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The Secrets of Stoneley #5
Deadly Payoff
A note from Delia Blanchard
So many things have been happening here at our family's mansion,I can't go home to I've met my long-lost grandparents; learnedthe woman shot to death in the library was my aunt, not my mother; and been threatened by a blackmailing loan shark! And Shaun Murphyis back in my life—he was hired to repair the damage after theshooting. He's been rather distant with me, but I think, with God's help, I can convince him to help me track down my missing mother—andperhaps give our love another chance, too.
So many things have been happening here at our family's mansion,I can't go home to I've met my long-lost grandparents; learnedthe woman shot to death in the library was my aunt, not my mother; and been threatened by a blackmailing loan shark! And Shaun Murphyis back in my life—he was hired to repair the damage after theshooting. He's been rather distant with me, but I think, with God's help, I can convince him to help me track down my missing mother—andperhaps give our love another chance, too.
248 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2007
13 people are currently reading
134 people want to read
About the author
Valerie Hansen
184 books246 followersValerie Hansen is the pen name of Valerie Whisenand.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Although I have been a published author since the mid 1980s, I have been writing women's Christian fiction almost exclusively since 1999.
There is a longer, more detailed bio on my website so there's no need for me to repeat all that here. Right now, I write for all three Love Inspired lines, Romance, Suspense and Historical. I'm delighted to have been included that broadly and besides, it keeps me so busy that I stay out of trouble. Well, mostly.
You'll find me on the LI Historical blog as well as other LI features. If I try to do much more I won't have time to write my books!
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Although I have been a published author since the mid 1980s, I have been writing women's Christian fiction almost exclusively since 1999.
There is a longer, more detailed bio on my website so there's no need for me to repeat all that here. Right now, I write for all three Love Inspired lines, Romance, Suspense and Historical. I'm delighted to have been included that broadly and besides, it keeps me so busy that I stay out of trouble. Well, mostly.
You'll find me on the LI Historical blog as well as other LI features. If I try to do much more I won't have time to write my books!
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 16, 2008
ok, this was #5 of 6 books in this series. as the previous ones did, this book just brought up MORE mysteries to the mix! i'm beginning to seriously wonder just how they can tie them ALL up in 1 more book!!
if i thought this one, and the previous ones, were good, which they were ... how phenominal is the next one going to have to be?!
can't wait to find out, that's for sure!!!
i know i've said this before, but if you're a mystery fan, especially of one w/ MANY twists and turns and thrills and chills and ...
well, then this is a MUUSSSTTTT read series!!!
thank God for holidays, the house is still quite, so maybe i can go hit # 6 right now, and at least get a good start on it?!
if i thought this one, and the previous ones, were good, which they were ... how phenominal is the next one going to have to be?!
can't wait to find out, that's for sure!!!
i know i've said this before, but if you're a mystery fan, especially of one w/ MANY twists and turns and thrills and chills and ...
well, then this is a MUUSSSTTTT read series!!!
thank God for holidays, the house is still quite, so maybe i can go hit # 6 right now, and at least get a good start on it?!
August 19, 2024
I have been enjoying this series but find it somewhat frustrating because nothing seems to be getting figured out.
This book highlights Delia, the sister who owns a surfboard shop in Hawaii. She arrives home for an emergency visit and is reacquainted with her ex-husband. (They were only married for a few hours before her father discovered it and had the marriage annulled.)
This book highlights Delia, the sister who owns a surfboard shop in Hawaii. She arrives home for an emergency visit and is reacquainted with her ex-husband. (They were only married for a few hours before her father discovered it and had the marriage annulled.)
February 23, 2012
In the past twelve years Cordelia Blanchard had made her home in Hawaii with her own successful surf business. Extending her stay in Stoneley, Maine isn’t something she relishes but she needs answers to all those secrets surrounding her mother’s “second” death. Surprisingly part of that answer comes straight to Blanchard Manor in the form of her mother’s parents, whom the sisters hadn’t known existed. And through some sleuthing, Delia discovers that the woman shot in their library hadn’t been her mother but actually her Aunt Genie. Shaun Murphy has returned to Stoneley to help his father with his carpentry business while he recovers from a bad bout of arthritis. The last person he wants to meet is Delia, the woman he’d married 12 years ago and who’d run off on their wedding night. Yet he can’t refuse to help her when she appeals to him for support, especially as Delia has a habit of jumping in and finding trouble. But protection isn’t all Delia wants; she wishes that their marriage had never been annulled and that she and Shaun could finally have their happy ever after.
I really enjoyed this installment of the mystery surrounding Trudy Blanchard’s disappearance. Ms. Hansen managed to perfectly balance out the ongoing series plot with the wonderful reunion romance between Delia and Shaun. Neither plot line over shadowed the other. Delia and Shaun are wonderfully developed; each has their insecurities about their personal past. There are some events of Shaun’s life in the Service that I was surprised hadn’t been addressed, as it seemed the storyline was leading there, though this was not vital to their HEA. Of the five books read so far in the series, this one has the most satisfying romance. I liked that Delia’s knees went weak when Shaun kissed her, and that he groaned with his efforts to control that kiss. I missed that tiny hint of passion in the earlier books. This was very well written, both for the ongoing mystery and for a very charming lovestory
I really enjoyed this installment of the mystery surrounding Trudy Blanchard’s disappearance. Ms. Hansen managed to perfectly balance out the ongoing series plot with the wonderful reunion romance between Delia and Shaun. Neither plot line over shadowed the other. Delia and Shaun are wonderfully developed; each has their insecurities about their personal past. There are some events of Shaun’s life in the Service that I was surprised hadn’t been addressed, as it seemed the storyline was leading there, though this was not vital to their HEA. Of the five books read so far in the series, this one has the most satisfying romance. I liked that Delia’s knees went weak when Shaun kissed her, and that he groaned with his efforts to control that kiss. I missed that tiny hint of passion in the earlier books. This was very well written, both for the ongoing mystery and for a very charming lovestory
December 30, 2010
In the 5th book of this series we see Delia reunited with her husband of a few hours. When she was 17 she married her love, Shaun Murphy. She believed he took a payoff to leave her and he believed she went to Hawaii without a backwards glance.
Shaun helps Delia as she goes after a blackmailer who worked for her now dead Aunt Genie. He took her to Chicago to check out the medical facility that they know their mother was once held captive in, he is there for her.
Yet their pride won't allow them to talk of what happened 12 years earlier.
This book is again packed with all side stories. Unknown grandparents join the story, Ronald gets arrested for murder, and the plotter is still up to all kinds of evil tricks.
Shaun helps Delia as she goes after a blackmailer who worked for her now dead Aunt Genie. He took her to Chicago to check out the medical facility that they know their mother was once held captive in, he is there for her.
Yet their pride won't allow them to talk of what happened 12 years earlier.
This book is again packed with all side stories. Unknown grandparents join the story, Ronald gets arrested for murder, and the plotter is still up to all kinds of evil tricks.
April 30, 2024
I really enjoyed this book because Delia and Shaun Murphy married young but were separated by Delia’s father only to meet again eleven years later and find that those feelings of love were still there.
May 21, 2012
Book 5 The Secrets of Stoneley
May 28, 2013
Not as good as the other books in the series thus far, but not a bad read. This book was more of a drama and romance than mystery as the others are. Looking forward to the final book.
May 29, 2013
Since I did not know that this was a series I was lost most of the time. I think I would have liked it and understood it alot better if I had read the previous books.
April 20, 2016
Almost done with the series and I still can't put them down!
November 24, 2016
I liked the ending! Can't wait to finally get all the answers in book 6!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews