Review: Stolen by Shiloh Walker

Posted October 23, 2012 by Vampbard in 4.5 stars, Military or Suspense Romance, Rating A Tags: , ,

Stolen
Author: Shiloh Walker 
Release Date: Oct. 30, 2012
Publisher: Ballantine
ISBN: 978-0345531902
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Format(s): Paperback (400 pgs), e-book
Book Source: Author/NetGalley
About the book:
Shay Morgan has stayed hidden for a long time. Living a reclusive life in Earth’s End, Alaska, she’s as far away as she can get from the trauma of her childhood and the man who hurt her long ago. But terror takes over Shay’s life yet again when an unknown stalker steals away the fragile peace she’s built for herself—targeting not only her but the one man who’s ever managed to get past the walls she’s built around herself.
Elliot Winter has lived through being falsely accused before—it ruined his military career. Now it’s happening all over again. And this time, his accuser is a twisted impostor who’s targeting his ex-girlfriend, Shay. Despite a fierce mutual attraction, Shay and Elliot broke up because Shay couldn’t let her guard down, couldn’t let Elliot in. But now they both need to trust each other to confront a psycho who seems to know all their secrets.
What VampBards talking about:
As usual, Ms. Walker brings us a whole lotta WTH in her soon-to-be-released title, Stolen.  Seriously.  A two-day book coma (not just a hangover – I can usually function with a hangover!).  
There’s not a lot I can tell you about Stolen without spoiling the story.  Here’s a quick run-down of the characters, and some of my favorite things about them… and possibly an innocuous quote:
Lorna is Elliot’s sister.  She does play a fabulous supporting role for both Shay and Elliot.  She’s rooting for them to be together.
Darcy is Shay’s college friend and current assistant that seems to have grown a bit too big for her britches, providing commentary on Shay’s personal life:

“Men do assaholic things all the time, don’t they?”

Darcy seems to be a source of stress for Shay, and stress is never a good thing.
Shay, our heroine.  I really adore the fact that she’s independent, and that she attempts martyr.  Let’s simply say that Shay lived through hell – before the book even starts – and that makes her who she is today.  The one thing that endears Shay to my heart as a candidate for female character of the year is that she makes a solid decision to NOT be a victim any longer.  This girl has it bad for Elliot from the beginning:  

“His eyes also blazed with color – burnished gold.  Like whiskey, they made her drunk, but without that pesky hangover.”

Shay is one of the timeless heroines; she doesn’t exist simply in this time and place (the context of the novel).  Shay can be every single one of us.
Elliot is our hero.  Every step of the way, I found myself rooting for this guy.  It’s really, really hard to describe the situations in which I was rooting for him without spoiling the story…  Elliot is still completely hung up on Shay, even though he broke up with her.  She still affects him:

“Need punched through him a second before the recognition hit.  His body, his heart … those parts of him remembered Shay just a little better than his mind did.”

Elliot is definitely swoon-worthy, earning an 8 on the hottie meter for me.  It’s not just how a guy looks that earns him points on the hottie meter…it’s how he treats a woman, and all the emotional junk too.  
Be ready to read Stolen in one sitting.  There aren’t very many lulls that promote putting the book down to sleep, go to work, make dinner for the kids.  With expertly crafted conflict and conflict resolution, Ms. Walker has provided her readers with a chilling, suspenseful tale that provides realistic characters as our hero and heroine.  Nothing better for a reader than being able to relate to the characters.  I anxiously await another new title from Shiloh Walker…but until then, I’ll catch up on her back titles!
VampBards Rating:
Loved it – enthusiastically recommend (A)


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