Good decryption

Black Cipher Files  - boxed set by Lisa Hughey

BLOWBACK

Years ago, Jamie Hunt sacrificed everything to keep her sister protected and safe. Now she lives alone, works alone, survives alone. When a covert mission goes horribly wrong, she can trust no one.

On the trail of a missing teenager, private investigator Lucas Goodman’s investigation leads him to Jamie. Despite her attempts to ditch him, Lucas tenaciously shadows Jamie, realizing he doesn’t just want information...he wants her.

When Jamie’s sister is in danger, Jamie is forced to team up with Lucas. Together they must expose the connection between agents’ murders, a missing teenager, and a sixty-year-old government conspiracy.

Betrayals

Staci Grant is dead. Jordan Ramirez saw the photographs, but he refuses to believe. His missing lover is the best CIA officer in the field. Now Jordan must find Staci and convince her that trusting him means the difference between staying alive or staying dead.

Staci has been betrayed. Captured, imprisoned and tortured, it took all her skills to escape. Now she is determined to uncover who set her up and why, a mission that leaves no room for trust.

When Jordan finds her, he won’t take no for an answer, and together they desperately race to unravel a decades’ old secret. But each revelation brings fresh betrayals that threaten their love and their lives.

Burned

Zeke Hawthorne, a programmer and hacker at the NSA, is in trouble. Under investigation to make sure had hasn’t divulged national secrets, he’s sent on a boondoggle. All he has to do is keep an eye on Sunshine, from afar, and make sure she’s safe.

Sunshine Smith’s entire world was blown apart thirteen years ago when her obsessive stepfather killed her grandparents. She and her mother went into hiding to escape. For years they’ve been safe…until now.

When Sunshine is threatened, Zeke cannot keep his distance. Only danger and betrayal are coming for Zeke too. Zeke and Sunshine must combine forces to stay one step ahead of the peril that stalks them, but trust between two people who grew up without faith is a difficult bond to form.

Rate & take

I am so glad I found this gem of a boxed set. Each story flowed into the next with the just the right amount of connection to the others. I will say about half way through I did figure out who "the" big bad villain of the whole plot was, but this did not deter me from one second of reading enjoyment. Instead I was engrossed in the spy craft and of course, the love that bloomed along the way. With these stories you get the best of both. The author did say she is thinking of writing two more stories for two fringe characters who deserve a happily ever after, I will be there when she does!