Martin and Owen Funny Mysteries
Rika Martín wasn’t in Bolo, Texas, five minutes before she was run off the road, tripped over a dead body, then arrested for murder. And she’s not so sure about Nick, the lawyer who’s been assigned to her, even when he’s shirtless, wearing a cowboy hat, and holding an extra-long hose. (Okay, maybe then.)
All Nick Owen can think about is getting out of Bolo, a hometown he never should have returned to. Until he goes to pick up his best friend Gabe—the local judge—for a round of golf and is forced to represent a murder suspect. Gabe, of all people, knows Nick has sworn off murder trials after what happened last time. Even worse, this “Paprika Anise Martín”—if you can believe that—seems more determined to solve the murder case than to defend herself against it in court.
Book 1
Rika’s father, Chef Diego Martín, has finally been able to return to Los Angeles after 15 years, brought over to work in the VIP Center restaurant of the Temple of Microtology by its founders. But, a month later, his sous chef is found dead, Diego, missing. Rika is panicked at the thought of losing her one living parent permanently. All she knows is that she has to find her father, and she needs Nick Owen by her side.
Not one night passed in the last six months that Nick hasn’t lain awake thinking of Rika, even though he’s given up hope she’ll contact him. But when she calls and asks him to fly to L.A., nothing can stop him from racing to her side. However, he may not be prepared for what he discovers in her hometown, like Rika’s formidable grandmother, the fact that L.A. men find him really, really attractive, or the weird Hollywood cult members who are spying on him and Rika.
Book 2
Rika is excited to have snagged her first private investigation client, even if it’s just a suspected cheater case. But when she and Nick get inside the supposedly empty house, they find two men in bed together, literally joined at the hip, one dead with a screwdriver sticking out of his eye.
With a circus full of angry performers, a desperate documentary crew, and the surviving twin’s sketchy fiancée, the case is chock-full of possible murderers with little evidence against any of them.
As they investigate, Nick is eager to get this relationship nailed down—preferably by nailing Rika. He seizes an unexpected opportunity, but can he get past whatever’s been holding her back and make it stick? And can he keep Rika and LeeAnne from getting themselves killed before Rika is his?
Book 3
Eliza Green is dead. Nick Owen can’t imagine who would want to kill the cousin he remembers as a sweet little girl. But he’s determined not to leave the murder solving to the ridiculous Bolo Sheriff’s Office, so Rika, LeeAnne, and Gucci go with him to his hometown.
As the Owen-Green family unites, Nick learns a secret about his own life that rocks him to the core. And as if things weren’t bad enough already, how is it that the one day Nick and Rika investigate separately, she and LeeAnne end up as accidental strippers?
When Rika and Nick go looking for a likely suspect, they learn Eliza is not the only one who has met a violent end. Can they solve the murder before one of them becomes a victim?
Book 4
Nick Owen is ready to move his relationship with Rika along, ASAP, but she decides she may need some qualified help before taking it to the next level. But when Nick catches her “cheating,” he knows she can’t possibly care as much as he does and is ready to skip town. She’ll have to summon all her courage and put everything on the line to try to keep him.
Meanwhile, Rika’s work dream has come true. Martin and Owen Investigations finally has an office in L.A. and Rika’s publicity stunt is working. A pet plastic surgeon to the stars has been murdered and Nick and Rika are on the case. But did any of these wealthy suspects actually commit the murder? And with snakes and scimitars involved, will Nick and Rika live long enough to find out?
Book 5
More Books by Nina
Kiki Villanueva holds a master’s degree from UCLA, is the best second grade teacher ever, and believes she had a psychic dream when she was thirteen in which she was given a list of her future husband’s attributes. Since typical dating methods haven’t been working out, she decides that when she goes back to L.A. for the summer, she’ll start using the list to sort through potential candidates.
