She’s got a ragged red backpack, a kayak, and a dream. Leaving behind wealth and comfort, will this nonconforming young woman find untold riches? Toronto, Canada, 1997. Tish Brady is suffocating. Freshly returned from wilderness training in Africa, the lonely twenty-three-year-old hates being trapped under her parents’ stern, upper-crust thumbs. So when she spies a brochure for a whitewater ra ...

He is the proud son of a wealthy industrialist. She is the devout daughter of a respected minister. When their paths cross and sparks fly, will they be able to find common ground?

William Hanson is not a happy man. Forced to spend the summer at a religious retreat, he is anything but pleased with the direction his life has taken. He is a man of strong ideals, but expressing his views ha ...

Recently widowed Marin Henderson considers time with her two adult children a gift. And she’s intent on not prying into their lives while they’re all together, cleaning out her late parents’ Colorado home. But from the start, nothing goes as planned. Her free-spirited daughter, Slade, and her strait-laced son, Reed, both arrive ahead of schedule, and no one is explaining why. Marin knows they’re h ...

Butterfly Kisses is the first book in The Orange Blossom series, the latest in heartwarming Women's Fiction from National Readers' Choice Award winner, Leigh Duncan.

Justine Gale just got incredible news. 
< ...

"Be prepared to CRASH! What I love about this novel is the "REAL LIFE" aspect. We all plan out our futures and know EXACTLY how we want them to play out...well rarely does that happen." ~ HJ Bellus, USA TODAY bestselling author Prepare to make the BEST mistake of your life! You can predict the tides but not the changes they make. Gunnison Del Valle was the current in the tide that was about to cha ...

When Hollywood auctioneer Emsley Wilson finds her famous grandmother's diary while cleaning out her New York brownstone, the pages are full of surprises. The first surprise is, the diary isn't her grandmother's. It belongs to Johanna Bonger, Vincent van Gogh's sister-in-law. Johanna inherited Vincent van Gogh's paintings. They were all she had, and they weren't worth anything. She was a 28 year ol ...

"A love story as taut as a thriller..." DL ... "This really is a page turner" JC ... "Good luck putting this one down" EN ... "I'm amazed it's a debut novel" KK ... "I loved it so much I'd invite the characters to dinner" BT ... "Read it if you want to miss your stop" TW

ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO ERASE YOUR LOVE?

This is an impossible love story…

...

Six women. Four decades. One long, unexpected reunion. Jewel Austin is a foster mother to dozens, but forms a special bond with five foster girls she welcomed under her roof long ago. Through handwritten letters, Jewel keeps in touch with these women she nurtured to adulthood. Now in her eighties, Jewel’s time is short, and her last letter spells out an unusual request. The five women have n ...

Three Flings are stories of e different women who were given a chance to make a future for themselves and they took it. "Shadows in the Fog" Amanda's father had her life planned out. Her mother supported this. Walking in the early morning fog, Amanda encountered Iaon who liked the fog. It hid his secret. Though from different worlds, in the fog they discovered what really matters. "Libby's Luck" s ...

Four women, linked by blood ties, friendship, betrayal, loss and hope, struggle with the choices they’ve made and the hand that life’s dealt them. All Pippa’s ever wanted is marriage and kids, but at thirty-four and about to embark on IVF, her dream of having a family is far from certain. Her younger sister Georgie has the opposite problem, juggling her career, her lover, a young daughter and a hu ...

Something is deeply wrong in the Belaugh household, and Madeline Brooks is about to step right into it. When her beloved pianist father dies, Madeline loses everything - her family, her friends and home. But she never abandons hope. She dreams passionately of following in her father’s footsteps and making music her life. Rising above the orphanage regime, she secures a music scholarship with t ...

From Bestselling author Virginia Gray comes a wonderfully entertaining and completely absorbing love story... Susan never planned on a husband, kids, or a small-town address. Her dream involved a giant corner office and a full spread in Forbes Magazine. But for reasons defying understanding, she has agreed to marry her former rival, Pete Walsh, move to the tiny community of Havelock, and become pa ...

Surrendering to the tide of life might just make all their dreams come true. Lily is preparing for the high season at Glass Beach Cottage and looking forward to her son’s upcoming visit, when she’s hit with an unwelcome surprise—her estranged sister is back. Wendy’s arrival, and plan to stay indefinitely, frustrates Lily beyond belief and adds to the chaos of her busiest time of year. While the tw ...

