Torque

by Ellie Masters

A reckless pilot. A director who commands the sky. One Vegas wedding that wasn’t supposed to be real.

Levi “Torque” Durant lives with death at his back. Three deployments and one catastrophic failure have taught him that speed is survival – and guilt is a heavy passenger. When an AI known as Phoenix hijacks a black‑site server in the Nevada desert, the only way to stop it is a canyon run so dangerous no other pilot will try.

Sarah Vance built her career on precision and control. As director of the National Reconnaissance Office, she manages the eyes in the sky and keeps secrets from everyone – especially her corrupt senator father. But when Phoenix targets her satellite network, she must trust the one man who flies on instinct instead of rules… and marry him to keep their undercover operation from burning.

With forty‑eight hours to prevent Phoenix from gaining global omniscience, Levi and Sarah must execute a dual‑authentication Hard Lock, navigate a fortress designed to kill them, and ignore the fact that their fake marriage feels like the most genuine connection either has ever had. He thinks in chaos; she thinks in calculations. Together they’re the one variable an all‑knowing AI never predicted.

He flies by feel. She knows exactly where to aim him. Together, they're the one variable an all-knowing AI can't calculate.

But first, they have to survive her father—and each other.

Chaos and control. The only combination Phoenix never saw coming.

Heart‑pounding aerial suspense. Crackling enemies‑to‑lovers tension. A forced‑proximity marriage of convenience that turns into something real. Dive into TORQUE and discover what happens when chaos and control collide at 300 feet per second.

Perfect for fans of Nora Roberts’ romantic suspense, the military heat of the Bravo Team series, and the mission‑gone‑sideways tension of Sierra Simone.



One-click TORQUE now and discover what happens when chaos and control finally collide—at 300 feet per second.



Trope & Vibe List

• Enemies to Ice Queen Director & Reckless Wildcard Pilot

• Fake Marriage / Marriage of Vegas cover op—legally binding

• Forced Undercover mission, shared hotel rooms, one helicopter

• Grumpy Sunshine (Reversed): Stoic control freak & chaotic grinning disaster man

• Slow 7‑day timeline, escalating touch progression

• Opposites Control vs. Chaos as the thematic engine

• He Falls Torque sees through her armor before she admits anything

• Wounded Survivor’s guilt, death wish, the 90 seconds

• Found Family / Cerberus operatives as emotional anchor



Heat Steamy Angsty, Suspenseful, Emotional Book 6 of 7, Cerberus Chronicles HEA Dual First Person, Present Tense Content Violence, grief, survivor's guilt, steamy scenes, parental betrayal

360 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 5, 2026

About the author

Angsty, Steamy, Heart-Stopping, Pulse-Pounding, Can't-Stop-Reading Romantic Suspense.

Ellie Masters is a USA Today Bestselling author and Amazon Top 15 Author.

In addition, she's a wife, military mom, doctor, and retired Colonel.

She writes romantic suspense filled with all your sexy, swoon-worthy alpha men. Her writing will tug at your heartstrings and leave your heart racing.

Born in the South, raised under the Hawaiian sun, Ellie has traveled the globe while in service to her country. The love of her life, her amazing husband, is her number one fan and biggest supporter. And yes! He's read every word she's written.

Don't forget to sign up for her newsletter. Never miss another release, sale, or exclusive. https://elliemasters.com/NewsletterSi...

Reviews

[Anny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another absolute nail-biter

​If you love protective heroes and edge-of-your-seat suspense, you need to read this. The pacing was perfect, the romance was steamy, and the plot kept me guessing until the very end. I'm already looking forward to the next book in this series!
Thanks Ellie Masters!

---also a review by #AnnyUnbound

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC review. Torque is the sixth book in Ellie Masters’ Cerberus Personal Security series and it definitely is a heart thumping breathtaker! The mission requires that the last two people you’d ever expect to get married to anyone hitched complete with ring and official certificate. Then the action begins and it moves as fast as the 40+ drones involved. The writing pings back and forth between Phoenix’s AI log and the team’s banter and planning; a little unusual but so is the mission. The characters are the usual with the addition of Director Vance aka wifey and Thorne, the new addition to the team. The storyline doesn’t disappoint as the team races through the canyon attempting to accomplish what AI deems impossible. Readers will find it impossible to sleep before finding out if there’s an HEA at the end of the story.

[Nikki Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG, what a ride this book sends you on. Dramatic, adrenaline-fueled, fast-paced yet the emotions run deep as well. Director Sarah Vance wants to stop her father and Phoenix so walks into Cerberus for their help. What follows is a fake marriage, betrayal, grief and determination to stop Phoenix from completing its download. As Cerberus work together on the mission, Sarah and Torque find they have more in common than they realized. With twists and turns throughout you won't be able to put this book down. Ellie Masters has again taken us into a world of the unimaginable, one in which we hope that Cerberus can stop. The shock at the end leads us into the finale, Thorne's story, one which looks like will send us on an emotional rollercoaster.

