The Protectors Books in Order
Part ofBeverly Barton Books in OrderSee Beverly Barton's The Protectors books in order, with quick summaries, series background, and simple guidance on where to start reading.
Last updated: June 29, 2026
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Publication Order
32 books
This Side of Heaven
by Beverly Barton
1992
Soul-scarred soldier Nate Hodges and Cyn Porter are pulled together by danger, grief, and fierce attraction. With a vengeful madman closing in, love starts to look almost as risky as survival.
Paladin's Woman
by Beverly Barton
1993
When Nick Romero rescues Addy McConnell from a kidnapping attempt, protection becomes intensely personal. She needs his help to stay alive, but the greater threat may be the hunger growing between them.
The Outcast
by Beverly Barton
1994
Clairvoyant Elizabeth Mallory gives shelter to Reece Landry, a wounded fugitive hiding on her Georgia mountain. As danger closes in, trust comes hard and attraction comes even harder.
Defending His Own
by Beverly Barton
1995
Deborah Vaughn once loved Ashe McLaughlin and lost him, but now she needs his protection as a murder trial turns dangerous. Their reunion is charged enough, and the son Ashe never knew about raises the stakes even higher.
Guarding Jeannie
by Beverly Barton
1995
Sam Dundee comes back into Jeannie Alverson's life when a threat forces him into the role of protector. She still remembers the man who once changed everything, and he is no safer from old feelings than she is.
Blackwood's Woman
by Beverly Barton
1996
Joanna Beaumont runs to Blackwood Ranch with trouble on her heels and only one real option for help. J.T. Blackwood agrees to guard her, but the fierce attraction between them makes every night more complicated.
A Man Like Morgan Kane
by Beverly Barton
1997
Former bad boy Morgan Kane returns home to find Bethany Wyndham accused of murder and surrounded by suspicion. Clearing her name means reopening an old love and facing secrets neither of them escaped.
Gabriel Hawk's Lady
by Beverly Barton
1997
Rorie Dean joins Gabriel Hawk on a dangerous hunt for her missing nephew. Bullets, lies, and jungle terrain are hard enough, but the real risk is how quickly she starts needing the man beside her.
Roarke's Wife
by Beverly Barton
1997
Cleo McNamara needs a husband, a protector, and a safe way to start the family she wants. Security expert Simon Roarke agrees to the arrangement, then finds himself fighting a killer and his own heart.
Keeping Annie Safe
by Beverly Barton
1999
With a killer on her trail, Annie Harden turns to the last man she can comfortably resist, Dane Carmichael. He is a born protector, but surrendering her heart feels far riskier than taking his help.
Egan Cassidy's Kid
by Beverly Barton
2000
Egan Cassidy learns too late that one brief affair left him with a son, and now that child is caught in a madman's vendetta. Rescuing the boy means facing Maggie Douglas again, and facing the family he never knew he wanted.
Murdock's Last Stand
by Beverly Barton
2000
Former mercenary Aloysius Murdock agrees to guard Catherine Price out of loyalty to her father. What begins as a matter of honor turns into a battle between old wounds, new danger, and a love neither expected.
Jack's Christmas Mission
by Beverly Barton
2001
Peggy Jo Riley wants peace for the holidays, not a bodyguard under her roof. Jack Parker means to keep her alive, but close quarters and buried vulnerability turn the assignment into something far more intimate.
Navajo's Woman
by Beverly Barton
2001
Andi Stephens never forgave Joe Ornelas for doing his duty and turning in her father. When danger forces them together again, old hurt and old desire collide at full force.
Sweet Caroline's Keeper
by Beverly Barton
2001
David Wolfe has watched over Caroline McGuire for years from the shadows, ever since the night her father died. When a killer comes after her, he has to step into the open and risk losing her trust for good.
Whitelaw's Wedding
by Beverly Barton
2001
Manda Munroe agrees to marry Hunter Whitelaw to draw out the stalker threatening her life. What starts as a strategy quickly becomes more dangerous when the bodyguard stops pretending.
On Her Guard
by Beverly Barton
2002
Protection-agency chief Ellen Denby prides herself on control until Nikos Pandarus walks back into her life. Old love, new enemies, and the risk of being targeted herself force her to drop her guard in every sense.
The Princess's Bodyguard
by Beverly Barton
2002
Princess Adele of Orlantha can barely stand the blunt American assigned to protect her, but Matt O'Brien may be her only defense against a deadly conspiracy. Their fake marriage is meant to save a throne, not start a real passion.
