Brie MacDavies should have drowned that night. Two of her best friends-one like a sister, the other the boy she almost loved-never made it out of the water. But she survived… and someone doesn't think she should have.For months, anonymous notes have appeared, each carrying the same chilling message: It should have been you. Haunted by guilt and convinced her survival was a cruel mistake, Brie has stopped believing she deserves happiness-until a stranger named Brendan walks into her life.Charming. Steady. Magnetic. Brendan feels like a lifeline she didn't know she needed. But beneath his calm smile lies a secret that could destroy her. Brendan is the brother of the friend she lost-and the man who's been searching for the person he believes caused his sister's death.Driven by grief and rage, Brendan came to punish her. Yet the more he learns about Brie, the less certain he becomes of what really happened that night-and the more impossible it becomes to let her go.In a story where love and guilt collide, two broken hearts must face the truth about the past and decide whether forgiveness can heal what vengeance would destroy.For readers of Tarryn Fisher, Megan Miranda, and J.E. Reed-She Laughs is an emotionally charged romantic thriller where obsession, memory, and redemption blur like reflections on dark water. The birth of Kate Oleander happened on a whim, a chance, and a forgotten dream. One day and several hours later the obsession took root deep in an elementary school teacher on a lazy summer afternoon. At the time the writer was nameless, and over the span of a week the pen name Kate Oleander became an alias to embrace and cherish. She breathes life into imaginary scenes, ideas, and characters bursting from a suppressed imagination. Many of the entities finding life on the pages of the novels have rattled around Kate's mind for decades.When not writing, Kate is a middle school teacher in the Midwest. She and her husband have four children and three dogs.Kate's favorite genres to write are paranormal romance and fantasy romance, but contemporary romances with suspense, danger, and a wicked antagonist are a close third to the others. All of her stories entertain the growth of a strong-willed female finding happiness and love at last while staying true to herself and fighting even when she thinks she has nothing left.Sometimes the most beautiful things arise out of the ashes of destruction, and Kate Oleander enjoys lighting the match.
