Defending Everly (Mountain Mercenaries #5) by Susan Stoker-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 3, 2019

As tough as Everly Adams may be, the Colorado Springs SWAT officer is near a breaking point. Her fifteen-year-old half sister, Elise, has disappeared from Los Angeles without a trace, and the window to find her is closing fast. Committed to the search is Mountain Mercenary Kannon “Ball” Black. He and Everly already have a history—of rubbing each other the wrong way.

Still, Everly has to admit the man is heart-stopping. His brash alpha swagger takes her breath away. And most importantly, as a former Coast Guard first responder, Ball has what it takes to bring Elise home.

Nobody’s buying the LAPD’s “runaway” theory. And the fear that Elise is the victim of a human trafficking ring is a gut-punch that Everly and Ball can’t ignore. If only the trail were that clear cut. Because the one they’re following is more insidious and intimately dark than they could have imagined.

Now as the bond between Everly and Ball grows stronger, so does the heat. And as the stakes rise, so does the danger.

••••••••

REVIEW: DEFENDING EVERLY is the fifth instalment in Susan Stoker’s contemporary, adult MOUNTAIN MERCENARIES military, romantic suspense series focusing on a group of former soldiers and Navy SEALS who call themselves Mountain Mercenaries, headed by the mysterious ‘Rex’. This is forty year old, former Coast Guard officer Kannon ‘Ball’ Black, and thirty-four year old Colorado Springs SWAT officer Everly Adams’ story line. DEFENDING EVERLY can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous instalments is revealed where necessary.

Told from several third person perspectives including Everly and Ball DEFENDING EVERLY follows the search for Everly’s missing fifteen year old sister Elise. Elise Adams is deaf, and disappeared on her way home from her Los Angeles school for the hearing impaired, where she lived with her me-maw and pop, but not all was well in Elise’s life, and the young woman struggled for attention and love. With her sister missing, Everly Adams volunteers to work with the Colorado Mountain Mercenaries, a position that finds Everly coming face to face with a potential misogynistic partner. Enter former Coast Guard officer Kannon ‘Ball’ Black, and the man with whom Everly will fall in love. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Everly and Ball, and the potential fall-out as Everly is targeted, along with her sister, by a psychotic mind.

Kannon ‘Ball’ Black has been burned in the past, not only by a former girlfriend, but a female partner who threw our hero under the bus. With issues of trust, Ball battles between head and heart when ‘forced’ to work with SWAT police officer Everly Adams, as she desperately searches for her missing sister. Everly Adams struggles with Kannon Black’s attitude when they first met but Kannon’s need to profusely apologize finds Everly falling for the former Coast Guard officer.

The relationship between Ball and Everly is one of immediate attraction but Ball’s initial comments and reactions have raised Everly’s hackles. Our couple struggle to look past their initial introduction, a struggle that eventually finds Ball and Everly falling in love with the well-intentioned help of me-maw and pop. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

The numerous secondary and supporting characters include computer guru and Navy SEAL Hunter ’Meat’ Snow; Grayson and Allye (Defending Allye #1), Ronan and Chloe (Defending Choe #2), Archer ‘Arrow’ and Morgan (Defending Morgan #3), Lowell ‘Black’ and Harlow (Defending Harlow #4) as well as the mysterious ‘Rex, the leader and handler of the Mountain Mercenaries. We are introduced to Everly’s sister Elise, their grandparents, Allison and Landen Adams, and Detective Diego Ramirez.

DEFENDING EVERLY is a story of family and friendships; desperation and revelations; camaraderie, drama, passion and suspense. The character driven premise is intriguing and edgy; the romance is tender and hopeful ; the characters are energetic, feisty, courageous and animated. Susan Stoker pulls the reader into an impassioned and intense story of rescue and love.

Reading Order and previous reviews
Defending Allye
Defending Chloe
Defending Morgan
Defending Harlow
Defending Everly

Copy  supplied by Netgalley

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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