Title: Trusting Molly (Silverstone 3)
Author: Susan Stoker
Published: July, 2021
Publisher: Montlake
Readership: Adult
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Rating: ★★★.5
Content Warnings:
I received a copy of Trusting Molly from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
From New York Times bestselling author Susan Stoker comes a heart-pounding installment in the Silverstone series about a love-shy ex-military man and a beautiful scientist reeling from a family tragedy.
When Mark “Smoke” Chamberlin ventures into the Nigerian jungle with his team of government assassins, his mission is clear: get in, kill the target, and make it out alive. With his extensive military experience, Smoke has no problem heading into dangerous territory. When it comes to love, though, he’s always been a little wary. But then he meets the beautiful, intrepid Molly Smith.
Schoolteacher Molly has been trying to outrun a lifetime of bad luck, and now she finds herself kidnapped along with a hundred schoolgirls in the jungle. But when Smoke finds them, Molly thinks her luck might be turning around—until she returns to the US to find her beloved grandparents murdered.
Devastated by their deaths and mystified by the turn of events, Molly turns to Smoke for comfort. But as Molly and Smoke grow closer, a different threat emerges…one that will put their relationship to the test and their lives in grave danger.
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Trusting Molly was my first Susan Stoker book, but it won’t be my last.
Mark and his team of Government-sanctioned assassins have been sent into the Nigerian jungle to track down a warlord who has kidnapped a group of young girls, and an American woman, Molly. Mark is the best at what he does, but he doesn’t expect Molly, and her determination to survive the situation she has found herself in. Determined to protect her, he takes her home to give her a safe space, only to find himself falling for her.
I really enjoyed this. Mark, and his team (whose stories I would be really interested in going back to read) are the best in the field, but their day job is running a mechanic business. These highly trained soldiers, who are all alpha characters, are also very dedicated to their heroines. Rather than being over-the-top, Mark comes across as a man who wants to help Molly, who sees her strength (instead of viewing her as a victim) and who wants her to be in his life because she chooses to be there. And while the situation Molly finds herself in at the beginning of the book lends itself to her being the ‘damsel,’ she’s really not. She’s tough, determined and independent, but she doesn’t outright reject Mark’s help, which was a nice change.
The writing and pacing of the story was excellent and I was compelled to keep turning the pages to find out what was going to happen next. While there were cameos by characters who already had their own stories, you could read this comfortably on its own (but I suspect you’d be intrigued enough by those characters to pick up their books). I can’t wait to continue reading more of Susan Stoker’s books.
Noveltea Corner 