Rex is on his way... click to read an excerpt!

Less than 3 weeks until Defending Raven comes out! I always get nervous with these last books because I know they're SO anticipated! I think this book is pretty emotional, how can it be anything BUT when Rex finally finds his wife after a decade?

This week I'm sharing an exclusive excerpt with you. It was hard to come up with something that wasn't a huge spoiler.

I started writing a new book this week (in the Delta Team Two series) and I went swimming for the first time in three months. (OY! I'm out of shape! lol) I went camping and got bitten by TICKS! (Yuck!). It's gotten hot here in Tennessee, which I'm not a fan of. The cicadas haven't gotten to us yet, but I'm waiting. What else? Oh yeah, I ordered NEW shirts for my online store and I LOVE them! In two weeks I'll have two more designs as well.

I've struggled with my mental health a little bit. Everything feels overwhelming. I've made donations, I've read books, I've isolated myself, and yet I still feel as if it's not enough.
Be kind to yourselves. Do what you can to make the world a better place, but don't ignore yourself when you're looking after everyone else.
Read On!
~Susan
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Defending Raven- Exclusive Excerpt
"My main objective on this trip is to go into that barrio, grab my wife, and get the hell out.”

“It probably won’t be that easy,” Zara told him.
Dave nodded. “I know. Raven and I have been separated longer than we were together. She’s been through a kind of hell I can’t even begin to understand. But I’m not leaving without her.” The last was said a bit harsher than he’d intended, but it didn’t matter. He wouldn’t leave the country without Raven.
“She might not want to leave,” Zara said quietly.
Dave ground his teeth together to keep the sharp words that sprang to mind from escaping.
“The Mags I know is as independent as anyone I’ve ever met,” Zara went on. “She’s smart and doesn’t show a lot of emotion. When she was trying to convince me to tell Meat that I was an American, to share my story and get him to take me back to the States, I asked if she would come with me. I knew about the time she’d spent working for del Rio, but to me, she was a fellow American. She didn’t seem all that happy to be here, but when I asked her to come with me, she shook her head and said her life was in Peru.”
Zara’s words were more painful than anything Dave had ever heard.
He had no idea why Raven hadn’t jumped at the chance to get back to the States. Back to him.
“Is she being held captive there?” he asked.
Zara slowly shook her head. “Not that I know of. But I’ve always thought something wasn’t quite right about her situation. Three days a week, she’s gone most of the day and doesn’t tell anyone where she goes. But she always comes back to the barrio before the sun goes down. I haven’t seen anyone following her, and she doesn’t act like she’s being threatened. Well . . . any more than anyone else, that is.”
“What do you mean?” Meat asked, putting his hand on his fiancée’s knee.
“Just that life as a woman in the barrio, especially one without a husband, isn’t exactly a walk in the park. We always had to worry about Ruben or one of his friends stealing what food we’d managed to scavenge, or . . . you know.”
Dave saw each and every one of the men frown in anger. Yeah, they knew what Zara meant. She’d already told them all about Ruben Martínez and his friends in the barrio. Zara guessed him to be in his mid-twenties. He thought he was not only God’s gift to women, but some sort of untouchable badass. He and his gang harassed everyone in the barrio and didn’t hesitate to take what they wanted, using force whenever necessary.
They were also the ones who’d beaten up Meat and Black. Every single one of the Mountain Mercenaries was hoping to have a run-in with the gang, if only for a little payback.
“All I’m saying,” Zara continued, “is that out of all the women I got to know, Mags is the only one who never talked about getting out of the barrio. She just seemed to accept her situation. Everyone else dreamed about either finding a husband wealthy enough to have a place to live outside the barrio, or getting back to their families in the countries they were kidnapped from to work for del Rio.”
“Raven’s life is not in Peru,” Dave stated. “It’s in Colorado, with me.”
Seeing the uneasy and pitying looks his friends were giving him, Dave couldn’t bear to sit still any longer. He sprang to his feet and resumed his pacing.
He didn’t know why Raven hadn’t attempted to contact him. He didn’t know what she’d been through over the last ten years, although he could guess. But none of that mattered. All that mattered was that she was still the woman he loved with all his heart. Nothing she’d done or been made to do over the years would ever change that.
He had no idea what he’d be up against when he finally set eyes on her again, but he wasn’t giving up on his wife, not after all these years.
Impatiently, Dave looked at his watch and swore. It was taking way too long to get there. And every minute that passed was one more minute during which Raven could slip out of his life without a trace. Again. Someone could hurt her, or she could be kidnapped again.
“I’m coming for you, sweetheart,” he whispered as he paced. “Just keep hanging on until I can get there.”