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rellimreads's review against another edition
2.0
DNF ~ I listened to the Audible version via KU and I think that may have been a big part of the problem. The narrator would often suck in a breath at the end of sentences and it became very annoying. Additionally, there are a LOT of male voices and only one female. I’m not sure why they opted for female narrator because she was stretched to create unique voices for all these men and many became odd/nasally or otherwise grating. Minimally they should have had a male narrator or preferably dual narrators.
Stoker is hit or miss for me so I keep trying each new series. I’ll walk away from this for a while and maybe try the ebook once I won’t have this narrator in my head while reading.
Stoker is hit or miss for me so I keep trying each new series. I’ll walk away from this for a while and maybe try the ebook once I won’t have this narrator in my head while reading.
kaydanielsromance's review against another edition
5.0
Action packed right off the bat! I love this new addition to the Stocker universe.
Right from the beginning I was drawn into the action and then once Allye's snarky personality jumped off the page, I was hooked. I instantly fell in love with her tenacity at the same time Gray did.
The bad guy, Nightingale, is top level evil. I don't know what Stoker has been eating to come up with this level of evilness, but omg...she has upped her game and the reading is intense.
Grayson "Gray" Rogers is an ex-SEAL working for the Mountain Mercenaries. When a mission that was just supposed to be about gaining intel goes south and instead suddenly contains a hostage, Gray does what he has to do, rescues the woman. Stranded in the ocean, in the middle of the night, isn't ideal, but neither is losing the woman he rescued. Gray kicks his training into high gear and begins swimming towards his rescue point with Allye Martin in tow hoping they both make it out alive.
Allye thought her life was over when she was snatched off the streets of San Francisco, but when a huge man appeared on the boat she was being held captive on and then proceeded to throw her into the ocean...well, at least she wouldn't die on the boat. She'd soon come to learn the huge man, Gray, was there to rescue her and although she wasn't sure she'd live, she somehow trusted Gray when he said he make sure she made it out of the ocean alive.
Life or death situations can heighten your senses, is that what Gray and Allye feel for one another as they come down from the rescue? Gray has a job to do and doesn't have time to think about what happened, but he also can't stop thinking about the woman he rescued. Allye has a life she needs to return to, but she also can't stop thinking about the man who pulled her from the sea. Can there be a future for the two or should they both move on?
Right from the beginning I was drawn into the action and then once Allye's snarky personality jumped off the page, I was hooked. I instantly fell in love with her tenacity at the same time Gray did.
The bad guy, Nightingale, is top level evil. I don't know what Stoker has been eating to come up with this level of evilness, but omg...she has upped her game and the reading is intense.
Grayson "Gray" Rogers is an ex-SEAL working for the Mountain Mercenaries. When a mission that was just supposed to be about gaining intel goes south and instead suddenly contains a hostage, Gray does what he has to do, rescues the woman. Stranded in the ocean, in the middle of the night, isn't ideal, but neither is losing the woman he rescued. Gray kicks his training into high gear and begins swimming towards his rescue point with Allye Martin in tow hoping they both make it out alive.
Allye thought her life was over when she was snatched off the streets of San Francisco, but when a huge man appeared on the boat she was being held captive on and then proceeded to throw her into the ocean...well, at least she wouldn't die on the boat. She'd soon come to learn the huge man, Gray, was there to rescue her and although she wasn't sure she'd live, she somehow trusted Gray when he said he make sure she made it out of the ocean alive.
Life or death situations can heighten your senses, is that what Gray and Allye feel for one another as they come down from the rescue? Gray has a job to do and doesn't have time to think about what happened, but he also can't stop thinking about the woman he rescued. Allye has a life she needs to return to, but she also can't stop thinking about the man who pulled her from the sea. Can there be a future for the two or should they both move on?
suzysuzy34's review against another edition
5.0
There is something about these types of books that I love. Protective Hero rescuing the heroine. Loved Gray and Allye. Five stars as I would definitely read and listen to this again.
tamscorner's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
birdloveranne's review against another edition
2.0
I liked some parts of the story. But the actions of the male lead, Gray, were completely unbelievable. Tanked the entire story.
isitcake's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I like this bodyguard trope where Gray is former Navy Seal saving and protecting Allye, a professional dancer, from some mysterious criminal mastermind, but it's jarring when we go from scenes with Allye and Gray to these horrific torture and abuse scenes with the villain. Just not for me. Gray is also part of a special military-type team of men but I likely won't be reading any of their stories (the epilogue sets up the "mechanic" former Brit named Ro and him rescuing Chloe from her mafia brother).
