Synopsis:
He’s never met a challenge he couldn’t take…
Alexis Yeung did everything right….only to watch everything go horribly, horribly wrong. Broken and angry, Alexis high-tails it to Europe, determined to face the world on her own terms and without consequence. Which includes a mind-blowing night with a sexy, scarred stranger.
Except, embittered former pararescuer Luke Jackson isn’t exactly a stranger. He’s supposed to keep an eye on Alexis without her knowing. Ending up in bed together was definitely not the plan. Now he’s chasing her (admittedly hot) ass across Europe, a game of cat and mouse that always ends with the two of them tangled up in the sheets.
Something in their scarred, damaged souls calls to each other. And God help them, the sex in unbelievably hot. But if Alexis discovers who Luke really is, he’ll lose the one thing that makes him feel whole…
See where it all began with book 1 of the Out of Uniform series, In Bed with Mr. Wrong.
Review:
Finally, we get to see where Alexis ran off to at the end of Falling for His Best Friend ! If you haven’t yet read book two, that’s okay–you might not share in the urgency the rest of us felt at the end of that book, but it isn’t until this one that we fully understand everything that was weighing Alexis down anyway. Avery and Drew (the heroine and hero of Falling) are only peripheral characters here; Alexis and Luke are off in Europe together for most of the book so it’s as good a place to start as any.
(Well, of course starting with book one– In Bed with Mr. Wrong would be ideal, but if you can’t for some reason, this book could stand alone just fine.)
His Lover to Protect is exactly what we’ve come to expect from a Katee Robert story–a sexy, dirty-talking, and emotional read. Alexis and Luke’s story is perhaps even more emotional than her usual, since both characters are dealing with a whole lot of physical and emotional damage for a lot of the book.
Alexis recently contracted the same form of cancer that killed her mother, and as a result had to have a hysterectomy. Since she’d always wanted to have children, this was bad enough; add to that the fact that her fiance dumped her and her grandfather called her a failure to her face because of it? Yeah. Messed up, squared. When her younger sister becomes pregnant, Alexis just has to get away.
Which is where Luke comes in. A former parajumper, he’s forever grounded when a rescue mission goes wrong and he learns that his leg will not only be horribly scarred but will never have full functionality again. He’s been working for his uncle as a mechanic and is back living with the aunt who raised him, but she’s about ready to kick his surly butt to the curb if he can’t manage to get back to the business of living, and soon. When a former teammate asks him to help find his brother’s fiancee’s missing sister, Luke takes the challenge. How hard can it be, finding one spoiled American princess in Europe and keeping her safe?
Almost from the first scene, Alexis shows him what a challenge she can be. The two do not get along well at all, in spite of the pull of attraction they both feel. It takes them quite some time to admit even to themselves that they’ve started to like the person they’ve been having dirty thoughts about and doing dirtier things with, so obviously the “L” word isn’t going to come easy either. They both have to come to terms with their lives as they are now and realize that they still have worth–tasks they’ll help each other with along the way–before they can even think about committing to another person.
So. Worth. It.
But then there’s the teensy problem that Luke hasn’t yet admitted to Alexis why he’s there in the first place, or his connection to her sister…which of course is going to blow up in his face. Can they get past his lie?
I have to admit, that was the only part of the entire story that wasn’t all that for me. Alexis’s reaction to finding out who Luke really was felt blown out of proportion. I guess I understand where she was coming from–her so-called fiance and grandfather really did a number on her, I know–but I was surprised that she made the assumptions that she made when she found out that he’d lied to her. Fortunately her sister helped to point her in the right direction to forgive him and Luke had a fantastic win her back plan up his sleeve (after a very short wallowing session, anyway) so it all ended well.
Very well.
Will there be a book 4? Hope so! 🙂
Rating: 4 stars ? A-
I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.
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