LODESTAR LASSOED

Recommended for 18 years old and older

There are two things worse than the Myanmar mission going FUBAR: hospital imprisonment and being sidelined. So, when Reagan Kline walks in my room, I take interest. Not only is she a bombshell, she declares I’m the beneficiary of her non-profit’s partnership with warriors recovering from injuries. Because she’s a hellcat who can’t bear to simply volunteer, she takes over my physical therapy. It’s no hardship to have her hands all over me, I’ll say that.

Athletic, gorgeous, brilliant, witty. Add her penchant for high octane thrills—she’s pure as an angel with a pinch of Lucifer. While she certainly checks all my boxes, she seems to view our relationship as clinical in nature. What she doesn’t account for is that I’m a SEAL—eventually, I’ll overcome her defense tactics and win her over. The thing is BUD/s didn’t teach me how to lasso a lodestar. I’m so fixated on breaching her stronghold, I never consider that achieving my end goal would be the beginning of the actual fight of my life.

AXIS ALTERED

Recommended for 18 years old and older

Frankie had been a barnacle on my boat for months. Among other horrifying attributes, she’s Wiccan and put a spell on me which, apparently, prevented me from killing her directly. Like that’s ever stopped anyone over the course of the 250-year-old dispute between our families from getting the deed done. It definitely won’t stop me since I’m a Tier One Operator.

The fact her initials form a four-letter word should’ve been a clue that she’d give me hell. I’ll never admit it, but I’d begged, bartered, prayed, argued, denied, hoped, and wished Francine Ursula Catherine Killian, IV, would go back to Hell. The crazy thing is, while I mostly abhor the emotional gauntlet she’s put me through, there’s at least one member of my body that adamantly disagrees.

Frankie’s sly-as-hell smile is as enamoring as it is deadly. She really would be gorgeous if she weren’t traitorous witch. Alas, it’s kill or be killed. And I’m the one who’ll be doing the Killian-ing. Well, that’s what I thought, at least, until she changed the rules of engagement. It’s only then I become slightly concerned she’s made me the banner of her unfortunate initials.