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Rescuing Sadie (Delta Force Heroes 7.5/ Masters and Mercenaries Cross Over) by Susan Stoker-Review & Excerpt Tour

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RESCUING SADIE (Delta Force Heroes 7.5 / Masters and Mercenaries Cross Over) by Susan Stoker-Review and Excerpt Tour

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About the book: Release Date April 10, 2018

Sadie Jennings was used to being protected. As the niece of Sean Taggart, and the receptionist at McKay-Taggart Group, she was constantly surrounded by Alpha men more than capable, and willing, to lay down their life for her. But when she learns about a friend in trouble, she doesn’t hesitate to leave town without a word to her uncle to help. After several harrowing weeks, her friend is now safe, but the repercussions of her rash act linger on.

Chase Jackson, no stranger to dangerous situations as a captain in the US Army, has volunteered himself as Sadie’s bodyguard. He fell head over heels for the beautiful woman the first time he laid eyes on her. With a Delta Force team at his back, he reassures the Taggart’s that Sadie will be safe. But when her past catches up with her, Chase has to use everything he’s learned over his career to keep his promise…and to keep Sadie alive long enough to officially make her his.

••••••••

REVIEW: RESCUING SADIE is instalment 7.5 in Susan Stoker’s contemporary, adult DELTA FORCE HEROES romantic, suspense series, and crosses over with Lexi Blake’s Master and Mercenaries series. RESCUING SADIE is also part of the multi-authored 1001 Dark Nights anthology series. This is twenty-seven year old US Army captain Chase Jackson, and twenty-five year old McKay-Taggart receptionist Sadie Jenning’s story line. We were first introduced to Sadie and Chase in Justice for Milena (Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes by Susan Stoker). Sadie is Sean Taggart’s niece-Ian and Sean Taggart can be found in Lexi Blake’s Masters and Mercenaries series.

SOME BACKGROUND: Working at the Bexar County School and Orphanage for Girls, Milena Reinhardt (Justice for Milena) and Sadie Jennings found themselves captive and imprisoned by proprietors Jeremiah and Jonathan Jones- a father and son duo, pedophiles h*ll bent on spawning their own harem of useful children. Milena and Sadie were rescued but Jeremiah and Jonathan escaped into the unknown.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Sadie and Chase) RESCUING SADIE focuses on the continuing protection of Sadie Jennings-a young woman who is being stalked by a sexual deviant. Sadie, the niece of security specialist Sean Taggart, is taken into protective custody where her safety and security is overseen by former members of the US military. Enter US Army Captain Chase Jackson, and the man with whom Sadie will fall in love. What ensues is the quick building relationship between Chase and Sadie, and struggle to stay one step ahead of a psychopath determined to make Sadie his own.

RESCUING SADIE is an action-packed, edgy, suspenseful and energetic story as Sadie’s safety and lives of the men and women of the Delta Force heroes are threatened by a sadistic mind. Jonathan Jones is desperate to reacquire Sadie for his twisted plans, and will stop at nothing to reclaim Sadie as his own.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including a number of previous story line couples introduced in the authors Delta Force Heroes including Fletcher, Emily and their precocious daughter Annie. Chase Jackson will soon discover that he is no longer the lone survivor of a mission that went all to h*ll; and Fletcher’s compound is not as secure as he had hoped it to be.

The relationship between Chase and Sadie is one of immediate attraction. Chase knows Sadie is his happily ever after, and claims ‘ownership’ of the woman within days of her rescue but Sadie refuses to become of the McKay-Taggart’s overprotected clients. The $ex scenes are limited but passionate and intense.

RESCUING SADIE is a quick read; a novella length story line that sees another Delta Force Hero rescuing the woman that he loves. The premise is thrilling and engaging; the romance is intimate; the characters are spirited, sassy and animated.

Copy supplied for review

Revewied by Sandy

Sadie faced the man in front of her without trepidation.
Sean Taggart might know twenty ways to kill without making a sound thanks to his time as a Green Beret, but to her, he was just Uncle Sean. She’d only known him for six years, ever since Aunt Grace got married, but he’d always supported her no matter what she wanted to do and treated her and her aunt Grace like princesses.
Not this time.
“Uncle Sean, this is ridiculous.”
Sean crossed his arms, giving her what she knew was his “displeased” face. Brows drawn, lips pressed together, eyes narrowed. “It’s not and you know it.”
“Why can’t I just go back up to Dallas with you?”
Her uncle sighed. They’d been over this before, but Sadie couldn’t let it go.
“Because Jonathan is still missing. Captain Jackson said he’d continue to look after you until he’s caught.”
Sadie shook her head. “But if I came home, you could keep me safe.”
Sean looked down at her with love in his eyes. His voice gentled. “I could, you’re right. But I think we both know that you wouldn’t like my kind of protection. Or Ian’s. Or anyone else we could find.”
She knew what he meant without him coming right out and saying it. Sean was overprotective. As was Ian, and probably most of the other men who worked for McKay-Taggart. She could handle their overprotectiveness and bossiness…but only to a point. If she had to endure it twenty-four seven, it could damage their relationship. And that was the last thing she wanted.
“I can go stay with Milena’s parents again,” Sadie volunteered almost desperately. Maybe she’d even make it in time for Milena’s surprise engagement party. She might not want to become one of McKay-Taggart’s overprotected clients, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to be in close quarters with Chase Jackson anymore either.
From the second she’d laid eyes on the man, she’d wanted him. It was as if her body had said, This is it. This is the man I want.
Unfortunately, he’d been in the middle of rescuing her from a crazed, perverted pedophile at the time, and now she was afraid he felt responsible for her, rather than wanting her back.

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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Sit, Stay, Love by Debbie Burns – Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

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Sit, Stay, Love by Debbie Burns – Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

 

Sit, Stay, Love
Rescue Me series – Book #2
by Debbie Burns
Release Date: April 3, 2018

Amazon / B&N / Kobo / BAM / iBooks / Book Depository

 

Description:
These dogs aren’t the only ones in need of rescue

For devoted no-kill shelter worker Kelsey Sutton, rehabbing a group of rescue dogs is a welcome challenge. Working with a sexy ex-military dog handler who needs some TLC himself? That’s a different story.

Kurt Crawford keeps his heart locked away from everyone. Well, everyone except the dogs who need his help…and always have his back. But as Kurt gets to know the compassionate, beautiful woman he’s been assigned to work with, he can’t help but feel a little puppy love…

 

 

Review:

Sit, Stay, Love by Debbie Burns is the second book in her wonderful Rescue Me series. I loved this story, as it was a wonderful heartwarming story about an animal shelter, rescue dogs and a sweet romance.

Kelsey Sutton, our heroine, devotes her time to working at the local animal shelter.  When a raid has rescued a lot of dogs who were brutally used for dog fighting, Kelsey’s boss, Megan sends her take a look at the dogs, and picks about 15 for the shelter to help in rehabbing the dogs.  The plan is to bring these dogs to a mansion that was left to the shelter in a will, which was to feed and take care of the deceased lady’s cat, Mr. Longtail.

Kelsey upon picking the dogs she felt would be good to stay in the mansion, notices an ex-marine, who is friends with the man in charge of finding places for the rescued dogs.  Kelsey immediately finds herself attracted to him, but brushes it off, since she will never see him again.

Kurt Crawford, our hero, is an ex marine with PSTD, who was also a dog handler both in Afghanistan and for Rob, the man in charge.  Kurt notices the pretty Kelsey, but he walks away, until he discovers that this might be the perfect job for him.

Once the dogs start to arrive, Kelsey is shocked to learn that Kurt will be one working with her to rehab the dogs.  Kurt, considered a dog whisperer, knows how to handle these types of dogs that need the extra and careful protection.  Both Kelsey and Kurt cannot deny their attraction, but they both are devoted to taking care of the dogs, and a slow built romance will begin.  Their romance was destined to heal both Kelsey (her lack of confidence in finding someone to love her), and Kurt (who did not think he could get past his past and nightmares); this romance was a background of the main story, but was beautiful and very well done. 

