color=”#dcd0c0″ header_4_line_height=”1.2em” header_4_font_size=”26px” header_font_size_phone=”24px” ## Books - [A California Christmas](https://brendanovak.com/books/a-california-christmas/) - Spend the holidays in Silver Springs, where the greatest gift of all is the love you never expected. Up-and-coming TV anchor Emery Bliss can’t imagine anything more humiliating than the sex tape her ex revenge-posted online. That is, until it causes her to lose her job on top of her self-esteem. Seeking solace—and anonymity—in Silver - [Meet Me in Italy](https://brendanovak.com/books/meet-me-in-italy/) - A sun-soaked trip to the Amalfi Coast promises a fresh start—and reveals secrets never imagined in New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak’s tender new novel. In the wake of her debut novel’s breakout success—and a very painful public divorce—Charlotte Williams-Jackson has something to prove. With her second novel overdue, she’s scrambling to hold it - [A Hard Luck Christmas](https://brendanovak.com/books/a-hard-luck-christmas/) - Enjoy small town charm, Christmas cheer and a heartfelt second chances/opposites attract romance from New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak! Single mom Patience Mather is focused on two things—her daughter and planning a Christmas festival that will contribute to the revitalization of Hard Luck, Nevada. She has no time for complications—or sparks with returned - [A Dundee Christmas](https://brendanovak.com/books/a-dundee-christmas/) - Revisit this small-town holiday romance by New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak. Cierra Santos is looking for a refuge and a place she can call home. After uprooting her whole life looking for a better future, her fiancé’s death leaves Cierra lost and confused. When she gets stuck in a snowstorm in the small - [The More I Love You](https://brendanovak.com/books/the-more-i-love-you/) - Originally published as Coulda Been A Cowboy, this refreshing story shows that even the bumpiest roads are worth traveling for the right person. Grandpa Garnier used to say, Love is like a bucking bronco. It takes guts and determination to hang on, but it’s worth the ride. If only Grandpa was around now to help - [Falling into Forever](https://brendanovak.com/books/falling-into-forever/) - Rediscover this heartfelt romance by New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak. Widower Thad Winters has loved and lost. After suffering the loss of his wife, Thad is convinced that loving a child will fill the void in his heart. When Macy McKinney interviews for the extraordinary job of becoming Thad’s surrogate, there is only - [That One Night](https://brendanovak.com/books/that-one-night/) - At thirty, Delaney is no longer interested in playing the role of “good girl.” After all, what has it gotten her this far in life? The one thing she wants most of all—to become a mother—still seems far out of reach. When she and her best friend go to Boise for a night out, the - [Snow Baby](https://brendanovak.com/books/snow-baby/) - 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. - [Pieces of Perfect: A sequel novella to One Perfect Summer](https://brendanovak.com/books/pieces-of-perfect/) - In One Perfect Summer, three women who had never met—and seemed to share nothing but a DNA match—discovered they were sisters. Their search to uncover how and why brought them together and transformed strangers into family. Now, in Pieces of Perfect, those bonds are tested, deepened, and celebrated as they continue to explore what it - [One Perfect Summer](https://brendanovak.com/books/one-perfect-summer/) - "A great book to finish off your summer reading."—Debbie Macomber, #1 New York Times bestselling author From New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak comes a novel about finding family in unexpected places and the lifelong bonds that don’t need a lifetime to forge Some families we’re born into Some we find for ourselves When - [The Summer That Changed Everything](https://brendanovak.com/books/the-summer-that-changed-everything/) - She returned to prove her father's innocence, but there's no telling what she'll find… It's been fifteen years since Lucy Sinclair saw her father. Fifteen long years since she sat in a courtroom and watched him sentenced to life in prison for the murder of three victims. Now she’s back in Virginia to talk to - [The Seaside Library](https://brendanovak.com/books/the-seaside-library/) - There are secrets that bring friends together, and others that drive them apart… Mariners Island is barely ten miles long, but when Ivy, Ariana and Cam were teenagers, it was their whole world. Beyond the pristine beaches and iconic lighthouse lies the beautiful old library that belongs to Ivy’s family. While that bound Ivy to - [Kisses in the Country Volume 1](https://brendanovak.com/books/kisses-in-the-country-collection/) - Kisses in the Country Collection includes four full-length small-town romances that take place in Dundee, Idaho, all in one volume! THAT ONE NIGHT The one thing that Delaney wants more in the world is to become a mother, but at thirty years old and with no relationship prospects, her dream seems far out of reach. - [Kisses in the Country Volume 2](https://brendanovak.com/books/kisses-in-the-country-vol-2/) - Kisses in the Country Vol. 2 includes four full-length small-town romances that take place in Dundee, Idaho, all in one volume! MEANT FOR YOU Gabe Holbrook had it all. Intelligent, handsome, talented, rich, he’d been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. But after a car accident derailed his future and ended his career, - [Back to You](https://brendanovak.com/books/back-to-you/) - Originally published as Expectations, this charming story takes you back to where you first found love… Jenna Livingston’s moved back to Mendocino with her eight-year-old son, 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... - [Sanctuary](https://brendanovak.com/books/sanctuary/) - Revisit this classic novel by New York Times Bestselling Author Brenda Novak. Seventeen-year-old Hope Tanner found a sanctuary in the town of Enchantment, New Mexico, after scaping—pregnant and alone—from the polygamous community she grew up in, located in Superior, Utah. In Enchantment, Hope is given a second chance when the birthing clinic handles the private - [Shooting the Moon](https://brendanovak.com/books/shooting-the-moon/) - Take a ride with New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak in this touching story of family, forgiveness…and bad reputations. Ten years ago, Harley Nelson got on his motorcycle and drove out of Portland, Oregon, leaving behind a bad reputation, a baby, and the woman responsible for both—Audra Worthington. Now Audra's dead, and their son, - [To Win Her Heart](https://brendanovak.com/books/to-win-her-heart/) - Escape with a fun, uplifting romance about a fake relationship and a renewed love from New York Times best-selling author Brenda Novak. Tired of being in the center of her parents’ divorce, nuclear physicist April Ashton schemes a getaway to Mexico, hoping the vacation will lead to a romantic reunion and the possibility of her - [A Family by Christmas](https://brendanovak.com/books/a-family-by-christmas/) - Rediscover a heartfelt holiday romance from New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak. After facing the difficult reality of her marriage, Jaclyn Wentworth leaves her cheating ex-husband and settles in Reno with her three children. Struggling in her new beginning, Jaclyn runs into Cole Perrini, former high school bad boy, now successful in his business - [The Banned Books Club](https://brendanovak.com/books/the-banned-books-club/) - She left her hometown following a scandal—but family loyalty is dragging her back… Despite their strained relationship, when Gia Rossi’s sister, Margot, begs her to come home to Wakefield, Iowa, to help with their ailing mother, Gia knows she has no choice. After her rebellious and at-times tumultuous teen years, Gia left town with little - [The Best Christmas Surprise](https://brendanovak.com/books/the-best-christmas-surprise/) - Enjoy a Christmas romance classic by New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak. Angela Forrester’s foster child Kayla only has one Christmas wish—to meet her real father. So Angela decides to reconnect with her high school friend Matt Jackson, determined to tell him about his little girl. Only now Matt is the chief firefighter in - [Tying the Knot](https://brendanovak.com/books/tying-the-knot/) - They’re taking a chance on love…by marrying the wrong person All of Grady Amos’s brothers are married, and he's feeling left behind. Aja Kermani wants to break away from the man chosen by her parents and marry for love. This leads them both to Tying the Knot, a reality TV show where contestants meet their soulmate. - [Summer on the Island](https://brendanovak.com/books/summer-on-the-island/) - A summer of healing, friendship, love…and a secret that could change everything. After the death of her US senator father, Marlow Madsen travels to the small island off the coast of Florida where she spent summers growing up to help her mother settle the family estate. For Marlow, the trip is a chance to reconnect - [Home for the Holidays](https://brendanovak.com/books/home-for-the-holidays/) - Natasha Sharp was just a teenager when her mom married Mack Amos’s dad, and despite her crush, Mack always held her at arm’s length . . . - [The Complete Historical Romance Collection](https://brendanovak.com/books/the-complete-historical-romance-collection/) - This collection includes: OF NOBLE BIRTH HONOR BOUND THROUGH THE SMOKE A MATTER OF GRAVE CONCERN “Impressive...this novel has all the elements a reader craves: delicious family secrets, high seas adventure, and a passionate love story. Read and enjoy.”