Showing results by author "Mindy Killgrove" in All Categories

The hot summer months used to be Avery Baldwin’s favorite time of year. After graduating from college, she wanted to move away from her hometown and make a life of her own, but the desire to be with her family, to return to the old, familiar haunts that were so comforting, stuck with her. As soon as the month of June rolled around, Avery enjoyed hopping in her car and driving to Buenaventura Beach where she readily embraced the salty ocean air and relished the feel of the sun’s rays as they kissed her hair.

When Lydia Wickham is struck down in the middle of the day, everyone turns to her husband, George Wickham, for answers, but he has nothing to tell them. He has no idea what happened to his wife. The task of investigating the matter falls to Kitty, Lydia’s sister, and Mr. Andrew Selkirk, a neighbor who is recuperating from an injury sustained while working as a member of the Bow Street Horse Patrol. Is George Wickham as innocent as he claims? Or did he hurt his wife and hope to get away with it?

Will Samantha join the cast of Royally Engaged and vie for Finn’s love and affection? Can she banish her negative thoughts about living a life in the spotlight because this is the only way to be with the man she adores? Or must Samantha suffer in silence because she's forced to watch while the man she loves dates, proposes to, and marries someone else?

Avery Baldwin and Cubby Zabrowski, Chance’s eleven-year-old son, are on the beach, enjoying a lovely, leisurely afternoon, when out of nowhere, a shrimp boat glides onto the shore. The unusual circumstance is shocking, but Loti Baldwin sees the arrival of the ship as an ominous sign. A hurricane is coming for them. Hurriedly, the people of Buenaventura Beach evacuate and seek shelter at a rental property in Orlando owned by Savanna Hautett. With twenty people staying in a house together for three days, just about anything can happen. Tempers flare, and before long, there’s a murder.

Avery Baldwin is taking a minute to catch her breath. Now that the summer’s over and things have gone back to normal in the little town of Buenaventura Beach, she’s looking forward to spending her days teaching students how to create works of art and her nights cuddling with Chance and his son, Cubby. But on Halloween, when Avery, Chance, and Cubby go visit the coffee shop, The Witch’s Brew, they find trouble waiting for them.

Sunshine State University senior Bryce Tanner has never considered himself a superstitious guy. So when he grabs one of the coveted Chompy the Gator souvenir bath toys during the annual Gator Dash, he doesn’t think much of it. Legend has it that the seniors who manage to get their hands on their own little Chompy will spend the rest of the year cruising on Easy Street. Any wish they make, their little gators will grant.

There’s only one question no gentleman has ever dared ask her before. Will he be the first? Caroline Bingley has resigned herself to a life of spinsterhood. At the age of one and thirty, she is content to live with her brother and help him raise his family. She fell in love once, many years ago, but has long since given up the hope of finding a gentleman who is her match—a person who is her true equal in every way. Jasper Soulden has always adapted easily to his environment.

Participating in this baking competition could change her life. But how much more change can Bailey really take? The holidays used to be the happiest time of year for Bailey Rizczech. She and her older sister, Audrey, allowed themselves to get carried away each season, spending time baking cookies, watching old movies, and serving delightful delicacies to their friends and customers who patronized their bake shop, Day of Fun. But after losing Audrey to a six-year long struggle against cancer, Bailey is facing this holiday season, for the first time in her life, all on her own.

The mindset of a pageant contestant is an enigma to Avery Baldwin. She never participated in them during her younger years. When she had the opportunity, she determined she’d rather sit on the beach and draw in her sketchbook. So, when her nephew, Noah Dixon, volunteers to serve the community by working as a stagehand for the local Miss Buenaventura Beach Pageant, she commends him for his thoughtfulness, and leaves the rest of her comments to herself.

