Ultimate Courage

David Cruz is good at two things: war and training dogs. The ex-soldier's toughest case is Atlas, a Belgian Malinois whose handler died in combat. Nobody at Hope's Crossing kennel can break through the animal's grief. That is, until dog whisperer Evelyn Jones walks into the facility...and into Atlas' heart. David hates to admit that the curvy blonde's mesmerizing effect isn't limited to canines. But when Lyn's work with Atlas puts her in danger, David will do anything to protect her.

Grieving the death of his partner, Theo Bosco has no room in his life for distractions. Though his instincts scream that he should avoid Juliet "Jules" Jackson, he can't seem to stay away. When Jules rescued her siblings, whisking them away to the safety of the beautifully rugged Colorado Rockies, she never expected to catch the eye - or the heart - of a cop. Yet as Jules struggles to fight her growing attraction to the brooding K9 officer, another threat lurks much closer to home. And this time, there's no escape.

For Logan Anderson, moving on from a traumatic past means moving back to his hometown of Castle Rock, Colorado, to start a personal-security business with his brothers. But it's not long before Logan runs into Grace Mason, his best friend from high school...and the woman who never answered his letters during his Army years. Grace was pleasantly surprised to see Logan return to Castle Rock, despite their falling-out ten years ago. Everyone always assumed they would end up together, including Grace.

Penny Kline didn't come to Honduras on a pleasure trip. She's here to rescue her kidnapped niece, the only family she's got left. What she didn't plan on was walking into a covert ops mission - or being wrapped up in the hard-muscled arms of Rafe Ortega. The cool-as-ice operative's touch may get her all hot and bothered, but no man can have a hold on her heart until her niece is home where she belongs.

As a flight attendant, Rayne Jackson is used to cancellations, but she never dreamed her latest would lead to a whirlwind tour of London with a handsome stranger...or a life-altering night in his bed. One evening is all the enigmatic man can give her, and Rayne greedily takes it, despite suspecting it will never be enough.

Since childhood, Mallory McCabe has dreamed of falling in love with a hero. And then one saves her life. He's honest and blunt. Deadly, but filled with pain. Overpowering, yet ever so gentle with her. Oh yes, she's found her hero. Taking him to her bed is simply ... right. As is losing her heart. How could she have known he'd want nothing more to do with her?

Daxton Chambers loved being a part of the oldest and most distinguished law enforcement agency in the state of Texas: the Texas Rangers. But the person who was burying women alive in his city of San Antonio was always two steps ahead of him...and he hated it.

Dakota James's life has become the stuff of nightmares. The leader of the Ansar al-Shari'a terrorist group has become obsessed with her, determined to take her as his wife. On the run, she'll have to pin her hopes on the retired SEAL charged with finding and stopping Aziz Fourati before he can carry out plans to bomb more US airports. Recently recruited to join a sleeper SEAL team tasked with fighting terrorism on US soil, Slade "Cutter" Cutsinger, with the help of some Special Forces friends, has located the one woman who can identify the deadly leader.

Growing up in the foster system, Quinn O'Meara made a point of never getting involved. But when she discovers a crying baby amid a fiery crime scene, she knows she has no choice. Suddenly in way over her head, Quinn turns to the police, unintentionally positioning herself in the crosshairs of a deadly human-trafficking ring. The last time homicide detective Nick Saldano saw Quinn, she was still the young girl he'd shared a foster home with.

A novella companion to New York Times best-selling author Maya Banks' Shades of Gray. Softly at Sunrise takes place in a gap of time that occurs in Shades of Gray. Rachel Kelly has traveled a long, hard road in her journey back to her husband, Ethan, and the Kelly family. Now, as she and Ethan are poised to move into their new home, safe behind the walls of the Kelly compound, Rachel wonders if she’ll finally be free of the ghosts that have haunted her for so long and if she’ll step into the sun after a past steeped in darkness.

When small-town Nebraska sheriff Hixon Drake meets Greta Dare, the connection couldn't be stronger, but the timing couldn't be worse. Dealing with the fallout of a divorce he never wanted and setting up a new home for his kids, Hix becomes that guy, that one he never wanted to be, and puts a stop to things before they can even start. Protecting his kids and himself is his only priority. Greta, on the other hand, has found the place for her and the brother she adores that's perfect for them - a sleepy little town in Nebraska.

Skye Arévalo left the CIA and faked her death to protect Colt Stuart, the only man she ever loved. Months later, a brutal kidnapping draws her to quietly infiltrate a dangerous cartel. Just when she thinks she's home free, things go horribly wrong and she escapes with bloodthirsty enemies on her heels...only to find herself face to face with a bewildered and angry Colt. When Colt, a former Marine, finds out the woman he loved betrayed him, he's shocked and hurt, but it doesn't stop him from breaking every law on the books to keep her alive.

Jake McKallister might have been a rock star, but he was no ordinary one. Surviving an unspeakable crime as a young teen had shaped him into a guarded workaholic, and he now lived his life trying to forget. If it hadn't been for music and the redemption he found through it, he might not have survived. Career success came easily for him. Personal connections did not.

When the new girl in town, Eliza "Izzy" Forrester, decides to hit the local drinking hole, she's not ready to meet the town's good, solid guy. She's definitely not prepared to engage in her very first hookup with him. Then Izzy wakes up the next morning in Johnny Gamble's bed, and good girl Izzy finds she likes being bad for Johnny. Even so, Izzy feels Johnny holding her at arm's length. He's in love with someone else. Someone who left him and did it leaving him broken.

Lia Cassidy has left the army scarred physically and emotionally after a vicious attack by two fellow soldiers. Seeking a new start, she finds a rewarding job working with needy children at the Delos Charity School in Costa Rica. But her life turns upside down again when local drug lord La Arana burns down the school and pursues Lia as a witness. Terrified and on the run, she discovers there is only one man she can trust - Cav Jordan, the ex-SEAL Delos sends to protect her.