DEFENDING ALLYE (Mountain Mercenaries #1) by Susan Stoker-Review, Guest Post & Giveaway
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 7, 2018
Ever since his rescue op off the Pacific Coast, Mountain Mercenary Gray Rogers hasn’t been able to forget his latest “job”—Allye Martin. Any other woman would have panicked during a rescue, but the wily dancer kept her cool—even after being kidnapped by an elusive human trafficker. And Gray couldn’t be happier when a grateful Allye follows him home to Colorado Springs…
For Allye, finding sanctuary in the arms—and bed—of the former Navy SEAL is only temporary. People are disappearing off the streets of San Francisco, victims of the same underground trade that targeted her, and Allye could be the key to dismantling the entire operation. She’s willing to do anything to bring them down. Gray isn’t—for good reason. But you don’t say no to a tough girl like Allye who refuses to play it safe.
Now Gray is risking more than ever before. The Mountain Mercenaries have his back. But is it enough to keep the woman he loves out of harm’s way?
••••••
REVIEW:DEFENDING ALLEY is the first instalment in Susan Stoker’s contemporary, adult MOUNTAIN MERCENARIES erotic, romantic, military, suspense series focusing on a group of six former soldiers and Navy SEALS who call themselves Mountain Mercenaries, headed by the mysterious ‘Rex’. This is thirty-six year old, former Navy SEAL Grayson Rogers, and twenty-nine year old, dancer Allye Martin’s story line. The Mountain Mercenaries is a spin off from the author’s Ace Security series but you do not have to have read the previous series to understand or follow the current timeline. The Mountain Mercenaries were first introduced in CLAIMING FELICITY (Ace Security 4).
NOTE: DEFENDING ALLYE contains scenes of abuse, torture and threats of a sexual nature, and may not be suitable for all readers.
Told from several third person perspectives including Allye and Gray DEFENDING ALLYE focuses on the hunt for a kidnapper in the San Francisco area, and the person responsible for a suspected human trafficking ring. Grayson Rogers and his fellow Mountain Mercenaries have been handpicked for their current roles by the mysterious, and as yet unidentified, team leader ‘Rex’. Hoping to intercept the hand-off of money, Grayson discovers more than he had bargained for when he finds Allye Martin instead. A quick take-down of the kidnappers, a struggle out at sea, and the rescue of our story line heroine, finds Allye falling for Grayson but not before she reveals she has information that may be important to the team’s investigation. What ensues is the quick building romance between Allye and Gray, and the potential fall-out as a number of women are kidnapped and killed in an effort to draw Allye out into the light.
Grayson Rogers knows lost first hand when his entire team of Navy SEALs was killed leaving our hero the only one to survive. Memories, of the horrific ordeal including the murder of his friends, have forced Gray into an over protective male where it concerns the woman with whom he is falling love. Never again wanting to lose anyone close, or witness the death of someone he loves, Gray struggles with Allye’s demands and need to place herself in harm’s way.
The relationship between Allye and Grayson is quick to develop. From hours alone at sea, to finding herself ‘living’ with the man that calls to her heart, Allye knows that Grayson will protect her against the odds, but Grayson battles between memories of the past, and his ability to stop the woman he loves from becoming a willing target in an effort to catch the bad guy. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and seductive without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.
We are introduced to Grayson’s fellow Mountain Mercenaries: Ronan ‘Ro’ Cross, Lowell ‘Black’ Lockard, Meat, Arrow, and Ball. Ronan and Chloe Harris’ story is next in Defending Chloe.
DEFENDING ALLYE is a story of action, suspense, romance and love. The premise is entertaining and engaging; the romance is passionate and intense; the characters are colorful, dynamic and animated but the heroine’s need to place herself in danger to ‘save’ a friend and other potential victims screams TSTL (too stupid to live), incredibly destructive and ill-fated. DEFENDING ALLYE is a sexy, intriguing and fated introductory story line in Susan Stoker’s new Mountain Mercenaries series.
Copy supplied by Netgalley
Reviewed by Sandy
Writing Defending Allye by Susan Stoker
Defending Allye is the first book in my new Mountain Mercenaries series. In the last book in my Ace Security series I introduced the characters and hinted that they’d get their own stories. The series’ main characters Gray and Black are former SEALs, Ro is a former British SAS member, Arrow is a former Marine, Ball is a former Coast Guard member, Meat was former Delta Force, and Rex, the handler, was also former military, but he’s a bit of a mystery at this point.
In the series starter, Grayson Rogers is on a Mountain Mercenary mission that goes completely sideways and unexpectedly finds himself in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, without a boat, with Allye Rogers.
Allye is a dancer from San Francisco who unfortunately, found herself the object of a crazy man’s obsession.
But of course, after being rescued from the sea, Allye’s life is still in danger and Gray uses his skills as a former Navy SEAL to track down the bad guy who has become obsessed with her. He’s possessive and Alpha, but not a jerk (at least most of the time…he does make one BIG mistake which causes a whole lot of chaos).
The Mountain Mercenaries are a group of former Special Forces soldiers from all branches who were hired by their their mysterious handler, Rex, a man they’ve never met, only spoken to on the phone. They take cases primarily involving women and children and are based out of Colorado Springs, Colorado. As Allye points out, they are really more like Vigilantes, but that didn’t sound as good as Mercenaries. HA!
I lived in the Colorado Springs area for a few years when my husband was stationed in South Korea. I love how diverse the area is and it was fun to include places I’ve actually been to in real life. Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods, Black Forest, The Broadmoor, etc.
Pulling her closer, Gray wrapped an arm around Allye’s waist again, using his legs to keep them above water. Her body felt cold even through the wet suit, and her lips were no longer ringed with blue as they’d been earlier—now they were almost completely bluish purple. She needed to get out and get warm. Now. But she didn’t complain. Just did whatever he asked of her with minimal questions. He liked that.
He liked Allye. A lot. He knew nothing could come of his attraction, as he lived in Colorado Springs and she lived in San Francisco. But it had been a long time since a woman had piqued his interest as she had.
Gray eyed the boat and saw the second Black picked up his signal. The vessel took an obvious turn and changed course to head straight for them. He turned to Allye and gave her a smile. “There are one hundred and eighty-seven quintillion gallons of water in the Pacific Ocean. That’s sixty-two-point-four million square miles. If karma had it out for you, as you claim, there’s no way that boat would be headed straight for us right now. No one would find us out here . . . especially not in the dark. Chin up, kitten. We’re about to be rescued.”
She turned once again and faced the oncoming boat. “It’s a good thing,” she quipped. “My fingers and toes are prunes. I’m not sure they’ll ever go back to their original state.”
Gray couldn’t stop the chuckle that escaped. She never ceased to surprise him.
They waited without another word as the light from the boat came closer and closer.
Finally, Gray heard Black call out his name.
“Yo! It’s about time!” Gray yelled back.
He heard his friend laugh as he cut the engine and slowed the boat. It floated toward them, and Gray maneuvered himself and Allye so he could grab one of the ropes on the side of the rubber boat when it got close enough.
“Where’d you pick this thing up?” he asked Black. It wasn’t the sleek fiberglass boat they’d been on earlier.
“Long story. Jeez, Gray. Only you could pick up a chick in the middle of the ocean, my friend.”
“How about you talk less and help me get her inside?” Gray asked dryly. He wasn’t going to introduce Allye to his friend while they were bobbing in the ocean.
“Yeah, sorry.” Gray turned to Allye. “You ready to go home?”
“Oh yeah,” was her heartfelt response.
“Grab Black’s hand. I’ll push from here, and he’ll pull you up.”
Black reached down, not waiting for her to reach up, and grabbed her under the arms instead. He began pulling her on board the large, inflatable Zodiac boat. Gray did as promised, putting a hand on her ass and pushing upward as Black pulled, and within seconds, she’d disappeared over the side.
He heard her “umph” as she hit the bottom of the boat, but when she didn’t scream out in pain or otherwise protest, he relaxed a fraction. She’d still need to be looked over by paramedics, but hopefully her little swim hadn’t done her any long-lasting harm.
Black’s face returned over the side of the boat a second later, and he held out a hand. Without fanfare, as they’d done this exact thing many times, Gray used his friend’s help and his own upper-body strength to haul himself over the side of the boat.
He immediately looked for Allye. He could see her more clearly now with the lights from the boat. She was huddled against the side with her knees drawn up. Her face was slightly blue from the cold water, but she gave him a weak smile.
Ignoring his own chilled body, Gray turned to ask Black for a blanket, but his friend was already there, handing him a stack of them. Gray crawled over to where Allye was huddled. He tried not to look at her long legs, but he was only human. She was built, her thighs thick and muscular, appropriate for a dancer, he supposed. He could see her calf muscles clearly, even through the wet suit. He had the thought that she’d look amazing in a pair of high heels.
Holding out a blanket, he said, “As much as it’s gonna suck, you need to get out of that wet suit.”
“But I’m freezing.”
“I know, kitten, but all that thing will do is make you colder. Take it off, and I’ll get you wrapped up in these nice, warm blankets.”
She rolled her eyes at the cajoling tone of his voice, but did as asked. She struggled with the zipper, but just as Gray was going to offer to help with it, she managed to pull it down. She wriggled and squirmed as she attempted to pull the wet suit off.
Gray handed the blankets back to Black and kneeled next to her. He pulled on the sleeve of the wet suit as she eased her arm out. He helped her with the other arm, then said, “Lie back. I’ll pull it off your legs.”
She did as he asked without question, but as soon as he began peeling the material down her legs, she quipped, “If I’d known I’d have a cute guy taking off my pants in the middle of the night, I would’ve made sure to shave.”
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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