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Welcome to Lois Carroll's website!

Lois Carroll's writings include contemporary and historical romances as well as romantic suspense. Her stories are about people with conflicts in their lives that lead them to important and often difficult choices. Her heroines frequently find themselves in jeopardy and must overcome conflict and challenges to prove themselves women of substance.

     

A Contemporary Romantic Intrigue in Paperback and eBook Format from Melange Press Satin Romance

RAINCHECK FOR CARING

by

Lois Carroll

The second RAINCHECK mystery!

In Raincheck for Caring: In the second RAINCHECK mystery, Torie Bond, the owner of a costume rental store in Tucson, AZ, can't shake the feeling one morning that she has to rush to her shop. In her rush she saves an injured puppy she finds in the road. Caring for the puppy leads her into a mystery involving an illegal puppy farm. Her persistence gets her kidnapped, and she can only hope her secreted messages lead to her rescue.

Excerpt from Just Say No To Love:

I had strange feeling that I should hurry. The road I take into town from my house in the mountains above Tucson would make a great ski run, if it weren't for the fact that we rarely get snow. The commute takes time, but I love my house on the mountain with its view of the city spread out below. It's particularly lovely at night with the stars sparkling in the sky above and the city lights flickering below.

I started down the curvy street at a necessarily reasonable speed. Just so you understand that I was not speeding. I was watching the road.

Thank goodness!

Coming around one of the tighter curves, I cried out and quickly swerved into the oncoming lane. Thankfully, no one was coming up the hill at that moment. I pulled back into my lane after a few feet and crossed off the road as far as possible next to the ditch where I parked my big SUV and set the brake.

Leaping out of the car, I raced back up the road, hoping that what I saw was not really what I saw.

But it was.

There was a little brown puppy lying in the road. He tried to raise his head as I approached and knelt beside him. My inexpert survey told me he had not been run over, but he was injured badly.

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This is Lois Carroll's 47th novel to be published. See all of her currently available books at:

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A Contemporary Romantic Intrigue in Paperback and eBook Format from Melange Press Satin Romance

JUST SAY NO TO LOVE

by

Lois Carroll

In Just Say No To Love: Ginger only agreed to go out with Ward because their mothers were good friends, and seeing them together made the moms happy. The couple was certain it would not be hard to Say No To Love and end it after a few dates. But a man from Ginger's past threatens her with a gun to make her pay for rejecting him while Ward watches helplessly. Suddenly they are playing for keeps - to keep on living.

Excerpt from Just Say No To Love:

As she leaned over to place the last of the bottles on the shelves, she thought she heard footsteps approaching on the tile floor beyond the open fridge door. Holding a nearly new catsup bottle that she was moving to the door shelf, she paused to listen. Her heart sped up, and she pressed her lips together between her teeth to keep from crying out in fear.

No one was supposed to be home.

Harriet was in the hospital and not coming home until this afternoon. It couldn't be her.

But the footsteps were real.

They stopped just the other side of the fridge door.

"What do you think you're doing?" a deep male voice suddenly asked.

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This is Lois Carroll's 46th novel to be published. See all of her currently available books at:

Amazon.com

A Contemporary Romantic Suspense in Paperback and eBook Format from Melange Press Satin Romance

THE LADY NEXT DOOR

by

Lois Carroll

In The Lady Next Door: Mystery, blood and mayhem fill this romantic suspense! After the death of her husband, Karn Winters seeks a fresh start in life with her young son. With the help of an attorney friend, Bart Sinclair, she purchases a beautiful country home for a very low price. Bart helps Karn move into the house she thinks is perfect, but she still wonders why it was priced so low. After playing in the backyard, her son talks about the lady next door and the little trucks she gave him to play with. Only some of the trucks have blood on them. And there is no lady next door. That house is vacant. Feeling unsafe in her new home, Karn wonders what is lurking in the lush woods behind their backyard fence.

Excerpt from The Lady Next Door:

Before Karn caught up to the realtor, they heard Gary screaming upstairs. Karn took off at a run, passing the realtor Mrs. Carson on the way up the stairs.

"No, you can't have it," Gary was shouting. "It's mine. You said it was mine, and you can't take it back."

Leaping up the stairs two at a time, Karn called out, "Gary? Where are you? Gary?"

"Mommy, Mommy," Gary called back. "She won't give it back to me."

Karn followed the sound to a small bedroom on the far back corner of the house. She found Gary sitting on the wall-to-wall carpeting near the window. She ran to his side and dropped to her knees. "What's wrong, honey? Did you hurt yourself?"

"I want my truck back," Gary whined. "She said I could have it and then she took it back."

But Karn saw no one else in the room. She pulled Gary to his feet and was about to hug him when she noticed his hands. She lifted them for an inspection. They were dirty with fresh soil.

