Carsen Taite

Former prosecutor Raleigh Drake walked away from the courtroom when justice failed her, leaving her with a lingering bitterness and an unshakable resolve to seek justice on her own terms. Now a true crime investigator and host of the hit podcast, <i>Two Truths and a Crime</i>, Raleigh’s latest case brings her to a small Texas town to uncover the truth behind Lily Collins’s tragic death. But as she gets closer to the victim’s aunt, Quinn, Raleigh is caught between her growing feelings and the chilling suspicion that Quinn knows more than she lets on.

Quinn Collins has spent years guarding her secrets. When Raleigh arrives, digging deep into Lily’s murder, Quinn fears that her hidden past will finally be exposed. Drawn to Raleigh’s intensity yet wary of her intentions, Quinn is forced to confront the guilty memories she’s long buried. As their attraction deepens and the investigation unravels, each woman must decide how much she’s willing to risk—and who she can trust.

In a town where silence conceals deadly mysteries, will Raleigh uncover the truth, or lose herself in Quinn's secrets?

Reggie Knoll imagined all kinds of new adventures after leaving her job at the courthouse, but getting stuck on a jury for a boring bribery case is not one of them. Picked to serve against all odds, she’s determined to do everything in her power to coax the other jurors to a swift verdict so she can start her new career. But a pushy, beautiful woman is about to send her life spinning in a direction she couldn’t have anticipated.

Brooke Dawson doesn’t want to be on a jury any more than the rest of the people summoned to the courthouse, but she’s one hundred percent certain that when the judge calls the names of the chosen few, she’ll be on the list. The ominous voice on the phone told her that much right before they threatened her. Now she must convince the eleven other jurors, including the infuriating but devastatingly attractive know-it-all Reggie Knoll, to agree on a verdict—the only verdict that will keep her and her family alive.

Newly-made capo Neal Walsh has devoted her life to protecting the powerful Mancuso crime family, but when a crisis crushes connections within the organization, she must carefully navigate shifting alliances to ensure her loyalty is not misplaced—a task made even more complicated when she begins falling hard for the reclusive wife of her boss’s sworn enemy.

Anastasia Petrov surrendered to her fate as the trophy wife of powerful mob boss Mikhail Petrov long ago, but their marriage of convenience has become increasingly less so since his reckless power grabs have put their fortune in peril. Taking matters into her own hands, she secretly seeks out new allies. But what starts as strictly business turns into a dangerous attraction to the striking younger woman on the other side who awakens a desire she’s long denied and ignites a fire that could either burn them all down or save her soul.

Katie James didn’t plan on being a runaway bride. Twice. But when the gorgeous, accomplished, former love of her life, Emma Reed, reappears in her life the week of her wedding, will Katie risk everything for another chance with the woman who might be her soul mate?

Double Jeopardy was previously published in Still Not Over You: Romance Novellas (Bold Strokes Books, 2020).

When gunshots ring out in Judge Nina Aguilar’s courtroom, every one of her regrets flashes before her eyes. One of those regrets—her first love—reappears in her life in the most surprising way, and everything about their reunion signals that falling for Franco again would be a dangerous move. Even though she’s still as stunning and brilliant as Nina remembers.

Attorney Franco Rossi vowed she’d never return to Dallas, but when an old friend’s son is accused of murder, she books the next flight. Her homecoming triggers bitter memories, but learning the only woman she’s ever truly loved is the judge assigned to the case really throws her. Franco is convinced she and Nina have no future, yet chemistry and circumstance keep bringing them together. Will history, good and bad, repeat itself?

They’ll have a chance to find out if they survive the danger headed their way.

Detective Beck Ramsey is paying a stiff price for blowing the whistle on a fellow cop. Relegated to the always underfunded, often ignored cold case desk, she’s biding her time until she can escape long-forgotten lost causes and get back in the field.

Journalist Macy Moran digs deep on every story, but when her usually objective reporting turns into an unrelenting hunt for a serial killer, she risks losing her relationships, her career, and her reputation. Haunted by the memory of her best friend’s death, Macy is willing to put everything on the line until she meets the infuriating and captivating Beck Ramsey and somehow convinces her to reopen the coldest case on her desk.

As their plans and their hearts careen out of control, Macy’s obsession with a murderer will either bring her closer to Beck or rob her of a chance at true love.

Attorney Wren Bishop knew it would be an adjustment to go from her cushy, lucrative career in big law to the public defender’s office, but she’s completely unprepared for the suspicion from her colleagues and the animus from her adversaries at what was billed as a close-knit courthouse. To top it off, her first case pits her against Lennox Roy, a gorgeous yet fierce prosecutor with a reputation for cajoling juries and breaking hearts.