Ruby Fae McKeever is realizing that she made a terrible decision when she dropped out of college two years ago to marry that sweet-faced JW Jasper and join his family's traveling revival ministry--or, as her Daddy had put it, when she "run off with the dang-fool Jesus Circus." She'd thought at the time that she was called by God. But now that she thinks about it, maybe she just really, really like ...

After months of playing the lottery and hoping for an uptick in her dog-boarding business, Janet’s friend Annie must face the inevitable: the bank is foreclosing on her family farm. But thanks to the Rejected Writers’ Book Club, Annie doesn’t have to face it alone. With just a few weeks to raise the $20,000 that she and her fifty rescue dogs need to avoid becoming homeless, the w ...

Loving your sisters is easy. Liking them is impossible. “Holly Kerr has done a beautiful job of crafting a family with real relationships--an absolute delight to read.” The last thing Brenna wants is to go home, but losing her job and her cheating husband leaves her no choice but to return home to the small town where everyone knows her business and thinks they know best. Including her si ...

A mother’s tragic diagnosis. A daughter’s life on hold. An ending and a new beginning ... Cassandra McDowall’s mother has been forgetful for a while, but she never anticipated rapid-onset Alzheimer’s to come out of nowhere and shake their world to its very core. As Cassie puts her already-lackluster life on hold, her mom’s indomitable will and spirit of adventure prove to be a handful. And as her ...

Making a sexy deal with the deal-maker... Flying sightseers over California is part of helicopter pilot Lacey Sanders' job. The other part is denying her attraction for hot-bod fellow pilot Adam Swank. A painful experience taught Lacey never to date her co-workers. So regardless of how sizzling the sparks are between her and Adam, she just isn't going there. But when they're teamed up to close a b ...

Kat Becker is a starry-eyed optimist with a dream. She’s convinced a move to Nashville will turn her into a singing sensation, and nobody’s going to stand in her way. Not even the cute but grumpy ER doctor she meets after a fender-bender. Dr. Dan McDonald is a hard-headed realist with a past. He knows first-hand how Music City can shatter a heart. It’s his duty to warn an appealing but quirky pati ...

Kindergarten teacher Lily Gallo is a happily married mother of three who considers her life perfect… until the day she’s brutally assaulted while out on a run. When the town’s high school football hero is arrested for the attack, Lily’s family suffers retaliation from local sports fans. Recovering from her injuries, Lily wraps herself in an opioid cloud. Later, a barely avoided tragedy motivates h ...

A sensible lawyer. A downward spiral. Can she survive this turn for the worse? Dependable attorney Sara Shaw loves her job, but her rowdy family is pushing her OCD tendencies toward disaster. And things go from bad to beastly, when the floozy who stole her sister’s husband stirs up trouble. Unfortunately, Sara takes the bait and jeopardizes her stable reputation by jumping into a wild, hair-pullin ...

Winner of the 2022 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award for Best Historical. Until she discovers the truth of her sister’s death, no one will rest in peace. New Hampshire, 1865. Marion Abbott is summoned to Brawders House asylum to collect the body of her sister, Alice. She’d been found dead after falling four stories from a steep-pitched roof. Officially: an accident. Confidentially: suic ...

Elyse Gibbons is out of her depth when, as an undergrad at Columbia, she's befriended by campus superstars Aubrey Adam-Drake and Marina Hunt. While Aubrey's grandfather is a former U.S. president and Marina's dad is a notorious mob lawyer, Elyse was raised in Pennsylvania by a single mother/language professor who made Elyse learn Chinese for allowance money. As her high-profile life evolves, Elyse ...

The voices tell me to wake up, but with two children under three, I’m awake. Believe me. There’s just so much pressing on me. Crystal, the woman who runs Shade, the secret group who imprisoned me, is still out there and I cannot rest until I have ended her. I need supernatural allies to do that, though, and they are hard to come by. Witches, vampires, and weres refuse to unite against their com ...

Louisa Delafield and Ellen Malloy didn’t ask to be thrown together. But after Ellen witnesses the death of a fellow servant during an illegal abortion, Louisa, a society columnist, vows to help her find the truth and turn her journalistic talent to a greater purpose. Together, these unlikely allies battle to get the truth out, and to avenge the wrongful death of a friend. What will our heroes d ...

