Books like 'The Real Mother'
Readers who enjoyed The Real Mother by Judith Michael also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary romance mystery psychological crime female-mc family suspense literary-fiction law-enforcement
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The First Death by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA Wall Street Journal bestselling series.For a search and rescue expert, the buried remains of her past are a dangerous obsession in a twisting novel of suspense by a Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author.Rowan Wolff was five years old when she, her brother, and their babysitter were kidnapped by a serial killer in the Pacific Northwest. The babysitter was murdered... -
![Rogue Lies by Kathleen Brooks]()
Rogue Lies by Kathleen Brooks
Rated: 4.70 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe web has begun to untangle. Elizabeth James has been working in the shadows to take down the group that has quietly snatched power in nearly every part of society. But now, Elizabeth is no longer alone. Tate Carlisle was a respected television journalist until an investigation of the wrong person cut her career short. She may be off the air, but she’s not off the job... -
![Perfect Target by Barbara Freethy]()
Perfect Target by Barbara Freethy
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen a yacht blows up in the Newport Beach Harbor killing a California congressman, FBI Agent Beck Murray is reminded of another night ten years earlier when a mega-yacht caught fire. Then a rookie cop, he pulled popular teenage TV star Piper Nolan out of the water. He's never forgotten her terror or her rambling story, but the investigation was shut down before it even got started... -
![Targeted by Kendra Elliot]()
Targeted by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA Wall Street Journal bestseller All Detective Mason Callahan wanted was a quiet fishing trip with the guys—a chance to get away and unwind before Halloween.Until he finds the body of his boss, Denny Schefte, near their remote Oregon cabin. Now all he wants is to catch the sadist who slit Denny’s throat and covered his face with a mask... -
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![Blue Ink by Tess Thompson]()
Blue Ink by Tess Thompson
Rated: 4.75 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsCharlotte Wilde gives her heart to the wrong men. The last one left with her life savings and their nubile neighbor. Her first published cozy mystery is a flop. Her literary agent’s about to dump her. She has a serious case of writer’s block. And she’s dead broke. Which is how she finds herself in rural Idaho looking after her former boss's elderly mother-in-law. While Mrs... -
![Dirty Dozen by Liliana Hart]()
Dirty Dozen by Liliana Hart
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn the twelfth installment of the J.J. Graves mystery series from New York Times Bestselling Author Liliana Hart, winter has moved into Bloody Mary with a vengeance. But so has a killer who's bringing a modern flair in his imitation of Jack the Ripper. It's up to J.J. and her husband, Sheriff Jack Lawson, to hunt the hunter and bring justice to the victims... -
![Stripping Bare by Kelsey Browning]()
Stripping Bare by Kelsey Browning
Rated: 4.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBad Boy... Billionaire... Baby Brother... Who is the real Jonah Steele? Video game mogul Jonah Steele may be a billionaire , but as the youngest brother in a family of alphas, his struggle to prove his worth is all-consuming. Although he saved his hometown from ruin, he can’t forgive himself for the biggest failure of his life... -
![Protective Instinct by Fiona Quinn]()
Protective Instinct by Fiona Quinn
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsShe’s running for her life……His mission: protect her.Ex-Delta Force Operator Ridge Hansen has a thing for artist Harper Katz.So does his tactical K9, Zeus……But Harper is on the run.Someone is aiming to kill her.Ridge wants two things…Convince Harper to move their relationship from friends to lovers,And find out who she really is... -
![Subverted by Lori Matthews]()
Subverted by Lori Matthews
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of the Callahan Security Series.Meet Finn Walsh of the US Coast Guard’s TEAM RECON. As in reconstructed. As in broken and needs fixing.After an abandoned ship is found in international waters, Team RECON is summoned by Homeland Security to find answers. Finn Walsh has massive reservations about boarding the empty US Navy ship...Categorized as:
suspense law-enforcement crime contemporary mystery military insta-love psychological -
![Relic by Fiona Quinn]()
Relic by Fiona Quinn
