Protected By Love Series: Montana Heat #0.5 on June 20, 2017
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Also in this series: Escape to You
It was more than another blind date . . .
It was DEA Agent Caden Cooke’s third chance to impress beautiful chef Mia Martin. He’d already stood her up twice, and was shocked she was even giving him another chance. For Caden, taking down the bad guys is important, but Mia’s made it clear there’s no excuse for his bad behavior. So he’s vowed to make it worth her while with an apology he’s cooked up just for her.
From the moment they meet, it’s clear this isn’t just another fix up. The sparks flying between them are undeniable; the tension is electric. Then, suddenly, the best moments of their lives turn treacherous when a drug dealer set on revenge puts their lives in danger. And Mia and Caden quickly realize they will do anything to protect the other—and live for the love neither of them expected.
I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.
Review
Protected By Love kicks off Jennifer Ryan’s newest Western romance/romantic suspense series, Montana Heat. It’s a novella, which means that events and relationship development move pretty quickly (maybe too quickly.) However, the novella grabbed my attention and kept it from the start, and I enjoyed both Mia and Caden as well as the interplay and sparks between them.
If you don’t enjoy danger and violence with your romance—and by violence, I mean gritty, realistic shootouts, kidnapping, and murder—then this novella and this series are probably not for you. I’ll be honest: this one skirted very close to the edge for me in that regard, but the characters and fast pace kept me reading anyway.
About Jennifer Ryan
Jennifer Ryan, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Hunted and McBrides Series, writes romantic suspense and contemporary small-town romances.
Jennifer lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and three children. When she isn’t writing a book, she’s reading one. Her obsession with both is often revealed in the state of her home, and how late dinner is to the table. When she finally leaves those fictional worlds, you’ll find her in the garden, playing in the dirt and daydreaming about people who live only in her head, until she puts them on paper.
Katherine @ I Wish I Lived in a Library
I like the sound of this one! I love when the suspense element is actually suspenseful and doesn’t seem made up for conflict. I need to give this series a try.
Lark_Bookwyrm
I think you’d like them, but the threat of violence and darkness in them can get a bit intense, at least for me.
kimbacaffeinate
This was a good read and I am gearing up to read the first book in the new series.
kimbacaffeinate recently posted…The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn
Lark_Bookwyrm
The first full-length book was really good but also a bit tough for me; you’ll see why when you read it. I’m on the fence about reading the next one. I may decide this series is just a tad too intense for me, but I think a lot of readers will really like it.
Cyn @ Bookmunchies
I need to check out more Ryan! And I usually do enjoy some suspense with my romance so this does sound right up my ally! Glad this was a great start to the series. Lovely review!
Cyn @ Bookmunchies recently posted…Review: An Affair with a Notorious Heiress by Lorraine Heath
Lark_Bookwyrm
She’s quite good. Her romances often have a suspense/mystery/thriller element, and they sometimes feel a bit dark to me (not the romance itself but what’s going on around the hero and heroine, or what they’re dealing with psychologically, like PTSD in one recent novel.)
Rita @ Paging Through Books
The quick bio about the author makes her sound like a nice person to hang out with 🙂 … but I don’t think the series is my type. I shy away from romance lately because the trend is to “go there” more than I want to read about, but that’s definitely just me. I could skip pages in certain books– and I have– but that breaks up the continuity. I’m best served somewhere midway between a clean read and 50 Shades 🙂 But good luck to Ms. Ryan for a fun sounding series!
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Lark_Bookwyrm
I don’t remember this novella having any (or many) explicit scenes because of its short length and necessarily condensed plot, but the first full-length book has a few. Not many, because of the nature of the plot and the situation the heroine is recovering from, but a few. I find I often skip or skim those scenes; I’m more interested in the developing emotional relationship (though of course the two are often intertwined.)