—Susan Wiggs, New York Times Bestselling Author on Of Noble Birth “A passionate romance...exciting...unforgettable.”—Amanda Scott, USA Today Bestselling Author on Of Noble Birth - [Tourist Season](https://brendanovak.com/books/tourist-season/) - A summer by the ocean promises new beginnings—until old secrets resurface. Ismay Chalmers is ready for a relaxing summer reconnecting with her fiancé at his family’s luxurious beachfront cottage. But before Remy can join her, a hurricane bears down on Mariners Island. Alone in the large house, Ismay makes a disturbing discovery in Remy's childhood - [Killer Heat](https://brendanovak.com/books/killer-heat/) - 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, - [Hanover House](https://brendanovak.com/books/hanover-house/) - Welcome to Hanover House…. Psychiatrist Evelyn Talbot has dedicated her life to solving the mysteries of the psychopathic mind. Why do psychopaths act as they do? How do they come to be? Why don’t they feel any remorse for the suffering they cause? And are there better ways of spotting and stopping them? After having - [The Messy Life of Jane Tanner](https://brendanovak.com/books/the-messy-life-of-jane-tanner/) - When your life is chaotic, what’s one more complication? Jane Tanner’s friends are settling down, while she’s been settling for less. She longs for adventure and the big city, but caring for her ailing grandfather means she's shackled to her small town. She’s excited her vintage gift shop is finally up and running, but it’s not enough. - [The Talk of Coyote Canyon](https://brendanovak.com/books/the-talk-of-coyote-canyon/) - She’s not here to make friends. She’s here to make trouble. With her piercings, tattoos and spiky blond hair, Ellen Truesdale doesn’t quite fit in with the other folks in Coyote Canyon—and that’s just fine with her. She’s only here to put her father out of business, as payback for abandoning her when she was - [In Close](https://brendanovak.com/books/in-close/) - 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? - [Body Heat](https://brendanovak.com/books/body-heat/) - Twelve people have been shot at point-blank range and left to rot in the desert sun. It's Sophia St. Claire's job to do something about it. She's Bordertown, Arizona's new chief of police—and she's out of her depth. Help arrives in the form of Department 6 hired gun Roderick Guerrero. As far as Sophia's concerned, - [The Baby Business Collection](https://brendanovak.com/books/the-baby-business-collection/) - The Baby Business Collection from New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak, all in one volume! Back to You Jenna Livingston’s moved back to Mendocino with her eight-year-old son, 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 15 years ago. - [White Heat](https://brendanovak.com/books/white-heat/) - 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 - [I'll Be Home for Christmas](https://brendanovak.com/books/ill-be-home-for-christmas/) - Three holiday favorites from New York Times bestselling authors! Silver Bells by Debbie Macomber A single dad’s rambunctious teenage daughter hatches a plot to find her father a wife, and she has just the woman in mind. He may claim he’s not interested in remarriage, but perhaps the magic of the holiday season will help - [No Again?](https://brendanovak.com/books/no-again/) - The books is also available as PDF (ebook) through The Brenda Novak Store. To Ella and Caden, my only grandchildren to this point. Since I’m a popular fiction author, I was often asked if I’d ever write anything for children. I never believed I would, until you came along. You are not only the loves - [Talulah's Back in Town](https://brendanovak.com/books/talulahs-back-in-town/) - Sometimes the past we leave behind leads us right where we belong. Talulah Barclay doesn't like complications. Unfortunately, they seem to love her. Fourteen years after leaving her fiancé at the altar, Talulah returns to her hometown of Coyote Canyon, Montana, to settle her great-aunt's estate. As she'd feared, her “runaway bride” reputation is waiting - [Of Noble Birth](https://brendanovak.com/books/of-noble-birth/) - Furious at his aristocratic father for abandoning him as an infant, Nathaniel Kent spends his days exacting revenge…in a most lucrative way. The handsome, blue-eyed pirate captain attacks his father’s boats, plundering their cargo and reaping the rewards. When Nathaniel takes a lovely seamstress as his hostage, mistaking her for his spoiled and wealthy half - [Honor Bound](https://brendanovak.com/books/the-bastard-honor-bound/) - Lieutenant Crawford Treynor has fought valiantly for everything he has. The bastard child of a noblewoman, he was handed over as an infant to a poor farmer—and beaten so badly that he ran away at age fourteen. Now a respected officer, he vows to command his own frigate one day. There is no place in - [Through the Smoke](https://brendanovak.com/books/through-the-smoke/) - A shocking betrayal… Riches. Power. An ancient heritage of pride. The Earl of Druridge wanted only for an heir. So when he learned that his wife was carrying another man’s child, he was filled with a thirst for vengeance. But he wasn’t the one who caused Katherine’s death. Or was he? To his horror, he - [A Matter of Grave Concern](https://brendanovak.com/books/a-matter-of-grave-concern/) - When Maximillian Wilder hides his noble identity and joins the notorious body snatchers known as the London Supply Company, the last thing on his mind is love. He’s worried about Madeline, his vanished half sister, who was last seen in the company of Jack Hurtsill, the gang’s conscienceless leader. Raiding graveyards, stealing corpses, and selling - [The Bookstore on the Beach](https://brendanovak.com/books/the-bookstore-on-the-beach/) - “Novak handles difficult topics with sensitivity, making for a heart-tugging romance. Readers are sure to be sucked in.” —Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW How do you start a new chapter when you haven't closed the book on the last one? Eighteen months ago, Autumn Divac's husband went missing. Her desperate search has yielded no answers—she still - [On a Snowy Christmas](https://brendanovak.com/books/on-a-snowy-christmas/) - When their private plane crashes in the Sierra Nevada Mountains shortly before Christmas, two political enemies must do what it takes to survive in the icy terrain. Neither one of them ever thought they’d have to rely on the other to survive. But they soon discover that survival means more than just staying alive. In - [The Secrets She Kept](https://brendanovak.com/books/the-secrets-she-kept/) - The rich and powerful Josephine Lazarow, matriarch of Fairham Island, is dead. The police say it's suicide, but Keith, her estranged son, doesn't believe it. Keith bears scars—both physical and emotional—from his childhood, but he’s worked hard to overcome the past. After walking away from his mother and her controlling ways five years ago, he’s - [The Secret Sister](https://brendanovak.com/books/secret-sister/) - 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 South 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 - [Discovering You](https://brendanovak.com/books/discovering-you/) - Can she ever trust another "bad boy”? India Sommers once had the perfect family—until an ex-boyfriend broke in and shot her husband. Not only did that cost her the man she loved, a respected heart surgeon and the father of her child, she feels responsible. Charlie died because of the people she hung out with - [A Winter Wedding](https://brendanovak.com/books/a-winter-wedding/) - One night 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 - [Take Me Home for Christmas](https://brendanovak.com/books/take-me-home-for-christmas/) - Christmas is a time for remembering… Too bad not all memories are pleasant. Everyone in Whiskey Creek remembers Sophia DeBussi as the mean girl. Especially Ted Dixon, whose attentions she once scorned. But Sophia has paid the price for her behavior back then. The man she did marry was rich and powerful, but abusive. When - [Come Home to Me](https://brendanovak.com/books/come-home-to-me/) - Home is where her heart is When 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 - [This Heart of Mine](https://brendanovak.com/books/this-heart-of-mine/) - With starred reviews from Booklist ("Potently emotional, powerfully life-affirming") and Library Journal ("Another engrossing addition to Novak's addictive series"), this is a Whiskey Creek book you don't want to miss! 