Genre: Romantic Suspense
Tropes: Small Town/Opposites Attract
Military Protector Romance
Release Date: June 18, 2024

Dead to their pasts. Ghosts. No family ties. No connections.  
 
Six men with a top-secret mission move to a small town where they have to navigate local life, protect their secret, and, above all, stay single.  
 
Former Hostile Operations Team soldier Blaze “Shadow” Connolly knows what it’s like to lose everything. He’s got nobody except his job and his team and that’s the way he likes it.
 
But when he walks into a gas station during a robbery and locks eyes with Emma Grace Sutton, he knows he’ll do anything to protect the pretty girl with the blue glasses.
 
ER doctor Emma had a bright future until her ex-boyfriend became the kind of nightmare she was certain could never happen to her. With her self-esteem shattered and her confidence in ruins, she left a promising career and returned to her hometown to take over her dad’s small family practice. It’s not what she wants, but it’s what she needs to rebuild her life.
 
Until she gets that prickly feeling she’s being watched again. Did her ex follow her to Sutton’s Creek or is she imagining things? Is she in danger or is it PTSD? She doesn’t know, but she knows a man with the skills to find out. The ruggedly handsome sexy protector who saved her from a bullet once before.  
 
Blaze isn’t supposed to get involved. Doing so could put the mission at risk. But how can he turn Emma away when the desperation in her eyes hints at even darker secrets? He can’t — and that might just be the final nail in his coffin.
 
A small town, nerdy girl, opposites attract, military protector romance from NYT bestselling author Lynn Raye Harris
 
GOODREADS LINK: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/213081807-blaze
 
BOOKBUB LINK: https://www.bookbub.com/books/blaze-a-small-town-nerdy-girl-opposites-attract-protector-romance-ghost-ops-book-1-by-lynn-raye-harris

PURCHASE LINKS
US: https://amzn.to/4aYB6bu
UK: https://amzn.to/4b0S9tq
CA: https://amzn.to/4aZc7EQ
AU: https://amzn.to/3xldikg
B&N: https://bit.ly/3VnNyf8
Kobo: https://bit.ly/3RjqVqT
Apple Books: https://apple.co/3VBwzra
Google Play: https://bit.ly/3xau7yv
Universal: https://mybook.to/BlazeGO

EXCERPT
 
“Attraction and arousal are complicated phenomenons. You have to have the right amount of sympathetic nervous system activity. Your heart races, you tingle, and feel jumpy. That’s the fight-or-flight reaction. But then you have the parasympathetic nervous system which regulates the physical signs of arousal, like genital swelling and releasing sexual fluids. Add in the dopamine hits that come from being around you, and it’s a perfect storm of need and desire.”
“That’s your reason?” he asked, his voice hoarse. “It’s biological?”
“Mmm,” she said, dropping her mouth to kiss his chest. God, this was so unlike her, but it was also precisely what she wanted to do in the moment.
His breath hissed in, his hands closing gently around her upper arms. He didn’t push her away, though.
“It’s biological, yes,” she said. “But it’s mental, too. Because you’re you, and everything about you makes me want you. Whether it’s biological, evolutionary, chemical—I don’t really care. It’s a need in my belly, in my core, that I haven’t felt before. Nothing about this makes sense to me. And I feel like, if I fight it, if I don’t express to you that I want whatever you can give, that I’ll regret it on some level. I’m tired of living scared. I want to live with the kind of wild joy that comes from choosing to get on the rollercoaster.”
His hands slid around her body to cup her ass. Emma had to bite back a groan at the feel of those big hands on her bottom.
“I’m a rollercoaster, now?” he asked with a laugh before he bent to nibble her earlobe.
“You might be,” she breathed. “But I want to take the ride.”


AUTHOR BIO
 
Lynn Raye Harris is a Southern girl, military wife, wannabe cat lady, and horse lover. She’s also the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the HOSTILE OPERATIONS TEAM Ⓡ SERIES of military romances, and 20 books about sexy billionaires for Harlequin.

A former finalist for the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart Award and the National Readers Choice Award, Lynn lives in Alabama with her handsome former-military husband, one fluffy princess of a cat, and a very spoiled American Saddlebred horse who enjoys bucking at random in order to keep Lynn on her toes.

Lynn’s books have been called “exceptional and emotional,” “intense,” and “sizzling” – and have sold in excess of 4.5 million copies worldwide.

To sign up for Lynn’s VIP Reader List – where you’ll be kept up to date about all of Lynn’s books – go to http://bit.ly/LRHNews.
 
 
AUTHOR LINKS
 
Website: http://lynnrayeharris.com
Newsletter: http://bit.ly/LRHNews
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLynnRayeHarris
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LynnRayeHarris
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lynnrayeharris
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2973925.Lynn_Raye_Harris

This series is an off-shoot of the ever popular HOT series and I LOVED it.  This time around the team is in deep cover, giving deniability to the President.  You wouldn’t think small town Alabama would be a hotbed of espionage, would you?

Blaze aka Shadow is a man who overcame his upbringing.  He went from the unwanted and neglected child to an overprotective, special forces soldier.  He and his team have orders to stay free and clear, no relationships to leave behind if things go pear-shaped.  Sadly, fate said “screw” that and dropped the delightfully nerdy Dr Emma Grace Sutton in his path!

Emma has trauma of her own that’s she’s running home to her small hometown to escape.  Now she has a hulking, protective, overbearing and slightly demanding neighbour who seems determined to protect her, even when she tries to head him off at every opportunity.

Emma is an incredibly intelligent, nerdy, determined ER doctor who made a bad choice in the romance department (who hasn’t!) but she refuses to let her skanky ex ruin any more of her life.  But the attraction to Blaze is derailing her no men policy fast.  Her outgoing best-friend, Rory, adds a splash of colour and humour to her life and I can totally see why these opposites are besties!

I did guess the bad guy but had a great time trying to figure out when Blaze and Co would twig to who he was.  The underlying espionage storyline is flowing nicely and I’m intrigued to see what happens in book 2.  Fab new story and I heartily recommend this to all my protector romance trope bookdragons!