Review: The Protector by Jodi Ellen Malpas
TITLE: The Protector AUTHOR:Jodi Ellen Malpas GENRE: Contemporary Romance RELEASE DATE: September 6th, 2016
People think they have Camille Logan nailed: daddy's girl; beautiful, spoiled young woman with her father's bank balance to fund her lifestyle. But Camille is determined to have a life free from his strings. Out on her own, she's made mistakes, including one that found her clawing her way back after a stint in rehab and plenty of bad press. Now, after fighting so hard to be independent and happy, she finds her life threatened as a result of her father's ruthless business dealings. Caught between resentment and fear, Camille prepares herself for the measures her father will take to protect her. But nothing could prepare her for the ex-SAS sniper who crashes into her life. Jake Sharp resides in his own personal hell. He was distracted from duty once before, and the consequences were devastating--both personally and professionally. He vowed never to let that happen again. Accepting the job of bodyguard to Camille Logan isn't the kind of distraction from his demons he should take. Women and Jake don't mix well, yet protecting the heiress seems the lesser of two evils. But Jake soon discovers that she isn't the woman she's perceived to be. She's warm, compassionate, her presence settling, and his duty to protect her soon goes deeper than a well-paid job, no matter how hard he fights it. He needs absolution. He comes to need Camille. But he knows he can't have both.
I had great expectations for this new novel by one of my favorite author! I’d been waiting for it for months and months. I’m kind of disappointed to admit that it didn’t grabbed my attention as much as I would have liked. I struggled for the first half of the book to really connect with the story, but then it finally took flight in the second half with a good dose of action and answers to the mystery.
"I've never felt so absorbed by a woman that she makes me want to sacrifice my soul in her honor. I've never felt this. Never."
The setting seemed interesting at first with a forbidden love story between a young socialite woman and her bodyguard, but I felt that the insta-love was a bit rushed. I didn’t see the relationship development to reach this kind of commitment from each other. Yes, there is an unquestionable physical attraction between Jake and Camille, but the emotional stuff felt overdone. From hating each others to being in love without any strong event to lead there was difficult to buy for me. It pains me to say this because I love Jodi Ellen Malpas’s previous books so much.
Anyway, Jake was a great hero! I loved is protective and confident personality. He’s also really tormented by his past and with Cami he finally sees a little light in his darkness. At first she strong-headed and wants to keep her liberty by making his life hell, but the growing fascination makes her stop this game. I found it interesting that Camille wasn’t the stereotypical rich daddy's little girl. She was strong and in need of her independence.
"I cling to him like he's all I have.
Because I feel like he is. Strong. Dependable. My Protector."
The story line with the threats on Camille was interesting, but like I previously said, the denouement arrived late and was done quickly. So to sum up this review, The Protector left me bittersweet. It had his good and bad parts, but was still a satisfying read in general!
