The best gripping romantic suspense novels loaded with heart

Why am I passionate about this?

As an avid romance reader, I read all romance subgenres, but hold a deep appreciation for romantic suspense. By its nature, romantic suspense novels require multiple plot lines, and a host of characters must come to life, both villains and heroes. The story may be dark, but the light always perseveres. Of the fourteen romance novels I’ve published, nine are romantic suspense. A practical person by nature, I spent decades in the business world before venturing into creative writing. I have an MBA from New York University and a BA in Journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 


I wrote...

Better to See You

By Isabel Jolie,

Book cover of Better to See You

What is my book about?

A billionaire’s teenage daughter goes missing. No ransom, no demands. He’s a former SEAL and head of Arrow Security. It’s not his typical case, but the father is an old friend. She’s a young professor and a criminal profiler. She’s close to the missing girl, and she’s convinced she didn’t runaway.

As case facts turn to fiction, Ryan and Alex will need to use every skill at their disposal. The only question is whether that will be enough to get them all out with their lives–and hearts–intact.

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Loverboy

Isabel Jolie Why did I love this book?

This steamy romance had me laughing and unable to put the book down.

Sarina Bowen writes strong heroines, which I love. She also does a fantastic job with research, but she so deftly unfolds the story that you won’t even realize you’re learning about new-age crime as the characters roam New York City.

Heartwarming, sassy, and witty, this is light-hearted romantic suspense at its finest.

By Sarina Bowen,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Loverboy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Secrets, desires, and exquisite pie. It’s all in a day’s work at The Company.
Growing up, I was the rough guy from the wrong neighborhood who couldn’t catch a break. Posy was the pampered girl I tried to impress. But all she gave me was a single kiss before I had to skip town.
Now I’m back, and the tables are turned. Posy runs a struggling pie shop. I’m the VP of a secretive billion-dollar security company.
Not that I can tell her.
There’s a murderer on the loose in New York, and he seems to spend a lot of…


Book cover of End of Day

Isabel Jolie Why did I love this book?

This book kept me up so late into the night I bombed a tennis match the next day.

This book, and really, the entire series, is fantastic. It’s dark, edgy, and scary at times, but the romance stays with you.

I read this book years ago, and still remember the twins Jessica and Jude Day, and Jessica’s psychologist Dr. Luke Jones. This story opens with a twist right at the get-go, sucking you in, and it doesn’t let you go until the very end.

It’s so good, I even recommended it to my husband to read…and he doesn’t typically read romance.

By Jewel E Ann, Maxann Dobson (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked End of Day as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Jewel E. Ann comes a sexy romantic-suspense that will leave you utterly breathless.

It’s never too soon to take your next breath.

Behind tinted windows a few yards from mourning family and friends, Jessica and Jude Day witness their parents’ funeral—and their own. Stripped of the only life they’ve ever known, the Days say goodbye to San Francisco forever.

Six months and two new identities later, the thirty-year-old misfits with elite self-defense skills and penchants for alcohol, sex, and trouble arrive like an earthquake to Peaceful Woods, a retirement community in…


Book cover of Cyclone

Isabel Jolie Why did I love this book?

Zac Mackay is one of my all-time favorite book boyfriends.

Former Green Beret, widow, and leader of Linear Tactical, he’s an alpha male, but he’s a seriously good guy and Crouch does such a good job with his character that years after reading it I can still visualize Zac (and, if you can’t tell, I really like doing so).

This book kicks off a series, and I read them all in a matter of weeks. But this first one remains one of my favorites and I think it’s because of the heroine, Dr. Anne Griffin.

She blends into the crowd, often unrecognized, and as a wallflower introvert, that’s something I can relate to. But she’s strong, intelligent, and kind.

I love these two, both individually, and together.

By Janie Crouch,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Cyclone as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

He’d protect her from any threat… But what if the biggest threat is him?

Doctor Anne Griffin is back in Oak Creek, Wyoming only because she has no other options. Here, she was always the shy, stuttering girl, invisible to everyone. 

