Welcome To
The Bookshelf
Here, you’ll find a collection of worlds explored, characters brought to life, and stories told from the heart. Dive into the complete catalog of Michelle S. Morris's published works—from her earliest debut to her latest releases. Happy reading!
Fresh Water
One summer. Three generations. A small, family island. Languorous days on the water. Emotional upheaval in the undercurrents. Possible murder. The lies people tell. The secrets they keep…
Women of the family and their children descend upon matriarch Alex after the unexpected death in questionable circumstances of her second husband, a man Alex is no longer sure she knew at all. No one but Alex knows his death was questionable. She doesn’t need pity or help with grief but will quietly turn the tables and tackle the issues faced by her daughters, daughter-in-law, and niece.
This multi-generational family story takes place over one summer on a small family island located on an inland lake in northern Michigan that has been passed down through the generations. Each woman brings her own secrets and insecurities. Each explores what it is to come into her own in a place where her ancestors did the same. All this under the watchful eyes of the youngsters.
The underlying issues posed in the narrative have a backdrop of requisite summer fun in an idyllic setting with swimming, water skiing, sailing, barbecues, a cramped cottage, a restored treehouse, and heart-to-heart talks. The unhurried rhythm of lake life in the summer gives a sense of calm that stretches through the ages, while the underlying issues and the uncovered drama are anything but calm.
The scenes cover a swath of everyday living. Contemporary issues of sexuality, domestic violence, women as leaders, and feelings of not being enough hit close to home for the women of the Newberry family. Resilience, found strength as individuals and as a family, and acceptance as cleansing as the fresh water surrounding them, may be the healing they didn’t know they needed.
New Release
Available in Paperback, Hardcover, and eBook.
A Timber River Thriller
A Quiet Town
Small-town thriller where the quiet is surface level and the unlikely pairing of a motorcycle club and book club are the victims’ only hope.
Gone. Just like that. A normal morning turns deadly when a deputy and his prisoner disappear during transport between two small Michigan towns. It will take salon & spa owner Marsh Monet and his Gumshoe Readers Book Club, with the assistance of the Phantom Raiders Motorcycle Club, to put together the pieces before it’s too late.
All is not as it seems. Sinister activity in the shadows. Bodies of innocents discovered. Corrupt county officials unchecked. The deep woods of northern Michigan hide more than the missing. Astonishing secrets for their town come out of the darkness. Stakes are high for Marsh—his husband is the missing deputy.
Come back to Timber River, where the McCarthys and the Phantom Raiders MC serve their community and fiercely protect their extended family—and the Gumshoe Readers can’t stay out of the action.
In this standalone book, once again get up close with the multi-generational characters you loved in Comes Around and meet Marsh and their new friends as they battle unknown villains—and time.
Great for fans of Pamela Fagan Hutchins, Frieda McFadden, Laura Dave, or Tana French.
Available in Paperback, Hardcover, and eBook.
A Timber River Thriller
Comes Around
Young, uber-achieving professional Halley McCarthy slinks back to her small-town Michigan roots in shame when her carefully constructed life blows up. Her employer, a San Francisco tech startup for which she left New York, is under federal investigation for fraud; its executives are accused of embezzlement and two of the partners disappear; her ex-fiancé turns out to be a creep; and soon a colleague is killed, bringing back painful memories of her mother’s long-ago, unsolved murder. Her closest comfort comes in talking to her dead grandparents and her mother at their graves.
As anonymous threats begin to find her halfway across the country, it becomes clear that Halley herself is in grave danger. She realizes, reluctantly, that her secrets must be shared with her family—both blood and chosen—and its motorcycle club dynasty. She fights to maintain control over her unspooling circumstances as the club rallies around her, calling upon its in-house security business and resident cyber-sleuth to find answers as the feds and her stalker close in. A violent showdown not only reveals the betrayal of someone close but ties her mother’s murder to the startups’ woes and Halley’s sudden change in fortune.
In her new vulnerability, will Halley learn that there are many ways for success to be measured; that big minds can also be found in small towns; that life-changing opportunities exist everywhere, if you know where to look; and that big jobs don’t always equal happiness? In the protective arms of her family’s motorcycle club, she carves out a new, more satisfying life, including the possibility of new love. The road is rough but character is strength, and discovering what makes one happy, well, that may be the biggest success of all.
Available in Paperback, Hardcover, and eBook.
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