Book picks similar to
Trained to Defend by Christy Barritt


mystery
fiction
romance
love-inspired-suspense

What Sarah Saw


Margaret Daley - 2008
    FBI agent Sam Pierce needs to question little Sarah. Yet child psychologist Jocelyn Gold will barely let him near the girl. Or herself. The tragic conclusion to a kidnapping case broke Sam and Jocelyn apart years before, and their hearts still haven't healed. But for the child's sake--and her mother's--they must join forces to uncover just what Sarah saw.

Bounty Hunter Guardian


Diane Burke - 2011
    Amanda has to meet her…even if it means jumping bail and praying she'll reach Alaska before law enforcement closes in.If Chance Walker has learned anything as a bounty hunter, it's that only the guilty run. When he captures Amanda, he's ready to bring her to justice. But attacks against Amanda make Chance reconsider. What if his target really is innocent? Will Chance put his life on the line to find the truth—and keep Amanda safe?

Against the Tide


Melody Carlson - 2016
    But only her childhood friend, Garret Larsson, believes her theory. The teenager she once knew has grown into a brave, honorable man…but can he keep her alive long enough to find the truth? Garret needs Megan to leave town, but he wants her to stay. He knows about the secrets her newspaperman father uncovered and the dangerous exposé he was writing. And now Megan has vowed to finish her father's final article. Someone's determined to kill the story—and Megan along with it—but he'll have to go through Garret first.

Fractured Memory


Jordyn Redwood - 2016
    But his task would be easier if she could remember him—or the murderer who almost put her in an early grave and seems to be hunting her once more. To protect Julia from the latest threat against her life, Eli has to consider the possibility that he put an innocent man in jail. Julia has no memories of the serial killer called The Hangman, though, and no reason to trust Eli. But with the killer getting closer, she must work with Eli to confront her past—and the feelings growing between them.

Deadly Proof


Rachel Dylan - 2017
    After a whistleblower dies, Kate knows the stakes are much higher than her other lawsuits.Former Army Ranger turned private investigator Landon James is still haunted by mistakes made while serving overseas. Trying to forget the past, he is hired by Kate to look into the whistleblower's allegation and soon suspects that the company may be engaging in a dangerous game for profit. He also soon finds himself falling for this passionate and earnest young lawyer. Determined not to make the same mistakes, he's intent on keeping Kate safe, but as the case deepens, it appears someone is willing to risk everything—even murder—to keep the case from going to trial.

Undercover Memories


Lenora Worth - 2018
    But protective custody on Ryder’s family ranch has its own risks, like falling for the handsome cowboy. Before she can untangle her feelings for Ryder, Emma must recover her memory…because she’s sure someone’s life depends on it, even if she can’t remember whose.

Warning Signs


Katy Lee - 2013
    A single father with a deaf son, Owen senses that the town's number one suspect—the high school's new principal—doesn't fit the profile. Miriam Hunter hoped to shrug off the stigma of her hearing impairment when she returned to Stepping Stones, Maine. But her recurring nightmares dredge up old memories that could prove her innocence—and uncover the truth behind a decades-old murder. Yet Owen's help may not be enough when someone decides to keep Miriam silenced—permanently.

Memory of Murder


Ramona Richards - 2013
    Deputy Jeff Gage has worked difficult cases, but with only Lindsey's fractured memories of a broken past to guide him, this is by far his most challenging. For Lindsey, fleeing the town she has come to call home is unthinkable. Separately, they are vulnerable, but together, Jeff and Lindsey just may stand a chance of catching a ruthless killer.

Full Disclosure


Dee Henderson - 2012
    As the Midwest Homicide Investigator, she is called in to help local law enforcement on the worst of cases, looking for answers to murder. Hers is one of the region's most trusted investigative positions. Paul Falcon is the FBI's top murder cop in the Midwest. If the victim carried a federal badge or had a security clearance, odds are good Paul and his team see the case file or work the murder. Their lives intersect when Ann arrives to pass a case off her desk and onto his. A car wreck and a suspicious death offer a lead on a hired shooter he is tracking. Paul isn't expecting to meet someone, the kind that goes on the personal side of the ledger, but Ann Silver has his attention. The better he gets to know her, the more Paul realizes her job barely scratches the surface of who she is. She knows spies and soldiers and U.S. Marshals, and has written books about them. She is friends with the former Vice President. People with good reason to be cautious about who they let into their lives deeply trust her. Paul wonders just what secrets Ann is keeping, until she shows him the John Doe Killer case file, and he starts to realize just who this lady he is falling in love with really is...

Glimmer in the Darkness


Robin Patchen - 2021
    Nothing could get her home…but this.Cassidy Leblanc worked hard to shake off her tragic childhood. As a foster child with a mother in prison for murder, she was an outcast in her small New Hampshire town until she met James. But she and James’s sister, whom she was babysitting, were kidnapped. She escaped, but Hallie didn’t survive, and everybody assumed Cassidy killed her. Like mother, like daughter, after all. With public opinion and the authorities united against her, young Cassidy fled. Now, a decade later, another little girl has been kidnapped, and Cassidy may be the only person who can find her. He doesn’t know who to trust.James Sullivan never believed that Cassidy killed his sister, no matter what the authorities said. When his best friend’s daughter goes missing a decade after Hallie's murder, James keeps his opinions on the matter to himself. But when he finds Cassidy sneaking around his property, his thoughts turn dark. If she’s not behind the recent kidnapping, what is she doing back in Coventry? Her answer—that she’s returned to find little Ella, and she needs his help—has him reeling. Can he trust Cassidy, despite what the police tell him? If there’s any chance he can save Ella, he has to try.Danger lurks on the mountain.Together, they search for the elusive cave where Cassidy and Hallie were taken, but somebody will stop at nothing to make sure they don’t find it or, if they do, that they don’t come out alive. Pulse-pounding suspense, a second-chance romance, and a precious little girl who needs her daddy. You don't want to miss it.