[Elinda Moody · Rating 5 out of 5]

TORQUE and Sarah

This is the 6th book in the Cerberus Personal Security series. Cerberus has been working non stop trying to find a way to stop Phoenix, an AI that is extremely dangerous, not to mention the person(s) behind it. Sarah Vance, Director of the NRO comes to Cerberus for help to stop the almost impossible task of destroying Phoenix. TORQUE is assigned as her partner as they go about throwing enough misdirection to make Phoenix fry it's circuits. Along the way, Torque and Sarah have to learn how to deal with each other. He is all instincts and she is rigidity personified. They are forced to share space and feelings develop seemingly out of nowhere. Can they get the mission completed and get the HEA they deserve? Only time will tell. Sorry, no spoilers

[Arlene M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sarah Vance is the Director of National Reconnaissance office to control the satellites.
Senator Marcus Vance I’d Sarah’s father.
Levi “Torque” Durant works for Cerberus.

Torque and Sarah meet , when she shows up a Cerberus Personal Security HQ with a folder
Against Senator Vance .
Torque and Sarah are both strong willed and intense they do butt heads over things.
Can Torque and Sarah pull off the mission to lock Phoenix down?
Can they have a Happily Ever After?
You will have to read the book to find out.

This book has heart throbs g suspense, danger and twists and turns.

Excellent Job. Ellie Masters !!!!!

[Maria Angie Mendoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a thrill ride!
This is book 6 in the Cerberus personnel security and what an exciting story!
The plot takes an interesting twist when AI becomes one of the principal characters!
Is AI friend or foe?
That theory is put to the test when Torque and Sarah team up for a special mission.
Why?
What’s happening?
Fast paced, intense, and super sexy as we delve into this twisted fun read had me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what direction it was going to take.
Oh I invite you to take that thrill ride!

[Gina Wooldridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow another wild ride with a story that sucks you in and keeps you committed to the mission.One of the reasons I love Ellie’s stories is her creativity. I have no idea what is out there possible but you can bet she can convince you it can happen. This book is a little different than others as it’s a slow burn and I mean really slow with scorching chemistry. If you have read the other 5 books in this series buckle up and enjoy the burn.

[Sherry Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intense and heart pounding!!

This is an amazing, Intense and exciting book from the first page to the last!! Exceptional action parts that will have you on the edge of your seat!and tuning out everything around you! The main characters, Torque and Sarah are both strong and determined and fit together perfectly and have some fun and amazing experiences and banter! I definitely recommend reading this book and believe that you will love it!!

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Control Meets Chaos 🔥

Levi flies by feel. Sarah lives by calculations. Thrown together to bring down Phoenix, their mission becomes a slow-burn of trust, heart, and heat. Opposites that shouldn’t work become one, and the thrill of it kept me glued to the page. I shouldn’t be surprised anymore, but Ellie Masters just keeps raising the bar. The Cerberus world gets bigger, deeper, and I already need the next one. 🤓

[Janice Stansell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The intensity is heating up!

Oh boy! Each one of these stories gets more intense, and this was top of the line! That canyon ride was scary as hell! Levi and Sarah, who would have thought?!

[Lori Hammons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Torque and Sarah join forces to defeat Phoenix with the Cerberus team. The intensity is high, suspense off the charts. Looking forward to the next book.

[Tom Prejsner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Romance

Thank you for sharing these wonderful romance novel series books. Please keep writing more of these wonderful books. Thank you

[Nickie Sale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Torque by Ellie Masters is the 6th book in the Cerberus Personal Security series. Although each book in the series is one couples journey the back story behind the series continues so I highly suggest reading them in order. The Cerberus team continue in their battle to shut down Pheonix, a rogue AI. Sarah Vance is the Director of the National Reconnaissance Office holds one of the keys to execute a dual authentication Hard Lock on America’s satellite network. Levi “Torque” Durant is a former military pilot and one of the Cerberus team.

The battle to kill the AI system Phoenix continues. After the team fried the servers in the previous book, Phoenix was ‘injured’ but not defeated. Now it has hijacked a black site server in the Nevada desert, the home of America’s satellite network to re-build itself. Phoenix is not your average AI system – it will stop at nothing, including murder anyone who gets in its way. The only way to stop it is for Sarah to execute a hard lock on the system but that requires two keys, she has one key, the other key … she will have to convince her second in command!! After going dark for 3 days (she knows Phoenix is everywhere, ‘sees’ everything) she arrives at Cerberus HQ with evidence against her father, Senator Vance, asking for help.

The plan Cerberus hatches with Sarah is both genius and dangerous. First confuse Phoenix with a fake marriage, AI works on logic, Sarah’s ‘disappearance’ needs explanation. Then get the second key from Sarah’s second in command and execute the hard lock. But to do that, they must fly a canyon run so dangerous no other pilot will attempt it and infiltrate a fortress designed to kill intruders. Let’s not forget they only have 48hrs before it will be too late!

Sarah and Levi are complete opposites. She is precise, controlled, brilliant, emotionally locked down. Levi lives by instinct, not rules, chaos is his oxygen. She thinks in calculations, he thinks in instinct. Their marriage licence is real, their chemistry instant, he’s her chaos and she’s his control but it’s a slow burn that actually burns and is delicious. You see the emotional cracks in Sarah’s armour and Levi’s humour breaking her control whilst he becomes feral level protective, first in a partnership and then a marriage built on trust, skill, and chemistry. Then you get that small cliffy/teaser leading us into the next book – I’m soooo excited.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you've ever wondered what the future would be like with AI controlling things, Ellie Masters gives us a glimpse of what "could" be with Torque. Despite the fact that Cerberus destroyed the Chicagom server farm, Phoenix is rapidly regrouping, recalculating and expanding and phase two is implemented. Levi "Torque" Durant is a jokester, daredevil and a man also on the run,emotionally, fom his demons. When Director Sarah Vance, National Reconnaissance Office, shows up on the Cerberus doorstep the must decide if she's friend or foe. She has the means to shut Phoenix down but can't do it alone. A plan is hatched with Torque and Sarah becoming the center stage players. She's reluctant, at least outwardly and he's going to take full advantage of their situation. Somehow she brings him the quiet that's so elusive in his life. He allows her to break loose of her rigid self control and just be. With a countdown mere hours away, the team with the aid of Guardian Security launches an assault that is so suspenseful and danger filled that you'll hanging onto the edge of your seat and holding your breath until you gasp for air. What a ride!

[Karon Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this story is about Torque and Sarah (Senator Vance's daughter, eek), it is also the story of Phoenix and how the Cerberus group continues to fight this insidious AI. Although they wounded Phoenix, the AI has regrouped and has a plan to download itself worldwide. Sarah is a rule follower and has gathered what she needs to fight her father and Phoenix. Torque, on the other hand, is a fly by the seat of his pants pilot who flies dangerous situations that other pilots wouldn't even attempt. These two should be like oil and water, but at the same time they just fit. They pretend to be married in order to get to Sarah's colleague who they need to help them defeat Phoenix. I love a great marriage of convenience/forced proximity storyline and this one does not disappoint. This is a fast-paced high energy storyline that has you on the edge of your seat the entire book. Great HEA and set up for the final story in the series.

[BecReadReview · Rating 5 out of 5]

Torque is an intense clash of banter, wits, and control. Levi and Sarah are perfectly matched, constantly challenging each other—making you wonder if their control will snap or something far more complicated.

Their mission is risky starting with a touch of romance, as danger stalks them at every turn. Despite that, their chemistry continues to sizzle, even as they stay focused on saving lives and navigating unexpected emotions that pull them off balance.

It’s impossible not to love them as a couple.

The story delivers an adrenaline-fueled ride, getting increasingly intense as things turn dangerous, leading to a deadly face-off packed with unexpected twists.

The team stands strong throughout, bringing both strength and dark humor when it’s needed most.

A thrilling read that leaves you eager for what comes next.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is like the culmination of the Cerberus Personal Security. Bringing the past five stories to a crescendo. But it is getting from the surprise visit in Chapter One to the "take your breath away" missions and revelations, until the adrenaline rush in Chapter Thirty-Three, that makes this story extraordinary. And the two words that changes the lives of Torque and Sarah. Even after reading the first five stories in the series, your heart isn't ready for the action that grabs your soul and keeps you reading without a thought to those around you or the tasks you should be taking care of. Torque is not only unputdownable, but also unforgettable. And the end? Well, it had me pumping my fist in the air and yelling "YES"!

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

AI terrifies me and reading this story did nothing to allay my fears! Just when you think it is all over, Ellie Masters adds a twist no-one saw coming. I loved the dynamic between Torque and Sarah, they are a perfect match for each other and worked so well together and the canyon journey was incredible. The Phoenix logs were a great addition to the story and helped make sense of AI if that is possible . The ending leaves the reader with mixed emotions, anxiety for Lily and Thorne and all the others affected, but happiness for Torque and Sarah. Amazing read you will not be able to put down.

[Tesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had it all. Romance, suspense, drama and Betrayal.

