Showing results by author "Davis Bunn" in All Categories

Ryan Eames is a policewoman and single mother dedicated most of all to her lonely, uniquely gifted son. Stretched thin by double shifts and grappling with an out-of-season coastal wildfire, Christmas cheer feels as far away as a distant carol on a winter night. Until duty draws her into the life of a stranger.

Pushing through his troubled childhood, Dillon Farrow was still a teenager when he said goodbye to Miramar and did himself proud, thriving as a successful investment counselor. But a betrayal by a trusted advisor has brought everything crashing down. Dillon’s only recourse is to return to Miramar, penniless and feeling defeated—even more so when a winter flood renders all roads to town impassable. Now he and his fellow stranded travelers are destined to spend Christmas at the only available accommodations—the local jail.

Four years after his wife’s death, art history teacher Derek Gaines has finally made a kind of peace with himself. He tries his best to stave off memories. His days are ones of familiar routine. Guarded against further pain, he keeps relationships at a safe distance. It’s all part of his necessary transition to surviving alone.

Since the age of seven, Lucius Quarterfield has known he is dying. Doctors told him he had a "bad ticker" and might not live to see his next birthday. But somehow, the frail yet determined boy managed to hang on and surprise everyone. The bullies who teased him. The family who neglected him. The professionals who offered little hope for a normal life. To their surprise, Lucius not only survived to adulthood, he thrived, turning a small car dealership into a successful chain. But now, at 28, his time is finally running out. So he's returning to the one place he ever felt happy.

Caught up in the maelstrom following the death of an obscure rabbi in the Roman backwater of first-century Palestine, Leah finds herself also engulfed in her own turmoil - facing the prospect of an arranged marriage to a Roman soldier, Alban, who seems to care for nothing but his own ambitions. Head of the garrison near Galilee, he has been assigned by Palestine's governor to ferret out the truth behind the rumors of a political execution gone awry.

The waters off the West African coast are a menacing red, full of algae thick enough to stand on in places. In nearby villages, mysterious deaths start to occur - and the panic mounts. But before an alarm can be sounded, the sea currents shift, the algae vanishes, and the deaths stop. Everyone is relieved when things return to normal, and local government officials are happy to sweep the publicity nightmare under a rug. But then parts of the Caribbean start turning a familiar red right before hurricane season kicks into high gear, and the implications are clear....

What to do with a life where everything he's worked for is shattered? A top executive in the family business, Buddy Helms lives and works under the thumb of his powerful father. He's proved himself time and again to the manipulative patriarch - even saving the company from financial ruin. Yet for six years, Buddy's waited to hear that he's worthy of his father's love and respect. Now, after another cold dismissal, Buddy's slamming the door on everything he's strived for.

Supposedly, dispatched to audit a relief organization’s accounts, Marc Royce finds himself amid the squalor and chaos of Kenyan refugee camps caught in a stranglehold of corruption and ruthlessness. But his true task relates to the area’s reserves of once-obscure metals now indispensible to high-tech industry. The value of this rare earth inflames tensions on the world’s stage as well as among warring tribes.

Carey Mathers arrives in Athens to take a coveted position at the Classical Institute, only to discover the building is shuttered, the institute bankrupt. Journalist Nicholas Tyler believes he is headed for the big time when his paper sends him to Europe. But four months into his assignment, the office is closed. Now he must find freelance investigative projects - or go home. Dimitri Roubinos, born into a seafaring family, knows the aegean and its islands better than anyone alive. Three distinctive characters are drawn to the storied isle of Patmos, and as they uncover a plot to plunder ancient religious treasures, the stakes are raised to a breaking point.

In first-century Judea, the followers of the Way have burgeoned into a vibrant, growing community that cannot be ignored. Jerusalem is in turmoil as its religious leaders on one side, and its Roman rulers on the other, conspire to stamp out the fledgling Church. And Abigail, who thought she had finally found home and safety, is caught between the opposing forces. Two suitors desire the lovely Abigail's hand in marriage.

