Protector For Hire / Best Man For Hire by Tawna Fenske-reviews

Protector for Hire
Front and Center #4
by Tawna Fenske
Genre: adult, contemporary, romance
Release Date: June 30, 2015

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO /

Keeping her safe is crucial. Guarding his heart is impossible.

Haunted by his time in Iraq, former soldier Schwartz Patton goes off the grid, retreating deep into Montana’s untamed wilderness. Now, ten years into his self-imposed solitude, his brother tracks him down and asks for a favor. A woman is in danger, and she needs help…and Schwartz is the only one who can protect her.

Designer-loving city girls like Janelle Keebler don’t belong in the wilderness. Unless, of course, they’re witnesses to a murder by their psycho drug-trafficking ex-husbands. Still, Janelle can’t help the immediate physical response she has to her sexy-as-sin protector that leaves her wanting more than she could have ever imagined. Even if he does make terrible coffee…

Every word, every touch, every kiss ignites a need Schwartz thought he’d lost forever. He can’t stop the desperate attraction simmering between him and Janelle, even if he wanted to. Even if it means it could get them both killed.

•••••••••••••

REVIEW: PROTECTOR FOR HIRE is the fourth installment in Tawna Fenske’s adult, contemporary Front and Centre romance series. This is former US soldier Schwartz Patton, and graphic designer Janelle Keebler’s storyline. Janelle is Anna’s sister and Schwartz is Grant’s brother (both from Best Man for Hire #3). PROTECTOR FOR HIRE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous storylines is revealed when necessary. Each FRONT AND CENTRE Patton sibling is named after a famous US General (MacArthur, Sheridan, Grant) and in this our hero’s name is Schwartzkopf Patton

Told from dual third person perspectives, PROTECTOR FOR HIRE finds Janelle Keebler in hiding. Her psycho ex husband-murderer/drug trafficker/all around evil man- is on the run, searching for Janelle in the hopes of ‘convincing’ his ex wife that it would be prudent if she forgot everything that she knows and saw. Janelle was oblivious to her ex husband’s business and in this she believes her ‘picker’ is no longer working. Enter Schwartz Patton-the man who has been tasked with protecting Janelle; keeping her hidden in the remote wilderness of Montana. What ensues is a building relationship between two completely opposite personalities and the realization, for Schwartz, that to move forward he has to learn to forgive himself.

Schwartz Patton has been off the grid for almost a decade. Ten years earlier, a roadside bomb in Iraq wiped out his team, leaving a gravely injured Schwartz as the lone survivor. Survivor’s guilt and the belief that he led his team to their deaths finds Schwartz living with his guilt and his wolfdog ‘Sherman’ in the Montana Wilderness. But family is never far away from Schwartz’s mind, as he continues to keep track of birthdays, anniversaries, celebrations and births.

The relationship between Schwartz and Janelle is one of immediate attraction but Schwartz has been without companionship for so long that the regulars in the small town presumed our hero was ‘all sorts of crazy’ or a mute. As the storyline progresses, so too does the relationship between our leading couple, as Schwartz tries not to succumb to Janelle’s feminine allure and the scent of her designer bath oil. The $ex scenes are intimate and provocative; Schwartz will lose his ‘phone sex virginity’ to Janelle.

PROTECTOR FOR HIRE is a sexy and romantic storyline that ends with another Patton family member finding love and a happily ever after. There are moments of giggle-worthy humor as we are introduced to the local townsfolk and their attempts to gather information about Janelle and Schwartz aka Triple M. And we can’t forget about Schwartz addiction to the toaster pastry-POP TARTS, and Janelle’s need for a great cup of coffee. The sexual innuendo is cause for a few guffaws and hearty groans.

The world building continues to focus on the Patton siblings and their spouses with a little cameo from the family matriarch Stella Patton. I will point out I am not a fan of the name Schwartz. I get it; all of the siblings are named for famous American Generals but Schwartz is probably the least romantic name I have ever encountered in a romance novel-by far-except for one female heroine named Brannislava. 😉

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

_________________

BEST MAN FOR HIRE
Front and Centre #3
by Tawna Fenske
Genre: adult, contemporary, romance

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 29, 2014

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / The Book Depository

So perfect he’s almost too good to be true…

Anna Keebler makes a living being unconventional. A wedding planner who specializes in more…unusual ceremonies, Anna’s client list includes everything from nudists to paintballers to Little Red Riding Hood enthusiasts. So when her photographer up and quits during a wedding blitz in Hawaii, Anna makes an unconventional decision. She hires a hot Marine to be her new photographer.

Little does she know, Grant Patton is the best man in one of her weddings. He’s so perfect he’s practically a Boy Scout—if Boy Scouts were big, ripped Marines with gorgeous gray eyes, and good at, oh, everything. Especially sex. In fact, his only flaw seems to be that he hates marriage as much as she does. But Anna suspects the sexy Boy Scout routine is a cover, and if he wants this thing between them to be about more than sex, Grant must reveal the dark past he’s fought so hard to hide…

••••••••••••••••••

REVIEW: BEST MAN FOR HIRE is the third installment in Tawna Fenske’s adult, contemporary Front and Centre romance series. This is U.S. Marine and amateur photographer Grant Patton, and wedding organizer Anna Keebler’s storyline. Anna has been hired to organize Sam Kercher and Sheri Patton’s (Marine For Hire #1) Kauai island wedding and along the way, Anna will fall fast and hard for Sheri’s ‘perfect’ brother Grant Patton. What ensues is a building relationship between two people whose view of marriage is less than stellar. BEST MAN FOR HIRE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty.

Told from dual third person perspectives, BEST MAN FOR HIRE follows Anna as she has not one, not two but four island weddings to coordinate in the Hawaiian Islands. When her wedding photographer quits after a rowdy game of paintball where the oblivious Grant mistakes the cameraman as a potential shooter, Anna becomes desperate for a wedding photographer. Enter Grant Patton, an amateur photographer and the best man at one of the weddings Anna has been hired to organize. As their ‘business’ relationship turns into something more, Anna begins to realize that perhaps she has been wrong about the potential benefits of marriage and love.

The relationship between Anna and Grant is sexual, sensual and one of immediate attraction but both of our leading characters refuse to give into the idea of marriage and a happily ever after. Grant is consumed by guilt from a past indiscretion; and Anna has been burned by her parent’s divorce. While Grant sees their relationship as sexy and fun, Anna begins to fall in love with a man whose secrets are tearing him apart. There is plenty of sexual innuendo between our couple-every word takes on sexual and provocative meaning.

The secondary and supporting characters include Sam and Sheri (book 1) as well as Kelli and Mac from book 2 (Fiancee for Hire). We will be introduced to Grant’s family including his sharpshooter mother who tells it like it is –there is no holding back Stella Patton when it comes to talking about sex and sexual situations. Anna will hire her sister Janelle as her island wedding assistant-Janelle’s story will be told in the next installment –Protector for Hire-where Janelle finds love with Schwartz Patton- a former soldier who has gone off the grid.

BEST MAN FOR HIRE is a sexy, passionate and captivating storyline. The characters are engaging, charismatic, and funny; the building romance is provocative and intense. Tawna Fenske seamlessly blends the previous storyline couples into an ensemble story where love will flourish under the Kauai Island sun. There are humorous moments as the brothers argue over who doesn’t want to be the best man; and of course, we cannot forget the bridal shower ‘gifts’ that brought about some embarrassing moments for the bride-thanks to her mother’s running commentary.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Marine for Hire
Fiancee For Hire
Best Man For Hire
Protector For Hire

Copy supplied by the publisher.

Reviewed by Sandy