4 Not Dating Stars
* * * * Spoiler Free
Susan Stoker has put together a series which has all the alpha males you could want. In Defending Harlow, (Mountain Mercenaries #4), we continue the lives of these men who had dedicated their lives to protect and save those weaker than them. This group is guided by the leader none have physically met, yet respect and allow to direct their efforts in saving women and children when necessary.

Through many of these missions, these men have met and fallen for the women they saved. Lowell "Black" has watched and felt the twinge of "what if" when he thinks about his own life. He never was a relationship guy and knows he is too dark or bad for that to actually happen...but he also can't help feeling like something might be missing.

Lowell goes the women's shelter to assist with self-defense lessons the guys give and he was surprised to see a blast from his past high school days. When he was a senior back where he lived, he remembered another younger student being in the yearbook class they had. Harlow was smart, fun, a little clumsy and cute. Now she was all grown up, mid-thirties and was the new chef for the shelter. Hellos were made with a brief catch up of how they both ended up in Colorado Springs. Harlow was a bit stunned to see her school crush all grown up as this Manly Man.

What causes a deeper conversation between the two is how there has been verbal harassment of the women and children. At first, it wasn't more than calling out an annoyance but then it escalated. Harlow calls Lowell to follow up on the offer he had made to assist if the kids or women needed any help. After a quick call, Lowell rushes over to see what was happening... and he had a really bad feeling about it.

Lowell and Harlow talk about the situation and in the course Lowell's interrogations about what had actually happened, he finds out Harlow hasn't been dating for a while now. The reason; Harlow has been the worst dating person known to man. She has experienced all of the worst dates ever. Men, who want to roofy her, men who are interested in her feet, men who propose at first meetings... you get the picture. Because of this, Harlow does not date. Period.

This is a problem because Lowell wants to date her hardcore. He feels so comfortable around her, he feels relaxed and kinda happy. As a smart, savvy ex-Navy SEAL, he knows he has to figure out how to date her without her thinking they are dating. Challenged issued...Mission Accepted.

All of this is the sweet part of the story. The other part is the mystery, suspense of who is threatening the shelter, why and what will happen. Although the story was crafted a particular way to lead readers in one direction, for me it was not hidden at all. I knew what was up and even though I did, I still enjoyed the tale. Remembering this is a series, with all the past histories of the secondary characters, there needed to have all of them involved in the mystery part. Eventually, it all came together and we received the discovery we needed to finish off the bad guys.

The best part as I mentioned was the sweet caring of Lowell and his journey of falling hard for Harlow. She was also a woman who had experienced much, causing her to be wary of men and their motives for going out with her. What made everything good was how she instinctively knew Lowell was solid and would never hurt her purposely.

This series will continue with the next fella's story; Ball better watch out, the Swat Officer he will be working with is one tough lady.

A gifted copy was provided by Montlake Romance via NetGalley for an honest review.

Susan Stoker's fourth book in the Mountain Mercenaries series is Lowell's story.  Lowell hasn't been in a relationship for a while.  He gets bored, he can't handle clingy.  Things start to change when Harlow, a girl Lowell knew from high school, turns out to be the chef at a local women's shelter.  Harlow is single.  She is single because dating has been a disaster of epic proportions and she is over it all.   When thugs decide to harass the women living and working at the shelter, Harlow calls in Lowell for help. Lowell helps then decides he is going to sneak past Harlow's "no's" to dating.

This is a sweet story with a good dose of laughs (the dating stories alone are hilarious), a suspenseful side story, and a nice slow burn towards a bit of steam.  Lowell is the good guy who needs a brick to fall on his head to get what his heart is telling him.  He falls for the girl without even realizing it.  Harlow is the independent woman whose crispy edges almost makes her miss what is right in front of her face.   The story moves along at a neat pace making for an easy, fun read.  The characters are likable with chemistry between the leads,  the story intriguing with just the right amount of action.

