DYING FOR YOU

Author: Beverly Barton ISBN: 9780373773176 12/2008 SUSPENSE Publisher: HQN

The job of her dreams… or her worst nightmare… All private security agent Lucie Evans wanted was a fresh start—and the chance to show Sawyer McNamara, her ex-boss, that she no longer craved his absolution for a crime she didn’t commit. So when the offer of a trip to South America as the personal bodyguard to a billionaire heiress came up, Lucie jumped at the prospect of leaving the Dundee Agency behind. Then the nightmare began. Kidnapped in a case of mistaken identity, suddenly Lucie's only hope of survival rested with the one man she never wanted to see again... Sawyer had spent years convincing himself that all he felt for Lucie was contempt—but with her life at stake, he was forced to face his true feelings. Though it may be a case of too little, too late. Because Lucie’s captor wouldn't rest until she was silenced... once and for all.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

DYING FOR YOU by Beverly Barton is the final installment in her long-running The Protectors series. I'll be honest here. I haven't read any of the previous Protectors books. It didn't matter that I haven't—this book is so well written, there isn't anything missing for a first-time reader. I fell easily and swiftly into the situation and never felt like I'd missed anything. But I will say that this book is so intense and engaging that I now want to read at least some of the books that came before DYING FOR YOU. It makes me a bit saddened to realize I'm only finding this extended series with the end book. But at least I found the series, and I guess that's what counts most.

The action begins with the first chapter and doesn't let up, in one form or another, until the very end. Readers are "introduced" straight off to an assassin and while his role is important, it is by no means the core of the book. Actually, the main theme of this book is acceptance and, perhaps, redemption. Lucie and Sawyer have a past—one that makes their present situation tenuous at best. This fragile, albeit loud, relationship is further tested when Lucie heads off to protect an heiress. At one point there are enough gunshots flying that I wondered if I was reading a western, but the violence was inherent to the plotline so didn't feel at all gratuitous. Rather, the gunfight and its aftermath really turned one scenario into another. I saw part, but not all, of what happens next coming. The unexpected bits, especially the tender moments, are in such direct contrast to the drama and tension that they are wonderfully effective in pulling the reader deeper into an already-engrossing story.

This book is somewhat circular, and is, I feel, a good way to end a series. By the last scene all major characters, as well as any secondary ones, are all accounted for and have their futures pretty well mapped out. The reader isn't left wondering what happened to so-and-so or worrying about where the major players end up. They know, and it's all good.

I loved DYING FOR YOU and am looking forward to reading more of The Protector series. Beverly Barton has definitely gained a reader with this book. It is wonderful!

Kay James