Adrienne Giordano

In the riveting, opposites-attract second installment of Steele Ridge: The Blackwells, a charming recovery agent questions his role in the family business until his next case lands him in the middle of a jewelry heist with an intoxicating museum manager as the prime suspect.Acquisitions manager Maddy Carmichael has an urgent problem. Someone has stolen priceless jewels from the Thompson Presidential Center, including pieces belonging to the Queen of England. The museum's reputation depends on retrieving the jewels before news of the theft leaks, so Maddy turns to Phin Blackwell, of Blackwell Asset Recovery Services. BARS is known for doing whatever it takes to satisfy their clients. When Maddy meets the model-handsome Phin, she wonders how far that policy goes.Phin jumps at the chance to land the Thompson case. Recovering the queen's jewels could cement BARS as one of the top agencies in the field. It's all business, until Phin realizes he can't stop thinking about Maddy's blue eyes and tempting curves.As the professional lines blur, the FBI turns their investigative eye on Maddy. Phin must decide whether to help her and risk bringing down his family's company or play it safe and lose the woman who's quickly becoming the most important person in his life.If you would like to read the entire Steele Ridge series, here's a complete list.The Steeles: The BeginningGoing HardLiving FastLoving DeepBreaking FreeRoaming WildStripping BareEnduring LoveThe Kingstons: Craving HeatTasting FireSearing NeedVowing LoveStriking EdgeBurning AcheThe Blackwells: Flash PointSmoke Screen

While protecting a dangerously attractive ex-agent, a former CIA operative must decide which asset is more important to him: his identity or his heart. She's running out of friends-and out of time.CIA operative Elizabeth Aiken is on her own. After a rescue operation in Venezuela goes south and her cover is blown, Elizabeth barely escapes the country with her life. Set adrift by the Agency and with a price on her head, she seeks out the only person who can help her disappear.Viper.Unfortunately, the devastatingly attractive former operative wants nothing to do with her or the cartel-backed Venezuelan president who wants her dead. Worse still, if Elizabeth's not careful, she'll end up losing her heart instead of watching her back...and there's no room for mistakes with assassins hot on her trail.Helping her could destroy everything he's worked for.Former Marine-turned-CIA operative.Current bar owner.All-around badass.Shane "Viper" Quinn has spent years constructing the perfect cover, and he's not about to sacrifice it for a woman he barely knows. Even if she is strong and beautiful and makes him long for sultry nights that could destroy his carefully crafted life.Still, Shane is forced to fight his growing attraction to the fearsome ex-agent while keeping her in one piece. Elizabeth's enemies are now his enemies-and they aren't going to stop until everyone who stands against them is eliminated. Will having the deadly Viper by her side be enough to save her?

She's the one temptation he didn't plan for.Jack Lynx has a strategy for just about everything, a talent that makes him well-suited to his V.P. job at Taylor Security. It's also why he's waiting at least one year after kicking his post-surgery painkiller habit to even look at a woman.Unfortunately, fellow yoga enthusiast Jillian Murdoch needs him to install a security system at her home, and that's a problem because he wants to look at her. He wants to do much more than that. Lynx's cravings for Jillian don't simply jeopardize his priorities-they threaten to become his worst addiction yet. He's the risk she's willing to take.Jillian is on the fast-track to her dream career in upper management at her pharmaceutical company... until a late-night office trip reveals a suspicious delivery with no paperwork. After a break-in at her home, she approaches the first person she thinks can help-Jack Lynx, the guy with a killer smile from yoga class who also happens to specialize in protection.Soon, she's in a situation she swore she'd never repeat: fighting her burning attraction to trouble-and losing. But Jillian needs to trust Jack more than ever. Thanks to discovering that one stray shipment, it isn't just her career that's in danger anymore...

Gavin Sheppard can talk his way out of any situation. It's what makes him Taylor Security's top hostage negotiator. But he's never had a case this complicated, or with so much at stake. The victim? His boss's pregnant wife. The CEO won't risk his family by calling the cops, so Gavin's on his own. He'll take all the help he can get, even from the agency's smart, sexy tech expert.Janet Fink codes and hacks better than the big boys. Still, as the lone woman on a team driven by testosterone, she knows nothing ruins careers faster than getting personal. And she's already been too close to Gavin for comfort. Their last team-up ended in a mind-blowing kiss. One that can never happen again...and that she can't forget.As the kidnappers' demands grow, so does the heat between Gavin and Janet. They must put their skills to the test-and push aside their feelings-for a chance at success in a dangerous rescue.

