This boxset contains six full length stories filled with danger and romance, as love comes calling in the most unexpected manner.
Snowed in with the SEAL
Navy SEAL Preston Lawson has the chance to join an elite BlackOps team after he is reported as KIA, in error. On holiday from his new role, he goes to the last place he was happy, only to come across the woman who stole his heart years ago. Lila Holden met Preston some three years ago and they spent the summer together before he was deployed again with his SEAL team, and he had decided that she deserved more than he could give her in commitment to a future together. She had declared her love for him on their last night together in the wilderness cabin. But the feelings he was having for her, were confusing the life he had planned for himself, joining the Navy as soon as he left high school and his last foster home. All she asked was that he keep in touch with her, having lost her parents and then her only brother in Iraq, she just wanted to know he was okay. He doesn’t want to but does promise to come back one day if he can. Being injured eight weeks into his deployment and losing one member of their team, is gut wrenching for Preston, especially when the enemy somehow knew they were coming! When his CO comes to see him after he is discharged, he shows him a memo from the Pentagon, which shows he was killed in action and is supposed to be dead! His captain tells him this could be the perfect opportunity for him to find out how the enemy knew they were coming and still serve his country as a ghost. That way he could figure out who is betraying his unit and take down terrorist units at the same time.
The only person he has left behind is Lila, but he had already told her they were finished weeks before. Only he doesn’t realise he left her pregnant and alone, and when she tried to contact him, she got the news that he was dead! She had struggled to start with, until she received an unexpected inheritance and was finally able to give her son Parker, a holiday at the same Cedar Lodge, where she used to work. She has hired a cabin, and it seems Preston had exactly the same idea and has his own cabin booked there, both returning to a place that had great memories. She has the cabin they were in for that special summer together, and his is right next door. When she spots him unpacking, she immediately recognises him, but he has to deny it. His life is different now, but he can’t sleep, as his mind and body have never forgotten her, and it seems he has a child he never even knew about, with her! Life isn’t going to be simple going forward and this time, it isn’t Preston’s life that is in danger, and he feels helpless as he realises just what he might lose. He has the chance to get closer to his son, Parker, and now a second chance with Lila, while he awaits word from his CO about what to do about his identity being compromised. Someone is after Lila and he should have listened to his instincts when he first thought something was wrong, but he will do everything in his power to ensure she is kept safe.
The SEAL’s Accidental Pregnancy
Navy SEAL Demetri Lewis is used to being threatened, but when his best friend’s sister Diana Addison is threatened as well, his protective side is forced into action. He first met Diana as a sixteen-year-old, when he and her brother Peter were celebrating their graduation from the naval academy. She was then his little sister, until he was asked to help be her blind date to a ball, to show she was better off without her ex-Brad Davis, who constantly put her down. They both end up drinking a little more than expected and end up agreeing to have a one-night stand. Now, some four months later, after returning from a mission that went badly, he is racing to Diana, after returning to a home with multiple threatening letters awaiting him, all blaming him for the failure of his last mission and that they would also go after the people he loved! First his aunt, then his first squadron leader in the SEALs, who had thought he could deal with it himself and ended up dead in an alley after being shot execution style. He managed to get his aunt somewhere safe, but now he has to get to Diana’s new place out in the countryside. He doesn’t know that their one-night stand left her pregnant with his child, but soon does as he explains the same person has also been stalking her and knows where she lives. Having a madman stalking her is not what she really wanted, and she is glad to reconnect with Demetri and have him there to protect her and their unborn child. He is a little shocked at the news of a baby but a sudden attack soon reprioritises his thoughts and actions. He has to get her somewhere safe and she has no time to even pack!
He calls a SEAL buddy who owned a security company, Sheppard Security in Norfolk, for some help with his next moves. He won’t accept their immediate help, feeling he has to be the one to protect Diana and their baby. At least Jackson and his team can help to identity the shadowy figure he saw walking along a road near her house, shortly after it was attacked. When he finds out the result, he will be completely shocked! Somehow the stalker has followed them to Norfolk and he will need to figure out how this person seems to know exactly where they are, even when they end up in some rundown motel at random. More surprises follow as another player comes into the front running as their stalker and brings another round of guilt to Demetri. It seems that the stalker Demetri and his buddies identified, is not the real danger to Diana and their baby, and they will need to come up with a more drastic plan to stop them. Demetri and Diana have gotten closer as they jumped from motel to motel in an attempt to lose their stalker, but when a direct attack leaves him jumping in to take a bullet meant for her, a sudden decision made by him could tear them apart. She has already given him her heart, but he may well break it, as he decides a path that pushes them apart for her safety and what he believes he should actually do. A hard lesson to be learnt for Demetri when he feels the pain of all he has lost through his own actions, something only he can and has to fix!
