By
NY Times, Wall Street Journal &
USA Today Bestselling Author
Susan Stoker

From bestselling author Susan Stoker comes a sizzling new series about four former military operatives who rid the world of the worst of humanity while fighting to protect the best part of their lives: the women they love.

Former military operative Carson “Bull” Rhodes hasn’t dated seriously since he and his teammates left the army. Since then he’s opened Silverstone Towing—which is a front for his other job: hired killer. When kindergarten teacher Skylar Reid calls for help while stranded on the side of the interstate, the attraction is instant. The problem is Bull’s career has jaded him. Skylar’s innocent, and he wants to keep her that way.

Cautious by nature, Skylar never expected to fall in love with her tow truck driver. Even so, once Bull reveals what he really does for a living, she’s not sure she can handle it. When Skylar faces threats that have nothing to do with Bull’s job but are just as deadly, the stakes are higher than ever.

With the help of the Silverstone team, Bull will use everything he’s learned over the years to bring the woman he loves home—because the alternative is unthinkable.

Four Delta’s essentially forced out because of a judgement made on the scene of an assignment, given the opportunity to continue what they’re good at, serving their country. Under the now very profitable guise of a towing company, Silverstone Towing, these men continue to take out the top most wanted.

Now there’s an interesting twist for one of the guys, Carson ‘Bull’ Rhodes meets a woman on a tow call. He immediately goes into protective mode, from helping her select the right place to take her car to seeing she gets home okay.

A kindergarten teacher, Skylar Reid is a little flustered by the situation with her car. She seems a little naïve to Bull and for some reason Bull can’t help but educate her just a bit. There’s a definite attraction between them that puzzles both of them.

He talks her out of taking her car to a place known to cheat people and take it to Stanley’s Automotive instead. That way she’ll have a car while hers is being fixed. On the drive he talks to her about the children in her class and if she has favorites. One in particular he takes notes of asking the father’s name. Before she can’t ask him more about his curiosity they arrive at Stan’s.

This is a favorite scene.

After ten minutes of paperwork and teasing from Stan, Skylar followed him back outside to see her car sitting in a parking spot in front of the garage. She’d left her keys in the ignition and assumed Carson had moved it.

“I said I was gonna give you a choice as to the loaner you wanted, but I changed my mind,” Stan said, holding out a key ring to her. “You’re takin’ the Volvo.”

Skylar didn’t much care which car she drove as long as it got her to school and home in one piece. But when she saw the car in question, she couldn’t help but wince. The white older-model car looked like it had seen better days. The paint was peeling, and there was rust around the edges. It looked like a hunk of junk, but she’d never tell Stan that.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover,” Carson told her, obviously seeing her dismay. “It looks like a piece of shit, but I can guarantee she purrs like a kitten. If any of his loaners broke down, Stan would take it personally.”

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Skylar said politely.

Both Stan and Carson chuckled.

“She just got a new engine a few months ago,” Stan reassured her. “She was a complete overhaul. You’ll never drive anything as smooth as her, I promise. But considering you live at Southpoint, you couldn’t exactly pull in there with a Mercedes. It would draw too much attention. Nobody’ll take a second look at this piece of crap. They won’t try to steal it, because they’ll assume it won’t run well. Go on, get in and start ’er up. You’ll see.”

Skylar conceded his point, though she wasn’t exactly convinced the car wouldn’t fall apart around her. But when Carson held out his hand for the bouquet of flowers, she didn’t have much of a choice. Smiling at Stan, she climbed behind the wheel and put the key in the ignition. When the engine turned over, she looked up in surprise.

Once again, both men chuckled.

“Told ya,” Stan said.

“It’s so quiet!” Skylar exclaimed.

“Yup. She’ll get you where you need to go safely. She’s got no flash, but you don’t need any more attention on you than you’ve got already.”

Frowning, Skylar asked, “What does that mean?”

Instead of answering her, Stan turned to Carson. “She serious?”

Carson nodded. “Yup.”

“Damn. All right, I’ve got your digits. I’ll give you a call after I get under the hood of your car tomorrow,” Stan told her.

Skylar saw a look pass between the men that she couldn’t interpret. She had a feeling there were a lot of things going over her head, but she wasn’t about to ask. She’d always been kind of clueless when it came to innuendos, so she let it go.

“Sounds good,” she told Stan. “And I really appreciate you coming out tonight to meet us.”

“Of course. Bull’s a good man. One of the best. If you see Terrell, tell him you saw me and I said to be good,” Stan said. Then he turned and headed back for his shop. He locked the front door and went around the corner, probably to where he’d parked his own vehicle.

“You good?” Carson asked as he handed her the flowers he’d been carrying around. He’d also grabbed her messenger bag and gave that to her too.

Skylar looked up at him after putting the bouquet and bag on the seat next to her, feeling at a disadvantage since he was so tall and she was sitting in the car.

As if he could read her mind, Carson squatted beside her door so they were more or less eye to eye.

“I’m good,” she told him. “Thank you for coming.”

“Of course.” He paused, then said, “I’m going to follow you home. Not because I’m being creepy, but because I want to make sure you get there all right.”

“Stan’s loaner car isn’t as good as he claimed?” she asked.

“No, it’s not that. That car would get you all the way to California and back without any issues whatsoever. I just want to make sure you get home all right. It’s getting late and . . .”

“And you don’t like where I live,” Skylar finished for him.

He merely shrugged.

“It’s not that late,” she protested. “It’s only like nine.”

“Even so,” Carson said. “Nothing I say is going to change your mind, is it?” she asked.

Carson didn’t even break a smile. “If you told me it honestly made you uncomfortable and you didn’t want me to follow you, I’d respect that. But I swear that I only have your best interests in mind.”

“It’s okay if you follow me,” Skylar told him.

His lips twitched.

“But I’ve made it a rule not to let strays stay if they follow me home,” she joked.

The twitch turned into a real smile, and her heart swelled.

“What would you say if I asked if you’d like to go out for coffee or lunch sometime?” he asked.

Skylar stilled. She couldn’t believe this beautiful man was asking her out. Some people might assume he asked out every woman he picked up for a tow, but she had a feeling he was acting out of character. And when she paused a bit too long before answering, she knew for sure that he didn’t do this kind of thing all the time. A mask seemed to fall over his face, as if he wasn’t feeling anything at all. As if her answer wouldn’t faze him one way or another.

Hating that blank mask more than she wanted to admit, especially after making him smile and laugh several times that night, her hand landed on his forearm. He’d braced it on his knee, and it tightened at her touch.

“I’d like that. But I’m not free until the weekend . . . because, you know . . . teacher.”

“You don’t get time off for lunch at school?”

“I do, but I usually eat with the kids. It gives me time to catch up with former students, or if any of my kids needs some extra affection, that’s a great time to give it without being distracted by lessons or other classroom stuff that takes my attention during regular class time.”

He didn’t say anything for a long moment.

“Carson?” she asked tentatively. “Is that okay? I’m not blowing you off.”

“I know you aren’t,” he told her. “I bet you’re an amazing teacher. Your students are extremely lucky to have you.”

Skylar knew she was blushing once more. “I don’t know about that.”

“I do,” he said firmly. “And if you’re free this Saturday, I’d love to take you to lunch.”

Saturday. That was three days from now. Skylar wasn’t sure she could wait that long. But she forced herself to smile sedately. “Sounds good.”
Stoker, Susan. Trusting Skylar (Silverstone). Kindle Locations (856-905). Montlake. Kindle Edition.

This is the beginning of a relationship that Bull is so afraid isn’t going to last once she knows everything about him. After all, he along with his partners are essentially assassins for hire. What woman could possibly put up with that?

I fell in love with all the Silverstone men and the way they interact with Skylar and her students is priceless. Bull’s doubts and hesitation and that simmer to sizzle I love between him and Skylar.

There’s a lot that Susan covers in this book including the lack of funds that cause teachers to buy extra thing to augment their classrooms. While I am familiar with some Susan’s writing tactic’s, the twist in this story surprised me.

I really can’t wait for the next book in this series.

5 Contented Purrs for Susan!

Susan Stoker

Susan Stoker is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. Her series include Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes, SEAL of Protection, Delta Force Heroes, and Mountain Mercenaries. Married to a retired Army non-commissioned officer, Stoker has lived all over the country—from Missouri and California to Colorado and Texas—and currently lives under the big skies of Tennessee. A true believer in 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, or find her on Facebook. Links below.