Except Zac Mackay. The very reason she left in the first place.

Zac’s years in Special Forces taught him survival skills, and he’s created a company—Linear Tactical—to teach those skills to others, so they never have to live in fear.

Then why is Annie, the last person he’d ever want to hurt, afraid of him? 

Zac’s determined to wipe…


Book cover of Betrayal

Isabel Jolie Why did I love this book?

I started reading this book on the first night of a beach vacation.

By the end of the week, I devoured all five books in the series. Yep, it’s that good. The story is an intricate tale filled with elegant prose.

Thrilling, mysterious, sexy, dark, and ominous, it is not about infidelity, as the title might suggest, but rather corrupt wealth within a wealthy southern family.

Romantic suspense weaves the line between love and danger, and Romig is a master weaver.

By Aleatha Romig, Lisa Aurello (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Betrayal as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

One week. No future. No past. No more.Alexandria Collins has one week to live carefree—no ghosts of her past or pressures of her future haunting her. Reinventing herself as "Charli," she is knocked off her feet by a sexy, mysterious man who brings her pleasure like she never imagined. With her heart at stake, she forgets that decisions made in the dark of night reappear in the bright light of day. "Some of my tastes are unique. They aren’t for everyone. I understand that.” Lennox "Nox" Demetri is wealthy, confident, and decisive--he knows what he wants. From the first time…


Book cover of Rescuing Harley

Isabel Jolie Why did I love this book?

This book made me want to jump out of a plane…and before this book, that activity was so not on my bucket list.

This isn’t your typical suspense, and I can’t say more without revealing spoilers, but it is suspenseful. And the romance is unforgettable.

Like all my favorite heroines, Harley is strong and smart, but she’s also never really been in a serious relationship before. Coach falls fast for her, but his protective nature extends to giving her time and taking things slow.

A year after reading this, I still get hit with some of the swoon-worthy scenes from this book.

By Susan Stoker,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Rescuing Harley as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Whether in cyberspace or the real world, sometimes even Heroes need a helping hand.

Video game coder, Harley Kelso, thought a tandem skydive would help her make her latest game more realistic. Instead, it literally put her in the arms of the sexiest man she’s ever seen. Geeky to the core, Harley is the polar opposite of big and burly Beckett, but that doesn’t stop her from wanting to play more carnal games with the sexy soldier.

When Beckett “Coach” Ralston offers to fill-in at a friend’s skydiving club, he doesn’t suspect he’ll meet a woman who will change his…


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I Meant to Tell You

By Fran Hawthorne,

Book cover of I Meant to Tell You

Fran Hawthorne Author Of I Meant to Tell You

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Museum guide Foreign language student Runner Community activist Former health-care journalist

Fran's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

When Miranda’s fiancé, Russ, is being vetted for his dream job in the U.S. attorney’s office, the couple joke that Miranda’s parents’ history as antiwar activists in the Sixties might jeopardize Russ’s security clearance. In fact, the real threat emerges when Russ’s future employer discovers that Miranda was arrested for felony kidnapping seven years earlier—an arrest she’d never bothered to tell Russ about.

Miranda tries to explain that she was only helping her best friend, in the midst of a nasty custody battle, take her daughter to visit her parents in Israel. As Miranda struggles to prove that she’s not a criminal, she stumbles into other secrets that will challenge what she thought she knew about her own family, her friend, Russ—and herself.

I Meant to Tell You

By Fran Hawthorne,

What is this book about?

When Miranda’s fiancé, Russ, is being vetted for his dream job in the U.S. attorney’s office, the couple joke that Miranda’s parents’ history as antiwar activists in the Sixties might jeopardize Russ’s security clearance. In fact, the real threat emerges when Russ’s future employer discovers that Miranda was arrested for felony kidnapping seven years earlier—an arrest she’d never bothered to tell Russ about.

Miranda tries to explain that she was only helping her best friend, in the midst of a nasty custody battle, take her daughter to visit her parents in Israel. As Miranda struggles to prove that she’s not…


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