4.5 Smooches!

Synopsis

When rugged bounty hunter Ryder Axton is hired to hunt down a cartel leader for a seven digit bounty, he doesn’t expect to find federal witness Rachel Farrington being held captive in the perp’s basement. For Ryder, shit gets personal and the routine arrest becomes a rescue mission. And he will stop at nothing to make Rachel safe.
Farrington has been in the basement for seven days. She knows the only reason she’s still alive and unharmed is because of her market value in the overseas sex-slave trade. That’s how Eduardo Miguel plans to keep her from testifying after seeing him brutally murder her fellow student—and how he’ll manage to pay off his enormous debt to the cartel for a botched drug deal at the same time.
Terrified and desperate, Farrington will do whatever it takes to escape her captors—including kill—the first opportunity she gets. So when Ryder, a scarred, rough, foul-mouthed, smooth talking, criminal tries to persuade her he’s rescuing her—even though she knows it’s just another part of the act to manipulate her in attempts to keep her calm and “undamaged” upon delivery—she sees her chance.
But when two rival gangs wage war above their heads and Ryder and Rachel are forced to take cover in the dark and deadly east Texas bayou, trusting one another for survival, they both realize they might never see another sunrise.
Can they both defy death . . . again?

Review

I’ve followed the charming and incredibly talented Allie since her first True North book published and have been an avid reader of her series’ since then.  There is something within her that is able to so easily dissect each and every character, giving them their own unique identity whilst also portraying realistically the lasting effects that their pasts can have on their future lives, their emotions, behaviours and ultimately their ability to make good choices.  Defy is an action-packed, gun-toting, thrill chase of drug cartels, kidnappings, corruption and a fragile yet hopeful willingness to put your trust in someone you barely know but who has the anti-hero mantel down pat.

Ryder is a terrific blend of sarcastic and sweet, he’s dark and light and has experienced some of the most horrific things in his lifetime and in turn those events have shaped him into this tattooed, Rambo that has a desperate need to save the girl and kill the bad guy.  Rachel is the damsel in question that after having witnessed something terrible and tragic is sent under witness protection but after it all goes seriously wrong, she and Ryder must work together to stay alive long enough to work through the myriad of murky emotions that each brings out in the other.

‘“Your life will go back to normal sooner than you think.  You’ll be back in classes and on that career track of yours, you’ll have a boyfriend, and all of this will only be a fading memory.”

“Do you really believe I could forget you so quickly?”  I whisper, overcome.

Ryder brings his lips to my ear and in a hushed tone that is simple as a breath he says, “Then don’t.”’

Allie’s writing in Defy is electrifying, she paints the action scenes so vividly with terrific attention to detail so you feel like you’re watching a full-fledged action hero movie in your head.  Each new book that she releases just seems to get better, the writing more mature, the characters more intriguing and diverse and the story as a whole more enthralling and addictive.  In Defy there is a fantastic quality and range of emotion to be explored, there are some really funny moments as well tender and super sexy to counterbalance the drama and violence.  The Brothers of Ink and Steel is one of the best series’ out there to buy right now and each book goes from strength to strength as does Allie’s writing and imagination.  I cannot wait to see what she has in store for us next.

~Nicole

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