Books like 'Defending Zara'

Readers who enjoyed Defending Zara by Susan Stoker also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

contemporary  suspense  military  new adult  slow burn  sweet-hero  alpha male  bodyguard-hero  caretaking  competent heroine 

  • Fractured by Riley Edwards

    Fractured by Riley Edwards

    Rated: 4.70 of 5 stars
    · 29 ratings
    Loving Echo Kent was painful. Not the falling in love part, that was easy. One look at the tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed narcotics detective and I knew I wanted him. A few months later I knew I couldn’t live without him. But my Echo, he had demons and secrets and a mountain of guilt. His love was selfish and one-sided—he could love but he refused to allow others to love him...
  • Hail Mary by Lani Lynn Vale

    Hail Mary by Lani Lynn Vale

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 41 ratings
    Mary Persephone Hail Mary—well-wished-for child. Persephone—destruction. Hail—well that speaks for itself. Her name is painful to think about. Mary, his newfound daughter, isn’t a wished-for child. Persephone, though? Yeah, destruction is a fitting description. And Hail? Yeah, that’s just the final f-you...
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  • Chasing Fortune by Brittney Sahin

    Chasing Fortune by Brittney Sahin

    Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars
    · 30 ratings
    Echo Team has a new addition—a K-9, and he’s in need of training . . .Eight-plus years as Echo Three and Chris Hunter is still as mission-focused as ever, continuing to fight for his country as part of a secretive team of operatives serving the President.When Chris decides to rescue a dog for the team, he soon discovers he and the guys are far from K-9 whisperers, and they need help...
  • Tainted by Riley Edwards

    Tainted by Riley Edwards

    Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    Former Navy SEAL sniper Matthew Kessler thought his life was charmed. He was wrong. He thought his father had amassed the family’s wealth through hard work. He was wrong again. He thought the battlefield had taught him everything he needed to know about strength and courage. He was absolutely wrong. In the blink of an eye, everything he thought he knew about his family became a lie...
    Categorized as:
    suspense  military  m-f  contemporary  audiobook
  • Men of Honor, Books 1-4 by K.C. Lynn, Callie Dalton

    Men of Honor, Books 1-4 by K.C. Lynn, Callie Dalton

    Rated: 4.65 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 1 of 5
    Glimpses and kisses [?] · 25 ratings
    This military romance boxed set series includes all four Men of Honor stories: Fighting Temptation, Sweet Temptation, Resisting Temptation, and The Final Temptation. Best if in order, but all can be listened to as standalones! You will not break me for I am unbreakable. I will live with integrity, fight with honor and die for what's right...
  • Chasing the Knight by Brittney Sahin

    Chasing the Knight by Brittney Sahin

    Rated: 4.51 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 31 ratings
    She's the admiral's daughter . . . and the one woman bad-boy Wyatt Pierson can't resist. When Wyatt left England, he said goodbye to his privileged upbringing and forged his own path. After years of running operations for an elite unit of Navy SEALs, he's satisfied with his mission-focused life until a messy entanglement walks through the door...
  • Maximus by Riley Edwards, Operation Alpha

    Maximus by Riley Edwards, Operation Alpha

    Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    What happens when a woman who’s done the unthinkable needs protection—can a man who’s lost his belief in humanity keep her safe? Max Brown doesn’t trust anyone but his team. The former SEAL learned early in life that people let you down—they lie, they steal, and they lie some more. Love is a word that is used to manipulate. Family is meaningless. Max is an island and he prefers it that way...
  • Uncaged by Harper Sloan

    Uncaged by Harper Sloan

    Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 5 of 5
    Explicit and plentiful [?] · 57 ratings
    Greg Cage’s life is more fulfilling than he ever could have imagined. He’s married to the love of his life, has an amazing son, and in a few short months, his family will grow again with the birth of his twin girls. The past year has been a tough one for the Cage family, but they are now on the road to healing by learning to let go of the past and looking forward to their future...
  • Shielding Kinley by Susan Stoker

    Shielding Kinley by Susan Stoker

    Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 34 ratings
    When Kinley Taylor witnesses what was possibly the last few minutes of a young girl’s life while in Paris, she realizes exactly how alone she is in the world. The only person she has to turn to for help is the one man who she feels is completely out of her league. Gage “Lefty” Haskins liked the personal assistant the first time he met her...
  • Rescuing Mary by Susan Stoker

