Damaged and the Bulldog by Bijou HunterMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Facing Her Fears.
This is part of a continuing series revolving around an MC. You will definitely enjoy this book much more if you have read the previous books, as there is a large group of friends who all have shared history. There is no cliffhanger.
TRIGGER WARNING: This book covers subjects such as child abuse and sexual assault in the past and current mental health issues. If any of those subject matters cause you emotional difficulties it might be advisable to avoid this book. If you have read the rest of the series, the way these matters are handled in this book are similar to how they are handled in the rest of the series.
We met Winnie in previous books. She was rescued by the MC from a truly horrible situation with a rival MC who had kept her in a locker chest unless they wanted something from her, which was usually something that would brutalise her more. She’d been there since she was young. She has been badly damaged by her past and has anxiety and panic attacks, for which she takes medication, and has undergone significant amounts of therapy. She often retreats into herself to hide from her pain. She is incredibly shy and it’s only recently that she’s started talking to people other than her adoptive family. As well as being damaged she is sweet and supportive to her friends and family, is organised, hard-working and loyal.
Dylan was introduced in Lark’s book. He is Lark's step-brother but he had a crush on her and borderline stalked her, on his father’s orders. He did as his overbearing and controlling father told him to in an attempt to gain his approval, but he never did. He finally stopped being controlled when he saw the harm that his family was doing to Lark. Since then he has broken free of his family and has focused on his business and become part of the crew of friends that Lark is now part of.
Dylan and Winnie are very attracted to each other but Dylan doesn’t feel good enough for Winnie and vice versa. Eventually, Harlow, Winnie’s sister takes pity on them both and sets them up for a date, which she has to go on because of Winnie’s inability to speak to Dylan.
This is such a strange courtship but it makes sense in the context of the characters. Winnie is very damaged and needs her family to keep her safe but she still longs for Dylan. Dylan isn’t as undamaged as Winnie thinks and as they get to know each other more they see the truth of who each other is.
I’ve always been fond of Winnie’s character as she is so kind and sweet. She works so hard to overcome the obstacles that life has thrown in her path and keeps getting up in the morning and facing her fears. Dylan started out as a character I didn’t much like but has slowly redeemed himself throughout the series, to the point when I was glad to see him get his girl. The HEA is heartwarming for two people who care about each other so much, and have had to overcome a lot.
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