Book One · Available Now

The Barista

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Peyton Merritt came to Florida to disappear. Then Aidan Beckford walked through her door.

Powerful, dangerous, and impossible to ignore, Aidan belongs to a world Peyton should never touch—old money, private islands, organized crime, and family wars that do not end cleanly. When violence reaches her doorstep, Peyton is pulled into the Beckford empire and forced to decide how much she is willing to risk.

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Book Two · September 24, 2026

The Deconstruction

Kindle · Preorder Now

The Beckfords survived the first road. Now someone is dismantling the world around them.

Peyton and Aidan Beckford return in the next international thriller from AJ Phillips. The stakes are larger, the loyalties are more dangerous, and the structures hiding the truth are beginning to collapse.

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Praise for The Barista

Readers are tearing through it.

“The Barista is a seductive, fast-moving thriller…” — NewInBooks

5 STARS

“Completely pulled me in after just a few pages.”

— Amazon Reader

5 STARS

“I could NOT put it down.”

— Reader Review

5 STARS

“Finished it in 1 day!”

— Jen, Amazon

5 STARS

“For a debut novel, this was really impressive.”

— Jen, Amazon

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Book One

The Barista

Dark romantic suspense, coastal-noir atmosphere, and organized-crime thriller tension in a fast-moving story of love, loyalty, blood, and consequence.

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About AJ Phillips

AJ Phillips writes gritty, cinematic thrillers about power, loyalty, obsession, and the violence people justify in the name of family.

His debut novel, The Barista, launched the Peyton Beckford series. He is currently writing Book Two, The Deconstruction.

Official contact: aj@ajphillipsbooks.com