Knox

Author: Susan May Warren
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Romance

He's not looking for trouble...

Montana rancher Knox Marshall's danger years are behind him. A former bull-rider, he now runs the Marshall family ranch, raising champion bucking bulls for the National Professional Bullrider's Expo (NBR-X). Wealth and success are his, but life is stable, expected, and…ordinary. But he wants more from life...

But trouble is looking for her...

Kelsey Jones just wants a safe life, a family, a home. Onstage, the beautiful rising star of the Yankee Belles becomes the person she longs to be - vivacious and confident - burying the brokenness she carries from a violent assault. Becoming NBR-X’s next country act is key to outrunning her past and achieving the success and security she craves.

When trouble finds them both...

Knox and Kelsey's paths collide when an explosion at an NBR-X event traps them in the rubble and leaves them reeling. Kelsey’s crippling nightmares return, but for Knox, an obsession to find the bomber is ignited.

What will it cost him to protect her? 

When Kelsey’s past threatens Knox’s family, he'll have to choose between saving the Marshall legacy or becoming the protector he's always longed to be.

The explosive first book in the Montana Marshall series!

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Reviewer: Cheryl Colwell

I’ve always enjoyed Susie May’s romantic suspense series, and Knox: The Montana Marshalls is no exception. In fact, it’s creating real-life suspense for me to have to wait for the next book in the series.

Knox and his family are each colorful, fascinating characters with bright futures as the stars in their own story. This first story is set in rugged, romantic Montana, which I adore. I get to live there through the characters and cheer them on their journeys to wholeness and of course, love. Susie May doesn’t hold back on the suspense, either. The nasty attacks from the antagonist (who is he/she really?) kept me on the edge of my seat. Loved the spiritual thread woven through the characters’ lives. I give this book five stars!

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Reviewer: Becky Hrivnak

Wow! Couldn't put it down. As always, Warren does a wonderful job of keeping me turning the pages! 

Always adventure. Always suspense. Always a hunky guy...but always a different storyline to keep me hooked! Loved Knox and can't wait to get to know the rest of the family! 

I received a copy of the book from the author through Interviews and Reviews website. All thoughts and comments are my own.

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Reviewer: Wendy Holley

“I won’t let you go. I’m going to get you out of here.”

That is what Knox says and lives by. He’s a man of his word. He’s a tough bull-riding cowboy with a soft side that is endearing. The family dynamics between Knox and his brothers, along with his mother, is believable.

Knox is the only guy who could get close enough to Kelsey and help her feel safe. Sadly, Kelsey has a very tortured past and it is this past that the author builds the character around. So much so, that it’s hard to get to know Kelsey as a character since her character is tightly wrapped around what happened to her as a teen. She felt a little one dimensional.

As the suspense of who is after Kelsey plays out, there are other possibilities that are introduced and lead the reader in another direction. However, who the bad guy(s) are isn’t clear. Due to not wanting to spoil the punch line, I’m not going to give details. But as a reader who loves a good suspense, I felt a little cheated.

I was left wondering did he or did he not blow up the bus? Was he the bad guy who found the ranch and Kelsey or was it another bad guy? These questions were not resolved.

When a bad guy found the girls, they hid behind a bench on a hill top? What? Surely, they’d be seen. There was a missed opportunity. The author had foreshadowed a hiding place behind the waterfall that would have hidden them better than a bench on a hill.

Who was the bad guy who found the ranch? We don’t know.

True to the title, this is a story about Knox who gets caught up in the life of a tortured soul, Kelsey. But other than Knox having a savior complex, I am not sure why he falls in love with Kelsey.

In the end, Kelsey is on stage, in her safe place, when Knox takes down the bad guy. Kelsey is not granted the opportunity to stand up to her demon and face her past. When the heroine is as broken as Kelsey, I would’ve liked to have seen her face the enemy with God’s help. To see that God won’t let go and He gets us through and out of every storm.

I would have loved to see Kelsey no longer a victim, but victorious as she stands up against the evil done to her. Only then, would someone as damaged as Kelsey be able to know love.

After Knox gets the bad guy, they go back to the hotel room and go for a walk . . . walking off the pages of this story so the next scene is the beginning of the next book.

The story is a fast-paced read and the Marshall family is endearing. You can never go wrong setting a book under the big sky of Montana. Besides, who doesn’t love a handsome cowboy with a soft heart?

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Reviewer: Mindy Houng

"She was the adventure he'd longed for. And he might be boring, and nice, but she made him feel like the safe, dependable guy was the hero after all."

Oh my goodness. What an incredible, high-octane, soul-searching start to The Montana Marshalls series! This book is classic Susan May Warren - fun and easy-to-follow writing style with delicious dialogue, a great plot with twists and turns, a nice dose of suspense that keeps you turning the pages, a cast of characters you will fall in love with who embodies intense emotions and hurts and spiritual revelations, and, of course, heart-stuttering romance. Fans of Susan May Warren will be satisfied. Those who've never read Susan May Warren will become fans quickly after reading this book.

Set in beautiful present-day Montana, we meet the Marshall family as the story unfolds to reveal Knox and Tate. Knox is the second oldest in the family of six and he's the only one who stayed on the family ranch to continue the legacy. He's noble, loyal, protective, tender, and smart, though suffers from an inferiority complex when he compares himself to his siblings.

Kelsey is a rising country singer who has a dark and painful past; she tries to stuff down her vulnerable, tender, loving heart by being on stage and making her career her one and only goal in life. Her best friend and fellow band member Glo and Knox's younger brother Tate, who is hired as their bodyguard, bring Kelsey and Knox together in a whirlwind of rodeos, country music concerts, and danger trailing their every step.  

The author has a way of pulling you right into the heart of the story from page one and not letting go until the entire series is finished. I'm so looking forward to Tate's story, as well as the other four siblings' stories!

I was given a copy of the book from the author and SDG Publishing and was under no obligation to post a positive review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.

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