Between ghosts

In 2003, journalist Connor Regan joins a march through London against the coming invasion of Iraq. Eight months later his brother James is killed in action in Mosul. In 2006, three years after the march, Connor goes to Iraq to embed with an elite SAS team, hoping to find closure and some relief from his grief.

What he meets there is Sergeant Nathan Thompson. Nat is a veteran commander, hardened by years of combat and still haunted by the death of his best friend. He has no wish to look after a civilian and intends only to keep the reporter out of danger.

Connor turns out to be far more capable than Nat expected, and harder to ignore. Nat has spent years guarding his feelings, and Connor slowly breaks through that defence. When a mission puts Connor in mortal danger, Nat has to put his past losses behind him and fight for the man he loves.

This is a male/male romance set against the Iraq War, with a war correspondent and a soldier as its leads. Grief runs through both men's stories, and the military setting keeps the threat of violence close throughout.