Freak. Witch. Ugly. Abomination.Having grown up with a port-wine birthmark on her face and neck, Quinn Dixon’s heard them all. Her own mother couldn’t bear to touch her, let alone strangers. Years of stares and insults from everyone from classmates to foster families have made her understandably reluctant to trust. So when John comes along, of course he couldn’t be interested in more than a brief … than a brief affair. He’ll get sick of all the gawking and whispers soon enough and leave her…just like everyone else.
John “Driftwood” Trettle was captivated by Quinn the moment they met. After months of skirting around their attraction, one pivotal evening finds John seizing the reins and refusing to be denied a chance to prove he’s worthy of Quinn’s time, her trust, and her love. To show her he’ll have her back, always, and defend her against anyone cruel or stupid enough to hurt his woman.
But he can’t protect against an unknown threat. Even if it wears a familiar face…
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What a heart melting story! I love John and how he will do anything to show Quinn that she is it for him. Quinn has had a very hard life and is not understanding John’s feelings. Now just because I said it will be all heart, there is some very steamy moments that may melt your kindles down.
I could truly feel each emotion when the characters would roll with the punches. I could not stop reading this book and was sad when the ending came much too quickly for me. A great story that will capture your heart, mind, and soul!
This is the 13th book in the Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes Series. I love Susan Stoker’s writing and no matter what series I read of hers I love the action, romance, and worlds she creates. However, I did not connect with Quinn and Driftwood right away. I tried to move past the feeling like I need to have read the book just prior to this one, which unfortunately I did not. I missed Hope’s book, but I’ve read other Stoker books and have been able to jump right in, but unfortunately this was not one of them.
Right from the beginning Quinn wakes up in John’s bed having already agreed to be his girlfriend. I felt like I missed steps 1-5 on how they arrived at this point. I kept waiting for a flashback or reminiscing that would have given me an insight on how they got there, but I’m sad to say it never happened. So as I finally let that nagging feeling go and finally told myself, “ok, they are here, let’s move on.” The chemistry was still extremely slow. I love a slow moving book with mounting chemistry, but I suppose since I’d already told myself to hush where their relationship was concerned it wasn’t happy about the chemistry. All in all, their relationship just didn’t add up in my brain. BUT that is just my opinion. Eventually, everything fell into place and my romance brain was happy, but it took awhile for it to finally settle down.
As for the actual suspense of the story, this was like nothing I’ve read from Stoker before. The creepy vibe was all there and she always delivers when it comes to the creepy, evil characters. I don’t know what she eats for breakfast, or maybe it’s dinner and she dreams up these wicked people, but whatever it is the formula it works.
I also continue to applaud the strength of the women characters she creates. Perfection doesn’t exist and I love that hers are flawed. She writes about strong women who have this inner beauty and strong men who appreciate and love that.
I will continue to read Susan Stoker even if this particular book didn’t hit a homerun for me. Like I said initially I love her writing and she more times than not writes amazing stories.
Knocked out of the park
As always Susan wrote a great book! Started out a little different than her other books but picked right up after the ending to justice for Hope. Loved how the girls help Quinn along with Driftwood and the other firefighters.