THE ANCHOR NOVELS
The Anchor Novels from award-winning author, LJ Evans, is an interconnected, standalone series with military heroes, independent heroines, heartfelt slow burns, true friends, real "family", and dreams reshaped along this wild ride called life. Filled with vivid, endearing characters, these HEAs might just carve a spot in your heart and then stay there forever.
GUARDED DREAMS
He’s a grumpy Coast Guard focused on a life of service. She’s a feisty musician searching for stardom. Nothing about them fits, and yet attraction burns wild when they end up in the same house for the summer.
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I had one last summer with my best friends before the Coast Guard became my life. Quiet solidarity is what I seek. Not a free-spirited musician whose soul all but screams trouble. But when Ava Abrams lays claim to my bedroom in our beach rental, I find it hard to resist her siren-like call. And when I catch a glimpse past her shiny bravado to the wounds her father left behind, I’m tempted to toss my five-year plan aside just to protect her.
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Staying at our family beach house was only a temporary stop on my way to Juilliard and country music stardom. Until broody, by-the-book Eli Wyatt demands I leave, and I become desperate to unravel him. Too bad the kiss I provoke steals my heart along with his.
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Too bad my father tracks me down, and I’m forced to run, leaving Eli to face the music.
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When Eli walks into the bar I’m performing at four years later, the anger in his eyes doesn’t surprise me, and yet I can’t help craving another taste of the fairytale summer we once shared.
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We almost destroyed each other the first time around. Will this time be any different?
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"Just like the moon calls the tides, she has called me home. To her."
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Inspired by Luke Bryan’s “Sunrise, Sunburn Sunset,” comes a slow-burn, beach read about dreams lost and remade with vibrant characters, beautiful friendships, and found families.
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AVAILABLE IN: eBook, paperback, and hardback
FORGED BY SACRIFICE
He’s a driven military man zeroed in on a new goal. She’s a struggling law student running from her family’s mistakes. They’re entirely wrong for each other…except their bodies disagree. When they end up as roommates, how long will it take before attraction shatters their resistance?
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I’ve left my Navy career behind to reach for the political dreams of my childhood. All I need to do is keep the squeaky-clean reputation I’ve prided myself on for a few more months. It should be a piece of cake until a long-legged, dynamo enters my life. Until a single kiss with Georgie Astrella has me questioning everything I ever wanted.
Charming and suave may be Mac Whittaker’s middle name, but I can’t afford the distraction. Not when I’ve waited years to chase the law degree I put aside for my family. The stolen vacation kiss we shared must remain nothing but a faded memory.
Arriving in D.C., I’m stunned to find out my unseen, second roommate is Mac, and the chemistry burning wild between us hasn’t disappeared. Instead, it threatens to become a full-blown flame.
But with my family’s past threatening his shiny future, can either of us afford the sacrifice love would demand?
“My heart enlarged at a thought I’d never had for a woman... I wanted to keep her.”
Inspired by Lewis Capaldi’s “Bruises,” comes a heart-warming, friends-to-lovers romance about dreams and family with vibrant characters on an emotional journey you won’t want to miss.
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AVAILABLE IN: eBook, paperback, and hardback
AVENGED BY LOVE
When a broody military man marries a quiet bookstore clerk to ensure she gets the care she needs, they agree the relationship has a time limit. So why does it feel like their hearts are breaking before the countdown even begins?
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I’m finally getting my Coast Guard career back on track after mistakes that weren’t mine derailed it. I’ll be in New London just long enough to earn my next post. The last thing I need is a romance with the woman two rooms down no matter how much Jersey Banner’s quiet beauty calls to me.
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Travis Dayton has an alter ego just like the superheroes I adore. Broody military man by day and smooth charmer by night. But I can’t afford to be taken in by his wide smile, not when I’m barely keeping my family afloat with my dad in jail. Truck needs to keep his comic-worthy nickname and all-seeing eyes to himself.
Until he finds me writhing in pain and everything changes.
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After taking Jersey to the emergency room, I discover she’s denied herself medical care because she can’t afford it. Desperate to help, I do the only thing I can think of—I marry her.
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We both know it’s temporary. We both know our real lives will never fit.
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So why does it feel like my heart will never recover if I let our fake marriage crumble?
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“You don’t have to fight the world alone. You’ve got me.”
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Inspired by Lady A’s “Ocean” this soul-tugging, slow-burn romance is full of vibrant characters, emotional journeys, and happiness you’ll feel in your bones.
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AVAILABLE IN: eBook, paperback, and hardback
DAMAGED DESIRES
A grumpy Navy SEAL reeling from the loss of his team fights an overwhelming attraction for his best friend’s fiery sister. Until a stalker puts her in his sights, and then he’ll do anything to protect her, even if it means exposing his secrets.
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After leaving the backstabbing ways and seedy politicians of government work behind me, I’m determined to use my PR skills for good instead of evil. When a friendly favor to a friend ends with a broody, Navy SEAL making my body sing in ways I hate to adore, I’m suddenly desperate to escape more than just D.C. I need to put Nash Wellsley’s wounded soul far behind me.
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My life is full of regrets. The past I buried. The two seconds that meant I lived and my team died. The dare I accepted from a fiery force of nature. I refuse to add another regret to the list by making Dani Whittaker mine. The anger she sends my way when I force her out the door will keep us both safe.
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But when Dani’s new job puts her in the headlights of a fanatic, and my only remaining friend begs me to protect her, I can’t refuse. Even when it means exposing my secrets and bringing her into the troubles of my past.
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When the chase ends, what will be left of us? Will we end up broken, or will we emerge from the ashes together?
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“Challenge accepted!” were the last words she expected him to utter, and now it’s a race to see who will back down first.
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Inspired by Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” comes a standalone, forced-proximity, bodyguard romance about the triumphant, healing power of love.
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AVAILABLE IN: eBook, paperback, and hardback
BRANDED BY A SONG
He’s a country rock legend searching for inspiration. She’s a Navy SEAL’s widow determined to honor his memory while raising their daughter. Neither believes the intense attraction tugging at them can lead to more until her grandmother’s will twines their futures.
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Struggling for inspiration and hoping to rediscover the soul of my music, I retreat to my childhood home in upstate New York. When I show up at my beloved mentor’s shop seeking advice, I find a woman trapped in the past instead. Tristan Morgan has taken over her grandmother’s music store, but she’s barely existing. Suddenly, I long for more than just new lyrics. I long to show her a path back to living.
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Losing my grandmother not long after losing my Navy SEAL husband feels like yet another blow the world has dealt me. Keeping Gram’s treasured store and my daughter afloat is all I can handle. So when Brady O’Neil walks in with a rock-star smile and charming promises, I know he’s a distraction I can’t afford.
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Finding out he holds the solution to all my financial troubles doesn’t change anything. I’ll let him into the business, but I won’t give him access to my heart.
I may have come home for me, but I’m staying for her. I’m determined to prove to Tristan that hearts can sing more than one love song.
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“We would be art. We would be paint and chords blended together.”
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Inspired by Chris Janson's "Done,” comes a heartfelt, small-town romance about the lyrical, healing power of love with vibrant characters that might leave a permanent mark on your soul.
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AVAILABLE IN: eBook, paperback, and hardback
TRIPPED BY LOVE
He’s a broody bodyguard with secrets he can’t share. She’s a busy single mom with a restaurant to run. They’re just friends until a little white lie changes everything.
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Marco Hernandez is the somber trainer here only to bend my body into shape, but when the perfectly sculpted man holds my son in his arms and smiles, I’m a goner. Weak legs. Pounding veins. Too bad as my brother’s bodyguard, he’ll never look at me the way I crave. Too bad I don’t have the time between the café and my baby boy to persuade him otherwise.
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Cassidy O’Neil has looked like an angel from the moment I met her…an angel I can’t touch. Not only because she’s my boss’s sister but because I’m still trying to redeem myself for the sins of my past. The tantalizing mirage of “family” she represents will remain just that―a dream-like apparition.
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Until her ex returns trying to claim the son he never wanted, and I’m the one who shows him the door. The lie that falls from my lips while trying to protect her threatens the tenacious balance we’ve established.
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Once it’s Cassidy’s heart on the line, how will I defend her? Especially if I’m the one putting it at risk.
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“I burned the image into my memory. The moment we let go of our former selves and became something new together.”
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Inspired by Ingrid Andress’s “We’re Not Friends,” this achingly tender, slow-burn, ex-military romance from award-winning author LJ Evans has loveable characters, deep emotions, and a windy path to creating a family.
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AVAILABLE IN: eBook, paperback, and hardback
