Physical distancing is hard for this extrovert. Still I’m hunkered down with my family for the foreseeable future to help protect others. There are a few things I’m doing to help keep us in a good place. Light a few candles so your space smells good. Choose music to play in the background that puts you in a good headspace. Limit social media and news content…all of us have a threshold where it becomes too much. Experiment with new recipes. Play games with your family. Watch a movie marathon. And don’t forget a few good books.

Many of us have towering to be read piles, but maybe you’re looking for a few that will remind you it could always get worse and there’s always a whisper hope. When life feels out of control or uncertain, a novel can be a great place to lose yourself for a few hours. A page-turner can help you feel like your life isn’t quite as out of control as you think or it can help you forget about what’s going on around you. It can also give you some new friends to spend your time with as you wait for physical distancing to end. In no particular order, here are a few of my go-to authors and the book I’d start with if you’ve never read them.

Randy Singer writes brilliant legal suspense…it’s the kind that is so layered and filled with twists and turns that you have to read the book a second time to see the brilliance. When I started writing legal suspense, his books were some of those I analyzed to see how he did it. It’s characters so real you want to have coffee with them, plots filled with layers of actions and internal complications, plus a hefty layer of tension from the legal action. I highly recommend all of them, but Dead Lawyers Tell No Tales is a great one if you want a specific recommendation.

A list of go-to reads wouldn’t be complete without Colleen Coble. Any of her romantic suspense or romantic mysteries will satisfy the discerning reader, but I really enjoyed Strands of Truth. As a stand alone, it’s a great one to try to see what you think of her writing and story telling. Her books are filled with complex characters thrust into a search for truth. There are layers of secrets that have to be unraveled for the characters to reach a place of safety. The setting are always unique and include fascinating tidbits that make the what-ifs move from improbable to when could that happen? They always have a thread of hope that is so important in days like ours.

Lynette Eason has long been at the top of my list for go-to authors. The short list that when a new book releases, I race to read it. While she has written several series that I adore, her Blue Justice series is a fantastic one to follow. Police procedurals with romance, each book follows a different sibling in the St. John family. The first book Oath of Justice follows Izzy as she recovers from a situation that killed her partner. She’s determined to drill down to the truth if it doesn’t kill her.

Susan May Warren is another romantic suspense virtuoso. Her series are so varied. They may be set in small town Minnesota or be the characters versus nature. In either circumstance there’s a finely tuned ticking clock that propels the action through the pages. But her secret sauce is characters that are so amazingly fleshed out they feel real. She is also an amazingly prolific author who churns out books to keep her fans satisfied. Try one (I’d start with The Way of the Brave), and I bet you’ll be hooked.

I have enjoyed Carrie Stuart Parks books immensely, but Relative Silence was different. It had the atmospheric feel of a gothic novel with a family that is embroiled in all kinds of trouble. Throw in a number of deaths, a slew of family secrets, and a hurricane that could kill the survivors, and the book is a compelling page turner. It’s also a story of moving forward and closing the door on the past. Sometimes that act takes more courage than other times – especially when it challenges everything you’ve accepted as truth.

With my final recommendation I’m bringing us back to one of my favorite cities, and one where my legal suspense is set: Washington, DC. Rachel Dylan is a relatively new author in this genre, but she brings her expertise as an attorney to the pages of her novels. In End Game she’s woven a multi-layered plot that will keep you guessing and reading. This book just released in January, so it’s still new, but she has a prior series you can race through after reading this one.

Any of this collection of books will give you a great escape that is layered with suspense, fantastic characters, and a rich setting. Many contain a layer of romance as well. Best of all, each of these authors is prolific, so if you decide you enjoyed the book I’ve listed, you’ll have plenty to race through next.

Also my publisher is running a Goodreads Giveaway for Flight Risk. Be sure to enter before the end of the month. Just click on the link or the image to go to the giveaway.