An Amazon Charts bestseller.Protection leads to passion in New York Times bestselling author Susan Stoker’s dangerously hot Mountain Mercenaries adventure.Dispatched to the Dominican Republic to rescue a kidnapped child, former Marine Archer “Arrow” Kane makes a startling discovery: another hostage—Morgan Byrd, a very beautiful and very well-known missing person who disappeared off the streets of … person who disappeared off the streets of Atlanta a year ago. She’s brave, resilient, and unbroken. All Arrow wants to know is why she ended up in a shack in Santo Domingo. All he feels is the desire to protect.
Morgan is done being the victim and is determined to find out who hates her so much that they want her gone—but not dead. Until then, she has Arrow, an alpha stranger who’s offering a warm and safe place to hide. But as the passion between them flares, so does the fear that whoever took Morgan will do anything to get her back. For Arrow, protecting this woman with a mysterious enemy is the most dangerous mission of his life. And it’s worth every beat of his heart.
more
Another great work by Susan Stoker. This is the third chapter in the Mountain Mercenaries and it’s an awesome continuation. We get to see past characters and their interactions and even more about the others we don’t know much about. Even Dave gets more time, which is wonderful as well. Arrow rescues Morgan by accident, he knocks out a small knife out of her hand while she’s protecting the little girl that he is there to rescue. It’s an instant connection for Arrow and Morgan.
This is a story of patience and love and it’s definitely an emotional read. Ms. Stoker hits all the emotions a survivor feels after being through a horrendous long term experience. All the Mountain Mercenaries are great examples of humankind and it’s a pleasure to read about them every single time. True to form, there are twists and turns and evil villains.
I highly recommend this book and ANY work by Ms. Stoker.
Love the men from the Mountain Mercenaries!
Defending Morgan is the 3rd book in the Mountain Mercernaries Series and these books just keep getting better and better. Morgan Byrd was kidnapped from Atlanta and held captive for over a year in Santo Domingo. She is then rescued by accident by Archer “Arrow” Kane and the other Mountain Mercenaries while they were rescuing a young girl that was also kidnapped. The instant chemistry and trust that Morgan and Arrow have towards each other was beautiful to read about. Morgan is struggling to understand who and why someone had her kidnapped and Arrow is there every step of the way lending his help whenever and where ever she needs it. I loved how patient and caring he was with her from the very beginning and watching these two fall in love was very touching. I loved the suspense when you find out who the bad person was in this book and it will leave you shaking your head. Susan Stoker is an awesome author and her books are full of action, suspense and romance. You won’t want to put this one down.
Defending Morgan is book 3 of Susan Stoker’s Mountain Mercenaries series and just another reason why she is one of my favorite authors. This story about Arrow and Morgan gripped me from the very beginning and kept my interest to the very end when I was on the edge of my seat. Once again Ms Stoker has written another book about a couple who are strong yet vulnerable to each other. I love her books and highly recommend them.
Talk about hitting the first page running. I love the Mountain Mercenaries and this one is even more page turning intense than the others. Friendship, romance, loyalty, evil lurking in the background. Very unpredictable and, when the evil is revealed, wow, just wow. Bravo and then some!!!!
“Defending Morgan” is the third book in the Mountain Mercenaries series and it just keeps getting better. This is the story of Archer “Arrow” Kane, a former Navy SEAL now a member of the Mountain Mercenaries. He is sent to the Dominican Republic to rescue a five year old girl kidnapped by her father, when he finds a huge surprise, Morgan Byrd who has been missing from Atlanta for a year. Her father never let anyone forget that she was gone and did everything in his power to find her. It might make the job a little harder but no way is Arrow going to leave her behind. It takes the whole team to get her and the little girl out, but that is exactly what they do.
Once home, Morgan has to be leery of anyone that she knew before her kidnapping. It seems someone wanted her gone but not dead and now the Mountain Mercenaries job is to find out who that someone is. Morgan was put through some awful stuff while being held and I never even suspected the person that we eventually find out is responsible for this cruel deed.
Five “baby step” stars for this one.
He came to a country to rescue a little girl with his team He also found her She who had been missing for a year they get them both back to the states He helps her recover they fall in love they find out who was behind her kidnapping but it isn’t who you would think sizzling romance and a wonderful happy ending
As usual Susan story lines are very good and this one is no exception. Morgan’s story is very sad, emotional and psychologically damaging for her especially because all the things she went through is as a result of someone she love and trusted. Arrow is a wonderful , patient and understanding man the is exactly what she needs to help her to try trusting again. She has a lot tho work through but him and he lovely friends by her side she has a good chance to become whole again. This story really touch me because I know there are women who are experiencing similar experience and they never find a Arrow or a trusted person to help them through it. Well done Susan Stoker. Your stories are awesome.
This book is a solid 4.5 star book. The characters were well developed. While the previous one in the series I gave a solid five stars this one I nicked it a little bit just because of – I’m not really sure. While it was still a very good book I just felt the need to ding it I half a star because I think the middle love it became a little discombobulated. Look forward to reading her next one. The narration was excellent.
