#thrillingromanticsuspense

[echoesofbooks]

Brooke -- Ronie Kendig

Releasing February 6th, 2023! It can be purchased here

Prioritizing career over family cost Brooke Metcalfe Mulroney everything—her relationship with her siblings, her marriage, her children. Written off by her family, she delves deeper into her work. Until a life-altering moment offers a chance at something she didn’t know she wanted—redemption. But her self-centered ways nip at her heels as she goes on the lam to do what she knows is right.

Former Special Forces operator and founder of MiLE, Cord Taggart wages war on human trafficking by taking the violence to the wicked, determined to never again let an innocent die because he did nothing. But maybe he’s bitten off more than he can chew this time as he works to track down New York City high-powered attorney Brooke Metcalfe, who is MIA. Then there’s her brothers who have threatened to chase him into the afterlife should he fail.

Tricky are the hours as Cord negotiates many battles: freeing the captives, demolishing the Trench that has made millions off the skin-trade industry, and his growing, deep-rooted feelings for the bombshell in her highfalutin tower. Brooke must put her life—and heart—in the hands of the thick-skulled operator.

4.5 Stars!!

Holy crap!! Okay, so prefacing this with 2 things: a)If you haven't read the previous Metcalfe books ( Stone , Willow and Range ), it's probably best that you do that first. Or just be aware that there's parts you might miss. And b)This book is hard. It's tough. It shows the dirty world of trafficking and doesn't pull a single punch. But don't let that get you down. This book does show that there are people who are looking for those victims. It shows that there is hope.

Now that we've got that little disclaimer out of the way...

Brooke has been present in the previous books but she's been very cagey and clearly hiding something as she runs away from Cord, but you never quite got the full picture of who she was/what she was doing (I mean, it makes sense since this was her book and everything but she definitely peaked my interest in the last books). I will admit to rolling my eyes just a bit when she admitted to herself that she was probably in over her head and needed help yet still refused to reach out to Cord. I could have maybe understood not reaching out to her brother's because the situation was the slightest bit complicated. But she ended up reaching out to him anyway (even if she actively tried to stop it at first) and he did come after her, so it kind of worked out. I did wish there'd been a little more on her past/the broken relationship with her ex and her kids. Like, she told Cord how things happened/why she ended up divorced but towards the end, it seemed like she was wanting to reach out but we never got to see whether she did or not. Little thing, but I feel like I could have used a little bit of a wrap-up/closure on that aspect of things.

I've kind of loved Cord from the beginning. He was able to give as good as he got when it came to all the snark and sass that came his way and it was clear that he cared about Brooke, even if he was trying to ignore (not that he tried all that hard) his interest in her. I did want someone to throttle him for his assumptions when it was revealed that Mazin and the kids were living with her. Yeah, things were half setup to point that direction but all he had to go on were pictures on a fridge and Ishwin's comments. Yet everyone jumped to "I can't believe they're sleeping together" without bothering to consider what else could be going on. Again acknowledging that there was a ton of evidence that pointed one way, I just...I feel like even before they saw all of the evidence, everyone was half condemning Brooke.

I did wish there'd been a little bit on the reunions of people. Like, we didn't need to see all the kids getting reunited, but it would have been nice to see Willow and Chiji reunited with Ginika and Adesina. Or Mazin meeting back up with Jehan and Caliyah. It kind of felt like that part got shoved to the back in order to get to Brooke and Cord's HEA. Little thing, but I did wish we'd gotten to see it.

[thieambe]

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[echoesofbooks]

Willow -- Ronie Kendig

CW: Rape/attempted rape

This book really just took off from the beginning. From page one, you got a hint of danger and it really never let up. The things Willow and the others had to endure weren't easy by any stretch. Ronie Kendig did a good job of showing the horrors that the victims of human trafficking can endure, but also showed how hope can shine through even if you have to look harder to find it.

I liked that through everything, even when she was scared, Willow still managed to hold onto her fire. I liked that she thought of the others and was trying to keep them as safe as she could, even knowing there were going to be times she couldn't do anything. I liked how she took to Ife and wanted to protect him. Initially, it did seem like she was close to giving up but then things were revealed with Chiji and she got her hope back. Then she got them safely to land and at the end, she was going to be willing to do something she never thought, in order to protect Chiji this time. I did kind of waver on her frustration with God/when Chiji would ask her to pray. My own relationship with God/religion is complicated I'll admit but as much as I hate it, even I recognize that sometimes the answers aren't always what we want.

Chiji was great. I loved the way he was kind of a mentor to Tox, back in the Tox Files books and I did have to laugh at that conversation at the beginning. Kind of hope Tox and Haven are able to come and visit. Even though Chiji knew he wouldn't be able to stop everything, I did like the fact that he did what he could initially. Then it became too much, so he did what he had to to get Willow to safety. The whole thing with Chiasoka is interesting, and definitely has me the slightest bit worried. I hope Chiji is able to find her again and bring her back, but there's a small part of me that's worried that she's a little more willing than anyone is wanting to acknowledge. I also hope he's able to help Willow find Nkechi and the twins along with the others that were offloaded before they jumped off the boat

Like always, I loved the cameos! Not only with Tox, but there was a reference to Trinity/Breed Apart and then of course Canyon and Stone. Hopefully we get more cameos and maybe Leif/Iskra get to make an appearance?

Range was interesting, although I'll admit I wanted to smack him. I do want to know more about the reasons he's basically cut ties. He admitted himself that he wasn't planning on talking to any of his family again and coming from an interesting dynamic myself, there's baggage around statements like that. And then there was his call to Cord and let's just say I'm glad his book is next!

Of course Range's book being next means we have to wait a little longer to figure out what Brooke's up to. I really hope that it's not the fact that she somehow got involved in this ring that they're tracking and more like she's trying to go lone wolf (which is still stupid but at least that way Cord gets to save her; well, he's probably going to save her anyway but yeah)