Protect Me Not by Natasha AndersMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Client/Bodyguard Romance
I’d probably give this book 3.5 ⭐️ if could.
This is the second book in a series of standalone novels. The plot can be understood without reading the first book in the series, but there are definitely areas in the story where there are gaps if you haven’t read that book. There is no cliffhanger. I received an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
Vicki is a florist in Kensington, London. She has her own business and works very hard to make it on her own. Her older brother Miles (from the first book in the series) is very wealthy and exceedingly protective of his younger siblings. He bought Vicki and their brother Hugh a penthouse apartment in a building partly owned by a security company, because he wants them to be safe. When Vicki was robbed, before the start of this book, Miles insisted that she receive a personal bodyguard. For the last year she has been watched, mainly by Tyler and despite his efforts at remaining distant and professional she is intrigued by him.
Tyler was in the US Marines and when he got out on a medical discharge he came to London to work for a security firm that was owned by someone he worked with on operations overseas. He has no family left, and no friends. He keeps himself isolated from making any connections with anyone because the loss of anyone else would devastate him. He believes loneliness is better than experiencing the pain of losing someone he loves. For the last year he has watched Vicki and despite himself he has grown fascinated by her friendliness, warmth and kindness.
When Vicki gets drunk one evening with her friends, Tyler is forced to carry her home and look after her when she is sick. She makes some comments whilst drunk that make him begin to see her as more than a client and things start to change between them.
This book has a lot of things going for it. It’s filled with passion, longing and hope. It’s also filled with loneliness, emptiness and pain. However, it takes a really long time to get started. It feels like the book could have been written at 2/3rd the number of pages and it wouldn’t have lost anything from the plot or the character development as some points are hammered home a little bit.
Tyler is a sad character that wraps himself in his loss, living in the past and who is scared to face the future. Vicki is one of the few rays of light in his life and he doesn’t trust his own feelings. They are very different characters and the author conveys that thoroughly. I think a large number of people reading this book will find something familiar about it. A lot of people have had relationships with someone who is closed off and determined not to get into anything serious to protect themselves. I feel that there is a little bit of wish fulfilment in this book, where the right woman can change a closed off man because he falls in love with her. Often this is not the case, because being closed off means you can’t connect enough to fall in love. I like that with this book at least the author had other factors helping Tyler want to reconnect with the world, though they were thin on the ground, and it wasn’t just down to ‘the love of a good woman’.
This was an entertaining story, if a little predictable and long-winded, and I enjoyed it. I think if I’d read the first book I might have got more out of it, so if you are tempted by this book, you might want to consider starting there before diving into this one, but it isn’t necessary. I get the feeling that there will be more books in this series because a lot support characters were given extra attention as a lead in. I think they could be interesting to read.
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