Ben Harding was fired from the Austin Police Department for killing a man with his bare hands. The man was responsible for the death of Ben's wife and six-year-old daughter. Now Hank Derringer wants Ben to work for him as a bodyguard at Covert Cowboys, Inc. Ben's not too sure about his first assignment, Kate Langsdon.

Kate inherited a ranch in Wild Oak Canyon from a father she never knew. A lot of mystery surrounds her father's death. Was it really natural as the coroner says, or was he murdered? Ben gets to the ranch just in time to quell an intruder. The intruder gets away, but it's just the first in a long line of incidents that take place on the ranch. Someone is trying to drive Kate away, but why? Ben suspects either drug- or human-trafficking. Was her father involved in either? Kate fears most for her four-year-old daughter, her sole responsibility since her husband was killed in Afghanistan.

TRIGGERED is an action-packed, fast-paced tale with desperados at every turn. There are lots of questions about what's going on in this South Texas town. You're not sure if the local law is the good guys or the bad, or if people who seem a little too friendly to Kate are really there to do her in. The past tragedies in both Ben's and Kate's lives rear their heads as they work together to learn Kate's father's secrets. Both put up a shield that a natural attraction wants to tear down. Can Ben and Kate keep their hands off each other long enough to catch the bad guys? Ben and Kate are both strong main characters with some endearing supporting characters and some that are not so charming. Elle James gives us a quick summer afternoon read with this novel. If this is your genre, you should really enjoy TRIGGERED.