Book Blitz/Defending Allye

About the Book
 
Title: Defending Allye
Author: Susan Stoker
Release Date: August 7, 2018
Publisher: Montlake Romance
 
Summary
 

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 Allyewho 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?

Author Biography
 
Susan Stoker is a New York TimesUSA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author whose series include Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes, SEAL of Protection, and Delta Force Heroes. Married to a retired army noncommissioned officer, Stoker has lived all over the country—from Missouri to California to Colorado—and currently lives under the big skies of Texas. A true believer in the happily ever after, Stoker enjoys writing novels in which romance turns to love. To learn more about the author and her work, visit her website, www.stokeraces.com, or find her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/authorsusanstoker.
 
Social Media Links
 

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Meet the Mountain Mercenaries by Susan Stoker 

In my new romantic suspense series, the “Mountain Mercenaries” were formed by a mysterious “handler” named Rex. He brought all the men to Colorado Springs for an “interview”, then never showed up, leaving the men to get to know each other on their own. At the end of the night, however, he offered each of them the job.

Rex is a voice on a phone, and none of the Mercenaries has ever met him face to face. He does the research and sends the men on the missions. He only choses to assist in cases involving women and children.

Each of the men are former special forces. Grayson “Gray” Rogers and Lowell “Black” Lockard are former Navy SEALs. Ronan “Ro” Cross was a British SAS soldier. Archer “Arrow” Kane was a Marine. Kannon “Ball” Black was in the Coast Guard. And Hunter “Meat” Snow was Delta Force.

The men all live in the Colorado Springs area now and have “regular” jobs. Their missions with the Mountain Mercenaries aren’t exactly top secret, but no one talks much about the organization because of the nature of the missions they go on and the kind of enemies they make as a result.

And to whet your appetite for the men…

Gray has a knack for being “invisible” on jobs.

Ro has a sext British accent that seems to be more pronounced when he’s angry.

Arrow is slightly claustrophobic because of an incident that happened in England (and where he actually saved Ro’s life).

Black is the best interrogator of the group and Ball is the best driver.

Meat is the computer genius of the group and is relied on heavily to gather intel.

And Rex, is a mystery to the men on the team. They don’t know much about him except that his wife disappeared into thin air years ago.

There’s no real reason why Gray was the first on the team to find his woman in my newest release Defending Allye. Someone had to be first, and who better to find a woman who he was attracted to in the middle of the ocean, than a former Navy SEAL?

***

Defending Allye Excerpt

Allye turned to her right and glanced at the group of men sitting at the only square table in the room—and froze.

Her breathing increased, and her fight-or-flight instinct kicked in. The men weren’t paying any attention to her and hadn’t seen her yet.

Allye took one step backward toward the doorway she’d just walked through. But she was too late.

“What the hell?” The exclamation had come from Black. The man she’d met just over a week ago on a mission she knew wasn’t exactly public knowledge.

Five more heads swiveled to look in her direction, and Allye could do nothing but stare. It was as if she could actually feel the amount of testosterone in the room increase.

All six men at the table were big. And good-looking. And staring at her as if they’d never seen a woman before.

But it was Grayson Rogers’s eyes that she couldn’t look away from.

Without a word, he stood, a fluid movement that was as graceful as those of any dancer in her troupe, and walked toward her.

“Kitten, what the hell are you doing here? How’d you find me?”

She loved the sound of her nickname on his lips, but his second question sounded more like an accusation than an actual “Boy, am I glad to see you again” statement.

“I . . . I didn’t know you’d be here,” she stammered. “I wasn’t looking for you.”

He looked confused.

“I called Rex, and he arranged to meet me here. But he hasn’t shown up yet. I was sitting out there”—she pointed at the doorway—“talking to the bartender, Dave, and got bored waiting. I didn’t know you’d be here,” she repeated.

“Rex,” Gray said under his breath, then held out his hand. “Whatever the reason, I’m glad to see you again. Are you okay?”

Allye liked this gentler Gray. She nodded and put her hand in his outstretched one. The second she touched his palm, his fingers closed around hers. The warmth from his body seemed to seep into her. She hadn’t even known she was chilled until she felt how warm his skin was. “I’m okay,” she said softly.

“No one’s been following you?” Gray asked.

Allye shrugged. “I don’t think so. I’ve felt uneasy recently, but it’s probably just a result of what happened to me before.”

Gray frowned and tightened his fingers. “Maybe, maybe not. Come on, I want you to meet my friends.”

She allowed him to lead across the room. He stopped at the table and wrapped an arm around her waist. Their hips were smashed together, and she felt every finger as he gripped her opposite hipbone.

“Guys, I’d like you to meet Allye Martin. Allye, these are the guys. Meat, Arrow, Ball, Ro, and you know Black.”

“Hi,” she said awkwardly. “It’s nice to meet all of you.”

Her greeting was returned by all the men, and she couldn’t help but squirm under their scrutiny. The man Gray called Meat got up, snagged a chair from a nearby table, and placed it next to the empty one. She sat when Gray gestured to it. She didn’t lean back in the chair but instead sat fully upright, wondering what in the world was going on.

“So . . . you’re the woman Gray rescued the other week, huh?” Arrow asked.

Allye swallowed, then gave him a small nod.

“What I’m about to tell you, kitten, isn’t common knowledge. But after what you’ve been through, and given the fact that you’re supposed to be meeting Rex here, so he obviously trusts you, I’m comfortable telling you. These men and I are all part of a group called Mountain Mercenaries,” Gray said quietly. “Rex is our leader, so to speak. He contacts us when he has rescue jobs for us to do, mostly involving women and children who are being abused or were abducted. And before you ask, we’re highly qualified. All of us are former military, all different branches, for the most part, and we’ve been through extensive training.”

Allye stared at him for a second, then her eyes went to the rest of the men around the table. She was surprised that he’d explained as much as he had, but she had no trouble believing that these men had the skills and strength to operate rescue missions.

Then something Gray said sank in.

“Mercenaries?”

He nodded.

Allye was confused. “You have a name? Can I look you up online? Hire you?”

“No.”

“Then why have a name?” Allye thought it was Ball who answered.

“Because Rex decided, rightly so, that we would become more well known if we were associated with a name. He wanted the bad guys to fear hearing the Mountain Mercenaries were coming for them. And it’s worked. There was a situation not too long ago where a bad guy in Chicago was desperate to keep Rex and his Mountain Mercenaries out of his business. Desperate enough to kill his own son when he couldn’t control him anymore.”

Allye wasn’t sure she wanted to know the details about that. But she was still a little confused. “But mercenaries are guns for hire. Like, they go where the money is and don’t care about right or wrong, good or bad. They’re all about the money. Aren’t you more like vigilantes or something? Working around the law to do what’s right and good?”

Gray stared at her, but the other men around the table chuckled.

Finally, Gray grinned. “Knew you were too smart for your own good,” he said. “You’re right, but when Rex formed our little group, he thought Mountain Mercenaries sounded tougher than vigilantes.”

Allye rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I guess Vengeful Veterans doesn’t exactly have the same ring, does it?”

And with that, the other men burst out laughing.

Sunday’s In Bed With

This is being hosted by two of the sweetest people I have the privilege of knowing in real life, Kate and Kim. Sadly we don’t talk like we use to because you know real life happens but there is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of them both.

Good Morning Everyone. I hope you are curled up and reading this morning. What a crazy week its been and sadly it feels like I haven’t really been reading anything over the past week or so but I have been. I guess its just because its in short spurts.

The past two weeks I have been purging books. I have managed to rearrange and clean up my bookcases, emptied any totes bags I had filled with books (that was almost 15 bags), cleaned out my cedar chest and started going through the boxes in the basement. I have purged so many books.

So this past week since the purge I have been sorting through the books and sorting them out by stand alones and series and with the series I have found an online resource that allows me to keep track of them like goodreads. The site is called fictfact.com

I will need to do a review post on them because I absolutely love it. You just need to enter the author or series and all the books come up so entering them is as easy as clicking on a button no need to enter the series one by one.

Through this site I have discovered that I have books missing so I think in one of my dh’s rushed efforts to bring boxes to donate he accidentally took some of the book boxes so now I will probably have more books to purge as I try to decide if I should replace them or just donate the rest of the series. What would you do?

Anyways lets get into this weekly post shall we.

Currently still reading:

The Girl on Camera

Read:

Grace And Fury

What are you currently reading?

Blog Tour/ Grace & Fury

Grace And Fury

Title: GRACE AND FURY

Author: Tracy Banghart

Pub. Date: July 31, 2018

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers 

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Pages: 320

Find it: GoodreadsAmazonB&NiBooksTBD

In a world where women have no rights, sisters Serina and Nomi Tessaro face two very different fates: one in the palace, the other in prison.

Serina has been groomed her whole life to become a Grace–someone to stand by the heir to the throne as a shining, subjugated example of the perfect woman. But when her headstrong and rebellious younger sister, Nomi, catches the heir’s eye, it’s Serina who takes the fall for the dangerous secret that Nomi has been hiding.