    Rescuing Mary by Susan Stoker

    Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars
    · 22 ratings
    Ford “Truck” Laughlin and Mary Weston have weathered their share of storms over the last couple years. Truck’s job, Mary’s health. His bossiness, her bitchiness. All while dancing around their intense attraction. Mary’s tried to push him away for his own good but Truck won’t let her give up…on herself or on them. Just when she decides they deserve a fair shot, disaster strikes...
  • No Fair Lady by Nicole Snow

    No Fair Lady by Nicole Snow

    Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    Unbreakable. Lethal. Rip-your-heart-out fine.Now let me tell you about him...Oliver Major was the only lunk brave enough to tame me.Strict. Rich. Deliciously handsome. The right kind of scary.And the scary kind of right.He was my rugged oasis in high-stakes corporate hell.The day he disappeared without a trace sheared my soul.Years later, I'm on a date with destiny...
  • Checkmate by Emilia Finn

    Checkmate by Emilia Finn

    Rated: 4.49 of 5 stars
    · 22 ratings
    Bishop men are nothing but a plague on this planet, a disease that needs eradication before it spreads. They’re murderers. Liars. Thieves. The day I met Colum Bishop, I thought my life was finally turning around. I was led to believe he would be our saviour. He was supposed to be our hero, a long awaited reprieve from the hardships life insisted on throwing at my mom and me...
  • Lethal Pursuit by Kaylea Cross

    Lethal Pursuit by Kaylea Cross

    Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 20 ratings
    Security Forces Lieutenant Maya Lopez is right at home in a war zone: she's been fighting all her life. A hard-won commission in the air force has brought her to Afghanistan, and if she plays her cards right, she could end up with an FBI job. It won't be easy, but that just makes her more determined. Jackson Thatcher is a protector in all senses of the word...
  • Sacrifice The Knight by Emilia Finn

    Sacrifice The Knight by Emilia Finn

    Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars
    · 17 ratings
    Sacrifices are never ideal, but to win the game, sometimes the knight must fall. Katrina Blair is a single mom to a daredevil teen, which means she has no time for fruitless endeavours such as dating. Why? Because men are all the same: liars, thieves, and unreliable a**holes...
  • Justice for Erin by Susan Stoker

    Justice for Erin by Susan Stoker

    Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars
    · 20 ratings
    Part-time bartender Erin Gardner is friendly to everyone who bellies up to her bar, including the local law enforcement and firefighters who keep her city safe. That’s where she meets game warden Conor Paxton, a regular who she asks to join a canoeing trip she’s leading for her university day job. When the trip leads to something more, Erin couldn’t be happier...
  • Rescuing Kassie by Susan Stoker

    Rescuing Kassie by Susan Stoker

    Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars
    · 23 ratings
    Graham "Hollywood" Caverly feels the chemistry with Kassie Anderson in the emails they've been exchanging through a dating site. When they finally meet in person, and that online chemistry proves to have real-life sizzle, he knows she's the one. He couldn't be happier when their first date, at an annual Army Ball, goes better than he could have imagined. Until Kassie drops a bomb...
  • Asher by Nyssa Kathryn

    Asher by Nyssa Kathryn

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    She needs his love. He needs her safe.When a workplace romance becomes something deeper for Lexie Harper, she's devastated to learn Asher Becket is determined to keep their sensual touches and passionate kisses behind closed doors. But that's not good enough. Lexie won't be anyone's dirty little secret...especially when she's harboring a secret of her own that won't stay hidden for long...
  • Black Mail: A Black's Bandits Novel by Lynn Raye Harris

    Black Mail: A Black's Bandits Novel by Lynn Raye Harris

    Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    Tyler “Ty” Scott finally gets his book! When Cassie Dixon gets threatening letters, there’s only one person who can help - her best friend’s sexy cousin...
  • The Billionaire's Angel by Ivy Layne

    The Billionaire's Angel by Ivy Layne

    Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    He thought the fight was over until his heart was on the line. I thought coming home would solve all my problems. I’ve never been more wrong. After a decade in the military, I’m more at home in the desert than the mansion where I grew up. I want to pretend that six months as a captive didn’t change me, but ever since I escaped, I haven’t slept. Nightmares. Flashbacks...
  • Black Jack by Lora Leigh

