Brothers in Arms (Aster)

Mason Adler: Hot. Cocky. Sugarcoated Bad Boy. The type of man who knocks the big "O" clear to the front of the alphabet every time. Wrap up that eight-pack with Navy khakis and top it off with a shiny SEAL Trident, the kind that makes the girls swoon. That's Mason. My best friend. For me, he's off limits. Now that I've finished college, I need to focus on my writing career. And without his help, I don't stand a chance. But I need something from him. Something only he can give me. So I'll pull the blinds. I'll toss my inhibitions. I'll call it "research." And I won't let my heart get involved, especially with him leaving at the end of the week. Leaving me . . . even though my very soul is still in his grasp. Contains mature themes.

Stein Adler: The first time I saw him, he was splitting logs like my filthiest lumberjack fantasy. A Delta Force hero with a heart of gold . . . hidden behind pecs that should be sculpted in marble. And then there's that eight-pack that renders me speechless as I stare at him from behind a bush during my vacation. He's not what I'm looking for. Really. A fling with Stein is the polar opposite of the calm, peaceful week I planned when I booked this trip. His piercing eyes are full of secrets that should make me run for cover. But if he can handle a woman as masterfully as he handles that axe . . . well, he might be enough to pull me out of my post-divorce gloom. So I'll strike a deal with him. I can't resist. It's not often an accountant like me comes across a man this . . . fling-worthy. Contains mature themes.

Colt Adler: I'm trying to picture him, way back when. But how can I? All I see now is the Army Ranger he's become. Intoxicating smile. Sculpted arms. To-die-for eight-pack. And enough medals on his uniform to set off airport security from a mile away. He doesn't resemble the kid who shared my tree house with me, along with every perfect memory of my childhood. He protected me-long before he protected our country. And he knows it all. Every hope and dream in my heart. Every vulnerability I hide from everyone but him. Every secret . . . except one. One tiny lie that I'm discovering I want desperately to be the truth. Because he's not the only one who's changed since we were ten. But I can't risk a friendship that's lasted eighteen years-even when his lips are so close that I'm wondering if he'll finally kiss me . . . or kiss me not. Contains mature themes.

Graydon Adler: A man who's impossible to forget. Yet the first time our paths crossed on a SEAL mission-the kind that requires computer nerds like me to mingle with SEALs like him-I was so terrified that I barely remember him there. But every time after that? Oh, I remember plenty . . . Abs for days, shoulders that fill up a doorway, and a hard-earned SEAL trident on his uniform. Years later, he's hitting me up for the kind of favor that would fill any woman with utter rapture-pretend I'm his date on a wedding cruise to get his family off his decidedly muscular back. Now I'm on a ship destined for paradise with a man who could shatter my heart. Because computer nerds like me don't end up with SEALs like him. But I'll indulge in this fantasy, hating that I want so much more of this. Hating that this will end. It's too glorious-too addictive-being his plus one. Contains mature themes.

When matchmaker Freya Hansen-Adler is inspired by the holiday spirit, she'll stop at nothing to see former Navy SEAL Harris and single mom Ava get the happily ever after they deserve . . . I set the bar pretty low when it comes to the holidays. I have to. As a Navy officer, I spend plenty of them far from anyplace I'd call "home" . . . sometimes getting shot like I did on my last SEAL mission. So, yeah, I set the bar low enough that I can roll over it. That is, until I meet my neighbor Ava. She's the type of woman who bakes pecan pie and drinks eggnog. She carols with her neighbors and illuminates her house with enough tiny lights that it can probably be spotted by satellites. I bet she even owns a stack of ugly Christmas sweaters. She's also got a son . . . and roots dug deep into this picturesque holiday town. Roots that make life with a Navy guy like me impossible. Ava is the last thing I need. Yet she's all I want for Christmas. Contains mature themes.

Matchmaker Freya Hansen-Adler is at it again, and this time, it will take apple pie and an adorable rescue dog to help her make a perfect match of her friends, Millie and Dax . . . I should be immune to a man like Dax. Tall, dark, and deadly . . . quite literally with that sexy Army Ranger scroll on his uniform. But I know firsthand the headache, the worry, the grief that can come with a Special Ops guy like him. And I'll have no part of it. Even after Dax starts living in the extra room in my house. Even when he greets me in the morning, showcasing those glorious pecs-of-perfection before I've even had my coffee. Even when I find out that the man behind that devilish grin is ten times as tempting as his flawless form. And even when we strike a deal that has me questioning everything as I savor one sinful summer, I will not fall for him . . . . . . until the sweet, scorching heat I feel inside surpasses the hottest day on my island home, and there's no turning back. Contains mature themes.

A winter romance from the shores of the Chesapeake to the paradise of Hawaii . . . matchmaker Freya won't stop until her friend Maggie and Navy SEAL Ryder find their happily ever after . . . Let me be crystal clear: I don't need a blind date. I'm a SEAL. Women toss sex at me like it's free candy in a Fourth of July parade. But I'm tired of hook-ups, short-term relationships, and mindless, hedonistic sexual encounters. No, wait. Scratch that last one. Point is, I want the kind of woman who will stick. Yeah, she'll drool at the sight of my standard-issue pecs and eight-pack, but she'll also put up with the baggage of Navy SEAL life. But this blind date with Maggie? One minute we're tearing each other's clothes off . . . and in the next, I'm in a deep freeze, face-to-face with the Ice Queen herself. That's fine. I can move on. Except fate has other plans, the kind that will pluck us from reality and drop us into a place that might actually tame the demons that come with one-too-many SEAL missions. With Maggie, I might find paradise. My only question is, will it last? Contains mature themes.

Are some mistakes destined to be repeated? I can't help thinking it as I look at him now, feeling that surge of desire inside of me and that eerie connection that I can't explain, just like I did ten years ago. The West Point graduate I foolishly hooked up with one night in New York City has transformed into a hardened warrior, an Army Ranger and twice the panty-melting heartthrob he was back then. My best friend, the bride-to-be at this wedding I'm attending in paradise, doesn't believe it's him. He's too good of a guy, she says. Too good to be the man who gave me a fake name and fake phone number that Morning After, which I didn't discover until I tried to track him down a few months later. But I know it's him. How could I not? I've looked into his eyes every day since my daughter was born. Our daughter. And I won't let this twist of fate that brought him back to me disrupt the life I share with her. I can't when I know he'll only shatter her hopes just like he did mine. I will protect my child at all costs. But who will protect me? Contains mature themes.