JUSTICE FOR ERIN (Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes #9) by Susan Stoker-Review Tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 14, 2017

Part-time bartender Erin Gardner is friendly to everyone who bellies up to her bar, including the local law enforcement and firefighters who keep her city safe. That’s where she meets game warden Conor Paxton, a regular who she asks to join a canoeing trip she’s leading for her university day job. When the trip leads to something more, Erin couldn’t be happier.

Conor adores Erin, more than enough to help her continue to get over lingering self-esteem issues from her childhood. He’s thrilled he’s found someone who enjoys spending time in nature as much as he does.

Just when the couple thinks they’re on their way to a happily ever after, Erin finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. But there’s no way she’ll just lay down and die. She’s woman enough to save herself—and lead her man to her when she’s done.

** Justice for Erin is the 9th book in the Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes Series. Each book is a stand-alone, with no cliff-hanger endings.

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REVIEW: JUSTICE FOR ERIN is the ninth instalment in Susan Stoker’s contemporary, adult BADGE OF HONOR: TEXAS HEROES romantic suspense series. This is thirty five year old Texas game warden Conor Paxton, and university kinesiology professor/part time bar tender Erin Gardner’s story line. JUSTICE FOR ERIN can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Conor and Erin) JUSTICE FOR ERIN focuses on the slow building relationship between Texas game warden Conor Paxton, and university professor Erin Gardner. Conor couldn’t believe it when the woman who has starred in all of his fantasies extends an invitation for a weekend canoe trip-a trip our heroine is leading as part of her university day job. Impressed with Erin’s knowledge of canoeing, camping and white water rafting Conor believes he has found the woman that calls to his heart but a woman who also has issues of low self esteem including those of abandonment and negative physical appearance. What ensues is the building romance and love between Conor and Erin, and the potential fall out when our heroine is targeted, on a camping trip, by an unknown source.

Erin Gardner is a thirty five year old virgin who has struggled with weight problems most of her life. Abandoned by her father, and emotionally abused by her mother, Erin’s lack of confidence and problems with body dysmorphia is the major theme running throughout the current story line. Conor Paxton is the personification of perfection and patience as it pertains to his growing love and relationship with our story line heroine- a patience that is required to break down the walls of innocence and self-deprecation that Erin uses to protect her mind and her heart from further breakdown and damage.

The relationship between Conor and Erin is very slow to build as Conor takes his time with the seduction of our story line heroine. Having met Erin at The Sloppy Cow where she works part time as a bartender, Conor’s immediate attraction is visceral and intense. Knowing the demons from her past are in a constant state of flux and revelation, Conor refuses to push Erin beyond that which he believes she is capable of doing. The $ex scenes are intimate, educational and passionate (without the use of sexually graphic language and text) as Conor ‘guides’ Erin towards their happily ever after.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including several of the previous story line couples, Conor’s parents Pauline and John Paxton, his sisters Karen and Mary, and their significant others, as well as a number of university students and bar patrons who come in and out of our couple’s lives. The requisite evil is sick and twisted but in the end gets what he so righteously deserves.

JUSTICE FOR ERIN is an emotional story of romance, friendship and love. As I have said before, all of Susan Stoker’s heroines have some issues that prevent the character from grabbing life by the horns and enjoying the ride, and Erin Gardner is no different, in fact, many readers will see themselves in our story line heroine-a woman who struggles with her weight and food, deep emotional and physical scars, and a lack of confidence in both her appearance and ability to love and be loved. The premise is captivating; the romance is sweet but I did struggled with our hero’s ‘good guy persona’ – everything was about pleasing Erin and taking his time with no regard for his own personal satisfaction-ever –the believability factor was questionable but sweet.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author, Susan Stoker has a heart as big as the state of Texas where she lives, but this all-American girl has also spent the last fourteen years living in Missouri, California, Colorado, and Indiana. She’s married to a retired Army man who now gets to follow her around the country.

She debuted her first series in 2014 and quickly followed that up with the SEAL of Protection Series, which solidified her love of writing and creating stories readers can get lost in.

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