Day / August 27, 2011

by mvbookreviewer

Requested Review: Protecting Paige by Norah Wilson

Format: E-bookprotectingpaige
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Self-Published
Series: To Serve and Protect, Book 3
Hero: Tommy Godsoe
Heroine: Paige Harmer
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: August 20, 2010
Started On: August 27, 2011
Finished On: August 27, 2011

Protecting Paige, book 3 in the To Serve and Protect series explores the story of how a single mother finds much more than she bargained for in the arms of her sexy and younger neighbor that makes for one of my favorite tropes of romance. 34 year old Paige is a product of the foster care system making a life for herself and her 17 year old son Dillon whom she has brought up on her own after her husband had bailed out on her.

Moving to her new neighborhood, Paige discovers that her neighbor, the taciturn Tommy Godsoe who is recovering from an injury to his hip makes her heart go pitter patter right from the start. Younger than her by a couple of years, Tommy is hellbent on isolating himself to lick his wounds both physical and emotional in private. But in Paige, Tommy discovers a force to be reckoned with as she practically storms her way into his life, making him sit up and take notice of her and Dillon and drawing him into their lives with an effortless ease that leaves him stunned.

When things take a sinister turn and both Paige and Dillon’s lives end up in danger in a plot that Tommy couldn’t have dredged up even in his worst nightmares, Tommy knows that he would die trying to keep the woman who means everything to him alive and well, even if it means pushing his body beyond its limits of endurance after the injury.

What drew me in with Protecting Paige was in fact Paige’s character that is hard not to fall in love with. She may not be a beauty in the classic sense but on the inside she is a beauty that few can compete with. Growing up in the foster care system and later being abandoned by her husband of 3 years in favor of alcohol may have left its mark on Paige, but she doesn’t let it define who she is and that’s one of the reasons why I tumbled in love with her character as the story progressed.

Paige is one determined chick when it comes to those she loves and is protective towards and when she sets her sights on her sexy neighbor who could seriously give a Calvin Klein model a run for his money and looks like he is in dire need of some TLC, Paige bulldozes her way into his life, refuses to give him a chance to say no and worms her way into his emotions and heart just like that. I have got to say that Norah has a talent when it comes to consistently delivering heroines that readers can relate to and Paige is in no way an exception to this rule.

Tommy’s character is a sneaky one I tell you. At the beginning he is grumpy, surly and right in your face rude because his life has turned upside down with a work injury from which he doesn’t  hope he would recover from. But beneath all that surly attitude lies a heart that is steeped in fear of never measuring up, of always failing to meet the expectations of those that depend on him; a remnant residue of a childhood spent with a father who had demanded so much more than a little boy was capable of giving. It is Paige who brings a ray of sunshine into the bleak existence of his own making and it is in her that Tommy finds a reason to try again, to not let the blackhole that his life has become consume him until he has nothing left to give.

I loved the action aspect of this novel that explores the use of canines in police work which is a vital facet of the daily grind of law enforcement agencies. The interesting explanations of dog handling, the full of life relationship between a dog and its handler which is explored to just the right extent lent something extra to this novel that made things that much more compelling for me as the reader.

And of course, worthy of a mention is the secondary romance that develops between Dillon and Rachel, a character whose entrance into the story opens up a lot of possibilities. Maybe if we are very lucky, one day, Norah might write a story for Rachel and Dillon. A girl can always hope!

Recommended for fans of the series, fans of Norah Wilson and fans of younger hero and older heroine romances. This one’s seriously good!

Favorite Quotes

Her lips parted on a shocked gasp, and he took full advantage, sweeping into her mouth. She tasted of surprise and cinnamon and an unexpected innocence, which took the edge off his anger, but did nothing to dull the keenness of his intent. He grasped her face, tilting it for better access to her mouth, and proceeded to kiss her with deliberate, frank eroticism. No gentle request, no teasing enticement, no sweet cling of lips. Just pure, driving sexual demand.

Her tongue was in his mouth, and oh, Jesus, God, she tasted good. Like coffee and brandy and woman. Any thought of resistance fled.
She kissed him endlessly, again and again and again, like she was starving. Like she might never get enough. Like she could eat him alive. It was the sexiest thing he’d ever known.

(Danni) “I was kinda busy on the way back, too,” she admitted, her face reddening.
Tommy frowned. “I thought you said Dillon was passed out?”
“He was, but Derek wasn’t.” She grimaced. “I guess he got a little hot and bothered by the action in the back seat and wanted a little for himself.”
“Chrissakes,” exploded Ray. “Did anyone not get blown on this trip?”
Danni’s gaze came up then, her eyes glinting with tears and suppressed anger. “Yeah. Those of us without dicks.”

by mvbookreviewer

Requested Review: Saving Grace by Norah Wilson

Format: E-booksavinggrace
Read with: IBOOKS for IPAD
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Self-Published
Series: To Serve and Protect, Book 2
Hero: Raymond Morgan
Heroine: Grace Morgan
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: August 17, 2010
Started On: August 26, 2011
Finished On: August 26, 2011

Saving Grace is book 2 in the To Serve and Protect series by Norah Wilson. If you have already read book 1 i.e. Guarding Suzannah, you would have already met both Ray and Grace Morgan who were a couple even then. At first, I was surprised to know that book 2 would focus on Grace and Ray, a couple who already seemed to have everything going for them. Little did I know that there was indeed a story worth telling, and a lot of hurdles to be crossed before they both could embrace their love for each other in the truest form.

Saving Grace starts at a point that we rarely come across in romance novels. Ray who is reeling from the bombshell that Grace, his wife of 4 years has left him for another man gets the news that Grace has been involved in an accident. Helpless to do anything else, Ray makes his way towards the hospital, reluctant as he is to put his already bruised and battered emotions on the line. There he finds out that Grace has no recollection whatsoever of leaving him, nor that of her association with any other man apart from her husband.

Nursing Grace back to health as she struggles to deal with her memory loss seems to be the cruelest form of torture for Ray who can’t help but feel protective towards his wife even though his heart practically bleeds every time he lays eyes on her. Grace who has no idea of what she has done to earn that cold and distant aloofness that she finds in Ray’s eyes is determined that she wouldn’t lose the man she loves in this world above everything else.

When Ray comes face to face with the fact that both their lives are in danger, and that there is no way of identifying the threat as long as Grace’s memory keeps eluding her, both of them are forced to go into hiding to figure out what to do and to evade those who are hellbent on seeing them buried six feet under. It is this period of forced intimacy that proves to be the pivotal point in the healing process of their relationship, a journey that just left a permanent lump in my throat as I read along.

I loved the way how Norah managed to completely surprise me with this one. I was prepared for more of the same as Guarding Suzannah when I picked this one up. But boy, was I proven wrong right from the first page itself when emotions seeped right through my e-reader and made me impatient to find out every little bit I could about both Ray and Grace. In the end, I couldn’t have asked for a better story, nor a better or more fitting ending for a couple who literally goes through emotional hell and back to finally reach their very well deserved happily ever after. And for someone who rarely cries over books or movies, Norah definitely managed to do just that to me today.

The one thing that totally made the book for me was Ray’s character. From the first page itself, oh wait let me backtrack, ever since I encountered his character in Guarding Suzannah, I have been dying to know what would make the overly polished and controlled Raymond Morgan tick. And Norah certainly delivered on all counts with his character as he totally and irrevocably laid seige on every single emotion I had left to spare and then some. He is tender, generous, kind and on top of all that the way he takes care of Grace even when his heart is being torn into pieces just makes him one of the best heroes ever! And when he does finally let go of his legendary control in the bedroom, all my senses joined up and chanted, “Oh yes Ray baby, you should let go more often!”.

Grace’s character is not one to be left behind as I gush on about the things that worked for me. When I started reading, I was totally prepared to hate Grace’s guts cos in my world, there is nothing worse than hurting a delcious hero for whom my heart just bleeds. But then again, I should have known better and from the moment Grace finds comfort in Ray’s arms whilst at the hospital, I knew absolutely that there was no way that this woman could hurt the man she loves intentionally. I found myself in awe of the way Grace shaped up to a totally new and better version, one with a backbone of steel that earned my wholehearted approval as she sets out to right what she has done wrong and of course make Ray give ALL of himself to her.

Recommended for fans of delicious heroes, fans of romantic suspense and of course fans of the series and Norah Wilson. This is a series that I have a feeling will just continue to get better with each book!

Favorite Quotes

Hot and fierce and impossibly arousing, it was like that day in the car outside the motel. Elemental.
Yes, he was angry; she could feel it in his coiled muscles, taste it in the demand of his mouth and the bite of the hand cupping her head. But it didn’t matter. Anger was honest. Anger was real. Right now, she’d take it.
Ray’s hand raked up under the hem of her loose boxers to squeeze her bottom and she arched into him. Oh, yes, she’d definitely take it!

He caught her hand. “What do you want from me, Grace?”
That was easy. “Everything.” She wanted to touch his chest, but since he held her hand prisoner, she insinuated one leg between his legs, delighting in what it did to his breathing. “I don’t want you to hold anything back. I don’t want you to be so careful with me all the time.”
“Grace….”
“I want you to give me as much as I can take, and then I want you to give me more.”
“Like I did last night?”
His voice was rough, laced with self-disgust. God help her, she’d never loved him more.

“I hope you’re ready for me,” he rasped, rolling her under him, “‘cuz in about five seconds, I’m gonna be inside you.”
“Ray Morgan, I was born ready for you,” she breathed against his ear, even as she guided him to her entrance.
He slid home with one strong thrust. Both of them froze.

Then, suddenly, she was convulsing around him, shimmering, flying apart. Seconds later, he followed, his own release ripping the lid right off his world.
Slowly, like a feather on the breeze, he felt his spirit lilt back and forth until finally it settled to earth again.
Incredible. He’d just had the hottest sex of his life, and he’d had it with his wife of almost five years.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Smashwords | Barnes&Noble

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