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, - [The Heart of Christmas](https://brendanovak.com/books/the-heart-of-christmas/) - 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 - [When Snow Falls](https://brendanovak.com/books/when-snow-falls/) - Cheyenne Christensen is troubled by the mystery of her earliest memories, most of which feature a smiling blonde woman. A woman who isn't her mother. - [Home to Whiskey Creek](https://brendanovak.com/books/home-to-whiskey-creek/) - RT READER'S CHOICE WINNER! Sometimes home is the refuge you need—and sometimes it isn't When her aging grandmother needs care, Adelaide Davies returns to Whiskey Creek, the place she once called home. But Adelaide isn't happy to be back. There are too many people here she'd rather avoid, people who were involved in a horribly - [When Summer Comes](https://brendanovak.com/books/when-summer-comes/) - Callie Vanetta needs a liver transplant. But her doctors warn that, in her case, the chances of finding a compatible donor aren’t good. - [When Lightning Strikes](https://brendanovak.com/books/when-lightning-strikes/) - “It’s steamy, it’s poignant, it’s perfectly paced—it’s When Lightning Strikes and you don’t want to miss it!”—USA TODAY Welcome to Whiskey Creek—Heart of the Gold Country Gail DeMarco left Whiskey Creek, California, to make a name for herself in Los Angeles. Her PR firm has accumulated a roster of A-list clients, including the biggest box - [Keep Me Warm at Christmas](https://brendanovak.com/books/keep-me-warm-at-christmas/) - Book 9 in the Silver Springs series. Available September 28, 2021. Maybe this Christmas can thaw his frozen heart—and heal hers. - [More than Words: Stories of the Heart](https://brendanovak.com/books/more-than-words-stories-of-the-heart/) - Three bestselling authors Three real-life heroines Even as you read these words, there are women just like you stepping up and making a difference in their communities, making our world a better place to live. Three such exceptional women have been selected as recipients of Harlequin's More Than Words award. To celebrate their accomplishments, three - [Stop Me](https://brendanovak.com/books/stop-me/) - 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 - [First Love, Second Chance](https://brendanovak.com/books/first-love-second-chance-2/) - BROKEN HEARTS MEND 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 - [When I Found You](https://brendanovak.com/books/when-i-found-you/) - Sometimes the biggest emotional risk can reap the best romantic reward… After everything she worked for is destroyed, pediatrician Natasha Gray is determined to build a new life. Divorced, bankrupt and suddenly a single mom, she’s ready to start over in Silver Springs—on her own. She certainly doesn’t need help from Mack Amos, the man - [Unforgettable You](https://brendanovak.com/books/unforgettable-you/) - New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak returns to Silver Springs, where no past mistake is so big the heart can’t find a way to fix it. Jada Brooks couldn’t have known how her life would change when she fell for bad boy Maddox Richardson back in high school. She couldn’t have known his troubled brother - [Together for Christmas (Reissue)](https://brendanovak.com/books/together-for-christmas-reissue/) - This holiday season, visit four of your favorite towns created by four of your favorite authors! 5-B Poppy Lane by Debbie Macomber First, let’s drop in to Cedar Cove, Washington, where you’ll visit with Ruth and Paul. They’ll offer you a cup of mulled cider and the story of how they met—and they’ll share Ruth’s - [Christmas in Silver Springs](https://brendanovak.com/books/christmas-in-silver-springs/) - Come home to Silver Springs for the holidays, where broken hearts learn to love again…together. So much for forever. When Harper Devlin’s rock star husband ditches her on his way to the top, she takes her two daughters to her sister’s place in Silver Springs for the holidays, hoping family can heal her broken heart. - [Blind Spot](https://brendanovak.com/books/blind-spot/) - New York Times bestseller Brenda Novak's Evelyn Talbot series returns, with a heavily pregnant Evelyn being held hostage. SOMETIMES THE DARKEST DEEDS... With her tortured past finally behind her—and her tormentor locked up, where she can study him along with the other psychopaths at Hanover House—psychiatrist Evelyn Talbot is looking forward to the future. She's - [Face Off](https://brendanovak.com/books/face-off/) - SHE VOWED NEVER TO BE A VICTIM AGAIN Tortured and left for dead at sixteen, Evelyn Talbot turned her personal nightmare into her life’s work—studying the disturbing psychopathy of some of the world’s most vicious serial killers. Now the leading psychiatrist at Hanover House in a small Alaskan town, she tries to believe that the - [Just the Two of Us](https://brendanovak.com/books/just-the-two-of-us/) - Originally published as The Other Woman, this captivating story proves that a second chance doesn’t have to mean second best. Elizabeth O’Connell has survived one of the worst betrayals a wife can imagine. Finding out that she wasn’t the only woman in her husband’s life meant the end of her marriage and a year of - [Finding You](https://brendanovak.com/books/finding-you/) - Originally published as Big Girls Don’t Cry, this charming romance shows that sometimes Mr. Right couldn’t be more wrong, and Mr. Wrong couldn’t be more right… 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 - [Before We Were Strangers](https://brendanovak.com/books/before-we-were-strangers/) - Something happened to her mother that night. Something no one wants to talk about. But she’s determined to uncover her family’s dark secrets, even if they bury her. Five-year-old Sloane McBride couldn't sleep that night. Her parents were arguing again, their harsh words heating the cool, autumn air. And then there’d been that other sound—the - [Meant for You](https://brendanovak.com/books/meant-for-you/) - Old grudges become new loves in this enchanting contemporary romance originally published as Stranger in Town The car accident was Hannah Price’s fault—a tragic mistake 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 - [Say You Love Me](https://brendanovak.com/books/say-you-love-me/) - Come home to Dundee, Idaho, with this emotional contemporary romance originally published as A Home of Her Own When Lucky Caldwell was ten, her mother married Morris Caldwell, a wealthy and much older man. It didn’t last, but having grown up without a father, Lucky considered Morris’s kindness the highlight of her young life. Mike - [Inside](https://brendanovak.com/books/inside/) - 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 - [In Seconds](https://brendanovak.com/books/in-seconds/) - 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 - [Until You Loved Me](https://brendanovak.com/books/until-you-loved-me/) - Sometimes starting over means finding everything you’ve been missing… After catching her fiancé cheating—with another man—usually straight-laced, workaholic scientist Ellie Fisher liberates her wild side just long enough to indulge in a passionate one-night-stand with a tall, dark stranger she meets at a trendy Miami bar. Embarrassed by her recklessness, she ducks out the following - [No One But You](https://brendanovak.com/books/no-one-but-you/) - New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak welcomes you to Silver Springs, a picturesque small town in southern California where even the hardest hearts can learn to love again... Struggling to make ends meet after a messy divorce, Sadie Harris is at the end of her tether. Her waitressing gig isn’t enough to pay the bills - [Finding Our Forever](https://brendanovak.com/books/finding-our-forever/) - 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 - [Love That!](https://brendanovak.com/books/love-that/) - LOVE THAT! BRENDA NOVAK’S EVERY OCCASION COOKBOOK ($9.99 in digital and $24.99 in print). Brenda's very first cookbook contains 75 of her healthiest recipes—the recipes she used to raise her large and boisterous family. Enjoy this sample recipe! Tomato & Garlic Pasta Serves 6 - 8 Ingredients: 4 lg. tomatoes (coarsely chopped) 3/4 c. water - [First Love, Second Chance](https://brendanovak.com/books/first-love-second-chance/) - 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 - [Trust Me](https://brendanovak.com/books/trust-me/) - Four years ago... Skye Kellerman was attacked in her own bed. She managed to fend off her knife-wielding assailant, but the trauma changed everything about