Stories by @katedef

Cash

Butting heads leads to knocking boots in this wildly sexy enemies-to-lovers, grumpy/sunshine, small town cowboy romance by Jessica Peterson. My dad and I have been estranged for years. But as his only living relative, it’s no surprise I inherit his massive cattle ranch when he dies. Something that is a surprise? The stipulation in his will, which requires me to live on the ranch and actively manage it for a year before I can access my inheritance money. I haven’t stepped foot in Hartsville, Texas, population one thousand, since my parents split when I was six. Now a city girl through and through, I never imagined having to move back to cowboy country. But I need the money to invest in my company, and a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. There’s just one giant roadblock to my plan: the ranch’s foreman, grumpy cowboy Cash Rivers. I don’t care how good he looks in his Wranglers and chaps. He’s rude, he’s growly, and he wants me gone. I’d fire him in a heartbeat, but I need this cowboy to teach me the ropes of running a ranch.

The Anatomist's Wife

“A riveting debut…an original premise, an enigmatic heroine, and a compelling Highland setting…a book you won’t want to put down.”—New York Times bestselling author Deanna Raybourn Scotland, 1830. Following the death of her husband, Lady Darby has taken refuge at her sister’s estate, finding solace in her passion for painting. But when her hosts throw a house party for the cream of London society, Kiera is unable to hide from the ire of those who believe her to be as unnatural as her husband, an anatomist who used her artistic talents to suit his own macabre purposes. Kiera wants to put her past aside, but when one of the house guests is murdered, her brother-in-law asks her to utilize her knowledge of human anatomy to aid the insufferable Sebastian Gage—a fellow guest with some experience as an inquiry agent. While Gage is clearly more competent than she first assumed, Kiera isn’t about to let her guard down as accusations and rumors swirl. When Kiera and Gage’s search leads them to even more gruesome discoveries, a series of disturbing notes urges Lady Darby to give up the inquiry. But Kiera is determined to both protect her family and prove her innocence, even as she risks becoming the next victim…

Fatal by Design

The secrets and complications keeping Audrey and Hugh apart begin to unravel when they team up to solve a puzzling mystery surrounding the disappearance of Audrey’s sister, the Viscountess Redding, and a long-lost ring worth a fortune. The Bow Street Duchess Mystery series continues in October 2023 with a new Audrey Sinclair and Hugh Marsden investigation. Stay tuned for a full description, coming soon! The Bow Street Duchess Mystery series is perfect for fans of the Lady Sherlock mysteries, the Veronica Speedwell mysteries, and PBS Masterpiece’s Miss Scarlet & the Duke.

Death at Fournier Downs

But when Audrey’s friend Charlotte, the Countess of Bainbury, dies mysteriously on Fournier Downs parkland, she summons the only person she trusts to uncover the truth: Principal Officer Hugh Marsden

The Wallflower Series

The Wallflowers book series by Lisa Kleypas & Rosalyn Landor includes books Secrets of a Summer Night, It Happened One Autumn, Devil in Winter, and several more. See the complete Wallflowers series book list in order, box sets or omnibus editions, and companion titles.

A Brazen Curiosity

“A feisty heroine hiding behind a mousy facade…” England 1816 Twenty-six-year-old Beatrice Hyde-Clare is far too shy to investigate the suspicious death of a fellow guest in the Lake District. A spinster who lives on the sufferance of her relatives, she would certainly not presume to search the rooms of her host's son and his friend looking for evidence. Reared in the twin virtues of deference and docility, she would absolutely never think to question the imperious Duke of Kesgrave about anything, let alone how he chose to represent the incident to the local constable. And yet when she stumbles upon the bludgeoned corpse of poor Mr. Otley in the deserted library of the Skeffingtons' country house, that's exactly what she does.