The Protector (Sons of Texas #2)

The Protector (Sons of Texas #2)

by Donna Grant 

Blurb: 

EVERYTHING’S HOTTER IN TEXAS

When Marine Force Recon captain Cullen Loughman learns that his father’s been kidnapped, he will do whatever it takes to find him. In order to achieve his mission, Cullen will need to team up with the best of the best—someone who just happens to be the most stunning woman he’s ever laid eyes on…

This isn’t the first rodeo for ex—Air Force pilot Mia Carter. Still, Cullen’s bad-boy good looks and charm are distracting her from duty. . .and it appears that the feeling is mutual. As Mia and Cullen make their descent into a dark, dangerous world, their attraction reaches the boiling point. But is their desire worth the risk when a ruthless enemy is waiting in the wings—or will their Lone Star love conquer all?

Themes: Contemporary

Rating: 3.75 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

 This new direction for one of my favorite paranormal authors has been a mixed bag of emotions for me.  In a lot of ways the story is really good, but there are just some elements I find missing, though it is tricky to pinpoint exactly what leaves me wanting.  Donna Grant has always been an amazing author, with sensual alpha male and sexy wild female leads, but the truth of the matter is that her voice and wiring style has always leaned more easily toward the paranormal sub-genre in my opinion.  While I enjoyed reading the story, I wish there was a bit more character development, because the fact it that this book wasn’t all that memorable, where I can remember almost everything from the very first Dark Warrior novel I read by Donna years ago.  Cullen is kind of an ass through most of the story while Mia seems to be trying good hard to prove her strength and skills, instead of just being content knowing that she can handle herself, even if Cullen doubts it.  Cullen obviously spent a good bit of his youth fighting his inner demons and trying to live up to the example set by his older brothers, but once he finally excepted that some things can’t be changed, they just ARE, he was a bit more able to grow up and leave the past wear to belongs in order to get his mission accomplished.  Mia on the other hand left me scratching my head a few times and wondering if I liked her or not, because why she had some redeeming qualities she rubbed me wrong through most of the story. The passion is certainly there, no denying that, but the emotions and depth of her characters doesn’t seem to be there in this novel like it is in her Dark World books.  I am looking forward to the final in the trilogy but I think after that I will stick with Donna’s fantastic imaginative Dark world stories for my entrainment.  That being said fans of strictly contemporary romance or even romantic suspense could definitely do worse than this amazing authors work and you should always read it for yourself to see if you might enjoy it, an honestly it could have just been a bad day that has this story grating on my nerves, so please keep an open mind and Read On!

*eARC provided by publisher (via netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.