Hi, I’m Mori Hart.
Well—kind of.
Technically, I’m Moriah. But no one in publishing knows that, not even most of my readers. “Mori Hart” is the name on the spines of the books that landed me on bestseller lists, secured me a Big Five contract, and paid for the very nice house I live in on Martha’s Vineyard. It’s also the name associated with a wildly popular series of spicy romances I wrote during a particularly chaotic chapter of my life. They weren’t supposed to hit like that. But they did.
And with that success came… everything. The fancy dinner parties. The DMs from blue-check names. Champagne on yachts I never dreamed I’d be invited onto. A lifestyle I should probably be more grateful for. But if I’m being honest? Most days, I feel like a fraud.
I don’t say that for sympathy or to sound humble—I say it because imposter syndrome is my constant +1, no matter how high the sales climb or how many book club TikTok’s tag me in spicy reaction videos. There’s a part of me that still feels like the awkward kid in bottle-cap glasses who only found safety between the pages of library books while my parents’ marriage imploded.
Here’s the thing I haven’t admitted out loud until now:
I don’t want to write romance anymore.
I want to write mystery. Twisty, bingeable, can’t-put-it-down stories that keep readers up all night and haunt them the next day. I want to craft that kind of magic. But when I told my agent, she panicked. Said I’d tank my career, lose my readership, and throw away the brand we built.
So now I’m stuck. Between the life I’ve built and the life I want.
Between who everyone thinks “Mori Hart” is… and who Moriah really is.
And just when I thought my identity crisis couldn’t get messier, the past decided to call.
Thanks to a social media rabbit hole and one surprisingly nostalgic group chat, I’ve reconnected with my high school crew. Remi (now a yoga goddess with her own gym), Calista (an English teacher who used to make me write her book reports), and Avery (living on a farm in Iowa with a flock of kids, literal chickens, and enough corn to fuel the Midwest). Somehow, despite the years and miles, we’re all coming back together—for a reunion on Cape Cod, where we used to stay up until sunrise around beach bonfires.
I’m nervous. Scratch that—terrified. Because while we’ve stayed in touch here and there, we haven’t spent real time together in decades. And there are secrets buried deep in the sand of our shared past. Secrets I’ve worked very hard to forget.
Also… what if they’ve read my books?
What if they think I’m my brand?
There’s a storm brewing; I can feel it. But maybe, just maybe, it’s the kind that clears the air.
So that’s where this novel starts.
At the edge of a genre shift.
I’m not the only one lying about who I really am though.
Lie In The Tide – A Little White Lies Mystery, Book 1
Genre: Thriller
Release: June 2025
Format: Print, Digital, Audio
Purchase Link
Theirs is a reunion . . . to die for! Four friends are meeting at a beautiful Cape Cod beach house for a long overdue reunion. But before the trip is over, one of them will wind up dead . . . Perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Lucy Foley.
It’s been twenty years since Mori, Avery, Remi and Calista last saw each other. As they reconnect on Cape Cod to celebrate Calista’s 40th birthday, each one hides a painful and devastating secret.
Former introvert, Mori is now a bestselling erotica author. She’s more successful than she ever dreamed, and yet shamefully on the cusp of divorce #3.
Remi’s a yoga instructor, blissfully married to her high school sweetheart. On this trip, she’s concealing her pregnancy – and the baby’s paternity.
Quiet Avery is a farm wife living in Iowa. Her life doesn’t have the scandals of her friends’. But she does have a house full of kids she fears she’ll never see again . . .
And Calista, the quintessential suburban mom and high school English teacher, is harboring the biggest secret of all.
These four women are about to learn that one little white lie could kill more than just their friendship . . .
Lie In The Tide is told in multiple POV with the audio book currently in production at Dreamscape using four actors. Mori is just one of four voices you will come to know.
About the author
Holly Danvers pens multiple mysteries series under several pseudonyms. A New England native, she now resides in the Midwest with her husband, where she’s already plotting her next novel.