Lennox comes from a family full of bleeding hearts who believe in second, third, and fourth chances, but she’s seen firsthand the damage leniency can do. She has no patience for a softy like Wren Bishop, no matter how sexy and brilliant she might be. But when they face off over a mysterious arson case, their attraction ignites a passion that leads them to question their assumptions about the law, the truth, and each other.

Attorney Siobhan Collins’s life has been shrouded in mystery from the moment she was born, but she is certain of one thing—she owes her life and everything she has achieved to the Mancuso family, and she has pledged to protect their interests at any cost. Her loyalty will be put to the test when she learns the woman who has stolen her heart is determined to destroy the only world she has ever known.

FBI agent Royal Scott is ready to ditch working undercover and figure out how to live in the real world, but her boss convinces her to take one more assignment pretending to be someone she’s not. Her one goal—infiltrate the Mancuso family’s illegal empire and find a way to bring them down. But when she becomes captivated by Siobhan Collins, the elusive counselor to Don Mancuso, she may be the one taking the fall.

Advance praise from Publishers Weekly: "With this sexy lesbian romance take on the mobster genre, Taite brings savvy, confidence, and glamour to the forefront without leaning into violence...Taite’s protagonists ooze competence and boldness, with strong female secondary characters...This is sure to please."—Publishers Weekly, 4/29/2021

The first time Summer Byrne met hard-nosed prosecutor Owen Lassiter, Summer was the jury forewoman who delivered the verdict that ruined Owen’s winning streak. Summer never expected to see Owen again, but a brush with a stranger pulls her back into a life she’d rather forget and back into the path of the wildly attractive, infuriating prosecutor who refuses to accept evidence she can’t see with her own eyes.

Owen Lassiter knows the law, knows her own mind, and doesn’t have time for nonsense and half-baked theories. When Summer Byrne—her nemesis—offers a window into the murder case Owen’s getting ready to try, hell no doesn’t begin to describe how Owen feels. But working with Summer as a consultant reminds her that Summer is as enticing as she is aggravating and promises to be a life-changing experience that neither is ready to embrace.

Perry Clark takes pride in her legal work for a needy nonprofit. When disaster strikes, leaving her unemployed and homeless, her sister Campbell comes to the rescue with a job offer. Perry accepts reluctantly—working for corporate clients is only temporary, right? But after Campbell assigns Grace, Perry’s childhood crush, as her mentor, Perry’s heart might be making longer-term plans.

Grace Maldonado remembers Perry Clark as her best friend’s sometimes annoying, often rebellious, little sister, so she isn’t prepared when she discovers Perry is now brilliant and gorgeous—though still bullheaded—and challenges her at every turn. When she isn’t arguing with Perry, Grace is fighting a growing attraction she can’t seem to ignore. Because not only is it wrong to fall in love with your best friend’s sister, Perry has no intention of sticking around.

Old flames die hard in these tales of a second chance at love with the ex you’re still not over. Stories by award winning authors Jenny Frame, Carsen Taite, and Ali Vali.

In My Forever Girl by Jenny Frame, when tragedy tore their family apart, Brayden and Faith’s marriage ended in divorce. Four years later, they’re thrown together on a cruise by their friends. Can the spark that refused to die reignite the fire of their love?

In Double Jeopardy by Carsen Taite, Katie James didn’t plan on being a runaway bride. Twice. But when the gorgeous, accomplished, former love of her life, Emma Reed, reappears in her life the week of her wedding, will Katie risk everything for another chance with the woman who might be her soul mate?

In On the Rocks by Ali Vali, whiskey distiller Preston Maxwell still has no idea why her college sweetheart, Hayley Wyatt, disappeared from her life right after collecting her diploma. But when Hayley shows up to work on the advertising campaign that will take her business to the next level, Preston isn’t letting her get away a second time.

Urban artist Riley Flynn spends her days wandering the streets of Dallas, sketching the city she loves. Then dead bodies start showing up in the exact locations she was sketching, and the police arrive on her doorstep. With every reason in the world to distrust the law, she’s reluctant to help the striking detective assigned to the case, especially after the cops start treating her like a suspect. As the stakes get deadlier, Riley’s instinct for self-protection wars with civic duty and unexpected attraction.

Detective Claire Hanlon is all about the facts, all about the law, and all about climbing the Dallas PD ladder. Her career advancement hinges on capturing the killer terrorizing the city, and the only thing in her way is the incredibly stubborn, incredibly beautiful person of interest, Riley Flynn, who is also incredibly off limits. Because she might be guilty of murder.