Laurie

You want to know the secret to everlasting happiness? Never fall in love. That was the wisdom my father imparted to us James boys after our mom died, and it’s a piece of advice that’s served me well. Until dear old Dad asks me for a favor over Sunday brunch. No big deal, right? I love making my old man happy. Except this “favor” is a lot more complicated than picking up his dry cleaning. Dad wants me to marry and provide a few heirs for the James empire, and he’s even done me the courtesy of handpicking my bride-to-be. Lucky me.

Hope Mitchell lived her life on the outskirts; no attachments, no friends, no family. All of this by design. She knew the pain that came when you lost someone who meant something to you. She’d sworn off men long ago; the last time she fell in love she invited the devil into her heart, and she lost, huge. That was to say, she knew better than to let the larger-than-life Delta Force operator into her life. Hope recognized the risk, but Beau promised he would fight for her, which he did, until he left her more broken than he found her.

Everybody has problems. But Travis? Yeah, he has so many problems that he finds it hard to breathe sometimes. He spends five years catering to his ex-wife's every want and need - all to make it possible to continue to see his child. He isn't supposed to fall in love with a woman, but he does. He isn't supposed to find someone that is willing to put up with his ex-wife's crazy antics, but he has. He isn't supposed to be happy, but he is. And all it takes is his ex-wife finding out about his newfound peace for things to change. Hannah saw him and knew he was the one.

The CIA didn’t care if Agent Victoria Marshal lived or died in an Afghani hell-hole. Yet, she survived each torture session with single-minded determination, but human flesh has its limits. She knew her time was running short. Jacob King led a privately funded black ops group into that Afghani village to gather intelligence. He didn’t expect to find an American woman. He admired her brave humor in the face of her agonizing injuries. This kind of tough-minded woman was someone Jacob wanted to know, so he asked her for a date…same time, next year.

Her: I wanted to have a pity party of one when I went for that beer. I never imagined I would meet a dark and dangerous man. That man took me on the wildest ride of my life. Literally and figuratively. He quickly became my entire world. Him: I didn't know I was looking for her. I saw her warming that bar stool and knew she would be mine. A man like me doesn't deserve the likes of her. But damned if I didn't take it. Her: When we met for the first time we didn't know that we already had a connection.

As a civilian contractor, Sierra Clarkson thought she’d found the perfect way to serve her country, short of joining the military...until she was kidnapped from a base in Afghanistan. Turns out terrorists don’t care if you’re a soldier or not; everyone bleeds the same. Even worse, no one knows she’s been taken. Her missing belongings point to desertion - which means no one is looking for her, either. But someone is. Fred “Grover” Groves never forgot the redheaded spitfire working the chow line on a base in the Afghani desert.

Dealing with his disaster of an ex-wife is bad enough, not to mention delinquent football players and a meddlesome mother. Cam doesn’t have the luxury of time for anything more, especially a relationship. Even if it is Paige Carpino. She's smart and sweet, but at every turn, knocks him on his ass with the unexpected. That’s figuratively speaking of course. Paige might come in a small package, but she makes up for it in spirit. An energetic spit-fire who has some heat to her sauce, she’s dedicated to her new business, her family, and a select group of friends.

First grade teacher and single mother Alexa Harris is no stranger to struggle, but for once, things are looking up. The school year is over and the lazy days of summer are here. Mini-vacations and relaxing twilight barbeques are on the horizon, until Alexa's free-spirited younger sister vanishes. Ransom calls and death threats force Alexa and her young daughter to flee their quiet home in Maryland. With nowhere else to turn, Alexa seeks the help of Jackson Matthews, Ethan Cooke Security's Risk Assessment Specialist and the man who broke her heart.

Toni’s no stranger to making mistakes. She has experienced firsthand how walking down the wrong path can send life spiraling out of control. Fortunately, she had someone to drag her from the gutter and help set her on the right track. As penance for the poor choices of her past, she pledges to suppress her baser desires and focus on finding a steady, dependable man, even if that means embracing a boring lifestyle.

Aaron "don't ever call me Fatbaby" Sims is lucky to be alive. Or at least that is what everyone keeps telling him. He doesn't feel lucky, though. He's scarred, has more than a little bit of a bad attitude, and there isn't a single day that goes by that he doesn't wish his wife would've just finished off the job. After being denied his old position at the fire department, he leaves, and doesn't look back. He heads straight to Alabama and into the semi-welcoming arms of The Dixie Wardens MC. There he becomes a part of a brotherhood that forces him to get back in the land of the living.