George-Billboard-Seingold is a loner. He hasn’t always been. There’d been a point, once upon a time, where he’d been an outgoing and optimistic young man, proud to follow his father’s footsteps into the Marines, but then… Yeah. Things hadn’t worked out exactly as he’d imagined. Now, it’s best that he keeps his demons to himself. What he never expects is to be blindsided by a gorgeous, leggy cop from Louisianna. He’d been attracted to her once, but when he’d finished up his case in her jurisdiction, he’d purposely left her behind without making a single advance. Smart, or so he thought. But now she’s in Boston, looking to make a permanent move. How is he going to deal with that? With her? Especially since she’s somehow managed to move into his house, lock, stock, and feline.

Karen—nobody calls her by her first name and lives—O’Shea needs a change, and where better to find it than following her best friend Brigid to Boston. Although, one tall, sandy-haired man with a quilt of tattoos up and down his arms might also have influenced her decision to head north. It’s just that…he’s a ridiculously closed book; as in one that has been slammed shut. O’Shea knows about secrets. She has a few of her own. For someone like Billboard, however, she’s willing to spill. But he has to open up to her, as well.

If anything has a chance to grow between them, the burdens they both carry will have to be shared.

Mike Carlese, a lieutenant with the BPD and second in command of the Downeast SWAT team, has it all. A career he cherishes, a loving wife, and two wonderful children… Or so his colleagues and friends think. In reality, his wife walked out on him and the kids a year previous for a much younger guy, and Mike has been wallowing in self-doubt ever since. His ex-spouse's parting shot? He was a failure as a husband, prioritizing his kids and his job over her. Which is why he's never told his team that she left. The whole incident has left him mortified; a sour taste in his mouth over his failures. So what does it even matter if no one knows he's single again? It's not like he plans, or even dreams of finding another woman…until a feisty DEA agent enters his life and turns his well-ordered world upside-down.

Joelle Pikens, or Joe as she's called, has been in Maine for months trying to uncover the players behind a fentanyl ring. While working her undercover DEA job as a server at the Local Moose—a dive bar on the outskirts of town—she overhears something nefarious that is completely outside her current job description, and she can't ignore it. As much as her Chief of Operations has warned her not to get sidetracked—which she's been known to do from time to time—Joe follows her instincts and looks into the plot against one Mike Carlese. What she finds is a man so intriguing, she's ready to break cover to not only seek his help with her current assignment, but more importantly, to end her long, self-imposed dry spell.

Cisco Andera has watched all his close buddies find true love, and rather than scoff at their loss of freedom, it makes him reevaluate his own life. At thirty-three years old, he's tired of playing the bar scene, and wants some permanency of his own. But is he a good bet? He has a few awkward secrets, along with some fairly annoying habits that aren't exactly mainstream. Will the woman he's set his sights on—who's constantly giving him very confusing and mixed signals—agree to be saddled with Cisco's baggage for the long term?

Hilly Duncan, owner and operator of Camp Venture, has worked long and hard to build her self-esteem after a childhood full of bullying and mocking. She's been determined that nothing will derail her newfound confidence, but…how cruel is fate? After all this time shoring up her inner strength, her sad little middle-school crush has come back to haunt her in the form of one hot-bodied motorcycle cop. She might have been able to ignore his reappearance in her life, if he wasn't going to be teaching self-defense courses to her campers twice a week.

Maybe it's a good thing Cisco hasn't recognized the pathetic Hilly of the past.

Welker Vestore, an officer with the Bangor PD and a member of Downeast SWAT, has a reputation as a player. But is it justified? Sure, he's sought continuous validation for his damaged ego since being medically discharged from the Navy, but he's never led any of his female conquests on with false declarations of “forever after”. Now, however, the stakes are suddenly high. Welker has to prove his sincerity to the one woman who's become important to him, not only in hopes that they may have a future together, but because she's being targeted by a notoriously dangerous motorcycle club. The big question is, will she listen? What can Welk do to persuade her she needs to take him seriously because her life is in grave danger?

The best thing deputy Moira Bliss ever did was join Downeast SWAT. Never quite feeling like part of the sheriff's department where she's worked for a decade, she realizes her luck when threats to her life aren't taken seriously by her PSD superiors, and she turns to SWAT for help. Of course, the man who has intrigued her for months—her squad leader—is the one who steps up and designates himself as her primary protector, which is a hard pill to swallow. Even though the handsome officer is undeniably captivating, accepting his help goes against everything Moira has learned in her painful past. Still, the man is determined, so what choice does she have?