Off Guard Books in Order

Off Guard is the slicker, steamier contemporary side of Katie Ruggle's backlist, published as Katie Allen. These books step away from wilderness rescues and bounty hunts and put the focus on attraction, chemistry, and the kind of personal chaos that comes from getting too close to someone you probably should avoid. The stakes are more intimate here, though a little outside trouble still slips in.

Each book stands on its own, but they share a mood. The heroines are working women with busy lives and sharp senses of humor. The heroes are often guarded, awkward, or quietly wounded in ways that make them easy to underestimate. The fun comes from watching those mismatched people find one another and then try, not very successfully, to act like nothing is happening.

Acting Lessons starts with Topher, a struggling actress who signs on for a fake-girlfriend job and then falls for the one man she is not supposed to want. Baking Lessons pairs cheerful baker Leah with Hamilton, her rigid landlord, whose daily visits turn from irritation to temptation. Marriage Lessons brings in gallery assistant Annabelle Shay and her boss Louis Dumont, where fake marriage energy and real feeling get tangled together fast.

These books are more about tension than gunfire.

That said, the series is not just three versions of the same setup. Topher's story is playful and theatrical. Leah's book leans into grumpy versus sunshine, with food and domestic detail doing a lot of the charm work. Annabelle's story has a quieter emotional pull, especially as Louis's history shapes what he thinks he can and cannot offer. Taken together, the books read like a set of connected romances about grown adults stumbling into exactly the relationship they were trying not to start.

If you want sharp banter, strong sexual tension, and contemporary settings like bakeries, galleries, apartments, and family gatherings, Off Guard is a good fit. It is warm, funny, a little messy, and very interested in how desire can throw ordinary life off balance.