Review: Stolen Innocence by S.M. Stryker

by Sarah Reads - 3:30 AM

Title: Stolen Innocence
Author: S.M. Stryker
Genre: Romance
Release Date: September 4, 2014

Haunted by her years of abuse, Parker Dane tries to leave her past behind her to start a new life in a new city. She meets Ian Blake; actually she runs into him multiple times, but always runs away before learning his name. Ian can't get Parker out of his mind and he doesn't even know her name.

Ian finally gets his opportunity to meet Parker, and he will do anything in his power to keep her from running away from him again. Parker has years of demons and fears bottled up inside her; she knows that if Ian finds out her secrets, she will lose him forever; no one wants damaged goods. Will Ian make her run away again or will her past catch up to her trying to pull her back.

Will Ian be the man to stand by Parker or will he turn his back on her.

"Let me give you a real kiss you won't forget" with that he leans over, this time wrapping his arm around my waist pulling me into his tall, hard sculptured body, taking my mouth to his. He kisses me intently then with his tongue he traces my lips as if asking for permission to enter; I open my mouth to him as he starts to caress my mouth with his tongue. His hands are in my hair twisting and twining his fingers through my curls pulling me closer to him; I wrap one hand around his neck the other in his curly locks, pulling him closer to me, but feeling like I can't get close enough. I'm feeling light-headed; my heart is slamming against my chest. We pull away from each other breathless. I raise my fingers to my lips feeling them again; they're swollen, tingling from his days growth of beard. We look at each other, and I know I'm in trouble...

Rating: 3.5 of 5 Hearts

***I am giving this book a warning***

It contains rape and the aftermath of what that rape does to the lead character. I know some do not like to read books containing this subject matter.

Author SM Stryker had me a sobbing mess one moment and a pile of mush the next. This story is about moving on and dealing with your demons you are trying to run from. S.M. Stryker did a great job at keeping this book balanced between the struggles and heartache.

The one thing I will say is I wish that there would have been more character development with Parker Dane before she bumped into Ian Blake. It felt a little rushed to me.

I also would have loved Ian’s point of views to have been less of a recap and more of the story through his eyes.

With that being said, I loved how Ian knew Parker was it for him even with her demons she was trying to keep from him.

Parker Dane has a very troubled past. She was sexually abused for years. She does not want to meet anyone when she fleas from home to survive on her own. She needs to become self-dependent and realize that she is self-worthy.

Ian Blake bumps into Parker four times before he is able to talk with her. He knows it is more that than coincidence and he needs to prove that to her. I really loved his character. He is very much an alpha male that has a super sweet and loving side to him. He had me swooning multiple times. When Ian takes Parker to his special place I became his biggest fan.

He also had me growling at him for raising his voice to Parker. He missed the signs she was sexually abused a few times. But when you are raised by two adoring parents, sometimes it isn’t your fault you are blind.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. Parker found someone to share her happy memories with and someone who could help heal her at the same time.

S.M. Stryker grew up on a small farm in Oregon with her two brothers.

She married her husband 27 years ago. It was important to her to be able to stay at home to raise their four daughters.

She wasn't an avid reader, although she always thought her life would make a good book. A few years ago she picked up FSOG and The Crossfire Series and was drawn to the characters; the storylines moved her more than anything. Her life changed at that point, She could relate to the characters and what they had gone through. She devoured books after that, sometimes reading 8-10 books a week, and finding new authors she enjoyed reading. She couldn't be without a book, her IPad or IPhone anything that she could download her kindle app onto.

Knowing she had always wanted to write but kept putting it off, she emailed a few of her favorite authors that gave her some very good advice. So she finally went for it.