A repost from the archives.
In anticipation of Love’s Last Kiss Release on May 17th, I’ve put together a primer about the Deadly Force Series. In today’s post, I’m discussing the heroes of the series.
The heroes of this romantic suspense series are a team of ex-Special Forces soldiers, accused of vicious war crimes, and determined to prove their innocence. Led by their commander Colonel Kells Torridan, they’re desperate to find the enemy who wants to destroy them before time runs out and the enemy attacks again. As these men struggle to rebuild their lives and redeem their honor, it’s the women they love who teach these alpha males that Grace always defeats Reckoning.
In the meantime, Kells and his men of the Seventh Special Forces group have been dishonorably discharged. Half of their men are in prison while the other half are now jobless and homeless. Not sure what to do next, they decide to manage a run-down, pirate-themed gym in a not-so-nice part of Savannah, Georgia. The gym gives them a place to live and enough money to pay for food and ammo while they come up with a plan to get their men out of prison, redeem their honor, and stay out of the way of their two enemies, the Fianna and the arms dealer Remiel Marigny.
Kells and his men have no support from anyone–they’re completely on their own using cheap burner phones, whatever weapons they can scavenge, and they even have to borrow an SUV from one of the men’s grandmothers. They’re in desperate straits emotionally, physically, and psychologically. But they’re determined to reclaim their lives while at the same time protecting each other and those they love.
The Heroes of the Deadly Force Series
Kells Torridan: Colonel Kells Torridan was the commander of the Seventh Special Forces Group and now leads his men who live and work at Iron Rack’s Gym in Savannah, GA. He feels responsible for everything that has happened and is determined to protect his men who are in prison as well as those who’ve chosen to live with him at Iron Rack’s Gym. Kells is currently separated from his wife but refuses to believe his marriage is over. Kells will do anything to save his men and his marriage.
Rafe Montfort: Rafe is the hero of EVERY DEEP DESIRE. Rafe is an ex-Green Beret who, eight years before the series starts, betrayed his men, left his wife Juliet, and deserted his A-team to join the Fianna. After spending years as a Fianna warrior, Rafe was arrested in St. Petersburg, Russia and then extradited back to Leavenworth Prison in Kansas. When Rafe is unexpectedly released from prison in EVERY DEEP DESIRE, he has one last chance to save his wife and protect the men he’d once sworn his loyalty to. Rafe is also the hero of two short stories (prequels to Every Deep Desire): Forever and Always & The Christmas Lily.
Nate Walker: Nate is the hero of ONE DARK WISH. Nate once was a member of the esteemed Seventh Special Forces Group but is now the unofficial executive office (XO) of the unit that resides and works at Iron Rack’s Gym. Nate spent years in an Afghan POW camp run by the unit’s enemy Remiel Marigny and suffers from headaches and seizures due to how poorly he was treated. His one wish is to prove his innocence and that of his men–and to protect the woman he loves.
Zack Tremaine: Zack is the hero of IN SEARCH OF TRUTH, the third book in the Deadly Force series. Zack is a native Cajun from New Orleans. He’s also the illegitimate grandson of the former governor of Louisiana and the godson of his home city’s most famous madam. Determined to make a life for himself away from his infamous relatives, Zack became a Green Beret. It was a great life until his unit was charged with war crimes and he was dishonorably discharged. Now he has to make a choice between the woman he’s loved all of his life and the men he’s sworn to protect. Because in the war with Remiel and the Fianna, Zack can’t save both.
Kade Dolan: Kade is the hero of LOVE’S LAST KISS and technically book 1.5 in the series. This book takes place between Every Deep Desire (book 1) and One Dark Wish (book 2) and is about an Army Ranger who was betrayed and sent to Leavenworth–until he makes a deal with the Fianna. A deal that will force him to become a warrior and betray the woman he loves or else forfeit the lives of those he loves, including Kells Torridan’s men who will risk everything to help him.
Alex Mitchell: Alex is the hero of A PROMISE AT MIDNIGHT, book 4 in the Deadly Force series. Alex is an Army Ranger who was recently released from the army’s secret prison known as Leedsville Military Correctional Facility. Accused of a murder he failed to commit, Kells worked a deal to get Alex released for one reason: to find and kill their enemy Remiel Marigny. Alex is totally on board with this plan until he meets a woman and her daughter who steal his heart and force him to make an impossible choice that could destroy him and all of Kells Torridan’s men.
Cain Marun: Cain is one of the few married men in the unit and is the most laid back. His wife Charlotte is his entire world. She’s been with him from the beginning—from the unit’s set-up and secret congressional committee hearings all the way through his dishonorable discharge and new life working at Iron Rack’s Gym. But no matter what Remiel has thrown at the unit, Charlotte has remained by the side of Cain and his men. For a while, Cain believed this war between Kells and Remiel and the Fianna only affected him peripherally. But when Remiel kidnaps Charlotte, Cain is thrust into the position of hunter and killer. Because he will do anything to save his wife, even if he has to give up his own life and the lives of his men.
Luke Preston: Luke was a member of the Seventh Special Forces Group until he and his men were dishonorably discharged. Not only is Luke one of the youngest members of the unit, he’s the most computer savvy. That means that, for a while now, he’s had access to intel the rest of the unit—including Kells—hasn’t had. Unfortunately for Luke, that information will force him to lie to his men, endangering them and the woman he secretly adores.
Ty Briggs: Ty is the quietest of all of Kells’s men and keeps himself apart from his buddies. It’s not because he doesn’t love them or isn’t committed to saving the rest of his men in prison. It’s because Ty feels guilty. Guilty about his part in the doomed Afghan operation that destroyed their lives and the secret he carries but can’t reveal. When Remiel Marigny turns his focus on Ty, and Ty’s secret, Ty realizes that he has to admit his part in the disaster his life–and those of his men–has become. Except if he reveals this secret, an innocent woman will die.
Vane Tanner: Of all the men in the unit, Vane is closest to Kells. Kells confides in Vane, and Vane offers advice. The problem with this situation is that, over the years, Vane’s relationship with Kells has separated Vane from the rest of his men. Some of the men resent Vane, others outright dislike him. This loneliness, as well as the inside information he’s kept to himself, has left Vane vulnerable to his enemies Remiel Marigny and the Fianna. When Vane’s men believe that he’s betrayed them, he has no one to turn to for help–except for the woman he’s loved from afar but has sworn never to see again.
Pete White Horse—Pete found a life filled with adventure and honor with the Seventh Special Forces Group until their dishonorable discharges. When he and his unit lost everything, and ended up working at Iron Rack’s Gym, he was determined to reclaim his life and save his men in prison. But after he’s taken hostage by Remiel Marigny, and forced into a no-win situation with the Fianna, Pete finally realizes that nothing in his life will ever be the same. And to save his men, and the woman he’s loved and lost, he’ll have to make the ultimate sacrifice. A sacrifice that will change the lives of his men, and the woman he loves, forever.
Detective Jorge Garza: Garza, a detective with the Savannah Police Department, has become a reluctant player in Kells’s unit and is now committed to making sure that Kells and his men manage their war with the Fianna and Remiel Marigny below the notice of local law enforcement. But in the process of protecting Kells and his men, he must live a double life. And when this double life causes harm to those he loves, he is going to have to make some difficult decisions. Does he save the woman he thought he’d never see again or protect the men he’s come to love more than his own family.