her life. As a result of that night, she joined two friends—also survivors—in starting The Last Stand, an organization to help victims of crime. But now... Her would-be rapist is - [Falling For You](https://brendanovak.com/books/falling-for-you/) - 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 - [Right Where We Belong](https://brendanovak.com/books/right-where-we-belong/) - New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak returns to Silver Springs with a moving story about rebuilding your life when you’ve got nothing left to lose. Savanna Gray needs a do-over. Her “perfect” life unraveled when, to her absolute shock, her husband was arrested for attacking three women. With her divorce settled, she takes her - [Dead Giveaway](https://brendanovak.com/books/dead-giveaway/) - 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. - [Together for Christmas](https://brendanovak.com/books/together-for-christmas/) - This amazing collection of stories includes WHEN WE TOUCH, the first story in Brenda’s WHISKEY CREEK series. Previously available only in e-format, this special collector’s hardcover book also includes stories by #1 NY Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber, National bestselling author Sheila Roberts, and NY Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne. This Christmas, visit four of - [Whiskey Creek Vol 1](https://brendanovak.com/books/whiskey-creek-vol-1/) - Come to Whiskey Creek, the heart of Gold Country! Join the many readers who've fallen in love with Whiskey Creek, the Northern California town created by New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak. Book 1: WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES Gail DeMarco left Whiskey Creek to make a name for herself in Los Angeles. Her PR firm - [Whiskey Creek Vol 2](https://brendanovak.com/books/whiskey-creek-vol-2/) - Join the many readers who've fallen in love with Whiskey Creek, the Northern California town created by New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak. Book 4: HOME TO WHISKEY CREEK When Adelaide Davies has returned to Whiskey Creek to take care of her aging grandmother, she isn't happy to be back—there are too many people - [Silver Springs Collection Volume 1](https://brendanovak.com/books/silver-springs-collection-volume-1/) - New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak welcomes you to Silver Springs with four classic stories of romantic fiction… FINDING OUR FOREVER The search for her birth mother brought Cora Kelly to the New Horizons Boys Ranch. Getting a job there was easy enough, but telling Aiyana, the ranch’s owner, that she’s really her daughter - [The Secret Sister & The Secrets She Kept](https://brendanovak.com/books/the-secret-sister-the-secrets-she-kept/) - See why critics have called these two books by New York Times bestselling author Brenda “the best romantic thriller I’ve ever read” (The San Francisco Book Review on The Secret Sister) and a “richly rewarding story” (Booklist on The Secrets She Kept). THE SECRET SISTER After a painful divorce, Maisey Lazarow returns to Fairham, the - [Department 6 Complete Collection](https://brendanovak.com/books/department-6-complete-collection/) - Three classic stories of romantic suspense from New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak… Book 1: WHITE HEAT Nate Ferrentino, who works for private security contractor Department 6, has been assigned to infiltrate a dangerous cult that has recently taken over the desert ghost town of Paradise, Arizona. It’s a challenge he welcomes—until he learns - [Bulletproof Complete Collection](https://brendanovak.com/books/bulletproof-complete-collection/) - Three classic stories of romantic suspense from New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak… Book 1: INSIDE 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—and they’re threatening his sister and her kids, too. Now the California - [Home To You](https://brendanovak.com/books/home-to-you/) - Now together in one volume, the first books that started two fan-favorite series! Virgin River by Robyn Carr When recently widowed Melinda Monroe answers an ad for a midwife/nurse practitioner in the remote mountain town of Virgin River, her high hopes for a fresh start are dashed within an hour of arriving. The cabin is - [Love is Murder](https://brendanovak.com/books/love-is-murder/) - Prepare for heart-pounding stories of suspense in this original collection by thirty of the hottest bestselling authors and new voices writing romance suspense today. Bodyguards, vigilantes, stalkers, serial killers, women (and men!) in jeopardy, cops, thieves, PIs, killers . . . these all-new stories will keep you thrilled and chilled late into the night. Includes - [Last Stand Collection - Vol 2](https://brendanovak.com/books/last-stand-collection-vol-2/) - Three perfect stories of romantic suspense from New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak… Book 4: THE PERFECT COUPLE One afternoon in May, Zoe Duncan’s thirteen-year-old daughter goes missing from her own backyard. Zoe’s willing to do anything to bring Sam home, even if it means divulging all her secrets to a private investigator. Jonathan - [Last Stand Collection - Vol 1](https://brendanovak.com/books/last-stand-collection-vol-1/) - Three classic stories of romantic suspense from New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak… Book 1: TRUST ME Four years ago, Skye Kellerman was attacked in her own bed. She managed to fend off her knife-wielding assailant, but the trauma changed everything about her life. But now, her would-be rapist is getting out of prison. Sacramento detective - [Her Darkest Nightmare](https://brendanovak.com/books/her-darkest-nightmare/) - THE HUNT FOR A SERIAL KILLER Evelyn Talbot knows that a psychopath can look perfectly normal. She was only sixteen when her own boyfriend Jasper imprisoned and tortured her―and left her for dead. Now an eminent psychiatrist who specializes in the criminal mind, Evelyn is the force behind Hanover House, a maximum-security facility located in - [Hello Again](https://brendanovak.com/books/hello-again/) - SHE CAN MAKE SENSE OF A COMPLEX CRIMINAL MIND Evelyn Talbot, a psychiatrist at a maximum-security prison in remote Alaska, studies some of the world's worst serial killers. But she’s about to meet her most elusive patient at Hanover House yet: Dr. Lyman Bishop, AKA the Zombie Maker given his fondness for performing icepick lobotomies - [Cold Feet](https://brendanovak.com/books/cold-feet/) - Just when you think you know someone… 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 - [Dead Right](https://brendanovak.com/books/dead-right/) - 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 - [Dead Silence](https://brendanovak.com/books/dead-silence/) - 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 - [Dear Maggie](https://brendanovak.com/books/dear-maggie/) - 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 - [Every Waking Moment](https://brendanovak.com/books/every-waking-moment/) - Sometimes you have to risk it all… 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 - [Be Mine at Christmas](https://brendanovak.com/books/be-mine-at-christmas/) - Three special Christmas stories from New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak Just Like the Ones We Used to Know Angela Forrester is determined that her foster child will get the one thing she wants for Christmas—to meet her real dad. Even though he doesn't even know he has a little girl... But Matt Jackson - [Taking the Heat](https://brendanovak.com/books/taking-the-heat/) - 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 - [The Perfect Murder](https://brendanovak.com/books/the-perfect-murder/) - If someone commits the perfect murder... 