I loved Mr. Longtail, a maine coon cat, who was aloof when Kelsey would come to feed him twice a day; but when Kurt began to live there full time, the cat became very affectionate, and was a good companion to some of the dogs.  We also got to meet in more detail some of the dogs, which was not only heart wrenching, but was so emotional when they slowly began to feel free and happy.  Frankie, Devil, Pepper, Zeus, as well as the shelter dog, Corzi was wonderful to see them thrive.  There were a few tears along the way, especially when one of the dogs came face to face with his former owner before he was forced into dog fighting.  Very emotional.    I loved Frankie, who bonded with Kurt and along with Mr. Longtail, went a long way to heal Kurt.

Debbie Burns gives us another wonderful, sweet, heartwarming story that kept us hooked until the very end.  Sit, Stay, Love was a beautiful story, as we fell in love with the dogs we spent time with and watched as they helped them to recover and live normal happy lives.  Kurt and Kelsey’s romance was pure and sweet, and blended so well into the story.  If you love animals, with a romance in the background, you need to read this book.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

 

 

 

“It had been years since Kurt had felt genuine peace slip over him after the sun sank below the horizon and stars studded the sky. In Afghanistan and in the jungles of Honduras, he’d rarely been able to relax, even on nights when he was tucked in a bunk and crowded with the sounds and smells of other marines and a handful of dogs not far away. He hadn’t expected to be able to do so here either.
But the calm cradled his skin despite the surprise that accompanied it.
Standing under the stars, Kurt set his beer on the table and headed into the screened-in half of the porch. The pregnant Rottweiler let out a whine as he approached. Kelsey had taken her outside an hour or so before after making sure she ate a plentiful dinner.
Kurt hooked a leash onto the dog’s collar and led her around the yard long enough to ensure she was calm and obedient, then asked her to sit on command before letting her off leash. Once free from its confines, the Rott—Pepper, as Kelsey was calling her—gave her massive head a shake and trotted off into the yard. Kurt headed back onto the porch for his beer.
Taking a swig of beer, Kurt eyed the silhouette of an owl standing watch on an exposed branch of an enormous oak tree at the back of the yard. If Kurt hadn’t been outside when it let out a series of soft, low hoots, he wouldn’t have known the owl was there. It seemed to be watching the dog sniff around the dark yard as if it had come across an interloper in its nightly hunting spot.
A cool, gentle breeze swept over Kurt’s skin. He was thankful to no longer be living in sweltering lands. The dry oven that was the desert, and the wet, stifling tropics. He wondered how long it would be before he forgot the sensation of the heat rising off the desert sand late at the night as if he were holding his hand over a radiator. Or standing guard in the jungle at night, listening to the howler monkeys crossing the tree canopy while he scoped openings in the thick tropical forest for insurgents. One night he’d spotted a small, wild ocelot hunting at the edge of the base. About the size of a slender coyote, it had unusually large eyes and a sleek coat with spots and stripes.
As he was thinking about it, a very different feline stalked into view. Mr. Longtail. Who knew where the unusual cat had been this evening, but he was headed confidently toward the Rott, in full view of the owl. The enormous Maine coon was too big to ever end up dinner to an owl, but Kurt wasn’t so sure about the off-leash Rott. Setting down his beer, he whistled confidently.
Pepper—the name was sticking even though naming these dogs would create unnecessary emotional attachment—pricked up her ears and looked his way.
“Come here, girl,” Kurt called, half holding his breath as the cat trotted directly into the dog’s path. Like earlier this afternoon, Pepper didn’t disappoint. She dropped into a play bow and woofed. Mr. Longtail stopped mid-step as the hair along his back and tail stood out stick straight. As if he’d had no idea a dog was capable of such a baritone woof. Pepper didn’t seem to notice. She sniffed the cat all over, nudging his hind end off the ground with her strong head.
Kurt emptied his pocket of treats for her. Mr. Longtail followed, walking underneath her, straight to Kurt’s legs to rub against his jeans. The cat meowed, and Kurt was surprised to hear a deep, thrumming purr radiating from his chest.
After getting Pepper back in her kennel, Kurt headed into the kitchen, Mr. Longtail following. He fed the cat and helped himself to a slice of cold pizza. He considered hunting down a notebook and pen and making a to-do list of all the items bouncing around his head, but even if he could find a pen and a notebook, he doubted he’d get halfway through writing the list before becoming distracted. Experience had proven he could tackle projects of almost any size, but he couldn’t make a list to save himself. So instead, he dove into repairs of the Sabrina Raven estate the way he did everything else—focusing on whatever came to the front of his thoughts.
He sorted through a bulky metal toolbox for all the flooring nails he could find. “Come on, cat,” Kurt said to the watchful Mr. Longtail. He slipped the nails into his pocket and fisted the hammer, heading out of the kitchen. “You and I could likely use each other’s company. Let’s see if I can get those stairs to be a bit less of a hazard so I can make it up to one of those old feather beds you’ve been sleeping on.”
With a twitch of his tail, the cat followed him out of the kitchen, and Kurt suspected he was on the way to making an unlikely friend.

 


Debbie Burns lives in St. Louis with her family, two phenomenal rescue dogs, and a somewhat tetchy Maine coon cat who everyone loves anyway. Her hobbies include hiking, gardening, and daydreaming, which, of course, always leads to new story ideas.

Find Debbie Online:

Website: http://www.authordebbieburns.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authordebbieburns

Twitter: https://twitter.com/_debbieburns

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16200547.Debbie_Burns

 

 

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Running the Risk by Lea Griffith – Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

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Running the Risk by Lea Griffith – Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

 

Running the Risk
Endgame Ops series – Book #2
by Lea Griffith
Release Date: April 3, 2018

Amazon / B&N / Kobo / BAM / iBooks/ Book Depository

 

Description:
Survival is crucial.
Trust is optional.
Love is unstoppable.

Jude Dagan’s life as he knew it ended a year ago. On a mission gone wrong, he was forced to watch as Ella Banning, the only woman he’s ever loved, was killed. Or so he thought.

Jude wasn’t the only one who lost something on the day Ella was presumed dead. She sacrificed Endgame Ops, the love of her life, and parts of herself she can never get back. Now she’s determined to take down the world’s most dangerous terrorist–even if it means working for him.
When Jude and Ella are reunited, they’ll battle the lies Ella has been forced to tell…and struggle to save a love that knows no bounds.

 

 

Review:

Running the Risk by Lea Griffith is the 2nd book in her Endgame Ops series. I really enjoyed the first book in this series, and was happy that Running the Risk was equally as good or even better. 

Jude Dagan, a member of Endgame Ops team, has not gotten over the death of the love of his life, Ella, a year ago.  When he investigates some rumors of an Ella sighting, Jude ignores his team and is determined to track her down. 

Ella Banning, our heroine, who was assumed dead, is now working for the enemy, Horace Dresden.  When she sees Jude from afar, she does everything in her power to run away and keep her distance.  Ella has become a powerful assistant to Dresden, and is now considered a traitor, but Jude cannot walk away.  He still loves Ella, and wants to find out the truth, even if he feels she has betrayed them all.  But is Ella really a traitor?  They (Endgame Ops) left her and others for dead, leaving them at the mercy of Dresden and his evil mercenaries.  Ella was tortured, and broken by one of Dresden’s men, and she slowly became his powerful dangerous assistant, handling their associates.  What Jude doesn’t know is that Ella is actually protecting him, since Dresden holds that over her head…if she doesn’t do what he asks for, he will have Jude killed and Dresden always gets what he wants.

When Jude finally catches up with Ella, she tries to explain that she too has her own mission, besides saving his life.  When the founder of the Endgame forces Jude to stay away from Ella, Jude knows that something more is going on.   He will convince his teammates about getting Ella, and learning what Piper (Endgame founder) is hiding.

What follows is a very exciting action packed adventure that will also bring some surprises, as well as conspiracies.  When Jude and the team capture Ella, they will need to learn to trust each other, in order to get the main target..Horace Dresden.  Something that is almost impossible, with his ties throughout the world, not to mention possible political betrayals.

Slowly Ella will earn their trust, despite her determination to go back to where Dresden is hiding to rescue another woman held captive.  The team realizes that they were also at fault for leaving her, and two others for dead; allowing them to be captured and tortured.  These revelations will bring them all together to fight the enemy. 

