Strike the Match - The Teacup Novellas Book Two

The last place twenty-four year old Keri McMillan wants to be is back home in Waterford Bay, Oregon. But after two years at prestigious New York University pursuing a degree in journalism, her bank account is drained. Keri is determined to move home for one year - and one year only--- to make some serious money working for her dad's log cabin company, but her goals all go up in smoke when the company's new showcase home burns to the ground.

Six months ago, Grant Dawson bought the Waterford Weekly, a small newspaper in his father's hometown. Burned out as a reporter for the L.A. Times and tired of all the inherent politics, he welcomed the slower pace of this Oregon coastal town and the more relaxed lifestyle producing a weekly paper. He enjoys being close to his dad again, a quiet man who captains a whale-sightseeing boat.

Grant is surprised at his unexpected interest in Keri, the niece of columnist Luby Sanders. He thinks Luby is a hoot and can't help but adore her. But she's also playing matchmaker, trying to interest him in her niece. When Keri shows up at a log cabin fire in the middle of the night, she's not the geeky college kid he expected. But he's not about to fall victim to Luby's orchestrations.

Even if her niece is beautiful.
And vulnerable.
And apparently in need of a job.

                 
Strike the Match - The Teacup Novellas Book Two

The last place twenty-four year old Keri McMillan wants to be is back home in Waterford Bay, Oregon. But after two years at prestigious New York University pursuing a degree in journalism, her bank account is drained. Keri is determined to move home for one year - and one year only--- to make some serious money working for her dad's log cabin company, but her goals all go up in smoke when the company's new showcase home burns to the ground.

Six months ago, Grant Dawson bought the Waterford Weekly, a small newspaper in his father's hometown. Burned out as a reporter for the L.A. Times and tired of all the inherent politics, he welcomed the slower pace of this Oregon coastal town and the more relaxed lifestyle producing a weekly paper. He enjoys being close to his dad again, a quiet man who captains a whale-sightseeing boat.

Grant is surprised at his unexpected interest in Keri, the niece of columnist Luby Sanders. He thinks Luby is a hoot and can't help but adore her. But she's also playing matchmaker, trying to interest him in her niece. When Keri shows up at a log cabin fire in the middle of the night, she's not the geeky college kid he expected. But he's not about to fall victim to Luby's orchestrations.

Even if her niece is beautiful.
And vulnerable.
And apparently in need of a job.

What does it mean to be a good mother?

How far would you go in the name of love -- and justice?

Perfect Match

In the course of her everyday work, career-driven assistant district attorney Nina Frost prosecutes child molesters and works determinedly to ensure that a legal system with too many loopholes keeps these criminals behind bars. But when her own five-year-old son, Nathaniel, is traumatized by a sexual assault, Nina and her husband, Caleb, a quiet and methodical stone mason, are shattered, ripped apart by an enraging sense of helplessness in the face of a futile justice system that Nina knows all too well. In a heartbeat, Nina's absolute truths and convictions are turned upside down, and she hurtles toward a plan to exact her own justice for her son -- no matter the consequence, whatever the sacrifice.

From the day she arrives at the Biltmore, Tillie Reese is dazzled--by the riches of the Vanderbilts and by Mack Danvers, a mountain man turned footman. When Tillie is enlisted to help tame Mack's rugged behavior by tutoring him in the ways of refined society, the resulting sparks threaten Tillie's efforts to be chosen as Edith Vanderbilt's lady's maid. But the stakes rise even higher when Mack and Tillie become entangled in a cover-up at the town orphanage. They could both lose their jobs...and their hearts.

His family destroyed hers. But Wade Cummings's job offer—to care for his recuperating father—is impossible to decline. Schoolteacher Abigail Wilson can swallow her pride for the sake of a summer paycheck that will help her sister. And when Abigail's employment ends, old loyalties will separate the feuding families once more.

If there's anyone in town stubborn enough to deal with Wade's cantankerous father, it's Abigail. It's just a business arrangement—and a temporary one, at that. Her good opinion shouldn't matter a lick to Wade. Yet their different backgrounds belie a surprising kinship. Perhaps unexpected love will be their reward for the summer's inconvenient match.

Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night, was seated at the breakfast table.

