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Wounded Heroes: The Redemption Series #1-2
Wounded Heroes: Wounded Heroes: The Redemption Series, Books 1 and 2
Don’t miss this double header to celebrate the completion of the Wounded Heroes series.
ALWAYS MINE Book 1
His shoulder was shredded and he can’t be a cop anymore. Who is he now?
Lt. Diego Rodrigez was injured during a gang bust. He lost full use of his shoulder, he lost his partner and he lost his task force members. He isn’t anybody anymore. Restless and hopeless, he finds comfort in his old love, Annie Stefano. And she wants him back. But their road is rocky and then danger befalls Annie. How can Diego rescue her?
BEYOND PERFECT Book 2
He’ll never forget the things he did in a gang—and the things done to him. There’s no way to make up for them.
Jackson Kane is trying to atone for his past. By setting up several organizations that help gang kids, he’s hoping to alleviate the guilt he feels. But the one thing he won’t allow himself to do is love again, especially the feisty Maisy Shepherd who works for him.
ALWAYS MINE Book 1
His shoulder was shredded and he can’t be a cop anymore. Who is he now?
Lt. Diego Rodrigez was injured during a gang bust. He lost full use of his shoulder, he lost his partner and he lost his task force members. He isn’t anybody anymore. Restless and hopeless, he finds comfort in his old love, Annie Stefano. And she wants him back. But their road is rocky and then danger befalls Annie. How can Diego rescue her?
BEYOND PERFECT Book 2
He’ll never forget the things he did in a gang—and the things done to him. There’s no way to make up for them.
Jackson Kane is trying to atone for his past. By setting up several organizations that help gang kids, he’s hoping to alleviate the guilt he feels. But the one thing he won’t allow himself to do is love again, especially the feisty Maisy Shepherd who works for him.
236 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 4, 2025
About the author
Kathryn Shay
168 books501 followersKathryn Shay is a lifelong writer. At fifteen, she penned her first 'romance,' a short story about a female newspaper reporter in New York City and her fight to make a name for herself in a world of male journalists - and with one hardheaded editor in particular. Looking back, Kathryn says she should have known then that writing was in her future. But as so often happens, fate sent her detouring down another path.
Fully intending to pursue her dream of big city lights and success in the literary world, Kathryn took every creative writing class available at the small private women's college she attended in upstate New York. Instead, other dreams took precedence. She met and subsequently married a wonderful guy who'd attended a neighboring school, then completed her practice teaching, a requirement for the education degree she never intended to use. But says Kathryn, "I fell in love with teaching the first day I was up in front of a class, and knew I was meant to do that."
Kathryn went on to build a successful career in the New York state school system, thoroughly enjoying her work with adolescents. But by the early 1990s, she'd again made room in her life for writing. It was then that she submitted her first manuscript to publishers and agents. Despite enduring two years of rejections, she persevered. And on a snowy December afternoon in 1994, Kathryn Shay sold her first book to Harlequin Superromance.
Since that first sale, Kathryn has written twenty-one books for Harlequin, nine mainstream contemporary romances for the Berkley Publishing Group, and two online novellas, which Berkley then published in traditional print format.
Kathryn has become known for her powerful characterizations - readers say they feel they know the people in her books - and her heart-wrenching, emotional writing (her favorite comments are that fans cried while reading her books or stayed up late to finish them). In testament to her skill, the author has won five RT BookClub Magazine Reviewers Choice Awards, three Holt Medallions, two Desert Quill Awards, the Golden Leaf Award, and several online accolades.
Even in light of her writing success, that initial love of teaching never wavered for Kathryn. She finished out her teaching career in 2004, retiring from the same school where her career began. These days, she lives in upstate New York with her husband and two children. "My life is very full," she reports, "but very happy. I consider myself fortunate to have been able to pursue and achieve my dreams."
Fully intending to pursue her dream of big city lights and success in the literary world, Kathryn took every creative writing class available at the small private women's college she attended in upstate New York. Instead, other dreams took precedence. She met and subsequently married a wonderful guy who'd attended a neighboring school, then completed her practice teaching, a requirement for the education degree she never intended to use. But says Kathryn, "I fell in love with teaching the first day I was up in front of a class, and knew I was meant to do that."
Kathryn went on to build a successful career in the New York state school system, thoroughly enjoying her work with adolescents. But by the early 1990s, she'd again made room in her life for writing. It was then that she submitted her first manuscript to publishers and agents. Despite enduring two years of rejections, she persevered. And on a snowy December afternoon in 1994, Kathryn Shay sold her first book to Harlequin Superromance.
Since that first sale, Kathryn has written twenty-one books for Harlequin, nine mainstream contemporary romances for the Berkley Publishing Group, and two online novellas, which Berkley then published in traditional print format.
