The Executive Office Books in Order

The Executive Office series is Bauer’s flagship political romantic suspense arc, following President Jack Spiers and Secret Service agent Ethan Reichenbach from an uneasy professional relationship into a committed partnership that plays out on a world stage. These books combine found family, military and intelligence operations, and a love story unfolding under the glare of global media.

Enemies of the State opens with Jack’s first months in office, when terror attacks in Europe, rising tensions with Russia, and Middle East crises threaten to derail his moderate agenda. Ethan, a battle-hardened agent promoted to lead Jack’s protective detail, expects another distant politician. Instead he finds a funny, idealistic widower who refuses to treat him as just a bodyguard.

That friendship slides into something more, breaking every rule of Ethan’s job and every expectation Jack has had for his life. At the same time, a rogue American general, Porter Madigan, is orchestrating a secret campaign that reaches from African battlefields to the heart of Washington. The first book layers slow-burn attraction over ticking-clock espionage and ends with real consequences for both men.

In Enemy of My Enemy, Jack and Ethan are publicly out and living together in the Residence, navigating domestic moments in between summits and crises. Their relationship reshapes alliances, especially with Russian president Sergey Puchkov and Saudi intelligence chief Prince Faisal, even as Madigan digs in and broadens his war against them.

Interlude: First Noel steps back to that first winter after the scandal breaks. Ethan has been reassigned to Des Moines to handle financial crimes, commuting to see Jack on rare weekends, while Jack tries to hold together a fragile coalition abroad. The novella focuses on the emotional cost of distance, media obsession, and the question of whether their relationship can survive the realities of power.

The trilogy concludes in Enemy Within, after Madigan attacks CIA headquarters and appears to kill Jack. While the world mourns, Jack disappears into Russia on an off-the-books mission to rescue Ethan. Joined by a deposed Sergey and by Secretary of State Elizabeth Wall, they trek from Moscow safe houses to a secret Arctic base where Madigan’s plan could ignite global war.

Across the series, readers see a large ensemble of agents, diplomats, and world leaders, including strong women who call the shots and queer characters in positions usually reserved for straight heroes. The tone is cinematic and sometimes over the top by design, but always grounded in the central promise: Jack and Ethan will fight for each other as fiercely as they fight to keep the world from burning.