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 - [The Perfect Liar](https://brendanovak.com/books/the-perfect-liar/) - Obsession leads to lies 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 - [The Perfect Couple](https://brendanovak.com/books/the-perfect-couple/) - A mother faces her greatest fear One afternoon in May, Zoe Duncan's thirteen-year-old daughter goes missing from her own backyard. The police think Samantha ran away because she's unhappy about her mother's upcoming marriage—but Zoe doesn't believe it. In fact, she's willing to do anything to bring Sam home, even if it means losing her - [Watch Me](https://brendanovak.com/books/watch-me/) - Someone tried to kill her twelve years ago Teenagers Sheridan Kohl and Jason Wyatt were parked at the lake in Whiterock, Tennessee, when a stranger wearing a ski mask shot them both. Sheridan lived but Jason died—and the stranger was never caught. Even though Sheridan's family moved away right afterward, she's never been able to - [When We Touch](https://brendanovak.com/books/when-we-touch/) - You’re invited to a wedding in Whiskey Creek… Unfortunately, it’s the wrong wedding. Olivia Arnold is arranging the festivities — and it’s the hardest thing she’s ever done. Because she should’ve been marrying Kyle Houseman. They were together for two years. . . But her jealous sister, Noelle, purposely stole him away — and now - [Stillwater Trilogy Boxed Set](https://brendanovak.com/books/stillwater-trilogy-boxed-set/) - Release Date: September 16, 2014 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Brenda Novak brings you a trilogy that Publishers Weekly called "a great read. " Every town has its secrets—and Stillwater, Mississippi, has more than most! Starting with a murder almost twenty years ago... Dead Silence There's a body buried behind a farmhouse. Grace ## Book Excerpts - [Talulah's Back in Town](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/talulahs-back-in-town/) - Dedication To Maureen Fink... It was so wonderful to meet you at my signing in Boston. Thank you for your love of my books, for introducing your friends to my work and for writing to me with such enthusiasm after reading each new release. I’ve enjoyed the family pictures you’ve shown me and interacting with - [Meet Me in Italy](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/meet-me-in-italy/) - Dedication To Leanne Luttges— For opening your heart to my daughter, Alexa, and loving her so completely. Knowing she has such a wonderful mother-in-law—that you’ll be there for her if ever there comes a time I can’t—is one of life’s sweetest comforts. And please know, I’ll always be there for Vinny, too. Our children’s wedding - [A Dundee Christmas](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/a-dundee-christmas/) - CHAPTER ONE WHEN THE RATTLETRAP truck crested the slight rise that showed Dundee, Idaho, looking stark and barren beneath several feet of snow, Cierra Romero nearly swore. She would have—those words were the easiest English to remember because she’d even heard them growing up in Guatemala—except she’d promised God that if He got her safely to - [Falling into Forever](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/falling-into-forever/) - "You look...nice," Thad said, knowing it was a tremendous understatement but trying to keep them on safe ground. Macy looked...well, stunning, and sexy as hell. But if he told her that, he might just pull her into his arms. Stepping back so his hands wouldn't betray him, Thad motioned for her to come on inside - [The Summer That Changed Everything](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/the-summer-that-changed-everything/) - To Pamela Record, a kind and generous member of my online book group on Facebook. Pam has worked tirelessly for years—without even being asked—to make well over one thousand bookmarks for other book group members, which we’ve distributed in the Brenda Novak Book Boxes (a subscription box service that contains an autographed copy of the - [Sanctuary](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/sanctuary/) - Her mother's hand dropped, and dread settled in the pit of Hope's stomach as she looked up to see her father entering the park. A scowl generally served as his customary expression—anything less would have been too frivolous—but his face darkened considerably when a little girl ran up to him and brightly announced, "Her name's - [A Family by Christmas](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/a-family-by-christmas/) - Chapter 1 Happy birthday to me... Happy birthday to me... Jaclyn shifted on the office couch, trying to curl into a tight enough ball to fit beneath her coat. It was cold, and she was still wet. Why hadn't she thought to bring a blanket? Mentally she went through the contents of Cole's closets, trying - [The Best Christmas Surprise](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/the-best-christmas-surprise/) - “Mrs. Forrester?” Seeing Kayla’s teacher smile expectantly as she held the door, Angela swallowed hard, straightened her spine and walked into the 6th grade classroom. Late in the afternoon of the Friday before Christmas break, it was empty of students, yet it still smelled of pencil shavings and chalk, which evoked pleasant associations. Growing up, - [The Banned Books Club](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/the-banned-books-club/) - To Sheila Chin, a reader and member of Brenda Novak’s Book Group on Facebook. I’ll never forget you coming to see me in Dallas while I was on my big Bookstream (vintage Airstream turned traveling bookstore/coffee shop) tour for The Seaside Library. There were so many incredible moments on that two-month cross-country odyssey, but your - [Tying the Knot](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/tying-the-knot/) - To Janet Costanzo Robel I love your zest for life! Thanks for infusing my online book group on Facebook with your positive energy and for all you do to support me as a friend and a reader. The bookish community I look forward to interacting with every day wouldn’t be the same without you. Chapter - [The Messy Life of Jane Tanner](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/the-messy-life-of-jane-tanner/) - Chapter One Jane Tanner felt like a dragonfly in amber—something that was meant to be free and swift, to change direction at a whim and evolve, but was forever caught and held in place. Alone in her little vintage thrift shop on Lincoln Street, the main drag of Coyote Canyon, she gazed out the front - [Tourist Season](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/tourist-season/) - To Roberta Peden, a reader who’s followed me from the beginning of my career and has become a friend over the years. Thank you for your sweet, patient, kind and steady support—and the generous donations you’ve made to the Box Grant Program in Brenda Novak’s Book Group on Facebook. You’re an inspiration! Chapter One Ismay - [To Win Her Heart](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/to-win-her-heart/) - CHAPTER ONE SOME THINGS WERE never meant for a daughter to see. April Ashton was fairly certain that watching her mother stride into her father’s company Christmas party on the arm of a man clearly half her age was one of them. The bright red, skintight, sequin-covered dress Claire Ashton was wearing would have embarrassed - [Killer Heat](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/killer-heat/) - Chapter 1 “Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” —Carrie Fisher, American writer & actress Francesca Moretti thought she couldn’t be seeing what she was seeing. So much junk cluttered the salvage yard that it could be any number of different things, right? She wasn’t that close. And it - [Shooting the Moon](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/shooting-the-moon/) - "The name's Lauren," she informed him. "I'm sure you never knew that." "Why, did I call you by something different?" Harley hadn't had the time or the inclination to call her by anything. He was too star-struck by her sister, once they became an item, and too busy flirting with all the other popular girls - [Body Heat](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/body-heat/) - Chapter One "Racism is man’s gravest threat to man—the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reasons." —Abraham J. Heschel Benita Hernandez was almost as afraid of running into a rattlesnake as she was the INS. Immigration would send her and her husband back to Mexico. But a snake... The way Jose was insisting she - [In Close](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/in-close/) - Chapter 1 The tiny cabin Claire O'Toole's mother had once used for painting had been shut up for years. Claire was the only one who came here, and even she didn't return all that often, maybe once every six months or so. Braced for the torrent of memories that hit her every time she walked - [White Heat](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/white-heat/) - Chapter 1 "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." —King James Bible, Matthew 7:15 “This guy is dangerous?” Rachel Jessop studied the glossy black-and-white photograph her manager slid across the table. The leather chair that bore Nate Ferrentino squeaked as he leaned back and locked - [I'll Be Home for Christmas](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/ill-be-home-for-christmas/) - Excerpted from "On a Snowy Christmas" by Brenda Novak Chapter 1 Tuesday, December 16th Adelaide Fairfax had been apprehensive about taking this flight from the very beginning. For one, she preferred not to be in such close proximity to her election opponent. Maxim Donahue, the man who’d filled her husband’s state senate position via special - [The Talk of Coyote Canyon](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/the-talk-of-coyote-canyon/) - Chapter One Hendrix Durrant eyed his longtime neighbor, speaking with a hard-edged frustration he didn’t bother to conceal. “You’re hiring Ellen? Really, Jay? You’ve been talking to me about getting this well dug for the past eight months. You’ve had me meet you out here two or three times for details on where to drill, - [The Seaside Library](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/the-seaside-library/) - Dedication To Kathy Allbritton Bennett, a reader and friend who has done so much to support me and others. Not only has Kathy traveled to meet me in person, but she’s very active in the book group I started several years ago on Facebook, attends the monthly meetings, posts to uplift and befriend other members - [On a Snowy Christmas](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/on-a-snowy-christmas/) - Chapter 1 Tuesday, December 16th Adelaide Fairfax had been apprehensive about taking this flight from the very beginning. For one, she preferred not to be in such close proximity to her election opponent. Maxim Donahue, the man who’d filled her husband’s state senate position via special election two years ago, was working on his laptop - [Discovering You](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/discovering-you/) - Chapter 1 There was a bloody man walking down the middle of the road. India Sommers’s heart leaped into her throat the moment her headlights fell on the tall, lean figure. Had she been more familiar with the area, she might’ve come racing around the bend in her quiet Prius and accidentally mowed him down, - [Summer on the Island](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/summer-on-the-island/) - Chapter One Teach Island looked exactly the same as Marlow Madsen remembered it. Since the entire world had been disrupted by the pandemic, the comfort and familiarity of this place nearly brought tears to her eyes. Part of that was how strongly she associated it with her father. John “Tiller” Madsen, who’d gotten his nickname - [A Winter Wedding](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/a-winter-wedding/) - Chapter 1 “Your ex-wife is on the phone again.” Kyle Houseman squeezed his eyes shut and massaged his forehead. There were few people in the world he considered as difficult as Noelle. Actually, he couldn’t think of one. “Did you hear me?” Morgan Thorpe, his assistant, stood at the entrance to his office wearing an - [This Heart of Mine](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/this-heart-of-mine/) - Chapter 1 It was the first time she’d seen her son since the day she gave birth to him. Phoenix Fuller had spent an eternity waiting for this moment. She’d counted every single breath, it seemed, for sixteen years, waiting to lay eyes on Jacob again. But as anxious as she was, she’d promised herself - [The Heart of Christmas](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/the-heart-of-christmas/) - Chapter 1 There was a naked man in her bed. Eve Harmon’s stomach tensed, and her heart skipped a beat—but she was pretty sure she’d invited him. From the way their clothes were strewn carelessly around the room, it was obvious that, not long ago, she’d been happy to have him with her. She nearly - [Come Home to Me](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/come-home-to-me/) - Chapter 1 Aaron Amos was in the bookstore, too. Presley Christensen could tell by the prickle that skittered up her spine. Maybe she’d subconsciously recognized his voice amid the babble of the others, or there really was such a thing as a sixth sense, because when she turned and glanced across the crowded room, she - [Take Me Home for Christmas](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/take-me-home-for-christmas/) - Chapter 1 Sophia DeBussi’s husband was gone. As in…disappeared. Nowhere to be found. At ninety feet, the Legacy was a sizable yacht—Skip never bought anything except the very best—but not so sizable that a full-grown man could easily be overlooked. The six-member crew had just helped Sophia and her thirteen-year-old daughter scour every inch of - [Keep Me Warm at Christmas](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/keep-me-warm-at-christmas/) - Chapter One Thursday, December 16 Tia Beckett ran a finger along the jagged scar on her cheek as she gazed into the mirror above the contemporary console on the living room wall. She’d taken down almost every mirror in her own house as soon as she came home from the hospital—broken them all and tossed - [When I Found You](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/when-i-found-you/) - Chapter One The old Victorian looked nothing like the pictures she’d viewed online. Dr. Natasha Gray sighed as she stood in the entryway, peering at the place she’d rented, sight unseen. No wonder her landlord had been willing to leave the key in the mailbox. She’d assumed it was because the town was so safe - [When Summer Comes](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/when-summer-comes/) - Chapter 1 The barking of her dog dragged Callie Vanetta from a deep sleep. Rifle, the German shepherd her parents had given her for Christmas, was only two years old, but he was the smartest animal she’d ever known, certainly savvy enough not to make a racket in the middle of the night without reason. - [The Bookstore on the Beach](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/the-bookstore-on-the-beach/) - Chapter 1 Tuesday, June 8 Today her daughter was returning for the summer. Mary Langford gazed eagerly out at the street in front of her small bookstore, looking for a glimpse of Autumn’s car and, when she saw nothing except a large family going into the ice cream parlor at the end of the block, - [When Snow Falls](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/when-snow-falls/) - Chapter 1 It didn’t snow in Whiskey Creek often, but when it did it took Cheyenne Christensen back to another time and place. Not one filled with picture-perfect memories of warm holidays, gaily-wrapped packages and hot apple cider, like the Christmases her friends typically enjoyed. No, this kind of weather made her sick inside, as - [A California Christmas](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/a-california-christmas/) - 1 Monday, December 7 Dallas Turner figured he shouldn’t be surprised when he walked into his mother’s house to find someone who wasn’t part of the family in her kitchen. Aiyana had taken him in, hadn’t she? She’d taken in and raised seven other boys, too. Only a couple of years ago, she’d expanded the - [When Lightning Strikes](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/when-lightning-strikes/) - Chapter 1 She was ruined. She’d become anathema—the Jerry Maguire of the Los Angeles public-relations biz. And it’d happened almost overnight. “You don’t look so good.” Gail DeMarco turned away from the phone she’d just hung up to focus on Joshua Blaylock. Dressed in a pair of skinny black jeans with long-toed shoes, a designer - [One Perfect Summer](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/one-perfect-summer/) - Chapter One Serenity GRIPPING THE STEERING wheel tightly, Serenity Alston navigated the winding freeway heading east toward Donner Summit. Dark, ominous clouds hung low on the horizon. Although she was driving a BMW X5, which had 4-wheel drive, if it started to snow, the highway patrol could close the road before she could get over - [First Love, Second Chance](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/first-love-second-chance-2/) - Prologue Booker Robinson sat in his truck at ten o'clock on a warm Thursday night, staring at the small rental house where Katie Rogers lived and telling himself he was crazy to be even here. He wasn't the type to ask for anything. He'd made it a habit to never to need anyone. He'd learned - [First Love, Second Chance](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/first-love-second-chance/) - Prologue Booker Robinson sat in his truck at ten o'clock on a warm Thursday night, staring at the small rental house where Katie Rogers lived and telling himself he was crazy to be even here. He wasn't the type to ask for anything. He'd made it a habit to never to need anyone. He'd learned - [Back to You](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/back-to-you/) - Chapter One Was someone breaking in? Jenna Livingston stiffened beneath the fluffy comforter of her bed. The Mendocino house, which she helped run as a bed-and-breakfast, was more than a hundred years old. It had its share of nighttime settling noises. And the sea was never silent. Less than a half mile away, surf pounded - [Once Upon a Christmas](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/once-upon-a-christmas/) - Excerpted from "Just Like the Ones We Used To Know" by Brenda Novak “Mrs. Forrester?” Seeing Kayla’s teacher smile expectantly as she held the door, Angela swallowed hard, straightened her spine and walked into the 6th grade classroom. Late in the afternoon of the Friday before Christmas break, it was empty of students, yet it - [Christmas in Silver Springs](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/christmas-in-silver-springs/) - Chapter One Friday, December 6 Tobias Richardson couldn’t help noticing the petite blonde sitting at the old-fashioned counter of the diner—and not just because she was pretty. He was sure he’d never seen her before. With a population of seven thousand, Silver Springs wasn’t small enough that he’d recognize everybody, especially because he’d only been - [The More I Love You](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/the-more-i-love-you/) - Chapter 1 Grandpa Garnier: If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging. She seemed ideal: Slightly overweight, older than the typical teen groupie and definitely on the frumpy side. All of which would keep things as simple as Tyson Garnier needed them to be. “What was your name again?” - [Just the Two of Us](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/just-the-two-of-us/) - Chapter 1 Elizabeth O'Connell wasn't sure she could tolerate another minute. This was her fifth blind date in as many weeks, and each of them had been significantly worse than the one before. "I heard what happened with your ex-husband." Carter Hudson, the tall, dark-haired man seated across from her at the new Dundee Inn - [Finding You](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/finding-you/) - Chapter 1 Los Angeles, California Keith O’Connell was lying. Isaac Russell could tell. Surprised, he slowly lowered his fork while studying his brother-in-law’s face. Keith wouldn’t meet Isaac’s eyes. He wouldn’t look at Elizabeth, either. And there were other signs. The way he hunched into himself and kept fidgeting with his hands, constantly moving through - [Unforgettable You](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/unforgettable-you/) - Chapter One Jada Brooks was pushing her brother in his wheelchair at the farmers’ market on the second weekend in June, a Saturday morning that inspired the cliché “picture perfect,” with nothing but blue skies and the usual mild Southern California weather, when she caught a glimpse of something that made her stop dead in - [Blind Spot](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/blind-spot/) - Chapter One Somewhere in Anchorage, Alaska—Tuesday,3:00 p.m. AKDT Dr. Evelyn Talbot sat trembling on a cold cement floor, blinking into pure darkness. No matter how hard she strained her eyes, she couldn’t see so much as a glimmer of light, had no idea of the dimensions of the room where she’d been tossed or who’d - [Meant for You](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/meant-for-you/) - Prologue The road was covered with black ice. Leaning forward, Hannah Price focused intently on the strip of narrow highway beyond her flapping windshield wipers. But the dark countryside and the whirling snow made it difficult to see. Gripping the steering wheel until the stark white of her knuckles glowed in the light of her - [Say You Love Me](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/say-you-love-me/) - Chapter 1 The vacant house looked haunted. Large and imposing, with a full moon hanging immediately behind, the old Victorian cast a grotesque shadow across the snow, and the windows shined like so many eyes. Ignoring the gooseflesh that prickled her arms, Lucky Caldwell stood on the ornate porch, braced against a chill wind as - [Falling For You](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/falling-for-you/) - Maybe Josh wouldn't show, Rebecca thought hopefully, noting the dearth of traffic. If he stood her up, she could shrug when she next saw her father and say, "I was perfectly willing to make peace, Dad, but he never arrived." And then she'd look innocent for a change. Perfect. She smiled as she began readying - [That One Night](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/that-one-night/) - He knew she was coming. She saw his gaze flick over her in the mirror, guessed he'd been expecting her—and felt like a complete fool. Especially because the guy sitting next to him at the bar was watching her far more eagerly, and she knew she wouldn't sleep with him if he was the last - [Face Off](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/face-off/) - Prologue Anchorage, Alaska … The cellar was almost ready. It’d taken months to put in the lighting, the plumbing, the Sheetrock and the flooring and to get it all soundproofed. Jasper Moore, aka Andy Smith, could’ve had it done in a matter of weeks had he hired a contractor, but he wasn’t that foolish. No one - [Before We Were Strangers](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/before-we-were-strangers/) - Chapter 1 Bayside Cemetery Queens, New York As far back as Sloane McBride could remember, she’d been told she was an ice-queen. Even the people closest to her, especiallythe people closest to her, complained about her reserve. Her height, her physical appearance and her vocation didn’t make her any more approachable, so what served her - [The Secrets She Kept](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/the-secrets-she-kept/) - Chapter 1 Los Angeles, California THE CALL CAME in the middle of the night. Keith Lazarow was so deeply asleep that he probably wouldn’t have heard his phone if not for the attractive brunette who stirred in bed beside him. “Aren’t you going to answer that?” she mumbled. “No.” He was too exhausted. Five years - [Hello Again](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/hello-again/) - Chapter 1 We are all evil in some form or another. The Night Stalker made that statement. Although Dr. Evelyn Talbot had never interviewed Richard Ramirez personally, like she had so many other serial killers, and the opportunity was now lost to her since Ramirez died of cancer in 2013, she’d watched video footage of - [Until You Loved Me](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/until-you-loved-me/) - Prologue Wincing against the glare of the sun that slanted through his front windshield, the man drove slowly through Bel Air, California. There was so much money in this area. He couldn’t even afford to pay the rent on his dumpy one-bedroom apartment and yet these people owned estates that sprawled over half an acre. - [No One But You](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/no-one-but-you/) - Chapter One The century-old farmhouse looked haunted... Sadie Harris wasn’t particularly superstitious, but knowing two people had been murdered in an upstairs bedroom of this isolated white clapboard home didn’t make her eager to work here. She parked outside the gate and sat in her car, engine off, angling her head to see through the - [Finding Our Forever](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/finding-our-forever/) - Chapter 1 Cora Kelly had never met her birth mother. The records had been sealed when she was adopted as a newborn twenty-eight years ago. Her adoptive mother didn’t even know her birth mother’s name, so it wasn’t as if Lilly Kelly had ever mentioned it. Cora had had very little to go on. Even - [Her Darkest Nightmare](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/her-darkest-nightmare/) - Prologue "Kill one and you might as well kill twenty-one." —Mark Martin, British murderer When she came to, Evelyn Talbot could hear nothing. She couldn’t see anything, either. Darkness had fallen, and the shack, where she lay on the cool dirt floor, didn’t have electricity. Or . . . was she no longer in the - [The Secret Sister](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/the-secret-sister/) - Chapter 1 Maisey Lazarow's brother met her at the ferry—alone. Part of her, a big part, was grateful her mother wasn’t with him. Even after ten years, Maisey wasn’t ready to confront the autocratic and all-powerful “queen” of Fairham, South Carolina. The fact that Josephine hadn’t deigned to come with Keith made it clear Maisey - [A Matter of Grave Concern](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/a-matter-of-grave-concern/) - Chapter 1 Aldersgate School of Medicine London, October 1830 It was a perfect specimen. Almost. Abigail Hale took a steadying breath and stooped into the cool, dark alley to examine the bloodless gash on the cadaver’s high forehead. The injury was a minor flaw, really. Nothing to worry about, although she intended to use that - [Through the Smoke](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/through-the-smoke/) - Prologue Northeastern Coast of England January 1838 He’d kill her. Just as soon as he could get his hands around her delicate neck, he’d stop the black heart that beat beneath all that misleading beauty and put an end to his own misery. Although Truman Stanhope, the Earl of Druridge, had come all the way - [Home to Whiskey Creek](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/home-to-whiskey-creek/) - Chapter 1 "The past is never dead. It’s not even past." —William Faulkner No way would he be able to reach her, not with his bare hands. And Noah Rackham didn’t have anything else—just his mountain bike, which lay on its side a few feet away. In the pouch beneath the seat he kept a - [When We Touch](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/when-we-touch/) - Chapter 