    Black Jack by Lora Leigh

    Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 40 ratings
    The Secret Service can’t control him. The British government can’t silence him. But renegade agent Travis Caine is one loose cannon you don’t want to mess with, so his commanders cut him a break—and cut him loose. His new HQ is America’s top intelligence force, Elite Ops. His new code name is “Black Jack.” And his new assignment is to die for...
  • Taken by Cynthia Eden

    Taken by Cynthia Eden

    Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars
    · 21 ratings
    In New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Eden’s latest novel, the Last Option Search Team (LOST) returns— and for one agent, the hunt for a serial killer just got very personal . . . HE SWORE TO PROTECT HER . . . Bailey Jones somehow survived her harrowing abduction by the infamous Death Angel...
  • Burned by Kaylea Cross

    Burned by Kaylea Cross

    Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    A woman with a dark past... Forced into hiding after her NSA-sanctioned task force lands on a terrorist cell’s hit list, cryptologist Zahra Gill must rely on the skill and experience of her ex-Special Ops Titanium Security teammates to keep her safe—including former Force Recon Marine Sean Dunphy...
  • Westin's Chase by Cristin Harber

    Westin's Chase by Cristin Harber

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · 28 ratings
    THE MASTER OF EVERYTHING HAS FOUND HIS MATCH Jared Westin knows his reputation and likes it. He gets the job done. No emotion. No baggage. That’s why his elite ops company, The Titan Group, is better than the best. They complete projects classified as mission impossible. And then, in walks a woman as tough as she is sexy. His counterpart in every way, should he choose to admit it...
  • Mine to Crave by Cynthia Eden

    Mine to Crave by Cynthia Eden

    Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars
    · 29 ratings
    New York Times best-selling author Cynthia Eden continues her dark and sexy “Mine” romantic suspense series with…MINE TO CRAVE. HE TAKES WHAT HE WANTS. From the moment that billionaire casino owner Drake Archer sees Jasmine Bennett, he’s obsessed. Consumed by desire for the mysterious redhead, Drake will do anything necessary to claim her...
  • No Way in Hell: Part 2 by J.B. Havens, Samantha A. Cole

    No Way in Hell: Part 2 by J.B. Havens, Samantha A. Cole

    Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Reading Book 1 is necessary, prior to reading Book 2. Steel Corps—an elite, covert U.S. military team led by Staff Sergeant Bea ‘Mic’ Michaels, based out of a secure location in Pennsylvania. Trident Security—a private security agency located in Tampa, Florida, comprised of retired Navy SEALs. T. Carter—U.S. spy and assassin...
  • Iron Willed Warrior by Hannah Shield

    Iron Willed Warrior by Hannah Shield

    Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 8 ratings
    Their relationship is fake. But the sparks between them are hot enough to burn.Agent Brynn Somerton just resigned from the FBI. Her top secret going undercover to destroy a dangerous crime syndicate. According to the law, she’s now a vigilante. And that means working with the Last Refuge Protectors. Whether she likes it or not.Bounty hunter Cole Bailey wants nothing to do with the FBI...
  • Targeted by Kaylea Cross

    Targeted by Kaylea Cross

    Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 23 ratings
    They were partners once After an attack on the job that nearly killed her, Special Agent Celida Morales is determined to salvage her reputation in the FBI and get back to the career she loves. Domestic terrorism has left its mark on her—literally—and now she’s more determined than ever to leave her mark on it...
  • Girl of Rage by Charles Sheehan-Miles

    Girl of Rage by Charles Sheehan-Miles

    Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    Four days ago, Andrea Thompson agreed to fly to the United States to help her sister Carrie. Four days ago, everything changed. Now Andrea is lost and on the run. Dylan Paris is missing. Julia and Crank Wilson are under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service. The Thompson family is scattered and in danger, and Andrea’s very identity may hold the key to unlock decades of buried secrets...
  • Disavowed by Kaylea Cross

    Disavowed by Kaylea Cross

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 17 ratings
    The government trained her to kill… Briar Jones has lived most of her life in the shadows, carrying out secret ops to eliminate some of the United States’ most dangerous enemies. She’s devoted her life to serving her country so when a faceless enemy targets her and kills someone close to her, she’ll stop at nothing to bring them down...
  • Gambled by Cristin Harber

