Hard Deck

He lost his wings. She taught him how to fly.

Major Liam Sterling was the Navy’s golden boy. A Top Gun instructor with an ego to match his airspeed, he lived for the jet, the speed, and the precision of the intercept. Then one split-second mistake sent him crashing down.

Grounded, disgraced, and pending a board of inquiry, Liam is exiled to the last place on earth he wants to be: Ruby Gorge, Australia.

His mission? survive six months flying rusted-out taildraggers for a failing bush aviation company in the middle of the unforgiving Outback. No radar. No flight computer. No rules.

Katherine "Kath" Mercer doesn’t have time for the Navy’s rejects. She’s too busy trying to keep her father’s legacy from going bankrupt. She needs a pilot who can handle a wrench and a crosswind, not a hotshot in a flight suit who treats her hangar like a penalty box.

Liam is everything she hates: arrogant, reckless, and dangerously attractive. Kath is everything he doesn’t understand: stubborn, intuitive, and maddeningly competent.

Stuck together in a cockpit the size of a closet and living in quarters separated by a single thin wall, the heat between them rises faster than the desert mercury.

But out here, the terrain is deadly, and the weather doesn’t forgive mistakes. When a massive storm front threatens the valley and a rescue mission goes wrong, Liam faces the ultimate test.

He has to choose between the career he spent a lifetime building… or the woman who taught him that the Hard Deck isn't a limit to avoid—it's the foundation of a life worth living.

HARD DECK is a high-octane, slow-burn contemporary romance featuring a grumpy fighter pilot, a fierce bush pilot, and forced proximity in the searing heat of the Australian Outback. Perfect for fans of military romance, competence porn, and enemies-to-lovers with high stakes.

TROPES & THEMES:
✈️ Enemies to Lovers: From shouting matches on the tarmac to breathless nights in the hangar.
✈️ Forced Proximity: One cockpit. One bunkhouse. No escape.
✈️ Military Hero: A disgraced officer seeking redemption.
✈️ Competence Porn: Two elite pilots at the top of their game.
✈️ Grumpy x Grumpy: Two stubborn hearts colliding.
✈️ The Australian Outback: Heat, red dust, and isolation.

"The plane talks to you, Hazard. You just have to shut up long enough to listen."