Protecting His Pretend Family
A young woman celebrating a new job opportunity with her former workmates, ends up having a one-night stand with a gorgeous man. Only Aurora Sunshine soon finds out that this man is her new boss at the security firm she was hired by, former Navy SEAL Jackson Sheppard. She was supposed to be working as a temporary secretary with Sheppard Security and was hoping in six months to have worked her way into a research spot with the company, after being told at her interview that they would be looking for a researcher in a few months. Sheppard had nicknamed her Sunflower because of her sleeve tattoo of flowers, including sunflowers and in return she called him Captain Sexy. Not having exchanged names, neither knew who the other really was, until she came across him on her first day at her new job. They decide to be professional and ignore the chemistry still between them, making no mention of even knowing each other to anyone, but it leaves Aurora feeling awkward and not enjoying her job like she hoped. Her sister Helen even tries to persuade her to come home to the commune for the holidays, but that would be a backward step after all she has done to progress on the outside. Her steps to help research one of the company’s open cases backfires and has the wrong kind of result and she is told to stay in her lane and do the job she was hired for! That left her stomach churning yet again and her determination to write her resignation when she got home. Before that, Sheppard finally decides he needs to clear the air with Sunshine, as even he is being affected by their silence and avoidance, and when the truth comes out it could be messy.
Once their discussion is over, Paul Wilson, his second in command, notices a former member of his and Sheppard’s SEAL team drive up, Finneas Leary, and he brings a baby carrier out of his car with him! The baby boy isn’t Finn’s, he is just a middleman for a wealthy couple who are being targeted by a drug cartel. Finn wants Sheppard to take care of the baby, keep moving so it doesn’t get found and he will be in touch when it’s safe. He owes Finn a favour for saving his life, so he reluctantly takes the case and ends up asking Sunshine to help him, as she clearly has a lot more knowledge about babies than him! He is exceptionally closed emotionally and spent a childhood without a real parent figure and passed from pillar to post. His first real home was in the Naval Academy and he has never considered having a home with a family of his own, which was why he made it clear to Sunflower that he didn’t do relationships. Being stuck together with baby ‘Buster’, has brought temptation calling and he is beginning to wonder about what is between them. They get found a couple of times and end up having to go somewhere they don’t expect anyone would know of, but even there may not be as safe as they wanted. Jackson has made plain he doesn’t want a relationship and has always been a loner, and always will be! A surprise for Sunshine makes his attitude all the worse and it seems that their time together is at an end. It will be up to Jackson to realise what he is missing and that his own happiness is tied to Sunshine’s, and he will need to produce a huge apology and make things right with her, ignoring his fear of rejection he has carried from his childhood and finally take a chance on love for a chance at a HEA ending!
SEAL’s Unexpected Triplets
William Royce has interviewed for a new job at Alert Security after being forced to retire from the Navy SEALs after an injury on his last mission. His first job during his probationary period will be to provide security for Cora Caspian and the Lawrence triplets she has just become the guardian of, after the death of their parents. Cora initially refuses to have any security for the triplets, believing their parents died in a restaurant fire, but there had been something going on that led to the Lawrence’s arranging protection in the months just before they died! Finding out that the security firm have an ex-military man in mind for the role of in-house security with her and the girls, just reminds her of her out of reach father, who put his job before family, even as his wife died and left their teen to cope all alone. Before he can take up the role, William has to been assessed by a social worker for his interactions with the three girls, all of whom have distinct personalities. Paige as the firstborn, was wilful and independent, as well as stubborn; Melody had a great capacity for joy and was nearly always happy, but didn’t like being bossed about; while the youngest Hayley was the quietest and quite shy especially with strangers, and had withdrawn the most since losing their parents. William has no experience at all with children, but manages to handle the girls surprising well during his alone time with them, getting approval for the job.
As he moves his meagre belongings into the Lawrence house, Cora was busy trying to make breakfast. When he comes down, he asks her a few questions and she reveals she had a routine visit from a gas engineer. Just as she was about to light the stove, he could smell gas and rushes them all outside, before calling his boss and getting a real engineer out. It seems the girls are definitely in danger, not withstanding the fact he had already found someone was following her, before he took up the role. Numerous other attempts are made on the girls, whether that is to kill them or to kidnap them is unclear, and William’s job is made ever more difficult as he falls for Cora and starts to involve himself in the girls’ care, having noticed how worn-out Cora has become trying to do everything herself. She initially refuses to adhere to any kind of structure or timetable, but eventually begins to see the reasoning behind a regular schedule for each day, which lets the girls learn a routine and for William to be able to protect them knowing what they are up to at any time. He falls behind checking on the video footage each day and has to ask his new boss for more help, thinking it will make him look bad, but his boss tells him they are a family and help each other out. He feels guilty when one of the girls is hurt after he missed something on the video and has to refocus on their protection and doing his job. He needs to check into any and all possible culprits and find who is behind all the attacks and threats. One obvious candidate pops up, but evidence needs to be found to ensure they can’t get back out and hurt the girls again. He can’t afford to get distracted again and blocks his feelings until the job is done, reminding Cora more of her father and not in a positive way.
