Because I’m a firm believer of an endless supply of second chances, I’m a sucker for a story about redemption. So Lexi Blake’s Evidence of Desire was exactly what I wanted in a romance.

Isla Shayne is the personal lawyer for NFL living legend, Trey Adams, who suffers from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (or CTE) and is accused of murdering his wife. Blake treats this very real issue with great respect, and instead of handling it with kid gloves, delves right into the realities of dealing with such a debilitating disease and its unpredictable nature.

Knowing she’s in over her head given the criminal charges leveled against her client, Isla calls in defense attorney David Cormack. As a former football player and Harvard-educated attorney, he’s the perfect person to defend Trey, but it also puts the specter of his own potential for developing CTE front and center in his mind. It wreaks havoc on David’s psyche and his ability to trust his rapidly growing feelings for Isla. If not for her bravery in opening her heart to David, they might never experience more from each other than a sexy one-night stand.

Both Isla and David are compelling, complex characters. Both have experienced the highs and lows of football—David as a player, and Isla as the former fiancé of a player who died from leukemia. But whereas David drags his feet at the thought of involving someone he loves into a life that could turn out like Trey Adams’, Isla faces her feelings with a hard-won knowledge that you have to live—and love—for today.

Evidence of Desire is a finely tuned blend of sexy romance and dramatic suspense, with a deep lineup of captivating characters. Blake sets an exciting pace that twists and turns, and surprises the reader with an unexpected reveal late in the game. You’ll need to budget your time with this book, because it is un-put-down-able.

The suspense is chilling and the romance is hot in Rebecca Zanetti’s Hidden. Former undercover cop Malcolm West needs to recuperate from the mental and physical pain caused by his last assignment, so he moves to a small rural community where the most exciting part of his day is catching a glimpse of his shy, pretty neighbor Pippa. But almost immediately, a secretive government team recruits him to investigate a dangerous cult that the woman next door used to belong to. It’s not clear whether Pippa is in danger or is a danger, but Mal can’t control the attraction he feels for her. It’s mutual, and even though they are slow to trust, Pippa and Mal quickly find themselves in a passionate relationship. The start of a new series, Hidden stars flawed, freshly wounded characters. The ticking-clock plot stretches the nerves, but Zanetti balances this with touches of humor—a dog in high heels!—and the burgeoning bond between lovers in her engrossing, entertaining read.

This article was originally published in the October 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Brynn Kelly delivers the danger in A Risk Worth Taking, the latest installment of her Legionnaires series.

Samira Desta might have the skills to upend the world order with her laptop, but she was happy with her quiet life as a computer systems security engineer—until her whistle-blowing fiancé was murdered. After that, she stepped up to find and expose the truth. She’s been on the run ever since. There’s been no safety and no solace on her journey except for a stolen moment she shared with French Foreign Legion medic Jamie Armstrong. It’s been a year since they last met, but when Samira needs him again, he rushes to her side. While scrambling through Europe, barely one step ahead of the mercenaries on their trail, the passion between them reignites.

Kelly’s characters show all the smarts and abilities necessary to face down overwhelming odds, but they also demonstrate surprising vulnerability. Samira’s fierce drive for justice is contrasted by overpowering fear that sometimes sends her into full-fledged panic attacks. She struggles with feelings of helpless, vulnerability, paranoia and a heavy load of guilt over her fiancé’s death, for which she blames herself.

And while Jamie might wisecrack like an action movie star while bullets are flying, his charming façade masks deep problems that are slowly revealed over the course of the story. It’s heartbreaking watching him brace himself for the moment when Samira realizes he’s not a perfect hero after all. He believes he’ll let her down, like he’s let down so many people in his life before.

