[PRE-ORDER] Hard Blade (The Hard Knock Series #1)

[PRE-ORDER]

Survival was his punishment. Her love might be his only salvation.

Luke "Blade" Brennan counts each breath as a betrayal to the men who didn't make it home. Haunted by the ghosts of his unit, he seeks oblivion in the brutal cage fights and training at Hard Knock Gym, where blood and pain are the only currency he understands.

Behind his thousand-yard stare lies a man drowning in guilt, fighting not to win—but to feel something, anything, besides the crushing weight of living when better men died.

Emma Caldwell recognizes that look. Her shattered dreams and reconstructed body are reminders of what happens when fate laughs at your plans. As Hard Knock's new physical therapist, she's used to mending broken athletes.

But Luke is different. His wounds run soul-deep.

When their broken pieces align in the quiet moments between battles, something dangerous ignites—hope. For Emma, Luke represents the strength she lost. For Luke, she embodies a grace he doesn't deserve and their connection terrifies him more than any opponent ever could.

As Luke spirals deeper into the darkness, Emma reaches for him with unwavering hands. But some men can't be saved, and some wounds don't want to heal. In a world where every touch is a risk and every whispered truth exposes vulnerability, their love might reveal everything they have been trying so hard to hide. 

In the fight between past and future, surrender might be his greatest victory.

Themes: Redemption, PTSD recovery, found family, healing through love, acceptance of vulnerability.