Absolutely amazing and captivating story between Rafe and Shelby. This book is a mix between a second chance romance and an enemies to lovers story that will grab you and refuse to let go. Rafe is a cop just trying to bring down criminals and help kids on the verge of making bad life decisions. He has been through a horrific childhood and on a daily basis those memories haunt him. Shelby is a Hospice nurse who loves her job and just wants to live her life as peacefully as possible. Her twin brother Ezra, however definitely keeps her on her toes and since he was arrested and put in jail years ago Ezra holds a deep seated loathing for Rafe. Shelby always feels like she needs to keep an eye on Ezra because his life choices are not always the best. Ten years ago the three of them were thick as thieves and stayed friends after graduating high school. A terrible decision was made between Rafe and Ezra to commit a crime. Rafe had a last minute emergency come up and he couldn't go with Ezra; however Ezra was going to go through with the plan and in order for him not to be killed Rafe decides the best course of action is to throw Ezra under the bus to the police. Now all that lasts between the three is a deep seated hate for each other. Shelby accidentally runs into Rafe in her own apartment building and can't believe she has to live so close to him. Things start to heat up when the chemistry and circumstances keep pulling them back towards each other. Both Rafe and Shelby have their own sketchy plans that involve each of them to get close to the other but it completely starts to backfire when the feelings start to turn real between them. Scenes heat up to molten levels and the fire between the two is burning bright when all hell breaks loose and Shelby realizes she needs space from both Rafe and her brother. The book ends with a fantastic HEA and a beautiful future for the two to look forward to. This story was extremely riveting and hard to stop once I started it. I received an ARC of Defiant for an honest review.