This book had my attention from the very start. I felt for everything Morgan had been through and thought her strength was amazing. I loved how quickly Arrow became protective of her and how he was so good at giving her what she needed to heal. They were really great together and I am glad in the end Morgan’s kidnapper’s didn’t win.
Powerful and emotionally charged romantic suspense, masterfully done by the talented Susan Stoker! I cried for the heroine, cursed out loud at the villain, and fell hard for the hero. A thoroughly engrossing addition to a great series.
Typical Susan Stoker! Arrow accidently finds Morgan in a kidnapping raid, and then has to keep her safe and get her home. Her characters are so believable, and learn to deal with their scars while finding love with each other.
For me, this author has been like that tantalizing, candy bar flavored coffee creamer I keep circling around at the grocery store thinking of trying because it looks so good but never quite getting around to. Until one day, what the heck, I went for it…It’s the holiday season! Calories be darned! Only to find it lacking and disappointing from what the label/cover promised, despite all the marketing and raving reviews.
I’m not going to waste your time and mine overly elaborating here, folks. Just know the writing felt limp compared to the action going around them. That was my #1 beef. It didn’t help a big mood killer was finding out Morgan had been raped repeatedly during the past year by various men and their friends who were paid to keep her in inhumane captivity. It’s a personal preference, but that just ain’t my bag, baby.
Having the hero swoop in and save her should have sweep me off my feet, right? Instead, I was shaking my head at him in dismay for immediately calling her endearing names, mentally gushing over her with girly feelings, and intimately stroking her cheek while doing so. Despite his mental mantra about how important it was to remain detached/impersonal so the rescuee stayed strong, increasing their chance of a successful extraction.
I just didn’t see how all that mutual crushing/instant falling for each other was realistic at all. Oh, yeah, I was told, but I didn’t feel it, folks. Between the repetitive, limp, even sappy writing at times, the paper thin plot was another nail in the coffin.
Enough said. I’m chalking this up to personal preference and choice, my avid romance book loving friends. Maybe this author’s writing style is just not for me. I wish her continued writing success. You may see me again a time or two, because I have a couple more books to review. Here’s to hoping I’ll feel differently about them. This was the first book I’ve read of hers.
Title: Defending Morgan, Series: Mountain Mercenaries (Book 3), Author: Susan Stoker, Pages: 282, stand-alone but part of a series, alpha rescuer hero, kidnapped/raped repeatedly heroine, writing didn’t work work for me.
Book 1 – Defending Allye
Book 2 – Defending Chloe
Book 3 – Defending Morgan
Book 4 – Defending Harlow
Book 5 – Defending Everly
(I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I was not given any payment or compensation for this review, nor is there any affiliation or relationship between this reviewer and the author/publisher/NetGalley.)
I loved how real and down to earth Susan Stoker kept this emotionally for Morgan after all she went through, no instant fix with rescue and love, even with help healing needed to take its time. Gripping, intense and lots of suspense in this powerful story of a woman who has been to hell. I had my heart broken for her and the pain she had suffered, and for the unsure future she came back to only Arrow and the team being trusted. He and the other guys were strong and protective, giving her support whenever needed. I do have to say the climax was a surprise but not the villain. This story is a full on ride of ups and downs, twists and turns and oh so good.
“Beautiful ” This book is the best in series so far. Archer “Arrow ” Kane is the best all around man there is. Is there a man even close to him out there? From the time he first saw Morgan, she was his beautiful. The things she went through I can’t even imagine. His patients and love will see her through. And her strength and knowing when she needs help will see her get her life back where she wants it. Great read.
I Truly love Susan Stokers style of writing and this book didn’t disappoint.
Defending Morgan is a wonderfully engaging and entertaining story. Romance and suspense with a bit of mystery to solve.
I absolutely love the narration by Stella Bloom. She has become a one click narrator for me. I don’t need to listen to a sample.
-4.5 Stars!-
Morgan and Arrow literally hit it off the first time they met. Being captivated and tormented for over a year, Morgan’s only holding by a thread and protecting the little girl she’s captivated with. Arrow and his team are on a mission rescueing said girl and of course take Morgan with them. Re-adjusting to real life is a hard ship for Morgan and so she’s happy to stay with Arrow for the time being. But when her captor shows it’s face all bets are off and Arrow and Morgan depend on the team to save them… That is one hell of a book and I did not expect anything else by Susan. Her books are a sure bet to get some action. Perfect story.
I love how her books support something that is tragically happening in today’s world such as human trafficking.
Defending Morgan is the third book in Susan Stoker’s Mountain Mercenaries series, I’ve read the first two novels in this series and it’s not the first series by Ms. Stoker I’ve read and become addicted to. She seldom fails to feature suspenseful romance reads with strong, protective, intelligent, and sexy heroes, as well as gutsy, feisty, imperiled heroines, and Defending Morgan is one more very good read that meets that standard, and were it not for super-fast insta-love and some repetitious dialogue on the part of the hero, I’d be giving this novel 5 rather than 4.5 stars.
