by Philip Eliot | Nov 14, 2025 | Contemporary Romance |
One thing being captured and held by terrorists does for a man? It makes him think. Especially about the past.Five years ago, I married a woman to help her out of a desperate situation. But we’ve hardly seen each other since. And if that doesn’t change soon, my command team is going to get suspicious of our arrangement.When the unit commander sends us on a trip to a luxury Austrian resort, it’s hard to put up a fight. What’s harder? Resisting the woman who is my wife in name only, especially when there’s only one room, and one bed.Did I mention she’s a walking fantasy and the kind of person I’d marry for real?Happiness in a Hoax is book two in the Soldiers Overseas Romances, but can be read as a standalone. It’s a dual point of view romance told in first person with fade-to-black heat level.Read the completed series!The Problem with Planning – Eric and LivieHappiness in a Hoax -Noah and KatieFight After Flight – Thatcher and BecThe Bright Side of Brooding – Nick and SummerHolding On to Hope – Nate and Ariel Waiting On Love at Christmas (novella) – Nina and DavidChasing a Chance (novella) – Alicia and Beau (available free through Claire’s website!)
by Philip Eliot | Nov 14, 2025 | Crime Fiction |
A successful entrepreneur in the mushroom industry, Jaakko Kaunismaa is a man in his prime. At just 37 years of age, he is shocked when his doctor tells him that he’s dying. What is more, the cause is discovered to be prolonged exposure to toxins; in other words, someone has slowly but surely been poisoning him. Determined to find out who wants him dead, Jaakko embarks on a suspenseful rollercoaster journey full of unusual characters, bizarre situations and unexpected twists.With a nod to Fargo and the best elements of the Scandinavian noir tradition, The Man Who Died is a page-turning thriller brimming with the blackest comedy surrounding life and death, and love and betrayal, marking a stunning new departure for the King of Helsinki Noir.’Right up there with the best’ Times Literary Supplement’The Man Who Died is deftly plotted, poignant and perceptive in its wry reflections on mortality and very funny’ Declan Hughes, Irish Times’The deadpan icy sensibility of Nordic noir is combined here with warm-blooded, often surreal, humour. Like the death cap mushroom, Tuomainen’s dark story manages to be as delicious as it is Toxic’ Sunday Express’The Man Who Died by Finnish author Antti Tuomainen isn’t your standard Nordic noir. Told in a darkly funny, deadpan style … The result is a rollercoaster read in which the farce has some serious and surprisingly philosophical underpinnings’ Laura Wilson, Guardian’An offbeat jewel’ Don Crinklaw, Publishers Weekly’Hugely entertaining and satisfying … like Carl Hiassen transported to Finland. It’s full of black comedy and has an unlikely hero in Jaakko, who you’ll root for to the very end’ Kevin Wignall, author of A Death in Sweden’Combines a startlingly clever opening, a neat line in dark humour and a unique Scandinavian sensibility. A fresh and witty read’ Chris Ewan, author of Safe House’Dark and thrilling, funny and intelligent, this Fargo-like novel contains lethal doses of humour … and mushrooms’ Sofi Oksanen, author of Purge’Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I enjoyed every single sentence’ Thomas Enger’Told with a wit honed by the Arctic winter and a story that lures you in with the perfume of the Finnish forests, this is Wes Anderson meets the Coen Brothers in rural Finland … a book I will never forget’ Matt Wesolowski
by Philip Eliot | Nov 14, 2025 | Thriller & Suspense |
Welcome aboard Pacific Air Flight 385, with nonstop service from Seattle to Honolulu.Cora is scared to fly again after her husband died in a recent helicopter crash in Pago Pago.A thousand times she has told herself to turn around, not get on the flight, go back to her young children.But now, she’s seated in first class across the aisle from the girlfriend of a famous billionaire pharmaceutical entrepreneur.Halfway across the Pacific, the flight is hijacked. Six people are dead—including the pilots.Cora is a young widow, mother, and emergency room nurse…but as the world closes in around her, she’s also a pilot’s daughter.Lost off radar in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, the motive behind the hijacking remains a mystery. Not knowing who to trust, Cora works with the man seated beside her, Seattle Homicide Detective Kyle Adams, to save herself along with the remaining one hundred and fifty-four souls on board.Don’t miss Audrey J. Cole’s chilling new thriller, Missing In Flight, about a woman faced with the unthinkable when her infant goes missing aboard a plane to New York…
by Philip Eliot | Nov 14, 2025 | Action & Adventure |
New York Times–Bestselling Authors: Two US soldiers confront Chinese tanks in a covert fight to stop a global war between East and West . . . Under secret orders from the president, US Army Major Zeus Murphy sabotages a Chinese invasion fleet on the eve of its assault against Vietnam. But after Murphy and fellow officer Win Christian are trapped behind enemy lines, Christian’s erratic behavior gives them away. The pair shoot their way out of a Chinese airport terminal, hijack a bus, then barely escape two truckloads of soldiers before disappearing into the night.Back in America, President Chester Greene fails to convince Congress that the Chinese invasion of Vietnam is the first step in a plan to rule Asia—and eventually go to war with the US. Not even the Pentagon will support the President; top-ranking officers do everything they can to sabotage his orders.After Zeus and Christian dodge a Chinese armored division and return to Vietnam, Zeus proposes a plan to blunt the tank attack. His commanding officer orders him to stand down. Zeus disobeys in an effort to help the Vietnamese woman he’s fallen in love with. Win Christian goes with him to prove he’s not a coward. And within hours, both men are alone with a company of Vietnamese soldiers on the border, staring down the barrels of Chinese main battle tanks as they drive on Haiphong, starting a countdown to all-out war with the West . . . “Ratchet[s] up the action . . . Readers will root for Murphy.” —Publishers Weekly”Crackling action and splendid heroics.” —Kirkus Reviews
by Philip Eliot | Nov 14, 2025 | Crime Fiction |
Private eye Jim Knighthorse just wanted a quiet vacation with his girlfriend Cindy at a quaint seaside inn in Carmel-by-the-Sea. Ocean views, overpriced seafood, and absolutely no dead bodies.That was the plan.But when a woman is found murdered in a locked hotel room — with a sand dollar placed delicately in her mouth — Jim’s plans vanish like fog over the Pacific. The victim is a ghost from the past, hiding under an alias, and the inn is packed with quirky guests, each more suspicious than the last. Someone here is lying. Someone here is watching. And someone might just be next.Armed with sharp instincts, a sarcastic streak, and his two fists, Jim digs into the mystery. What he uncovers will take him from hidden beach trails to a shell shop with secrets, and straight into a deadly web that someone has gone to great lengths to keep buried.Knighthorse is at his best: witty, wisecracking, and unwilling to let a murder go unsolved… even on vacation.Fans of Knives Out will love this modern locked-room mystery with heart, humor, and a seaside vibe.
