Every spark risks an inferno. Officer Lila Rivera thought she understood loss—until death came for her twice. Born into a family of cops, Lila lived for the badge. Her instincts and cybercrime expertise set her apart, but her fixation on Marcus Brinks cost her everything: her career, her badge, even the lives of her family. In the wake of it all lived a grief sharpened into obsession. Revenge becomes her north star until one reckless night in a small-town dive bar...and Sam. Sam Wilder is steady and grounded, an EMT who knows exactly who he is and has spent long enough avoiding roots. But the moment Lila crashes into his world, something feral and unyielding locks into place. Protective. Possessive. He’s ready to claim her—until her vendetta drags his entire family back into the crosshairs of the enemy they thought they’d outrun. Apex is no rumor–It’s the predator closing in. As loyalties strain, obsession becomes fuel, and attraction becomes volatile and consuming. The pressure is rising, the lines are blurring—and once the match is struck, there’s no stopping the inferno that follows. --- Matchstrike is the explosive second book in the Apex Society Trilogy —a dark, cinematic romantic thriller featuring a vengeance-driven heroine, a dominantly possessive hero, obsessive villains, escalating danger, and a scorching romance forged in fire as everything tightens toward collapse. Review Readers' Favorite (5 Stars) " Matchstrike by Rhone Atleshen had me hooked right from the start. The premise of a feisty and passionate female cop who meets the former player EMT had me hooked. Throw in some underlying evil plots and dangerous villains, and this book has just about everything to offer readers. What elevates the story further is how seamlessly the personal stakes are woven into the larger threat. Lila's vendetta doesn't just collide with Sam's world; it detonates it, dragging the entire Wilder family back into the danger they thought they'd escaped. The pacing is a major strength of this book. The narrative moves with purpose between pulse-pounding confrontations, intimate character moments, and slow-burning revelations that twist the plot in satisfying ways. The story builds toward a crescendo where justice, vengeance, and redemption meet in a collision that feels both inevitable and earned. Overall, this book is a gripping blend of crime thriller, romance, and high-stakes suspense, and I highly recommend it ." —Miche Arendse, Readers' Favorite Reviewer Stories rarely arrive quietly. They come in on a tide—grief, memory, curiosity, anger, hope—and if you're lucky, they come with characters who refuse to let go until you tell the truth of them. The Apex Society Trilogy began that way for me. It wasn't outlined in neat chapters, and it didn't whisper. It hit like a spark in the dark and grew into something bigger than I expected. At its heart, this trilogy follows three women standing at the edge of something impossible, and three men who meet them there—not to save them, but to walk beside them while they save themselves. Each book explores a different kind of collision: trauma with trust, survival with love, justice with the kind of loyalty that changes people. Writing these stories required me to stretch into deeper emotional corners, to sit with fear and resilience, and to honor the messy, complicated ways healing really happens. These books are interconnected and meant to be experienced in order. Every thread matters. Every relationship influences another. The trilogy isn't just three romances or three thrillers—it's one long arc about choosing courage over silence, and connection over isolation, even when the cost is high. While writing these characters, I found myself returning again and again to the idea that strength doesn't always look like the loudest person in the room. Sometimes it's the woman who dares to leave. The man who learns to stay. The friend who pushes back when giving up would be easier. I wrote each book with the hope that readers who have navigated their own fires—literal or otherwise—might see a piece of themselves reflected with compassion and dignity. These stories contain intense emotional themes and depict situations that may be challenging for some readers. For that reason, I include a brief content note at the start of each book so you can choose the reading experience that feels right for you. Transparency matters, and so does honoring the very real weight that fictional stories can carry. Thank you for choosing to step into this world with me. Writing these books was both a challenge and a privilege—one that taught me as much about resilience and connection as it did about craft. If the characters stay with you after the final chapter, I hope they do so the way they stayed with me: reminding you that even in the darkest moments, there is still room for fire, for love, and for the possibility of something better. —Rhone Atleshen Rhone Atleshen is a multi-award-winning and