Book picks similar to
Embattled Hearts by J.M. Madden


romance
military
romantic-suspense
contemporary-romance

Running On Empty


Christy Reece - 2014
    That was before she watched the love of her life die before her very eyes. Brokenhearted, her emotions on lockdown, she finds purpose and hope as an LCR elite operative rescuing victims from some of the most volatile places in the world.As a covert ops agent, Declan Steele was used to a life of danger and distrust, but when the one person he trusted and believed in above all others sets him up, he’ll stop at nothing to make her pay. Finally rescued from his hellish prison, Declan has one priority—hunt down Sabrina Fox and exact his revenge.Trusting no one is a lonely, perilous path. Sabrina swears she’s innocent and Declan must make a decision--trust his heart or his head. As memories of their life together returns, he realizes just how treacherous his torture had been and the target of his revenge shifts. But when Sabrina is taken, retribution is the last thing on his mind. With the assistance of Last Chance Rescue Elite, Declan races to rescue the only woman he has ever loved before it’s too late.

Giving Chase


Lauren Dane - 2006
    Ridiculously hot and notoriously single.When landscaper Kyle Chase takes notice of Maggie Wright, all of Petal, Georgia, wonders what the quiet schoolteacher is hiding underneath her tight bun and boring blouses. Even Maggie doesn’t quite get it, but after a failed relationship and a disastrous attempt to get back out there, she’s no match against the famous Chase charm, and Kyle has it in spades. Kyle wants Maggie in his life—and in his bed—and he doesn’t mind getting down and dirty to prove it. For years he’s avoided the kind of trouble that comes with “good girls” like her, but Maggie’s the best trouble he’s ever been in. He craves more of it. And more of her.But even as their love grows into thoughts of forever, a hidden danger from Maggie’s past threatens to tear them apart. And when Maggie suddenly disappears, Kyle must put his faith in his family and race to save the love of his life before he loses her forever.The Chase is on. One small town. Four hot brothers. And enough heat to burn up anyone who dares to get close. Don’t miss the next books: Taking Chase, Chased and Making Chase.

Intimate Enemies


Joan Swan - 2012
    Searching for closure, Cassie returns to her childhood home on the Pacific Coast of Baja, Mexico, where she launches her own investigation into the accident. She never expected to find an adversary in the man who had once touched her heart with kindness in her darkest moment.Rio’s been fantasizing about reconnecting with Cassie for months. But not here and sure as hell not now. As an undercover agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he’s working the biggest sting operation in all of northern Mexico, and he definitely doesn’t have time for the wild attraction he feels for Cassie.Not only is his cover on the line, so is his heart. Because as the end of a yearlong operation draws closer, Rio knows if he tells Cassie the truth about who and what he is, it won’t only jeopardize his mission, it may result in him losing her forever. And if he doesn’t, his lies and deception could get them both killed.Note: Also appears in the 2013 anthology Dark Nights Dangerous Men

Issued to the Bride: One Navy SEAL


Cora Seton - 2016
     Navy SEAL Brian Lake is out of luck. Going rogue on his last mission landed him on a fast track out of the Navy — years too soon to have saved up enough money to buy the ranch he’s always wanted. Without a career — or the cash to start over — Brian’s options are few, until Army general Augustus Reed steps in with an intriguing new mission — a permanent one. Ignored by her absentee father, duped by the thief he appointed to oversee her family’s ranch, Cass Reed is done with men for good. From now on she’s determined to run Two Willows herself, so when her father sends a Navy SEAL to fix up her house, she vows to run him off her land as soon as possible. But Brian’s just as determined to stay, and he’s in a far different league than the men she’s met before. Brian’s ready to do anything that will earn him a share of a prosperous ranch — even take a chance on marrying the General’s daughter. And he soon realizes it won’t be a hardship to marry Cass. She’s everything he’s ever dreamed of in a woman — and Two Willows is everything he wanted in a ranch. But he’s not the only one who wants Two Willows — and Cass. Will falling in love be the most dangerous mission of all?

The Fixer


Jessica Gadziala - 2017
    Like santa. An honest politician. And gut instincts. That was, of course, until I woke up with one.And I knew.This was the day I was going to die. The cops, thus far, have proven useless and uninterested in my issues. When you couldn’t get help from legal channels, what other choice did you have but to look elsewhere?That was how I came across Quinton Baird. A “fixer.” Whatever the hell that was.All I knew was, I had a problem that needed fixing.Hopefully, before it killed me.QUIN-There were a few things I could put my faith to rest in. My team. People f*cking up, and needing my help. And my gut. So when my receptionist informed me that the woman in a case I decided wasn’t my kind of job was having a ‘gut feeling’ about being in desperate need of help, yeah, I dragged my a** across town to check things out.Not only did I not bank on the fact that she was in trouble beyond what I could have anticipated, but she was not what I was expecting either. Beautiful, resilient, and one hell of a distraction I didn’t need.As the pieces of her case start falling together, I was left wondering if maybe this new, unfamiliar sensation in my gut was telling me that Aven was much more than just another name on a case file…

