C.J. Darling has 3 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 1 narrator. The most-rated is Dangerous Secrets.
Second Chances
Summary
When ex-Marine Mitch O’Neill wins an incredible round-the-world vacation aboard the newly-commissioned Fairy Princess cruise ship, then discovers his beautiful, treacherous ex-lover is also aboard, he’s sure someone is setting him up for big trouble. He’s spent the last seven years hating Lady Guinevere Thurmond for callously breaking his heart. Who is trying to reunite them now...and why? Excerpt Mitch couldn’t quite remember when he’d left the boisterous party. The crisp sea air was bracing against his flushed skin. Overhead, stars were winking in a plush velvety sky. He tried to calculate how far they’d already traveled from shore, but too many stiff drinks were making his brain feel like mush. Too bad he couldn’t remember his suite number; but he didn’t want to go there yet anyway. Empty room, empty bed. He should be used to that by now. Seven long years since he’d let a woman get close enough to matter. But she was here, damn it all, just when he’d finally started to believe he could forget! She’d passed right by him with her goddamned lumberjack, and laughed so sweetly at something he’d said. And she’d never even known he was standing only a few short feet away. Was she kissing her burly lumberjack right now? Forget about her! Find some horny rock star who needs a quick lay! If only it was that easy. No other woman had ever moved him the way Guinevere Langford-Goddamned-Thurmond did. No other woman had ever made his blood boil, or touched his heart in so many unexpected ways. Damn her to hell and back again. What the hell had gone wrong? He still didn’t know. One minute they’d been blissfully in love, making reckless plans for the future. Gonna get married and have ten kids, for God’s sake. Buy a pretty little white picket fence along some sandy beach out in the middle of nowhere. Then out of the blue, everyone was gossiping about how she’d managed to rope in a stinking-rich British nobleman. And his entire world had crashed and burned like a flaming rocket. It just went to prove you couldn’t trust women. No way, no how. Soft light beckoned on his right, and he headed in that direction. She was probably in there, making time with her new friend the lumberjack. He should turn away, make his unsteady way back downstairs without intruding. Hell, he wasn’t sure he could stand to see her in some other man’s embrace, even now! But his willful feet took another step, then another. Well, he’d been half right. She was there, all right. But she was thankfully alone - unless you counted all those cutesy little animals dozing at her feet. God, she looked adorable in that skintight butter-yellow swimsuit and those tight white shorts! Hadn’t gained an ounce in the past seven years, either. Lush curves in all the right places, long legs like a dancer’s, creamy ivory skin with just a hint of amber freckles across her nose and shoulder blades. His mouth watered. And her hair...satiny rippling waves as tawny as a lioness. Just the thought of burying his hands in all that rich silky hair made his muscles tighten with savage need. “Don’t you make a charming picture!” Gwen was languidly brushing a long-haired pup when his bitter words rang out of the darkness. She knew that low, husky voice! And it was so achingly familiar that every nerve in her body went on instant alert, and her heart began to pound wildly. The brush fell from her numb fingers as she whipped around, hardly daring to breathe. “Mitch?” His name emerged as a hoarse, disbelieving whisper. “Don’t act so surprised.” Sneering, he emerged from the shadows. “You know very well that your loving husband arranged for me to keep you company on this delightful little pleasure cruise! “Or was it you?” His eyes narrowed suddenly as stunned heat flushed her pale cheeks. “By God, it was, wasn’t it? You arranged to have me here! He doesn’t have a clue what you did!”
©2018 C.J. Darling (P)2019 C.J. Darling
Deadly Divergence
Summary
When FBI special agent Mariah Conners is injured in the line of duty, her partner, Quinn MacAllister, decides Bermuda is the perfect place for them to relax and recuperate. But it isn’t called the Bermuda triangle for nothing! First, their charter plane goes down in a freak electrical storm, and they’re cast adrift with two spoiled teenagers and an elderly retired couple. Then, they discover that the remote tropical island sheltering them holds a deadly secret - a unique sentient life-form with incredible healing power for those few who can survive exposure to its potent spores. And to really cap things off, an old enemy is in hot pursuit! He wants the spores for himself, and he’ll kill anyone who gets in his way! Can Mac and Conners keep their companions alive and escape the mysterious island before he destroys them all? Excerpt: "Mac!” Mariah stared in blank horror as the plane’s shattered nose sank beneath the choppy, storm-darkened waves, leaving behind only a trail of shimmering bubbles. “Mac!” Someone was holding her back, pleading with her, clutching her arms in a fierce paralyzing grip. “Let me go!” she yelled, wrenching free. “He’s my partner!” The bubbles were slowly fading away. She dove, kicking hard, following the plane’s lazy descent. Icy darkness enveloped her. Her lungs began to ache, and fiery spots danced before her eyes. More rising air bubbles suddenly exploded in her face, blinding her. Then her groping fingers brushed against something slippery. Mac’s leather jacket! One last frantic surge of energy moved her weakening legs, propelling her upward again, dragging his heavy weight behind her. Cold rain suddenly lashed against her upturned face. Sputtering, she sucked in deep breaths of precious air. Lightning flared overhead, painfully bright against her