Grace Under Fire
by Beverly Barton
2003
Grace Beaumont starts digging into the accident that destroyed her family and finds reason to believe it was never an accident at all. Jed Tyree wants to protect her, but his own tie to the past is a secret with teeth.
Downright Dangerous
by Beverly Barton
2004
Elsa Leone's good intentions put her in the sights of people who do not want crime challenged in their town. Rafe Devlin steps in as her protector, and the chemistry between them is nearly as risky as the threats.
Keeping Baby Secret
by Beverly Barton
2004
Leenie never told agent Frank Latimer about their son, and now the child has been kidnapped. Their search for the boy forces old lovers to fight side by side while anger and attraction burn just as hot as ever.
Laying His Claim
by Beverly Barton
2004
A dangerous situation throws a hard-driving protector back together with the woman who can still shake him. Barton mixes family stakes, stubborn attraction, and the kind of suspense that keeps every reunion unsettled.
Worth Dying For
by Beverly Barton
2004
A deadly threat turns an already complicated attraction into a fight for survival. This Protectors novel leans into close-quarters danger, strong-willed lovers, and the question of what each would risk for the other.
Ramirez's Woman
by Beverly Barton
2005
When danger brings a woman under Ramirez's protection, old rules stop working fast. Barton keeps the pace tight, pairing a possessive protector with a heroine who refuses to be handled.
Dangerous Deception
by Beverly Barton
2006
A lie meant to protect someone starts unraveling fast, pulling two wary people into the same line of fire. Barton builds the tension through hidden motives, sharp chemistry, and danger that keeps changing shape.
Penny Sue Got Lucky
by Beverly Barton
2006
Penny Sue thinks luck has finally broken her way, until trouble and attraction arrive together. What follows is a fast-moving romantic suspense with small-town heat and a heroine who has to decide who she can trust.
A Time to Die
by Beverly Barton
2007
This later Protectors novel pushes its hero and heroine into a high-stakes crisis where trust has to come before safety. The result is lean romantic suspense, with looming violence and a love story under pressure.
His Only Obsession
by Beverly Barton
2007
A dangerous fixation turns one woman's life into a target zone and leaves a tough protector racing to get ahead of the threat. Barton plays the fear straight while keeping the romance hot and immediate.
Dying for You
by Beverly Barton
2008
Someone's devotion has curdled into danger, and the heroine is left wondering who wants her, who is using her, and who might kill for her. Barton turns obsession into a tense, fast-moving romance.
Forged in Desire
by Brenda Jackson
2017
Locked in Temptation
by Brenda Jackson
2017
Seized by Seduction
by Brenda Jackson
2017
Series background & context
The Protectors is where Beverly Barton really settled into the blend of romance and danger that defined much of her work. The series follows a loose network of bodyguards, investigators, ex-military men, and security specialists, first tied to Dundee Private Security and then more broadly to the protectors around it. Their jobs vary, but the core setup stays steady: someone is in trouble, and one very capable man is assigned to stand between her and whatever is coming.
That assignment almost never stays professional for long.
Across the books, the women under threat are not copies of each other. Some are heiresses, some are widows, some are women carrying secrets, children, or old grief. The danger can come from stalkers, kidnappers, killers, family vendettas, or scandals that refuse to die. Barton likes the moment when a heroine stops being merely a client and becomes the one person a protector cannot walk away from.
The men are classic Barton heroes: Navy SEALs, mercenaries, cops, agents, ranch hands with military pasts, hard cases who trust action more than conversation. They tend to arrive with rules, walls, and a strong sense of duty. Then a case pushes them into fake marriages, hidden pasts, close quarters, secret baby complications, or long nights spent waiting for the next attack. The suspense is real, but the emotional payoff usually comes from watching these men learn that guarding someone is not the same as knowing how to love her.
Settings shift from small Southern towns to ranch country, private estates, and the occasional royal or political mess, but Barton keeps the atmosphere grounded. Even when the plots turn dramatic, the books remain readable and direct. You get stalkers, missing children, revenge plots, and murder attempts, but you also get a lot of family strain, old promises, and people who have to decide whether they can trust each other before time runs out.
The series is big, but it stays easy to understand because each book centers on one couple and one danger.
If you want the original shape of the series, This Side of Heaven and Paladin's Woman lay it out clearly. Mid-series books like Keeping Annie Safe, Egan Cassidy's Kid, and The Princess's Bodyguard show how flexible Barton could be inside the formula. By the time you reach later entries such as Don't Cry, the mood has grown darker, but the heart of the series is still the same: danger outside, desire inside, and two people forced to decide whether survival might include a future together.
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