Dear Reader,

I was thrilled to hear that the Men of Courage anthology was so well received that our editors wanted each of us to write a spin-off story. Brett, my hero from “Buried!,” has a great set of siblings that I was dying to write about. But none so much as his older brother, U.S. marshal Sean Gannon. Of course, given Sean’s dedication to job and country, he’d probably have preferred me to leave him alone. All the more reason to complicate things for him!

So I put a damsel in distress directly in his path, one he wasn’t going to be able to walk away from. The problem? Laurel Patrick is the type of woman who prefers to solve her own problems, thank you. Did I mention she was a district court judge? Sean suspects she’s in more trouble than she can handle…and he’s not backing off. Sparks fly, pulses pound, passion flares. All the ingredients I love best!

I hope you enjoy Sean and Laurel’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Happy reading,

Donna Kauffman