JUSTICE FOR HOPE (Badge of Honor:Texas Heroes #12) by Susan Stoker-Review Tour
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 18, 2018
Hiding from her ex is exhausting enough, but for Hope Drayden, putting her seven-year-old son through a life on the run and living on the streets has been mentally torturous. When a kind diner owner offers her a job, Hope begins to claw her way toward a new beginning for herself and Billy, one tip at a time. But since her son’s recent abduction, and with threats from her ex still fresh in her mind, she’s constantly looking over her shoulder. Then a surprising, and lucky, tip from a diner regular puts yet another target on their backs.
At the request of a friend, medical examiner Calder Stonewall has been looking for Hope and Billy for weeks. When they unexpectedly show up at the scene of a crime, his interest soon becomes personal. He’s amazed by the beautiful, brave woman and her resilient son. He’s also surprised by his growing need to take care of them both, although winning Hope’s trust won’t be easy. But when a tragedy thrusts the couple together, Calder quickly proves he’s a man Hope can rely on.
Which is a good thing…because she’ll need all his support, and love, to get through a threat they never saw coming.
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REVIEW: JUSTICE FOR HOPE is the twelfth instalment in Susan Stoker’s contemporary, adult BADGE OF HONOR: TEXAS HEROES romantic suspense series. This is forty-year old medical examiner Calder Stonewall, and thirty-two year old diner waitress/single mother Hope Drayden’s story line. JUSTICE FOR HOPE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary. Hope was first introduced in SHELTER FOR BLYTHE book #11.
Told from dual third person points of view (Calder and Hope) JUSTICE FOR HOPE follows the building relationship and romance between forty-year old medical examiner Calder Stonewall, and thirty-two year old diner waitress/single mother Hope Drayden. Single mother Hope Drayden and her seven-year old Billy are on the run from an abusive ex who isn’t above threatening our story line heroine. With no friends or family to whom to turn, Hope finds herself in the town of San Antonio, Texas where she struggles to earn enough money to support her small family. Several months earlier Billy Drayden was kidnapped by pedophile Jonathan Jones, and in the ensuing time has not spoken a word or communicated verbally. But the recent death of a homeless veteran finds our heroine face to face with her future in the guise of medical examiner Calder Stonewall, a man sent to look for Hope by her friend Blythe Coopman. What ensues is the slow building relationship and romance between Hope and Calder, and the potential fall-out as jealousy and betrayal attempt to destroy Hope’s precarious hold on life.
As a waitress, Hope depends upon the generosity of customers but the jealousy of fellow co-workers threatens Hope’s hard fought need to stay one step ahead of her abusive past. Calder Stonewall has been attracted to Hope from the very start but our heroine is reluctant to trust any man with her heart as well as the safety of her son.
The relationship between Hope and Calder is slow to develop as Calder bides his time with the woman who has stolen his heart. The limited $ex scenes are passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.
There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters, many of whom cross over from the author’s other series. We are introduced to Hope’s boss, and diner owner Joseph Roberts who takes Hope’s son Billy under his wing; as well as fellow co-workers and waitresses Donna, Audrey, Hannah and Tori.
The world building focuses on the building relationship and trust between Hope and Calder, and the struggles of a single mom trying to make it on her own. Most if not all of Susan’s heroes are impossibly perfect, and the women in their lives have physical and emotional issues that have left lasting scars.
JUSTICE FOR HOPE is an engaging, entertaining and romantic storyline. The premise is touching; the romance is intimate; the characters are real and tender.
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Sandy
New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author, Susan Stoker has a heart as big as the state of Texas where she lives, but this all-American girl has also spent the last fourteen years living in Missouri, California, Colorado, and Indiana. She’s married to a retired Army man who now gets to follow her around the country.
She debuted her first series in 2014 and quickly followed that up with the SEAL of Protection Series, which solidified her love of writing and creating stories readers can get lost in.
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