Everyone loves the rush of a good scare and equally enjoys a romantic love story. That’s exactly what these ten picks have in common – a crime with a side of romance. Whether it’s a romance gone wrong, a rekindling, or a relationship riddled with complications, this compilation has a little bit of everything. With spooky season just around the corner, these novels will be able to hold you over until Halloween.
56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard
It was only 56 days ago that Oliver and Ciara met in a grocery store and started dating. Unfortunately, that was the same week that COVID-19 started infiltrating Ireland. With an inevitable lockdown coming, Oliver proposes that they move in together. Although it’s soon, Ciara views it as a chance to get to know each other in fast forward, without the outside influence of friends and family. However, Oliver sees it as a way to go into hiding. When the police come knocking on his door and find a lifeless body, they realize that there are only two people that know what happened, and one of them is dead.
We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz
On the last night of Emily and Kristen’s girls’ trip, Emily walks into their hotel room to find a crime scene. When Kristen tells Emily that a backpacker tried to attack her, the only choice she had was to kill him. Eerily enough, a backpacker died on last year’s trip and Emily starts to wonder if this is more than just a coincidence. Once back home, Emily finds herself in a new relationship and attempts to forget about the past. However, everything changes when Kristen makes a surprise visit. Nervous about the truth and the lies, Emily starts to panic that she’s about to lose everything, including her freedom.
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Murder in Old Bombay by Nev March
While hospitalized in Bombay, the center of British India in 1892, Captain Jim Agnihotri is bored out of his mind during recovery. With not much else to do, he spends his time reading daily paper filled with empty news. All of that changes when a story is published about two women falling from the clock tower midday. Jim is not convinced that this was a suicide, so he launches an investigation that starts to drudge up old secrets. As the days wear on and those involved become even more divided, family member Lady Diana Framji shows up to help and unintentionally captures Jim’s heart.
Don’t Lie To Me by Willow Rose
Surfing prodigy Sophie Williams was just twelve years old when she set off to summer camp, never to return. When her body is discovered on a populated beach, residents are sent into an uproar. Shortly thereafter, the son of a high-profile senator is kidnapped, and the cops are all over it. Even though FBI profiler Eva Rae has vowed to give up police work, she dives headfirst into the investigation. But her ex-boyfriend Matt is also on the case, making things complicated. As they get closer, danger closes in, but they must put fear and feelings aside in hopes of solving the mystery before the criminal strikes again.
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Drown Her Sorrows by Melinda Leigh
Even though Holly’s death was initially thought to be a suicide, the autopsy tells a different story. When Sheriff Bree Taggert is assigned the case, she knows she’ll have to dig deep into Holly’s private life. Even though she was married, her relationship was unstable. In addition, she was always at odds with her sister, and to top it off, she was carrying on a not-so-secret affair with her boss. With all of them under investigation as potential suspects, the plot thickens when Holly’s sister is killed by a deranged stalker. Bree and her partner Matt race the clock to solve the crime, fearing that one of them might be next.
A Spy in the Struggle by Aya de León
Although Yolanda grew up poor, she was determined to turn that around for herself, which she did when she graduated from Harvard Law School. But when the prominent law firm she works for gets raided by the FBI, she has no choice but to turn her bosses in. With her current job gone, Yolanda accepts work with the Bureau as an undercover member of an African American extremist group in her hometown. Determined to finish the assignment and start over with a new firm in New York, her plans get derailed when she finds herself in a brand-new romance and a whole new set of complications arise.
The Receptionist by Kate Myles
Emily is killing it at work but in her marriage, not so much. Even though she turns a blind eye to her CEO husband’s infidelity, an unexpected pregnancy changes everything. As Doug continues his adulterous relationship with Chloe, the receptionist, he is oblivious to her sinister past. Soon, their love affair will set things into motion that will stir up a scandal and expose secrets that weren’t meant to be shared. As Emily and Doug fight to keep their lives as untarnished as possible and Emily works to protect her unborn baby, desperation threatens to send them both into a spiral that they can’t get out of.
We Don’t Leave by Emerald O’Brien
Even though Hayden is hesitant to leave her family, she’s set on starting fresh with her husband, Sid. After a car accident and a battle with addiction, Sid is ready to get back to his roots in his hometown with a new job. Things are on track for a clean slate, but when Hayden sneaks away to their cottage, she uncovers something extremely disturbing. Upset and scared, she makes her way home, but the next day, she wakes up in a state of confusion. Thinking that her mind is playing tricks on her, she knows she must get to the bottom of it before her marriage and everything she knows is destroyed.
Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia
Harlem was proving to be a dangerous place for ladies like Louise, as there was a killer on the loose targeting black women. With Louise surviving a kidnapping as a child, the current situation was both scary and triggering. She did her best not to think about it, staying busy working at Maggie’s Café. Even though her girlfriend encourages her to confront her past, she suffers a major setback when another victim is murdered right in front of the café. Finding herself in custody after confronting a police officer, she is given the choice to face her fears and help solve the crime or stay safe in a jail cell.
Free Fall by Nina Atwood
Hannah Lee Winn has married the man of her dreams, complete with a beautiful home and plenty of money. Everything is going splendidly until she wakes up on the side of a mountain in California with a severe injury. In pain and confusion, Hannah Lee has no idea how she got there or what happened. Her mind starts to race, wondering if she was in an accident or if someone tried to kill her. Struggling to overcome her injuries and put the pieces together while dealing with memory loss, she begins to wonder if her dream husband is actually her worst nightmare.
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