Ava Larsen has spent her adult life trying to outrun the shadow of the girl she used to be: a bully whose mistake cost her sister’s life, and one who pushed away a boy they both loved. But her redemption is cut short when her latest investigation into a high-profile money laundering ring turns deadly.
After surviving a brutal kidnapping, Ava’s only hope for survival is Michael Gonzalez, a Secret Service Agent fueled by a decade of bitterness. Mike doesn’t believe Ava has changed, and he certainly hasn’t forgiven her for the accident that killed his first love. But with a corrupt government official determined to silence her, Mike is ordered to protect her at all costs.
From the streets of New York to the corridors of power in Washinton D.C., the two are hunted by an enemy that will stop at nothing to keep their secrets buried. As the investigation reaches a breaking point, Mike and Ava must navigate a minefield of political betrayal and personal trauma. In a race against time, they’ll have to trust each other to survive—or let the sins of their past bury them both.
Excerpt:
“Get to the point. What’s up?”
She sighed. “I don’t even know where to start.” The watch on her wrist buzzed with a notification. She checked it, and her mouth tightened into a thin line. “This case looks to be seriously fucked up. Not a whole lot to tell you right now other than there were several, and I mean we’re talking numbers in the teens, bodies found in this old house. Owner is this guy everyone said was super quiet, always kept his yard clean, etcetera, etcetera. From what the neighbors are saying, no one would have thought any of the horrors we’ve found were happening in this house. Talking victims, all women, completely cut up. Sometimes methodically so. As if he had all the time in the world to do the perfect job.”
Mike grimaced. “This is why I do protection and white-collar fraud. I could never sit through those forensic shows you and Dwayne used to watch.”
Charlie threw him a saucy smile, then went serious again. “Early this morning, a woman actually got out of the house. Naked as the day she was born. Ran a few houses down and collapsed on the porch but not before she rang the doorbell.”
The mental image she painted had him wincing. “Jesus. Is she okay?”
Charlie took a deep breath and let it out super slow as if she was preparing for something. He braced, suddenly feeling a sense of foreboding. Whatever she was about to say was going to mess him up entirely. That’s why she’d been taking for-fucking-ever to get to the point. It’s why she was here in person instead of calling him on the phone. It’s why Dwayne had sent her. She’d always had ways of calming Mike down, even under the tensest of situations.
Except for that one time. He shook his head, refusing to think about that now. It’d been years since he’d seen her.
“Who was the woman?” he asked, his voice rough. But he knew. The answer was written all over Charlie’s face, from the grimace to the pity stamped across her faery features.
“The woman was Ava.”
Her name spoken was like someone socked him in the gut. He let out a rush of air, expelling oxygen immediately, as if it needed a place to escape. Kind of like his body was fighting to do, too. It was amazing how one’s body reacted to news or the presence of someone who’d made part of their life hell. That whole fight-or-flight response was true, and as he thought of the Ava of his childhood, and both the sister and the murderer of the first woman he loved, his body was warring with itself, trying to figure out which response it wanted to go with.
The urge to flee was so strong, he actually took a step back. Charlie’s knowing gaze sharpened on him, and she sighed, the sound coming out with a lot of pity he didn’t need. It only served to piss him off.
“Look, maybe we can find someone else,” Charlie said, shaking her head, then did a double take at something over his shoulder and tossed a glare at the women still admiring them from afar. “Those fucking women…”
It was at that moment his mother decided to make an appearance and came storming out of the house having found her shoes. His normally very demure mom looked spitting mad, her red face a mask of irritation and anger.
“Shit,” he said.
Charlie chuckled low, following the path his Ma took to the garden hose, who then bent and turned the water on.
“Shit,” he said again, ignoring Charlie’s outright laughter now. He started toward Ma, intent on intercepting her before she could open the hose up on the neighbors. He knew her plan almost as if she’d put an announcement in the paper. “You could help, you know,” he said to Charlie.
She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. “Not a chance. This is the best entertainment I’ve had in ages. Come on, don’t be a spoilsport. Let Karen teach those hens a lesson.”
He picked up his pace to a jog as his Ma started across the lawn, her intent now screamingly clear. That the ladies hadn’t moved and were still watching on with faces of various bemusement was baffling. “Ma,” he called. “Come on now, don’t.”
“Michael James,” she said, and he winced. “Go put a shirt on. I’m about to teach the girls some manners.”
Standing behind her in the doorway was his father in a similar pose as Charlie had been, crossed arms and a smile stamped across his face.
“Pops, come on,” he called. “Don’t just stand there.”
Daniel Gonzalez shook his head, his chest moving with a chuckle Mike couldn’t hear. “I’m not getting in the middle of this. Anyone want some popcorn?”
He reached his mother just as she lifted the hose and pointed, then squeezed the handle, causing a spray of what had to be icy cold water shoot out and over the women sitting along the edge of the lawn. Shrieks and screams lit up the neighborhood before he could grab the nozzle and push it down. The smile on his mother’s face was the loudest of them all.
“That should teach them,” she said, and he sighed.
Approximately thirty minutes later, Mike took a deep breath, calling on patience and strength, the confidence he’d grown as he went through weeks of training at FLETC and the Secret Service Training Academy. His hands were sweating like they normally did when he did any kind of public speaking, something he’d been struggling for years to overcome. If he’d been in the gym he normally went to, he’d be able to put some chalk on his hands to soak up the moisture, but as it was, all he could do was rub them on his light-wash 501s.
After his mother had doused the neighborhood watch ladies with water earlier, he’d gone inside to change and had put on jeans and a pale baby-blue button-down. He was by no means wanting to impress the woman on the other side of the door, but he couldn’t escape the feeling driving inside of him. The one that told him he wasn’t a young teen able to be pushed around anymore. That he couldn’t care less what she thought of him.
But all of that was a lie, and he knew it. He just refused to admit it.
Ava Larsen had an impact on his life and who he’d grown to become.
He was here at the hospital at his brother’s request to consult on a case, apparently. There was nothing saying he had to spend any length of time with her at all. He’d listen to what his brother had to say, would hear her version of events, then he’d make a recommendation for what they should do next. That was it.
With another deep, calling-on-calm breath, he pushed and held the door open for Charlie, keeping his eyes downcast as she entered. He blew out a breath through pursed lips, then stepped inside and lifted his gaze to meet the sky-blue ones of his childhood bully.
This book was excellent. It really hit on all levels for me. I truly couldn’t stop reading. Highly recommend
4/5
Intimate Choice
Written by ChrisL on 25th Jul 2026
This is Ava and Michael's story. Will Michael help her? After her sisters death that he blames her for and she blames herself for. Can they work together or will the ppast effect them?
4/5
Intimate Choice!
Written by Mary on 25th Jul 2026
This is a new story in the "Empire Blue" series. This one stands one its own and is a good addition to the series. It is intense and had me hook, line and sinker. I love the characters! The plot has some intense moments but is action packed and keeps you flipping pages. This story is gritty, suspenseful, steamy and passionate with some great twists. It follows Ava and Michael, a Secret Service Agent protecting her.
4/5
Great story
Written by Ssirren on 25th Jul 2026
This was a very intense story. There was a lot of animosity between these two over what had happened years back when she cost her sister her life. Note being to work together, they were going to have to play nice. Throughout something between them started to change. Things got hotter, an intimacy neither expected. This was a really hot and suspenseful story. Really good.
5/5
Secret Service bodyguard romantic suspense
Written by itsthejo on 25th Jul 2026
Book 7 of Empire Blue
'In a race against time, they’ll have to trust each other to survive—or let the sins of their past bury them both.'
The characters were very complex and compelling and complicated and absolutely perfect together. Plot was intriguing and exciting and well paced. World building was solidly drawn and impressive. All in all a great addition to the series. Thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend.
Grab a copy, kick back and enjoy!
5/5
Ava & Michael
Written by Danee on 25th Jul 2026
This is the story of Ava Larsen and Michael Gonzalez, a Secret Service Agent. This is the seventh installment in the Empire Blue series. She is on the run because she is still struggling with her past – a bully – and the fact that she was ultimately responsible for her sister's death. Michael is skeptical that she has changed and is no longer the girl from years ago who cost him the love of his life. Unfortunately for him, he is assigned to protect her after she survives a violent kidnapping. They struggle through a minefield of corruption, political betrayal, and dealing with the traumas of their past. I enjoyed their story and can definitely recommend reading it!
