My Novels

After four hundred years in New England, the Hughes family has a certain reputation. Upholding it isn’t for the faint of heart, especially when scandal and tragedy abound. Rooted in the past, but shaped by the present, each member of the family must find a way to forge ahead. Reconciling the distant past, the recent past, and the future pushes the family into the twenty-first century – but life is always eager to push back.

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The Date

At eighteen, Hollis Hughes fell in love at first sight with husband-to-be Jeffrey. Despite his questionable taste in friends, Jeffrey proved to be the perfect gentleman and a Mayhew besides. More than two decades on, the Mayhews have three perfect kids and the delicious teenage chemistry they’ve never lost.

When Jeffrey’s former high school classmate Brent Kittredge is nominated for a Cabinet post, Hollis is concerned. When women start tumbling out of the woodwork to accuse the would-be Secretary of sexual harassment and worse, she is unsurprised.
One of Hollis’s closest friends joins the chorus of accusers, and a firestorm erupts. With a Senate hearing in the works, Brent starts leaning on his high school friends for alibis. First on his list of confidantes? The upstanding Jeffrey Mayhew. Pedigree series #1.

Where We Start From

Poppy and Stephen Endicott are the toast of Louisburg Square and the glory of Instagram. Stephen’s strong suits are his good looks, his charm, and his two handicap. His lesser suits? Fidelity and sobriety. Poppy’s lesser suit? Her cactus spikes of doom.

One night, a knock on the door changes Poppy’s comfortable, secure, privileged life forever. Widowed abruptly, she plunges into depression while her mother and sisters cluck over her and the kids flounder.
When her mother moves in and takes over her household, Poppy decides she may have mourned enough. While grappling with another unexpected change, she must learn to pick up the pieces of her own life and more importantly, her children’s lives. Pedigree series #2.

Into the Sunset

When Abigail Emerson was thirteen, the love of her life came crashing through the lilacs on a white horse. Naturally, he headed straight for her older sister. Used to living in beautiful, popular Catherine’s shadow, Abby took it in stride. An eighteen-year-old like Phil Hughes wasn’t going to be interested in a weird middle schooler.

Nine years later, Catherine Emerson and Philip Hughes IV are celebrating their engagement with the requisite fête for two hundred friends. Alas, Catherine ditches her Cartier Solitaire and sails off into the sunset without Phil. Everyone is scandalized, but none more so than Abby. When she reaches out to Phil on behalf of her mortified parents, Abby and Phil are both surprised how eagerly he reaches back. Pedigree series #3.

The Wrong Reasons

Marrying on the rebound was not Mackenzie Hughes’s best idea. Rachel Marsh was the antithesis of his cheating ex and the steamiest encounter of his entire life. Thirteen years and three kids later, the passion has long since faded and left sniping and hostility in its place.

When his brother-in-law dies tragically, Mackie is forced to acknowledge the brevity of life. When Rachel is offered a new job in her hometown and insists on the move, he’s forced to acknowledge the hostility. Torn between his children’s future happiness and his own, he’s faced with deciding whether he and Rachel should try to bridge the gaping chasm between their backgrounds or just part ways. Pedigree series #4.

Weave the Sunshine

When Poppy Endicott’s husband died, Poppy assumed her love life did as well. With three kids to raise, including the baby Stephen never got to meet, her hands are more than full. Plus, it’s likely her big kids would frown on their mother dating.
Patrick Brinley, her charming attorney – a family friend and divorced father of two – has long admired Poppy’s resilience. He’s attracted to Poppy, but he’s happy to be friends, too. After all, he did nothing but fail miserably as a husband and dad.

Poppy is terrified of tarnishing Stephen’s memory for her children and herself, and acknowledging the shortcomings in her marriage just might do that. Patrick knows precisely what he did wrong in his own marriage, but he hasn’t exactly shaped up over the nine years since it ended. Patrick and Poppy discover how to make peace with the past and give themselves a second chance. Pedigree series #5.

The Dream Kingdom

Blythe Lawrence Hughes has a grand vision for her life – and her family’s life. Unfortunately, her grand reality is more like living in her parents’ house with two kids and one on the way. And a husband who greatly dislikes living with his in-laws. What Philip doesn’t understand is that their lives will be perfect, if only he would listen to Blythe.
Philip Hughes III is very much not a visionary. His job has always been to stay rooted in reality whilst his parents, brother, and sister come unmoored around him. He’s a bit dismayed that his strong, capable wife is proving to be less than practical.
When equal parts tragedy and scandal rock the Hughes family, Philip is the one to come unmoored, and Blythe is forced to acknowledge that her idea of perfection might be a myth. Pedigree series #6.

New in Town

Mackie Hughes spent his dating years in love with love. He also spent them getting burned. Divorced and raising his three kids alone, dating is the last thing on his mind. Unfortunately, it’s the first thing on his family’s mind. When pressed (and he's pressed daily), Mackie can admit to being lonely.
Tillie Villiers is over New York. She moves to Boston for a change of scene – it’s a nice city and the locale spites her brother-in-law. Despite embarking on a new journey, she’s just as restless as she was back in her hometown.
Mackie’s unsure about Instagram queen @tillie_villie at first, and so are his kids. Tillie’s not so sure a divorced guy with three kids is the stuff of her romantic fantasies, but when their concerned families step in to shove them together, sparks fly. Pedigree Series #7.

Equal Footing

Sutton Saltonstall never makes mistakes. Inviting herself to her ex’s wedding and being Kip Fairleigh’s friend with benefits doesn’t qualify. When Kip indicates that he’d like to be more than friends, Sutton panics. Moving on from her failed marriage might force her to acknowledge that her past is indeed full of mistakes.
Kip may have grown up epitomizing The Preppy Handbook, but in adulthood, he’s been content to grow his powerhouse sports podcast, have a beer with the guys, and shove himself into a dreaded pair of khakis for the odd afternoon at the club. His favorite club member? Sutton Salt.
Sutton and Kip’s teasing, bickering friendship has outgrown itself. Sutton’s fears and troubled past and contentious present are a lot to move beyond, but Kip is game to steer them through it…if only Sutton will allow. Pedigree Series #8.

Gather The Rosebuds

When Tenley Tudor arrives at college like a traveler from another time or another land, she thinks she might be in over her head. Living in her parents’ guesthouse is lonely, but living elbow-to-elbow with kids who snicker at her weird manners is even lonelier. When Tenley tries to drop out, the Dean of Arts and Sciences jumps at the chance to keep her in school and help her find her way.
With a staggering IQ and a dead father and the burden of one of Boston’s most important legacies on his shoulders, Chester Endicott has a lot on his plate. He blames his late grandfather for his dad’s death, but all the things that would make his dad proud would also make Grandfather Endicott proud.
As Chester and Tenley struggle through the tragedies that have landed them in impossible positions, Chester realizes that Tenley is guarding the darkest family secret of all. Can Chester win her trust before the weight of the past can crush their budding futures? Pedigree Series #9.

Dazzling

When her father died, Colby Endicott’s life ground to a screeching halt. Her mother and brother have no problem living their lives – a second husband for Mom and a family of his own for Chester – but in most ways, Colby has spent the past fourteen years stuck stubbornly at age eleven.

Palmer Crowninshield returns to his native Boston with major political ambitions. The governor’s office is calling his name, but there are dues to pay in the form of a busy (and slightly soul-crushing) gig as a policy analyst. And as one who moved away after eighth grade, he’s as good as brand new to the social scene.

When Palmer’s mother visits his bachelor pad, she hires the Instagram mainstay design firm Interiors by Sutton Salt to make the place livable. Palmer could not care less about his sofa upholstery, but he remembers the firm’s beautiful purchasing agent from back in the day. One doesn’t forget a face or a backstory like Colby Endicott’s. Colby’s standards are sky high, and she’s managed to weed out every eligible man in town sight unseen. In fact, she only ever had a crush on one boy, but he moved away after eighth grade. (Pedigree Series #10)

The Fundamental Things

Becca Hughes Fairleigh has married into the perfect family. Her adoring in-laws are a balm after her troubled childhood, although she’s fiercely devoted to her father and brothers. After a clinching a national show jumping title, she’s content to settle into life as an up-and-coming designer with the perfect husband by her side.

Yates Fairleigh is at the top of his game, married to his childhood sweetheart and gainfully employed with his doting dad. He enjoys their slew of extended family, and when they all start procreating, it gives him ideas.

A horrible secret, a letter from Becca’s birth mother, and tensions everywhere make quick work of the family’s contentment. Becca, Yates, their siblings, and their cousins choose sides, and their peaceful friendships threaten to explode into an all-out war. (Pedigree Series #11)

Shatterproof

Cecelia Norcross has never set a pinkie toe out of line. Why would she? She enjoys being perfect – her family’s cherished baby, a former yearbook president, and a stunning success at the Museum of Fine Arts. As she closes in on her perfect life, cheered on by her parents, friends, and Boston Social Diary, she wonders if she might have made a dreadful mistake.

As his family’s golden son, Hunter Fairleigh will admit to having it pretty good. He joined his dad in the business banking world, while his little brother shelved his Princeton degree for a job talking about March Madness. Unlike most of his friends, he’s not too worried about settling down just yet.

When Cecelia’s future fiancé introduces her to his oldest friend, Hunter, the spark is immediate and dangerously hot. As they sort through their charged feelings, Cecelia and Hunter become caught up in a scandal that is neither perfect nor golden. Cherished, shy Cecelia must find the courage to move on with her life – before her life crashes down on top of her. (Pedigree Series #12)

Witchcraft

The Salem History Museum is Ellison Dudley’s dream job. As a history buff who may have dabbled in coven life, she loves using her powers for good. When an exciting new research project lands in her lap, she’s ready to roll up her sleeves and hit the graveyard running.

Sammy Hughes has his own dream job, but the party stops there. Unlike his siblings and cousins, he’s single with no prospects. He’s also come away with some serious burns from chasing his dragon birth mother.

When Ellison’s best friend sets her up with her single cousin, Sammy almost slips away. Ellison is intrigued and ropes him into her project. As Sammy and Ellison grow closer, ghosts past and present begin to haunt them both. Ellison’s foray into the region’s tragic past unearths a modern-day mystery that’s far more dangerous than witchcraft. (Pedigree Series #13)

Now We Rise

Nathaniel and Louise Tudor have made a solid mess of their lives. Grappling with illnesses and heartbreak for years absorbed them to the exclusion of everything else – even the things they held most dear.

When Louise gets out rehab, it seems like the ideal opportunity for a fresh start. She has decades’ worth of life to rebuild and a husband willing to take a chance on rebuilding his own. Unfortunately, Louise’s demons have proven enough to derail her entire future more than once and almost impossible to exorcise for good.

Spring cleaning two messy lives is not for the faint of heart. Nathaniel and Louise begin to suspect it might be too late to fix what’s been broken for thirty years. Their beautiful, estranged daughter will give them the time of day and nothing more. Tenley’s fiendishly high IQ and her tendency to have children constantly make her a formidable goal. The Tudors must brush away the dust from the family’s darkest secrets and face down their worst enemies if they want to claim the ultimate prize – their daughter’s love. (Pedigree Series #14)

The Only One

Fennie Miles never met her father. Stephen Endicott died in a DUI crash when her mother was three weeks pregnant. Her older siblings have had their own lives and their own families since Fennie was a teenager. When a mysterious inheritance lands in her lap, Fennie is wracked with the need to plumb the past for answers - all the while dreading the future.

Ned Miles has lived his entire life out of step with his family. He's drawn to the life his parents never wanted and to the parents his father estranged. Ned prepares for a career in the family business while juggling a troubled wife, a heavy course load, and a crushing commute.

Fennie and Ned begin to suffocate beneath the weight of a past that won't stay buried, a hectic present, and an uncertain future. Will bringing everything to light drive a permanent wedge between them and their families? Or will it settle their scores once and for all? (Pedigree Series #15)