An adoption agency owner who is obsessed with Cleo suggests an unorthodox arrangement. One date with Cleo and he’ll place Sylvia and her husband at the top of the adoption list. After a pregnant high school student is found murdered, the investigation leads Seattle Detective Peter Ball to the illegal adoption. The deception he uncovers threatens to destroy both Sylvia and Cleo. Bestselling author Tess Thompson delivers a captivating and suspenseful tale of the possibilities that await us in life and in love—if we can find the courage to get off the sidelines. A toast to friendship, motherhood, mended hearts and new beginnings, “Caramel and Magnolias” reminds us it’s never too late to reawaken the heart.

Nothing is as it seems in calm, quaint Legley Bay. Famous novelist, Constance Mansfield lived a seemingly straightforward—if private—and somewhat predictable life. Friends, beloved daughter Sutton, a beautiful home, and all the success an author could wish for. A perfect life…but was it? When a hit and run accident suddenly takes her mother’s life, Sutton finds hidden secrets with her heartbreak. Emotional walls she assumed Constance had built to protect her privacy may have been to protect something—or someone—else entirely. Family and friends return home for support, including her own lost-love, Declan. He’s the first thing she craves to help her cope with her loss and the questions she’s left with, but he’s also the last person she wants to see. Will he be able to put down roots at last? Can the loss of true love be the making of a life or is it destined to be the undoing of everything? When money, power and love combine across time, anything is possible.