1/h2> Returning for her sister’s wedding would’ve been difficult had it merely meant pretending to be a happy and supportive bridesmaid. But being in charge of the whole event? That added insult to the most heart-wrenching emotional injury Olivia Arnold had ever sustained. As she drove back to Whiskey Creek for the first time - [Honor Bound](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/honor-bound/) - Chapter 1 Cornwall, England February, 1794 The Baron St. Ives was an ugly little man. Jeannette Boucher could hardly pull her gaze away. Standing next to her, perched on skinny shapeless legs, arms behind his back, abdomen swelling in front of him, he reminded her of a pelican. Three reddish chins hung low over the - [In Seconds](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/in-seconds/) - Chapter 1 It was the murder that triggered everything. The moment Laurel Hodges—Vivian Stewart as of two years ago—heard of it, all that she'd been through, all that she'd done to escape her past, came rushing back to her. And it happened at a place where she'd felt completely safe only a heartbeat earlier. She - [Inside](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/inside/) - Chapter 1 Peyton Adams eyed the three men who'd driven to the public library with her from the prison, as well as the two they'd secretly come to meet. She knew what she had to say wouldn't be popular, especially with the warden, who was growing desperate enough to try anything, but she felt duty-bound - [That Christmas Feeling](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/that-christmas-feeling/) - Excerpted from "A Dundee Christmas" by Brenda Novak Chapter 1 When the rattle-trap truck crested the slight rise that showed Dundee, Idaho looking so stark and barren beneath several feet of snow, Cierra Romero nearly swore. She would have—those words were the easiest English to remember because she’d even heard them growing up in Guatemala—except - [The Perfect Murder](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/the-perfect-murder/) - Prologue These men who killed their wives...they didn't have a clue how to do it right, how to get away with it. Malcolm Turner frowned in disgust as the credits appeared on the true crime show he'd just watched on TV. It'd featured a male nurse who'd murdered his mouthy, blonde wife. As far as - [The Perfect Liar](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/the-perfect-liar/) - Chapter 1 You're here, why? Wearing only a hastily donned pair of jeans, Captain Luke Trussell stood squinting at the man and woman, both from base security, whose knock had just dragged him from his bed. We're responding to a complaint filed by Sergeant Kalyna Harter. There had to be some mistake. He didn't even - [The Perfect Couple](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/the-perfect-couple/) - Chapter 1 "Love is a devil. There is no evil angel but Love." —William Shakespeare Sacramento, California The bump that came from the trunk of her car surprised Tiffany so much it nearly sent her careening off the road and into one of the houses along the right side. What was going on? The fourteen-year-old - [Watch Me](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/watch-me/) - Chapter 1 The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary: men alone are quite capable of all wickedness. —Joseph Conrad Was he gone? Sheridan Kohl lay in a heap on the ground, her clothes, her cheek, the entire left side of her body, wet from the moist earth. The taste of her - [Stop Me](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/stop-me/) - "Battle not with monsters lest ye become a monster and if you gaze into the abyss the abyss gazes into you." —Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher Prologue New Orleans Four years ago… The man who’d murdered Romain Fornier’s ten-year-old daughter didn’t look like a killer. He sat slumped in the courtroom with puffy bags beneath his - [Trust Me](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/trust-me/) - Chapter 1 "Hell is empty and all the devils are here." —William Shakespeare “You already heard, right?” David Willis glanced up at the man casting a long shadow over his cluttered desk. Detective “Tiny” Wyman, his best friend on the force and a damn good cop, was even larger than he was. With skin like - [Dead Right](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/dead-right/) - Chapter 1 The first condition of human goodness is something to love; the second something to reverence.” George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans, English novelist 1819-80 Was his body inside? Hunched against the freezing January rain, Madeline Barker’s fingernails cut into her palms as, along with her stepbrother, stepsister and stepmother, she watched police and several - [Dead Giveaway](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/dead-giveaway/) - Chapter 1 They hadn’t meant to kill him. That should’ve mattered. It probably would have–in a different time, a different place. But this was Stillwater, Mississippi, and the only thing smaller than the town itself was the minds of the people living in it. They never forgot and they never forgave. Nineteen years had passed - [Dead Silence](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/dead-silence/) - Chapter 1 Grace Montgomery pulled to the side of the narrow country road and stared at the rambling farmhouse in which she’d grown up. Even in the heavy, blanket-like darkness of a deep Mississippi summer night, with only half a moon grinning eerily overhead, she could see that her older brother kept the place in - [Every Waking Moment](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/every-waking-moment/) - Chapter 1 Vanessa Beacon's hands shook as she stared down at the California driver's license she'd had her gardener purchase for her several months ago. The photo was hers, along with the physical characteristics. Hair:Bld; Eyes:Bl; HT:5-06; WT:120. The name, birth date and address, however, were not. The name read, Emma Wright. Vanessa had chosen - [Of Noble Birth](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/of-noble-birth/) - Prologue Bridlewood Manor Clifton, England December 2, 1829 “The babe’s deformed,” the midwife gasped, nearly dropping the slippery newborn. “What do ye mean?” Martha Haverson rounded the bed in alarm. “Look at ‘is arm. ‘Tis no more than a stump.” The housekeeper stared at Mrs. Telford’s moon-shaped face before letting her gaze slide down to - [Mother, Please!](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/mother-please/) - Excerpted from "What a Girl Wants" by Brenda Novak What's the matter?" Gunner grinned. "Nervous?" April tried to make out his expression, hoping for some clue as to why he'd bother bringing her out here, where they were all alone, but came up empty. "Of course not. I'm perfectly relaxed. I just don't see the - [More than Words: Stories of the Heart](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/more-than-words-stories-of-the-heart/) - Excerpted from "Small Packages" by Brenda Novak Chapter 1 Noelle had trouble finding Harrison's apartment. By the time she arrived, it was nearly 1 o'clock and raining again. Opening her compact umbrella, she stepped out of her Volvo and hurried across the puddle-ridden lot, moving as fast as she dared in high heels. It hadn't - [Cold Feet](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/cold-feet/) - Chapter 1 "Caleb, she's gone. Disappeared. Vanished," Holly said. Caleb Trovato could hear the distress in his ex-wife's voice, but he wasn't about to respond to it. Everything that happened seemed to affect her far more acutely than it would anyone else and, by virtue of the fact that they were divorced—for the second time—he - [Taking the Heat](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/taking-the-heat/) - Suddenly Gabrielle stopped. From where she stood, she could see part of the valley below. Tucker wasn't in it, but a giant rock stood between her and a full panorama. He could be hurrying down the mountain beyond her sight, in which case she was losing valuable time. Or he could be standing behind the - [Dear Maggie](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/dear-maggie/) - Chapter 1 Nick propped an elbow on the partition surrounding her desk and leaned on it. "Want me to help you stay awake?" Yawning, she supported her head with her hand. "I don't think anyone could do that." This statement elicited a wolfish grin. "Maybe I'm better at keeping a woman's attention than you think." - [Snow Baby](https://brendanovak.com/book-excerpts/snow-baby/) - Chapter 1 Chantel studied the shoulder, looking for a place to pull over, when brake lights flashed in front of her. She screamed and slammed on her brakes, but the car didn't stop. It slid out of control. With a bone-jarring crunch, her Jag slammed into the Land Cruiser ahead of her. 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