Breaking Loose

The Steele Street Story:

CRAZY HOT (Book 1 of 12) (2005)

Paleontologist Regan McKinney tears across the desolate West in a desperate hunt for her missing grandfather, crashing into the ghost town of Cisco, Utah—and straight into Quinn Younger, the sun-bleached ex-fighter pilot with a criminal past redeemed by her own grandfather years ago. When deadly danger roars in on her tail—terrorists hunting hot dinosaur bones—Quinn steps up as her fierce protector, repaying an old debt with high-octane chases, bullets flying, and an irresistible spark igniting amid the chaos. Engines roar, hearts race, and love burns crazy hot in this wild ride of survival and second chances.

CRAZY COOL (Book 2 of 12) (2005)

Katya “Bad Luck” Dekker returns to Denver for a glittering high-society art auction, only to have the night explode—literally—into gunfire and chaos. Thirteen years after Christian “Superman” Hawkins saved her life on prom night—and paid for it with two years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit—the ice-cool Steele Street operative steps in again. He kidnaps her for protection, and they rocket through the city in his muscle car, dodging assassins, unraveling a powerful conspiracy, and finally confronting the white-hot passion and old wounds that never faded. Fire and ice collide—crazy cool and dangerously close.

CRAZY WILD (Book 3 of 12) (2006)

Creed Rivera, haunted by his recent shadows in the Colombian jungles, stakes out prim librarian Cody Stark in a Denver library—suspecting she’s a lethal nuclear arms broker. When thugs crash the scene, the mission flips: Creed becomes her protector on a high-speed urban escape, battling terrorists, betrayal, and a conspiracy that could ignite global chaos—while forging an intense, raw bond amid gunfights, secrets, and undeniable attraction.

CRAZY KISSES (Book 4 of 12) (2006)

Nikki McKinney, the prodigious young artist with a fearless wild streak, heads to Panama City to finally close the door on the man who keeps breaking her heart—Steele Street operative Kid Chronopolous. After a brutal revenge mission in South America leaves him hunted and patched up, Kid returns to his Panama City bungalow for R&R, only to discover a familiar bikini bottom in his bathroom: hers. Their scorching, sultry nights of passion reignite instantly, but old patterns threaten to repeat—until assassins crash in, putting Nikki squarely in the crosshairs of Kid’s enemies. With a bounty on his head and killers closing in, Kid unleashes every lethal skill to save the only woman he’s ever loved, turning a goodbye into a fight for survival and a chance at something real amid betrayal, danger, and undeniable heat.

CRAZY LOVE (Book 5 of 12) (2006)

Skeeter Bang—the team’s punk-genius hacker and car customizer in Day-Glo pink and black leather—lands in the crosshairs when old enemies hunt her razor-sharp skills. Steele Street commander Dylan Hart, haunted by years of unspoken tension with the bad-girl fantasy under his command, must protect her on a high-stakes D.C. mission: infiltrate a senator’s mansion, steal a top-secret file, and bury it before chaos erupts. When a black-tie soiree explodes into bullets, duty and desire collide fast—hearts pound, passion ignites, and two guarded souls finally burn through the night amid high-tech intrigue and relentless danger.

CRAZY SWEET (Book 6 of 12) (2006)

Gillian “Red Dog” Pentycote—battle-scarred, memory-shattered survivor turned lethal hired gun—burns for revenge against the madman who stole her past and injected her with oblivion. Travis “Angel” James, the elite SDF operative who once loved her fiercely, tracks the same monster but refuses to use her as bait. When their paths collide in a storm of old flames and new threats, old enemies close in, forcing them together on a razor-edge chase from Central America’s shadows to Denver’s high-stakes showdowns. Bullets fly, scars ache, and buried passion erupts raw and urgent—two damaged warriors healing each other amid betrayal, loyalty, and a second chance that could save them both.

ON THE LOOSE (Book 7 of 12) (2007; also published as Steele Street: Loose)

Honey York-Lytton, a privileged D.C. socialite with a secret past, is blackmailed into a high-risk mission in El Salvador: retrieve a lost CIA file from a downed plane, deliver goods to a drug lord’s guerrilla camp, and rescue her missing nun sister—all in 48 hours. C. Smith Rydell, the ex-DEA SDF operative who once caught her smuggling cash and shared one unforgettable night with her, is reassigned as her reluctant bodyguard. As threats from rebels, assassins, and old enemies close in across Panama and the jungle, their charged chemistry reignites amid survival chases, betrayal, and raw passion—turning a dangerous job into a shot at redemption and real love.

CUTTING LOOSE (Book 8 of 12) (2008)

Lily Robbins, the quiet schoolteacher who once survived El Salvador’s chaos, returns to Albuquerque with a stolen macramé bracelet hiding a priceless encoded CIA file—unaware it’s made her the target of assassins and spooks. Zachary Prade, the elite operative who saved her life as drug-lord Alejandro Campos, is yanked from deep cover to retrieve the key and keep her alive. But when the past crashes into the present, old sparks ignite into raw, urgent passion. Hunted across New Mexico highways in his roaring 1968 Shelby Mustang Cobra, they race toward safety, lies unraveling, trust hanging by a thread, and two guarded souls discovering that the most dangerous thing isn’t the killers on their tail—it’s the fire they never quite escaped.

LOOSE AND EASY (Book 9 of 12) (2008)

Esmee Alden, sharp-witted con artist with underworld ties, dives into a high-stakes art-recovery job to settle her father’s debt—retrieving a stolen WWII painting from ruthless thieves. Johnny Ramos, the battle-hardened Special Ops soldier nursing a long-buried high school crush on her, shadows her in disguise and ends up as her reluctant partner. Sparks fly fast as they weave through Denver’s shadows, pulling clever cons, dodging dangerous players, and racing against bullets and betrayal. Heat simmers, trust builds, and old feelings roar back to life in a wild ride of chases, chemistry, and moral gray zones.

BREAKING LOOSE (Book 10 of 12) (2008)

Suzi Toussi, the stunning art dealer turned secret government weapon, dives into Paraguay’s lawless border city to snatch back the legendary Memphis Sphinx—an ancient relic with whispers of otherworldly power. But Dax Killian, the rugged ex-special ops agent with his own agenda, is already closing in on the same prize. What starts as fierce rivalry in the shadows of Ciudad del Este erupts into a reluctant alliance when assassins close the net. Amid high-speed chases, black-market double-crosses, and the pulse of danger, their sharp edges clash—and then catch fire—turning enemies into lovers in a sin-soaked, adrenaline-fueled adventure where trust is the rarest treasure of all.

LOOSE ENDS (Book 11 of 12) (2009)

J.T. Chronopolous (alias Conroy Farrel), presumed dead and returned with amnesia, gets drawn into a final reckoning involving international threats and unresolved vendettas. Paired with Jane Linden, the story ties up lingering threads with high-octane action, betrayals, and hard-won resolutions.

CRAZY HEARTS (Book 12 of 12) (2020)

In the long-awaited finale, the core team confronts a massive, multi-layered threat that tests every alliance and skill they’ve built. Amid global stakes, personal crises, and explosive finales, old favorites find closure, new bonds form, and the Steele Street legacy roars to a close with signature speed and passion.

The Series:

The Steele Street series by Tara Janzen (Glenna McReynolds’ pseudonym) follows the high-octane exploits of a tight-knit crew of elite operatives based out of a custom-car garage called Steele Street in Denver, Colorado. These guys—mostly reformed juvenile delinquents, car thieves, and street-smart bad boys turned Special Defense Force (SDF) agents—handle black-ops missions for the U.S. government, taking on terrorists, international threats, stolen tech, and shadowy conspiracies with fast cars, firepower, and unbreakable loyalty. Led by the enigmatic Dylan Hart and featuring a rotating cast of alpha heroes (like Creed Rivera, Kid Chronopolous, Travis James, and others), the series blends pulse-pounding action, high-stakes chases (often in souped-up muscle cars), global intrigue, and steamy, passionate romance that develops amid danger and banter. Over the 12 books (from Crazy Hot in 2005 to Crazy Hearts in 2020), the overarching arc tracks the team’s evolution from ragtag Denver crew to one of America’s most elite covert units, while individual stories resolve personal demons, rekindle old flames, and confront escalating enemies—culminating in massive threats that test every bond and skill they’ve built.

It’s escapist romantic suspense at its most fun and over-the-top: think explosive car culture, military-grade ops, witty dialogue, and couples who fall hard while dodging bullets and bad guys. The early “Crazy” books introduce the core team and Denver roots, while later “Loose” titles expand the scope with more international flair and wrap up lingering vendettas, making the whole run feel like one long, adrenaline-fueled ride with heart.