A good choice for a summer beach read and the cover offers up some seriously smoking hot arm porn. :)

3.5/5.0

The premise and overall storyline in this romantic suspense was unique and enjoyable. I loved that Harlow was a chef for a woman's shelter, that she loved her job and seemed to be more of an "every-woman." I love that Black saw all the goodness that is in Harlow was attracted to it and pursued that attraction.

I just never did feel any depth in the story. It read,at least for me, as a great surface-only book... a great story but with no real depth. That may be because it is the fourth in the series but the first I have read. Even still, though, the situations, people and suspense never really sunk in to "experience it" level.

This is book four in the Mountain Mercenaries series and can be read as a stand-alone. The series does not contain an ongoing plot arc to which the reader needs to be aware. The narrative is straightforward and typical for the genre. The characters served their purpose but those looking for a deep connection may feel slighted. There is intermediate level of tension rather than suspense throughout the novel. This may be due to the slower pace and the procrastination of major events. Overall, it felt anticlimactic and predictable.

Thank you to #NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DEFENDING HARLOW by Susan Stoker. Well, what can I say? Ms. Stoker sure has a knack for writing tales with strong alpha Heroes and, independent heroines, that need a little help once in a while from those strong Heroes. Harlow and Lowell, a/k/a Black, have reconnected and their connection is evident. Harlow, having had many, many horrible dates, has sworn off dating. Lowell, being the smart and suave character he is, manages to slip under her defenses without her even realizing it. I loved it! His "non-dates" were awesome! Of course, it wouldn't be a Susan Stoker story without danger and there is that too. I did feel the danger wasn't at quite the same level as some of her other stories, but Lowell and Harlow made up for it tenfold. Cannot wait for Ball's story next (fingers crossed)! (received ARC for honest review)

I read ARCs of the other books in this series and I loved the first three books a lot, so I was excited when I heard about this book releasing! I then received an ARC and made it my next read because the synopsis sounded amazing! After reading this book, I have to say that I loved it a lot! The plot had me hooked right from the first chapter and I had a hard time putting it down! This meant that this book only took me a few sittings to read! The plot had plenty of romance in it and the romance allowed for some very sweet and hot scenes! There was some action and suspense too, which added a lot to the plot! There wasn't as much action and suspense as there have been in other books in this series, but there were a few heart stopping moments! The characters were also amazing and made this book even better! Harlow was the main female character, and I can't remember if she made appearance in the third book in this series, but I think she did! I loved Harlow in this book! She was very sweet and it was easy to see how much she cared about the women and children in the women's shelter! Harlow was also easy for me to connect with and she was grew a lot in this book and put herself in danger to protect others! Lowell “Black” was the main male character and love interest of Harlow! I loved Black in the other books in this series, so I was really excited to read his story! Black was such an amazing guy in this book! He was such a gentleman and I loved the way he was with Harlow! He was protective of her and challenged her to do things that she wouldn't normally do! Black also worked hard and he did work a dangerous job, but he did it because he wanted to look after others and help them! This made me have a lot of respect for him! I loved that this book was written from both Harlow and Black's point of views! I was expecting this because the other books in this series have been written from dual point of view, so I'm really happy that this book was too! It helped me connect more with both Harlow and Black and understand them more! It allowed for more things to happen in the plot too, especially as both characters didn't spend every minute of the book together and were going through their own situations! This book was also written in third person, which I normally don't like, but this author's books are so good that I've been able to read quite a few of her books without any problems, which makes me so happy! I'm assuming that there's going to be another book in this series because of the ending of this book! I can't wait to read it! I can't find any information on the next book on Amazon or Goodreads, but I hope that it releases soon! I still have quite a few of this author's other books to read though, so I have plenty to keep me busy until the next book in this series! The cover for this book is also seriously hot! I love how well it matches the covers of the other books and it would definitely draw me to it if I didn't recognise the author's name! The cover model is also the perfect Black! Big thank you to Susan, Montlake Romance and Netgalley for an ARC of Defending Harlow!