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDigging For The Truth Can Be DeadlyBrian is ex-special forces.He’s working for a security group that only hires the best of the best. His job is fueled by danger and adrenaline, and he loves every minute of it. At least he did up until this minute. When Sophia walks into their briefing room, Brian’s heart stops... -
![Deadlock by Fiona Quinn]()
Deadlock by Fiona Quinn
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsHe’ll Risk It All To Keep Her SafeHoney Honig is good at his job, infiltrating the most dangerous places on Earth and pulling the hostages away from their kidnappers. When the bad guys slip through Honey’s fingers, he hunts a lead to Tanzania.Honey finds his way onto a safari with Dr. Meg Finley, and into her bed.For him, this isn’t just a passing romance, though... -
![Track Her Down by Melinda Leigh]()
Track Her Down by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFor Sheriff Bree Taggert, a gruesome double murder exposes the secrets of the dead in a shocking novel of suspense by #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.A teenager returns home from work and finds her parents shot to death in their bed. Responding to the call, Sheriff Bree Taggert realizes the crime wasn’t a burglary gone wrong. The couple was executed... -
![Defender's Instinct: Cerberus Tactical K9 by Fiona Quinn]()
Defender's Instinct: Cerberus Tactical K9 by Fiona Quinn
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIt’ll take more than his battle-hardened instincts to defend her…CIA linguist Sabrin Harris’s plans for a relaxing vacation went up in smoke when twenty-six hostages disappeared just north of her grandmother’s house in Slovakia. Now, she’s been called into action. Her mission is fairly simple... -
![Savage Collision: A Hawke Family Novel by Gwyn McNamee]()
Savage Collision: A Hawke Family Novel by Gwyn McNamee
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe last thing I expect when I walk into The Hawkeye Club is to fall head over heels in lust. It’s supposed to be a rescue mission. I have to get my baby sister off the pole, into some clothes, and out of the grasp of the pussy peddler who somehow manipulated her into stripping... -
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![You Can Run by Rebecca Zanetti]()
You Can Run by Rebecca Zanetti
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFans of Laura Griffin and Jayne Ann Krentz won’t want to miss this brand new thriller series by New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Zanetti, as FBI Special Agent Laurel Snow, a rising star profiler, strives to stay one step ahead of the criminal mind—and discovers that her own demons may be the hardest to outrun… Laurel Snow wouldn’t call hunting a serial killer a vacation, but with a pile... -
![Blue Moon by Tess Thompson]()
Blue Moon by Tess Thompson
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPlayboy Ciaran Lanigan was the party. Executive Bliss Heywood was the library. When they meet, sparks fly and so begins an uncontrollable attraction that neither is strong enough to escape, regardless that it’s fraught with lies, secrets and family complexities. But ‘party boy’ Ciaran isn’t everything he appears. Lurking beneath the surface of his charming grin is a man haunted by fears... -
![Reckless Whisper by Barbara Freethy]()
Reckless Whisper by Barbara Freethy
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFBI Special Agent Bree Adams has a personal secret, something she has managed to keep hidden for the past ten years-at least she always thought so… But a chance encounter on a train, and whispered words of chilling consequence change everything. Is the truth about to come out or is someone playing with her mind and her life? Nathan Bishop knew Bree when she was a street kid like him... -
![Bridged by Kendra Elliot]()
Bridged by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAfter a congressman’s tortured body is found dangling from a Portland bridge, the FBI joins the Oregon State Police to investigate the case—and FBI Special Agent Ava McLane, still recovering from a bullet wound, hunts the twisted killer alongside the man who captured her heart, police detective Mason Callahan... -
![The Silence by Kendra Elliot]()
The Silence by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA dead conspiracy theorist. A mass murderer. Two cases collide for Callahan and McLane in a pulse-pounding thriller by Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author Kendra Elliot.A man is savagely murdered outside Portland, and Detective Mason Callahan finds blood-spatter evidence that tells a troubling story. Files reveal the murder victim, Reuben Braswell, was a radical conspiracist... -
![Thunder and Rain by Charles Martin]()
Thunder and Rain by Charles Martin
