Showing results by author "Davis Bunn" in All Categories

Since the age of seven, Lucius Quarterfield has known he is dying. Doctors told him he had a "bad ticker" and might not live to see his next birthday. But somehow, the frail yet determined boy managed to hang on and surprise everyone. The bullies who teased him. The family who neglected him. The professionals who offered little hope for a normal life. To their surprise, Lucius not only survived to adulthood, he thrived, turning a small car dealership into a successful chain. But now, at 28, his time is finally running out. So he's returning to the one place he ever felt happy.

It is 1834. Former runaway Serafina Gavi has grown very close to her godly friend, John Falconer. When her parents, with whom she lives in Washington, D.C., declare Falconer an unsuitable match, she tearfully informs him. But after these aristocrats witness the nobility of Falconer's character and his unflinching courage, they ask him how they can possibly repay his kindness. And then a dangerous secret mission takes Falconer far away to a world of glittering gold and elusive emancipation.

Colonel Jake Burnes had never imagined himself a spy. But the acclaim he won for rescuing a French Resistance hero and bringing a traitor to justice lead to a more clandestine assignment.

Supposedly, dispatched to audit a relief organization’s accounts, Marc Royce finds himself amid the squalor and chaos of Kenyan refugee camps caught in a stranglehold of corruption and ruthlessness. But his true task relates to the area’s reserves of once-obscure metals now indispensible to high-tech industry. The value of this rare earth inflames tensions on the world’s stage as well as among warring tribes.

The bittersweet reunion of the Robichaud family and the Harrows in the land of the Acadians has brought two mothers and two daughters full circle. They rekindle those early bonds and experience restoration of those lost years, but time and tragedy have left their indelible imprints on all who have endured the decades of separation and uncertainty. Moving forward with their lives now means further farewells - not as devastating as the one long ago but no less heart-wrenching.

Jenna Greaves is an end-of-life nurse, devoted till her charges’ final breath. She’s been called a confidante, a surrogate daughter, and a friend. She is all those to Dino Vicenza, a secretive millionaire who refuses to even speak with his greedy and impatient family. Gradually Jenna becomes Dino’s only confidant, and something far more out of the ordinary; she shares the old man's passion for sailing the open seas. With his passing comes an unexpected bequest: a luxury yacht that invites Jenna to break free of old chains, if only she might find someone to help steer her toward new horizons.

Carey Mathers arrives in Athens to take a coveted position at the Classical Institute, only to discover the building is shuttered, the institute bankrupt. Journalist Nicholas Tyler believes he is headed for the big time when his paper sends him to Europe. But four months into his assignment, the office is closed. Now he must find freelance investigative projects - or go home. Dimitri Roubinos, born into a seafaring family, knows the aegean and its islands better than anyone alive. Three distinctive characters are drawn to the storied isle of Patmos, and as they uncover a plot to plunder ancient religious treasures, the stakes are raised to a breaking point.

While visiting the Holy Land, Amanda answers the prayers of a stranger…and begins an amazing Christmas journey. Amanda Vance is ambivalent about her husband’s idea for a big family holiday up north. Last year she planned a special Christmas in their own home, carefully preparing a nursery and the keepsake ornaments for their newborn. Now that room stands as empty as her heart. Then a neighbor’s mishap turns into a last-minute chance for Amanda to take a much-needed vacation to tour the Holy Land.

Jodie and Bethan are about as different as two young women can be, but growing up they develop a strong bond of friendship in the quiet town of Harmony, North Carolina. As the world plunges into war, though, their friendship is tested by a devastating loss.

The waters off the West African coast are a menacing red, full of algae thick enough to stand on in places. In nearby villages, mysterious deaths start to occur - and the panic mounts. But before an alarm can be sounded, the sea currents shift, the algae vanishes, and the deaths stop. Everyone is relieved when things return to normal, and local government officials are happy to sweep the publicity nightmare under a rug. But then parts of the Caribbean start turning a familiar red right before hurricane season kicks into high gear, and the implications are clear....