In his new life, Charlie falls for Gypsy, a house cleaner, slash-street-walker he believes he is in love with, but without a solid sense of self, Charlie's love is a futile endeavor. Still, he thinks he can save Gypsy from herself. He is also convinced they will marry and live happily ever after, in his misguided, emotionally bereft perception of love.

When drugs, and guns become a rout ...

A MAGICAL LOVE STORY... Memory House is a place where friendship turns to love, love lasts forever, and memories outlive their owner. Ophelia Browne knows this because she's been granted the unique gift of finding and caring for those forgotten memories. But now she's nearing ninety, and needs to find a successor - soon. When broken-hearted Annie Cross shows up on the doorstep of The Memory House ...

GOLD MEDAL WINNER for adult fiction, Florida Authors and Publishers Association, 2020! And GOLD MEDAL WINNER FOR WOMEN'S FICTION in RPLA Awards Contest! Southern Literary Review calls BURIED SEEDS “Thoroughly engrossing, imminently readable, and ultimately uplifting . . . an important contribution to a body of socially-themed women’s literature.” Two women, born a century apart, but both have had ...

In India, the dowry was ransom. Bride burning was what happened when the ransom was not paid. It’s 1971 in Delhi, India, and Maya is about to enter into the time-honored tradition of arranged marriage—a tradition that holds strong against modern ways. But no sooner than Maya’s father provides her agreed upon dowry to her fiancé’s family does Maya learn that she has just been traded into a de ...

Renee Lockhart has her eye on a lofty goal…to fill the open position of morning radio show host at the station where she works. When her co-workers sign her up for a local TV version of The Bachelor, Renee goes along with it in order to raise her profile. Upon seeing her bumbling audition, Ben McConnell, one of the most eligible bachelors in town, insists that Renee be placed on the show. But Ben ...

It's 2006, and Delia Mulcahy is living in a shabby apartment and facing crushing student debts. Suddenly, she's plucked from obscurity to work for Wall Street's top hedge fund. Determined to make her millions, Delia must master the cut-throat world of big-stakes trading and profit off the cataclysm of the looming crash. In the underbelly of finance, no one is who they say they are. Delia finds ...

Miller's Secret Obsession. Ambition. Betrayal. Left in an orphanage as a young child, Miller Dreeser vowed to someday live a life of wealth and prestige. He obtained that life, with no thought of the consequence to those he used as puppets on a string to get there. His acceptance into the world of the socially elite is not enough to conquer his internal demons, and that unquenchable ambition may c ...

Whose secret is a motive for murder? Sandra is murdered while working late at the office and the investigation drives Detective Elliot crazy because everyone has secrets. Ian is trying to hide illicit activities, Henry has a darker, hidden side, George needs money and will make it any way he can, Nathan wants escape from a mundane existence, Brody seeks power and respect, and Brooke wants to ...

Women can’t resist David King. Is it his talent, his looks, or his devout beliefs? David has been chosen by Saul, the head pastor of a mega church in California to lead worship, but now Saul seems to have turned his back on his protégé. Saul’s daughter, Michaela, can’t figure out what has changed. Her feelings for David grow stronger while her father seems to be turning against him. Eventually, Mi ...

… The forgotten envelope was like the proverbial can of worms… now that she had opened it, she knew the past would come crawling out, one slimy piece at a time…

Photojournalist Kenzie Reese has spent the past eight years trying to forget her past. Now the Mafia is looking for her father and thinks kidnapping Kenzie will bring him out of hiding. Little do they know what a dysfunct ...

What happens when a fighter and a peacenik fall in love?

From the wind-swept horse country of the Yakima Valley to the airy academic halls of the University of Washington, three adventurers pursue their own Edens. One wants to be a hero, the second just wants to save her home, the third to make sense of it all.

Jake’s tragic death in the opening days of the Iraq War lea ...

Amanda’s legacy was simple and unbelievably complicated...her sons were determined to make it happen exactly as she wanted.

From Book 1:Librarian Janet Johnson is puzzled when she is invitedand practically draggedto her first meeting of the Rejected Writers Book Club. This quirky group of women would much rather celebrate one anothers rejected manuscripts over cups of tea and slices of lemon cake than actually publish a book. But good friends are exactly what Janet needs after moving to the small town of Southlea Bay, ...

