He’s a cowboy with a sheriff’s badge. And the last man she wants as a Protector.

Investigative reporter Genevieve Blake rolls into Hart County, Colorado on a mission. She’s determined to expose the local sheriff as corrupt. The last thing she needs is a distraction—especially in the form of a handsome stranger at the hotel bar. But when he smiles, she can’t look away.

Owen Douglas has devoted his life to service, first as a Marine and now as sheriff. But his ideals don’t keep him warm at night. The moment he sees the gorgeous woman sitting at the next stool, he wants her. He has no idea she’s the reporter trying to take down him and his friends… Until the realization leaves them both reeling.

When Genevieve witnesses a murder that same night, it’s suddenly Owen’s job to protect her. Whether either of them likes it or not. As Owen keeps Genevieve from becoming the killer’s next victim, she starts to realize the sheriff is a better man than she ever imagined. And that true love can find you at the moment you least suspect.

But together, they’ll uncover the greatest threat the Protectors have faced yet.

A world divided.

A queendom without an heir.

An ancient enemy awakens.

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destructionbut assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.