Multi-billion dollar giant Revell Pharmaceuticals is devouring its competition. A new research breakthrough propels the company into releasing its most profitable product ever. Yet a family crisis confronts them when Kirra Revell, heiress to the empire, goes missing. Taylor Knox, an employee of Revell's latest acquisition, is blackmailed into leading the search. An expert surfer, Taylor pursues the world's biggest waves as a cover, only to be ensnared in a deadly contest of corporate espionage.

Ryan Eames is a policewoman and single mother dedicated most of all to her lonely, uniquely gifted son. Stretched thin by double shifts and grappling with an out-of-season coastal wildfire, Christmas cheer feels as far away as a distant carol on a winter night. Until duty draws her into the life of a stranger.

Four years after his wife’s death, art history teacher Derek Gaines has finally made a kind of peace with himself. He tries his best to stave off memories. His days are ones of familiar routine. Guarded against further pain, he keeps relationships at a safe distance. It’s all part of his necessary transition to surviving alone.

Billy Walker is a North Carolina boy whose Hollywood star is beginning to shine. His rough past is in the rear view. Now seeing the world from the back seat of a limousine, Billy has no regrets about what he had to do, and the choices he made, to get there. But all it takes is one death-defying moment for Billy's world to shift. When an on-set accident leaves him shaken, plagued by haunting dreams, he's in desperate need of a rest cure. Given keys to a getaway cottage on Lighthouse Lane in Miramar Bay, he'll regroup, relax, and recover.

What to do with a life where everything he's worked for is shattered? A top executive in the family business, Buddy Helms lives and works under the thumb of his powerful father. He's proved himself time and again to the manipulative patriarch - even saving the company from financial ruin. Yet for six years, Buddy's waited to hear that he's worthy of his father's love and respect. Now, after another cold dismissal, Buddy's slamming the door on everything he's strived for.

Although betrothed to a wealthy Venetian, 17-year-old Serafina falls for her art tutor, Luca. When this infatuation is discovered, she becomes a prisoner in her own home. But as her family sails to America in 1832, she jumps ship in Portsmouth, England. While working as a chambermaid, Serafina meets sea captain John Falconer, a man on a dangerous mission. As their lives intertwine, can genuine faith and selfless love shield them from the menace of evil forces?

Set in 1824, The Innocent Libertine follows the further adventures of Abigail Aldridge, who first appeared in the first book in the Heirs of Acadia series, The Solitary Envoy. Eager to minister to the poor, well-bred Abigail ignores her parents' warnings and ventures into the slums of London. But instead of gaining converts, she causes a scandal when she ventures into a seedy theater. To save the family honor, Abigail is sent to relatives in America.

When attorney Marcus Glenwood resigns from his prestigious corporate law firm to retreat to the small town of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and rebuild his life after a devastating personal tragedy, he has no idea that the biggest, most emotionally trying case of his entire career is about to fall into his backyard. It is a fragile and spiritually wounded Glenwood who first meets his distraught clients, Alma and Austin Hall. Their daughter, Gloria, has disappeared in China while investigating the slavelike labor practices of a factory owned by the international giant New Horizons....

The tragic Acadian saga recounted in The Meeting Place, when the British drove the French from Nova Scotia, has followed two families over a score of years to the birth pangs of a new nation. The Song of Acadia has been one full of pathos but also of hope. Faith in God and family eventually have brought the Henri Robichauds to Louisiana and, finally, to a life of tranquility among the bayous. Back in Nova Scotia, the Andrew Harrows have been beacons of light among the British and the French communities.

Oceans and circumstances have forced families apart. For the banished French Acadians drifting in exile, the shore means safety - though it is a safety at a terrible price. For the lonely British nobleman, the shore holds a single chance to secure his legacy. For Andrew and Catherine Harrow, the shore marks a tragic separation. An extraordinary set of journeys awaits them all, each as intricate and perilous as the coastline itself.