When jaded political journalist Mark Bennett confesses to his doctor he no longer finds women exciting, Dr. Chuck is worried he’s depressed and suggests a change of pace. Mark agrees to write a fluff piece for a magazine about people who join high-priced match-making services. (His premise is "Losers or Lunatics?") The dating service introduces him to Kiki, and he’s charmed by her open, passionate nature—not to mention her big, brown “do me” eyes—though she definitely belongs in the Lunatic category with that psychic stuff. If he could only get her to forget her list, and everything he said when they first met—oh, and the fact that he’s been a complete jackass…
Book 1
Elle--born "Liliana Brigitte"--Lorrence has one goal: To escape her mother's bizarre world of paparazzi, entourages, and over-Botoxed cyborgs. If she can only pretend to be an actress for this one little independent film, the paycheck will enable her to set her escape plans in motion.
Tragedy has struck the Carson-Villanueva family. All linguistics professor Chris Carson can do is keep busy and hope the crippling feeling of loss will fade. When Chris starts his summer dialect coaching job for a film, the actress turns out to be Elle Lorrence. Chris is undeniably attracted, as well as intrigued by her angelic poker face and dry, sarcastic humor. However, he knows a relationship between them can't work.
Every fiber of Elle’s being tells her Cristóval Cesar Carson is the embodiment of the faceless man from her dreams. She's even more desperate to become a real person now. But there's a much bigger hurdle inside her she must overcome, if she's ever to possess the man of her dreams.
Book 2
In this laugh-out-loud, sexy romantic comedy, life-long good girl Paige Tipton learns what her dead husband was doing, for years, while she bent over backwards to try to please him. And she hopes Jeffrey is watching from hell when she finds some long-haired biker dude and does with him what Jeffrey did with all those hookers. Besides, a guy she finds at a dive bar will never, ever pop up in her upscale real life. Now, if she can only get the biker to cooperate…
Dillon spots Country Club the moment she walks into the D.O.A. He’s always had a weakness for these debutante types. The last time he gave in to it, at fifteen, he and his housekeeper mom lost everything. But this woman is cute as hell and really funny—especially when she offers him forty bucks for sex, considering he’s a very rich man now. But her kind is the last thing he needs in his life. Tempting as she is, surely he’s learned something in all these years.
Right?
Convinced the TV biz is sucking out her soul, Abbie Greenwood—consumer advocate--decides to take all the time off she’s saved up, leave Los Angeles for six weeks, and dog-sit for her sister Joanie in the Houston suburbs. Maybe Texas isn’t the ideal location for someone who grew up with hippy activist parents on an organic vegetable farm, but all she wants is a quiet place to evaluate her life. And to spend time with Joanie’s dogs since her own dog Charlie passed away.
What she doesn’t count on is the hunky attorney across the street whose wife ran off, leaving him with a young daughter to raise. The attraction is undeniable, and Abbie realizes she’d better stay away from Rick or her life could be changed in ways she never though she wanted. But when she gets arrested—totally not her fault—who is the only contact Joanie left for her? Across-the-street Nick, of course. And as she gets sucked into the lives of hot Nick and his adorable little girl, she realizes life’s decisions aren’t always as black and white as she’d like them to be.
I quit my job. The one at the high-powered law firm I’ve been working toward my entire life.
It sounds bad, but I'm not losing it. I never lose it.
However, now that I’ve gone out on my own, my first client turns out to be the infamous Drew Larson. A man I should be afraid of. But I’m not. What does that say about me?
Then I see the pictures and I can't turn away. And I agree to marry him so he can get what’s his. It’s a means to an end for both of us, except I’m afraid that it’s more for me. Because the neglected child I buried deep inside me calls out to the deeply wounded child in him. But he's not that child anymore. He's a flesh and blood man and I ache for him, as crazy as that sounds.
My breath catches in my chest every time I think of the secret I'm keeping from him. Will it make things better? Or will bad Drew return with a vengeance?
I am not turning into my mother. I won’t let anyone do that to me.