313 ratings | 162 reviews | avg rating:3.84

Heather’s Year In Books

Heather’s 2024 Year in Books

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to-read (183)
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Heather Ames

Goodreads Author

Born

Hornchurch, The United Kingdom

Website

https://heatherames.weebly.com/

Genre

Mystery, Paranormal, Romance

Member Since

August 2013

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Heather Ames writes two mystery/suspense series, one with a paranormal twist, standalone suspense, romantic suspense, and short contemporary romances. When she’s not writing, she’s either thinking up new plots, traveling the world, or dreaming up new adventures.

She’s lived in five countries and seven states, hitchhiked around Europe, spent a year in a sixth-floor walk-up in Paris with a view of the Eiffel Tower, traveled by planes, trains, automobiles and ocean-going liners, and worked as a bartender in Madrid, Spain. She was also a military spouse for seven years and has two children, one born in Spain, the other in North Carolina.

During a long career in healthcare she carried pepper spray and mace in her bag for home health visits in the ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

How do you manage to write two very different series? Do you have an idea of how many books will be in each one?

Heather Ames Thanks for asking these questions, Paula.

Let me answer the second question first...

The Swift/Roberts series will have 5 books. When I was first convin…moreThanks for asking these questions, Paula.

Let me answer the second question first...

The Swift/Roberts series will have 5 books. When I was first convinced (by 17 people in an LA critique group, including several screenwriters) to make Indelible the first book in a series instead of a standalone I originally planned, I felt it would be a limited series, perhaps with 6 books. By the time I wrote Book 3 (Swift Retribution) I knew the story arcs for all main characters would be completed in 5 books.

The Ghost Shop series also started with a standalone, but when I relocated it to the Willamette Valley and introduced new characters that gave it the paranormal twist that defines it, I realized there were possibilities for more books. I am currently writing Book 3, Tainted Legacy, with a storyline that involves a very bad vintage. Finding ideas for strange new plots and oddball, sometimes human and sometimes far-from-human characters are proving to be relatively easy.

Writing two series with very different storylines and characters makes the process easier at times, but more complex at others. I found the emotional depth I have to reach with the Swift/Roberts series didn't mess well with the lighter touch I use for the Ghost Shop series. Mystery/suspense with thriller elements is a very different kettle of fish from cozy but paranormal. I had to stop working on both first drafts in tandem. I'll finish Tainted Legacy's draft before I go back to Maine Issues (Book 4 in the Swift/Roberts series.) It'll be easier to revise one while creating the other. If it isn't, then I'll finish Tainted Legacy to meet my publication deadline of the end of October, and complete Maine Issues over the winter, for a spring release. Better to publish what I feel will be two good books than possibly sacrifice some of my best writing.

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Can you tell us a two-sentence horror story?

Heather Ames No; there's enough horror in this world already without producing more for the shock value. We're traumatized enough on a daily basis.…moreNo; there's enough horror in this world already without producing more for the shock value. We're traumatized enough on a daily basis.(less)

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Heather Ames’s books

Average rating: 4.59 · 51 ratings · 18 reviews · 14 distinct works

	Indelible (Brian Swift & Kaylen Roberts #1) 4.64 avg rating — 11 ratings — published 2014 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tapped by Fate (Ghost Shop #1) 4.70 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 2021 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Swift Brand of Justice (Brian Swift & Kaylen Roberts #2) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 6 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tread Softly (Ghost Shop #2) 4.50 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 2022 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	All That Glitters 3.67 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 2008 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tainted Legacy (Ghost Shop #3) 4.50 avg rating — 4 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Night Shadows it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2018 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Swift Retribution (Brian Swift & Kaylen Roberts, #3) 4.67 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2019 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Sweetest Song it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2006 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	All That Glitters: Love and gold are a dangerous mix it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Heather Ames…

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Heather Ames's Blog

A New Year, Two New Books, and an Emotional Rollercoaster

Maine Issues, the 4th book in the Swift/Roberts series, is currently at the end of its 3rd draft. It will need a 4th and final draft/read-through for rechecking continuity and a seek-and-destroy mission to catch those pesky typos that persist in all books, even the traditionally-published with their eagle-eyed copy editors.

Trick or Truth, Book 4 of the Ghost Shop series, is on a slower track but p Read more of this blog post »

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Published on January 28, 2025 11:21 • Tags: dealing-with-emotions, goals, new-releases, updates

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Series by Heather Ames

Brian Swift & Kaylen Roberts (3 books)
by

Heather Ames (Goodreads Author)

4.75 avg rating — 20 ratings

Ghost Shop (3 books)
by

Heather Ames (Goodreads Author)

4.60 avg rating — 20 ratings

Heather is Currently Reading

Heather Ames is currently reading

The Three Musketeers (Trilogie des Mousquetaires #1)

by Alexandre Dumas

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Jul 06, 2025 04:01PM

Heather Ames is currently reading

East Lynne

by Mrs. Henry Wood

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Aug 07, 2013 09:38PM

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Heather’s Recent Updates

Heather Ames finished reading The Picture of Dorian Gray: A Graphic Novel by Ian Edginton	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 06, 2025 04:06PM · like
Heather Ames rated a book really liked it Prayers for Rain (Kenzie & Gennaro, #5) by Dennis Lehane (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A fast read. Love his descriptions. Liked the cast of characters a lot, and this book, despite its heavy subject matter, injected humor and cameraderie and hope for the future. Very different from Mystic River in theme and tone.
Jul 06, 2025 04:04PM · like · see review
Heather Ames is currently reading The Three Musketeers (Trilogie des Mousquetaires #1) by Alexandre Dumas	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 06, 2025 04:01PM · like
Heather Ames started reading East Lynne by Mrs. Henry Wood	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 06, 2025 04:00PM · like
Heather Ames rated a book really liked it Cat Call (Crazy Cat Lady Cozy #4) by Mollie Hunt (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 06, 2025 03:59PM · like
Heather Ames rated a book really liked it Iron Lake (20th Anniversary Edition) (The Cork O'Connor Mysteries) by William Kent Krueger (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 06, 2025 03:58PM · like
Heather Ames rated a book really liked it Iron Lake (20th Anniversary Edition) (The Cork O'Connor Mysteries) by William Kent Krueger (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 06, 2025 03:58PM · like
Heather Ames is currently reading Cat Call (Crazy Cat Lady Cozy #4) by Mollie Hunt (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 06, 2025 03:33PM · like
Heather Ames rated a book really liked it A Sea of Unspoken Things by Adrienne Young (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I picked up an ARC of this book at the local library's annual review of books. It started slow, but the imagery and an interesting premise kept me reading. A little too much emphasis on how isolated the town was and how the protagonist was only retur ...more
Apr 06, 2025 03:29PM · like · see review
Heather Ames rated a book really liked it The Girl from Oto (Miramonde, #1) by Amy Maroney (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
What an interesting premise, and what a huge undertaking! The first novel in a series of 3, interwoven stories centuries apart bring a woman from present day to research a female artist from long ago. The resulting separate casts of characters on two ...more
Apr 06, 2025 03:29PM · 1 like · like · see review