A gripping and emotional novel that will leave you wondering about the neighbors next door...

On a cold January night, Sharon Lemke heads outside to see a lunar eclipse when she notices something odd at the house behind her backyard. Through her neighbor's kitchen window, she sees what appears to be a little girl washing dishes late at night. But the Fleming family doesn't have a child that age, and even if they did, why would she be doing housework at this late hour?

It would be easy for Sharon to just let this go, but when eighteen-year-old Niki, a former foster child, comes to live with Sharon, she notices suspicious activity at the Flemings' house as well. Clearly a little girl lives there, even if Suzette Fleming denies it. When calling social services doesn't result in swift action, Sharon and Niki decide to investigate on their own.

Perfect for fans of Jennifer Weiner, Emily Giffin, and Jane Green.

How would it feel to wake up one morning and discover that you're married to James Bond? Shelley has always believed that her husband is a mild-mannered management consultant--but then one morning his picture appears on CNN above the headline "CIA Spy David Harris is Source of British News Leak."

Quiet, self-possessed David a spy? Impossible! But while Shelley is still reeling from the first revelation, David's photo is again splashed across the news--and this time he's not alone. This time he has his arm around a beautiful, sun-streaked blonde, and this time the headline screams, "CIA Superspy and British Reporter in Romantic Relationship!"

In the weeks that follow, together and apart, David and Shelley dodge foreign agents and international media hounds (not to mention his desperate ex-lover) from Paris to Bogotá to Jerusalem. But more alarming than this game of hide-and-seek is the fact that Shelley finds herself fascinated and deeply, disturbingly attracted by the dangerous stranger her husband has become. Can she reconcile her dream of domestic tranquility with the fierce emotions that have suddenly taken over her life? Can she become the perfect spy's wife?

About the Author
Hughes, Jane Elizabeth: - Jane Elizabeth Hughes is an obsessive reader with two fully loaded Kindles; she buys so many books that Amazon sends her a gift every year for the holidays. Unfortunately, reading novels all day is not an easy career path, so Jane has a day job as professor of international finance at Simmons College School of Business in Boston. She has also consulted with multinational corporations and governments for nearly three decades and written and lectured widely about international finance throughout the world. With the help of her brilliant agent, Marcy Posner, she published her first novel, Nannyland, with Simon & Schuster Pocket Star Books in 2016, and she joined the SparkPress family in 2021 with the publication of The Long-Lost Jules. A mother of four and granny of eight (the eldest is only seven, so she's a very busy granny), she is fortunate enough to live on beautiful Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Oh yes, and she did work for the CIA once upon a time--so she knows whereof she writes.

When David approaches his New Hampshire cabin one cool October night to find it engulfed in flames, he knows his girlfriend Hope set the fire. At least, he’s pretty sure he knows.

David first decides to upend the creature comforts of his post-collegiate life and try roughing it for a year after he inherits two acres of land and a rustic cabin from his deceased grandfather. Life at the cabin proves to be more difficult than expected, however, and it all starts with the woman he loves—Hope—whose dark past is written in the twisting pink scars covering her body. Their relationship is challenged after his car slides through an intersection one dark night and, later, his realization that someone is out there, watching him through the trees.

Over the course of five seasons, David struggles to maintain his relationship with Hope. Ultimately, in an attempt to understand the sacrifices she has had to make, he decides to rewrite their story. In doing so, he explores the lessons he’s left with—after everything he thought mattered is gutted or burned away—and the surprising bits of wisdom he finds in the ashes.

 

Author Bio:
Christine Meade is a freelance writer, a book editor, and a writing teacher. She holds an MFA in creative writing from the California College of the Arts. A native New Englander, she currently lives and writes in Somerville, MA.

 

Independently published with She Writes Press