Adult Novels
The Pet-Sit
A decades-old secret. A missing woman. A private investigator with everything to prove.
Newly minted PI Paula Moore takes on her first case: find Marion Taylor, who vanished from Portsmouth, England, years ago. Paula’s search leads her across the ocean to San Francisco—only to discover Marion has changed her name, returned to England, and taken a pet-sitting job with a hidden purpose.
Marion isn’t just watching two dogs—she’s confronting the ghost of a childhood attack that’s haunted her for decades.
As Paula closes in, the women’s paths collide in unexpected ways. What begins as a simple missing persons case becomes a powerful story of friendship, healing, and second chances.
The Pet-Sit is a moving blend of mystery and women’s fiction, featuring two strong, compassionate women facing the past to reclaim their futures. This propulsive thriller shows the same insight and compassion that Carol Moreira has displayed in such acclaimed novels as Too Good and Culture Shock.
“Author Carol Moreira has masterfully weaved a twisty tale of revenge and redemption when trauma survivor Marilyn arrives to pet-sit in the picturesque city of Portsmouth—and disgraced police officer Paula is mysteriously assigned to track her down. Fast-paced, yet adorned with Moreira’s delicate grace notes of the everyday human condition, Moreira’s fine writing draws one in immediately. Her insightful crafting of the characters of The Pet-Sit and her depictions of the city of Portsmouth are wonderfully immersive, and will stay with you long after you finish the final page. If you are looking for a suspenseful read that thoughtfully addresses the impact of trauma on survivors of a crime, I highly recommend Carol Moreira’s The Pet-Sit.”
—Pamela Callow, author of the international bestselling Kate Lange Thriller Series
Culture Shock
In 1995, three dynamic women – a Filipina amah, a Canadian journalist, and her teenage daughter – confront crises in their lives in Hong Kong as the territory braces to switch from British to Chinese rule.
As complex and colourful as the city it’s set in, Culture Shock explores the courage needed to overcome trauma in a new culture. Witty, poignant and gripping, this story captures the closing era of the British colony through the eyes of these three expatriates..
'As a Filipina who was raised intimately knowing the stories of the many Filipinas who have given up their homeland and all it came with to pursue success in another country, Culture Shock is a book that hits close to home. This book shows us that no matter where we're from or what our backgrounds are, we are all connected through the pain we experience and the resilience we all have within to overcome challenges.'
– Carla Ravanes Higham, The Manila Times
'Set on the cusp of Hong Kong’s impending return to Communist China, Culture Shock is an intricate tale of women whose lives hang precariously in the balance. Misogyny is rampant and women of all stripes bear the brunt of that muscle. Compellingly written, Moreira weaves the challenging subject matter into a seamless and beautiful narrative,
with finely honed dialogue and unforgettable characters from the first page to the last. You won’t want to stop reading until you reach the very end.'
– Marci Lin Melvin, Author of Fortress, Thin Glass Houses, and Wildflowers
Too Good
Struggling in her marriage, her new life in England, and her work in a hospice, Canadian-born Lindsey is drawn to her best friend’s attractive husband David. The sight of his lean gardener’s body working in the hospice grounds fills her with longing and makes her forget the sadness in both the hospice and her marriage.
Guilt about her fascination with David is complicated by her friendship and admiration for his wife Grace, a cancer doctor at the hospice. But when Grace is killed in a terrorist attack, Lindsey is drawn into a passionate romance with Grace’s man unheeding of the dangers..
"Carol Moreira's TOO GOOD is an extraordinarily beautiful narrative, Poignant. Eloquent. Evocative.... Ms. Moreira's writing is so skillful, I never suspected the twist near the end of this amazing novel."
– Goodreads
Young Adult Novels
Membrane
"Imagine, if you will, a novel that feels like a cross between The Hunger Games trilogy and the popular television series Fringe. Carol Moreira’s new novel for young adults, Membrane, struck me as being a cross between those two, but it’s not at all derivative."
— Chronicle Herald
You can’t outrun the membrane...
For Tanya turning sixteen sucks. Her former friend Rachel is bullying her, the love of her life doesn’t know she exists and her self-esteem isn’t exactly sky-high. Things go from bad to worse when she gets slimed at a bus stop and finds herself in an alternate universe and faced with another version of herself.
Her alternate universe double is cool and confident, if a bit bossy. P — short for Princess because in Tanya’s eyes she is one — is part of an organization called Resist. Trained in tactical defense, Resist is preparing for an invasion by the Others. But are the Others really mobilizing to take over P’s universe or has there been some kind of galactic miscommunication?
On the other side of the membrane, who can Tanya trust to make it back to her universe alive?
Inside Information
‘A PAGE TURNER’
– Alison Lawlor, The Chronicle-Herald
Brothers Mike and Chris McLachlan live a privileged life by the ocean in Halifax, Nova Scotia, but it is shattered when their father is jailed for insider trading. The 16-year-old twins must sell their boat and sports car and move with their mother to a shabby house on the edge of town. Mike adapts well, finding love and a fuller sense of himself. But Chris struggles. When he’s forced to smuggle banned substances into their father's jail, Chris’s world gets a whole lot darker.
Carol Moreira, the critically acclaimed author of RIPTIDES, CHARGED, and MEMBRANE returns with a new page-turner for young adults. Infused with strong characters facing critical decisions, INSIDE INFORMATION will keep you reading until late into the evening.
Riptides
Pirate treasure, splintered families, the impacts of climate change, a determined boy, and a compelling immigrant blend together in this adventure for younger teens and middle-grade readers.
Cam is working every angle he can to raise money so his mom can avoid selling their home. His dad has moved to Toronto and is not much use. But there are complications, including John, an old friend with a new grudge, and Anika, an intriguing newcomer. One or the other is always popping up in the middle of Cam's schemes.
Charged
Craig is raising his little brother while his mother and her drug-dealing boyfriend ruin their lives.
Manda's parents are teetering on the edge of divorce.
How will Craig and Manda learn to let go of their anger and find the courage to move into adulthood when they see only flaws in their parents?
Contributions to Joint Projects
Less Than Innocent
On a day in September, 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown in Nova Scotia, a young man named Rob gets ready for a run along a rail trail. His shoelace snaps, and with that all his plans change.
Less Than Innocent is an adventure on several levels. Who are all these people interested in getting hold of Rob, and how will he evade them? What is going on with the second post-office box? What is brewing among some students and a faculty advisor at Acadia University?
At a higher lever, the book is an adventure in writing. Twenty authors each wrote a chapter and handed the book on to the next writer in line. Using the 'yes, and' principle of improvisation, each writer had to take what was in the existing chapters and create the next steps in the evolving story. There was no story outline: the writing itself determined where the story would go.
Coming Here, Being Here
This migration anthology is an entertaining miscellany of memoir, essays, newspaper reportage, and even a poem, highlighting the humour, as well as the ironies and agonies generated when humans seek a new homeland.
The authors, and their stories, are as diverse as our Canadian population itself, and help to tell who we all are within this amazing, tolerant, nurturing and sometimes frustrating geographic space called Canada.