Showing results by author "Karla Brandenburg" in All Categories

Antiques dealer and spiritual medium Elle Barclay is called to a stately Illinois mansion to appraise a figurine collection. What should be a simple assessment takes an unexpected turn when the residual energy of the deceased matriarch charges Elle with protecting the estate for Martin.

To escape notoriety from her role in the school-shooting she barely survived, Elizabeth Lambert moves from Houston to Hoffman Grove, Illinois. Plagued by panic attacks and nightmares, she’s determined to embrace her second chance at life, knowing that death could take her in an instant. A one-night stand with a local, handsome firefighter should remind her that she’s alive, but like a good cookie, one is not enough to satisfy her craving. Will he reject her when he learns about the blood on her hands?

Ten years ago, a woman was killed in a train accident near Bells Hill, Illinois. Her unidentified remains were buried under a memorial stone. With advances in DNA testing, the NAMUS project wants to dig her up to identify her. When they exhume the coffin, they find a second body.

In the year since her near-fatal accident, ghost whisperer Elspeth Barclay has actively avoided spiritual trouble. Her sister invites Elle to a Halloween tour at a music museum, where she encounters a mournful spirit in search of her recently dead husband. Another guest on the tour keys in on Elle’s interaction and hires her to identify an oddly protective ghost at her mansion. When this second spirit expresses concern about the same “missing ghost” from the Halloween tour, Elle becomes aware of a dark shadow similar to those that caused her accident continuing to play pranks on her.

A dead girl's cry for justice. A serial killer on the loose. Not your typical first date. "Crazy Amy" Benson has an unusual talent for hearing epitaphs as the dead pass on. The men she dates who aren't unnerved by her ability are usually scared off by Amy's brothers. When reporter Kevin McCormick shows up to do a story at the cemetery, Amy tells him his dead sister is calling for justice, except Kevin's sister died in an accident.

The family tour business Shyan Hogan inherited as the pandemic hit is on the verge of closing. Unaware of the state of things, her mother commissions brochures, leaving Shyan no choice but to tell her parents she’s failed. Nate McGill found magic when he photographed the aurora borealis, prompting him to pursue a career in photography. In the years since, he hasn’t found anything remotely close to that same sense of magic. When he’s hired to do brochures for a tour company, his photo of the tour guide fascinates him in much the same way as the aurora.

Mere weeks after tying up the haunting at Horned Owl Hollow, Elspeth Barclay receives a panicked call from her sister Laine, who is vacationing in Spain. Laine has seen a ghost whose appearance portends death. Hoping to avoid flying over an ocean, Elle downplays the danger, but when she hears the ghost shriek over the phone, rescuing her sister trumps her paralyzing fear of air travel. Elle invites the man she’s been dating to accompany her, as much for moral support as for psychic support.

Eighteen-year-old Brynn Taylor eagerly heads for college, ready to escape the aunt and uncle, who resented being saddled with their orphaned niece. Her excitement to be on her own quickly turns to dismay. With nowhere else to turn, Brynn reluctantly accepts her newfound Aunt Nora’s offer for temporary room and board in Wisconsin. Rumors abound, and Brynn fears her aunt might be a witch—and that Brynn herself might share this unexpected family legacy. Are the goods made from Nora’s garden—the ones she sells in her gift shop—more than herbal remedies and homemade bath products?

Kayleigh Cragin returns to Hoffman Grove for her 10-year reunion, eager for a reboot of her life. She’s breaking away from family expectations and chasing her own goals now. But some things never change. The false friends she had back in the day are eager to repeat old patterns. She’s onto them this time, and new friends rise to the occasion - including Rafe Martin, who volunteers to be her pretend boyfriend for reunion weekend. We all have to carry our own baggage, and if Rafe wants to move out of the “pretend boyfriend” zone, he'll have to let Kayleigh carry hers.

When Sandra Meyer's violent ex-boyfriend returns to sleepy Edgarville, Illinois, she turns to the man who stood up to Nick Benedetto years ago. Sandra adores Garth, but she doesn't want any more ties to Edgarville. Now finished with a decade of dedicated service as her mother's caregiver, Sandra is planning her exit from this one-stoplight town. Garth is firmly rooted in Edgarville, with the family monument business and a trophy shop that will need a "mom" to his "pop". Garth has wanted Sandra ever since he slugged Nick more than 10 years ago.

Author Karla Brandenburg shares the inspiration behind books, author stumbling blocks and interviews with her favorite authors. Karla Brandenburg is an award-winning author of contemporary romance novels which include paranormal elements. Now that her children have settled into lives of their own, she loves to go out into the world on adventures with her husband, from Milwaukee to the French Riviera, but the Chicago suburbs have always been “home.” She is an avid reader across multiple genres and is a card-carrying cookie-holic (we all have our vices). Visit her Web page at https://...

Although she vowed never to go back, nurse Siobhan McCormick returns home after two family members have died and her brother’s life is threatened. Her new job introduces her to accident victim Jared Pierce, a man whose casual charm tempts her with the same bad decisions she made in high school. Haunted houses don’t sell, and Jared Pierce’s family sends him from Louisiana to Illinois to make sure there aren’t any ghosts lingering in his great-aunt’s house. An accident on an icy road extends his visit from a few days to a few months.

A high-profile contract in the famed New Orleans Garden District can bring architect Kathleen McCormick’s dream of owning her own home that much closer, but she’ll have to stifle her fiery temper while she’s on location. The senior project manager is a notorious workaholic and the last associate to work with him got fired amid controversy. Still, Kathleen can’t resist the urge to push his buttons. Sebastian Brooks’ father likes to remind him that he founded his own firm by the time he was thirty.

Now that Elspeth “Elle” Barclay’s mother has retired from “clearing” haunted houses, Elle steps in to evaluate disturbances. She debunks a haunting, but finds spiritual energy outside the house. The victim of a recent hit and run accident demands that Elle “tell them,” but tell whom what? The accident victim, a young woman, lies in the morgue as a Jane Doe. Details in the ghost’s visions send Elle to Bar Harbor, Maine, to tell Jane Doe’s family about the accident, but they aren’t interested in talking to her.

Landscape designer Gwen Haley is due to inherit her grandparents’ garden estate, a well-known tourist destination. Then it will no longer matter that her parents think she’s unhinged for seeing the ghosts of her grandparents. As the trust term nears the end, accidents that seem to be aimed toward Gwen threaten her life, and her cousin, the estate manager, is intent on discrediting her. Weary of being patronized and belittled, Gwen finds an unlikely ally in the estate’s new horticulturist.

Book reviewer Maggie Grant has a romantic soul. When she happens on a tender moment in a cemetery, the man who places a fingertip kiss on a headstone provides inspiration for her popular magazine blog. After inheriting the family monument shop, Thad Benson struggles with his newfound responsibilities. Teased by his sister as having a face only a mother could love, Thad is only comfortable sharing his thoughts with a dead woman. Until he meets Maggie.