dilated eyes as she fought to keep Mac’s sagging head above the waves. New energy surged through her aching frame when Reuben’s hand locked around Mac’s limp arm. “Hurry!” she shouted. “He’s not breathing!” Esther leaned out perilously far to help, and slowly they hauled his long body into the raft. Then it was Conners’ turn, and she wanted to sob with relief as the ocean reluctantly loosened its death,grip on her thrashing legs. Mac was sprawled face-down in the sloshing raft. “Help me roll him over!” she gasped. Oh God, his lips were blue, and his open eyes were glazed. Helpful hands steadied her as she bent to push air down his windpipe. Again. And again! And again! Suddenly his limp body convulsed, and a gush of salty water erupted from his open mouth. Conners tilted his head to one side and let the water drain. “Breathe, Mac!” she ordered, pushing hard against his ribs one last time. “Come on, damn it! Breathe!” He jerked again, and this time she heard the sweet rush of air filling his lungs. His chest began to rise and fall in a slow, rhythmic cadence as his taut muscles relaxed. Another huge wave crashed into the raft, drenching them with icy spray. “How long will this storm last?” Reuben shouted in her ear. Suddenly, the black clouds and shrieking winds vanished. For one ageless, nauseating moment, the entire world seemed to whirl in dizzying spirals. Then a soft, warm rain began to patter down around them. She bolted upright and stared wildly around. “What the hell…” It was impossible. Fierce squalls didn’t just appear and then disappear in the blink of an eye. But the violent electrical storm was gone. The gigantic crashing waves were gone. And as they watched in stunned disbelief, the hazy gray clouds overhead simply melted away, and the golden sun began to shine down from a perfectly clear blue sky. The ocean around them was calm, gentle...and empty. The other life raft was nowhere to be seen.
©2019 C.J. Darling (P)2019 C.J. Darling
Dangerous Secrets
Summary
A chance meeting and mistaken identity throw gorgeous Hollywood superstar Conor Fitzpatrick and pretty Kiera Donovan together in an unlikely romance fraught with tragic secrets that could endanger a young girl's life. When an arranged marriage seems like the only way to save Conor's daughter from a ruthless murderer, Kiera must risk destroying their growing love to return to Ireland and confront a terror from her past. Love and lives hang in the balance as they travel from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and then to the treacherous cliffs of Kilkee, Ireland, for a dramatic showdown with a crazed madman. ~ PG Excerpt ~ The ringing telephone jolted her, and sent her panicked heart into overdrive. Had something terrible happened to Lissa? Quickly she grabbed the receiver. “Hello?” “Kiera?” Conor’s rich lilting voice filled her small bedroom. “Good, it is you. I was hoping I’d dialed the right number.” “Conor.” Momentary relief weakened her knees, and she sank down onto her mattress. Then her hands began to tremble - from delayed reaction, she assured herself. Just because she’d been worried about Lissa. Never, ever because she was thrilled to hear his deep, lyrical voice. “How did you find me?” His laugh was warm and full of boyish delight. “Directory assistance, of course. Did you think I’d followed you from the park?” “No, of course not.” Why, after all, would an important man like Conor Fitzpatrick bother tracking her movements? Because her quick refusal this afternoon had intrigued him, she realized with a quick mental groan. She’d have done better to fawn on him until he got bored, and lost interest in her. Oh, she never should have let the phone company list her number when she’d changed it again last October! But she’d been so sure no one would suspect innocuous K. Donovan of having even the slightest connection with a far-distant Irishwoman named Peggy Delaney. Careless, careless, careless! Five cautious years of successful anonymity had dulled her sense of self-preservation! Conor’s lilting voice scattered her chaotic thoughts. “I thought maybe we could get together for dinner tonight, since you won’t have time for lunch tomorrow afternoon.” A hot flush rose to her tanned cheeks. She could almost see him on the other end of the phone, smiling in that sensual way that made women’s hearts flutter. Sternly she ordered her own to settle back down into her chest, and stop trying to batter its way through her rib cage. “Conor, I don’t think....” “Have you eaten yet?” “Well no, but....” “Then my timing’s perfect! I’ll be there in a few minutes.” “Conor, wait! You can’t just....” “Kiera.” A slow smile curved his lips, and his voice dropped to a deliberately intimate murmur. “I’m not going to take ‘no’ for an answer.” Then he was gone. Shaken, Kiera stared blankly at the buzzing phone in her hand. This just couldn’t be happening! Conor Fitzpatrick could not be calling her, flirting outrageously with her, taking her out for pizza! Oh sweet heavens, what was she going to wear? A different kind of panic, purely feminine, washed through her like an icy wave. What could she wear that would impress Hollywood’s sexiest new superstar? None of her clothes were glittery or slinky or risqué, like the sultry models constantly being paired with him in the gossip rags. She was so far out of their league, it was pathetic. And her long hair was all mussed from driving home in freeway traffic with the windows down. And.... Peggy’s picture! He mustn’t see it! Gasping, she snatched it off the table, and thrust it deep into the bottom of her lingerie drawer. Not that she was ever going to allow him up into her bedroom. But still. He was a clever, persuasive fellow, and she couldn’t be too careful. If he ever learned of her connection to Peggy, the results could be catastrophic.
©2019 C.J. Darling (P)2019 C.J. Darling