4/5
Enjoyable read
Written by DBG69 on 25th Jul 2026
Once I started reading Intimate Choice, I didn't want to put it down. The characters are well developed and the storyline is engaging. A definite page turner. I hope you enjoy!
4/5
Good Book
Written by Jeanne R on 25th Jul 2026
This is the second book I've read written by D.C. Stone; I can’t wait to read more of her books.
This is the seventh book in the Empire Blue Series; it is a stand-alone book. The story is about Ava & Michael.
5/5
Intimate Choices - 4.5 stars
Written by Avidreader23 on 25th Jul 2026
Enemies to lovers, mystery, military, suspense, strong FMC, action, hea.
Mike Gonzalez is a Secret Service Agent who gets involved in a gruesome discovery - a bunch of bodies in a house with a single survivor, Ava, his childhood bully/mean girl.
Ava is now a contracted PI for a government agency, she discovered a tracking a money laundering scheme and she paid the price by getting
The book starts with a laugh and gets serious soon.
Recommended.
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But her redemption is cut short when her latest investigation into a high-profile money laundering ring turns deadly.\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fstrong\u003e\u003cbr \u002f\u003e\u003cbr \u002f\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 12pt;\"\u003eAfter surviving a brutal kidnapping, Ava’s only hope for survival is Michael Gonzalez, a Secret Service Agent fueled by a decade of bitterness. Mike doesn’t believe Ava has changed, and he certainly hasn’t forgiven her for the accident that killed his first love. But with a corrupt government official determined to silence her, Mike is ordered to protect her at all costs.\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fstrong\u003e\u003cbr \u002f\u003e\u003cbr \u002f\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 12pt;\"\u003eFrom the streets of New York to the corridors of power in Washinton D.C., the two are hunted by an enemy that will stop at nothing to keep their secrets buried. As the investigation reaches a breaking point, Mike and Ava must navigate a minefield of political betrayal and personal trauma. In a race against time, they’ll have to trust each other to survive—or let the sins of their past bury them both.\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fstrong\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 12pt;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\u002f\u002fcdn11.bigcommerce.com\u002fs-21532\u002fimages\u002fstencil\u002foriginal\u002fimage-manager\u002fepeditorseal91.png?t=1673389376\" \u002f\u003e\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fstrong\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 12pt;\"\u003e\u003cbr \u002f\u003eExcerpt:\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fstrong\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003e“Get to the point. What’s up?”\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003eShe sighed. “I don’t even know where to start.” The watch on her wrist buzzed with a notification. She checked it, and her mouth tightened into a thin line. “This case looks to be seriously fucked up. Not a whole lot to tell you right now other than there were several, and I mean we’re talking numbers in the teens, bodies found in this old house. Owner is this guy everyone said was super quiet, always kept his yard clean, etcetera, etcetera. From what the neighbors are saying, no one would have thought any of the horrors we’ve found were happening in this house. Talking victims, all women, completely cut up. Sometimes methodically so. As if he had all the time in the world to do the perfect job.”\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003eMike grimaced. “This is why I do protection and white-collar fraud. I could never sit through those forensic shows you and Dwayne used to watch.”\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003eCharlie threw him a saucy smile, then went serious again. “Early this morning, a woman actually got out of the house. Naked as the day she was born. Ran a few houses down and collapsed on the porch but not before she rang the doorbell.”\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003eThe mental image she painted had him wincing. “Jesus. Is she okay?”\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003eCharlie took a deep breath and let it out super slow as if she was preparing for something. He braced, suddenly feeling a sense of foreboding. Whatever she was about to say was going to mess him up entirely. That’s why she’d been taking for-fucking-ever to get to the point. It’s why she was here in person instead of calling him on the phone. It’s why Dwayne had sent her. She’d always had ways of calming Mike down, even under the tensest of situations.\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003eExcept for that one time. He shook his head, refusing to think about that now. It’d been years since he’d seen her.\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003e“Who was the woman?” he asked, his voice rough. But he knew. The answer was written all over Charlie’s face, from the grimace to the pity stamped across her faery features.\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003e“The woman was Ava.”