I knew the risks of this job when I signed on with Jameson Force Security. Knew my time as a marine would prepare me for the danger I would face. But no amount of training could have ever prepared me for the helplessness of watching my teammates die, the agonizing mental and physical pain of torture, or the despair of captivity.

Returning home to Pittsburgh following a mission gone wrong, I am riddled with guilt and haunted by nightmares. I spend my days trying to regain the parts of myself I lost in that desert, the pieces that made me the Malik Fournier I once was. While the physical effects of my torture are fading, the emotional ones are proving much more stubborn and I find solace from the last person I should ever seek such comfort.

Anna Tate lost even more than I did in that mission. Now a widow and a single mom to the daughter she gave birth to shortly after her husband’s death, Anna offers me comfort I don’t deserve. As my feelings for Anna grow, I worry that once she learns the truth about what happened, she’ll turn her back on me.

I pull her to me just as tightly as I push her away. Hoping this forbidden love will save me from the ghost I’ve become.

Code Name: Ghost by Sawyer Bennett is a book I feel like I have been waiting soooo lllonnngggg for!

Malik and Anna’s story was a powerful tale of grieve, friendship, second chances and the power of having someone love you for you… all of you… the good the bad and the ugly.

I have read and adored the whole Jameson Force Security series  but this book.. this book… is the best of the series.

Malik Fournier returns to Jameson Force after spending months in captivating having been kidnapped in Syria while the same mission that took Anna’s husband’s life. That is not a spoiler as it happened in the prior books in the series. I am not going share details about the what happened to him or how he processes it as experience this through the author’s words is pure literacy genius.

Loyal Sawyer Bennett fans will recognized the name Fournier as Malik it brother to heroes of her amazing Cold Fury series; the use of the Fournier was so well done truly adding to the story.

Anna Tate is struggling with the loss of her husband as she finds her way as a single working mom…. I adored how Anna’s character took on her new life and her desire to move forward pulled at my heart strings.

Some might call this love story a slow burn…. I really don’t think I would… the time it takes for friendship and desire to turn into “actions” and then for both characters to see the love staring back at them felt TRUE to the story and the place each was in their lives!

The build up to Code Name: Rook was EPIC and I so excited for Cage to figure out his happy!

And Shh…. I hope we see a spin-off into a new series for the Pittsburgh Titans