Lakeland Things Series

When a loose dog interrupts her daughter's soccer match, widowed small town dog groomer, Colleen Lewis, catches the dog and returns it to its home. There she discovers the murdered bodies of the dog's owners. Overnight, she is misrepresented in the press as a witness to the crime, and Colleen and her daughter, Abbie, find themselves in the sights of a killer. Unable to sleep or to focus at work, Colleen starts looking for some sort of closure, and her attempts only put Abbie and herself in further jeopardy. At the same time, two very different men pursue Colleen -- soccer coach, Diego Fuentes, and local cop, Drew Hayes. Diego is uber-sexy and Abbie thinks the world of him, but years ago, Drew was Colleen's first kiss. Both men are appealing, and Colleen must wade through her feelings while trying to keep herself and her daughter alive until the killer is caught. The Heart of Things is Book One in the Lakeland Series, where simple small town living and heartless crimes sometimes meet. "Stephanie Plum meets The Gilmore Girls."

A killer is targeting the female realtors of Lakeland. On a birthday kayaking adventure, Abbie and friends discover a woman, injured and floating in the lake, and to everyone's horror, the woman is Anna, Colleen's best friend. More attacks on realtors quickly follow, and it is Drew's job to stop the killer. At the same time, Colleen becomes convinced that Gloria Sampson is being abused by her husband, Frank, and Colleen tries to help. Drew, though, only sees that Colleen has put herself in danger's path, and he is furious. Drew and Colleen have now reached the three month mark in their dating relationship, and potential cracks have started to show. Colleen is battling with the guilt of moving on after her husband's death. Without meaning to, her uncertainties have hurt Drew -- something she never wanted to do. As well, the reality of dating a cop is sometimes lonely and sometimes scary. It has been just Colleen and Abbie for a long time, and now Colleen has to wonder if the love she has for Drew is enough to walk through the tensions in their new relationship. Seeing that her mom is miserable when she and Drew aren't getting along, Abbie steps in to do a little match making. She wants to ensure her mom's happiness -- even though with Drew in the family home, she has to share her mother in a way she never has experienced before.

Book Three in The Lakeland Series Abbie Lewis has been spending her Autumn mornings working at Zara Vineyard, so she is there when one of the vineyard's fruit pickers is discovered raped and murdered in the fields. When she, her grandfather, and Bobby De Luca find Sabine's body, Charles suffers a heart attack. Bobby, who has been sleeping with the victim, becomes the chief suspect of the crime. Because Drew is so close to the family, it is his sometimes partner, Jimmy Grisham, who is in charge of the case. Of course, this doesn't mean Drew isn't doing what he can to solve the case. So, in her own way, is Abbie. She simply refuses to believe Bobby is guilty, and she is doing everything in her power to prove it -- even when her methods are questionable and causing trouble between Colleen and Drew. Colleen's brother, Mark, returns from California to help out at Zara while Charles recovers, and it is lust at first sight between Mark and Colleen's assistant, Lexie. Between planning the wedding, supporting her family, and watching out for Lexie's heart, Colleen is dealing with a lot. More than ever before, she is thankful that she has Drew to help her and Abbie get thru such frightening and heartbreaking moments.

The wedding everyone in Lakeland has been waiting for is finally here! With the big event happening just before Christmas -- at Zara Vineyard -- Colleen and Drew have a host of last-minute preparations to make. The rash of increasingly violent robberies happening in Lakeland are not helping make the lead up to the big day any easier. Since all her closest friends are affected by the series of crimes, Colleen feels like she is bouncing from one hospital visit to the next. Then Fur Face Salon itself is robbed, and neither Drew nor Sylvester are prepared to have the woman they both love injured without doing some damage of their own back. Drew suspects a drug connection to the crimes. With the wedding a few short days away, he is on the clock trying to prove it, though. Abbie is excited about the wedding and cautiously optimistic about their family's future. She also is in the full-on grip of her first crush. So much change is distracting, so it is a good thing she and Colleen have taken up self-defense classes. Sparring gives Abbie something to concentrate on other than all the changes coming to Lakeland. With old friends back in town to celebrate, Colleen discovers a secret she badly needs to share. Now, if only she could find the right moment to do so... The Merry Kind of Things is the fourth and final book in The Lakeland Series. Watch Colleen and Drew get their happily-ever-after as they tie the knot, and they all finally become a family.