There was a time when classical guitarist Ian Hart was on top of the world. Awards. International acclaim. Adoring fans. And the belief that it was forever. Now, under the shadow of a scandal and betrayal that destroyed his career, Ian wonders what the next day will bring. In the midst of a life in turnaround, Ian’s Aunt Amelia—his closest friend and greatest supporter—passes away, leaving him her home in Miramar. It’s just the quietude he needs to reflect and to try and move forward. But what awaits Ian in the tranquil seaside town is more than he ever expected.

Six years ago, Daniel was a Los Angeles financial analyst who was too handsome for his own good. That man died in a tragic accident with his fiancée. With grief and guilt battling for control, Daniel moved to the quiet California seaside town of Miramar Bay with his best friend - a rescue Labradoodle who still sees him through rough times. Daniel’s a different man now. Clean, sober, and taking things one day at a time with no commitments to anyone except himself. And just as his solitude begins to chafe, two souls in need of fresh starts unexpectedly enter Daniel’s life...

Esther Harding, a leading risk analyst at one of the country's largest banking institutions, is becoming more and more convinced that she has uncovered a ticking bomb with the potential to overshadow 2008's market crash. And as her own employer pursues "investment" strategies with ever-increasing levels of risk, she becomes convinced she must do something. Yet what can one person really do? The markets are edging closer to a tipping point.

Now that Kyle Adams' dream of finding her biological parents has come true and she is pregnant, Kyle begins to believe that her life is perfect. However, when a heart condition threatens her young son's life, Kyle's newfound happiness fades. Then her son dies, and she turns her back on God. It takes a great deal of soul searching before she is finally able to accept God back into her life. The authors deliver a quietly introspective novel about the true meaning of faith.

Jenna Greaves is an end-of-life nurse, devoted till her charges’ final breath. She’s been called a confidante, a surrogate daughter, and a friend. She is all those to Dino Vicenza, a secretive millionaire who refuses to even speak with his greedy and impatient family. Gradually Jenna becomes Dino’s only confidant, and something far more out of the ordinary; she shares the old man's passion for sailing the open seas. With his passing comes an unexpected bequest: a luxury yacht that invites Jenna to break free of old chains, if only she might find someone to help steer her toward new horizons.

Christmas should be a joyous time. But this year the celebration is overshadowed in sickness, sorrow, and disappointment. Seeing her grandmother struggle with pain and sadness, Emily decided to share a story that she's never told anyone. As old memories live again through her words, two broken hearts find healing and comfort—and the courage to celebrate Christmas once again. Tidings of Comfort & Joy reminds us to share the bonds of faith and family that Christmas represents whatever the circumstances or season.

He’s a hotshot financial analyst who has lost it all. She’s a brokenhearted world traveler forced to come home and beg for money. His job hangs by a thread. Her dreams of making a difference in the world are circling the drain. It’s a spectacularly bad time for romance, even on the charming stone streets of an English university town. But sparks fly — and danger threatens — when these two wounded souls are forced to work together to solve a mystery and right a wrong.

Billy Walker is a North Carolina boy whose Hollywood star is beginning to shine. His rough past is in the rear view. Now seeing the world from the back seat of a limousine, Billy has no regrets about what he had to do, and the choices he made, to get there. But all it takes is one death-defying moment for Billy's world to shift. When an on-set accident leaves him shaken, plagued by haunting dreams, he's in desperate need of a rest cure. Given keys to a getaway cottage on Lighthouse Lane in Miramar Bay, he'll regroup, relax, and recover.

The tragic Acadian saga recounted in The Meeting Place, when the British drove the French from Nova Scotia, has followed two families over a score of years to the birth pangs of a new nation. The Song of Acadia has been one full of pathos but also of hope. Faith in God and family eventually have brought the Henri Robichauds to Louisiana and, finally, to a life of tranquility among the bayous. Back in Nova Scotia, the Andrew Harrows have been beacons of light among the British and the French communities.

Marc Royce works for the State Department on special assignments, most of them rather routine, until two CIA operatives go missing in Iraq--kidnapped by Taliban forces bent on generating chaos in the region. Two others also drop out of sight--a high-placed Iraqi civilian and an American woman providing humanitarian aid. Are the disappearances linked?