Catherine Fisher Novels & Stories

Caitlin Van Dyke is at a crossroads. She’s thirty-two years old and she’s never been married, has no career, or a real life by the world’s standards. Caitlin is determined to find herself and figure out what she wants out of life. So, she made an impulsive purchase online – a fixer-upper in Key West. While there she plans to discover herself and try new things. Before she leaves she attends her sister, Catherine’s wedding. During the reception, her boyfriend, Hector Beaumont, proposes to her. Caitlin explains where she’s at in her life and tells him she’ll think over his proposal while she is away. Caitlin had planned to be alone to find herself on the tropical island – and to renovate her new purchase. But when she arrives, she discovers that the fixer-upper is in worst shape than she had thought. She has no choice but to hire a handyman. A.J., lone wolf, drifter, and he lives on a boat but he came highly recommended. So, Caitlin hired him not knowing that doing so would turn her life upside down. Their attraction is too strong for them to deny. Their chemistry boils over during Hurricane Bart on a private island. After two or three weeks of bliss, Caitlin decides she has to return to the real world – without A.J. After returning to New York, Caitlin accepts Hector’s proposal. Her mother can’t wait to start planning wedding weekend events Van Dyke style. Everything is going according to plan until A.J. pops up in New York at a dinner Caitlin is hosting under his real identity. Pregnant and engaged, what is a girl to do when her summer lover shows up, demanding that she be with him?

Mary Preston and her family fled to another country, leaving everything behind. Suddenly, she found herself surrounded by unfamiliar faces, in a foreign land, speaking a language she didn’t understand. A few years later, at the tender age of 19, she ended up married to Maximus Palmer, the grandson of the powerful Catherine Palmer. Mary loved him with all her heart, but he never felt the same. He married her out of obligation, not out of love. One misunderstanding after another pushed their marriage into a downward spiral, filled with infidelity, abuse, and endless disillusionment. For years, Mary lived under the shadow of another woman, enduring the pain until she finally found the courage to ask for a divorce. Her decision took Maximus by surprise, and he refused to let her go. But fate had other plans, and a tragic event forced the divorce to happen sooner than anyone expected. Afterward, Mary tried to rebuild her life, hoping to find love again and happiness that would last. But the scars from her past made it hard for her to trust or believe in love again. She faced many moments of anguish, sadness, and loneliness. Yet, through it all, she slowly began to find herself and step back into the light. Perhaps this time, she wouldn’t have to face everything alone. Maybe someone new would come into her life, someone who could be her rock and her reason to live. Although she learned that the past was never truly left behind, she also discovered that with a strong foundation, even the most broken things could still stand tall. Life had taught her about the three kinds of love: the one that teaches you how to love, the one you wished was yours but wasn’t meant to be, and the one you never saw coming that heals your wounds and brings true happiness.

His fingers slid into my hair, tugging just enough to tilt my head back and expose my throat to him. “We shouldn’t be doing this, Mr. Turner,” I breathed, my voice breaking on a gasp as he found a sensitive spot just beneath my ear and sucked lightly. His growl was low and primal, vibrating through my skin as he pressed his body against mine. I felt every hard line of him, his heat bleeding through my clothes. “Why not?” he murmured, his voice rough with restrained need. I swallowed hard. “You’re… you’re my ex-fiancé’s father.” He paused. For a moment, everything stilled… his breath against my throat, the air between us, even the rain outside seemed to hesitate. Then he lifted his head, and our eyes locked. His were a stormy blue, intense and unwavering. “No one has to know, Catherine,” he said quietly, his voice was like a dark promise wrapped in silk. Then he leaned in with his lips brushing the shell of my ear. “I can be your dirty secret.” A shiver ripped down my spine. His words settled deep in my gut, awakening something dangerous. I bit my lip. Every cell in my body screamed for me to walk away but I didn’t. Instead, I gripped the front of his shirt, pulled him down, and kissed him hard. Desperately. He rumbled low in his chest, kissing me back with equal hunger, his hands roaming my body like he already knew every curve. When he finally broke the kiss, I was breathless. Then he dropped to his knees between my legs, with his eyes darker now. “I’m going to show you the world,” he said. “If you’d let me.”