NRO director Sarah Vance turns to the Cerebus Security team to put a stop to an AI program that get father had a hand in that well take over the world. Operative Levi Torque Durant signs on to go undercover as her husband.

The romance between Sarah and Levi starts on an unusual way. Estranged and uncomfortable at first they quickly warm to each other. I enjoyed the banter and the way Levi's sense of humour opens Sarah up.

So well done I really loved the way they were together and the banter was so fun. Amazing writing and the team spirit always works so well. Fantastic book!!

[Alison Ramsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

The concept behind the story is truly terrifying as the AI entity tries to recover its power. Sarah knows one set of codes and needs her colleague’s other set to disable the AI and to achieve this she and Levi (Torque) travel to a Vegas conference and in order to maintain a believable cover that the AI will not anticipate they marry. This is a breathtaking race against time and natural elements to get to the AI location. I liked how Sarah and Levi complement each other as they become more than the original plan.

[Carina Hales · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This book was just brilliant, I loved it.

Torque and Sarah were so different, but together they were meant to be. I loved how they accepted how each other was and both had faith in each other. Both highly brilliant at what they did.

The story was gripping and I found it hard to stop reading, I was totally invested in the book and the series as a whole. I think this has been my favourite series of Ellie’s yet, it’s so involved and fascinating.

Overall a brilliant read and I can’t wait for Thorne’s story next.

[Gerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my, what a pulse-pounding adventure. Senator Vance's daughter has half the codes to shut down the satellites and stop Phoenix from spreading and thereby trapping it in a cage. But she needs the second set of codes from her second in command. In order to do that she needs a cover story to get into the conference he's attending. The story: marry Torque as an over-the-top romantic gesture. Then the action starts and never stops. And just when you think all is well, it's not!! Wonderful. Eagerly awaiting Thorne.

[Caryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

HOLY MOLY!

What a ride! The intricacies of the plot in this book boggles the mind as has all others leading up to it in the series. This author has earned all the respect from me! Along with the fascinating story of an AI computer gone wild we have the unconventional romance of Torque and Sarah. To meet, fly to Vegas and get married is unconventional! They do it to “sell” their role but in the meantime they fall for each other.

Bravo to a great story and great new characters.

[Donna Goretski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Torque delivers a fierce, emotionally grounded punch as a powerful MMC and an equally strong MFC learn that real strength comes from trust, not control. Their bond deepens against the backdrop of AI Phoenix’s terrifying evolution — a rogue intelligence pushing toward total domination of satellites, financial systems, and global networks. High stakes, sharp tension, and a continuation that raises the bar for the entire series.

[Donna Hatridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chaos & Control
The fight against Phoenix continues when Sarah Vance shows up at Cerberus Personal Security's door.
There may be another chance to stop Phoenix, but they will have to trust her, and she will have to trust Levi "Torque" Durant. What we get is an edge-of-your-seat mission that will have you holding your breath. I also enjoyed the moments between Sarah and Levi as their romance builds. These two were made for each other. Great addition to the Cerberus Personal Security series.

[Shirley · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW !! SUCH A GREAT READ ..
I know this is an intro to Thorne being a new addition ..
but the main characters were about Torque and Sarah..
the plan to get the code from Costa is ..
I'm not sure I have words for that moment right now but,... WOW! ..

I think from time they reach Costa to the chptr where they fly thru the narrow canyon.. to the very ending ... WAS A SIT ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT READING !! WOW !
Once again and amazing read from miss Ellie Maters

[Sue Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG, what a thrilling adventure with Torque and Director Vance.
Nothing is ever straightforward when the mission involves Phoenix!
This was one very exciting story of 2 people trying to save the world.
It's great to see the team working together to get to the 'route' of the problem.
Superb storyline with wonderful characters and a great HEA.
I'm looking forward to Thorne's story next.

[Johanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish

I wish there were more information about the families of the men. I wish there was something about her mother.
I rated this book five stars anyway because I enjoyed it.
I’m definitely looking forward to the final book in this series. I’m also really skeptical about the proposed romance in the final book.

[Liz Sadowsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow Levi and Sarah’s story is non stop, page turning action from start to finish. How these two build their relationship and try to bring down Phoenix is a wonderful , can’t wait to see what happens next read! This next instalment in this series certainly doesn’t disappoint . Great read and series, can’t wait for Thorne!

[melaniepower · Rating 5 out of 5]

exciting & unexpected

Book 6 is mouth watering experience . Featuring a buttoned up powerful woman thrown into an unusual situation with a wild and unpredictable pilot. Cerberus’s unusual group of fighters if you read the earlier books in the series are all strong familiar characters working fighting together, with this incredible female.