We owe 1902's The Hound of the Baskervilles to Arthur Conan Doyle's good friend Fletcher "Bobbles" Robinson, who took him to visit some scary English moors and prehistoric ruins, and told him marvelous local legends about escaped prisoners and a 17th-century aristocrat who fell afoul of the family dog. Doyle transmogrified the legend: generations ago, a hound of hell tore out the throat of devilish Hugo Baskerville on the moonlit moor. Poor, accursed Baskerville Hall now has another mysterious death: that of Sir Charles Baskerville. Could the culprit somehow be mixed up with secretive servant Barrymore, history-obsessed Dr. Frankland, butterfly-chasing Stapleton, or Selden, the Notting Hill murderer at large? Someone's been signaling with candles from the mansion's windows. Nor can supernatural forces be ruled out. Can Dr. Watson--left alone by Sherlock Holmes to sleuth in fear for much of the novel--save the next Baskerville, Sir Henry, from the hound's fangs?

Many Holmes fans prefer Doyle's complete short stories, but their clockwork logic doesn't match the author's boast about this novel: it's "a real Creeper!" What distinguishes this particular Hound is its fulfillment of Doyle's great debt to Edgar Allan Poe--it's full of ancient woe, low moans, a Grimpen Mire that sucks ponies to Dostoyevskian deaths, and locals digging up Neolithic skulls without next-of-kins' consent. "The longer one stays here the more does the spirit of the moor sink into one's soul," Watson realizes. "Rank reeds and lush, slimy water-plants sent an odour of decay ... while a false step plunged us more than once thigh-deep into the dark, quivering mire, which shook for yards in soft undulations around our feet ... it was as if some malignant hand was tugging us down into those obscene depths." Read on--but, reader, watch your step! --Tim Appelo

"It's difficult to beat a good golf book, be it a good yarn or a picture book . . . The golf is spectacular, the course more so, the descriptions luminous."
--USA Today

"The untold story of golf's greatest money match, featuring Hogan and Nelson at Cypress Point, comes to life in . . . Mark Frost's gripping new book, The Match."
--Golf magazine

"Frost weaves an exceptional narrative . . . It's a gripping tale--as good as James Patterson, John Grisham, or any other contemporary novelist could create. And all true. The match comes down to the 18th hole, and you'll be the winner once you turn the last page."
--Met Golfer

"Frost masterfully puts the reader not just on the scene, but in the time, too, with terrific storytelling."
--The State (South Carolina)

"Frost captures an elusive magic in this improbable matchup and what it meant for those who played and witnessed it."
--Publishers Weekly

"The Match was a dream I never thought would come true. If I hadn't been there I wouldn't believe it myself, and if you know anything about sports or the game of golf, once you pick up this book you won't put it down. No one will ever see an event like this again. Fiction can't touch it."
--Ken Venturi

The year: 1956. Four decades have passed since Eddie Lowery came to fame as the ten-year-old caddie to U.S. Open Champion Francis Ouimet. Now a wealthy car dealer and avid supporter of amateur golf, Lowery has just made a bet with fellow millionaire George Coleman. Lowery claims that two of his employees, amateur golfers Harvie Ward and Ken Venturi, cannot be beaten in a best-ball match. Lowery challenges Coleman to bring any two golfers of his choice to the course at 10 a.m. the next day to settle the issue.

Coleman accepts the challenge and shows up with his own power team: Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson, the game's greatest living professionals, with fourteen major championships between them.

In Mark Frost's peerless hands, complete with the recollections of all the participants, the story of this immortal foursome and the game they played that day--legendarily known in golf circles as the greatest private match ever played--comes to life with powerful, emotional impact and edge-of-your-seat suspense.

A MATCH MADE IN TEXAS
Book Three: The Diamondback Ranch Series
Contemporary Western Romance Novel
51,000 words/208pp
Heat Index: Spicy

When Austin McCade's wife dies, a vital part of him dies, too. The sexy single dad devotes himself to his motherless daughter and his work on the Diamondback Ranch. For twelve years, he ignores life and women . . . until a new pretty schoolteacher moves to town.

From the moment Theresa Rogers arrives in Salt Fork, Texas, people warn her about the lonely widower. He's a hopeless case, a lost cause. But Theresa sees beneath the crusty exterior of the man to the deep emotions and his enduring loyalty. Can she pierce the impenetrable wall surrounding his broken heart? Will she be able to vanquish the ghost who keeps him from loving again?

