ANDREA For three years, I've waited desperately for my first in-the-field assignment as part of MI6 - Her Majesty's Secret Service. Now, that time has come.
I'm being dispatched to Paris - to investigate a shadowy cyber-terrorist network that threatens to interfere with Britain's departure - or not - from the European Union.
But I'm not going to Paris alone - and my partner for this assignment almost makes me wish I'd never received it. Rory Kincaid is a a towering, muscle-bound Special Forces operative who thinks that every problem can be solved with his fists.
Even worse? Ten years earlier - before he became the monosyllabic meathead he is today - I'd been in love with Rory. He stole my heart, took my virginity, and I thought we'd be together forever...
...until he walked out on me, never to be seen again.
I almost wish he'd stayed gone. Rory isn't the man I fell in love with any longer - and, even worse, he's as pro-Brexit as I am against it. Pairing us up together is a recipe for disaster - especially since the fate of Europe hangs in the balance. RORY Why did it have to be her? I could have handled being partnered with anyone but her.
Andrea Franke is the only girl I've ever loved - and the same girl I walked away from ten years earlier, when my life was destroyed by unspeakable allegations made against my father. His solution had been the business end of a 9mm Browning Hi-Power. Mine had been to abandon everyone and everything I cared about, including her. For almost a decade, I tried to forget Andrea by touring the front lines and warzones of the world - becoming a brutal blunt instrument at Her Majesty's Service. When I came home, I dedicated my career to hunting the same perverts and predators who'd ruined my life ten years earlier - and I put the fear of God into them. But you can't keep running forever.
I've been reassigned - and Andrea's my new partner. A terrorist organization is threatening to auction off Britain's place in the European Union, and she and I are the only ones who can stop them.
But every time I see her look at me, it's like a knife in the guts. Andrea can't forgive me for what I did to her, and she can't stand the man I've turned into since. Her eyes burn with hatred and contempt for me - and for everything I believe in.
We're partnered together, but fighting for different sides - and yet the deeper we descend into conspiracy and madness, the more our mission draws us together.
I've spent ten years fighting for my life, trying to find redemption. Is Andrea the only person who can give it to me?
And will either of us live long enough to find out?
EU Only Live Once is a fast-paced romance thriller with a plot ripped right from the headlines. Taut, topical and witty, it'll keep you turning the pages until the unexpected end.
