Stone
She cost him everything. Now, he’s forced to protect her.
Stone Metcalfe embodies the Metcalfe legacy—blue eyes, an unfair amount of good looks, and hardcore patriot-laced character. But a foolish lapse in judgment dismantles his name and career. Humiliated and furious, he retreats to his mountain lodge to hide from media hounds and eke out a new life. However, one phone call from an old Army buddy upends Stone’s best-laid plans. Supermodel Brighton Buchanan had designers and men eating out of her hand until a terrible mistake trapped her in the soul-eating world of human trafficking. Years later, she is used by her captors to take down the best man she’s ever known. The man she loves. Hope lost, she’s unexpectedly freed—and thrown back into Stone’s life. Being forgiven is out of the question considering how much he hates her. Believing danger and her are one wrong move away, Brighton will do anything to keep him from being ruined again—even if it means going back to that life. As everything is falling apart and threats mount against Brighton, Stone realizes forgiveness is the easy part. Protecting her—and his heart—is another story.
MY REVIEW: 4.5/5 Stars!
So exciting getting to see more of the Metcalfe's! We got introduced to Canyon back in the Discarded Heroes series, and by extension, a brief intro to other Metcalfe's through that series. Then of course, we got Leif's story in Storm Rising. And now, we're getting the rest of the family! Overall, Stone was great. I did want to smack him for the way he was treating Brighton. Yes, what happened was bad and she did play a part in it, but at the same time, her choice wasn't as black and white as he wanted things to be. I was glad that he finally pulled his head out and listened to her. And then realized why he was as mad about things as he was. Then of course, I loved that he threw himself into trying with everything he had (loved the way he started trying to get her to understand he wasn't going to let anyone hurt her). Brighton was interesting. On the one hand, it was interesting watching her fighting to decide if she could even try to hope. I could understand her not wanting to be around Stone when he was being a butt, and that she maybe wasn't thinking too clearly, but I did have to wonder at why she thought running away was a good idea. I did like that she seemed to feel like Stone was worth the chance, so she kind of thought about sticking around. I did wish she'd managed to signal or something when Finch showed up. I did like the fact that she got Mari out of the car though. There were some grammatical/spelling errors scattered through the book that distracted me/pulled me out of things. And I will admit that I would have loved a little more on how Horvath located Brighton and everything. That part seemed to get a little glossed over; Stone got the call and then they're defending the lodge and he's acknowledging how he feels. I mean, I was glad that everything with those feelings got resolved but I did feel like the path to get there was a little foggy and could have been cleared a bit more. I loved the Zulu reference/cameo and the Nightshade cameos! Please tell me more of those are coming? I mean, since it is Canyon's team and this series is about the Metcalfe's, at the very least, the rest of Nightshade has to step in to help, right? And will we get to see how Leif and Iskra are handling life? Also maybe a throwback/cameo to Tox?