Renowned Chef Elodie Winters’ dream job, private chef to a powerful family in New York, quickly becomes a nightmare when her employer turns out to be the head of a notorious mob family. Now on the run, she thinks she’s finally safe, having landed in the middle of the Arabian Sea, cooking on the Asaka Express cargo ship. When the ship is taken by pirates, she can’t believe her bad luck...but it’s about to take a turn for the better.

Ryan Coates does it all. Single dad with an ex who needs reminders to spend time with their kids. Chief of the Baytown Station of the Virginia Marine Police. Sergeant at Arms for the American Legion. Son. Brother. Coach. Friend. What he’s not doing is looking for a woman. Then he met her. Again. She’s the new doctor in town. And she remembers Ryan. Two years younger than him, she used to write his name in her notebooks. What she’s not doing is looking for a man. But when their jobs cross paths, they discover that working together might give them a chance at love after all.

Brady Hewitt was all too familiar with the horrors of war. They clung to him, or maybe he clung to them, using the nightmares as an excuse to keep others at bay—especially his boss’ daughter, Hadley Walker. Beautiful, sexy, ambitious, and forbidden. Not just because the former Special Forces soldier respected her father and liked his job, she was too good for him—all sunshine and smiles while he was darkness and filth.

Military duty called them away to war zones, but after tours overseas, the group of friends found their way back home as men, seeking the peaceful little seaside town. Now, the band of brothers, together once more, work to provide a place for less fortunate veterans to call home. Mitch Evans left his career as an FBI agent after his father retired as the Baytown Police Chief. Returning home to take up the mantle, he was glad to be back with his family and the Baytown boys. The bonus? Reuniting with his childhood friend and teenage crush.

When the unthinkable befalls Alaska during a trip to Russia, it’s Drake’s turn to drop everything and race to her aid. Safely back at The Refuge, he just as quickly realizes what he’s failed to see for two decades—his oldest, dearest friend is the love of his life. A revelation that may be too little, too late. Because Drake’s brought the enemy right to their door.

Riggs “Chappy” Chapman didn’t expect to be disrupted at his remote cabin in the woods. But when a stray dog arrives on his porch, he winds up finding a stray woman, too, trudging through the snowstorm in search of shelter. His military days may be behind him, but Chappy is hardwired to protect her from the storm and whatever it is she’s running from.

Hank Patterson refuses to let his buddy Jake slowly kill himself with alcohol. Hank’s plan to expand the Brotherhood Protectors into Colorado will only work if he can hire the best men for the job. He wants Jake, and sends fellow Coloradan, Kujo, to pull Jake out of an alcohol-induced haze to work for the team. Hank’s contact has a place they can set up operations while flying under the radar—a flailing dude ranch, run by a former Marine Gunnery sergeant and his feisty daughter.

Mace Hanover, former Special Forces and CIA Special Ops, filled his security company with other men and women from the SEALs, Rangers, Special Forces, Deltas, and AF Special Ops. All having been trained in CIA Special Ops, his Keepers were the best of the best. His focus had been on building his security company and the missions they undertook. A relationship was not on his radar.

There wasn’t a lot that surprised me. My years in the Navy taught me a lot, my years hunting human traffickers taught me the rest. Meeting a beautiful woman in a bar and spending the night with her should’ve been a blip on my radar. Instead, I spent years trying to forget her. In the middle of a rescue operation, fate dropped her back into my life, but there was a twist—she wasn’t alone.

Owen Cullen was a dream. Not a dream come true though, because I’d never dared to dream. He was my wildest fantasy, a hallucination, a delusion. The handsome man who’d saved my life—twice. He was a real-life hero, and I was...what was I? Filth, that was what I was.