The romance between Ella and Jude was sizzling, as they had great chemistry. Their love for each other was all consuming that even with the terrible things that have separated them,  their love has never faltered.   Despite his anger at what he assumes to be her betrayal at not coming to him earlier, his love of Ella was so strong, he could not let her go, as in time he would forgive her.  

I loved Ella’s strength, perseverance and ability to fight off anyone who threatens her.  She survived the worst, and still wants to save the woman held captive and also kill Dresden.  She earns her former teams trust, and together they will all go to try to destroy the enemy, as well as find out the truths of who is behind what has been happening.

The final half of the book was intense with so many lives in danger.  Just when you think they were safe, the danger escalates with both Ella & Jude’s life questionable.  The exciting climax had me holding my breath to see who will survive.  Lea Griffith has done it again with a fantastic suspenseful storyline, wonderful great couple, awesome secondary characters and an edge of your seat thriller.  I suggest you read this series, and start with the first book, Flash of Fury.
Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

 

When her man slept, he slept like the dead. She smiled ruefully. Not that they’d ever done much sleeping. A sharp pang hit her heart. He wasn’t hers anymore, was he? She drew in a deep breath, hoping to find the calm center that had served her so well the last year. Now wasn’t the time to deal with what she’d left behind. She had to keep him safe in the here and now so she could hopefully explain everything to him when the time was right.
She’d taken down the remaining four attackers and then the Piper had helped her relocate Jude to another safe house on the outskirts of Sarajevo. This one belonged to longtime Endgame associate, Adam Babic.
Ella had to make sure Jude was okay before she took off. Adam would handle Jude’s safety until he woke. The Piper was doing his best to find out who had sent the two teams of killers after her. Ella thought it could be any number of people though she ruled out Segorski pretty quick. He wanted her alive and it was clear by the shock and awe method of attack that they’d been there to eliminate their target, not capture.
An insidious thought crept in. Maybe they hadn’t come for her at all. Maybe the two teams of assassins had followed the Piper. Ella acknowledged the chill bumps breaking out on her skin. Fear was a fine emotion. It kept you sharp. But Ella hadn’t been born to this life like Jude had. She’d been molded and the fear was her friend and foe. She had to work to overcome it.
If they’d followed the Piper that meant someone was on to him. He had suspected for a while that someone higher up even than he in the Presidential administration had been gunning for him. They’d started by trying to take out Endgame. It wasn’t common knowledge that Noah Caine, aka, the Piper, had created a private spec ops entity, but it wasn’t exactly buried six feet deep either. On paper, they provided logistical support and security for private contractors rebuilding countries like Afghanistan and Iraq. It was unspoken but understood that they delved into the gray whenever they needed to. Whose feet had the Piper stepped on? Or was it just Dresden?
Ella needed to have a little sit-down with the Piper. It really was time he came clean on some things.
There was also the fact that if they hadn’t been after the Piper, they’d been after her. If that was the case, she needed to find out who it was and fast.
She rested her head on the bed beside Jude’s arm. She was so damn tired.
“He’s got to stop.” One of the men who’d cost her damn near everything had entered the room. Ella sighed soundlessly.
“He’ll never stop. I told you this and you said you could handle him, keep him busy on missions that wouldn’t get him killed and keep him far away from Dresden,” she reminded the Piper. She stopped for a moment and really looked at him. Maybe she’d get to ask him one day why they called him Piper. “You look really tired, old man.”
He snorted before rubbing his eyes. “I am old. Too old for this shit.”
Ella shrugged. “You set the board and now moves are being made. This was what it was all about,” she bit out.
Piper nodded. “I did my best but the bastard just keeps coming, doesn’t he?” There was a rueful note in his voice as he disregarded her comment.
“Yeah,” she returned. “He does.”
She raised her head and stared at Jude. His eyes remained closed but she felt his attention. He was awake. Ella stood then and moved away from the bed. Jude’s eyes opened immediately, the black of his gaze snaring her, refusing to let her leave completely.
Always it was Jude. In every dream, in every breath, it was always Jude.
She watched him, noticing the exact instant he realized he was strapped to the bed. He tugged on each arm once and relaxed. Or at least he appeared to relax. With Jude that was never a true reality. He was at all times ready for anything.
“Take them off,” he demanded in a deep voice. His gaze never left hers.
She opened her mouth—to say what she didn’t know—but the Piper beat her to it. “No.”
Jude continued to stare at Ella. “Take them off or when I get free I’ll make you both pay.”
There was so much in his gaze. Questions, pain, rage—it was a tangle of emotion that traveled the air between them. And Ella was in no position to give him the answers or assurances he needed from her. Had needed for over a year now.
“Jude—” she began.
“I don’t deal with traitors,” he bit out.
Oh, that hurt. Cut bone deep and left her bleeding inside.
“No one has asked you to, son,” the Piper said, his voice now low and carrying a hint of frustration. “Then again, no one here is a traitor.”
The skin over Jude’s cheekbones went ruddy. Ella had really only seen them do that when he buried inside her so it was unique that she was seeing it now, and for an entirely different emotion. He was furious. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about that.
Jude’s gaze finally shifted to the creator of Endgame Ops. “Take off the restraints.”
The Piper shook his head and stopped beside the bed. “No. There is work to be done and while I would love nothing more than to release you, we appear to have different objectives. Ella Banning has a mission to complete, and you, Keeper, have to return to your team. If I let you out of the restraints, you’ll take her and I know what you’re apparently blind to—she’ll go with you, willingly, if it means you stay safe. And it will destroy any chance we have of finding out who is pulling Horace Dresden’s strings.”
Jude sat abruptly, reclining one second, upright the next. The chains attached to the leather cuffs on his arms and legs jangled against the metal framework of the bed he was on. The sound was strident and Ella winced. The Piper shifted to his right. Her back snapped straight and she reached for the weapon in her side holster, snapping the strap holding it in place.
Jude’s head rotated and once again she was pinned under his night-sky gaze. “You gonna shoot me, Ella-Bella?”
Her breath left her in a rush. He doubted her and it—hurt. She would never shoot Jude. But she’d earned his doubt and would have to carry it with her when she left. The Piper’s head swiveled in her direction and his pupils dilated. He lowered the hand that had been reaching for his weapon and took a small step back from Jude.
“I wouldn’t shoot him,” the Piper said wearily.
“I wouldn’t let you,” she responded, making sure her voice didn’t waver but conveyed her intent.
”

 

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Dog and Bitch Island (Ben Blackshaw #5) by Robert Blake Whitehill-Review and Interview

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DOG AND BITCH ISLAND (Ben Blackshaw #5) by Robert Blake Whitehill-Review and Interview

 

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 1, 2018

Ben Blackshaw’s old friend Travis Cynter is dead. Cynter was Blackshaw’s comrade-in-arms in the U.S. Navy SEALs. He was killed in full tactical gear during a black-ops mission on American soil. FBI Agents Molly Wilde and Pershing Lowry try to draw Blackshaw into helping them solve Cynter’s murder. The agents need Blackshaw because the case landed in their laps from an American intelligence agency with overseas interests. From two previous cases, these Feds have come to appreciate how Blackshaw can work in the shadows, off the books, and be easily disavowed should his investigations implode.

Blackshaw is torn. He has a longstanding mistrust of doing any kind of clandestine work for government intelligence agencies. In fact, when patriotism has led him to do the right thing in the past, usually against his better judgement and instincts, his friends and loved ones have suffered; many have died. Helping Wilde and Lowry always comes at too great a cost. This unhappy history weighs heavily against Blackshaw’s profound desire to solve the mystery of Travis Cynter’s death. Should he serve with patriotic duty to an ideal that might not exist, or act with honor to clear the name of his murdered friend?

Against the wishes of LuAnna, Blackshaw’s expectant wife, and contrary to the grim and hard-won advice of his friend Knocker Ellis Hogan, Blackshaw reluctantly launches the investigation with a close study of the murder scene on Dog Bitch Island near Ocean City, Maryland. The trio finds the exact spot where Travis Cynter died. It is LuAnna who discovers a clue which spins the team into a deadly transatlantic chase; she quickly learns that the Feds have not told them the whole truth about Cynter’s final mission.

Thanks to Ellis’s wisdom and wealth, and LuAnna’s independent deductive logic, Blackshaw operates like a small covert agency unto himself. Along the way, he tangles with an old enemy, discovers an unfinished SEAL mission, and cuts out rot at the highest levels of government, including a scandal that could rally terrorists the world over. And it is all controlled by the iron hand of a shadowy syndicate called Faction.

••••••••••

REVIEW: DOG AND BITCH ISLAND is the fifth installment in Robert Blake Whitehill’s contemporary, adult BEN BLACKSHAW military suspense series focusing on continuing adventures and investigations of retired Navy SEAL Ben Blackshaw. DOG AND BITCH ISLAND can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

Told from several third person perspectives including Ben Blackshaw and his wife former Natural Resources Police officer LuAnna Blackshaw DOG AND BITCH ISLAND follows Ben, LuAnna, and their friend, former business partner and Vietnam veteran Knocker Ellis Hogan as they hunt for the person who killed one of their own- Lieutenant Travis Cynter had been killed; a classified and covert mission focusing on the retrieval of an unknown package; and Ben Blackshaw was now the target of an FBI investigation that will take our hero from Smith Island to Bermuda as he searches for the truth.

DOG AND BITCH ISLAND is a fast paced, action packed, infinitely detailed story of intrigue, corruption, and the hunt for a killer. The political machine and the power elite are part a multi-faceted tool that controls the who and what of a mix of information that is revealed to the world- a world that is completely unaware of the backroom, and war room decisions that govern our lives and the lives of the people in the news. The allure of power, and the battle for control attract the wannabes and has-beens in a story that could be ripped from the headlines in a world at war. Robert Blake Whitehill’s DOG AND BITCH ISLAND is a thrilling, clever and intelligent tale of one man’s unique vision of right and wrong.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Deadrise
Nitro Express
Tap Rack Bang
Geronimo Hotshot
Dog and Bitch Island

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

TRC:  Hi Robert and welcome back to The Reading Café.

Robert: Hi Sandy! It’s a genuine pleasure to visit with you again. Your support putting readers together with authors and their books is so important.

TRC: For anyone who does not know you, please tell us something about yourself?

Robert: For a while, I was bucking the family tradition of writing (my father, Joseph Whitehill, was a novelist, and my mom, Cecily Sharp-Whitehill is a poet and editor) by studying acting. But memorizing roles, and even just working with great monologues, always brought me back to the power of the written word and how I enjoy writing them rather than only interpreting them. I love writing tight, pithy, sayable dialogue. I’ve written for true crime shows on Discovery, like The New Detectives, and screenplays.

Writing a novel was the suggestion of a good friend. It took the poor guy two years of nagging to get me started. I worked for eight years off and on to craft Deadrise, the first title in the Ben Blackshaw series. Of course I was researching the story’s location on the Chesapeake and on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, even though I grew up there. I needed to see it afresh with an author’s eye, even the Chesapeake Bay islands, including Smith Island. During that time, I was looking at the big picture of the series, plotting later books that would follow Deadrise, which include Nitro Express, Tap Rack Bang, Geronimo Hotshot, and now, Dog & Bitch Island.

TRC: How did publishing your first book change your writing process?

Robert: Deadrise came out in 2012, and it was life-altering in so many ways. First of all, with thanks to reviewers like you, Sandy, I started meeting the Blackshaw readers, who up until then had been a dream.   I mentioned I took eight years to shape the Blackshaw series and the first book. Now I really had to step it up, and create one book per year, which is the usual output for an author crafting a popular fiction series.

The prospect of that workload was terrifying, but I had already taken the time to lay important groundwork that would serve the entire series. In order to keep up with the new demands of press interviews, readings, signings, I needed a highly structured work-week to make sure I could have a new book ready for publication a year later. Thank goodness, after all the research and preparation, I was able to bring out Nitro Express on time.

TRC: Would you please tell us something about your new release DOG & BITCH ISLAND?

Robert: In Dog & Bitch Island, the FBI calls upon Ben Blackshaw to assist in solving the murder of Lt. Travis Cynter, Blackshaw’s buddy from the Navy SEALs. Cynter died in full assault gear, but on the eponymous island near Ocean City, Maryland, which is very odd, since SEALs are always deployed overseas. Blackshaw reluctantly agrees to help the FBI, I think because Cynter is a little like Blackshaw himself, an independent operator working outside the system; Cynter went rogue. Blackshaw, himself a maverick, is the best guy to help figure out what happened. What’s fun about this fifth Blackshaw book is that LuAnna, Blackshaw’s wife who’s expecting their first baby, comes along to help with the investigation. Her insights are crucial to completing the mission. Of course, Blackshaw’s old friend Knocker Ellis Hogan is also right there with him start-to-finish.

TRC: What direction do you plan for the Ben Blackshaw Series?

Robert: The direction for the Blackshaw series is both outward and inward. It’s an outward direction, in that Blackshaw, though from a small Chesapeake island community, will continue to fight to right wrongs that affect us all, especially the weak, throughout the world.

The series direction is also inward; I want to deepen the relationships between Blackshaw, his wife LuAnna, and his friend Ellis. I want to learn more about Blackshaw’s relationship as a grown man with his parents, both of whom abandoned caring for him when he was a teenager. They’re still alive, and they drop into the stories from time to time. There is still a lot to explore there. And what is Blackshaw’s relationship with his half-sister Annie Vo, and her wife? Relationships, and the emotional truths that surround, support, and infect them, are so important to the evolving arc of the Blackshaw series.

TRC: What type of research/plotting do you do, and how long do you spend researching /plotting before beginning a book?

Robert: I pull my plot cores from world events, local news, anything where the downtrodden need Blackshaw’s helping or his avenging hand. The Southern Poverty Law Center is a constant source of news about righteous fights on behalf the disadvantaged. And Project Censored always dives deep into news stories that might not be telegenic enough for CNN or Fox News.

Though the series starts in the Chesapeake Bay environs, there are far flung locations that require travel to research. When I can’t do that, I take extra time on the internet to get to know every aspect of a place.

That said, I don’t have a set research phase in the writing of a book. It’s always ongoing, and guided by plot turns and twists. I might study the plot core before starting the book, but I do so much more research between writing one line and the next while the work is in progress.

TRC: How often do real-life events influence your story lines and, ultimately the direction of your books and series?

Robert: Real-life events, both on grand and deeply personal scales, lie at the heart of the Blackshaw series. As an author, I have to be able to empathize, sympathize, or at the very least identify with every aspect of a book, every character, action, every line of narration, and every line of dialogue, or I can’t keep it. If it doesn’t move me, it won’t move a reader. That’s where my absorption with news media feeds the engine. Who needs help? Who needs avenging? Who has been forgotten? When I find the victims and the survivors, I quickly meet their oppressors. And then the oppressors quickly meet Blackshaw. And that’s all it takes to seed a Blackshaw story.

TRC: What has been your hardest scene –ever-to write?

Robert: In the main, I love writing, and letting moments emerge from my subconscious that shock even me. In Deadrise, LuAnna was badly and terribly injured. I asked myself, how could I do such a thing to such a wonderful, sterling character? However disturbing they are, I know I have to keep moments like those.

I suffered awfully once again when writing Tap Rack Bang. There were a number of scenes in which young children were in danger, and suffering in complete and bewildering terror. I remember being so afraid and alone at times as a child, so I had to relive those memories writing those scenes. I suppose having a vivid recollection aids me in writing these scenes as truthfully as possible. Blackshaw readers will be the ultimate judges of this.

TRC: Do you believe the cover image plays a deciding factor for many readers in the process of selecting a book or new series to read?

Robert: I absolutely believe a book cover plays an important role in helping a book or series find its audience. There was a time I worked as a pitch man, and the most important lesson I was taught to make a sale was put the item in the buyer’s hand. As soon prospect took hold of the product I was selling, it wasn’t mine anymore. The prospect immediately began to feel as though the item was theirs. Since I can’t be present whenever and wherever readers are looking for exciting new books, or a great new series, the book covers have to stand in for me. I’m always trying to imagine what kind of cover will make someone want to pick the book up at a store, or buy it on line.

I pitch my initial idea to the cover artist, and then we work through to the most intriguing image possible. I’ve worked with graphic artists like Carol Castelluccio at www.Studio042.com to create several exciting covers. Buffalo Gouge (https://www.facebook.com/buffalo.gouge) did amazing work on Geronimo Hotshot and Dog & Bitch Island. Betty Horne Fowler (https://www.facebook.com/betty.fowler) provided a totally haunting photograph for the cover of Tap Rack Bang. My covers are not standardized. They run the gamut in style, color palette, and original media. They are eclectic because my taste is eclectic; I never can tell which style of cover is going to draw a reader to a Blackshaw book for the first time.

TRC: How do you select the names of your characters?

Robert: No one’s asked me that before, Sandy! I sit through the end credits of movies, and text myself any names that are real grabbers. It might be a first name. It might be a last name. It might be a name that I change, but it’s inspired by a gaffer or a make-up artist, or a stunt double. I hate vanilla names. I really prefer names that are evocative, and that reveal something of the nature of the character. There you have it. Movie credits!

TRC: Do you listen to music while writing? If so, does the style of music influence the storyline direction? Characters?

Robert: I need serious quiet when I’m writing. Music just carries me away. I start listening, and stop writing. My father listened to classical music when he was writing. I can’t handle it. I don’t know how he did it. Music drowns out the voices of the characters rattling around my skull.

TRC: What do you believe is the biggest misconception people have about authors? About yourself?

Robert: Some readers might think writers are bookish loners, and introverts. I like being with other people, but only for short bursts.  Then I need some quiet time to charge the batteries. What folks might not know is that authors have to generate new work all the time, but after that first book comes out, they also must think and act like entrepreneurs, planning and executing marketing strategies, thinking about covers, making appearances at readings and signings. It goes from being a quiet life to an insanely busy life very quickly.

Thank goodness on the screenwriting side of things, I work with Liza Moore, who is an amazing producer in addition to being a manager with a strong guiding vision. On the book side, I am lucking to have amazing interns, like Erin Blake and Haylee Berry, and formerly, Heather Bailey. They free me up so much designing the Blackshaw travel app (available in the App store for Apple and Android as a guide to visit Smith Island where the series is set), and handling social media for me in such imaginative and creative ways. In return, the interns and I collaborate on Blackshaw short stories that are published at the end of the novels. Karl Guthrie is an amazing attorney who sees to it that I don’t make any mistakes with contract negotiations. An active author really needs a supportive team as soon as possible.

TRC: What are your thoughts on e-books vs paper? Traditional vs Independent publishing?

Robert: I sell mostly ebooks, but I make sure an attractive paperback edition is also available for those who prefer print books. The paperbacks are also important if you ever want to do signings in brick-and-mortar bookstores.

When it comes to the question of legacy vs. independent publishing, I guess I’m a hybrid case, Sandy. For English language Blackshaw books, I still believe in independent publishing for both the ebooks and paperbacks as I said. But the German publisher, Luzifer-Verlag bought the German language rights in a legacy, or traditional agreement structured in the usual way, with advances followed by royalties. They purchased the rights to the first four Blackshaw books all in a bundle like that. I’m happy to break the tremendous news here that Luzifer-Verlag have just agreed to purchase Dog & Bitch Island as well, for release in 2019. I am so fortunate to be associated with such a terrific publishing company. Their translations are excellent, the covers are mind-blowing, and their marketing team is quite creatively aggressive. It boils down to which style of publishing offers the greatest creative freedom for the greatest financial opportunity. Every situation is different. One no longer has to handle publishing in just one way.

TRC: What is something that few, if anybody, knows about you?

Robert: Very few folks know that one of my former gigs was as a bridge tender on the Old Severn River Bridge outside Annapolis, Maryland. I had twelve and twenty-four hour shifts, opening the bridge now and then for passing boats. I could get pizza delivered at any time, the view was spectacular both up- and downriver, and it was a tremendous private office for a writer.

TRC: On what are you currently working?

Robert: At the moment, I’m working on the screenplay adaptation of Tap Rack Bang, the third book in the Ben Blackshaw series. After that is complete, I’ll continue with Blackshaw Book 6, entitled simply, Blast.

TRC: Would you like to add anything else?

Robert: As ever, I would like to thank the Ben Blackshaw readers for all their support and encouragement for the series. I must also thank them for their patience awaiting Dog & Bitch Island. Other writing commitments prevented my bringing this new book out as quickly as I would have wished. I truly hope readers will share their enjoyment of Blackshaw with their friends and family.

I welcome emails directly from Blackshaw readers at rbw@robertblakewhitehill.com anytime, and try to reply as promptly as possible. You can sign up for newsletters, or follow Blackshaw and me at:

www.robertblakewhitehill.com

@rbwhitehill

https://www.facebook.com/rbwhitehill/

Free Blackshaw Travel App for Visiting or Learning About Smith Island

Apple
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/blackshaw/id1159429726?mt=8

Android
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.app.swjrtgkuqrpveflmnzzipuvdiafxybkndwygscmqlbo&hl=en

TRC: Thank you Robert for taking the time to answer our questions.

Robert: Your questions teach me about Blackshaw and his world, and about myself as an author.

TRC: Congratulations on the release of Dog & Bitch Island.

Robert: And thank you Sandy. You are such a terrific advocate for readers and authors alike.

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Rescuing Casey (Delta Force Heroes #7) by Susan Stoker-Review & Excerpt Tour

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RESCUING CASEY (Delta Force Heroes #7) by Susan Stoker-Review and Excerpt tour

Rescuing Casey Banner

RESCUING CASEY
Delta Force Heroes #7
by Susan Stoker
Release Date: January 16, 2018
Genre: adult,contemporary, romantic, military, suspense

Rescuing Casey

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.UK / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / iBooks /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 16, 2018

One minute Casey Shea was minding her own business, doing her job, teaching entomology to college students, and the next she was in the middle of the Costa Rican jungle fighting for her life.

Troy “Beatle” Lennon had watched his friends fall head over heels in love, but never thought it would happen to him. Until he sees a picture of one of his teammates’ sisters. That was it. The absolute joy in her eyes calls to him in a way he can’t understand.

But that joy is currently being threatened by an unknown person who’d had Casey kidnapped and hidden deep in the jungle. It’s up to Beatle to find her and keep her safe until the threat against her can be neutralized. Surviving the dangers of the jungle turns out to be the easy part…staying ahead of the killer is much more complicated…and deadly.

**Rescuing Casey is the 7th book in the Delta Force Heroes Series. Each book is a stand-alone, with no cliffhanger endings.

•••••••••••••

REVIEW: RESCUING CASEY is the seventh installment in Susan Stoker’s contemporary, adult DELTA FORCE HEROES military, romantic, suspense series. This is Delta Force team member Troy ‘Beatle’ Lennon, and entomology professor Casey Shea’s story line. RESCUING CASEY can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

Told from three third person perspectives including Beatle and Casey RESCUING CASEY follows the Delta Force Team as they go in search of one of their own. Casey Shea, a professor of entomology, has taken three of her students on a field excursion to the jungles of Costa Rica only to find themselves abducted and imprisoned with no reason as to the who or why. Separated from the others Casey Shea will be forced underground with little hope of survival until her brother’s Delta Force Team comes swooping in to her rescue. Enter Troy ‘ Beatle’ Lennon, Delta Force Team member, and the man with whom Casey will fall in love. What ensues is the long trek to freedom through the Costa Rican jungle, and the hunt for the person(s) responsible for targeting our story line heroine.

Casey Shea specializes in bugs and Costa Rica is ripe for the picking but everything goes horribly wrong when the four young women are kidnapped and captured by an unknown foe. Rescued by Delta Force Team members including her brother Aspen ‘Blade’ Shea, Casey along with Beatle and Truck find themselves looking over their shoulders for incoming threats as they forage through the jungle on their way to safety. An independent and strong female heroine Casey is the perfect foil for our story line hero. Beatle Lennon knows immediately that protecting Casey is his number one priority but our heroine is battling one too many issues including starvation, dehydration and the possibility of any number of potential jungle-born ailments.

The relationship between Casey and Beatle is one of immediate attraction. Beatle goes into the mission with two objectives: rescuing Casey Shea, and claiming her for his own. The sexual energy is palpable ; the $ex scenes are limited but passionate.

We are reintroduced to the Delta Force Team including Truck, Coach, Ghost, Hollywood, Fletch and Blade. Casey’s arrival back to civilization will culminate with her integration into the circle of Delta Force lovers and wives.

RESCUING CASEY will fascinate and captivate your attention from the outset but I have so many questions about the circumstances surrounding how one female professor, and three young, college age women are left to their own devices in the Costa Rican jungle. As well, the Costa Rican’s government refusal to help, and the revelation of the person responsible is completely out of the realm of possibilities and reality that I struggled with the believability on so many levels.

RESCUING CASEY is a story of family, friendship, bonds and love. The premise is creative; the romance is loving and sweet; the characters are colorful and charismatic. Put reality on hold as your venture forth into the Costa Rican jungle and the world of the Delta Force soldiers.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

excerpt

Casey sucked the scant moisture from the underside of her bra desperately. The half swallow of liquid she’d collected since the last time she’d checked her makeshift filter wasn’t enough. Wasn’t nearly enough.
She was dying. She could live without food for a long time, but not without water. The irony of it was that she stood ankle deep in liquid, but none of it drinkable.
Water had trickled into her prison fairly regularly at first. She’d heard it dripping down the wall. Always coming from the same place. She’d been cautious as first, not sure she should risk drinking the liquid leaking into the hole she was in. But when no one appeared to give her sustenance like they’d been doing when she was in the hut with her students, she’d made the filter with her bra.
It had worked surprisingly well. She managed to wedge it into the side of the hole and catch the water with the cup. She’d then licked the filtered water as it had seeped through the material of the bra. It wasn’t exactly clean, but at least she didn’t have to lick the mud off the walls.
But recently her water source had dried up. Casey had no concept of time in the darkness of her prison, but assumed it had been several days. Whereas before the water had been a fairly steady stream, now it was barely a trickle.
She’d spoken with her brother once about a time he’d been held hostage in the desert in the Middle East. He hadn’t been held long, thank God, but he’d told her about how helpless he’d felt, and how miserable the conditions were, though at no time had he allowed himself to believe he would die there. That had been the key to him overcoming the horrific circumstances, and the torture his captors had put him and his team through. He’d stressed that over and over. That mental toughness was the best thing she could use to help herself.
But Casey wasn’t that strong.
She almost thought that torture and rape would’ve been better than this.
Being buried alive and slowly dying of lack of water.
She could drink the putrid mess at her feet, but it would do her more harm than good, give her diarrhea, thus making her lose more liquid from inside her body, not to mention having to stand in the mess.
She hadn’t had to pee in quite a while, which she knew wasn’t a good sign. She was getting just enough water through her bra filter to keep her alive, but she’d begun to think she might as well stop trying.
Casey blinked, trying in vain to see any kind of light, without success. Pulling her feet up out of the brackish water at the bottom of the hole, she grabbed hold of them with her arms. Laying her head on her bent knees, she closed her eyes. Maybe she could fall asleep and just not wake up.
She was tired. So tired.
Aspen wasn’t coming for her. She had to stop kidding herself. She hadn’t heard any kind of noise above her head in what seemed like forever, not since the gunshots. She was in the middle of a jungle in Costa Rica. Buried deep in the ground in a tomb. No one was ever going to find her.

About the Author Black and Green

Susan StokerNew 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.

Follow: / Website / Twitter / Goodreads / Facebook / Newsletter Sign Up

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Code of Honor by Tonya Burrows – a Review

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Code of Honor by Tonya Burrows – a Review

Code of HonorAmazon / B&N / Kobo / BAM

Description
Jesse Warrick used to consider himself a kickass medic, but a teammate’s brush with death has him questioning everything. Now he’s been promoted to field commander of HORNET. How can he lead when he can’t get his shit together? And how can he focus when the sexy new recruit makes him want to break the rules?

Lanie Delcambre can’t seem to find solid footing within the elite hostage rescue team. Worse, the man she’s loved for most of her life is now her boss. She’d kill to act on the chemistry between her and Jesse, but she can’t risk ruining her career.

It was only supposed to be a training mission. No live ammo, no hostages, and no real bad guys—only someone didn’t give the bad guys that memo. When their hotel is taken hostage with half of HORNET inside, Jesse and Lanie are the team’s only hope of escaping alive

 

Review

Code of Honor by Tonya Burrows is a Hornet Novel. If you don’t know, Hornet is the name of the organization of mercenary operations taken on by this group. This is a good organization of heroes with military or enforcement service who take on operations. This is Jesse Warrick and Elena (Lanie) Delcambre’s story.

Author Burrows has written an excellent novel of adventure, danger, and reluctant romance. It’s well written with great fight scenes and conversations.

This wonderful group is as interesting as it is diverse. Most are heroic, if somewhat or sometimes dysfunctional. They do a serious and very dangerous job and often costs more than mere money can pay them to do.

You need to read the story to get the scoop on all the great characters and their relationships. They are interesting and very complicated. I don’t like to do spoilers but I will give you the gist and the setup of the beginning.

Jesse and Lanie were teenage friends with a lot of connection. A bit young for true love, but maybe not. However, Jesse managed to marry and have a son, then a divorce or two or four? Anyway, it’s been a lot of years and mileage, but Lanie has just come back into his life by training with Hornet.

Jesse’s at a very confusing and bad spot in his life. After years of getting it together, his ex-wife has sent his teenage son to life with him, basically because she doesn’t want to deal with him any longer. The son, Connor, thinks his dad doesn’t love or want him there. That’s not true, but he also knows his mom doesn’t want him around her ‘new’ family (a correct assumption).

Jesse wants Lanie with an almost uncontrollable need; she wants him pretty much the same way, but they’re fighting it with all they have. Neither thinks they’re right for marriage or love.

But things being what they are, they’re off to a training exercise with some recruits and some of the injured and older members of the team leading the way. Jesse allows his son to participate, after all, it’s only training. After the training, they’re headed for time in the sun as a reward.

Then all hell breaks loose at the resort. And I do mean hell…

It’s exciting, interesting, well-written and if you like military adventure and romance, this book’s a must read. I personally, am looking forward to many more of this author’s works. Yes, I’m now a fan!

It’s a relatively quick read and certainly hard to put down, so don’t!

Reviewed by Georgianna

Copy provided by Publisher

 

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Wild Justice (Delta Force #3) by M.L. Buchman-Review & Excerpt

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WILD JUSTICE (Delta Force #3) by M.L. Buchman-Review & Excerpt

Wild Justice

Amazon ebook / Amazon.paper / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo /

About the book:
Release Date: ebook October 17, 2017 / Paper release July 2017

DELTA FORCE
The best counter-terrorism force on the planet.

SERGEANT DUANE JENKINS
• Elite Delta operator—explosives just make him grin •

AGENT SOFIA FORTEZA
• Top Intel Analyst for The Activity—thinks data is sexy•

The team must face their toughest mission yet: take down a massive human-trafficking ring and a corrupt Venezuelan spy agency—without leaving a trace.

Sofia and Duane.
In common: black sheep of extremely wealthy families, renegades against the status quo.
Differences: tactician vs. explosives expert, thinker vs. pure warrior.

Together: fight to keep their team alive, and their love.

•••••••••••

REVIEW: WILD JUSTICE is the third installment in M.L. Buchman’ contemporary, adult DELTA FORCE military, romance series focusing on an elite group of men and women known as the Delta Force. This is ‘The Activity’ Intel Analyst and helicopter pilot Agent Sofia Forteza, and Elite Delta Operator Sergeant Duane Jenkins story line. WILD JUSTICE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from previous story line is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Duane and Sofia) WILD JUSTICE focuses on the latest assignments of the Delta Force team known as ‘The Unit’, including the take down of a child trafficking ring in the seedy underbelly of Caracas, Venezuela. WILD JUSTICE takes the Team from the Venezuelan jungles to the vineyards of Oregon and back as newest Delta Force Team member Sofia Forteza finds a place she hopes to call home. What ensues is the building relationship between Elite Delta Operator Sergeant Duane Jenkins, and The Activity Intel Analyst Sofia Forteza, and the planning, setup and destruction of one of Venezuela’s hottest illegal commodities-child trafficking.

The world building focuses on the set up and take down of the evil that preys on the innocent and the young; the elite team of The Delta Force unit; and the camaraderie and friendships that continue to grow within the team. There is plenty of banter and light-hearted humor interspersed amongst a story line that focuses on the world’s most prevalent evil. Throughout the story, our heroine struggles with her family back home in Oregon-a family that borders on the psychotic with delusions of power and greed. A visit will bring everything into perspective including her relationship with our story line hero.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including Kyle and Carla (Target Engaged #1), Richie and Melissa (Heart Strike #2) as well as The Unit’s resident sniper Chad, CIA operative Fred Smith, and Colonel Michael Gibson. Like all of M.L. Buchman’s military, romance stories and series WILD JUSTICE is awash in technical jargon, military lingo and acronyms, luscious visuals, and heart stopping action. The requisite evil has many faces but no one person in particular.

WILD JUSTICE is a comprehensive, smartly written and exciting story line. The premise is engaging and entertaining; the characters are real, honorable and inspiring; the romance is sensual and passionate, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text. M.L. Buchman’s writes an intense series focusing on the elite members of the US military and its’ secret organizations.

Reading Order and previous reviews (NOTE: there are a number of short stories not included in the reading order)
Target Engaged
Heart Strike
Wild Justice

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

excerpt

Excerpt courtesy of ML Buchman

The low hill, shadowed by banana and mango trees in the twilight of the late afternoon sun above the Venezuelan jungle, overlooked the heavily guarded camp a half-mile away. But that wasn’t his immediate problem.

Right now, it took everything Duane Jenkins could do to ignore the stinging sweat dripping into his eyes. Any unwarranted motion or sound might attract his target’s attention before he was in position.

From two meters away, he whispered harshly.

“Who the hell are you, sister? And how did you get here?”

“Holy crap!”

He couldn’t help but smile. What kind of woman said crap when unexpectedly facing a sniper rifle at point blank range?

“Not your sister,” she gained points for a quick recovery. “Now get that rifle out of my face, Jarhead.”

Ouch! That was low. He wasn’t some damned, swamp-tromping Marine. Not even ex-Marine. He was ex-75th Rangers of the US Army, now two years in Delta Force. And as an operator for The Unit—as Delta called themselves—that made him far superior to any other soldier no matter what the dudes in SEAL Team 6 thought about it. That also didn’t explain who he’d just found here in the perfect sniper position overlooking General Raul Estevan Aguado’s encampment.

It had taken him over fifteen hours to scout out this one perfect gap between the too-damn-tall trees that made up this sweaty place and, with just twenty meters to go, he’d spotted her heavily camouflaged form lying among the leaves. It had taken him another half hour to cover that distance without drawing her attention.

Where was a cold can of Coke when a guy needed one? This place was worse than Atlanta in the summer. The red earth had been driven so deep into his pores from crawling over the ground that he wondered if his skin color was permanently changed to rust red.

Why did evil bastards like Aguado have to come from such places?

More immediate problem, dude. Stay focused.

The woman’s American English was accentless, sounding flat to his Southern ear. Probably from the Pacific Northwest or some other strange part of the country. But there was a thin overlay that matched her Latinate features—full-lipped with dark eyebrows and darker eyes, which was about all he could tell through her camo paint. The slight Spanish lilt shifted her to intriguingly exotic.

But she wasn’t supposed to be here. No one was.

“Keeping you in my sights until I get some answers, ma’am,” Duane kept his HK MSG90 A2 rifle aimed right at the bridge of her nose—a straight-through spine cutter if he had to take her down. It would be serious overkill, as the weapon was rated to lethal past eight hundred meters and they were whispering at each other from less than two meters apart. With the silencer, his weapon would be even quieter than their whispers, but he hadn’t spent the last sixteen hours crawling into position to have her death cry give him away. If she so much as squawked as she went down, every goddamn bird in the jungle would light off, giving away his presence.

She sighed and nodded toward her own rifle that rested on the ground in front of her.

He shifted his focus—though not his aim—then let out a very low whistle of appreciation. A G28. Even his team hadn’t gotten their hands on the latest entry into the US Army’s sniper arsenal yet. Not quite the same accuracy as his own weapon but six inches shorter, several pounds lighter, and far more flexible to configure. A whole generational leap forward. Richie, his team’s tech, would be geeking out right about now. The fact that he wasn’t here to see it almost made Duane smile.

“A Heckler & Koch G28. What’s your point, sister?” He drawled it out for Richie’s sake, who’d be listening in on Duane’s radio. Then the implications sunk in. If his Delta Force team couldn’t get these yet, then who could? Whatever else this woman was, she would be tied to one of the three US Special Mission Units: Delta, SEAL Team 6, or the combat controllers of the Air Force’s 24th STS.

Or The Activity.

That fit.

The Intelligence Support Activity served the other three Special Mission Units. If she was with The Activity…that was seriously hot. It meant she was both one of the top intel specialists anywhere and a lethal fighter. And that meant that she’d been the one to put out the call that had brought him here. That at least answered why she was in his spot. It also said a lot that she hadn’t taken any of several easier-to-reach locations that were almost as good.

“It is about time you caught a clue. Welcome to the conversation.” She picked up her rifle as if his wasn’t still aimed at her. Very chill. “You are being a little dense there, soldier.” At least she got the branch of the military right this time.

“Hey, they don’t call me ‘The Rock’ for nothing, darlin’,” Duane lowered his barrel until it was pointed into the dirt. “They actually call me that becau—”

The moment his weapon was down, he suddenly was staring down the dark hole of the G28’s silencer.

“Uh…”

“The Rock certainly isn’t because you are a towering black movie star. It must be for your thick head.”

Duane swallowed carefully, unable to shift his focus away from the barrel of her weapon to see if the safety was on or not.

“He spells his name differently. He’s Dwayne ‘The Rock’ with a w and a y. I’m more normal, D-u-a-n-e T-h-e R-o-c-k.” He made it sing-song just like the theme song from The All-New Mickey Mouse Club that he’d been hooked on as a little kid.

“M-o-u-s-e,” she gave the appropriate response.

He couldn’t help laughing, quietly, despite their positions—him still staring down the barrel of her weapon—because discovering Mickey Mouse in common in the heart of the Venezuelan jungle was just too funny.

“Normal is not what I need here,” the woman sighed and there was the distinct click of her reengaging the safety on her rifle.

“Only thing normal about me is my name, ma’am.” Always good to “ma’am” a woman with a sniper rifle pointed at your face.

“Prove it,” she turned her weapon once more toward the camp half a kilometer away through the trees. Her motions were appropriately slow to not draw attention. However, it was too even a motion. A sniper learned to never break the pulses of nature’s rhythm. She might be some hotshot intel agent—because The Activity absolutely rocked almost everything they did—but she still wasn’t Delta, who rocked it all.

Duane breathed out slowly and spent the next couple minutes easing the last two meters toward her. Having the camp in view meant that one of their spotters could see them as well, if the bad guys were damned lucky. He and the woman both wore ghillie suits—that’s why he’d gotten so close before he spotted her. The suits were made of open-weave cloth liberally decorated with leaves and twigs so that the two of them looked like little more than a patch of the jungle floor. He’d dragged his on backcountry jungle roads for twenty miles to make sure he smelled like the jungle as well. Having a jaguar trounce his ass wouldn’t exactly brighten up his day.

Even their rifles were well camouflaged except for either end of the spotting scopes and the very tips of the barrels. If he hadn’t recently been lusting over the new specs, he wouldn’t have recognized her HK G28 at all in its disguise.

