Ranger Hank

Hank Schatz

One of the hardest decisions I've ever made is joining the Army right out of high school. The second-knowing when it's time to leave. There's got to be something more to life than living a lie, and its high time I rid myself of the burden once and for all.

I've hidden my true self from my family-birth and Army-and it's made me hard hearted. I need to live for me and ignore people's ideas of who I should be. Without a hint of what to do next, I say goodbye to my old life and head home to Missouri.

How to start that new life, though, I'm not sure. The one goal I plan to pursue is finding someone to fill my days and nights because I don't want to be lonely anymore.

Reed Bayless

My job as a special education teacher in Missouri is incredibly fulfilling. The kids are amazing, and their parents are supportive. The only hitch in my life plan is that I haven't found the right guy to settle down with. It hasn't escaped my notice that I'm too old to hop from bed to bed. I want a stable relationship with one man, and I refuse to settle for anything less.

Unexpectedly, at the Christmas Eve service at my local Lutheran church, I find myself off-balance by a gorgeous man. I see a sadness about him that makes me want to hold him in my arms until his hurts are healed, but I doubt that's anywhere on the Army ranger's radar.

Between Ranger Hank, and his dog, Cosmo, I want things I imagine to be impossible. Or are they?

This work of fiction is approximately 142,000 words in length and doesn't end in a cliffhanger. It is the first book in the series entitled, "The Lonely Heroes Series."