A Reason to Believe

A Reason to Believe

By Diana Copland

Detective Matthew Bennett doesn’t believe in

ghosts. So when the spirit of a murdered child

leads him to her body, he’s shaken to the core—

and taken off the case. Unable to explain his

vision, or to let go of the investigation, Matthew

turns to renowned medium Kiernan Fitzpatrick.

Though he has doubts about Kiernan’s claims to

communicate with the dead, Matt is nevertheless

drawn to the handsome psychic, who awakens

feelings he thought were long-buried.

Haunted by the lingering spirit of the little girl,

Kiernan is compelled to aid in the search for her

killer. The chance to get closer to the enigmatic

Matt is an unexpected bonus. Although Kiernan’s

been betrayed by people who turned out to be

more interested in his fame than in himself, with

Matt he’s willing to risk his heart. As the two men

grow closer, Kiernan helps Matt rediscover that

life offers no guarantees—but love offers a reason

to believe…

81,000 words

Dear Reader,

I love October because it’s the perfect month for

my favorite season: fall. I adore the sights, sounds,

smells and feel of the fall season. Pumpkins and

straw bales, colorful mums and burning

woodsmoke. And the crisp, cool weather that’s

perfect for sitting on the porch and reading a book

while sipping hot apple cider.

This month, we have an excellent variety of books

perfectly suited to this very thing, starting with
All

He Ever Desired,
Shannon Stacey’s latest

Kowalski family contemporary romance. As

always, Shannon delivers a captivating romance

with just the right touch of light humor. Joining her

in the contemporary romance category is HelenKay

Dimon with
Lean on Me,
the second book in her

trilogy. Make sure to check out her first Carina

Press title,
It’s Not Christmas Without You,
and

look for
We’ll Be Home for Christmas,
coming in

December 2012.

If you’re gearing up for Halloween and are in the

paranormal mood, check out Regan Summers’s

newest novel,
Running in the Dark.
Debut author

Bryn Donovan offers a wonderful paranormal

romance in
Sole Possession,
while Diana

Copland’s male/male paranormal romance
A

Reason to Believe
will haunt you long after you’ve

read the last page. And joining Diana with a

male/male release is L.B. Gregg and her rerelease

Men of Smithfield: Seth and David.

Fans of steampunk romance will be thrilled to see

new releases from two of our favorite steampunk

authors: Cindy Spencer Pape and Jenny Schwartz.

Look for
Moonlight & Mechanicals
and
Courting

Trouble
to release in mid-October. And as an

aside, can I tell you how much I love Jenny’s

series name of The Bustlepunk Chronicles? It’s a

perfect fit for this series about a spunky young

woman in steampunk Australia.

I’m thrilled to welcome Val Roberts to Carina

Press with her newest science-fiction romance

novel,
The Valmont Contingency.
Val and I

worked together in the past and I love her voice!

And returning to us with another release in the

fantasy romance genre is Karalynn Lee. If you’ve

never had the pleasure of immersing yourself in

one of Karalynn’s worlds, now’s the time to check

out
Heart of the Dragon’s Realm.

My team is especially excited about this next book

from Julie Rowe. As fans of
Downton Abbey,
they

fell in love with the first book in her new

historical romance series set during World War I,

Saving the Rifleman.

If you’re wondering where the romantic suspense

is, not to worry, Kate Sherwood offers up a spine-

tingling suspense,
Shadow Valley.
And mystery

author Janis Patterson returns with her newest

novel,
Beaded to Death.

To round out the month of October, we have two

spicy erotic romances to tempt you. With
No

Reservations,
Lilly Cain kicks off her new erotic

series, Bad Girls Know. Last, but definitely not

least, the book from Christine d’Abo’s Long Shots

series I’ve been waiting for. Mouthwatering sex

club owner Josh is finally going to get his own

happily ever after and you don’t want to miss the

mind-blowing chemistry Christine has written to

get him there in
Calling the Shots.

