Christina A. Burke
USA Today bestselling author Christina A. Burke wrote her first novel, a time-travel romance, more than twenty years ago. Writing fell by the wayside as family and career obligations took over. She earned advanced degrees in business, taught for colleges, managed staffing agencies, and started several entrepreneurial ventures, until she found her way back to fiction writing through the unlikely avenue of metastatic breast cancer. She believes laughter is the best medicine and hopes her readers find a cure for what ails them following the wacky antics of the characters she creates. Christina, her husband, Jim, and their two children live in Dover, Delaware with the family sidekick, a shitzu-poodle mix named Max.
Christina A. Burke passed away on January 12, 2016 after a long battle with breast cancer. All of us at Gemma Halliday Publishing were deeply saddened by her passing but are also truly grateful to have had the opportunity to work with her and experience her amazing literary talents. Her voice lives on in her hilarious and heartwarming novels that I hope will continue to entertain readers for years to come.
Queenie Baby Romantic Mysteries
Queenie Baby: On Assignment
Queenie Baby Mysteries book #1
Meeting your hot new boss in a bar while singing karaoke—bad. Being fixed up with your old high school boyfriend by your meddling sister—annoying. Making out in your sister's minivan with said boyfriend—embarrassing. This week is shaping up to be a doozy for aspiring singer/songwriter Diana Hudson.
'On the wrong side of thirty' according to her mother and still living the bohemian lifestyle of a musician, Diana is having a double martini day. Although a sought after performer on the not-so-happening Annapolis, Maryland bar scene, Diana works as a temp at Greene's Staffing to pay the bills. Her assignment this week: help the cape-wearing Mr. Vann Pyre find love online. Unfortunately for Diana, the only man in her life for months has been Max, her fluffy, white Shitzu-Poodle with a crooked overbite and a bad attitude. But unexpectedly, Diana finds herself up to her chin in men. Her mysterious new boss, Mark Greene, smells so good she'd like to hang him from her rearview mirror, and her chiseled, super-sexy high school sweetheart, Rick Ellis, is back to sweep her off her feet. When Diana's love life goes from nonexistent to off the charts, will she give an old romance a second chance? Or will she take a chance on new love?
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Queenie Baby: Out of Office
Queenie Baby Mysteries book #2
There's no turning back now for temp-by-day and rockstar-by-night, Diana Hudson. She's left Annapolis, Maryland to take a chance on love and to track down the singer who's stolen her song. What starts as a romantic rendezvous with new love on the paradise island of Puerto Rico, quickly becomes a wacky cross-island adventure featuring a high speed guitar chase, a bull fight, and a swashbuckling pirate. Love blooms amid the lush landscape, until a hot bodyguard from Diana's past exposes her new love's secrets, turning her world upside down. Back home on dry land, Diana prepares for the annual Renaissance Fair and a visit from The Grands. With her career heating up, her family closing in, and her heart on the line, how will Diana keep it all together?
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Queenie Baby: On Tour
Queenie Baby Mysteries book #3
For temp-turned-rock-star, Diana Hudson, touring with a Pirate Rock band has been a whirlwind. The Pirate-Heads' Bash in Key West is the last stop on their tour, and she's ready to hang up her sword and play house in Annapolis, Maryland with her uber-sexy boyfriend, Mark Greene. But her plans hit a sour note when Diana receives sinister scrapbook pages depicting her demise. A series of near-miss accidents and a meeting with an old enemy confirm she's on borrowed time. Hunted by a hitman known only as The Spider, Diana and Mark embark on a madcap adventure to outwit the unseen predator. Instead of rest and relaxation after the long tour, Diana finds herself battling pirates at sea, dodging explosions, and hiding out with The Grands. Will Diana uncover the identity of the hitman before he finds her? Or has she already been snared in The Spider's sinuous web?
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Queenie Baby: Pass the Eggnog
a Queenie Baby Mysteries novella
The only thing temp-by-day, rock-star-by night Diana Hudson hates more than karaoke is Christmas. So how did she end up spending a "Good Ol' Fashioned Family Christmas" in a spooky old house in the Pocono Mountains? Try two parts familial obligation, one part sisterly arm-twisting, and a tiny flame of Christmas spirit still burning in her humbug heart. When The Grands start communing with ghosts, and a long lost boyfriend appears on the doorstep, Diana realizes it's going to be one heck of a holiday. With a Christmas play to produce, a mystery to solve, and three miracles on the way, Diana keeps her spirits up with a steady flow of Christmas cheer--of the eggnog variety. So settle down in front of the fire, grab a cup of cheer, and join Diana and her family on the wackiest Christmas vacation ever.
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Queenie Baby: On Location
a Queenie Baby Mysteries novella
What does a wannabe rock star do when her sister turns up on her doorstep with their 90 year old aunt for a "girl's weekend"? If Diana "Queenie Baby" Hudson had been thinking clearly it would be: run! Instead, she reluctantly agrees to let the ladies tag along to her latest gig. Rookie mistake.
While Diana is busy entertaining the crowds at the Pirates' Cove tiki bars, she fears her married-with-children sister, Ashley, is entertaining the idea of a summer fling with the band's lead singer. Between keeping Ashley from making a move that she'll regret, and keeping her Aunt Pearl away from the wine boxes and porn channels, Diana's summer vacation isn't turning out exactly as she'd planned!
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Danger Cove Mysteries
Secret of the Painted Lady (A Danger Cove Renovation Mystery)
Danger Cove Mysteries book #1
If these walls could talk...they'd scream murder.
Alex Jordan, owner of Finials and Facades Renovation and Restoration Services, has been living her dream of restoring Victorian-style homes in the town of Danger Cove. But her recent acquisition of the stately Marlton House has led to a showdown with the town real estate mogul, and now she needs to restore the old house and flip it before time runs out. But Alex gets more than she bargained for when a Hawaiian shirt-clad tourist with a bullet in his head turns up in the home's bathtub. Pairing up with unlikely partner and town florist, George Fontaine, Alex vows to solve the murder before her flip becomes a flop.
As Alex worries over deadlines, she stumbles across another body on the cliffs of Danger Cove. However, this "body" is a super-sexy man with amnesia...or so he says. Throw in a stash of stolen diamonds, a matchmaking grandmother, a foulmouthed parrot, and a mysterious killer with Alex in his sights, and Alex is in a race against the clock to salvage the job, solve the murder, and save her own life.
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