In politics, truth cuts sharper than any blade. Elise Hart made her name exposing corruption but her last story cost her the man she loved. Three years later, she’s back on the trail, chasing a campaign thick with secrets and smiling lies. The catch? The campaign manager is Marcus Vale the man her reporting destroyed.

Their reunion crackles with tension, every glance a battle between anger and something neither of them buried deep enough. Old loyalties clash with unfinished want. And when Elise uncovers a scandal that could bring the entire race crashing down, she faces an impossible choice: publish the truth and lose him again, or protect him and betray everything she stands for.

Power and passion have never played fair.

When the truth burns this hot, what survives the story or the heart?

***

And as part of the Collide! series, this story joins a collection of fierce rivals who discover that desire always wins when sparks collide.

When passion collides with defiance, nothing stays untouched. Collide! gathers five standalone enemies-to-lovers romances where pride clashes hard and desire cuts even harder. From wedding aisles to boardrooms, from small-town bars to arenas buzzing with pressure, each story shows just how thin the line between love and hate can be.

Tempers flare, walls crack, and every fight edges toward something neither side can walk away from. Built on sharp banter, raw tension, and heat that refuses to cool, these romances deliver high-energy battles where losing might mean falling the hardest.

Five stories. Endless sparks. One question how long can enemies resist the pull?