Hunting the pair down is a somewhat Trumpian villain, a politician with a lot of popular appeal—and a beautiful, well-spoken daughter who is his biggest advocate—which lets him brush aside the accusations against him as a politically-motivated witch hunt. But deep down, he’s as calculating as he is brutal, and every time Samira or Jamie falters, his henchmen edge in a little closer. The tension stays as tight and tense as a high wire. It can be a little exhausting, watching every safe haven become a danger zone just a short while later, but it’s certainly exciting to experience unrelenting suspense all the way to the end.

This story offers extra rewards for fans of the earlier books in the series, especially in a crucial role played by in the final act by Rafe and Holly from Deception Island. New readers may be so intrigued by the references to past adventures that they’ll hunt down the previous Legionnaires books!

Tensions—sexual and otherwise—run high between two stubborn people with shadowy pasts in the final installment of Lori Foster’s Body Armor series.

Sahara Silver took over Body Armor, a boutique protection agency, after her brother Scott’s death. While building up her roster of bodyguards, Sahara recruits Brand Berry, a professional MMA fighter with a cocky attitude. Even though their physical chemistry is magnetic from the start, he turns down her attempt to take things from the professional to the personal. But when Sahara is kidnapped, Brand immediately leaps into action to rescue her, and the pair must finally confront the connection between them.

Foster’s fourth and last installment of the Body Armor series is a sensual and action-packed romance. As much as Sahara and Brand are attracted to one another, their unresolved issues with family and grief provide realistic obstacles to a possible relationship. But although her narrative is riddled with danger and mystery, the undeniable connection between Foster’s antagonists is the beating heart of her latest novel. Fast Burn offers a satisfying close to this riveting and steamy series.

A woman’s mysterious new job leads to unimaginable challenges, especially when she’s faced with an infamous yet very irresistible man.

Julie Hughes’ first day as a nurse for the de Vincent household does not fare well when she recognizes Lucian, the youngest of the three male siblings, as the guy she hooked up with the night before. It only gets worse when she learns that the family manor is haunted. A spine-chilling scenario sends Lucian to her rescue and provides an opportunity for them to make amends and start anew. The two find themselves falling in love, but whether or not their relationship will survive a flurry of disturbing events remains to be seen.

The first novel of the de Vincent series, Moonlight Sins dances between four genres—thriller, mystery, paranormal and romance—with aplomb. Jennifer L. Armentrout’s prose drips with romantic tension, and well-crafted erotic scenes spark within a narrative shrouded in mystery and replete with unsettling preternatural elements.

Armentrout’s dialogue is engaging throughout—fun and flirty between her main pair, and guarded and sarcastic between the more evasive and mysterious de Vincent family members. In a book full of cliffhangers, unexpected scenarios and red herrings, Armentrout’s realistic interactions between characters ground the story.

While Moonlight Sins closes on a solid note, there are many unanswered questions, which means readers have plenty to look forward to in subsequent installments.

"First came the floods. And then the bodies . . . " Alexandra Ivy’s new book, Pretend You’re Safe, begins as Jaci Patterson rises early to deliver her peach tarts and blueberry muffins to the Bird’s Nest cafe. Jaci has recently moved back to her family farmhouse near Heron, Missouri. A recent college graduate, she’s determined to cobble together an independent life by baking for businesses around town and selling handcrafts in her workshop out back. While dropping off the pastries, she hears the news: A woman’s decomposed body and a human skull have floated into the neighbor’s field behind her house.

Jaci is stunned and instantly thrust back in time. When she was 16, someone left a golden locket and a blood-stained ribbon on her porch swing. The locket had human hair inside. Terrified, she went to the authorities, but the two young men working in the sheriff’s department, Mike O’Brien and Rylan Cooper, assumed she was looking for attention. The lockets kept arriving for two years, and Jaci was convinced they were from a serial killer.

Now, 10 years later, someone has begun stalking and tormenting Jaci again. Though Mike and Rylan never took her seriously before, they have no choice when a new locket shows up, bodies emerge and new victims are added to the list.

Rylan Cooper, Jaci’s longtime neighbor and crush, finds himself intensely attracted to her. He’s since become a security company mogul in California, but since he didn’t take Jaci’s fears seriously in the past, Jaci’s not sure if she can forgive him.