When Brie Thornberg-Selvidge shows up to said book club complaining about having a sleepless night, Avery Baldwin is concerned. A barking dog is to blame for Brie’s fatigue, so the ladies decide to sit up that night, listen for the dog, then contact the animal’s owner. Everything goes according to plan, right up to the point where the little dog and its owner glide through Brie’s backyard. Is that a ghost walking around Buenaventura Beach with a yapping doggy trotting by its side? Or is some prankster intentionally trying to ruin the quietude of the town?

This summer has been a wild one for Avery Baldwin. She thought when she came back to Buenaventura Beach that she’d have time to chat with family members, visit with friends, and dip her toes in the ocean while soaking in the sun. But one lazy, Saturday morning, when she heads out to the Buenaventura Beach Country Club to visit her best friend, Jasmine Lowe, the owner of the place, she finds something quite unexpected.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Mama and daughter, Emery and Cricket Scott, are getting ready to celebrate. They've just finished painting sixty houses in the same number of days and they know it's time for a break. But before they can get their equipment loaded and drive away from the last job site, they're approached by Miss Wilma Parker--a member of the night watch and the owner of the Parker Cemetery on the outskirts of town. It's Halloween and the grave bells have been ringing for days, a phenomenon that has never occurred before. Terrified, Wilma asks the Scotts to help her.

This summer, Kate Kellner is firing on all cylinders. She was offered the chance to play summer softball with the Weatherfield Trailblazers, she’s reconciled with her best friend, Ty, and with Grady by her side, she feels like anything’s possible. But this outlook on life only takes her so far. After all, she can’t just become a new person overnight. Grady’s looking forward to spending a relaxing and lazy summer with Kate. He plans to work during the day, watch her softball games at night, and spend every available hour left just soaking up the sun and living his best life.

Farrington High School Junior, Kate Kellner, has her whole future planned and a list of high-priority goals aligned. This season, she’s going to lead the Fighting Falcons to their first ever Midlands Conference title, break all the school pitching records, and impress a boatload of college recruiters so she can pick where she wants to go after she graduates from high school. But then, one day in the middle of a training session, Grady Hughes walks into her multipurpose room.

You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay on this island. Wedding bells are ringing for Avery Baldwin and Chance Zabrowski. The pair, and all their nearest and dearest, leave Buenaventura Beach, hop aboard a luxury cruise ship, and sail to the Bahamas so they can say their sacred vows and finally become man and wife. But trouble follows them to paradise. An uninvited guest joins the wedding party at the last minute. The wedding ceremony is moved to the end of the week. And the new vacation friends they meet, Ramona and Harold, suddenly disappear.

Jossalyn Kane has a special talent for making people, world-wide, fall in love with her. She’s the daughter of Magnus Kane, the little sister of superstar Finnegan, and happens to be a renowned runway model. Or at least she was, until recently. Once her career in high fashion hit the skids, Joss was forced to look elsewhere to earn her living. She turned to being a brand ambassador and doing a series of marketing advertisements for a cosmetics company. But she’s not pleased with the results.

Jase Kane has wealth, power, and the world at his feet, but that might not be enough for Helene Bouras. Jasen Kane is searching for something. He’s lived his whole life knowing that someday he’ll be running Kanedy Productions, but before he takes over that colossal task, he’d like to find something or someone that’s just his own… just for him. He’s utterly devoted to his family members and prioritizes their happiness over most everything else. But now that all his siblings have married and are expecting children, Jase is ready to move forward with his own ambitions.

The safest bet is always the one you don’t make, but where’s the fun in that? Balor Kane is starting over. When his father, Connor Kane, dies unexpectedly from a heart attack, he and his mother learn that the family’s business, Kanedy Enterprises, is in trouble. Connor had taken out a series of loans, placing the family in hot water and deep in debt. Not sure where else to turn, Balor reaches out to his uncle, Magnus Kane, and before he knows it, he’s given a job working with his family members.

Kate Kellner swears that she and Grady Hughes have what it takes to maintain a strong relationship. She can feel it in her bones. They’re meant to be together. But she knows keeping up with him and making time to see each other isn’t going to be a walk in the park. They’re both going to need to make sacrifices.