\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003eHer name spoken was like someone socked him in the gut. He let out a rush of air, expelling oxygen immediately, as if it needed a place to escape. Kind of like his body was fighting to do, too. It was amazing how one’s body reacted to news or the presence of someone who’d made part of their life hell. That whole fight-or-flight response was true, and as he thought of the Ava of his childhood, and both the sister and the murderer of the first woman he loved, his body was warring with itself, trying to figure out which response it wanted to go with.\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003eThe urge to flee was so strong, he actually took a step back. Charlie’s knowing gaze sharpened on him, and she sighed, the sound coming out with a lot of pity he didn’t need. It only served to piss him off.\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003e“Look, maybe we can find someone else,” Charlie said, shaking her head, then did a double take at something over his shoulder and tossed a glare at the women still admiring them from afar. “Those fucking women…”\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003eIt was at that moment his mother decided to make an appearance and came storming out of the house having found her shoes. His normally very demure mom looked spitting mad, her red face a mask of irritation and anger.\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003e“Shit,” he said.\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003eCharlie chuckled low, following the path his Ma took to the garden hose, who then bent and turned the water on.\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003e“Shit,” he said again, ignoring Charlie’s outright laughter now. He started toward Ma, intent on intercepting her before she could open the hose up on the neighbors. He knew her plan almost as if she’d put an announcement in the paper. “You could help, you know,” he said to Charlie.\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003eShe crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. “Not a chance. This is the best entertainment I’ve had in ages. Come on, don’t be a spoilsport. Let Karen teach those hens a lesson.”\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003eHe picked up his pace to a jog as his Ma started across the lawn, her intent now screamingly clear. That the ladies hadn’t moved and were still watching on with faces of various bemusement was baffling. “Ma,” he called. “Come on now, don’t.”\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003e“Michael James,” she said, and he winced. “Go put a shirt on. I’m about to teach the girls some manners.”\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003eStanding behind her in the doorway was his father in a similar pose as Charlie had been, crossed arms and a smile stamped across his face.\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003e“Pops, come on,” he called. “Don’t just stand there.”\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003eDaniel Gonzalez shook his head, his chest moving with a chuckle Mike couldn’t hear. “I’m not getting in the middle of this. Anyone want some popcorn?”\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003eHe reached his mother just as she lifted the hose and pointed, then squeezed the handle, causing a spray of what had to be icy cold water shoot out and over the women sitting along the edge of the lawn. Shrieks and screams lit up the neighborhood before he could grab the nozzle and push it down. The smile on his mother’s face was the loudest of them all.\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003e“That should teach them,” she said, and he sighed.\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003eApproximately thirty minutes later, Mike took a deep breath, calling on patience and strength, the confidence he’d grown as he went through weeks of training at FLETC and the Secret Service Training Academy. His hands were sweating like they normally did when he did any kind of public speaking, something he’d been struggling for years to overcome. If he’d been in the gym he normally went to, he’d be able to put some chalk on his hands to soak up the moisture, but as it was, all he could do was rub them on his light-wash 501s.\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003eAfter his mother had doused the neighborhood watch ladies with water earlier, he’d gone inside to change and had put on jeans and a pale baby-blue button-down. He was by no means wanting to impress the woman on the other side of the door, but he couldn’t escape the feeling driving inside of him. The one that told him he wasn’t a young teen able to be pushed around anymore. That he couldn’t care less what she thought of him.\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003eBut all of that was a lie, and he knew it. He just refused to admit it.\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003eAva Larsen had an impact on his life and who he’d grown to become.\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003eHe was here at the hospital at his brother’s request to consult on a case, apparently. There was nothing saying he had to spend any length of time with her at all. He’d listen to what his brother had to say, would hear her version of events, then he’d make a recommendation for what they should do next. That was it.