Joshua Steele was a sniper for the Army until his best friend, who was also his spotter, was killed during an ordered engagement. Still angry at the captain who messed up in the mission's setup, Steele takes a shot at him and winds up with a dishonorable discharge and a long stint in the Fort Leavenworth prison. And his family disowns him.

Life is not looking too good for Steele until visitors arrive and offer him a way out. All he has to do is work for the Bureau of American Defense, BAD, a shadow agency hidden behind the façade of an insurance company. Steele decides to leave with them, but once he gets the particulars of the job, which includes killing an assassin, he decides he can no longer kill anyone. He'd rather return to prison. And his arrogant behavior may put him back in there, or it could get him killed. However, Sydney Westbrook, who works for BAD, arranges a situation that forces Steele to stay with BAD. She needs his help, and he's the best sniper in the best position to join BAD. No one would miss him.

Syd has already made the mistake of getting intimate with a co-worker in the past only to become the butt of laughter and jokes when the guy dumped her. She's an Angelina Jolie look-alike, just shorter and more curvaceous. Men like her, but she now keeps them at arm's length, until she meets Steele. Something about the man connects with some well- hidden part of her.

Syd is to be Steele's spotter in an operation to take out an assassin who plans to kill a visiting president. Their plans turn complicated when Steele goes undercover to get a job as a freelance operator with the contracting agency for the hit that put a hit out on Steele. Within moments of leaving the "interview," Steele is shot. Syd and Steele work on their strategies to outmaneuver the hit man while trying to keep Steele alive so he can return to the "interview" at a designated time. Intelligence reports conflict against Steele's natural instincts leading to surprises for the pair.

As Syd spends more time with Steele, she realizes that he's a man full of passion and honor -- a man she can trust. Steele realizes that a one-night stand would never do with this woman, and his strongly held beliefs about Syd are surprisingly changed.

Kenyon started her BAD series with two sizzling novellas -- BAD to the Bone in the anthology BIG GUNS OUT OF UNIFORM (Pocket, 11/03) and Captivated by You in the anthology TIE ME UP, TIE ME DOWN (Pocket, 2/05). As an introduction to the hardcover release of BAD ATTITUDE, a new anthology, titled BORN TO BE BAD, has just been published containing the above mentioned novellas, as well as a new novella, called One BAD Night! I enjoyed reading the fast-paced BAD ATTITUDE, as Kenyon continues to entertain readers with her latest addition to the BAD series. Her characters have heart and soul.