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Fiction Books
The Lakeland Things Series:
In November, Leigh launches book one in the Lakeland Series. In The Heart of Things, accidental crime-solving mother-daughter duo, Colleen and Abbie Lewis (think Gilmore Girls meets Stephanie Plum), stray into the sights of a killer. While at her fourteen-year old daughter’s soccer game, small-town dog groomer and single mom, Colleen Lewis, catches a stray boxer dog who has interrupted the game. The dog appears to have caked blood on his fur, so Colleen calls local police officer, Drew Hayes, for help. When Drew asks Colleen to take the dog to the town vet and the vet recognizes the boxer (Sylvester), Colleen decides to return the animal to his family. Once there, she stumbles upon the bloody double murder of Sylvester’s owners.
Colleen becomes obsessed. She can’t sleep, and she can’t get the mental pictures of the victims out of her mind, so she does the only thing she can think to do – she sets about learning as much as possible about the victims. Doing so draws Colleen and Abbie deeper into the heart of the mystery and into the sights of a killer.
At the same time, Colleen is navigating her feelings about the romantic advances of two very different men -- sexy and determined soccer coach, Diego Fuentes, and Officer Drew Hayes, who (at the precocious age of ten) was Colleen's first kiss. Although her attraction to both men is real, Colleen and Abbie have been doing just fine on their own. Does she really want to make space in her life for a man? And if so, which man does she want?
Coming in March 2020 - The Way of Things, book two in the Lakeland Series. In The Way of Things, Abbie is celebrating her fifteenth birthday at the lake and finds a woman floating facedown and near dead. The woman is Anna, Colleen's best friend and local area realtor. Someone is targeting the female realtors of Lakeland. As well, Colleen stumbles into the middle of things when it becomes apparent that Gloria Sampson, mom to soccer goalie Dani, is being physically abused by her husband. When Colleen puts herself in jeopardy, Drew is furious, and tensions between them ride high.
Available June 27, 2020: The Best of Things. As book three opens, Abbie is working at her grandparents vineyard and loving every minute of it. Colleen is frantically working on her wonder woman impression -- juggling about as many balls as one woman can, and Drew has traveled to Vancouver Island to visit his mom and tell her the good news about the changes in his relationship with Colleen. Unfortunately, Drew could not have timed the trip worse. A body has been found at Zara Vineyard, raped and murdered. Sabine is one of Zara's fruit pickers, in town from Quebec, and she has been carrying on an affair with Bobby De Luca -- who is now chief suspect in her murder. When Charles Royston finds Sabine's body, he suffers a heart attack. Colleen's brother Mark returns from California to take care of the vineyard.
Available November 2020, The Merry Kind of Things, fourth and final installment of the Lakeland Series. The wedding is here! Also, an escalating series of break-ins has the town reeling, and has Drew distracted. Will Colleen and Drew get their happily-ever-after, or will the unusual year of criminal activity in Lakeland make their love a final victim?
Feathers in the Snow
A Near and Far Magazine Novel
First book in a Christmas Trilogy -- Feathers in the Snow -- Launched in honour of Leigh's birthday on December 3, 2019. Isla Samms and her twin sister Melissa started up Near and Far Travel Magazine together, and it is a dream come true for both. Knowing they need a hit for their inaugural Christmas edition, the sisters and their business partner, Augusta Merchand, decide to take three separate vacations. At first Isla is convinced she got the bum deal when Mellie arranges a surf school vacation for herself, and Isla gets stuck spending her holiday freezing her butt off at a local equestrian centre. Her opinion begins to change when gruff, enigmatic former rodeo cowboy, J.T. Cooper walks into the kitchen where Isla is stealing stew, and it is lust at first sight. When Isla meets J.T.'s passion in the form of the Clydesdale horses he breeds, she falls in love with the gentle giants. Before her time is up at the ranch, she realizes her feelings for the cowboy aren't far behind.
Santa's Surf School
A Near and Far Christmas Novel
Launching December 2020
Mellie's dream vacation in California is not going the way she expected. Not only did the airline lose her luggage, not only did she get a sunburn on day one, not only has her best attempt at surfing ended with her doing a first-rate face plant into the California sand, now she has literally stumbled into her ex. And since Mellie is the one woman he's never been able to get out of his head, this time, Max doesn't plan to let her get away.
Whiskey and Mistletoe
A Near and Far Christmas Novel
Launching December 2021
No one planned for Augusta Chamberlain to be alone while playing host to potential advertising client, Joshua McLaughlin. It just sort of happened that way. As did the insane chemistry lighting up the winter air around them. Still, for Auggie, it is important to remember she needs to land Josh as a client of Near and Far Magazine. Ending up in bed with the man is not the way to go about it. Falling in love with him? Seriously messed up.
Peachland Passions Series:
Coming 2021
Walking Walrus Cafe
The rough draft of Walking Walrus Café is complete! Set in Peachland, BC, Walking Walrus Café follows three generation of women who own and work at the Walking Walrus, a beachside café. Years ago, cancer took Monya's husband and left her alone to raise their daughter, Nina. Now fourty-five, Monya has built the Walrus into a first-class diner with an excellent reputation. Monya's daughter, Nina, and granddaughter, Louisa, have both grown up with the restaurant as central to their lives. Nina works part-time for her mother while raising Louisa and studying to become a teacher, and Lou is grandma's "helper," and adored by Monya's clientele.
When art dealer, Brett Grayson, shows up in town for an estate auction and stumbles into the Walrus looking for caffeine, Monya is shocked by her intense instant attraction to the Paul Newman look-alike. On a rainy morning, Monya takes pity on a dripping, thirsty man, and lets Brett into the Walrus even before the store is open. He soon learns that this kind of hospitality and care is par for the course with Monya, and Brett is intrigued. When he buys her flowers, takes her to dinner and kisses her goodnight to thank her for her kindness, Monya realizes that emotions she thought she'd buried with her husband are coming back to life -- a complication, since Monya knows Brett isn't in town to stay.
With their mutual attraction taking them both by surprise, Monya is also dismayed to discover the death of a homeless man she used to know. Driven by compassion and belief that all people deserve to be remembered, Monya searches out Garry's family. The way she loves on them seals it for Brett -- he's never known a woman like her, and he intends to do whatever it takes to keep her in his life.
Walking Walrus Cafe is Book one in the Peachland Series, and will launch late 2020 or early 2021.
Sunflowers and Sweet Peas
Cassidy owns the florist shop beside the Walking Walrus Cafe, and her personality is as sunny as her profession. Her rules in life are simple, do what you love, have fun, be kind, and don't date cops. Rookie constable Ian Roshan has decided it is time to change her mind on that last rule. He is in love with her and knows it, and is prepared to do everything in his power to show her that she is strong enough and brave enough to let herself love him back. Cassidy and Ian's story is book two in the Peachland Passions series, watch for it in 2021.
Rock Bottom Ranch