PROTECTING WHAT’S HIS ( Line of Duty #1) by Tessa Bailey-a review

Amazon / Barnes and Noble / KOBO /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 23, 2013

She’s running from the law, and the law wants her bad.

The opportunity was just too damn delicious for Ginger Peet to pass up. The purse full of money she finds—$50,000 to be exact—could give her and her teen sister the new start they need. So she grabs the cash, her gothy sibling, and their life-sized statue of Dolly Parton, and blows outta Nashville in a cloud of dust. Chicago, here we come…

Turns out, Chicago has some pretty hot cops. Hot, intense, naughty-lookin’ cops like Derek Tyler, who looks like he could eat a girl up and leave her begging for more. And more. Tempting as he is, getting involved with the sexy homicide lieutenant next door poses a teensy problem for a gal who’s on the lam. But one thing is certain—Derek’s onto her, and he wants more than just a taste.

And as far as he’s concerned, possession is nine-tenths of the law

*****************

REVIEW: PROTECTING WHAT’S HIS is the first storyline in Tessa Bailey’s new Line of Duty contemporary romance series. If you love a story with a heroine on the run and an alpha hero with a potty mouth during sex, Protecting What’s His is sure to please.

But one CAVEAT-if you are a fan of Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L.James and the Crossfire series by Sylvia Day you WILL recognize several overlapping scenarios. This is not to say that Protecting What’s His is a remake of either of these two series, but many of the situations are definitely not original in content and I recognized the similarity immediately.

Twenty three year old Ginger Peet is basically on the run. Setting up a new home in Chicago with her seventeen year old sister, Ginger endeavors to start a new life free from her drug addicted, crack-whore prostitute mother. But running into her sexy, new neighbor, a cop no less, puts Ginger on alert-she took a purse full of money from her mother and, she would be the number one suspect if her mother attempted to report the theft. There are things about her past that Ginger never wants anyone to know-especially to the man who has stolen her heart.

The relationship between Ginger and Derek is antagonistic in the beginning. Derek has lost a fellow police officer in the line of duty and meeting his noisy, albeit beautiful new neighbor, wasn’t in his plans. The pair continue to push each other’s proverbial buttons for a good portion of the storyline, but Derek knows, that at some point, Ginger will be his. Several confrontations will force Ginger to look at Derek in a different light but when the time comes to come clean about the theft, Ginger takes it upon herself to right the wrong and comes face to face with her mother’s troubled past.

PROTECTING WHAT’S HIS is an interesting and well-written storyline with humor, sexiness and a little bit of suspense. Derek talks a good game-rough and aggressive yet loving in the bedroom and, gentle when he needs to express his feelings and protect the woman he loves. Ginger’s seventeen year old sister is wise beyond her years, and she is the first to point out that Ginger and Derek should pull their heads out of their a$$ when it comes to their relationship and mutual attraction.

But be warned, the similarities to Fifty Shades of Grey and the Crossfire series are too obvious to ignore whether it was intentional or not. The difference- everything is wrapped up in one book and one storyline.

“Look at me. You own me. I’m owned.”

Copy supplied by the publisher

Reviewed by Sandy.