TRUST, LOVE …AND LIES.

After barely surviving enemy torture, Captain Chuck Tanaka doesn’t trust himself to do more than ride a desk—but new orders leave him no choice. Assigned to the investigation of a mob boss whose luxury cruise ship is reportedly a hub for terrorist activity, Tanaka goes undercover. His target: Jolynn Taylor, the mob boss’s daughter

As a child, Jolynn saw her beloved uncle murdered. Since then, she’s stayed far away from her father’s crooked empire. But when he falls ill, she returns, hoping to mend the gap between them. Instead, she finds herself on the run, one step ahead of unknown enemies. The only thing keeping her alive is the man she knows as Charles Tomas, the only man she’s ever been able to trust.

Review

Protector is an action-packed, sizzling romantic suspense that is sure to keep readers up late into the night.

Jolynn Taylor is the daughter of a mobster, but she has distanced herself from that life and lives on her own far away from her father’s business. When he suffers a heart attack she rushes to his side even though her feelings are anything but warm toward him. I really liked Jolynn. She is a very well written and flushed out character. She doesn’t put up with anyone or anything. From the beginning she puts Charles in his place.

No. “Wait just a minute, Charles Tomas.” She left men. They did not leave her. “You can’t look at me that way, touch me that way, and just walk off. You insisted on coming with me tonight. A man doesn’t throw around signals all evening the way you have without feeling something. You’re damn right I deserve better, from my father and from you.”

Charles is harder to warm up to. He’s been to hell and back and still isn’t fully healed. Charles fights his attraction to Jolynn and tries to keep away from her, but it doesn’t work. He is drawn to her and even though he doesn’t want to he finds himself caring about her more and more.

The action is non-stop. Charles and Jolynn are chased across Italy and don’t know who is after them. There isn’t a dull moment as Charles and Jolynn run for their lives while falling in love. The action isn’t only of the shooting and running type. There is also action between the two of them. The sex scenes in this book are very well written and full of heat.

The suspense plot is a well done and doesn’t take away from the romance. I was left wondering who the real bad guy and if Jolynn’s father or cousin were involved with whoever was trying to kill Jolynn. The author does a very good job of keeping the reader guessing.

Protector also has a few secondary characters that are finding their way to happily ever after. I really loved Livia and her friendship with Charles and her relationship with the Colonel. Her contribution to the story moves both the romance and the plot along.

Protector is part of a series, but can be read as a stand-alone. There are characters from previous books that play a part in Protector and in the previous books we get Charles’s backstory, but it isn’t necessary to have read the books to thoroughly enjoy Protector.

Reviewed by Carrie

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