Kathryn has become known for her powerful characterizations - readers say they feel they know the people in her books - and her heart-wrenching, emotional writing (her favorite comments are that fans cried while reading her books or stayed up late to finish them). In testament to her skill, the author has won five RT BookClub Magazine Reviewers Choice Awards, three Holt Medallions, two Desert Quill Awards, the Golden Leaf Award, and several online accolades.
Even in light of her writing success, that initial love of teaching never wavered for Kathryn. She finished out her teaching career in 2004, retiring from the same school where her career began. These days, she lives in upstate New York with her husband and two children. "My life is very full," she reports, "but very happy. I consider myself fortunate to have been able to pursue and achieve my dreams."
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 28, 2026
ALWAYAS MINE
This new series takes us to the town of Westwood where wounded heroes will feel a need to redeem themselves for things that are out of their control . This time the story belongs to Lt. Diego Rodriguez.
Diego, leader of the local SWAT team, is the sole survivor of a mission gone wrong. His teammates and friends were killed while dealing with a local gang. Since then, the guilt, the nightmares and the PTSD are his constant companion.
The only good thing to come out of it is the visit from Annie Stefano, his former HS and college girlfriend. The break up left them both hurt, but he still loves her.
Conflicted with her present and her past, Annie’s feelings dormant feelings for Diego reignite. Especially since she’s engaged to someone else.
When danger seems to follow them both will they survive it? If so, will they finally get their HEA?
As usual, what makes the author’s stories special is that she gives the readers individuals that are flawed , making them real to all of us. The story dealt with PTSD, survivor’s guilt, family, and second chances in life and love.
A good introduction to the series. Looking forward to the next story .
BEYOND PERFECT
Jackson Kane created PATHWAYS, a special school for those kids that have been about to be sent to juvenile prison. A place where he wants them to get a chance to surpass their past. He knows well enough how gangs can destroy a child and a future , since he himself was in a gang at a young age and was forced to perform the unthinkable.
Maisy Shepard is a dedicated teacher in the school, an is attracted to Jackson, though they have their differences and a past.
While Jackson lives by the rules, she believes exceptions should be made. Something that gets her into trouble.
But that doesn’t ameliorate the attraction between these two. Can they overcome their differences to find their happiness, or will they stick to their beliefs without any give?
As is the usual case of the books by this author, she delivers another thought provoking story. Not only about ways to help guide those kids that have gone astray, but also she touches on foster care, the atrocities that do occasionally occur in them, as well as the need to find qualified and devoted foster parents. The characters are perfect in their imperfection, thus making them real.
All this a reminder that life is not black and white but rather a give and take and made up of various colors of gray.
This new series takes us to the town of Westwood where wounded heroes will feel a need to redeem themselves for things that are out of their control . This time the story belongs to Lt. Diego Rodriguez.
Diego, leader of the local SWAT team, is the sole survivor of a mission gone wrong. His teammates and friends were killed while dealing with a local gang. Since then, the guilt, the nightmares and the PTSD are his constant companion.
The only good thing to come out of it is the visit from Annie Stefano, his former HS and college girlfriend. The break up left them both hurt, but he still loves her.
Conflicted with her present and her past, Annie’s feelings dormant feelings for Diego reignite. Especially since she’s engaged to someone else.
When danger seems to follow them both will they survive it? If so, will they finally get their HEA?
As usual, what makes the author’s stories special is that she gives the readers individuals that are flawed , making them real to all of us. The story dealt with PTSD, survivor’s guilt, family, and second chances in life and love.
A good introduction to the series. Looking forward to the next story .
BEYOND PERFECT
Jackson Kane created PATHWAYS, a special school for those kids that have been about to be sent to juvenile prison. A place where he wants them to get a chance to surpass their past. He knows well enough how gangs can destroy a child and a future , since he himself was in a gang at a young age and was forced to perform the unthinkable.
Maisy Shepard is a dedicated teacher in the school, an is attracted to Jackson, though they have their differences and a past.
While Jackson lives by the rules, she believes exceptions should be made. Something that gets her into trouble.
But that doesn’t ameliorate the attraction between these two. Can they overcome their differences to find their happiness, or will they stick to their beliefs without any give?
As is the usual case of the books by this author, she delivers another thought provoking story. Not only about ways to help guide those kids that have gone astray, but also she touches on foster care, the atrocities that do occasionally occur in them, as well as the need to find qualified and devoted foster parents. The characters are perfect in their imperfection, thus making them real.
All this a reminder that life is not black and white but rather a give and take and made up of various colors of gray.
August 28, 2026
Please see individual stories for review.
September 19, 2026
Very entertaining and an emotional read. You can’t help but feel for these characters. A great read overall.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews