Bear Claw Bodyguard by Jessica Andersen

Knowing that I am a big fan of Jessica Andersen, especially with the Night Keeper series, and I loved Lord of the Wolfyn, I decided to try and read her latest Intrigue book.  Bear Claw Bodyguard is a Romance mystery, which involves a ruthless underground drug ring. 

Dr. Tory Bay is a scientist sent to the Colorado wilderness, to help find out why the woods are contaminated with a fungus that threatens to destroy the entire Bear Claw Park.   Jack Williams, a homicide detective has been removed from the case he was working on, and to keep him away, he is assigned to be the bodyguard to protect Tory.  Jack, while not happy with the assignment, plans to use this time to research the Drug Stare case in  the area called the Forgotten, convinced that the drug ring is still around somewhere hiding. 

Both Tory and Jack, have no interest in another, or at least try to tell themselves that.  Jack wants remain where he lives in Bear Claw, and isn’t interested in someone like Tory, who is a professional.  Tory, has not intention of ever getting married.  She wants nothing to do with commitment.  Best laid plans do not always work out. Lol

Almost from the start, as both of them head into woods for Tory to do her research on the fungus, they are attacked by someone shooting at them.  They manage survive, and that does bring them closer, as the attraction builds up.  Once a few days later, while on the site, the SUV they were in was tampered with, and they nearly went over the cliff to their deaths.  Jack using his skills of survival, managed to pull Tory and himself to safety.  Shaken up by the near death experience, brings them together to consummate their relationship.  Jess Anderson, has a wonderful of personalizing these sexual encounters, as she has in the Night Keepers.  This makes her unique and I find it very endearing. 

The end of the book is very exciting, as Jack and Tory try to find the drug ring, and are once again thrown into danger.  When the culprints are found, thought they did not want to admit it, they knew they were made for each other.  The book does end with them both going away to keep Tory safe, as I am sure sometime in the future, the next Intrigue book we address their ability to return.  I enjoyed the book very much.  At first I wasn’t sure I would, as I am not into romance mystery these days, but once I got into the story, I really couldn’t put the book down. Another wonderful book by Andersen.

Reviewed by Barb