Intrigue & Thriller Books

Federal prosecutor Bianca Cruz has spent her life balancing motherhood with the call of her career. As she draws closer to making the case against the notorious Vargas brothers, danger casts dark shadows over her family. When her case leads her to a gorgeous horsewoman with a mysterious background, will she take a chance at love even if it means risking everything she’s worked her entire life to protect?

To horse breeder Jade Vargas, happy family is a fiction. Unlike her privileged half sister, she grew up knowing her heritage was rooted in darkness, yet she’s managed to live in the light despite the looming criminal enterprise ever poised to drag her down. When crisis strikes, will she burrow back to her past or will her undeniable attraction to the prosecutor investigating her family pull her out of the darkness once and for all?

Parker Duncan has sworn off love forever since she discovered her wife—her ex-wife—cheating on her on their tenth anniversary. Sydney Hyatt doesn’t even do overnight. She attracts women effortlessly, then discards them after an hour or two of mutual pleasure. They meet at a party celebrating Parker’s divorce, and they’re tailor-made for a no-strings encounter. Yet when their paths cross again, lightning strikes, and both women begin to question their life rules in the face of undeniable passion and growing love. 

But demons past and dangers present threaten the lovers, and Parker and Sydney must fight to find new traditions in dark spaces as they cling to the relationship neither of them thought she wanted.

It is 1944, and vast armies drive each other back and forth over blood-drenched Europe. 

In the midst of it, two radically different women meet, one a Russian speaking American on a failed diplomatic mission and the other a Soviet sniper. The American, fleeing a sordid past worthy of Dostoyevsky, has murder in her heart but has injured no man. The other, a once-saintly believer, has killed a hundred of them for Stalin. Their politics are worlds apart, but a reckless drunken kiss has tied them together, through church and trench, incense and the smoke of battle. If they survive the war, can they survive the peace?

Andy can’t seem to stop worrying about Kate. Instead of obsessing over things she can’t control, Andy takes on a unique case involving a troubled troop of cadets from the RCMP training academy. The troop is tightly bonded, especially since the recent death of a fellow cadet. They are also hiding a secret, and Andy has been tasked with uncovering it. When Kate unexpectedly shows up as part of the team supporting the troop, Andy has to find a way to balance her job and her heart. As the conspiracy is exposed, a medical emergency brings Kate and Andy closer together even as the troop begins to fall apart.

Following an incident on her last protection assignment, Special Agent Ryan O’Connor’s life is in shambles. Her sort-of ex, Det. Lucia Mendez, was killed, and the guilt she feels is crushing. Her current girlfriend, Special Agent Allison Reynolds, is upset about something, but Ryan doesn’t know what. She’s on light duty because of her own injuries, which severely limits what she’s allowed to do. And what little sleep she’s getting is plagued by horrible nightmares of recent events that confuse as much as terrify her. 

Ryan tries to put her emotions on the back burner and focus on discovering who was responsible for Lucia’s death, but life keeps derailing her efforts. When Ryan finally manages to get to the bottom of who shot her, she inadvertently discovers the truth will indeed set you free. But not until it’s finished with you. And before it does, it’ll royally piss you off.

Mounted police officer Billie Mitchell has come back from the memories of war to a place of peace: a job she loves, partners she trusts, and a new home in Tacoma’s rough and neglected Hilltop Area. But when a businessman is murdered and one of her neighbors becomes a suspect, her calm shatters yet again. 

Heiress Merissa Karr has earned her own fortune working in urban renewal. After she witnesses her boss’s murder, she becomes the next likely target, and for once, money can’t buy her out of trouble. She needs to rely on Billie and other Hilltop residents—people who amount to nothing in her social circles—for her very survival.

On pristine polo fields and run-down city blocks, two worlds collide. Can hearts and minds open wide enough for acceptance and friendship to expand into love?

Best-selling mystery writer Sam Torres loves jetting around the world, researching her next plot, and enjoying local culture, cuisine, and women. Her next stop: the Big Easy. Tess Arceneaux is a New Orleans native who likes life simple and uncomplicated. That includes shucking oysters for wealthy tourists and singing at the neighborhood bar—no pretense and no pressure. 

When Sam saunters in looking for company in addition to dinner, she sets her sights on Tess. Although Tess is hardly inclined to get involved with a woman who’s just passing through, Sam proves very persuasive. But when casual dates hint at something more, strange and sinister things ensue. Someone doesn’t want them together and will go to extreme lengths to make her point. Will looming danger bring them closer or drive them apart for good?

After a year of mourning, Montana rancher Miles feels stagnated. When Karen, an outdoor adventures leader, turns up at Miles’s ranch in the bone-chilling winter with a proposition for her to lead an all-woman group into the Montana wilderness, Miles snaps it up like a rare steak. Her body comes awake at the sight of Stormy, the horse wrangler sent by the stock supplier to assist her, but Rachel, one of the guests, reaches into her heart with the warmth of a freshly baked pie. The pack trip leads them deep into an isolated area, where cell phones are useless, and the trip morphs into an excursion with a deadly obstacle. The eight guests, the two outfitters, the trip organizer, and Miles must bring their singular wits to bear to surmount an impasse of not granite but men.

Drew Chambliss started her life at age twelve. Everything before then was lost when trauma wiped her past away. She adjusted to a new family and a new life, but something was always missing. 

Cicely Jones lives life big and out loud. She has no room in her life for secrets. When Cicely meets Drew at a music festival, the chemistry is unbelievable. They fit effortlessly. When Drew starts to remember bits of her past and a stranger begins to stalk her, she pushes Cicely away to protect her. When Cicely demands the truth, Drew has to choose between keeping her safe and the past that could destroy them both.