A subtle story with a paranormal touch. Follow a wonderful journey of change that will help you believe in magic again.

Henry and his adult daughter, Chandra, are haunted by the past. Stuck in a state of mourning, they long to return to a time when the family matriarch was still alive. Chandra misses her mother’s guidance. Henry wishes he could recapture the final prec ...

Alexa is a fighter. A survivor. But it hadn’t always been that way. At eighteen, tragedy struck, hurling her into a dark underworld. Freedom became a thing of the past as her new reality unraveled. Rescued a year later, she vowed to one day get the justice she deserved. However, her road to recovery was long and difficult. Driven by revenge, she fought like hell to prepare herself. When the opport ...

Dr. Kate Winter has mind-bending visions.
A psychic profiler, some of Kate's cases haunt her.
The evil stays.
The malevolence lingers.
It began at a crime scene.
Another party at Riverbend Road had gotten out of control but this time someone had died.
This wasn’t why Lily ran out the back door and fled.
It wasn’t why Amanda did drugs and ...

An uplifting story of loss and love. Helen Williams, a veterinary researcher who helps develop life-saving drugs for dogs, is beset by her husband's infidelity and a near-death experience. When tragedy strikes, her world is tossed upside down. With the help of a dear friend and former lover, she regains her footing and finds a way to rekindle her passions in life.

After a year of making beautiful music together, Chloe Hatherly thinks she’s more than ready to make the age-old promise to her bandmate, Jon. In sickness and in health, for better or worse. When the sudden death of Jon’s father forces the couple to postpone their wedding in favor of a funeral, however, their relationship veers rapidly off course from the ever after they’d both envisioned. Now liv ...

After what is going down in history as the worst day of her life – so far – Annie Anderson, finds herself on a train heading home for Christmas. Going against all the laws of travelling on British Rail, she strikes up a conversation with the angry man opposite. After downing his supply of brandy (residing in a convenient hip flask) they soon discover they have something in common. He needs a girlf ...

Second hand, never used. Vintage Condition.

Grace Stavenaugh has lived her life in the shadow of her older sister. Even as children, Hope was always the talented one and Grace the smart one. Hope received the attention, the boyfriends, and the beautiful clothes; Grace received the hand-me-downs.

The leftovers never bothered Grace, until it came to one boy. Her s ...

Socialite and philanthropist Elizabeth Hartman needs to start a new life after divorcing her husband Gerry Richardson who’s in federal prison for money laundering, a crime the Feds suspected her of being involved in. Her mother’s family vacation home in Red River, New Mexico offers just the respite she needs. Or does it? How will her grown children cope with what's happened to their family? One to ...

Abby feels like everything is wrong with her life. She’s never dealt with the grief of losing her twin sister, Samantha, and niece, Amy, in an accident. Her marriage to Mark has fallen into the routine of his long hours of work and her erratic schedule as a nurse in a busy Houston hospital. Their failed attempt to have a child puts further strain on their relationship. Unhappy in her cur ...

It's 1954, and twenty-two-year-old Lucia Lafleur has always dreamed of following in her father’s footsteps. While sock hops and poodle skirts occupy her classmates, she dreams of bacteria and broken bones—and the day she’ll finally fix them. ​ After graduation, a letter arrives, and Lucia reads the words she’s labored a lifetime to earn—"we are pleased to offer you a position at the University of ...

Ready to take on whatever the world had to throw at them, four friends left their hometown of Summit Falls in search of something more...years later two of them are coming back for the same reason. Includes Going Home, Home Again, and Coming Home.

Small town families, relatable characters, friendship, romance and summer fun - Welcome to Fortune Bay!

Everyone deserves a second chance at love. But for years Maddie has had to concentrate on making ends meet for herself and her teenage daughter Jenny, and that hasn't left much time for her photography career, and absolutely none for romance. Besides, with her background, she is pro ...

Always the youngest and tired of being called the baby, nine-year-old Casey is thrilled when her little sister, Anna, arrives in the winter of 1986. Once Anna is born everything changes for the better: a new sister, a new house and a perfect life. It’s as if nothing can go wrong—until Anna gets cancer. 