Once they are safe, his protective duties should be over. Cora can’t wait for him to go, but they will both grow to regret words said and those left unsaid, as the true depth of their feelings for each other and even his effect on the girls, cannot be ignored. They withstood a load of danger all together, and have bonded as a family, something William never saw himself having with his own past experiences. Having to choose duty over family is soon something he regrets and the demands of three stubborn little girls leads to a phone call and final realisation of what they all desire.
The Protective SEAL
Franklin Harris was on a mission in Costa Rica some fifteen months ago and was separated from his team, ending up with their target Samantha Engel, the daughter of a notorious gangster, who they were to help move into protective custody. Franklin ends up in a safehouse alone with her and she needs his comfort that night, before he hands her over to WitSec. They spend their time talking about each other and finding out about their dreams and wishes, never thinking they would meet again. Present day, Sam and her six-month-old daughter Glory, are being transported to yet another new location in Nebraska, by two Marshalls, when they make an unexpected stop at a gas station and her life is placed in danger yet again. She was due to testify at her father’s second trial and hopefully he would be put away for life this time! Escaping with her daughter in the Marshall’s car, she ends up near Franklin’s hometown of Rally, before she ends up in a ditch after being forced off the road by a truck. Shortly afterwards, Franklin happened to drive past and checked on the wrecked car and call in the sheriff, then carried on along the road until he came across Sam and her baby. Both are shocked to see the other and each remember that one night they spent together, as Franklin realises that Glory must be his daughter and he knows they are supposed to be in WitSec. He pretends Sam, now known as Mary Smith, is his fiancée, delaying her being questioned further by the sheriff and having to provide insurance documents for the government car, which would raise a lot of questions! He had been forced to retire from the SEALs after an injury and looked for a teaching position back home, only to find out he was no longer as qualified as he had hoped. He works on his organic farm part time and has a substitute teaching job, while he works out his options for the future. That has just all changed in an instant.
Now he has a daughter, he never knew of, he will do everything he can to protect both Glory and Sam. It may not be safe to stay at his farmhouse, as too many clues would lead her father and his men straight to his door. He knows he isn’t as fit and action ready as he used to be, so he will have to use other skills learnt on the job, to keep them all safe from danger, and reclaim his warrior side. He hasn’t been able to find another woman to make him happy since he was with Sam, with no one quite comparing to his memories of her. It seems it has been the same for her. Staying alive and caring for her daughter has been her main purpose. Somehow her father’s men keep finding them and if his fellow former SEAL Zeke can’t pull through at the Marshall’s office, then they will end up with nowhere else to go. As soon as he can get her safely into Zeke’s hands, he will have to leave her and Glory behind and that thought is not one that sits well with him. Sam is likewise conflicted, knowing they had rekindled that night of the past, has only made it harder to part from him, but she has already placed enough hurt and danger in his lap and he deserves to have a carefree life, away from the drama of her father’s vengeance. She will be back into Witness Protection, with yet another new name and a new location, so he won’t know where she or his daughter are! Only Zeke’s thoughts of the trial’s result will give the two of them a chance, a slim one, but still a chance of a HEA together.
Coming to Her Rescue
Navy SEAL Peter Addison attends a charity auction and ends up bidding for Hanna Masterson, his squad mate’s sister, to keep her from being bought by the other guests, who aren’t being very nice or polite about the women on stage, with a few drinks in them. He wins the auction for her and they end up on a great date and a steamy night together, which leaves her pregnant. He had left after their night together and she had to presume it was just a fling for him! Before she can even tell him of her pregnancy, one of her high-profile clients is murdered and she believes she is next on the killer’s list! All she knew of Gordon, was that he was a high-end art dealer and that he had been quite worried about something a few weeks before she left to travel to Japan on business. She had advised him to go to the police if he needed to, but the last appointment with him, he was much happier and said everything was okay. She was in Japan for three weeks and had started feeling a bit off and tired and after speaking to her brother, he had called Peter to ask him to pick her up from the airport on her return. As soon as they got to his car, a van pulled up and masked men jumped out with guns and started shooting at her side of his car! He realises it isn’t safe to go to her place and so takes her to his, but they will have noted his number plate and even there won’t be safe for long.
Hanna had received a voicemail from Gordon and seems he knew he was in danger and that he has left something behind for her. The first recording on the drive she was left, gives a bit of a clue, but he arranges to pass it on to a former SEAL, who has his own security firm, to decrypt.
I received an ARC copy of this boxset from BookSprout & have freely given my own opinion of it.