3/18/17: 3, maybe 3.5 stars Most of these authors were unknown to me when I picked this up. I won't continue reading many of them but I enjoyed exploring them and their worlds.

10/27/15: Read "Torn" by Kate Serine - 3 stars

"Torn" is from the anthology, "The Way of the Warrior" anthology and is the first story in SeRine's Protect & Serve series. As far as I know, it's not available outside of the anthology. I actually read this after reading the first book, "Stop At Nothing" and as I read it, I felt like I'd missed a book so I poked around and discovered that I'd missed this story but I had the anthology on my Kindle so I went back and read this story.

"Torn" is a friends to lovers story and it's a short story. Joe and Sadie have been friends since they were kids and there's been an attraction between them for years but they never acted on it. Now Joe, a former soldier, is home after being injured in the war in Afghanistan. Sadie has been helping him but it isn't until a stalker threatens her that they act on their feelings. The story, due to it's length, was lacking in character development. The romance, though underdeveloped, was sweet and there were some steamy love scenes. The stalker's identity was unexpected but it was hinted at earlier; like the romance, the mystery was underdeveloped. "Torn" would have worked better in a longer length but it was a sweet story and a good introduction to the series.

"And considering how he'd been reliving their kiss over and over again throughout the day only to have to divert his thoughts to keep Little Joe from popping up with an ill-timed "Hi, how are ya!" he was inclined to add pathetic loser as an option..."

Good read! Loved the stories and the characters! If you like reading this type of book you won't want to miss out on this!