"Oh, dear. How did you get so dirty in here?"

"I got dirty driving the truck the nice lady gave me," he explained simply. "It was all muddy."

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In Raincheck for Love: Widow Torie Bond reports seeing a man's body near her Tucson mountain home. Divorced Police Lieutenant Jack Brewer investigates. Drawn into the mystery that nearly takes her life, they find new love together that they had thought could never happen again. But will they ever be together when the murderer wants her dead and Jack doesn't know where she is?

Excerpt from Raincheck for Love:

In my Tucson costume and tuxedo rental shop, no other event in the whole year came even close to Halloween for being a perpetual, euphoric, condition red.

The weeks leading up to it passed in a work-induced blur for the shop owner, me, Torie Bond.

Last fall, the third year I owned the shop and the Halloween season when the body appeared in my mountain view, was like no other.

I'll never forget it because I almost didn't live through it.

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A Contemporary Sweet Romance in Paperback and eBook Format from Melange Press Satin Romance

Lost & Found Dream

by

Lois Carroll

Carrie rides an emotional roller coaster. She returns to the small town where she grew up when her grandmother is ill. Carrie is falling for her supportive pastor, Peter, who cares for her too. But because of Carrie's past, she feels she must leave town and not let her bad reputation affect his. She must give up her dream of staying and raising a family there. Is there no way her dream can come true?

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This is Lois Carroll's 43rd book to be published. See all the books currently available at: Amazon.com

A Contemporary Sweet Romance in Paperback and eBook Format from Melange Press Satin Romance

Love Cookin'

by

Lois Carroll

Sandi Cramer's TV show, Love Cookin', is nominated for an Emmy. She can't forget her early years around 1990 at the bankrupt little station in Iowa where her show began, and the man who came to town to make the station succeed or to fire everyone and shut it down. Josh Pressman saw her potential and a lot more. Attracted to her, he struggled to remember that small town girls like Sandi were off limits because they played for keeps. When "accidents" started happening during her show, he had to find the culprit to save the station and to protect Sandi. But when Sandi unwittingly helps the culprit, Josh is left with little choice but to fire her. That will end the station and their budding love.

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Historical and Contemporary Romance Novellas in Paperback and eBook Format from Melange Press Satin Romance

Then and Now

by

Lois Carroll

Two novellas under one cover of Then and Now: In a Stew plus Secrets in the Snow

In A Stew: Catrine and her younger sister were forced to leave their Utah home after their overbearing sheriff father was killed. Needing to find a job, they take a stagecoach to B-town near where the new railroad is being built across Arizona Territory. Though startled by her natural beauty, the sheriff offers her a job running a restaurant he owns that closed when the cook was shot. This would be a dream come true for Catrine, but will he leave her alone or try to run her life like her father? Could they work together when the sparks fly between them? Falling in love would be as easy as eating a bowl of her yummy stew.

Secrets in the Snow: The sole owner of a wedding attire shop and budding designer of beautiful wedding dresses, Cynthia is a virgin at age 35 with romantic dreams about finding the right man to make her dreams come true. Her friend Anne is about to get married. Anne's fiance's older brother, Michael, 37, is strongly opposed to the match and will do anything to stop the marriage, including proposing to Anne himself. Mistaking Cynthia for Anne on their first meeting, Michael offers to marry her in order to save his brother from what he considers a very bad decision. Snowbound with the handsome big-city businessman for the long weekend, lonely Cynthia takes a big chance that changes everything. After that weekend, they each have secrets in the snow.

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An Historical Romance in Paperback and eBook Format from Melange Press Satin Romance

His Prisoner

by

Lois Carroll

A hapless witness to a robbery takes the money from the robbers' stash for himself and his daughter Kate. Despite her objections, they plan their escape west to start a new life. Pinkerton agent Jake traces spent gold to her and her missing father. He holds Kate prisoner until she leads him to the gold. But Kate wants to warn her father. The real robbers want their gold back. So Jake must hold her close, real close.

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An Historical Romance in Paperback and eBook Format from Melange Press Satin Romance

Hide and Seek

by

Lois Carroll

Two novellas, ESCAPE and FASTEST WEDDING IN THE WEST. One features a woman hiding from family abuse. In the other a woman is seeking her lost family. Each woman discovers that happiness and love can grow from sadness and even fear when they do not give up the pursuit.

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An Historical Romance in Paperback and eBook Format from Whiskey Creek Press, a part of Start Publications

Her Inheritance

by

Lois Carroll

In the late 1880s, orphaned Jessica Whitmore inherits a house from her namesake in Texas. Thinking she can live in it and find a job, she endures traveling there from Philadelphia. She is shocked to learn the house was a brothel, and that Tanner Brand, the town's sheriff, inherited half of it with her. He and Jessica have 30 days to create income to support seven girls still living there--without, Jessica insists, returning it to an illegal brothel. Can innocent sweet Jessica work with the young handsome sheriff? How can all the women earn an honest living?