Rylan tries to keep Jaci safe with elaborate security systems. Handsome Sheriff Mike O’Brien uses every investigative tool he can get his hands on. It soon becomes clear that neither of these alpha males can keep Jaci safe. They’re up against a brilliant and sadistic adversary who taunts them and knows how to cover his tracks.

Pretend You’re Safe is a pulse-raising romantic thriller. The romance sizzles, the vivid characters are engaging from page one, and readers will be frantically awaiting their rescue as the drama reaches its climax.

Scarlett Cole begins her new Love Over Duty series with a shy scientist, a loyal Navy SEAL turned security expert and a chemical conspiracy.

Sixton “Six” Rapp is fresh out of the service and ready to join his Navy SEAL brothers in opening a security firm. It’s a dream they’ve been planning for years, and he’s anxious to get Eagle Securities off the ground. His first job running security at a fundraiser is rather tame, but what he doesn’t know is that it will lead to a larger and more dangerous case. At the fundraiser, he meets Dr. Louisa “Lou” North, a scientist spearheading the crusade to find a cure for Huntington’s disease. As Lou begins noticing odd things happening at her lab—samples missing, notes misplaced—she turns to Six for guidance, because she’s realized her research for a miracle drug could be turned into a chemical weapon.

Though Six is a gun-toting, tough-as-nails Navy SEAL, there’s a tenderness to him that keeps him from veering into the typical overbearing alpha-hero territory. He cares for his brothers in arms. He’s earnest in how much he wants to help Lou. He also isn’t afraid to admit his growing feelings for the introverted scientist, even after she becomes one of Eagle Securities’ first clients. There’s really nothing not to like about Six.

Lou is a woman held captive by a lot of things in life. Her father died of Huntington’s, a disease passed genetically. Lou also has a debilitating fear of people and crowds, and turns to extreme bouts of organizing and straightening objects during times of stress. But she doesn’t let it stop her from devoting her life to important medical work or from buckling down when it becomes clear her life is in danger.

As a couple, Six and Lou complement each other incredibly well. Six is patient and understanding of Lou’s phobias. There’s a touching moment where he gets their meal to go, so they can eat in the privacy of his truck bed rather than have Lou’s anxiety skyrocket in a busy restaurant. Lou isn’t ashamed of her fears or the way she copes with stress, which she hopes will bolster Six’s commitment to treating his undiagnosed PTSD. They’re truly a perfect match.

Under Fire is a wonderful example of what a romantic suspense novel should be: tense action, strong characters and love in the midst of danger. It’s also a fantastic start to a brand new series by Cole, one that will have readers devouring Under Fire and eager to start the series’ continuation, Final Siege.

Samantha Holland thrives at her job as D.C. Metro Police lieutenant, so when the day starts with the discovery of a “floater,” a murdered woman found drifting atop the Anacostia River, Sam bristles with energy to tackle the case. But just as she sinks her teeth into the details of the crime, Sam is grabbed by a couple of suits who hustle her into a dark SUV.

As it turns out, her other role as wife of the sexy, young Vice President Nick Cappuano is taking precedence. The lives of Nick and everyone close to him have been threatened, and within hours Sam and Nick’s entire extended family, including their adopted son, Scottie, are sequestered in a dark bunker out of harm’s way. When Sam is finally allowed to leave the bunker and return to work, the press is awash in negative stories about both Sam and Nick, revealing secrets publicly that they have never shared with each other.

This compelling romantic suspense novel has all the right elements to keep the reader turning pages, whether engaged in the seamy details of the case or the steamy elements of Sam’s relationship with her hot, green-eyed husband. Marie Force, a New York Times bestselling author, excels at creating living, breathing characters and tangling them up in a believable, compelling plot. Fatal Threat is the 11th book in Force’s Fatal series of romantic thrillers, and Force shows no signs of slowing down.