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Defender Sweethearts #2
Never a Hostage
Three people in a web of lies. Two private investigators seeking truth. One hostage plan gone wrong.
Private Investigator Pilar Santiago takes us to Miami, right into a hostage crisis. Cade Sumter is dispatched to rescue her.
Going undercover in a hotel…
When a former senator’s estranged wife hires Pilar to spy on her husband at a hotel in Miami, Pilar just assumes it’s another routine job. At most taking two days of work, all she has to do is record the meeting that the former senator will be in and then leave. Collecting five hundred thousand dollars has never been easier.
Giving up is never an option…The meeting never takes place. However, criminals have entered the hotel and taken former senator Felix Braun-Dean and his mistress hostage. Or have they? Caught in the middle, Pilar is unable to leave the building. She decides that she might as well make the most of it and starts to observe and collect data.
Getting into a swamp of trouble…Disguised as a line cook, Private Investigator Cade Sumter manages to get inside the hotel. He’s there to swing down the vine, swoop up Pilar—with whom he’s fallen in love a year ago when they were teammates in an overseas project—and take her home safely to her family…
Not!
A tropical storm hits Miami, and the captors leave but not before they take Pilar, Cade, and a handful of other hostages to a private swamp where nobody would find them.
How do Pilar and Cade get out alive?
Never a Hostage is Book 2 in USA Today bestselling author Jan Thompson’s Defender Sweethearts Christian romantic suspense collection, a sister series to Protector Sweethearts. While the heroes in Protector Sweethearts search for lost treasures and lost people, the Defender Sweethearts novels focus on protecting the helpless and hopeless. The main characters in Defender Sweethearts come from the supporting cast in Protector Sweethearts.
Publisher’s Note: Never a Hostage debuted in the 10-author Danger in the Shadows box set, published on May 13, 2025.
Private Investigator Pilar Santiago takes us to Miami, right into a hostage crisis. Cade Sumter is dispatched to rescue her.
Going undercover in a hotel…
When a former senator’s estranged wife hires Pilar to spy on her husband at a hotel in Miami, Pilar just assumes it’s another routine job. At most taking two days of work, all she has to do is record the meeting that the former senator will be in and then leave. Collecting five hundred thousand dollars has never been easier.
Giving up is never an option…The meeting never takes place. However, criminals have entered the hotel and taken former senator Felix Braun-Dean and his mistress hostage. Or have they? Caught in the middle, Pilar is unable to leave the building. She decides that she might as well make the most of it and starts to observe and collect data.
Getting into a swamp of trouble…Disguised as a line cook, Private Investigator Cade Sumter manages to get inside the hotel. He’s there to swing down the vine, swoop up Pilar—with whom he’s fallen in love a year ago when they were teammates in an overseas project—and take her home safely to her family…
Not!
A tropical storm hits Miami, and the captors leave but not before they take Pilar, Cade, and a handful of other hostages to a private swamp where nobody would find them.
How do Pilar and Cade get out alive?
Never a Hostage is Book 2 in USA Today bestselling author Jan Thompson’s Defender Sweethearts Christian romantic suspense collection, a sister series to Protector Sweethearts. While the heroes in Protector Sweethearts search for lost treasures and lost people, the Defender Sweethearts novels focus on protecting the helpless and hopeless. The main characters in Defender Sweethearts come from the supporting cast in Protector Sweethearts.
Publisher’s Note: Never a Hostage debuted in the 10-author Danger in the Shadows box set, published on May 13, 2025.
- GenresRomanceChristian Fiction
316 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 28, 2025
37 people are currently reading
28 people want to read
About the author
Jan Thompson
65 books146 followersUSA Today bestselling author Jan Thompson writes clean and wholesome multiethnic contemporary Christian coastal city and beach town romance with flavors of women’s fiction, Christian romantic suspense with elements of mystery, and inspirational international thrillers with threads of sweet Christian romance. Her books are for readers who love inspiring stories of faith, family, and friends.
Jan loves to hear from her readers. Join her mailing list to receive book publication news, sales and specials, cover reveals, and exclusive details and content.
Book News: JanThompson.com/newsletter
Author Website: JanThompson.com
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Jan loves to hear from her readers. Join her mailing list to receive book publication news, sales and specials, cover reveals, and exclusive details and content.
Book News: JanThompson.com/newsletter
Author Website: JanThompson.com
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 3, 2025
Lots of action. PI Pilar has gone undercover in a hotel to keep an eye on a client's husband and report back to her when the hotel is taken hostage! What is going on? Cade is sent into the hotel as a cook to help backup Pilar. Both are in a life and death situation but can they figure out what is going on and who is behind it all? and manage to stay alive?
November 27, 2025
Captivating
A clean Christian detective novel with love thrown in. Pilar , hired by a a conniving sotto be ex wife goes undercover at a hotel as a maid. Things go south in a hurry, is her husband really being held hostage or is all staged. Hang on as the story goes turns and twist.
A clean Christian detective novel with love thrown in. Pilar , hired by a a conniving sotto be ex wife goes undercover at a hotel as a maid. Things go south in a hurry, is her husband really being held hostage or is all staged. Hang on as the story goes turns and twist.
September 10, 2025
Cade and Pilar
I really enjoyed this story. There were so many twists and turns that you didn’t know what was going to happen next. This is a novel you will not be able to put down. Enjoy enjoy enjoy!!!!
I really enjoyed this story. There were so many twists and turns that you didn’t know what was going to happen next. This is a novel you will not be able to put down. Enjoy enjoy enjoy!!!!
November 1, 2025
fast paced and a lot of danger
Wow! Pilar and Case sure endured a lot of hardship. This book was exciting to read and it moved along at a good pace. It was tough to read at times especially when the had all those people captive.
Wow! Pilar and Case sure endured a lot of hardship. This book was exciting to read and it moved along at a good pace. It was tough to read at times especially when the had all those people captive.
November 4, 2025
Wonderful
What an incredible work of Christian fiction. It's a Christian thriller and love story wrapped into one exciting story.
I highly recommend it and you won't be disappointed.
What an incredible work of Christian fiction. It's a Christian thriller and love story wrapped into one exciting story.
I highly recommend it and you won't be disappointed.
September 30, 2025
better together
This story will have you hooked in no time. My favorite part was a conversation between Pilar and Zuriel. Very well done!!!
This story will have you hooked in no time. My favorite part was a conversation between Pilar and Zuriel. Very well done!!!
November 4, 2025
A simple assignment to gather information turns into a strange hostage situation. It's a complicated mystery that I couldn't solve. Lots of action with a little love. Just my cup of tea.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews