Bøger udgivet af Freya Barker

Bookstore owner Kerry Emerson finally seems to be back in control of her life. Her failure of a marriage firmly in her rearview mirror and her recent business expansion a success, she is in charge of her own future. One that is looking better than ever. The sight of the tall man, with the familiar salt and pepper goatee pushing open the door of her store, sets her hair on end. He doesn't exactly bring good memories.FBI Special Agent in Charge Damian Gomez is just looking for a decent cup of coffee when he walks into the small store offering books and brew. The pretty, feisty woman behind the counter is an unexpected surprise. Not at all unpleasant, especially since her finger that used to hold a wedding ring is now bare. Her wild hair, boho style and silvery grey eyes suddenly hold a lot of promise.But when his office is pulled into an international investigation into the trafficking of rare books and manuscripts, the straight-laced SAC realizes he has to keep his distance from the woman who might well be involved.Easier said than done, since fate seems determined to throw them together.

Once a man who lived by the letter of the law.Newt Tobias will do anything for his little girl. Even take early retirement, sell his city home, and move to cottage country, hoping that the simpler life will provide a better balance for his troubled teenage daughter.Yet, not long after they've settled, he finds himself toe-to-toe with a stubborn, fiery tempered woman with pretty brown eyes.Once a recluse preferring to live alone.Working with troubled adolescents, Frederique Marchand doesn't suffer fools and won't put up with bullies. Especially handsome strangers like Newt who think they can run roughshod over her. She loves her work, but on her own time she much prefers the company of her menagerie of animals.But with the welfare of a teenager at stake, she must put aside rocky first impressions and work with a man who needs her as much as she'll come to need him.

What if one morning you look in the mirror and no longer recognize the person looking back?When Leelo can no longer identify herself by the roles that once defined her, it's both terrifying and liberating. Oh, she feels the loss, the grief, and then the anger, but when she inherits property up north, she jumps at the promise of freedom and independence. Yet not everyone in her new community is what they seem, starting with the surly mountain man down the road.As owner of the local fishing lodge, Roar is content with his everyday life. And the older he gets, the less he appreciates change. So when a blue-haired, tattooed 'city girl' moves into the old motel, shaking up his daily routine, he's none too pleased. Still, something about the woman's easy smile and almost reckless grit has him step up as her keeper.

In one blinding flash, the very fiber of her existence is shredded. For criminal lawyer and single mother, Stacie Gustafson, a dependable career, a well-organized life, and an immaculate image, had always been her armor. Without it she's left exposed and struggling to create a new existence for her and her daughter. No matter how hard she tries, she is unable to avoid her history.All it takes is one look at the blue-eyed woman, for Nicolas Flynn to be transported back ten years. Sure, her appearance has changed, but then so has his, since he turned his life around. His devotion to his small-town law firm is tested with the arrival of this bittersweet blast from the past, making for a persistent distraction. One that drags along more trouble than she left behind.

A new career, a new place, and a new man-you'd think after the rough year she's had, Isla has finally found her stride. Of course it's never that simple. Some dreams she is building, some dreams are taken away before they have a chance to form. But she never imagined that the one thing she's worked so hard to realize, could be the cause it all breaks apart.Ben doesn't miss his assignments, his life of deceit, or his unsavory associations-but they appear to miss him. Just as he's beginning to think perhaps there's redemption for him after all, his dark past casts a long shadow.-and not just on him, but on the woman who made him believe.

She likes picking up her camera because it allows her to see things through a different lens. Like when she lost her job recently and instead of focusing on what she's forced to leave behind, she zooms in on the new options opening up in front of her. Or when a dangerous looking silver fox comes rolling up her path on a FatBoy, and her digital output shows a deep loneliness, matching her own, in his ice-blue eyes.But when she's working on making her dreams come true, she inadvertently captures something in her viewfinder she can't un-see.He wasn't supposed to be here, but he can't seem to escape his old life. Stuck in an old trailer in the mountains, he walks a fine line between ruse and reality. With the arrival of a young-looking pixie-who turns out to be a full grown, hot-blooded woman-his balance is thrown. He tries to avoid her, but with the little pixel peeper snapping everything in sight, she unintentionally risks his exposure.And his focus needs to be sharp to keep her from danger.

Violence corroded her.Obedience defiled her.Fear kept her chained.Freedom is hard to embrace when she's never learned to trust. Yet in the span of a second, she grabs a single opportunity and runs toward it. Straight into the sanctuary of a pub at the end of a wharf.She doesn't understand the concept of friendship. She's never felt the connection of a relationship. She's as innocent as the driven snow and yet tainted with corruption. Still, she finds herself surrounded by people who accept her, without even knowing the first thing about her.But one of them is determined to dig deeper.He treasures his friends, yet he's steered clear of committed relationships. He likes his life comfortably predictable and entirely controlled. Until it isn't. For months he's avoided interacting with The Skipper's newest addition. Perhaps realizing that once he looked deeply into those liquid brown eyes, he wouldn't be able to turn away.When his present and her past puts them both on the brink of change, they are forged through fire as one.