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In Paperback and eBook Formats from WhiskeyCreekPress.com, part of Start Publications

DOUBLE THE DREAM

by

Lois Carroll

ISBN 978-1-61160-345-3

The story begins in TRAIL OF DREAMS, then SAVING THE DREAM, and now it concludes DOUBLE THE DREAM. After Ingor Oleson left Norway to claim a part of the Dakota Territory as his own, his brother Lars follows to do the same. Now another year later, their uncle keeps his promise and sends Anne and Katrin Anderssen to marry his nephews. The young women are excited and expect their husbands-to-be to have a good life already carved out for them in the unknown land of the Dakota Territory. Lieutenant Adam Johnson allows the sisters to travel with the Army families moving west to the forts there now that the War Between the States has ended. Sergeant Tavis McDougal is his right-hand man. The sisters are charmed by the officers, and wonder if they will find the Oleson brothers as charming. And what will become of them if they can't find the brothers? Will they ever have the happy lives they have come so far to find?

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SAVING THE DREAM

by

Lois Carroll

ISBN 978-1-61160-345-3

The story starts in TRAIL OF DREAMS and continues here in SAVING THE DREAM: Trapper Ingor Oleson rescues an Indian maiden, Still Water, who was kidnapped in the Dakota Territory by two drunken whites. She is the niece of the Chief of a Sioux tribe he has traded with. Together for weeks as he nurses her, they each must face the hard fact that their dream of a life of a white and an Indian together is impossible. The Army is relocating Indians from the Dakota Territory to make room for white pioneers. The Indians, not wanting to go, are fighting back. A brave from her tribe, who wants her as his wife, has vowed to kill whoever has taken her. Ingor can't let his actions threaten his brother Lars and his family homesteading a day's ride to the west. Avoiding the two drunks seeking revenge for their lost prize and the Army rounding up Indians, Ingor must return her safely to her uncle and face the brave. Can the couple save their dream in the midst of hardship and hate?

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TRAIL OF DREAMS

by

Lois Carroll

ISBN 978-1-60313-796-6

After a fire destroys their family business, eighteen-year-old Lissa Whitaker unwillingly heads to Dakota Territory with her parents and younger brother. They rescue Lars Oleson, the very man who gave her father the outrageous idea to leave the comforts of Philadelphia. Though her father hopes for a fresh start, Lissa can only think of the civilized life she has left behind, until dangers on the trail force her to set aside her regrets and face the perils of the journey. The hardships and vengeful Indians force Lissa and Lars to rely on each other as they race the frigid winter coming on.

REVIEWS:

A top rating of 5 from Novelspot Reviews

"The perfect read. It contains all the required elements for a great novel, including love, war, and adventure. The book is hard to put down and has just the right ingredients to delight the reader. This book is one I will recommend to my friends and anyone who likes to read historical fiction. Its descriptions are colorful and believable. I cannot praise this author enough."

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OUT OF PRINT-Remaining Paperbacks at Amazon.com

THE KEY

by

Lois Carroll

ISBN 978-1-59080-665-4

A story about an unlikely couple: Kari, an American social worker touring English gardens, and the owner of a manor house with a beautiful garden, Jeffreys, a recluse since his wife and young daughter disappeared. Kari finds a key that draws her into the mystery of his missing child. But her success is dependent on her believing a ghost is leaving her clues to follow!

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OUT OF PRINT-Remaining Paperbacks at Amazon.com

JUST A MEMORY

by

Lois Carroll

ISBN 978-1-59080-605-0

When a cop is shot and a pretty widow is kidnapped, his life depends on her care and cunning. But even if she escapes to get help, can he stay alive until it comes?

REVIEWS:

5 stars from TRS: "This is one of those tales that can keep you on the edge of your seat from suspense while enjoying the people and dialogue!"

4 stars from "Romantic Times": "highly suspenseful and most definitely a page-turner"

"Affaire de Coeur" reviews: "A story and two characters that will not be forgotten"

YouTube review: YouTube review

Click on cover to read an excerpt.

OUT OF PRINT-Remaining copies only at Amazon.com Amazon.com

If you like to read sweet romances, you'll want to read Ms. Carroll's books from Montlake Romance written under the name LOIS SCHWARTZ. Her newest one, A Case of Puppy Love, is also out in Large Print! Ask for it at your library or buy it from Amazon.com

Sweet Romances by LOIS SCHWARTZ

Visit SOPHIE'S SMOCKS: Read about a free smock for kids and adults with Angelman Syndrome

Lois Carroll welcomes emails about her books. (No attachments please.)

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