Do yourself a favor, go out and buy this book, immediately. It is that good.

Ten years before this story takes place, Lexie Murrough was a rising journalist covering the presidential inauguration in the fictional country of Gadi. While covering the story she was shot and severely injured in an assassination mission led by a Black-Ops soldier, Deke Bronson.

Fast forward to the present. After spending years in physical therapy, Lexie can finally walk – but with a decided limp – and she has lots of emotional scars from her experience. She is no longer a reporter, but now the president of a charity organization in Chattanooga. Deke, in the meantime, left the military and is now part of the Dundee Agency, a private security firm. Deke has never forgotten Lexie, nor forgiven himself for hurting her. What Lexie does not know is that Deke is the gray-eyed man who carried her to safety ten years ago in Gadi. She does not know who he is nor the role he played in changing her life. She has never forgotten him the man who saved her life.

Lexie’s seemingly routine life is disturbed when someone bombs her office building, and later threatens to kill her. Deke is assigned as her bodyguard, charged with protecting her from a madman intent on destroying not only her life, but also the lives of her loved ones. Deke sees this as an opportunity to finally atone for what he did to Lexie. The attraction between them is immediately apparent, practically leaping off the pages of the book. Deke does not tell her who he is, and what he did, terrified that she would never forgive him if she knew the truth. Instead, he keeps quiet, falling in love with her, praying that he can keep her alive, and ready to die for her.

This book was intense, not only because of the love between Lexie and Deke, but also because of the ever-present danger to both their lives. The danger is real, reaching beyond the main characters. Every character is artfully developed, drawing not only empathy, sympathy, and respect from the reader, but also suspicion. In this book, there is no clear suspect. I found myself guessing until the very end. Ms. Barton masterfully builds and sustains the tension in this book. I was reluctant to leave behind these rich, compelling characters, and their intense world. Bravo.