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He'll guard her body all night
long.
Former Marine Jude Wilde's motto has always been "burn bridges and never look back," so nobody is more surprised when Wilde Security is hired to protect assistant district attorney Libby Pruitt, the woman he loved and left. Although she makes it clear she wants nothing to do with Jude, they're forced to fake a relationship for her safety. He can't ignore the heat still simmering between them, and when her stalker's threats escalate to attempted murder, he's left with no choice but to whisk her away to a friend's safe house in Key West, FL.
Cooped up in paradise together, Jude begins to chip away at Libby's resolve to hate him. But even as she gives in to his proximity and her body's demands for his, she refuses to fall for his charms again. Maybe a torrid affair in the sun is exactly what she needs to get him out of her system. But when her stalker tracks them down, can they escape the steamy Key West night without anyone getting hurt?
Former Marine Jude Wilde's motto has always been "burn bridges and never look back," so nobody is more surprised when Wilde Security is hired to protect assistant district attorney Libby Pruitt, the woman he loved and left. Although she makes it clear she wants nothing to do with Jude, they're forced to fake a relationship for her safety. He can't ignore the heat still simmering between them, and when her stalker's threats escalate to attempted murder, he's left with no choice but to whisk her away to a friend's safe house in Key West, FL.
Cooped up in paradise together, Jude begins to chip away at Libby's resolve to hate him. But even as she gives in to his proximity and her body's demands for his, she refuses to fall for his charms again. Maybe a torrid affair in the sun is exactly what she needs to get him out of her system. But when her stalker tracks them down, can they escape the steamy Key West night without anyone getting hurt?
I needed a new audiobook and after two books by new narrators, I was ready to fall back on a favorite and listen to Eric Dove narrate. I'm probably his crazy, stalker, fangirl of one. I love his voice. This is what I picked.
I have to say that second chance romances are not my thing. Too much resentment, recrimination and negativity. The couple tends to spend most of the time sniping at each other for whatever the reason is that broke them up in the first place and I find that rather hard to tolerate. At least for this story, I am glad of Jude's devil may care attitude. It's a good counterpoint to Libby's snark and constant, indiscriminate lashing out at Jude for having hurt her in the past. There was a lot of "she knew she was being unreasonable, but it felt better to lash out at him than deal with her feelings" stuff going on.
I really felt for Jude right through this book. Apparently, he had done something to hurt Libby in their past and you can tell it was not something he wanted to do. I got the feeling right through that it was something he was forced to do and he had been paying for it ever since. It really pissed me off no one gave him a chance. His brothers' disappointment and scolding, and Libby being a total bitch towards him. She never let up. It colored the entire story and made me think really poorly of her.
I did not like Libby at all. She did stupid things. She did mean things and like I said before, she was a complete bitch to Jude. She treated him unfairly even when he was sweet and trying to win her over, when she was frustrated and bored, and he was trying to keep her entertained, when she was in danger and he was trying to protect her, keep her safe. When I was finally starting to like her again, something happens and she runs. I hate when heroines run. Stay and fight, or stay and deal with the situation like an adult, dammit! As if running away will solve anything!!
It really annoys me that this is the second heroine in a row from my recent reading I have thoroughly disliked. If not for the fact that I wanted to know how Jude gets his happy ending, I might not have made it through the book. He deserves it after all the crap that gets thrown at him. I've never seen a hero get as beat up as Jude, and I don't think I've ever read a hero where I've been pissed off on his behalf either. I'd rather his happy ending was not with Libby but WTH, we're stuck with her being the heroine.
There's nothing wrong with the book itself. It's well written and the story was entertaining, but boy oh boy, did Libby piss me off. If I could reach into the book and smack her across the head with a two-by-four, I would. I really want to. MS Burrows should feel proud she evoked such strong emotions out of me, albeit some rather negative emotions. My Steve always reminds me, it is the hallmark of a good author if he / she can evoke strong emotional reactions from the reader through their writing.
Let's talk about the narration the fact that this is an audiobook for a bit. One of the things which kept me going was listening to Eric's voice (and Jude's happy ending!), but then Eric could read the back of a cereal box to me and I'd happily listen to him.
I learned something about audiobooks too and the reading experience because I am listening to an audiobook rather than reading it. (I learn a bit more about the audiobook experience with each one I listen to!) When you have a good narrator it makes a huge difference to how much you enjoy the book. When the book is good and the narrator is good, it makes a good book even better. Think of the narrator's voice as the actors in a movie and how good actors affect the outcome of a movie. The flip side is if the book is not so good, then the narrator can highlight through his narration what is not working in the story for you because with listening to an audiobook, you are not rushing. You are listening to every word at a steady pace and you absorb every word, every nuance of what is going on. If you were reading and came to a part in a book you didn't like, you could skim it or read faster to avoid the unpleasant experience. It's much harder to do with an audiobook.
I'm still going to read / listen to the next book in the series as I've already purchased the Audible version of the book. I hope the next heroine is not as annoying and the next hero does not get as beat up as poor Jude. I don't think I could deal with another hero being run through the wringer like that.
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About the author
Tonya Burrows wrote her first romance in 8th grade and hasn't put down her pen since. Originally from a small town in Western New York, she's currently soaking up the sun as a Florida girl. She suffers from a bad case of wanderlust and usually ends up moving someplace new every few years. Luckily, her two dogs and ginormous cat are excellent travel buddies.
When she's not writing about hunky military heroes, Tonya can usually be found at a bookstore or the dog park. She also enjoys painting, watching movies, and her daily barre workouts. A geek at heart, she pledges her TV fandom to Supernatural and Dr. Who.
Author links: - Website - Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads
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That sucks. I loved this one and had a totally different thing with Libby. Bummer you hated it so much.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was not a fan of Libby. Curious how you felt about her.
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