Mike by LJ Vickery

Mike Carlese, a lieutenant with the BPD and second in command of the Downeast SWAT team, has it all. A career he cherishes, a loving wife, and two wonderful children… Or so his colleagues and friends think. In reality, his wife walked out on him and the kids a year previous for a much younger guy, and Mike has been wallowing in self-doubt ever since. His ex-spouse’s parting shot? He was a failure as a husband, prioritizing his kids and his job over her. Which is why he’s never told his team that she left. The whole incident has left him mortified; a sour taste in his mouth over his failures. So what does it even matter if no one knows he’s single again? It’s not like he plans, or even dreams of finding another woman…until a feisty DEA agent enters his life and turns his well-ordered world upside-down.
Joelle Pikens, or Joe as she’s called, has been in Maine for months trying to uncover the players behind a fentanyl ring. While working her undercover DEA job as a server at the Local Moose—a dive bar on the outskirts of town—she overhears something nefarious that is completely outside her current job description, and she can’t ignore it. As much as her Chief of Operations has warned her not to get sidetracked—which she’s been known to do from time to time—Joe follows her instincts and looks into the plot against one Mike Carlese. What she finds is a man so intriguing, she’s ready to break cover to not only seek his help with her current assignment, but more importantly, to end her long, self-imposed dry spell.