Defiantly Devoted

If you’ve been following my Dalton Circle Series, you already know that the Smith brothers have been woven into Tucker Dalton’s inner circle from the beginning. With Defiantly Devoted, book three in the series, it was finally Shane’s turn.

I knew from the very first book that I wanted to explore all three of the Smith brothers, but Shane always stood out to me in a different way. In books one and two, readers learn that he is a former cop who walked away from his badge and became a private investigator. But I always knew there was more to that choice. Something had to have happened. Something big enough to make a man like Shane give up the life he thought he was meant to live.

Defiantly Devoted is the story that answers that question.

Tessa Calder has spent four years living with the fallout from one impossible night—the night her brother went to prison, her family broke apart, and Shane Smith ended up on the wrong side of the truth.

Now Trey’s parole hearing is only days away, and the past Tessa has tried so hard to survive is being rewritten in real time. Altered records. Cloned credentials. Missing files. A stranger who knows things no one should know. Every clue leads back to the same case that destroyed her life, and every step closer to the truth puts Tessa more directly in danger.

Shane doesn’t wear a badge anymore. He left the rules behind and built a private investigation practice in the gray spaces the law can’t always reach. He knows Tessa has every reason to hate him. He also knows someone is setting her up to take the fall.

Protecting her should be simple. Wanting her is the problem.

The connection between Shane and Tessa never really disappeared. It was buried beneath guilt, anger, resentment, and four years of unfinished need. As they are forced back into each other’s lives, old wounds reopen, old feelings resurface, and every near touch becomes harder to resist.

Tessa doesn’t want to be rescued. Shane isn’t sure he deserves forgiveness. But when danger closes in and the truth becomes more dangerous than either of them expected, trust may be the only thing they have left. And surrendering to each other might be the most defiant choice of all.

I usually write emotionally intense romance, so stepping into romantic suspense pushed me outside my comfort zone in the best way. This book challenged me. It asked me to balance heat, heartbreak, secrets, and that aching kind of second-chance tension I love so much. And while romantic suspense isn’t my usual lane, I truly enjoyed writing Shane and Tessa’s story because it made me stretch as a writer.

Defiantly Devoted is a steamy romantic suspense novel featuring a protective ex-cop turned private investigator, a fiercely guarded heroine, second-chance tension, forced proximity, family secrets, corruption, and explicit open-door romance.

If Shane and Tessa’s story speaks to you, you can find Defiantly Devoted on Amazon.