She disappeared to survive. He made her want to stay. But the past doesn’t stay buried—and in Frost Ridge, the ice always cracks.
Riley Martinez is a woman who doesn’t exist. Relocated under witness protection to the small Alaskan town of Frost Ridge, she runs a coffee shop, memorizes every customer’s order, and keeps her head down—until a victory photo at a hockey game connects her to Devon Cross, the Wolverines’ captain, and puts her face in front of the Brava crime family she testified against.
This is romantic suspense with teeth—small-town warmth, hockey-team brotherhood, and a heroine who transforms from prey to predator. The ice breaks. The community holds. And love becomes the thing worth fighting for.
Book 1 — Cross Check (Riley & Devon)
“She’s been running for eleven months. He’s the reason she stops.”
Riley Martinez—formerly Riley Ashford—has been hiding in Frost Ridge, Alaska for eleven months. Relocated under federal witness protection after testifying against the Brava crime family, she runs a coffee shop, knows every regular by name and order, and has almost convinced herself this quiet life might last. Then Devon Cross walks in—hockey captain, local hero, and the kind of man who pays attention to the things she’s trained herself to hide.
When a victory photo at the arena puts Riley’s face in front of the wrong people, her cover begins to crack. The Brava family mobilizes. A federal marshal’s protection frays. And the small town that was supposed to be her hiding place becomes a battlefield.
Devon refuses to let her run, assembling his team and his community into a wall between Riley and the men who want her silenced—while Riley discovers that the woman she became in witness protection may be stronger than the one who fled.
59,713 words • Ends HFN — continues in Book 2
Book 2 — Sudden Death (Riley & Devon)
“She survived the trial. Now the enforcer is at her door—and this time, he’s counting down.”
Riley thought the worst was behind her. The trial is over, the conviction secured, and she’s building a real life in Frost Ridge with Devon—a ring on her finger and a future she finally lets herself want. Then Dante Brava walks into her coffee shop, leaves a business card and a three-week deadline, and everything she’s rebuilt begins to fracture. The contract is back. The Brava family wants her silenced. And this time, they’re not sending lawyers.
As Dante’s campaign escalates—surveillance, vandalism, attacks on friends, a firebombed coffee shop—Devon mobilizes the Wolverines into a protection detail and Riley shifts from hiding to fighting.
A frozen-lake confrontation, a desperate negotiation with the Brava patriarch, and a community that refuses to let her stand alone will determine whether Riley claims the life she’s earned—or loses everything on the ice.
60,462 words • Series HEA
Throughout Both Books
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