The Vigilante's Lover


Annie Winters - 2015
    Seduction. Bondage ropes. Descriptions of things Mia has never experienced or known. The man’s words are desperately passionate. He longs for a woman who must have given him a fake address. Mia’s address. She plans to send the letter back. He’s a convicted felon. But his words gnaw at her. She’s never done anything dangerous. And no man has ever talked to her like this. So Mia writes him, pretending to be the woman he desires. It's her one dark thrill in her dull, solitary small-town life. The man is in prison for another fifteen years. It's harmless. She is safe enough. Until he escapes.

Forgotten Sins


Rebecca Zanetti - 2013
    Their desire ignited a passionate affair, and within weeks, Shane had slipped a ring on her finger. It seemed her every fantasy was coming true . . . until her new husband disappeared without a trace. Now, two years and one broken heart later, Josie is shocked by the hospital calls: Shane has been found . . . at a crime scene with no memory of how he got there.Her Love Can Save HimShane can't remember the blue-eyed angel at his bedside—or who he even is—but he knows something isn't right. His hearing is razor sharp, his physical strength incredible, and the urge to protect Josie overwhelming. For powerful enemies are hunting him, and Josie is the key to discovering why. As Shane struggles to unravel his past, dangerous new truths come to light. Can he protect the only woman he's ever loved? And can Josie trust a man she thought she knew—one who carries such a deadly secret?88,000 words

Mr. Sinful


Serenity Woods - 2012
     Previously published by Samhain Publishing under the title Seven Sexy Sins. This is the Director’s Cut edition – featuring previously unseen excerpts from Faith’s blog! Seven Sexy Sins. One Mr. Sinful. Faith Hillman is in trouble. She’s writing an article on ways to spice up your love life for her popular blog, but she’s hit a major snag—she hasn’t experienced any of the Seven Sexy Sins on her list. Luckily, her brother’s best friend, Rusty Thorne, offers to help with her research. Having had a crush on him since the age of twelve, Faith agrees, on the proviso that he signs a contract keeping their short-term relationship a secret. Her brother once decked him for kissing her on her eighteenth birthday, so Rusty’s happy to concur. While they work their way through the wicked list, Rusty enjoys showing Faith all the sexual delights he can think of. But it’s only as the sins draws to a close that he understands that, where love is concerned, he’s the student and Faith’s the teacher. He’s determined to keep to the terms of the contract, but when it comes to the crunch, will he be able to let her go? Warning: Includes rebellious hero who enjoys inserting Tab A into Slots B, C, and even occasionally D. Also includes highly inappropriate use of a Mars Bar.

Dangerous Secrets


Abbie Zanders - 2014
    one passionate love story. Taryn Malone is stranded, broke, and desperate for help. But even if the sexy bartender she's been eyeing offers her a job for the evening... even if he seduces her with his impossibly intense blue eyes... even if every fiber of her heart tells her to stay with him... she can't. Because Taryn Malone doesn't exist.Jake Callaghan has been running the family's Irish pub for years now. When he sees Taryn standing out alone in the rain, he does what he's been trained to do as a SEAL - he rescues her. It has nothing to do with her full, firm curves, or her loose, golden-blonde hair, or the way she brushes against him that sends lightning bolts through his body. It's just the right thing to do. Really. But both Taryn and Jake are hiding secrets from each other. Dangerous secrets. And neither one of them knows just how dangerous it can be to fall in love...

She Belongs to Me


Carmen DeSousa - 2011
     Charlotte police officer Jordan Monroe is used to being in control. Ever since his father died, he has provided for his mother and sisters and even hired his two brothers-in-law to help run his successful construction company. On a chance business trip, however, he meets the one person who throws his life into a whirlwind--Jaynee.Jaynee has lived a tragic life and has sworn off all men. That is until a rugged southern gentleman lands in her seating area, refusing to take no for an answer. From the moment they meet, Jordan sweeps her off her feet, assuring her that happiness exists. But can she really escape her past?Five years later, Jordan finds Jaynee on their back porch with a gunshot wound to the head. While Jaynee lies in a coma, Jordan has to go back to their beginning and figure out what went wrong. Did he push his wife to the edge, or has her past come back to haunt them? ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "You'll be swept off your feet along with Jaynee as she discovers the man of her dreams. You'll be drawn into the drama. And you'll flip the pages fast as Jordan must desperately figure out the truth in time. I was and did!" -- New York Times bestselling author Jaime Rush⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "SHE BELONGS TO ME is definitely a good suspenseful read. Ms. DeSousa is a talented author and I had no problem in connecting with the characters. The story displayed a realistic relationship between Jordan and Jaynee." -- The Romance Reviews

