Omnipotence Enough

What do you do when the whole world breaks?

Like when you make it through a plague with the woman you’ve loved for way more than half your septuagenarian life—only to watch her die, leaving you alone. And then, just weeks later, the world around you descends into relentless dark and cold.

Besieged, desolate Hester is too numb to know what to do. And even though she’s lucky to have the means to endure for quite a while, she’s tempted—really tempted—to just give it up. What, after all, is she enduring for?

But giving up will have to wait when she stumbles upon people who introduce her to the first rule of survival: Don’t try to go it alone if you don’t have to.

In some ways, Marine Lieutenant Jamie Gwynmorgan has it pretty good. The motherly kindness of Lynn Hillinger, the senator she saved during the war that nearly killed them both, never wavers. Plus she has a great place to stay while she's on convalescent leave—and a steady supply of the best lemonade on earth.

But flashbacks and nightmares shadow her as she tries to decide: Attempt a return to active duty, or...what? Jamie doubts she can ever achieve the peaceful life she dreams of—until she meets smart, idealistic Adele Sabellius. As their relationship deepens, almost anything seems possible.

Soon, however, Jamie learns that something more menacing than nightmares and flashbacks has begun to twist the restless shadows around her. Though she may never understand why Adele loves her, Jamie will do whatever it takes to keep Adele safe when relentless enemies emerge from those darkening shadows to threaten yet another war.

Jamie Gwynmorgan doesn't believe in prayer. She doesn't believe in anything much. Except that people can't be trusted—certainly not anyone she's ever met.

But Jamie knows some things. From experience. She knows if she died, nobody would give a damn. Nobody would even notice. She knows the better she can fight, the safer she'll be. That's why she can't resist the sleek, dark lethality of the weapon—and the recruiter's promise that yes, if she's strong enough, good enough, she'll get to fire that weapon in combat. She doesn't care about the uniform. And screw the pretend-camaraderie. Only Safe matters—and if she can do combat, then maybe she can fight her way to Safe.

Jamie expects a grueling fight that she might lose. What she never expects is to win love.

Some choices break hearts. Others leave a body count.

Police detective Cami Lyons is finally doing okay following the devastating breakup of her relationship with crime reporter Alicia Flynn. Her work is mainly petty theft investigations and chasing down vandals, until a body is found in a nearby forest and everything changes. She has no choice but to pivot to homicide detective, and she’s in way over her head.

Alicia made a terrible mistake. When her existential crisis spiraled out of control, she left everything behind—her home, her family, her job, her longtime girlfriend—and ended up on the other side of the world. Time hasn’t healed her wounds and now she’s back. But the truth of all she’s lost may be too much to face.

With the captain, the mayor, the public, and the media breathing down Cami’s neck, her priority is figuring out who’s terrorizing their town, and fast. Sorting out her lingering feelings for Alicia? Definitely not a priority.

Hoping to leave her past behind after ending her emotionally abusive relationship, Cally Pope moves to Halesbrook, a sleepy town in Gloucestershire. Content with her plans to open a glamping business in the forest and live a quiet life, she’s sworn off any kind of romantic entanglement.

Laurie Flanagan has lived in the forest all her life and has her dream job working for the forestry commission. She longs for the kind of relationship her parents have, but she hasn’t met someone who fits the bill. When she meets Cally, she feels an instant connection, only it seems Cally doesn’t feel the same way at all.

When increasingly violent acts of sabotage threaten to derail the opening of Forest Glamping and put Cally in grave danger, Laurie is the only one who believes the violence isn’t random. Together, Laurie and Cally try to figure out what’s going on, but the closer they get to answers the more Cally can’t shake the feeling her ex, Jules, has something to do with it. But Jules is dead. Isn’t she…?