BLURB
From the author of the bestselling Broken Trilogy and Dark Water Series comes Extraction—the first book in Stonewall, a dangerous suspense series in the World of Mayhem, where brotherhood runs deep, and the fight for what matters most only gets harder when the heart is on the line.
Agent Paul is a soldier of many faces—
a ghost, an undercover operative, a team leader.
But those are just titles.
When a letter lands in his hands, everything changes. The past he buried resurfaces with a single revelation—his son.
Returning to the cartel world he barely escaped is a mission he can’t face alone. His brothers rally behind him, shifting their current operation to follow a trail that leads into the darkest corners of Mexico. What they encounter is far more than intel.
A pawn.
An heir.
A child.
Nicole Winter is a war correspondent with a reputation for chasing the truth. Smart. Relentless. And already three steps ahead. When their paths collide, she’s holding the one document Paul needs—and carrying secrets of her own.
As trust is tested and loyalties blur, the mission spirals. When Paul vanishes mid-operation, Nicole is left with one impossible task—to get the boy out alive.
Even if it costs her everything.
BOOK INFORMATION
Published June 26, 2025
Series: Stonewall Trilogy (#1)
289 pages, Kindle Edition
Published: June 26, 2025
REVIEW
This is the first book I have read by this author, but I love this trope and the series sounded right up my alley.
Extraction is the first book in this series, but it’s set in the author’s previous World of Mayhem universe. That could have been confusing, but thankfully it wasn't! I always appreciate when an author considers new readers and provides enough background to make the story stand on its own while still making you want to go back and read the original series.
The main MMC, Agent Paul, is a "ghost." He worked as an undercover operative and is technically dead. He’s worked out a system to lead his men behind the scenes without putting his face out in the world where it could be caught on surveillance—a setup that really highlights how modern tech like smartphones, social media, and CCTV has made the world of covert operations so much more complicated.
When Paul finds out he’s a father and that his son is in danger, his old life comes back to haunt him. He risks everything to join his team on the ground, following a trail that leads straight into the Mexican cartels. Paul’s situation is so heavy—he carries immense trauma and guilt from his undercover days. Having to sit back and let others take the lead in his own son's rescue was agonizing. Reading his POV made my heart hurt as he reflected on his relationship with Talya and their missing boy.
Our FMC is Nicole Winter, a war correspondent with a reputation for chasing the truth. Thanks to her contacts, she’s already three steps ahead of Paul. She gets caught up in a dangerous situation with one of the cartels while searching for the child, and when her path collides with Paul’s, the tension jumps off the page. Both can’t deny their attraction, but with a child's life hanging in the balance as an heir and pawn of the cartel, they have to focus on what matters—even as the mission spirals.
The situation Nicole ends up in when Paul disappears led to some of the most intense scenes in the book for me. The struggle, the sheer exhaustion... I felt every bit of it as I read. To me, that’s what makes a fantastic book: when you’re so invested in the characters and story that you feel like you’re right there beside them (or in their shoes) as they fight to survive.
Favorite quote:
"My world had just been shaken like a snow globe, and I still waited for all the flakes to settle."
If you like enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, military romance, romantic suspense, slow burns, and redemption arcs, this book will be right up your alley!
Available now in the Stonewall Trilogy
Breached by J.L. Drake releases October 6!
War isn't raging south of the border.
For Blackstone, this isn't just another mission. It's the fight for everything they've built—and everyone they love
It's coming home.
Pre-order today!
US: https://amzn.to/4ggiGsA
UK: https://amzn.eu/d/0iUpbMKk
CA:
AU: https://amzn.asia/d/08H79AdJ
AUTHOR BIO
J.L. Drake, born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada, later moving to Southern California. Though she loves the weather in Cali, she would sell her left kidney for a good rainstorm. Jodi’s love of the seasons back home in Canada definitely appear in her books. When she’s not writing, you can often find her sitting somewhere along the coast of Huntington Beach, reading, or at home curled up on a couch with her two children and husband, binge watching a good movie.
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