“‘Forget everything you’ve ever heard about technique. Kiss me the way you think a bad girl would and we’ll both have a much better time.’”

Sportswriter Judd Mackie has earned fame with his scathing columns. Women’s tennis pro Stevie Corbett is a favorite target of his sarcastic prose. In his view, she’s too focused on being a cute, crowd-pleaser to be taken seriously as an athlete on the court.

What Stevie’s nemesis doesn’t know is that she’s suffering a medical condition that’s all too serious and potentially ruinous to her career.

When Judd uncovers the sensational story, he recognizes it as one that comes along only once in a lifetime...but telling it would cost him the woman he now doesn’t want to live without.

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER ...

Lee Child's Jack Reacher will team up with Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan to unmask a cunning killer. Val McDermid's Tony Hill and Carol Jordan work with Peter James's Roy Grace on a very unusual murder case.

These are just some of the never-before-seen pairings in Match Up - a brand new collaboration between the world's famous crime writers. Edited be international bestseller Lee Child, this exclusive page-turning anthology promises the same thrills and chills brought to you by the previous collection, Face Off. Read on for the full list of author and character pairings:

Diana Gabaldon's Claire Randall Fraser + Steve Berry's Cotton Malone
Lisa Scottoline's Bennie Rosato + Nelson DeMille's John Corey
Sandra Brown's Lee Coburn + C.J. Box's Joe Pickett
Kathy Reichs's Temperance Brennan + Lee Child's Jack Reacher
Val McDermid's Tony Hill + Peter James's Roy Grace
Charlaine Harris's Harper Connelly + Andrew Gross's Ty Hauck
Gayle Lynds's Liz Sansborough + David Morrell's Rambo
Karin Slaughter's Jeffrey Tolliver + Michael Koryta's Lincoln Perry
Lara Adrian's Lucan Thorne + Christopher Rice
J.A. Jance's Ali Reynolds + Eric Van Lustbader's Bravo Shaw
Lisa Jackson's Regan Pescoli + John Sandford's Lucas Davenport

An original short story from iconic thriller collection Match Up, edited by Lee Child, featuring a never-before-seen pairing between bestsellers C. J. Box and Sandra Brown - along with their popular series character Joe Pickett and Lee Coburn.

Leaving his district of Saddle String, Joe lends a hand in Teton County when the local game warden needs help checking out some elk hunting camps. It doesn't take long for Joe to cross paths with Coburn, and while their initial meeting isn't exactly friendly, the two end up working together in order to stay alive once bad guys show up looking for trouble.

For more exciting short story pairings, don't miss all eleven short stories in Match Up!

I met a man, a wonderful man. He kissed me, touched me like no other man ever has. I think I’ve fallen in love. What am I going to do about it?

That’s the dilemma confronting Keely Preston upon meeting dashing Congressman Dax Devereaux. The attraction between them was like a lightning strike – hot and unexpected. But also terribly inconvenient. Keely is in Washington D.C. to appeal to a congressional committee on behalf of families of soldiers Missing In Action. Serving on that committee is Dax. Both are under close scrutiny. What has sparked between them is difficult to keep secret.

After twelve years of living in limbo, married but alone, Keely is reawakened to desire by Dax’s passion. But he also touches her heart, where she has preserved the sweet memory of her husband. One love represents her past; another her future. Will clinging to one mean having to sacrifice the other?