Ruthless


Michelle St. James - 2015
     But all of that changes the night she’s kidnapped. Thrown into a windowless room, Angelica is positive there’s been some kind of mistake — until she meets Nico Vitale. Gorgeous and frightening, Nico became the boss of New York City’s Vitale crime family after the execution style murder of his parents two years earlier. Since then he’s turned the old-school mob into a sleek, modern army of ruthless men who understand that physical violence — while always an option — isn’t the only way to get what you want. Now Angel is forced to face the truth; Her father is not the man she believed him to be. Nico Vitale is dangerous, possibly lethal. She is falling in love with Nico Vitale. This is not your mother's mob. ★★★★★ "Nail-biting, heart-pounding romance!”★★★★★ "Everything a mafia romance should be."★★★★★ "Nico is not your daddy's mob boss… the kind of serious bad boy you can't help but root for." ★★★★★ "Written flawlessly and hotter than sin!" ★★★★★ "Perfect for readers who like their romance steamy with a shot of adrenaline and intrigue!" ★★★★★ "Nico could kidnap me any day!" ★★★★★ "The kind of mob boss I love to read about." ★★★★★ "The tension and chemistry between the two were off the charts... I could not put these books down."

A Beautiful Mess


T.K. Leigh - 2013
    Having lost her parents in a tragic car accident when she was a little girl, she’s struggled to get close to anyone. Instead, she prefers to avoid all relationships, keeping them superficial at best.Until retired Navy SEAL Alexander Burnham walks into her life and sparks something inside her she thought was dead.But he has demons of his own, ones that could turn her world upside-down.Ones that could reveal the truth that’s been kept from her for years.Ones that could cost her everything…Including her life.A Beautiful Mess is the first book in the Beautiful Mess Series, a gripping, suspenseful story about two souls destined to be together and the forces threatening to keep them apart. Pick up your copy of the first book in this USA Today Bestselling series today!

Watching


Calle J. Brookes - 2012
     That thought drove Dr. Georgia Dennis in every decision she made, personal and professional. A profiler with the Complex Crimes Unit of the FBI, she was tired of being second-guessed by her boss Michael “Hell” Hellbrook. Once they caught the sociopath responsible for stoning teenaged girls, she was gone from Hellbrook’s team faster than the ink could dry on the transfer papers. Georgia and Hellbrook are hot on the trail of a sadistic killer targeting women and girls with brown hair and brown eyes—women with a striking resemblance to Georgia. Hellbrook will do anything to protect his team, even the woman he never wanted on it in the first place. By keeping her at his side, he grows closer to her until the flame between them erupts and consumes them both. As they get deeper involved with the case and with each other, they do not realize someone else is watching, someone whose descent into madness threatens everyone around them. Is this watcher their killer, or someone much closer? PAVAD: PREVENTION & ANALYSIS OF VIOLENT ACTS DIVISION: PAVAD—the Prevention & Analysis of Violent Acts Division—is a special directorate of the FBI located in St. Louis. PAVAD was formed by Edward Dennis to combat today’s modern crimes in a modern nation. PAVAD consists of only the best of the FBI’s best, and addresses cases involving everything from kidnapping, money-laundering, extortion, all the way up to RICO violations. The PAVAD directorate has more than a dozen teams ready to mobilize at a moment’s notice to every corner of the United States…

Freefall


Tess Oliver - 2013
    A small inheritance from his grandfather has given him the funds to open up his tattoo shop, Freefall, and he has started to pull his life together. Aside from trying to keep his best friend, Dray, from killing himself in the fight ring, and his slight obsession with a pin-up model he's never met, Nix's life is going smoothly . . . until Scotlyn James, the object of his obsession, walks into his shop.Ever since a tragic accident killed her family and left her alone in the world, Scotlyn James hasn't spoken one word. Up until now she didn't care that she had no way of talking to people. Her awful aunt would never have listened, and Lincoln Hammond the arrogant, selfish man who pulled her from the streets of Los Angeles wouldn't hear her words if she could speak. But when Lincoln insists she get a tattoo to cover up a scar on her side, Scotlyn meets the artist, Nix Pierce. And now she longs for her voice. Now she has found someone who will hear her.

Irresistible Force


D.D. Ayres - 2014
    She just knows he’ll make a terrific watch dog—and with an abusive ex who won’t let go, she needs all the protection she can get. But Shay never suspected that her new pet is actually a trained police K-9 named Bogart—until Bogart’s even more gorgeous, human partner shows up on her doorstep.Officer James Cannon is one tall, strong alpha male who’s convinced that Shay stole his dog. But once he gets closer to the suspect, he realizes that this stubborn, independent woman not only needs a guard dog, she needs James as well. It seems that someone from her past is stalking her, and threatening her life. When danger meets desire, will James risk his career and his best friend…to protect the woman who’s stolen his heart?