Gray and his team, led by a man named Rex(?) they've never seen, have a job to track down this sex trafficker mastermind dubbed The Nightingale. However their mission escalates when he discovers Allye is on board and he has to save her. The men he kills let on that she's been targeted specifically for her mix matched eyes and the white streak in her hair. They split up after but she took a usb drive from the boat she was kidnapped on and she gets back in contact with the guys, who hack it and find files of lists and names of women. They make a plan to kind of use her as bait, putting a tracking chip in her leg. She eventually gets caught again by the bad guy, T.B., and taken to his underground lair where she sees all of his horrific "collection" of women. There's a midget, a woman who he's had tattooed nearly 100% of her body (her eyelids, vagina, hands, feet, everything), an albino who he's impregnated after forcing her obedience when he tied a bag of moths to her head, one of a former set of twins since he killed the other for not obeying, etc. He tells Allye he wants to get her pregnant too to see if the baby inherits her unique features. In the meantime he wants her to dance for him on this rough wood floor. This is where she's rescued by Gray and the guys and its HAE from there. She moves to Colorado Springs to be with Gray and becomes a teacher for mentally disabled children.
We're given almost no backstory for Gray. Allye's story is that her mom only had her to try to tie a man down and when that didn't work she didn't really take care of Allye. Allye had to feed and take care of herself until her mom up and disappeared one day. So Allye has some trust issues, especially with moms, and her bonding with Gray's mom is another thing that happens in the book.
We're given almost no backstory for Gray. Allye's story is that her mom only had her to try to tie a man down and when that didn't work she didn't really take care of Allye. Allye had to feed and take care of herself until her mom up and disappeared one day. So Allye has some trust issues, especially with moms, and her bonding with Gray's mom is another thing that happens in the book.
bookish_kristina's review against another edition
2.0
Typical formulaic suspense romance from SS. Nothing new here. Misogynistic alpha hero, underprivileged heroine damsel in distress, stereotypical stalker psychopath villain. They meet, she’s in danger, instalove happens, she moves in with hero to stay safe, gets captured by villain anyway, hero and his team of other misogynistic alpha heroes save her, she gives up her whole previous life and moves in with him.
Copy paste, change characters names and occupations, book done.
If you like her stuff you will like this. If you are looking for a deeper and more original plot with well developed characters, look elsewhere.
Copy paste, change characters names and occupations, book done.
If you like her stuff you will like this. If you are looking for a deeper and more original plot with well developed characters, look elsewhere.
jigsawgirl's review against another edition
2.0
This book was a NO on so many levels. Starting with the narration. It started out on such a good note.
Why did the narrator keep whispering? The trafficker was evil, disgusting, dangerous, sick, etc., and he has this little girl or female whisper going on. That made everything he did, which was described in more detail than I wanted or needed, even more sickening.
That Allye was willing to thrust herself into danger with a psychopath who had already captured her once was ridiculous.
And what did these Mountain Mercenaries do? I felt like they sat around and waited to be told what to do by Rex. I expected a little more action from them.
The whole "kitten" thing was not cutesy. It was kind of creepy considering TB was keeping "pets". I also felt like considering the subject matter, the MMC was more concerned with his physical needs.
Finally, why with all the military experience they supposedly had, Allye (who was somewhat famous in the notoriously small dance world) got to wander around freely with no disguise, no camouflage of her name, no nothing in place to protect her?
I will give this 1.5 stars. I found it to be a little off putting.
Why did the narrator keep whispering? The trafficker was evil, disgusting, dangerous, sick, etc., and he has this little girl or female whisper going on. That made everything he did, which was described in more detail than I wanted or needed, even more sickening.
That Allye was willing to thrust herself into danger with a psychopath who had already captured her once was ridiculous.
And what did these Mountain Mercenaries do? I felt like they sat around and waited to be told what to do by Rex. I expected a little more action from them.
The whole "kitten" thing was not cutesy. It was kind of creepy considering TB was keeping "pets". I also felt like considering the subject matter, the MMC was more concerned with his physical needs.
Finally, why with all the military experience they supposedly had, Allye (who was somewhat famous in the notoriously small dance world) got to wander around freely with no disguise, no camouflage of her name, no nothing in place to protect her?
I will give this 1.5 stars. I found it to be a little off putting.