Texas Bodyguard: Luke (San Antonio Security 1) by Janie Crouch-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 21, 2023

She’s seen too much
And he’s running out of time to save her…

The last person security expert Luke Patterson ever expected to see again is in desperate trouble. Claire Wallace witnessed her boss’s murder…and the killer is tearing her quiet life apart to find her. Luke will do anything to protect the childhood friend he never forgot. But as their secrets become an inescapable trap, will they survive to have any future?

Seek thrills. Solve crimes. Justice served.

•••••

REVIEW: TEXAS BODYGUARD: LUKE is the first instalment in Janie Crouch’s contemporary, adult SAN ANTONIO SECURITY romantic suspense series focusing on the Patterson brothers-Luke, Brax, Weston and Chance. This is Luke Patterson, and computer programmer Claire Wallace’s story line.

Told from third person perspectives TEXAS BODYGUARD: LUKE focuses on the rekindling friendship between Luke Patterson, and computer programmer Claire Wallace. Luke, and his brothers Brax, Weston ,Chance and Claire Wallace grew up on the foster care system until the four boys were adopted by Sheila and Clint Patterson, wherein Luke would lose track of his childhood friend. Fast forward to present day, Claire, now a computer programmer witnesses the murder of her co-worker and friend, and goes on the run towards the only person she knows who has the ability to help. Enter Luke Patterson, co-owner of San Antonio Security, and the man with whom Claire will fall in love. Claire is desperate for help, having been named the prime suspect in the death of her former friend, but at every turn dirty law enforcement and her former boss, are waiting to take her down. Once again, this time on the run with Luke Patterson, our couple find themselves outwitted and overrun, until their only chance means walking into a possible ambush by the man in charge.

The relationship between Luke and Claire is a childhood friendship that ended when Claire was sent to another home, and Luke was adopted by the Patterson clan. Claire, alone but for her Maine Coon cat Khan, finds herself on the outside looking in until betrayal and fraud find our heroine witnessing a murder, and hiding damaging evidence against the man she once called boss. Working with Luke and his brothers Brax, Weston and Chance, Claire would find herself desperate enough that to disappear may be the only option when the fire gets too hot. There are no $ex scenes, the romance is unspoken.

We are introduced to Luke’s brothers, all adopted from the foster care system: Brax, Chance and Weston; their parents Sheila and Clint, as well as Claire’s former co-worker Julia, their boss and CEO Vance Ballard, and several dirty members of the local police force.

TEXAS BODYGUARD: LUKE is a quick read; a fast paced, and action packed story of family and friendships, betrayal and vengeance, panic and loss. The premise is intriguing and entertaining; the characters are charismatic and vulnerable; the romance is non-existent, mostly implied.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

USA TODAY bestselling author Janie Crouch writes what she loves to read: passionate romantic suspense. She is a winner and/or finalist of multiple romance literary awards including the Golden Quill Award for Best Romantic Suspense, the National Reader’s Choice Award, and the coveted RITA© Award by the Romance Writers of America.

Janie recently relocated with her husband and their four teenagers to Germany (due to her husband’s job as support for the U.S. Military), after living in Virginia for nearly 20 years. When she’s not listening to the voices in her head (and even when she is), she enjoys engaging in all sorts of crazy adventures (200-mile relay races; Ironman Triathlons, treks to Mt. Everest Base Camp) traveling, and movies of all kinds.

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