Archer “Arrow” Kane, former Marine, along with several other members of Morgan’s Mercenaries, are tasked with tracking down a missing little girl, Nina, who was abducted by her father, who shared custody with his ex-wife. While having his visitation with Nina, her father has fled the country with her, returned to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, and he’s hidden her away, a perfect mission for the Mountain Mercenaries, whose primary focus is finding and rescuing missing, abused and terrified women and children. When Arrow and his fellow mercs (mercenaries) find Nina, she’s in a dark, rundown hovel and she’s not alone. Upon entering that hovel, Arrow is met with a filthy, bruised and beaten woman brandishing a crude knife, determined to protect Nina from all danger, and that woman is Morgan Byrd, who was kidnapped a year ago and whose parents and the authorities have been searching for her ever since. Arrow is immediately drawn to Morgan (I did find that a tad too fast hard to believe), and. during their harrowing escape from the clutches of her 10 abusive abductors, she almost immediately comes to trust and rely on Arrow in particular.
After returning to the U.S. with Nina, whose mother is overjoyed to see that Nina came to no physical harm, although traumatized by her experience, the two soon head for home. Morgan is met at the airport by her mother, Ellie, who no longer lives in Atlanta, close to Morgan, but in the year Morgan was missing, her mother has moved on with her life and relocated to Albuqueque, and she can’t wait to move Morgan back to New Mexico with her, deeming Atlanta not a safe place to be until her kidnapper(s) are found and dealt with. Then there’s Morgan’s father to consider, a CFO for a large company, he’s kept the case of his missing daughter in the press for a year since her abduction, and he’s milking her safe return for all it’s worth. The divorce of Morgan’s parents years earlier was contentious and bitter, and, years later these two can’t stop the bitterness between them from erupting if they have to be in the same room at the same time.
Since Arrow and his teammates need to debrief Morgan to help discover who abducted her and why, she’s quick to latch onto Arrow, her rescuer, and although physical closeness is an issue for her after a year of being passed around and repeatedly raped by the men keeping her prisoner, she trusts Arrow to keep her safe, and her strength, her refusal to be cowed or broken by her horrific experiences in captivity impresses the heck out of Arrow, and Arrow will shelter and protect her with his life, and he already realizes that he wants to keep her in his life forever.
As they say, it ain’t over till it’s over, and the hunt is on for Morgan’s kidnappers and whoever hired them. Morgan has no idea why she was abducted from the streets of her home in Atlanta, and she never learned anything from her kidnappers since they always spoke in Spanish, a language she didn’t understand. As the story moves forward, there are plenty of possible suspects as the team gets down to the business of weeding through all the people in Morgan’s life, a process that is trying and difficult for her, but she’s a strong woman, and although she really only shows her weakness to Arrow, she’ll do whatever it takes to bring her abductor to justice so that she can finally feel safe and start to recover from her trauma and abuse. In the midst of this are Morgan’s parents, her mother wants her in Albuquerque and her father wants his traumatized daughter to give television interviews about her experiences, making it seems as if he alone was responsible for her safe return–and Morgan feels like the rope in a tug of war contest, eventually deciding to stay with Arrow.
While the escape portion of Morgan and Arrow’s story is fraught with danger and suspense, there is somewhat of a lull in the forward momentum of this story once Arrow makes clear his intention to keep Morgan in his life, as Morgan gets the psychological and medical attention she needs, and as she meets and bonds with the other members of the team and their wives, the heroines of the two previous novels. Consider this part of the novel the calm before the storm, because Ms. Stoker has come up with a twist of a surprise ending I never saw coming, and it’s what kept me reading this novel through to the end until 5:00 a.m. I think it will keep you turning pages late into the wee hours of the morning too, and I highly recommend it. Also, there’s a teaser of an epilogue, and it appears that Black, another member of the team, will be the hero of the next novel in this series, and I’m already eager to read it.
While this novel works well as a standalone, I will suggest reading this series in the order in which it was written for a better understanding of how Morgan’s Mercenaries came to be, how it operates, the mysterious way it all began, and how all these strong alpha males became a part of the team.
I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.
3.5 Stars
I have been waiting for Morgans story since I listened to Defending Chloe a few months ago, that ending completely hooked me when they stumbled upon her! The entire series is about the Mountain Mercenaries, a group of men who rescue women and children that have been abducted. The Mountain Mercenaries are sent to the Dominican Republic to rescue a little girl who was kidnapped by her father. When recovering the child they found Morgan, who was kidnapped over a year ago from Atlanta. Morgans kidnapping was not random and the Mountain Mercenaries work to figure out who was behind it and why. Each of the books in this series has ‘insta-love’ happening between one of the team members and the woman they are rescuing. I always tend to overlook the romances where the couple falls in love in 5 minutes, but I did really enjoy the story in this one. It was a guessing game until the end on who was behind Morgans abduction and torture, and it definitely kept me interested!