Believing Again - Peggy Bird

As the youngest woman ever to make detective in the Portland Police Bureau, Danny Hartmann has racked up an impressive record. It doesn't keep her warm at night, but it does make up for feeling she's somehow disappointed her family with her career choice. Called to the scene of the murder of a homeless veteran in a transient camp, Danny doesn't expect it to be anything other than another case she clears.

Then she meets the man who made the 9-1-1 call and everything changes.

Jake Abrams, a volunteer doctor at the Veterans Medical Services Clinic, doesn't have much faith in anything other than his work and the vets he cares deeply about. Not shy about voicing his opinions, even to the cops investigating the murder of one of his patients, he annoys Danny with his snarky remarks.

However, working the case, she has to rely on Jake to help her find her way around the transient camps under the bridges and in the city's huge wilderness park. As they work together, their attraction becomes mutual and passionate.

But Jake has demons. Like the vets he cares for, he carries scars both mental and physical from his service in the National Guard in Iraq. He fears Danny will turn from him in disgust when she discovers them. She's afraid his experience in Iraq makes it impossible for him to love someone who does what she does for a living.

When the murderer of the homeless vets comes too close to Jake, it'll be up to Danny to save his life. It'll be up to their love for each other to save them both.

Sensuality Level: Spicy