Whiplash by Catherine Coulter Jove Books, New York July 2011 Trade Paperback, 433 pages First line: Erin used her third-generation lock picks. From the inside cover: When Yale professor Dr. Edward Kender’s father undergoes chemotherapy for colon cancer and the supply of the critical drug Culovort suddenly runs short, Kender hires P.I. Erin Pulaski to prove that something more sinister is going on at Schiffer Hartwin Pharmaceutical. On the same…

First line: Shane Stryker was determined enough to never walk away from a fight and smart enough to know when he’d been beat. From the back cover: Horse whisperer Shane Stryker is done with passion. This time around, he’s determined to meet someone who will be content with the quiet life of a rancher’s wife. And the fiery pint-size redhead who dazzles him at the local bar definitely does not…

First line: Dare Barron heard the commotion in the police station center earlier as his least favorite offender was brought in on a drunk and disorderly charge. From the back cover: Office Dare Barron has had a crush on Liza McKnight ever since he was a teenager. But despite his lifelong attraction, the closest he’s ever come to interacting with Liza is watching her regularly bail out her brother down…

First line: The rain is coming down on this old stone house so  hard, it seems there are a hundred tap dancers on the roof. From the back cover: It’s been eight years since Ave Maria Mulligan married Jack MacChesney, moved up into the hills, and dug her roots in even deeper. In this enthralling second installment in the Big Stone Gap series, their honeymoon haze has evolved into a…

First line: Tori Sinclair had always prided herself on being a relatively calm person – the kind of woman who kept a cool head and a professional demeanor at all times. From the back cover: Tori Sinclair is basking in the warmth of her new circle of friends. That is until local author Colby Calhoun reveals an unflattering secret about the town’s historic past. He soon finds that when you…

First line: “Everyone, shut up!” From the inside cover: The first time she speaks to him is at midnight. Seven-year-old Autumn Backman needs a hero. When she sees Special Agent Dillon Savich on TV after he’s brought down bank robbers in a Georgetown bank, she knows she’s found him.  She called Savich, but she didn’t use the phone.  They were burying dead people in my daddy’s grave … they’re coming…

First line: A fat winter moon poured light over the old stone and brick of the inn on The Square. Summary from Goodreads: Owen is the organizer of the Montgomery clan, running the family’s construction business with an iron fist – and an even less flexible spreadsheet. And though his brothers bust on his compulsive list-making, the Inn BoonsBoro is about to open right on schedule. The only thing Owen…

First line: A good-looking man in his forties sat in the back row of the auditorium at the exclusive Morton Academy of Music. From the inside cover: Detective Lindsay Boxer is pregnant – and investigating the discovery of severed heads in a movie stars garden. YOUR BEST FRIEND  Lindsay Boxer is pregnant at last! But her work doesn’t slow for a second. When millionaire Chaz Smith is mercilessly gunned down,…