    Gambled by Cristin Harber

    Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars
    · 26 ratings
    Brock Gamble’s epic fall from the Titan Group labeled him a traitor. He betrayed his men. He failed his family. And when he thought he’d hit the lowest point, his wife walked out with their children, leaving him alone to drown himself in the bottle. Surviving an abduction didn’t end the nightmare for Sarah Gamble. The aftershocks of post-traumatic stress disorder hit her hard...
  • QUIVER by Jacob Chance

    QUIVER by Jacob Chance

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    They met under the most unusual circumstances and fell deeply in love. Their relationship thrived, despite all the secrets Kyle kept from Janny. When the sordid details of his betrayal were revealed in the worst way possible, he had to fight to win her back. Now Kyle’s in the battle of his life and the obstacle in their path might be impossible to overcome...
  • Tactical Strike by Kaylea Cross

    Tactical Strike by Kaylea Cross

    Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 27 ratings
    Gunship pilot Captain Candace Bradford has worked long and hard to earn her rank and position within the male-dominated world of Air Force Special Operations. She's not about to let anything or anyone jeopardize that, let alone one sinfully tempting man who seems determined to cause her nothing but trouble. Even if she's starting to fall for him...
  • Fast Kill by Kaylea Cross

    Fast Kill by Kaylea Cross

    Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars
    · 15 ratings
    The past has come back to haunt her. Having battled long and hard to put her painful past behind her, DEA Special Agent Taylor Kennedy has done everything in her power to make a new life for herself. She never dreamed that same past would suddenly show up on her doorstep one night, or that its reappearance would threaten everything she’s built for herself...
  • When You Least Expect It by Jessica Prince

    When You Least Expect It by Jessica Prince

    Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 15 ratings
    The last thing Stella Ryan had time for was a man. With her family in trouble and looking to her to fix everything, romance and commitment were the furthest things from her mind. Until she ran into a man with a jawline that could cut granite and arms she wanted to lick like an ice cream cone. A man who made her forget the things that really mattered...
  • Relentless by Kaylea Cross

    Relentless by Kaylea Cross

    Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars
    · 19 ratings
    Former Delta Force operator Rhys Sinclair defied the odds by recovering from a traumatic brain injury that should have killed him. Given the chance to repay the beautiful doctor who saved his life by guarding hers, he can't say no--even if it means facing an unknown threat from the cunning terrorist his CIA-sanctioned team had been hunting in Afghanistan...
  • Moonlight Road by Robyn Carr

    Moonlight Road by Robyn Carr

    Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars
    · 40 ratings
    WITH HER BELOVED YOUNGER SIBLINGS SETTLED AND HAPPY, ERIN FOLEY HAS EMPTY NEST SYNDROME. AT AGE THIRTY-FIVE. So she's hitting the pause button on her life and holing up in a secluded (but totally upgraded --- she's not into roughing it!) cabin near Virgin River. Erin is planning on getting to know herself ... not the shaggy-haired mountain man she meets...
  • Enforce by M. Malone, Nana Malone

    Enforce by M. Malone, Nana Malone

    Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    I am the shadow that haunts the night. I am a hunter, a protector...a force for good...I am Jonas Castillo. And now that she’s mine, I’m never letting her go. If only she would let me protect her...Seeing the fear in her eyes, makes me want to do the one thing I’ve vowed never to do again… kill. But I’ll do anything to protect what’s mine. ** The finale of The FORCE Duet...
  • Triumph by Cecilia London

    Triumph by Cecilia London

    Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    “All of your ideals, your hopes and dreams…they cease to matter if you abandon them in your darkest hour. We have to see this through to the end.”Jack McIntyre and Caroline Gerard have never shied away from a challenge. As dual commanders of the American rebel forces, they now face the greatest adversity of their lives. Every decision has permanent consequences...
  • Dangerous Ties by Jenna Gunn

    Dangerous Ties by Jenna Gunn

    Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    To save the woman who treats him like he's the enemy, he'll have to risk his life against an army of criminals. The former Force Recon Marine knows that his teammate’s younger sister-in-law-to-be is the definition of off-limits.Not to mention he’s breaking protocol and could lose his new job...
  • Guarded Dreams by L.J. Evans

    Guarded Dreams by L.J. Evans

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    "Just like the moon called the tides, she had called me home. To her."Serious, by-the-book Eli Wyatt has life all figured out. He’s got a five-year plan, his future in the Coast Guard, and friends who always have his back.And then Ava Abrams breezes into his life, tempting him in ways he can’t shakeA free spirit, Ava’s on the run, heading in the direction of her dreams...
  • The SEAL’s Surprise Baby by Leslie North

