Defending Allye is the first book in the Mountain Mercenaries series by Susan Stoker. It is related to the Ace Security series, but it does stand up fine on its own or as a continuation of the previous series.
Ever since his rescue op off the Pacific Coast, Mountain Mercenary Gray Rogers hasn’t been able to forget his latest “job”—Allye Martin. Any other woman would have panicked during a rescue, but the wily dancer kept her cool—even after being kidnapped by an elusive human trafficker. And Gray couldn’t be happier when a grateful Allye follows him home to Colorado Springs. For Allye, finding sanctuary in the arms—and bed—of the former Navy SEAL is only temporary. People are disappearing off the streets of San Francisco, victims of the same underground trade that targeted her, and Allye could be the key to dismantling the entire operation. She’s willing to do anything to bring them down. Gray isn’t—for good reason. But you don’t say no to a tough girl like Allye who refuses to play it safe. Now Gray is risking more than ever before. The Mountain Mercenaries have his back. But is it enough to keep the woman he loves out of harm’s way?
Defending Allye is a quick, exciting read that starts right in the thick of the action. Gray is still dealing with his past and the emotion issues that come with it, and Allye has her own emotional baggage. Dealing with the danger of a human trafficking ring, and the fact that the man in charge of that ring wants Allye for himself keeps the characters and readers on edge for the majority of the story. The unwrapping of emotional baggage and dealing with the emotional ties between Gray and Allye is well done, and I liked the secondary characters and how they had important parts to play in the character's development. I will admit that I spent a good amount of the book waiting for the other shoe to drop, sometimes it felt too long or that it might not ever come, but when it did it was very well executed and had a few surprises for me.
Defending Allye is exactly what I was expecting from Stoker, strong minded characters facing emotional barriers as well as outside dangers. The style is starting to feel a little tired to me, but I think that is more because of me binge reading recently rather than any fault with the book. Fans of Stoker will happily read this, and the books that follow in the new series.
