Praise
Rave reviews for New York Times bestselling author
SUSAN MALLERY
Hot on Her Heels
â[T]his glimpse into glitzy Texas high society and the dark underbelly of business is a thoroughly enjoyable read.â
âPublishers Weekly
Straight from the Hip
âOne of the Top 10 Romance Novels of 2009!â
âBooklist
Lip Service
âMallery breathes real life into these former lovers hoping for a second chance.â
âRT Book Reviews
Under Her Skin
âBestseller Malleryâs Lone Star Sisters series opener draws in readers with intriguing characters and a precisely assembled plot.â
âPublishers Weekly
Sweet Spot
âI strongly recommend Sweet Spot, especially to readers who like their family melodramas spiked with lots of laughter and hot romance.â
âThe Romance Reader
Sweet Talk
âSweet Talk is one sweet read! Susan Mallery delivers a deliciously satisfying first book in her new wonderfully written Bakery Sisters trilogy.â
âThe Romance Readers Connection (4 ½ stars)
LIZ SUTTON HAD ALWAYS KNOWN the past would come back and bite her in the buttâshe just hadnât known it was going to happen today.
Her morning had started normally enough, with getting her son on the bus to school, then going down the hall to her home office, where she wrote five fairly decent pages before stopping for some serious pacing, followed by deleting three of the last five pages. She was figuring out who to murder in the first chapter of her new book, not to mention how he or she would be murdered. Was decapitation just too predictable? Luckily her assistant knocked on her door, sparing her from making a decision.
âSorry to interrupt,â Peggy said, frowning slightly as she held out a piece of paper. âBut I thought youâd want to read this.â
Liz took the single sheet. It was an e-mail, sent to her Web site. There was a link there for fans to get in touch with her. Peggy handled most of the e-mails, but every now and then she found something she didnât know what to do with.
âA crazed stalker type?â Liz asked, pathetically grateful for the interruption. When the writing was slow, even a death threat was more thrilling than the current work in progress.
âNot exactly. She says sheâs your niece.â
Niece?
Liz scanned the sheet.
Dear Aunt Liz,
My name is Melissa Sutton. My dad is your brother Roy. Iâm fourteen years old and my sister Abby is eleven. A few months ago, our dad went to prison. His new wife, our stepmom, said she would take care of us, but she changed her mind and left. I thought Abby and me would be fine. Iâm really mature for my age. My teachers say that all the time.
Sheâs been gone a while now and Iâm really scared. I havenât told Abby because sheâs still a kid, but I donât know if we can make it. I donât want to tell Dad what happened because he really liked Bettina and heâll be sad she didnât wait for him.
So I thought maybe you could help. I know we havenât met before, but Iâve read all your books and I really like them.
Hope to hear from you soon. Your niece, Melissa.
P.S. Iâm using the computer at the library, so you canât e-mail me back. But hereâs our phone number. Even though the lights are off, the phone still works at home.
P.P.S. Weâre living in your old house in Foolâs Gold.
Liz read the e-mail a second time, trying to get the words to make sense. Roy was back in Foolâs Gold. Or at least he had been, before heading off to prison.
She hadnât seen her brother in nearly eighteen years. He was a lot older and had left the summer sheâd turned twelve. Sheâd never heard from him again. Apparently heâd married a couple of times and had kids. Daughters. Girls who were living alone in a house that had been run-down and disgusting twelve years ago. She doubted there had been many improvements since.
Questions tumbled through her brain. Questions about her brother and why heâd returned to Foolâs Gold after being gone so long. Why he was in prison and what on earth was she supposed to do with two nieces sheâd never met?
She glanced at her watch. It was barely eleven. As it was Tylerâs last day before summer vacation, he was getting out at twelve-thirty. If she got the car packed in time, they could leave directly from his school and be in Foolâs Gold in about four hours.
âI need to deal with this,â Liz told her assistant, as she wrote an address on a piece of paper. âCall the electric company in Foolâs Gold and get the power turned back on. They should take a credit card for payment. Do the same with the other utilities. Iâll call the girls and let them know Iâm coming.â
âAre they really your nieces?â Peggy asked.
âI guess. I havenât seen my brother since I was their age, but I canât let them stay there alone.â She shook her head, determining what else had to be done. Her next book wouldnât be published until the fall, so she didnât have to worry about publicity and book tours. She could work on her new story anywhere she had her laptop. At least that was the theory.