He was hired to protect her from a stalker—no one warned him about the bird… or the way she’d steal his heart.
Orion Locke lives by rules: assess the threat, secure the asset, get out clean. So when he’s assigned to protect Briar Green—a quirky, brilliant bird handler with a stalker in the shadows—he expects a straightforward job.
He’s wrong.
Briar is all sharp wit and stubborn independence, determined to keep living on her own terms. And then there’s Jeb, her mouthy, mischievous pet bird who seems personally committed to wrecking Orion’s composure (and occasionally dive-bombing his head).
As the threats escalate, Orion tightens security and moves closer than either of them planned. Late-night stakeouts turn into laughter. Professional boundaries blur under the pressure of real danger. And the more Orion learns the woman behind the chaos, the more he realizes protecting her heart might be harder than protecting her life.
With a stalker closing in and chemistry he can’t ignore, Orion must decide: keep this assignment strictly business… or risk everything for the one woman who finally makes him feel alive.
Tropes:
Protector/bodyguard romance
Romantic suspense (stalker threat)
Grumpy/sunshine-lite
Forced proximity
Close-quarters protection detail
Competent, steady hero
Quirky, independent heroine
Animal sidekick / chaos pet
Flirty banter
“Touch her and die” energy
Slow burn into high-stakes feelings
Found-family-adjacent security-team vibes
Vibes:
Light romcom sparkle with danger creeping at the edges
Cozy chaos meets protective intensity
Feathers, flirtation, and fate
Sweet, funny, and swoony with a suspense backbone
The kind of book where you laugh… then clutch your chest
Soft moments earned through real stakes
A hero trying to be professional while his heart locally combusts
A heroine who refuses to be fragile
Jeb as the scene-stealing bird we all deserve