We love to hear from readers, and you can email

us your thoughts, comments and questions to

[email protected]. You can also

interact with Carina Press staff and authors on our

blog, Twitter stream and Facebook fan page.

Happy reading!

~Angela James

Executive Editor, Carina Press

www.carinapress.com

www.twitter.com/carinapress

www.facebook.com/carinapress

Dedication

To Kate, who makes every day worth getting out of

bed for.

Acknowledgements

With thanks to Saritza Hernandez, agent

extraordinaire, whose unwavering friendship and

support have been with me since the beginning.

Thanks to Libby Drew, G.B. Lindsey, Wilma,

Glenna, Cheryl and all the other lovely insane

women who have made my writing life as rich as

their friendships have made my personal life.

To Deborah Nemeth, for helping me find my way

through an entirely new editing process with humor

and patience.

And to Betsy, who is the first to see it and the last

to see it, and the one stuck with the spaces.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

About the Author

Copyright

Chapter One

A plate of Christmas cookies sat on the polished

black marble counter. It was a large white platter

populated with yellow stars, Christmas trees with

M&M’S for ornaments, and snowflakes thick with

white frosting and sparkling with sugary glitter.

And angels. Little girl angels with widespread

wings and pink robes and curling blond ringlets.

They looked like cheerful little cherubim, with

their pink cheeks and little red smiles.

Matt Bennett supposed Christmas cookies were

an appropriate thing to find on a kitchen counter in

the hours before dawn on Christmas. During his

own childhood, cookies and milk for Santa had

played an important role in the Christmas Eve

rituals. But the purpose for his presence made

those bright-eyed angels seem faintly macabre.

The call had come in at one-fifty, waking him

from the first sound sleep he’d had in days. As his

captain filled in the details with typical efficiency,

Matt’s mood had grown more and more sour. God,

he hated cases involving kids. They were the

worst. It seemed particularly cruel such a thing

should happen on Christmas Eve.

The facts were already in evidence, but it didn’t

make the investigation any more palatable. Abigail

Marie Reynolds, age six, was missing from her

parents’ home. When they’d put her to bed around

nine, she’d been fine. Excited for Christmas

morning, she’d taken a while to settle but she’d

been sleeping peacefully by eleven when her father

peeked in on his way to bed. When her mother got

up at one and saw her daughter’s door ajar and a

light on, she checked the room only to find the pink

princess linens and blankets on the floor. The child

was nowhere to be found.

Frantic, she woke her husband, and they made

an exhaustive search of the house. When it became

apparent the little girl was gone, they called the

police. At one time, there would have been a

twenty-four-hour wait, just to make sure the child

hadn’t wandered off on her own. Amber alerts had

changed all of that. Detectives now knew the first

hours were crucial in the recovery of a missing

child, and they swung into action immediately. Of

course, it didn’t hurt that the father of this

particular missing girl was also a high-profile

defense attorney. The list of suspects among his

clients was no doubt a mile long.

Matt leaned against the counter in the large

kitchen as his captain and another officer

interviewed the parents. They were seated at a

gleaming dining room table, the light from the

chandelier above unforgiving. The father looked

ragged and shell-shocked, and his wife was

tearfully repeating her story, twisting a white

handkerchief in her hands. On the sideboard

behind them, prominently displayed, were several

photographs of an angelic little girl with a full

head of curling blond hair and a dimpled smile.

Captain Branson questioned them respectfully,

but Matt knew what his captain was thinking. In

many missing child cases, the parents were

involved somehow and almost always were

considered the first suspects, at least until

sufficient evidence removed them from suspicion.

Matt hated it but had been around long enough to

know it was more often than not true. Taking in the

father’s slouched posture and the mother’s white-

knuckled hands, Matt pitied them. He’d be hard

pressed to believe the shattered, frightened people

had anything to do with the disappearance of their

only child, but he tended to be more compassionate

than Branson. Matt admired him as a detective

even while not liking him much as a person.

He turned his eyes away from the sobbing

woman, feeling uncomfortably as if he was