The Protector: A sexy, angsty, all-the-feels romance with a hot alpha hero

Jodi Ellen Malpas

Sep 2016 · Sold by Forever

About this ebook

"Every kiss, every sexy scene, every word between this pair owned a piece of my soul. I could read this book a hundred times and still react as if it was the first time. The Protector is a top 2016 fave for me." -- Audrey Carlan, #1 bestselling author of The Calendar Girl series

Jake Sharp resides in his own personal hell. The ex-SAS sniper was distracted from duty once before, and the consequences were devastating--both personally and professionally. He vowed never to let that happen again 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 the lesser of two evils seems to be protecting the heiress, whose life is threatened as a result of her father's ruthless business dealings.

He thinks he knows her type: beautiful and spoiled, with her father's bank balance to fund her lifestyle. But he soon discovers the real Camille--warm, compassionate, determined to be independent and happy after struggling with past mistakes. Now, his duty to protect her turns into something 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.

For fans of Maya Banks, The Protector delivers the all-consuming romance and devastating alpha hero that make a Jodi Ellen Malpas novel an irresistible, passionate read.

Ratings and reviews

So, Jake is a total alpha (wiggles eyebrows). I honestly wasn’t so sure how much I was going to like him at first. He had some issues, but they were actually not at all what I thought they were. I jumped to conclusions before finding out the full truth. It’s a doozy. By the time the story was over, I was begging Jake to please come and take me. He’s ‘all that’ and more (licking him in my mind right now). Camile and Jake are a super couple. He’s a six foot four rock solid ex soldier. She’s the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in England and a model. He was hired to protect her, but the dangers aren’t exactly easily pinned down. I enjoyed The Protector. It has action, mystery and loads of sexy.

It's not Jesse, although noone can be Jesse. It was ok, just not the type of story I'm used to JEM creating. Maybe because it was done in one book, I didn't have the time to fall in love with the leads, only feel in like. Still a good read compared to similar novels, just was expecting something....more.

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. 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. 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. 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!

About the author

Jodi Ellen Malpas was born and raised in the Midlands town of Northampton, England, where she lives with her two boys and a beagle. She is a self-professed daydreamer, a Converse and mojito addict, and she has a terrible weak spot for alpha males. Writing powerful love stories and creating addictive characters has become her passion -- a passion she now shares with her devoted readers. Her novels have hit bestseller lists for the New York Times, USA Today, Sunday Times, and various other international publications and can be read in more than twenty-four languages around the world.