Praise from RT Book Reviews: "Michaels provides thrills and heat aplenty in this unusual and occasionally deeply disturbing story of haunted pasts. The connection between the scarred heroines is palpable, grounding this story and providing the emotional charge to drive the plot forward....Michaels delivers plenty of high-stakes tension as her heroines race to survive the clutches of a genuinely chilling adversary."

Hannah Lewis’s life is exactly where she thinks it should be. But when her girlfriend, Jordan, disappears into thin air and she and Jordan’s best friend, Nikki, are drawn closer in the search, she discovers that lovers can be strangers and perceived knowledge just as illusory. The more she learns, the less she seems to know, and the more she discovers about herself.

Jordan Webber, a civil rights attorney, emotional economist, and failed monogamist, has her secrets, but none of them account for the sudden turn her life takes as she is ripped away from everything she knows. In a struggle for her sanity, she is forced to confront who she has been and decide if that is still who she wants to be. When they come together again, can anything ever be the same?

In the sixth book of the Devil Series, Cain and Emma are now married and have returned to a Katrina-ravaged New Orleans to await the birth of their third child. Cain’s wedding gift to Emma was peace of mind with the death of Juan Luis and his mother, but Anthony Curtis is still a threat who has disappeared as effectively as the Luis family once did. The Casey alliance with the Jatibon and Carlotti families is strong, but there are new and old enemies, as well as the ever-present FBI that are working to bring Cain down. 

NSA agent Dr. Emma Thorpe is tasked with putting together an off-the-books team of elite cyber warriors to combat computer hackers who threaten national security. She’s given carte blanche to recruit the best of the best. There’s only one caveat. The threat won’t be resolved by following the rules, so she must find a way to recruit Paxton James, gray hat hacker extraordinaire. But the elusive, sexy-as-sin Paxton is in an Indonesian jail. And she’s there because one of Emma’s colleagues double-crossed her.

Paxton’s willing to deal with the devil himself to get out of the hell she’s in. It doesn’t hurt that the devil’s assistant comes in such an appealing package. Dealing with their mutual attraction is one thing. But learning to trust is critical. Especially if Emma and Paxton are to survive long enough to prevent zero day.

When a deadly virus surfaces in the small, wealthy town of Hidden Valley, British Columbia, Dr. Kate Morrison and Sergeant Andy Wyles work together to uncover the source of the outbreak. As the two women navigate their new relationship, Kate and Andy are also forced to navigate a highly political and increasingly panicked community. Still bearing the scars of her recent abduction, Kate is driven to discover how this virus attacks her critically ill patients while Andy investigates suspicions of bioterrorism. As the death count rises, Kate struggles with a crushing sense of helplessness, the pressure to keep the residents of Hidden Valley alive, and Andy’s growing concern that maybe Kate hasn’t yet dealt with her troubled past. 

The sequel to Trigger.

After her affair with a married senator makes prime time news, congressional aide Teal Giovanni is fleeing her shattered life. Betrayed by the lover who was her partner in a successful law practice, August Reese is waiting at a small cattle ranch to testify against a drug kingpin. Attraction sparks when Teal’s aging Honda blows its engine and she and August meet on a steamy Texas blacktop. But as the spark bursts into flame, their worst nightmare comes calling. Will they survive or swelter as the heat becomes unbearable?

Cade Kelly’s life revolved around her legal career until the day she testified against the largest crime family in Chicago. Now in witness protection, she’s working hard to adjust to a life devoid of the things she used to be passionate about. When she meets the smart and beautiful Emily Sinclair, Cade feels hopeful about her new life, but she learns no matter who she pretends to be, she can’t deny the pull of her past.

Emily Sinclair is settling into her role as district attorney and she’s ready to find a love interest to share in her success. Cade Kelly captivates her from the moment they meet, but she discovers that despite their undeniable attraction, Cade will challenge her at every turn. What will happen when Emily learns Cade isn’t who she thought she was, and worse, when they wind up on opposite sides in Emily’s first big case?

Freelance reporter Emma Ferguson’s assignment to write about a missing member of a local furniture royalty family turns into a murder when she talks to the only survivor of the founding family. While she tries to mine literary gold from the crumbs of a decades-old mystery, commitment-phobic Carter West seems more interested in maintaining the status quo, another puzzle Emma is eager to unravel.

Park ranger Carter West has been dedicated to her family and their close-knit community all her life, so when Emma Ferguson starts poking around in the past, Carter does whatever is necessary to maintain the life they’ve established—including keeping deadly secrets.

Debra Johnson learned a valuable lesson when her pregnant lover left her for a man: Protect yourself at all costs. She made a list of requirements in a lover and uses it as a shield to protect her heart. At the top of her list is openness and honesty.

Alex Reed has to keep the secret of her federal witness protection program or risk her and her sister’s lives. She longs for a meaningful loving relationship but fears exposing a lover to danger.

Alex and Debra meet at a lesbian meet up group with intentions of only finding an event companion. Their undeniable attraction keeps getting in the way of that intention as Debra struggles to protect her heart and Alex her life.

After being kidnapped, Dr. Jessica Benson suffers from a case of post traumatic stress disorder that can’t be good for her drug habit. But how can she get the help she needs without risking her medical license? And why does she keep thinking about the sexy detective assigned to her case? Confirmed bachelorette Detective Mac Calabrese can’t help the attraction she feels for her star witness, but she’s professional enough to fight the attraction. Teaching Jess self-defense draws them closer, but can the clean-cut Mac handle Jess’s past history of drug abuse? And will the homicidal drug dealer Derek Knight put an end to their love before it even begins?