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThird generation Texas Ranger Tyler Steele is the last of a dying breed-- a modern day cowboy hero living in a world that doesn't quite understand his powerful sense of right and wrong and instinct to defend those who can't defend themselves. Despite his strong moral compass, Ty has trouble seeing his greatest weakness... -
![The Silent Dolls by Rita Herron]()
The Silent Dolls by Rita Herron
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSilent tears trickle down her cheeks as she curls inside the tiny cave-like space. She lies on her side, darkness all around her, rubbing her fingers over the little wooden doll he’d carved. He told her to be quiet, not to cry or scream. Not to be a baby. Her throat was raw, her eyes swollen shut. She wanted her mommy and daddy. She wanted to go home... -
![Promise of Hunters Ridge by Sarah Barrie]()
Promise of Hunters Ridge by Sarah Barrie
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsBy the time this is all over, she’ll know what it’s like to kill, or what it’s like to die. Mia Morgan doesn’t let anything get to her. After freeing herself from an obsessive boss and saving loved ones from a serial killer, she feels like she can handle anything life throws at her. But now that killer – a deranged hunter who preys on women for sport – is coming for her... -
![Legacy Of Hunters Ridge by Sarah Barrie]()
Legacy Of Hunters Ridge by Sarah Barrie
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsShe dazzled with Secrets of Whitewater Creek, now Sarah Barrie kicks off a brand-new trilogy about small towns, secrets, and the love that saves lives. Successful horse trainer Alissa Morgan-Jones has the world at her feet, until a tragic fire destroys everything. Widowed, in debt and under suspicion for arson, Alissa’s life is in tatters... -
![Cold Red by Fiona Quinn]()
Cold Red by Fiona Quinn
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsUndercover. Under fire. Under arrest...…It’s hard to save a special agent’s life with your hands cuffed behind your back.Anna walks into the house and is met with flashbang. The FBI have her cuffed and belted into the back of their car. Two FBI agents are escorting her over the mountains of West Virginia heading to Washington DC for interrogation……She was never meant to get there alive... -
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![United Reign by Kylie Kent]()
United Reign by Kylie Kent
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDark Mafia RomanceTheoEverything we’ve built is crashing down around me.I’m consumed by the darkness, my blood boiling with the need for revenge.My wife is the only light in my life; she’s the very reason I keep on fighting.They’re coming after me. And worse yet, they’re coming after her.But let them come…I’m waiting. We’re waiting.To send them all back to the hell they crawled out of... -
![Wasp by Fiona Quinn]()
Wasp by Fiona Quinn
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsZoe knows the secrets, now they're coming for her.The enemy will stop at nothing to get to Zoe and the military secrets that could change everything. What Zoe knows is getting people killed. Is she next?Gage is a hardened Marine special forces operative with only one soft spot: Zoe.Her desperate screams echoing from inside her home switch his instincts from lover to guardian... -
![One Too Many by Melody Anne, John Henley]()
One Too Many by Melody Anne, John Henley
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJasmine Anderson, the firstborn grandchild of Billionaire Joseph Anderson, is determined to make it on her own... -
![Thorn by Fiona Quinn]()
Thorn by Fiona Quinn
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThorn Has Met His MatchRetired Navy Seal, turned Iniquus security operative, Thorn Iverson is heading home from Brussels when the call comes in.A U.S. military scientist's daughter, Juliette, was snatched from the streets of France, and she’s in immediate danger.Juliette is desperate.Juliette is fighting for her life... -
![Black Contract by Charlotte Byrd]()
Black Contract by Charlotte Byrd
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsI don’t belong with her. Born into darkness, life made me a cynic incapable of love. But then Ellie waltzed in. Innocent, optimistic, kind. She’s the opposite of what I deserve. I bought her, but she she stole my heart. Now my business is going up in flames. I have only one chance to make it right. That’s where it happens…something I can never take back...Categorized as:
crime family literary-fiction suspense action-adventure anthologies contemporary dark -
![All the Dead Girls by Rita Herron]()
All the Dead Girls by Rita Herron
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen a violent storm hits Graveyard Falls, it unearths the unimaginable: skeletons of teenage girls, each dressed in white and holding a candle. It’s clear to FBI agent Beth Fields that this is the work of a long-standing killer—but could it be the one she escaped years ago? She has no memory of the man who held her captive and murdered her friend... -
![Tell Me to Lie by Charlotte Byrd]()
Tell Me to Lie by Charlotte Byrd
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThere was a time when my debt was the only link we had. There was a time when I couldn’t tell him how much I loved him and he couldn’t tell me. There was a time when I thought I could never have enough money. Now, everything is different. Nicholas Crawford is a stranger who is becoming more strange with every moment. I used to think I could make a life with him, but now I’m not so sure... -
![A Stranger in the Family by Jane Casey]()
A Stranger in the Family by Jane Casey
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe gripping new thriller featuring DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent from the Top Ten Sunday Times bestselling authorEvery mother's worst nightmare . . .When nine-year-old Rosalie Marshall vanished from her bed one summer night, her disappearance tore her family apart.Now, sixteen years later, her mother Helena is found dead, her husband by her side... -
![You're Not Safe by Mary Burton]()
You're Not Safe by Mary Burton
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsHE WILL NEVER FORGET The broken body hanging from a tree in Texas Hill Country . . . the frozen figure huddled in a meat locker…only at second glance does the truth become apparent. What seems like suicide is far more sinister, and the terror is only beginning . . . NEVER FORGIVE One devastating moment changed Greer Templeton’s life and ended two others... -
![Scream For Me: A Novel of the Night Hunter by Cynthia Eden]()
Scream For Me: A Novel of the Night Hunter by Cynthia Eden
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsNothing is deeper than the desire they can’t fight—or deadlier than the evil they can’t escape. They were only supposed to have a professional relationship, but FBI agent Kyle McKenzie has been fantasizing about his sexy partner, Cadence Hollow, from the moment they first moment. It takes the darkest case of their careers to finally bring their hidden desire bubbling to the surface... -
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![All My Lies Are True by Dorothy Koomson]()
All My Lies Are True by Dorothy Koomson
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of Tell Me Your Secret and The Brighton Mermaid comes the breath-taking sequel to the iconic Sunday Times bestseller The Ice Cream Girls.Verity is telling lies...And that's why she's about to be arrested for attempted murder.Serena has been lying for years. . .And that may have driven her daughter, Verity, to do something unthinkable.. -
![The Next Grave by Kendra Elliot]()
The Next Grave by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsA Wall Street Journal bestselling series.Following a murder and a woman’s sudden disappearance, investigations into old crimes and new collide in an alarming novel of suspense by a Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author.Detective Evan Bolton is gutted by his latest investigation... -
![Identity by Nora Roberts]()
Identity by Nora Roberts
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA new thriller about one man's ice-cold malice, and one woman's fight to reclaim her life.Former Army brat Morgan Albright has finally planted roots in a friendly neighborhood near Baltimore. Her friend and roommate Nina helps her make the mortgage payments, as does Morgan's job as a bartender... -
![Before He Vanished by Debra Webb]()
Before He Vanished by Debra Webb
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHis disappearance changed her life forever.Twenty-five years ago, Halle Lane’s best friend vanished from their Tennessee town. When a childhood photo brings Liam Hart to Winchester, Halle is certain the man is the same child who vanished. Now Liam seeks out Halle to help him investigate the circumstances of his mysterious past... -
![In Her Father's Shadow by Quinn Avery]()
In Her Father's Shadow by Quinn Avery
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSienna Rivers’s aspirations for a normal childhood came crashing down the night they discovered her father was a serial killer. Once her mother’s illusion of a perfect family is destroyed, Sienna is sent to live with the only other “family” she knows... -
![Wrath by Gwyn McNamee]()
Wrath by Gwyn McNamee
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAll I see is red.Blood.Pain.Rage.It consumes me.The moment he took her, wrath invaded my soul.I only have one purpose. End him and take back what’s mine. Love isn’t always clean, and wrath is the deadliest sin... -