\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"\u003eWith another deep, calling-on-calm breath, he pushed and held the door open for Charlie, keeping his eyes downcast as she entered. He blew out a breath through pursed lips, then stepped inside and lifted his gaze to meet the sky-blue ones of his childhood bully.\u003c\u002fspan\u003e\u003c\u002fp\u003e","show_backorder_message":false,"tags":[],"warranty":"","price":{"without_tax":{"formatted":"$4.99","value":4.99,"currency":"USD"},"tax_label":"Tax"},"default_shipping_expectation_prompt":"","detail_messages":"","availability":"","page_title":"Intimate Choice by D.C. Stone","cart_url":"https:\u002f\u002fwww.evernightpublishing.com\u002fcart.php","show_backorder_availability_prompt":false,"max_purchase_quantity":0,"show_quantity_on_hand":false,"show_default_shipping_expectation_prompt":false,"show_quantity_on_backorder":false,"brand":{"name":"Heat Level 3","url":"https:\u002f\u002fwww.evernightpublishing.com\u002fbrands\u002fHeat-Level-3.html"},"attributes":[],"mpn":null,"upc":null,"options":[],"related_products":[{"id":3399,"sku":"978-0-3695-1167-6","name":"Intimate Secret by D.C. 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It really hit on all levels for me. I truly couldn’t stop reading. Highly recommend ","date":"25th Jul 2026"},{"name":"ChrisL","rating":"4","title":"Intimate Choice","text":"This is Ava and Michael's story. Will Michael help her? After her sisters death that he blames her for and she blames herself for. Can they work together or will the ppast effect them?","date":"25th Jul 2026"},{"name":"Mary","rating":"4","title":"Intimate Choice!","text":"This is a new story in the "Empire Blue" series. This one stands one its own and is a good addition to the series. It is intense and had me hook, line and sinker. I love the characters! The plot has some intense moments but is action packed and keeps you flipping pages. This story is gritty, suspenseful, steamy and passionate with some great twists. It follows Ava and Michael, a Secret Service Agent protecting her.","date":"25th Jul 2026"},{"name":"Ssirren","rating":"4","title":"Great story","text":"This was a very intense story. There was a lot of animosity between these two over what had happened years back when she cost her sister her life. Note being to work together, they were going to have to play nice. Throughout something between them started to change. Things got hotter, an intimacy neither expected. This was a really hot and suspenseful story. Really good. ","date":"25th Jul 2026"},{"name":"itsthejo","rating":"5","title":"Secret Service bodyguard romantic suspense","text":"Book 7 of Empire Blue\r\n\r\n'In a race against time, they’ll have to trust each other to survive—or let the sins of their past bury them both.'\r\n\r\nThe characters were very complex and compelling and complicated and absolutely perfect together. Plot was intriguing and exciting and well paced. World building was solidly drawn and impressive. All in all a great addition to the series. Thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend. \r\n\r\nGrab a copy, kick back and enjoy!\r\n","date":"25th Jul 2026"},{"name":"Danee","rating":"5","title":"Ava & Michael","text":"This is the story of Ava Larsen and Michael Gonzalez, a Secret Service Agent. This is the seventh installment in the Empire Blue series. She is on the run because she is still struggling with her past – a bully – and the fact that she was ultimately responsible for her sister's death. Michael is skeptical that she has changed and is no longer the girl from years ago who cost him the love of his life. Unfortunately for him, he is assigned to protect her after she survives a violent kidnapping. They struggle through a minefield of corruption, political betrayal, and dealing with the traumas of their past. I enjoyed their story and can definitely recommend reading it!","date":"25th Jul 2026"},{"name":"DBG69","rating":"4","title":"Enjoyable read","text":"Once I started reading Intimate Choice, I didn't want to put it down. The characters are well developed and the storyline is engaging. A definite page turner. I hope you enjoy!","date":"25th Jul 2026"},{"name":"Jeanne R","rating":"4","title":"Good Book","text":"This is the second book I've read written by D.C. Stone; I can’t wait to read more of her books.\r\n\r\nThis is the seventh book in the Empire Blue Series; it is a stand-alone book. The story is about Ava & Michael.","date":"25th Jul 2026"},{"name":"Avidreader23","rating":"5","title":"Intimate Choices - 4.5 stars","text":"Enemies to lovers, mystery, military, suspense, strong FMC, action, hea.\r\n\r\nMike Gonzalez is a Secret Service Agent who gets involved in a gruesome discovery - a bunch of bodies in a house with a single survivor, Ava, his childhood bully\u002fmean girl.\r\n\r\nAva is now a contracted PI for a government agency, she discovered a tracking a money laundering scheme and she paid the price by getting \r\n\r\nThe book starts with a laugh and gets serious soon. \r\n\r\nRecommended.","date":"25th Jul 2026"}]},"bulk_discount_rates":[],"meta_keywords":"","show_quantity_input":0,"title":"Intimate Choice by D.C. 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