Now trapped in a life she never wanted, Nomi has only one way to save Serina: surrender to her role as a Grace until she can use her position to release her sister. This is easier said than done. A traitor walks the halls of the palace, and deception lurks in every corner. But Serina is running out of time, imprisoned on an island where she must fight to the death to survive and one wrong move could cost her everything.

About Tracy:

Tracy Banghart grew up in rural Maryland and spent her summers on a remote island in northern Ontario. All of that isolation and lovely scenery gave her the time to read voraciously and the inspiration to write her own stories. Always a bit of a nomad, Tracy now travels the world Army-wife style with her husband, son, cat, and sweet pupper Scrabble. She wrote Grace and Fury while living in Hawaii.

 

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

 

Giveaway Details:

 

3 winners will receive a finished copy of GRACE AND FURY, US Only.

 

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Tour Schedule:

Week One:

7/23/2018- Tea Party Princess– Review

7/24/2018- Paperback Princess– Review

7/25/2018- Confessions of a YA Reader– Review

7/26/2018- Book Dragon Lair– Review

7/27/2018- laura’s bookish corner– Review

 

Week Two:

7/30/2018- The Desert Bibliophile– Review

7/31/2018- Do You Dog-ear?– Review

8/1/2018- Synopses By Sarge– Review

8/2/2018- CoffeeCocktailsandBooks Blog– Review

8/3/2018- Kat’s Books– Review

 

Week Three:

8/6/2018- Feed Your Fiction Addiction– Review

8/7/2018- Portrait of a Book– Review

8/8/2018- To Be Read– Review

8/9/2018- Brooke- Reports– Review

8/10/2018- Cindy’s Love of Books– Review

 

Week Four:

8/13/2018- A Court of Coffee and Books– Review

8/14/2018- Smada’s Book Smack– Review

8/15/2018- The Young Folks- Review

8/16/2018- Book-Keeping– Review

8/17/2018- A Gingerly Review– Review

 

 

Review/ Grace & Fury

Title: GRACE AND FURY
Author: Tracy Banghart
Pub. Date: July 31, 2018
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Pages: 320

Find it: GoodreadsAmazonB&NiBooksTBD

In a world where women have no rights, sisters Serina and Nomi Tessaro face two very different fates: one in the palace, the other in prison.

Serina has been groomed her whole life to become a Grace–someone to stand by the heir to the throne as a shining, subjugated example of the perfect woman. But when her headstrong and rebellious younger sister, Nomi, catches the heir’s eye, it’s Serina who takes the fall for the dangerous secret that Nomi has been hiding.

Now trapped in a life she never wanted, Nomi has only one way to save Serina: surrender to her role as a Grace until she can use her position to release her sister. This is easier said than done. A traitor walks the halls of the palace, and deception lurks in every corner. But Serina is running out of time, imprisoned on an island where she must fight to the death to survive and one wrong move could cost her everything.

I quickly have to thank HBG for sending me a arc copy of Grace & Fury a little while ago and to Jaime at Rockstar Book Tour for allowing me to take part in the blog tour for the book.

When I first heard about Grace & Fury I knew this would be a book I would have to read in 2018 preferably as soon as it came out because  something about the synopsis intrigued me about it. I mean when it starts out “In a world where women have no rights,” doesn’t that peek your interest?

I have to say I enjoyed the beginning of the book but as I got to the half way point I was instantly sucked into the book and had a hard time to put it down. There was a night or two that I stayed up longer then I should have to read the book and its all good because it was well worth it in the end especially with the action happening towards the very end. Can we say cliff hanger? I need to second book asap!

Grace & Fury is about two sisters Serina and Nomi.  Serina is the older sister who has been groomed her whole life to be a Grace (exactly like Royality) and well Nomi is the head strong, rebellious girl who is going to end up in trouble but has been trained to be Serina’s handmaid.

Things are going according to plan as Serina has been picked as one of the three girls who will represent their village to the Heir in hopes of being selected. Serina is excited to be leaving her dingy grey village of Lanos with Nomi but Nomi doesn’t feel the same way and would rather stay home but in the end goes with her sister. Serina is hoping she will be selected because she knows this could be the change her family needs to a better life.

In this world women have no rights, they can’t read books (this is what intrigued me about the book, Why can’t women read books and what happens if they do?) or go to school. The only thing they are allowed to do is become servants, work in factories and marry. Girls are taught to obey the men and basically do what they tell them to do (submissive) and this is where Nomi is different she doesn’t want that kind of life and rebels as much as she can and she does push the limit.

Back to the review… The night the Graces are to meet the Heir for final selection, Nomi wanders off to find the bathroom but stumbles upon the beautiful library a place that is forbidden for women. One the way out she grabs a book but quickly has to hid it before she is caught with it. As she is slipping out of the room she meets the Heir and his brother, Asa, being Nomi she isn’t very polite to them. This can either be a good thing or a bad thing for her.

As the evening progresses Serina soon finds out that she is not selected but Nomi. Both sisters are shocked but decide to make the best of it for their family. Once this was discovered you knew this was the first of many twist and turns in the book. I have to say I actually liked this twist and was curious to read where this was going. Could Nomi follow the rules and behave or would her wild street be the death of her? Plus why was she selected as a Grace instead of her sister?

Without going to further into the book you can tell even though both girls are completely different they are there for each other and will do anything to protect them and no matter how hurt Seina was when not selected she took the fall for her sister and I think this says a lot about the girls and how far they will go for each other. Even to the end both sisters were doing things for the better of them.

Grace & Fury is told in dual points of view from Serina and Nomi which I love because you get both perspectives of the story and a chance to get to know both girls.

This is Tracy’s debut novel and I am really excited to read her future books. Not sure if there is anything in the works right now but from the way this ended I am sure there will be a book 2 in this hopefully series,  I will definitely be keeping my eyes peeled.

Blog Tour/ The Right Fit

The Right Fit
Daphne Dubois
Publication date: April 12th 2017
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

She’s sworn off love, he’s sworn off sex, but together they’ll score the goal of a lifetime.

When Maxine Nicholls discovers her fiancé is cheating, she turns to fast food and nighttime soap operas, but her sister has a plan—unbridled rebound sex with a stranger.

As one of Toronto’s hottest players, Antony Laurent tallies scores on and off the ice, but when the chiseled defense man hits a slump, rumors of a trade to the minor league send him to ambush a managers meeting at a posh club.

That night a chance encounter ends up as an unforgettable evening of passion. But Maxine and Antony are about to discover a game of casual hook ups can lead to something neither one of them thought they deserved—the right fit.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

 

Author Bio:

Daphne Dubois writes contemporary romance and believes the right book at the right time can make all the difference. When she’s not putting her characters in compromising positions (ahem), she works as a registered nurse. A member of the Writer’s Federation of Nova Scotia, she lives in Eastern Canada, the most romantic place in the world.

You can also find her writing for teens as B.R. Myers.

Website / Goodreads / Facebok / Twitter

 

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Review/ The Right Fit

The Right Fit
Daphne Dubois
Publication date: April 12th 2017
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

She’s sworn off love, he’s sworn off sex, but together they’ll score the goal of a lifetime.

When Maxine Nicholls discovers her fiancé is cheating, she turns to fast food and nighttime soap operas, but her sister has a plan—unbridled rebound sex with a stranger.

As one of Toronto’s hottest players, Antony Laurent tallies scores on and off the ice, but when the chiseled defense man hits a slump, rumors of a trade to the minor league send him to ambush a managers meeting at a posh club.

That night a chance encounter ends up as an unforgettable evening of passion. But Maxine and Antony are about to discover a game of casual hook ups can lead to something neither one of them thought they deserved—the right fit.

One of my favorite things about doing blog tours is discovering new books and authors that I honestly might not have known about and today’s book The Right Fit by Daphne Dubois is a prime example. When I saw the request for this book it sounded really interesting so I figured why not try it out.

I do enjoy reading romance and I don’t read and review enough of it especially ones that include sports. In this case its hockey although its not my favorite team Toronto Maple Leafs (I do have to say that when Tomáš Plekanec was traded briefly to the team I was following because I am a huge Plekanec fan)  it was still a fun and enjoyable read.

As I was getting ready to do this post I discovered that Daphne is a east coast author from Nova Scotia. She also writes under the name B.R. Myers and has several YA books out. The Right Fit is her second romance book. After reading this I am curious and excited to read more by Daphne. This is a stand alone book.

I think this is probably a first time in quite some time that I absolutely fell in love with both of the main characters in the book. Its been a few days since reading the book but I am still sitting here thinking about Maxine and Anthony. I need more Maxine and Anthony.

Like I said our main characters are Maxine and Anthony. Both come from different worlds. Maxine has decided to put herself back out there after a devastating break up with her boyfriend. She caught him cheating and as the story progresses you realize that she was more invested in the relationship then he was and that she was seeing things of it going further then he ever wanted. She agrees to this blind date with a guy and they arrange to meet at a local park. While she is sitting waiting, Anthony spots her and is intrigued by her. He later describes her as one of those early pin up girls. Through a chance encounter Maxine and Anthony accidentally  bump into each other and so starts this wild ride.

I was quite happy to discover that Anthony is from a little town here in Quebec so I instantly feel in love with him and his broken English. Anthony is kind of the guy every girl is looking for except at first he tells a little white lie about who he really is but I think that is probably due to the fact he is a hockey player and he wants to make sure she lives him for him and not who he is. Although he hasn’t been so lucky on the ice and rumors are beginning to spread that if something doesn’t change he could be sent to the minors and that is not a good thing so Anthony needs to change that and he thinks that Maxine might be his good luck charm because since meeting her things are falling into place or are they?

Will Anthony finally reveal who he really is and how will Maxine take it? This was one of the things I thought was a little flawed, how did Maxine not google who he was when she found out his name? I know if it was me I would have been googling that boys name to find out who he was.

I definitely enjoyed reading this. Once I started I did not want to put the book down. I was hooked my the growing romance of Maxine and Anthony. I needed to find out who this would all work out and if there was that happy ever after in the end.

Definitely going to check out Daphen’s other books in the near future.

 

 

Guest Review/ The Final Six

Guest Review/ The Final SixThe Final Six (The Final Six, #1) by Alexandra Monir
Published by HarperTeen on March 6, 2018
Pages: 352
Goodreads

When Leo, an Italian championship swimmer, and Naomi, a science genius from California, are two of the twenty-four teens drafted into the International Space Training Camp, their lives are forever altered. After erratic climate change has made Earth a dangerous place to live, the fate of the population rests on the shoulders of the final six who will be scouting a new planet. Intense training, global scrutiny, and cutthroat opponents are only a few of the hurdles the contestants must endure in this competition.
For Leo, the prospect of traveling to Europa—Jupiter’s moon—to help resettle humankind is just the sense of purpose he’s been yearning for since losing his entire family in the flooding of Rome. Naomi, after learning of a similar space mission that mysteriously failed, suspects the ISTC isn’t being up front with them about what’s at risk.
As the race to the final six advances, the tests get more challenging—even deadly. With pressure mounting, Naomi finds an unexpected friend in Leo, and the two grow closer with each mind-boggling experience they encounter. But it’s only when the finalists become fewer and their destinies grow nearer that the two can fathom the full weight of everything at stake: the world, the stars, and their lives.

My fourteen-year-old son, Nathan, read a book entitled “The Final Six” by Alexandra Monir.  He couldn’t put it down…literally.  He read all day and all night long.  His eyes were blood shot and his hair tussled, but nothing could drag him away from finishing this novel.  At the end of the book, Nathan looked at me in despair, “The journey is not done yet, I need the next book.  I just have to read it and find out what’s going on!”  Unfortunately, much to his disappointment, the second book is not out yet, nor is there a set release date.

So, what has got my teenage son so engrossed in reading?  Please continue to read Nathan’s review of “The Final Six.”

Some time in our future, scientist realize that our planet is dying because of global warming.  In order to save the human race, the world unites.  Despite measures to correct pollution and restore the earth’s balance, it is too late for society.  The tipping point has occurred, and no one is safe. A state of emergency for the world is declared.  The earth is inhabitable.

Twenty-four teenagers are being trained because of their unique physical and mental abilities.  They will fly a mission to Jupiter’s moon, Europa.  This location contains oceans which will allow for life to continue.

By the end of this novel, six of the twenty-four teenagers are chosen to complete the mission and save humanity.

The book begins with a mystery.  At the end of each chapter, some of these questions are answered but more questions are asked.  At the end of the book, many more questions are asked, and I can’t wait to find these answers.  This kept me turning the pages.  I couldn’t put the book down at the end of a chapter.  I needed more answers and now I had new questions to ponder.

The characters were relatable and likeable.  Leo and Naomi are the main characters.  Leo is from Italy and Naomi is Iranian-American.  We follow their lives throughout the book.  They are two individuals who would have never met if it wasn’t for the circumstances the world finds itself in.

I believe this is a good book for readers ages fourteen to sixteen.  They will enjoy the speed and intensity of this novel.  I also found out that there will be a movie in the future.  As for now, I just want to read the next novel and find out what happens.  In the meantime, I am reading it a second time.

*I quickly have to thank Nathan for doing this guest review for the blog. He is Jennifer’s son. Be sure to keep an eye out for more guest reviews by Nathan in the future.*