<p>It’s 1961 and Palm Beach socialite, irresistible rascal and devoted father Jack Morgan encounters genuine danger while staging his suicide to shield his beloved daughters from scandal and disgrace. Next, meet his daughter Charlotte (Charlie), an over-indulged 23 year-old struggling to cope with the loss of her beloved father, her sister’s resulting mental breakdown and the discovery that she’s now penniless. Fortunately Raul, an admiring young attorney, offers assistance to the traumatized young woman, who can joke about her inadequacies. As terrified as she is about paying for her sister’s costly treatment and her own daily survival, Charlie soon realizes that she must learn what drove her father to kill himself. With Raul’s much needed ego-bolstering, she pursues a career that makes practical use of her lanky 5’ 11” frame. Despite roadblocks and emotional upheavals, she embarks on an ocean-spanning journey that leads to a family she doesn’t know, distressing truths about her father, crimes great and small, a diabolical villain and a fireworks of surprise endings. Excerpts from reviews of "Exceeding Expectations:" “Lisa April Smith . . . has woven an intriguingly rich tapestry of delightful well-developed characters into a perfectly balanced plot bursting with riveting mystery, crimes of the petty and the horrible sort, suspenseful twists, and romantic tension complete with love scenes that sizzle and pop.” “Set in the varied and stunning backdrops of early 1960s Palm Beach and Manhattan high society, as well as mid-1930s to early 1940s Paris . . .” Cari L. Pedstelak: http://audacityshewrote.com “. . . it's the authentic details of the time-periods that make it fun to read . . .” “historical and fictitious characters work in sync as they are perfectly set in these time frames, and midst the transitory madness of WWs I and II Paris.” “ Smith's writing isn't over-blown with emotion and sappy romance; rather, it is sophisticated and subtle.” “It’s witty, fun and sassy.” Deborah Previte: http://abookishlibrarian.blogspot.com</p>

Exceeding Expectations

Romance

Smith, Lisa April

Romantic Suspense

Windgate Press

"Dangerous Lies" follows the lives of two characters: Jake Stern and Tina Davis. After losing his parents and sister in a fire, Jake is raised by his grandparents. As he goes from being a traumatized boy to exceptional student-athlete and finally to ambitious Assistant DA, Jake learns to hide a crippling fear behind a stony mask. Until she's thirteen, Bettina (Tina) Berenson is a shy bookish girl rejected by both parents. But her life radically changes when her father starts taking her to places that he enjoys frequenting racetracks, prizefights, nightclubs, occasionally in the company of gangsters he admires. Reveling in the attention her striking beauty generates, he's oblivious to the potential danger to his impressionable daughter. Two years later, when he dies, Tina, a distraught lonely fifteen-year-old is easy prey for a charismatic crime-lord. Fate brings Jake and Tina together for the trial of a vicious mobster: Tina, former mob mistress, the key witness, and Jake, the prosecuting attorney, who envies her courage, is repelled by her past and is obsessed with her physical presence. But in order for her to testify, Jake has to keep her alive. Someone wants her dead.

Dangerous Lies

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Thrillers & Suspense

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

The title for The Second Best Time comes from a Chinese proverb: “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.” And it suits a story of three people at a crossroads in their lives. Jack Caine (aka Jack Morgan), former lothario and sometime con man, now the owner of a successful gallery in the UK; his daughter Charlie (Charlotte) Morgan Francesco, 32 and an art consultant; and new to the series, Kat (Kathleen O’Connor Shironsky), 24, and a street-smart, unemployed bookkeeper. Dying of cancer and worried about his immortal soul, that rascal Jack confesses his long list of sins to Rev. Nigel. The stunned but sympathetic clergyman convinces Jack that his most heinous sin was perpetrated on his daughters, who believe that he committed suicide. Both men agree that seeing their father reopen wounds by suddenly reappearing, only to die a painful death shortly after, would cause additional harm. Filled with guilt and remorse, Jack swears to see to it that his beloved daughters are content, safe and protected, but anonymously. Typical of Jack, the plan he hatches is as convoluted and ingenious as it is entertaining. Seated on a park bench, struggling to find the courage to face social condemnation by leaving a miserable marriage to a husband with MS, Charlie meets Kat, whose boss just was arrested by the FBI for tax evasion. But losing her job is the least of Kat’s problems. Savings account emptied, three months behind on the rent, her husband has mysteriously disappeared. The mismatched pair – tall, elegant art-expert and accidental sleuth, Charlie – and Kat, the pretty, scrappy, 5th of 8 children – join forces to overcome adversity and fight crime with brains, grit and humor. And yes, along the way, some attractive gentlemen help provide the sizzle. The Second Best Time is the 3rd in the “Charlie Series,” which began with Exceeding Expectations and was followed by Paradise Misplaced.

The Second Best Time ("Charlie" Serie)

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