    The SEAL’s Surprise Baby by Leslie North

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Navy SEAL Anderson Park and agency operative Violet DiPaula didn’t like each other, but that didn’t diminish the spark between them. On a mission together in Russia, they gave in to the red-hot chemistry between them...
  • Hidden Summit by Robyn Carr

    Hidden Summit by Robyn Carr

    Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars
    · 38 ratings
    Sick of running into her cheery ex-husband and his new wife, Leslie Petruso accepts a job at the Virgin River branch of Haggerty Construction and takes the high road right out of town. Now she's got Paul Haggerty's business running like a well-oiled machine. In fact, things are so busy Paul jumps at the chance to hire an extra set of hands...
  • SEAL Out of Water by Abbie Zanders, Suspense Sisters

    SEAL Out of Water by Abbie Zanders, Suspense Sisters

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    Retired US Navy SEAL Commander Gabriel Michaels has finally found peace after decades of active duty and two failed marriages. No tangoes, no red tape, no women — just his rifle, his fishing pole, and his loyal coon hound on a pristine piece of lakefront heaven. But when the Assistant Director of Homeland Security asks for his help, he can’t say no...
  • Derek by LeAnn Ashers

    Derek by LeAnn Ashers

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    BrittanyHe watched me from afar for over a year.Everywhere I went, he was there. His eyes on me.Little by little, he got closer. He stalked his prey…and that prey was me.But I wanted to be caught.I wanted to be his.I wanted him just as much as he wanted me.So I gave into him.I was his.DerekShe was mine.She had been from the second her eyes connected with mine from across the room.I waited...
  • No Turning Back by Kaylea Cross

    No Turning Back by Kaylea Cross

    Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars
    · 17 ratings
    CIA communications expert Samarra Wallace is on the run from a faceless enemy when she learns terrorists have kidnapped and threatened to execute her cousin. She will do whatever it takes to free her, including breaking cover to contact the former teammate she is dangerously attracted to. Now all she has to do is convince him she's not working for the bad guys...
  • No Gentle Giant by Nicole Snow

    No Gentle Giant by Nicole Snow

    Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    Wall Street Journal bestselling author Nicole Snow returns with a steamy and electrifying standalone romance thriller where one ginormous protector goes all-in to win Miss Unlucky.You know the drill. Big hands, big feet, humongous—Yikes. We're not going there for the thousandth time.I've got small-town problems aplenty and zero time for Paxton “Alaska” Charter...
  • Marrying Caroline by Susan Stoker

    Marrying Caroline by Susan Stoker

    Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 26 ratings
    Caroline and Wolf had a wild start to their relationship… plane hijacking, kidnapping, attempted drowning, and a terrorist plot foiled. Now things have calmed down and a wedding is in the works for the couple. By enlisting the help of Wolf’s teammate, Cookie, Caroline is immersed in plans for her dream wedding. Of course, with their luck, things can never go off without a hitch...
  • Outspoken Angel by Mia Dymond

    Outspoken Angel by Mia Dymond

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · 25 ratings
    Handbags, stilettos, and spa dates -- not retired SEAL Max Sterling's usual m.o. Until Cameron Tremaine. Duty bound, Max tolerates her sass and smart mouth until she pushes too far. Cameron doesn't need a bald, bossy bodyguard, thank you very much. Especially one oh, so delectable as Max. Except, when someone decides to silence her for good, Cameron realizes bold and brassy go hand in hand...
  • All That I Am by Rachel Brookes

    All That I Am by Rachel Brookes

    Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars
    · 13 ratings
    A kickass home décor boutique – tick A sassy mouth and absolutely no filter – tick A wall so strong no man could ever tear it down - tick, tick, tick! Or so I thought. Until I meet Detective Ben Hunt, the owner of exquisite blue eyes, a god-like physique and a seductive smirk that makes me weak at the knees. He charges into my life like a force of nature...
  • Collide by Megan O'Brien

    Collide by Megan O'Brien

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    After years working for Talon Security, Sarah Scott has settled into her life in Los Angeles. Her friendships are growing stronger, and that spark with a certain former SEAL... well, it just might be worth exploring. That is, until her ugly past becomes her present and Sarah sees no other choice but to disappear. Letting her go isn't an option...
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