Michael Taylor is cooler than ice under pressure. As CEO of a private security company, his job means protecting those at risk. Clients pay top dollar for his team of special operatives to deal with threats. But now Michael's the one in trouble-he's the prime suspect in his ex-wife's murder. To prove his innocence, Michael needs not just a few good men, but one smart woman. If she agrees to forgive him...Twelve years ago, Michael walked away from Roxann Thorgesson and never looked back. Now he's standing in her office, accused of a heinous crime, the vulnerability in his eyes barely masking something else. Desire. The shock-and her body's own traitorous response-shakes Roxann to the core. Still, she can't let lust cloud her professional judgment, no matter how tempting.Michael needs her...or, rather, her newspaper to clear his name. Roxann wants to refuse, but journalistic instinct tells her there's more to this case. Sex. Secrets. A dark and dirty cover-up leading all the way to city hall. And as the investigation brings Michael and Roxann closer together, revealing the truth threatens to rip them apart.

Former Navy SEAL Peter Jessup is no hero. Too many friends, his brothers-in-arms, have died on the job, and Peter couldn't save them. When the emotional fallout interferes with his work, his boss sends him away for company-mandated R&R. Peter knows it's not a vacation, it's an order: Go home. Bang a hot girl. Get your head straight. Two of those things should be easy. Until the hot girl becomes his next assignment...Isabelle DeRosa is no damsel in distress. A criminal attorney and Krav Maga expert, she can bring a man to his knees with a glare-or a well-placed kick. It's Isabelle's crippling fear of her cousin that sets off warning bells for Peter. When Kendrick is murdered, Isabelle becomes the police's prime suspect. She turns to Peter for help, but finds more than comfort in his arms. Isabelle sparks his protective instincts and fuels his every fantasy.But she's not the only one with secrets. Their investigation into Kendrick's killer leads them to a cult-like compound and into dangerous territory. And despite Isabelle's efforts to push him away, Peter will fight to keep her safe...and make her his.

Security consultant Vic Andrews fears nothing. Except emotional entanglements. He lives on the edge and by his own rules. Never mess with your best friend's sister, for one. Especially when that sister is sweet and sexy goddess Gina Delgado. Vic is strictly a "no strings attached" kind of guy, and a young widow with three kids is guaranteed to tie his heart in all sorts of knots. Too bad other parts of his anatomy aren't as easily deterred.Gina is no stranger to men like Vic. Men in love with their dangerous professions. Her firefighter husband may have been a hero, but his bravery is little comfort to Gina now. She refuses to face that kind of loss ever again. Still, a girl has needs. And Vic, with his military-hardened body and tender touch, is just the thing she needs to fulfill them. As long as they can keep things casual.But getting involved with Vic puts Gina at the risk of more than heartbreak. When Vic becomes the target of a terrorist seeking revenge, no one around him is safe. With Gina and her family in a madman's sights, Vic will break all the rules to keep her close...and keep them all alive.

A young reporter and a socialite join forces to solve a thirty-year-old cold case in this gripping mystery from USA Today bestselling author Adrienne Giordano. As a junior reporter ostracized by her coworkers and community in North Dakota, RaeLynn Demming has something to prove. A decades-old arson that killed over one hundred people on the island of La Paradisio might be her career-saving story, but she needs cooperation from Rose Trudeau, Hollywood socialite and survivor of the legendary Grande Hotel fire.Rose understands loss. For thirty years, she's refused to discuss the Grande tragedy and still mourns her closest friend who perished in the blaze. Hungry for justice, Rose wants the arsonist and murderer caught. When RaeLynn shows up at Rose's estate begging for a scoop on the fire, Rose can't help but admire the young woman's determination and agrees to help.The investigation takes the pair to La Paradisio, where the local police urge them to leave the sleuthing to the professionals. Friends and family members, too, warn them to stay clear of the case, or else.Then the threats start.Undaunted, the unlikely pair dig further into the Grande's sordid history. As determined as they are to find closure for Rose, they face an enemy just as willing to do whatever it takes to keep the Grande's secrets buried.

A young reporter and a socialite join forces to solve a thirty-year-old cold case in this gripping mystery from USA Today bestselling author Adrienne Giordano. As a junior reporter ostracized by her coworkers and community in North Dakota, RaeLynn Demming has something to prove. A decades-old arson that killed over one hundred people on the island of La Paradisio might be her career-saving story, but she needs cooperation from Rose Trudeau, Hollywood socialite and survivor of the legendary Grande Hotel fire.Rose understands loss. For thirty years, she's refused to discuss the Grande tragedy and still mourns her closest friend who perished in the blaze. Hungry for justice, Rose wants the arsonist and murderer caught. When RaeLynn shows up at Rose's estate begging for a scoop on the fire, Rose can't help but admire the young woman's determination and agrees to help.The investigation takes the pair to La Paradisio, where the local police urge them to leave the sleuthing to the professionals. Friends and family members, too, warn them to stay clear of the case, or else.Then the threats start.Undaunted, the unlikely pair dig further into the Grande's sordid history. As determined as they are to find closure for Rose, they face an enemy just as willing to do whatever it takes to keep the Grande's secrets buried.