After being falsely accused of murdering his ex-wife, Trace O'Reilly is sentenced to death by lethal injection. Five years later, moments before he is to receive the final dose of drugs that will end his life, he receives a pardon. Given a new lease on life, Trace sets out to find the real murderer. In the process, however, he not only is reacquainted with his daughter but must save her from the one person who knows the truth.

The tales of one family and their larger-than-many-lives sister, Antoine, weaves together the vibrant, epic story of Guadeloupe and its diaspora. This is Antoine's life story: an ill-fated romance between her upper-class mother and farmer father; a childhood spent deep in the countryside; the splendors and slums of Guadeloupe's great city, Pointe-à-Pitre; the eruption of modernity; the rifts in a deeply hierarchical society under colonial rule—and the reasons she left it all behind. And to whom might she tell it? A young woman born on the outskirts of Paris yearns to understand her lineage and métis identity. Her memories of occasional childhood visits are all that connects her to her father's home. It is at her request that old Aunt Antoine, the eccentric and indomitable matriarch of the Ezechiels, unwinds the unforgettable tale of their family and with it a rich, layered account of Guadeloupe and its diaspora over the course of the twentieth century....

"Chelsea T. Hicks' deadpan dexterous wit can make you laugh and cry in the space of a heartbeat. A Calm and Normal Heart is the book I've been waiting for— audacious, tender, and fiercely committed." —Louise Erdrich, author of The Sentence"A Calm & Normal Heart is sharp, sexy, and endlessly surprising. An electric blend of playfulness and intensity in Hicks's prose ignites her characters' desires. Their stories dazzle and are to be savored. This is a gorgeous collection!" —Deesha Philyaw, National Book Award finalist and author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies"The stories in Chelsea Hicks's A Calm & Normal Heart are full of quiet truths and wry, soulful secrets. It is a book that doesn't at all feel like a debut story collection, but rather written with startling beauty and the flawless precision of a master storyteller. It is a genuine page-turner full of...

Looted artworks. Italian Mafia. Deepfakes. The weekend in Italy is supposed to be a family event—a celebration as well as a break for the whole team to enjoy everything Naples has to offer. As it is, Doctor Genevieve Lenard is hard-pushed to keep an autistic shutdown at bay while surrounded by boisterous relatives and friends. When armed police interrupt the festivities to arrest a cousin for murder, relaxation becomes the last thing on her mind and staying in the moment, the foremost. A mere glimpse at the 'irrefutable' evidence is enough for Genevieve to know she and her team have their work cut out to prove the family member is being set up. When they realise they are dealing with the most brutal of mafias—the Camorra, and they uncover the clan's end goal, the stakes are suddenly extremely high. And terrifying. Never in her wildest dreams could Genevieve imagine someone planning something as deplorable as...

​​Copied masterpieces. Mediaeval obsession. Ruthless revenge.After months of reaching frustrating dead end after dead end, Doctor Genevieve Lenard and her team finally have a location for the enigmatic criminal who controls the Camorra through fear.Mondi is a vicious criminal who has taken over the Mafia drug trade in Italy, yet he's traced to an unexpected location in Central Europe.The moment they set foot in the same city as Mondi, their cybersecurity is compromised. And this is just the beginning of a relentless onslaught. They soon realise Mondi would stop at nothing to carry out the revenge he's been meticulously planning for the last two years. The more Genevieve delves into Mondi's world, the more she realises that her usual methods of solving cases are inadequate. It will take more than she knows, more than she can contribute to stop this man who has turned into a monster. The stakes have never...

sa·mar·i·tannoun /səˈmærɪt(ə)n/A compassionate person generous in helping those in distress British investigative journalist Gabriella Reuben—Bree to everyone but her mother—has worked hard to build a new life in Düsseldorf and put the past behind her. That is until she opens her front door to find the corrupt woman who publicly outed Bree as transgender—the same woman now begging for Bree's help. Petra Keller is a despicable person, uncaring whose reputation she tramples on her way to the top of the corporate ladder. Or is she? Could she be telling the truth that she's changed? The more Bree looks into Petra's shocking claims, the more she uncovers facts leading her to a chilling connection between highly respected companies, their owners and an unthinkable crime. Her investigation becomes even more muddied by cryptic emails, her...

Forged masterpieces. A failed assassination. The metaverse.In the heart of the Austrian Alps, Doctor Genevieve Lenard and her team are drawn into a web of danger and deception when a former colleague urgently requests their expertise. Tasked with locating an elusive assassin who narrowly failed to eliminate a powerful tech mogul, Genevieve quickly realises that this case is anything but straightforward.As they delve into the life of the accused, the team find themselves navigating a labyrinth of conspiracies targeting influential figures. The chilling clues they uncover could either thwart impending tragedy or lead them into even greater danger.With time running out, Genevieve survives a harrowing attack, forcing her to find answers in places that will push her exceptional neurodiverse mind to its absolute limit.

Yoshiro escaped a career of crime with the mafia after they killed his family. For five years, he's dropped out of life. All he wants this Christmas is to be left alone. Then, Ebony and her kids accidentally crash onto his property during a snowstorm. For three years, they've been running from her husband - who's been more monster than man. The storm picks up. They are forced to remain with Yoshiro until it dies down. And the threat of Ebony's monster remains, lurking within the shadows and threatening her safety. But Yoshiro knows all about death and blood. Her monster doesn't scare him. What has him terrified is that heartwarming feeling sparking between them. The more time Yoshiro spends with Ebony, the more she becomes a Christmas present that he's dying to open. Too bad, she's promised herself that she will never let another man in her or her children's life again. Yet, sometimes the best Christmas presents come from a...

This short story collection is set in the Santeria habitat. The first three short stories are in the point-of-view of MeShack, Zulu, and Lanore, from the novel Fire Baptized, and serve as a prequel to that story. The last short story is from the point-of-view of Cameo, who lives in the Santeria habitat, and is from the upcoming YA novel Chameleon.

He was a fire starter.I didn't care that he wore a firefighter uniform.He was a fire starter.And as soon as our gazes met, he set a blaze through my body._______________Just released from the mental hospital for shooting her ex-husband, Kassie is in no mood to date men. Now a newly single mother, she's focused on raising her son. She also has to get her career as an author back on track and rediscover her passion for romance writing.Kassie has things to do.But Lorenzo comes into her life. A gorgeous fire fighter who isn't accustomed to hearing the word no. He's more than a heated distraction. He's an erotic inferno of lust and everything sizzling.The chase begins.Neither are ready. There's too much at stake for both of them. They've both been broken and betrayed. Both misused and abused.Yet, sensual flames surround them. Desire burns and twists with wet kisses on a moonlit beach. And...