 In the wake of seemingly never-ending hospital stays and chemo treatments, Casey and her olde ...

A husband lost at Dunkirk, the vocation to make glorious music and a second chance at love. It’s 1944. Widowed and grieving for her dead husband, Madeline Hanson has abandoned her career as a concert pianist. But while touring RAF bases with a troupe of entertainers, she discovers a beautiful grand piano concealed in a dark corner. What secrets does it hold? It speaks to her of passion, musi ...

After years of disastrous choices, Addisyn Miles has a second chance with the person she once betrayed—her older sister, Avery. Moving from Whistler, Canada, to Avery’s home in the Colorado Rockies seems like the perfect opportunity to not only rebuild her fragile re ...

She's beautiful and brilliant. But the world is not ready for her to shine…

Western Pennsylvania, 1905. Olive Westchester dreams of being valued. Misunderstood, resented, and ignored by her large family after her mother's death, her only ally is an older brother who loves her unconditionally. And the hard-headed girl's visions of making her mark are threatened by a cl ...

She gave her daughter up.

Now she wants her back.

NY Times & USA Today bestselling author Lorhainne Eckhart brings you a new OConnell family novel about secrets and lies, and a woman who has no reason to trust anyone. 

What do you do when a woman shows up on you ...

Be like the eagle in flight that soars above the troubles of the world. Emma’s life changes the day Ruben Templeton walks in and asks her out on a date. Over dinner, Ruben’s undivided attention flatters her and she’s a little disappointed when his best friend, Jesse Kimball, joins them. Accustomed to a quiet life, insecure 27-year-old Emma is hesitant but excited when Jesse calls her the ne ...

The only uncertainty in war is uncertainty. Set during the darkest days of Ukraine’s history, Book One: Katarina’s Dark Shadow prequels the courageous human struggle inside a distinct faith during violent political times. 1951: Peter stumbles on his adopted mother’s diaries from the Russian Revolution. What happened during those early years that prompted Katarina to go back to Ukraine during WW2? ...

FREE ON BOOKFUNNEL!

After a one-night tryst shatters my world, I discover I’m pregnant. To protect my child, I flee from my overbearing family with the help of my best friend. Years later, after losing my job, my best friend helps me land a position in her billionaire uncle's company. To my surprise, he's my one-night stand, and unbeknownst to everyone, my daughter’s fa ...

Ten years ago Mallie Grayson Westin packed up and with her children left the only home they had ever known. Now she was coming back. The neighborhood was still the same. Lizzie was still there. Mallie couldn’t imagine the canyon without the woman who was like a second mother to her. Clay Tobin was the newcomer to the canyon. He was also a newcomer to the entertainment business that had surround ...

A hilarious and magical new series from the authors of Down & Dirty Supernatural Cleaning Services! Three very different women receive a similar desperate message from their husbands: I've been kidnapped and I need your help. They each must secure a mysterious and powerful magical object for his release. As they set upon this task, the women discover they have more in common than they original ...

An inspirational, Christian story of loss, redemption and love from former state senator Barbara A. Robinson, author of the bestselling "And Still I Cry."

Rebekah saw her mother as an ugly disfigured woman, until she learned the circumstances of her mother’s disfigurement. Soon after, she goes on a self-destructive trip that lasts over twenty years.

Love's Seco ...

Marrying my best friend was like a dream come true, even if it was fake. Aiden was the last person I thought I would run into on the streets of Seattle. He’s no longer the boy I remember, but a tall muscle-oozing gorgeous man. When my past comes back to haunt me, he’s the only one who can save me. While hiding out from my ex-fiance, we quickly move from friends to lovers. And now we can’t ...

Want to warm your soul for the holidays? Unwrap the true meaning of gift giving with a treasure trove of festive tales. Christmas with Hot Apple Cider: Stories from the Season of Giving and Receiving is an eclectic collection of true stories, short fiction, and poetry. With 55 featured authors and poets, the anthology provides a diverse and multidimensional look at the traditions, teachings, and v ...

"An engrossing view into the world of 'beautiful people' with an ending that will leave you wanting more." - New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Melissa Foster

Verena Valent is at the helm of her family’s legendary Swiss skincare company in Beverly Hills. After her parents’ deaths, she becomes the sole provider for her younger twin sisters and he ...