Innocence marked her.Violation crippled her.Love left her raw.The life she carefully rebuilt is challenged when she is confronted with the sins from her past. The carefully applied protection is at once ripped away, leaving her exposed and vulnerable.Her single night of indulgence with the silver-eyed stranger is only the beginning. He sees right to the heart of her and she is unable to ward off emotions that have been deeply buried. With the sting of betrayal still fresh in her soul, she's surprised to find herself opening up to the honest integrity of the sharp-eyed, rough-looking biker.When he lost everyone who mattered, he was left without roots and learned to be content simply living in the moment. Completely unprepared for the feisty blonde bartender with old pain marring her clear-blue eyes, he questions his own rules of detachment, as she unwittingly finds a way under his skin.Appearances deceive and when the masks fall away, revealing deep, dark secrets, there is nothing left but to hang onto each other and survive the storm

Pain punished her.The bottle numbed her.Guilt kept her trapped.In the dark alley of a pub, the words "Please don't" take hold of her heart and break the silence she seeks. Thinking herself beyond redemption, she tentatively grabs on to the slim thread of hope that unfolds inside of her.Holding her secrets close, she can't resist the comforting draw coming from The Skipper. The unconditional friendships it offers, the protective roof it provides, and the spark that its owner ignites in her-melting the frost off her heart, and slowly stripping away her resistance.His life flows from one crisis to the next. Under the pressure of competition crowding him out of his family's pub and the need to protect his children from the ruins of a bad marriage, he barely breathes. That is until a mane of strawberry-blonde hair and a set of big, pale blue eyes, shake him up.He never expected the shadow of a woman he finds on the floor of his washroom to bring him the air¿the balance and the light he's been missing.

Nowadays Kendra Schmitt puts most of her time into the new clinic in Cedar Tree. Always the responsible one in her family, she has avoided any kind of entanglement. In particular with a persistent young investigator. With her schedule a bit more predictable, she is ready to explore a personal life and concedes to what turns out to be a disastrous blind date.Junior member of the GFI team, Neil James, has seen and experienced more than most at his age. When his team becomes part of a task force investigating a series of murders in the area, his protective instincts kick into high gear. The victims' profiles closely match that of a certain physical therapist.Neil has been trying unsuccessfully for over a year to get closer to Kendra. Now that she might be in danger, he's determined to break through her resistance and goes all out to win her trust.Especially now that the killer's focus appears to have zeroed in on Kendra.

An assignment has just turned interesting for GFI investigator Malachi Whitetail. When a shy, mousy woman walks into his local diner, it takes him a minute to recognize her as an employee of the real estate office he's been monitoring. Not a believer in coincidence, Mal decides a closer look at the short brunette might be warranted. It will be the first, but certainly not the last time, he finds himself coming to her rescue.Kimeo Lowe leads a pretty quiet existence, which is why, when she ends up a witness to a crime, her curiosity into her boss's suspected shady dealings gets kicked into high gear. She may not be the most sociable of people, but she's always been independent and industrious, so when an opportunity to dig a little deeper arises, she doesn't think twice. It would seem that this time she's bitten off a bit more than she can chew, and when a freakishly tall Native American Adonis intervenes not just once, she decides sleuthing may be best left to professionals. But it's a bit too late.

More often than not, Clint Mason has his foot firmly wedged in his mouth, which tends to get him in plenty of hot water with the ladies. Although his laid back good ole' Southern charm does not fly far with the female population of Cedar Tree, the big burly contractor hides his dark side well.The only one Beth Franklin allows herself to rely on is Beth, and so far that has served her well. Just when her son disappears after dropping his little guy off on her doorstep, her life seems to spiral out of control. For the first time ever, fearing for his safety, the fiercely independent waitress is forced to be on the receiving end of a helping hand.That's not easy for her, especially since the shovel-sized hand belongs to a man whose approach has run hot and cold the last year, leaving her feeling off balance. With a steady and commanding force, he exposes her softer side, while doing everything he can to keep her and those close to her safe.

When her surly teenage son moves back to live with ER physician Naomi Waters unexpectedly, her motherly instincts go on high alert. Nothing could've prepared her for the wave of trouble that follows him back into her life. Sheriff Joe Morris blew his chance with Naomi a few years back when he'd moved faster than his own past allowed. At the first opportunity to get his foot back in the door, he takes it and risks everything to keep her and her son safe.But working for a future isn't easy when you're fighting to survive your past.

Patience has always been Caleb Whitetail's strength. Quiet and unassuming is what you see with the GFI investigator, but the blood boils hot right under the surface. He kept his distance for years only to see the woman who has held his attention almost lose her life not just once, but twice. He is done standing in the shadows.Katie Acker, once a tough and athletic security specialist now struggles daily to walk. The closest to family she has are her colleagues at GFI. Especially the man who saved her life and always has her back. So when she unwittingly becomes the focus of a Mexican cartel, it's no big surprise she finds him right by her side.With the combustive change in their deepening bond, Katie and Caleb do not see the oncoming danger - until it surrounds them

Even at thirty seven, with a challenging but rewarding career as a paramedic, Bella Gomez is treated as the baby of the family. It’s made her allergic to anyone meddling, so she chooses to keep mostly to herself. Unfortunately that doesn’t stop her family from inserting themselves in her life. Nor does it deter the one man she knows she shouldn’t get close to from showing up on her doorstep.Jasper Greene, an FBI agent with the La Plata County field office, doesn’t even know the meaning of family. His team is his family, which is why—when his boss asks him to keep an eye on his baby sister—Jasper readily complies. Even when the sister in question is a spectacularly developed princess with plenty of attitude.With a shooter on the loose and corruption running rampant, Bella is a magnet for trouble, and Jasper finds himself with his hands full—in more ways than one.

Deprival haunted her.Regret troubled her.Silence left her detached.A life in the service of others is both penance and a blessing. She soothes her personal hell by pulling victims from theirs, helping them on their path to survival; never finding her own.When a crippling blow finally evaporates her last hope, the temptation to give up is strong. Still, she can't find it in her to turn her back on those who need her: the innocent, whose rescue is her perpetual goal.He was blind, but now he sees how his family has sifted through his fingers. The reality hits hard when his son becomes a stranger, slipping deeper into transgression. Concern has him call on the one person he fears will see his own failures all too clearly. A woman he's kept his distance from for his own protection.What appeared to be an incompatible pairing, turns out the unyielding bond needed to heal them all.