A Hero's Pride Kayla Santomas has never been on a blind date. Ever. One bad marriage and way too many useless relationships have convinced her to allow her best friend to set her up. Tired of dating frogs, she decides she wants dinner with a nice guy as a birthday present to herself. Who knows? He might not be so bad. After losing part of his leg in Afghanistan, Ryan Mitchell lost interest in dating and even worse, the urge to get aroused. He finally gives into his badgering family and decides to go back into the dating world. What better way to do it than to allow his brother and friend to set him up? According to them, he needs the extra help. Sparks fly between Kayla and Ryan. Each quickly realizes that they want more time with the other. Hours rush past them in a blur. But when Ryan says something that Kayla misinterprets, will this be the end of a great night? Ryan will have to forget his pride and say what's inside in order to keep her. A Hero Scarred essie Tavarez doesn't want to be set up. As far as she's concerned she doesn't even want to talk about men. She's just gotten rid of one jerk and isn't looking for another. But her good friend Kayla is hell-bent on matchmaking. What she thought was a quiet vacation turned into an unexpected first date with a soldier scarred by war. And the first man to make her realize not all men are the same. Matt Payne knew his friends meant well when they tried to matchmake. But he'd been hiding his physical scars from the sympathy of women and his family. A sneaky set-up finds him having dinner with the first woman he physically and emotionally connected with since his injuries. As the night wears on, they find that fear can override instant chemistry and force a person to choose fear over passion. But will Matt allow Jessie a peek into his world, to share his scars in the hope for more? Or will he ignore the fact she's been scarred too?