EXCERPT:

Theresa cleared her throat. "Um, would you like to come in? There's coffee. It's fresh."

He shouldn't stay. He should get the hell out of Dodge. "Sure, why not." Removing his Stetson, Austin stepped across the threshold, brushing against her as he passed. The heat from her body nearly scorched him.

She closed the door and stood with her hand on the knob, facing him. She bit her bottom lip, worrying it with her teeth.

Austin wondered if she regretted inviting him in. Had it been on impulse? Did she realize how attractive and appealing he found her? Did she know she was playing with fire?

He was fast losing the battle raging inside of himself. He wanted this woman. He didn't want to think of the reasons he should keep his hands off her. He was a man. She was a woman. A very desirable woman.

Moving closer, he stared down at her and tipped her chin up. "I don't think either of us really wants coffee."

"What do you want?" Her voice sounded husky. Reminding him of darkened rooms, fluffy pillows.

Austin pulled her into his arms. "Only this." He took her mouth in a searing kiss . . .

A MATCH MADE IN TEXAS
Book Three: The Diamondback Ranch Series
Contemporary Western Romance Novel
51,000 words/208pp
Heat Index: Spicy

When Austin McCade's wife dies, a vital part of him dies, too. The sexy single dad devotes himself to his motherless daughter and his work on the Diamondback Ranch. For twelve years, he ignores life and women . . . until a new pretty schoolteacher moves to town.

From the moment Theresa Rogers arrives in Salt Fork, Texas, people warn her about the lonely widower. He's a hopeless case, a lost cause. But Theresa sees beneath the crusty exterior of the man to the deep emotions and his enduring loyalty. Can she pierce the impenetrable wall surrounding his broken heart? Will she be able to vanquish the ghost who keeps him from loving again?

EXCERPT:

Theresa cleared her throat. "Um, would you like to come in? There's coffee. It's fresh."

He shouldn't stay. He should get the hell out of Dodge. "Sure, why not." Removing his Stetson, Austin stepped across the threshold, brushing against her as he passed. The heat from her body nearly scorched him.

She closed the door and stood with her hand on the knob, facing him. She bit her bottom lip, worrying it with her teeth.

Austin wondered if she regretted inviting him in. Had it been on impulse? Did she realize how attractive and appealing he found her? Did she know she was playing with fire?

He was fast losing the battle raging inside of himself. He wanted this woman. He didn't want to think of the reasons he should keep his hands off her. He was a man. She was a woman. A very desirable woman.

Moving closer, he stared down at her and tipped her chin up. "I don't think either of us really wants coffee."

"What do you want?" Her voice sounded husky. Reminding him of darkened rooms, fluffy pillows.

Austin pulled her into his arms. "Only this." He took her mouth in a searing kiss . . .

Nanny to six-year-old twin girls isn't exactly the position Brittany Gorman is looking for. But she needs a job. And the twins' struggling single dad, rancher Parker Watson, needs all the help he can get. Soon Brittany is not only assisting with the girls, but also helping Parker make peace with his past. It seems Brittany's finally found a place to belong. And with two little matchmakers on the loose, there's no telling what the future holds. As her time on the ranch runs out, can Brittany and Parker find the strength to face that future—together?

Annabelle is tired of being the lone failure in a family of overachievers. Now, all she has to do to become the Windy City's hottest matchmaker is to land the city's hottest bachelor as her client. How hard can that be?

With his money green eyes and calculated charm, Heath Champion is the best sports agent in the country, so why does he need a matchmaker? True, Annabelle has a certain quirky appeal. But Heath is searching for the ultimate symbol of his success -- the perfect wife. And to make an extraordinary match, he needs someone like ... thin, rich, utterly fabulous Portia Powers, the owner of Power Matches, who'll do whatever it takes to find Mrs. Right for the city's very own Jerry Maguire.

Soon everyone in Chicago has a stake in the outcome. When Annabelle promises she'll do anything to keep her star client happy ... does she mean anything? If Annabelle isn't careful, she just might find herself going heart-to-heart with the toughest negotiator in town -- a man who's beginning to ask himself: Exactly how perfect does perfect have to be?

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