☆.•°*°•.☆ BOOK REVIEW ☆.•°*°•.☆

The Protector by Jodi Ellen Malpas
Releases September 6th

4 of 5 STARS!!!

Finally! Another JEM book to sink into!!!

First thing. Jake was not Jessie or Miller so don't go into the book looking for them. Jake had their alpha male qualities and a troubled secret past, but add in a military background and the take-charge attitude soared off the charts. There was a lot of Jake since the book has dual POV's which was a departure from Jodi's other books. As a diehard JEM fan, I loved having more of the male perspective when normally it was in an epilogue.

"He is just about the most perfect man I’ve ever seen, and that’s an achievement, given I’ve had shoots with more beautiful men than I care to remember. But he’s a man. A proper man—big, strong, mature. The crisp stark white collar of his shirt and perfectly knotted grey tie can’t conceal the primal energy practically thrumming from him." - Camille

Secondly, Camille was a different type of female heroine. She was rich, pampered socialite, but strong, determined and very headstrong. She wanted to prove her own worth to a world that saw her as the spoiled party girl. As one can imagine, she was not thrilled to get Jake as a 24/7 bodyguard when her father received threats against her well-being. Her relationship with their father was already a battle ground and having a dark, handsome man with a no-nonsense attitude hovering in all aspects of her life did not help. Her father was a cut throat, ruthless business man with enemies everywhere so Camille needed Jake's protection whether she thought she did or not.

"No one has any idea about the constant battle to keep my mind focused on my future and not my past, the overbearing father who tries to control my life, or the challenge I face almost daily in London’s social scene that’s driven by cocaine and champagne." - Camille

Now for a hotness factor. Holy mother of God when Jake and Camille finally hooked up, I needed a fan or a cold shower! It was H-O-T!!! Smoking!!! Steaming!!! Lord have mercy!!! You get the picture.

“You’re mine, Camille Logan!” He releases his hands and slams them into the wall either side of my head. Bang! “Can you accept that?” - Jake

“Oh, f*cking hell,” he whispers. Dropping his head, he begins to breathe through his single stroke, his body trembling in my arms. “I knew it,” he says hoarsely. “I knew I’d fit you so f*cking right.” - Jake

See what I mean!!!!! H-O-T!!!!

The story was fast paced. It threw me a bit because at 5% in there was a lot of background that normally I would have expected Jodi to feed slowly to the reader. I had to remind myself this was a stand-alone book, not a trilogy so the story had to move along at a good clip. That doesn't mean everything was laid out at the beginning. Jodi had several secrets up her sleeve toward the end that were really good. One I never saw coming! No spoilers here so get the book!

However, I struggled through parts of the book. Not because it was a bad story or poorly written. Not at all! Jodi's work is always fantastic! It just "sounded" different than her previous books. There were several moments where I thought an editor got ahold of it and set the tone because it just didn't sound like her writing. I expected more flowing, romantic dialogue. Toward the end of the book I saw some of that, but by then I was already used to the tone of the book.

Overall I enjoyed reading The Protector. Jodi always weaves a good romance with some mystery, drama and a feel good ending. The book did not disappoint in any of these areas. I highly recommend snapping up this book when it is available in September!

(This ARC was kindly provided by Net Gallery in return for an honest review.)