The Hero

Game of Chance, Book 3

By: Susan Stoker

Narrated by: Lucy Rivers, Aaron Shedlock

In this thrilling romance from New York Times bestselling author Susan Stoker, an ex-military man is on a mission to rescue a wrongfully imprisoned archaeologist—and to make her rightfully his.

Any soldier who gets out of the service with his life should be happy to leave danger behind. Though his army brothers are content running their new business in Maine, Kendric “Bob” Evans isn’t ready to give up the fight. He’s been supplementing his hours with covert rescue missions organized by the FBI. But his latest charge may be more than he bargained for.

Marlowe Kennedy is on a routine archaeology dig in Thailand when she’s arrested for drug trafficking. She has suspicions about the true culprit, but even when she’s rescued from prison, there’s nothing she can do about it without proof. Her protective bodyguard’s only objective is to keep her safe until they cross the border into friendly territory.

The best way to do that? Travel as man and wife.

After returning to Maine, as Bob and Marlowe navigate this treacherous terrain with the help of their friends, they face vengeful authorities, a vindictive frame job, and perhaps most important of all—turning their fake marriage into something real.

©2024 by Susan Stoker. (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Love Bob and Marlow!

This quickie book was full of adventure and lust. Kendrick “aka Bob” and Marlow were believable characters. The plot just opened and closed quickly. Not that it was bad, just surprised, there was something constantly happening. Can’t wait till Jack and April’s book releases.

Unputdownable

Bob and Marlow are music in my ears! What starts off as a rescue of an innocent archeologist turns into the beginning of forever for these two. As with the others in this series, Bob and Marlow are definitely instalove and despite not usually being my favorite trope, I love how Susan writes their deep connection so quickly.

Insta-love, marriage of convenience, suspense, AND free narration!

Story: 9/10
Spice: 2/5
Spice Hierarchy: Open Door
Narration: ⅗

Kendric “Bob” Evans is asked to rescue Marlowe Kennedy from a Thai jail after she was wrongly arrested from her archaeological dig site. They spend a week surviving together on the run. After just surviving, they have to decide if they want it to be real. Plus trying to clear Marlowe’s name.


I LOVE RELATIONSHIP OF CONVENIENCE. The fact that this one was for their survival. I was here for it. Each book in this series is insta-love with a one bed trope (the characters even point it out and I loved that). While each book has similar elements, this one is my favorite so far. I loved the suspense in this one of Marlowe and Kendric being on the run for most of the story. It allowed it to not feel as if they were letting the suspense happen to them. Kendric is so in love with Marlowe when they are back stateside and I loved the moments when he realizes she is getting healthy again.

I loved Lucy Rivers for Marlowe. It made her character sound so strong (and she was). I think this is my first Aaron Shedlock narration and I loved it. His ability to narrate as both the male and female characters was really well done.

This one is available through KU and included in Listen and Read with KU membership!

Love this Series, but…

Love the story, love the writing. My biggest hang up was with the narrators. The first time I heard Aaron Shedlock was as a villain (I think in Finding Elodie), so I have his voice typecast as a bad guy (in my head) and have trouble hearing him as a leading lover. I could overlook that EXCEPT both he and the female narrator (I’m blank on her name right now) READ the words. They aren’t giving the characters any Character. Too bland and only occasionally when vocalizing actual dialogue do they come out of it and seem animated. So, I’ve re-listened and still have the same feeling. It’s worth the story and the series flow but a real disappointment with the voicing.

High adrenaline, instalove action romance

Bob is a code name and his mission is to break Marlowe Kennedy out of jail in Thailand where she was framed by an associate who she caught stealing on an archeological dig. Kendric “Bob” Evans was determined to get Marlowe out of Thailand, even marrying and wading through fecal water to keep her safe. Marlowe trusted Kendric initially because she had no choice, then through her owning feelings for him. Once safe though, they needed to clear Marlowe’s name as she was still an international fugitive. Kendric and his found family members were up to that task, but Marlowe was angry enough to take the lead.

This was high adrenaline, instalove action. I would have loved to see more archeology in the book, but it did start with a prison break and they were running for their lives for a better part of the book. When they did get to the US, it did slow a bit until they had to find a way to clear Marlowe’s name. They did fall in love very quickly and had their HEA but not before confronting the bad guy! This book was a lot of fun! The writing is good. The romance is good. The plot is good. I would recommend it!