Getting into position as a sniper took a patience that only the most highly trained could achieve. A female sniper? That was a rare find indeed. The two women on his Delta team were damned fine shooters, but he and Chad were the snipers of the crew. A female sniper from The Activity? This just kept getting better and better. He’d pay a fair wage to know what she really looked like beneath the ghillie and all that face paint.

“Maybe you and I should go to the party as a couple.” At long last he lay beside her, close enough that he would have felt her body heat if not for the smothering sauna of his ghillie suit.

“What party? And we’re never going to be a couple.”

“Halloween. It’s only a couple weeks off. We could sneak in and nobody would see us in our ghillies. People would wonder why the punch bowls were mysteriously draining.”

“And why the apples were bobbing on their own,” she sounded disgusted. “What I want is—”

“Let’s see what y’all are up to down there,” he cut her off, just for the fun of it, and focused his rifle scope on the camp below. He was a little disappointed when there was no immediate comeback, though there was a low muttering in Spanish that he couldn’t quite catch but cheered his soul.

The general’s camp was a simple affair in several ways. The enclosure was a few hundred meters across. An old-school fence of wooden stakes driven into the ground, each a small tree trunk three meters high with sharpened points upward. Not that the points mattered, because there razor wire was looped along the top. Guard shacks every hundred meters—four total. The towers straddled the fence. Not a good idea. The structure should have been entirely behind the wall to protect it from attack. Unless…

“You got a name, darling?” Lying beside her, Duane could tell that she was shorter than he was. Her hands were fine, but her body was hidden by the ghillie so he couldn’t read anything more about her looks.

“Yes, I have a name.”

“That’s nice. Always good to have yourself one of those,”

about the author

Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads/ Website

ML BuchmanM. L. Buchman has over 25 novels in print. His military romantic suspense books have been named Barnes & Noble and NPR “Top 5 of the year” and Booklist “Top 10 of the Year.” In addition to romance, he also writes thrillers, fantasy, and science fiction.

In among his career as a corporate project manager he has: rebuilt and single-handed a fifty-foot sailboat, both flown and jumped out of airplanes, designed and built two houses, and bicycled solo around the world.

He is now making his living full-time as a writer, living on the Oregon Coast with his beloved wife. He is constantly amazed at what you can do with a degree in Geophysics. You may keep up with his writing at www.mlbuchman.com.

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Rescuing Bryn (Delta Force Heroes #6) by Susan Stoker-Review and Excerpt Tour

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RESCUING BRYN (Delta Force Heroes #6) by Susan Stoker-Review and Excerpt Tour

Rescuing Bryn

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 10,2017

When you’re a Delta Force soldier, you see a lot. Often too much. But nothing can ever prepare you to see your entire team die before your eyes…

The loss of his Delta brothers—and his arm—has Dane “Fish” Munroe still struggling months later. He’s moved to Idaho, where an isolated lifestyle is making things worse, not better. Not that there’s anyone left to care.

Actually, Bryn Hartwell cares. In fact, she tries to surreptitiously make life just a little easier for the mysterious man who comes into the grocery where she works late at night, only to get a tongue lashing for her trouble. Still, he’s obviously hurting; someone has to worry about him, spurring Bryn to nurse Dane when he hits a particularly low point.

Intrigued by the quirky, kind, socially awkward woman, Dane allows himself to get close to someone for the first time in ages. A potentially epic mistake—because when her interest in the prepper lifestyle puts Bryn in the hands of a homegrown terrorist, losing her could put Dane’s mental recovery permanently out of reach.

But once a Delta, always a Delta. And there’s a team in Texas who are ready to have Dane’s back at a moment’s notice.

**Rescuing Bryn is the 6th book in the Delta Force Heroes Series. Each book is a stand-alone, with no cliffhanger endings.

••••••••••••

REVIEW: RESCUING BRYN is the sixth installment in Susan Stoker’s contemporary, adult DELTA FORCE HEROES military, romantic, suspense series. This is Delta Force veteran Dane ‘Fish’ Munroe, and Bryn Hartwell’s story line. RESCUING BRYN can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary. Many of the previous story line couples and characters cross-over for cohesion and familiarity.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Bryn and Dane) RESCUING BRYN follows the building relationship between Bryn Hartwell, and Dane Munroe. Like most of Susan’s heroines, Bryn Hartwell has issues that prevent her from moving forward. Bryn has Asperger’s Syndrome- a subtype of Autism-and in this our heroine struggles with societal norms including the propensity to blurt out UBIs (useless bits of information) and ramble incessantly in both normal and awkward situations. Working the night shift at the local grocery store, Bryn discovers a man she believes is a kindred spirit in Dane Munroe, a wounded war veteran whose late night excursions find our heroine ‘keeping watch’ over the man that seemingly calls to her heart until the night Dane lets loose on an unsuspecting Bryn. Several days will pass before Bryn will, once again, cross paths with Dane Munroe-a drunk Dane who does not recognize our story line heroine. What ensues is the building relationship between our leading couple, and a potentially threatening situation when Bryn’s curiosity pulls her in a dangerous direction.

Bryn Hartwell is a genius with Asperger’s tendencies. By the time she was sixteen years old, she had earned two undergraduate degrees, a graduate degree in physics, and had started on her PhD but our heroine’s lack of common sense is oft times a threat to her own safety. Dane Munroe not only lost his arm during his last mission in the Middle East to an IED but lost his entire team in the blink of an eye. Dane struggles with symptoms of PTSD and Bryn’s idiosyncrasies, like her curiosity with Dane, had our hero battling between his heart and his mind.

The relationship between Bryn and Dane begins acrimoniously. Dane believes our heroine is a threat to his safety but it is Bryn’s own curiosity and need to help that will force a face-to-face confrontation between our leading couple. The sexual situations are passionate; the $ex scenes are limited and intense.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including many of the previous story line characters and couples, as well as Dane’s rescuers Truck, Ghost, Fletch, Beatle, Blade and Hollywood.

The world building focuses on Bryn’s Aspergers’ syndrome. The author has done an outstanding job of not only researching the symptoms of Bryn’s disorder but there is also a vast amount of additional information revealed about the numerous subjects that our heroine finds intriguing. Bryn’s curiosity will take our heroine into territory where she does not belong.

RESCUING BRYN is a story of love and loss; friendship and healing; threats to the American way of life. The premise is sweet, seductive and sexy-Dane takes his time exploring his options with the woman that calls to his heart; the characters are charismatic, broken and colorful; the romance is endearing and seductive.

Copy supplied for review.

Reviewed by Sandy

excerpt

THE RESTAURANT WAS FAIRLY busy for a weekday night, and after Dane asked what Bryn wanted to eat, he sent her to find a table.
Eyeing Dane as she went into the dining room, she realized that he seemed ill at ease. Of course he was. It was dinnertime and Dairy Queen was quite crowded. Making a split-second decision, Bryn walked back to where Dane was standing in line and placed herself at his left side. So close her armbrushed his.
“You all right?” Dane asked in concern, looking down at her.
“Yeah.” She didn’t elaborate.
“Can’t find a place to sit?”
“I’d rather go on a picnic.”
“A picnic?”
“Uh huh.” Bryn held her breath, hoping he would go for it.
“This wouldn’t have anything to do with what happened in the grocery store, would it?”
Bryn looked up at Dane. She noticed once again how tall he really was. He was wearing his ever-present leather jacket. When he moved, she could smell the slight scent of the leather waft in her direction. She thought about how to answer him, and decided to simply tell the truth.
“It’s crowded. You don’t like crowds. There are some booths so you could see the restaurant, but your back would be to a window, which I don’t think would make you comfortable. There’s a small roadside picnic area about a mile south of the city. We could go there and you wouldn’t have to worry about other people, and maybe could enjoy your meal.”
He didn’t say anything for a long moment. Long enough that Bryn thought she’d gone too far. She’d dropped her eyes and pressed her lips together in mortification, figuring he’d finally realized she was as weird as he’d claimed and would leave her standing alone in the restaurant, when she felt pressure under her chin. She obediently raised her head, loving the warmth of his finger on her skin, and met his eyes as bravely as she could.
“That sounds perfect. Thank you.”

About the author

Susan StokerNew 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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