![Marriage Lynx by Fiona Quinn]()
Marriage Lynx by Fiona Quinn
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHer happily ever after is so close…and somehow still out of her grasp…Lexi “Lynx” Sabado is no stranger to stressful situations. She can handle the fact that the CIA won’t let her divorce her previously presumed dead husband. She can even figure out a way to legally marry ex-NAVY SEAL Striker Rheas, the love of her life... -
![On Her Watch by Melinda Leigh]()
On Her Watch by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSheriff Bree Taggert becomes a target when she follows the twisting trail of a serial killer in a bone-chilling novel of suspense by #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.A pair of hikers find a tarp-wrapped body in a clearing in the woods. When a search in the surrounding area yields two more, Sheriff Bree Taggert knows they’ve stumbled onto a serial killer’s dumping ground... -
![Miami Ripper by Stacy M. Jones]()
Miami Ripper by Stacy M. Jones
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA killer is stalking high-priced escorts and leaving a trail of bodies in empty mansions along Miami Beach’s intercoastal waterway. When the crimes become too much for the locals to handle, FBI Agents Kate Walsh and Declan James must find a killer walking among the city’s elite.Amid the glamour and money is a seedy underbelly that runs through the city like an electrical current...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement suspense romance contemporary killer police-procedural -
![Breaking the Silence by Diane Chamberlain]()
Breaking the Silence by Diane Chamberlain
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsLaura Brandon had promised her dying father she would visit Sarah Tolley, but her own agony is drowning out the old woman's ramblings. Her husband killed himself, and the only witness--her daughter, Emma--now refuses to speak. Desperate, Laura turns to a man she met once five years ago: Emma's real father... -
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![Justice Served by Radclyffe]()
Justice Served by Radclyffe
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe hunt for an informant in the ranks draws Lieutenant Rebecca Frye, her lover Doctor Catherine Rawlings, and Officer Dellon Mitchell into a deadly game of hide and seek with an underworld kingpin who traffics in human souls... -
![Shadows Of Hunters Ridge by Sarah Barrie]()
Shadows Of Hunters Ridge by Sarah Barrie
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSomething’s not right in Hunters Ridge… Ebony Blakely has her life nearly exactly where she wants it. She’s a country vet with a successful business in Hunters Ridge, a town that she loves, and has a close group of friends. The only thing missing is romance... -
![The Surviving Girls by Katee Robert]()
The Surviving Girls by Katee Robert
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA fierce survivor and a fearless FBI agent battle a copycat serial killer in a gripping thriller from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Katee Robert. Twelve years ago, Lei Zhang and her friend Emma Nilsson miraculously lived through the notorious Sorority Row Murders that left twenty-one of their sisters dead... -
![The Pretty Dead Girls by Skylar Finn]()
The Pretty Dead Girls by Skylar Finn
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen two young girls go missing from a small Georgia town, the crime remains unsolved for nearly thirty years.When Savannah moves home to the small town of Humble, Georgia, she has no intention of getting involved in a kidnapping investigation. But when her older brother Mac becomes the main suspect, Savannah launches a secret investigation in order to clear her brother’s name...Categorized as:
suspense law-enforcement crime literary-fiction female-mc mystery romance psychological -
![Vanished by Kendra Elliot]()
Vanished by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsFrom Wall Street Journal bestselling author Kendra Elliot.When an eleven-year-old is abducted on her way to school, the FBI doesn’t waste a moment, sending agents to scour the area and embedding Special Agent Ava McLane with the distraught family... -
![Tell me to Fight by Charlotte Byrd]()
Tell me to Fight by Charlotte Byrd
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsI’m a man who takes what he wants. What do I want? Her. Olive Kernes owned me a debt and she thought that she had paid it back. But now I want more. I want more than just her time. I want more than just her body. Her new life has torn us apart. Now, it’s up to me to make things right. I will make the pieces of our love fit back together if it’s the last thing I do...
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