They’re living the dream. But dreams aren’t real life. And secrets can’t be hidden forever… Lucas and Nathan are sworn enemies. When Olivia gets trapped between them, old hurts run deep and trust is not on the agenda. Then Nathan’s worst nightmare comes true. His beloved daughter is missing. With tragedy snapping at their heels, they’ll have to work together to find her. But how can they bury thei ...

A quirk of fate puts a Blatina in the Oval Office. What now?

Toni Madison never dreamed about becoming President. It simply wasn’t even an option for someone like her, a Black Latina after all. 

Life had a different plan as a heart attack places her behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. 

Now, three years into her bland accidental Preside ...

Love conquers all? Maybe for some people. Samantha flees Dodge--or rather Beaufort, NC--to free herself from a relationship that should never have happened. But does she leave in time to stave off trouble for others as well as herself? Teo isn't looking for romance or anything other than the next plot point for his mystery series--until a strange and compelling vision shows up in the waters near h ...

A fictitious journey of an exceptional female and her adventurous spirit. Allow 'Tessa' to share with you a tormented yet wondrous life of failures and success. Conquer the life of poverty and then be seduced by a life of power. Share the memories and secrets of a fascinating woman. Escape for a time with 'Tessa'.

Michelle is in trouble --- but she's fighting for her ideals! In this psychological romance a group of university students and soldiers go underground to try to implement ideas about which they are passionate. The French police are after them. Michelle has just been released from jail in France after attempting to damage an arms factory. Michelle has two lovers --- but she's not in love! Michelle ...

Dive into the first installment of this gritty slow burn college romance series about love, loss, and second chances. Introverted Billie Dixon has life planned to a T, and Bradford College is her chance for comfortable solitude. Her best friend lives across the hall, her roommate ignores her, and to pay for textbooks, she puts her math skills to good use as a tutor. But Billie is in for a rude awa ...

Madison deCordova is tackling one of her strangest ‘cases’ yet. A woman contacts In a Pinch, begging for Madison to keep her from killing someone. She hangs up before giving her name, or that of her possible victim. It could be a prank. Someone looking for attention. A lost soul reaching out for help. Yet the woman’s voice holds true worry, flavored with fear. The call sends chills down Maddy’s s ...

When Meredith Thomas returns home to Shady Piers for the huge birthday party her parents put on for her each year, she is frustrated with a writing career going nowhere. For her estranged and lifelong friend Logan Nole, his life has taken a very different turn. Now the single parent of a bubbly 4-year old, he has no time to spare as he works double shifts just to keep their lives afloat. An unexpe ...

These are not your typical, warm-and-fuzzy, smalltown Christmas tales. For some, the holidays are simply not the most wonderful time of the year. While many of us enjoy the festivities of the season, those weeks can also serve to remind us of painful memories and of the great voids in our hearts as we ache in silent grief amidst the merriment. From those who have lost loved ones to the story of th ...

When Charlotte Olson becomes legal guardian of her young sister, it's tough to survive, even in the friendly setting of Shady Piers. Now, after a disastrous fire, she loses everything, and Charlotte must protect her sister from a much more serious threat to the life they have built together. After an embarrassing introduction, firefighter Neil Mack doesn't expect to see Charlotte again, but when h ...

Thaniya Rasid grew up in the Middle East dreaming of becoming a surgeon. Now living an ordinary life as a mother, wife and a hospital lab tech in Vancouver, Canada, she garners unexpected fame as youTube’s Queen of Hummus when her video demonstrating the recipe goes viral. How could blending chickpeas in a food processor generate so much excitement? And how could her life have ended up so fa ...

1940, England: ‘I promise we will find each other again. I will leave you a message,’ she said, ‘here, in our secret garden.’ But outside the garden walls a war was raging, and it was only a matter of time before they would have to risk everything for love… Now, England: When Laura moves to Norfolk to restore a beautiful garden in the grounds of a stately home, she sees it as an opportunity for ...

Nothing Forgotten, Winner of Next Generation Indie Book Award. "An intricately layered, deeply heartfelt, and bittersweet novel," Starred Review, Booklist. "Delicious insights into Italian life," San Francisco Chronicle. When Anna is contacted by the Italian lover she knew decades before, she recalls their affair and the child she gave up for adoption. As the episode returns to haunt her—threateni ...