Marked Men
new adult romance
Series · romance
Line of Duty
The Line of Duty series by Tessa Bailey has 6 known books (6 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with Protecting What's His (2013).
- Books
- 6 known books (6 novels)
- Published
- 6
- First published
- 2013
- Status
- completed
- Shelved under
- Romance
- Last checked
Start here: Protecting What's His (2013) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
Protecting What's His
Protecting What's His opened Tessa Bailey's Line of Duty series in 2013, running 250 pages as the first full-length entry before the story continued in His Risk to Take.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Protecting What's His - Book 2:
Protecting What's Theirs
Protecting What's Theirs is a short, 70-page interlude Bailey slotted in at position 1.5 of Line of Duty, published in 2014 between the series opener and His Risk to Take.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Protecting What's Theirs - Book 3:
His Risk to Take
At 140 pages, His Risk to Take is the shortest of Line of Duty's full-length installments, arriving in 2013 as the second entry, following the novella Protecting What's Theirs and preceding Officer Off Limits.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of His Risk to Take - Book 4:
Officer Off Limits
Officer Off Limits, the third Line of Duty novel, came out in 2013 at 246 pages, pairing another uniformed hero from Tessa Bailey's tight-knit circle of first responders with a sharp-tongued heroine, sitting between His Risk to Take and Asking for Trouble in the recurring friend-group structure that carries the series.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Officer Off Limits - Book 5:
Asking For Trouble
Tessa Bailey published Asking For Trouble in 2013 as the fourth book in Line of Duty, a 220-page entry bridging Officer Off Limits and the series' fifth book, Staking His Claim.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Asking For Trouble - Book 6:
Staking His Claim
Staking His Claim closed out Line of Duty in 2014 at 240 pages, the fifth and most recently published novel in Tessa Bailey's series, giving its central couple the same fully resolved, no-cliffhanger ending as every book before it.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Staking His Claim
About the Line of Duty series
Line of Duty is Tessa Bailey's first ongoing series and the one that established her signature pairing: no-nonsense, often uniformed heroes (cops, firefighters, correctional officers) matched with sharp-tongued heroines who give as good as they get. Set around a tight-knit circle of first responders and the women who refuse to be handled by them, each book is a fast, self-contained, high-heat romance built on workplace friction, protective-hero tropes, and a lot of banter before the walls come down. There's no season-long mystery or overarching villain running through the six books; instead the connective tissue is the recurring social circle -- siblings, coworkers, and friends who cameo in each other's books -- so returning characters get happy update sightings as the series goes on.
The series began with Protecting What's His in 2013 and closed out with Staking His Claim in 2014, all published in a concentrated burst that helped make Bailey's name in the newly-exploding indie/small-press romance scene. Readers who like their contemporary romance blunt, physical, and unapologetically horny -- with heroes who fall hard and fast and heroines who make them work for it -- start here.
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in the Line of Duty series?
Six: five full-length novels and one shorter 1.5-numbered novella (Protecting What's Theirs), published between 2013 and 2014.
What order should I read Line of Duty in?
Publication order, starting with Protecting What's His: Protecting What's His, Protecting What's Theirs, His Risk to Take, Officer Off Limits, Asking For Trouble, Staking His Claim.
Do I need to read Protecting What's Theirs?
No -- it's a novella-length coda to Protecting What's His and skippable, but it's short and gives that couple a fuller ending.
Is Line of Duty connected to Tessa Bailey's other series?
Not directly through shared characters, but it set the template -- blue-collar heroes, workplace-adjacent heat, a tight social circle -- that recurs across her later series like Crossing the Line and Made in Jersey.
Is Line of Duty complete?
Yes, all six entries were published in 2013-2014 and the series is complete.
If you like the Line of Duty series
Reading order last verified .