Romance Book Review: Diana Palmer's Defender

Defender

by Diana Palmer

Series Connection: Long Tall Texans

ISBN: 9780373789733

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Suspense Romance, Western Romance

Publisher: HQN Books, Harlequin

Release Date: June 28, 2016

Purchase Link: Amazon

❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

I always say this before reviewing a Diana Palmer book, so I'll resay it again—Diana's style isn't for everyone. I like her bold heroes and her young feisty heroines. A lot of reviewers spend their time criticizing  the fact that the women are virgins, which many believe is just not the norm in today's world, but she always has a sensible reason why this is so for each individual woman. Another issue that tends to come up often is the fact that for this one small Texas town there seem to be a lot of mercenaries, FBI and Texas Rangers, but I say hey this is a romance novel Diana's world can be anything she makes it within the pages of her book. With that all in mind, lets get down to the details on this story. 

Sari and Merrie are two young women who live with their millionaire father. Dad is very over protective, for reasons you learn in the story, and hires a bodyguard to keep watch over the girls. Dad is also very abusive, but the girls keep this as a secret for fear of what will happen to those they hold dear. 

Paul is the bodyguard. He is very fond of both girls, but Sari is special to him. Paul hasn't come to grips with a tragedy from his past and is using his time as a bodyguard for the girls to heal, but as with most men in Diana's stories he isn't doing the best job of it. 

When his relationship with Sari get a little to close for comfort, Paul decides its time to move on. He knows that neither he or Sari is ready for that next step. He leaves in the worst possible way and breaks Sari's heart. 

Flash forward three years later, Sari has finish law school and is working for the local DA. Her father is getting worse and is in big trouble and is still way over protective. 

Paul is now working for the FBI and gets sucked back into Sari and Merrie's life. Now Paul needs Sari's trust, but after everything that's happened in their past is that possible?

Paul is a little different from many of the heroes that live in Diana Palmer's books. He isn't quite as arrogant and really does care for Sari and Merrie. This is one of the reasons why I liked this book so much. Also, she goes into a lot more detail about the before time with the two and how their relationship started, making it seem a little slow moving in the beginning, but as you get further in the book, you can appreciate why that was necessary. 

Sari is like most of the heroines in other novels within the series. She pushes and she works hard through many heartbreaks in her life, but eventually you pulls through in the end and makes something happen with her life. 

Where the story went a little wrong for me is how Paul leaves Sari's life with a lie that seems uncharacteristic of him, plus their relationship issues at the end of the book, that also seem out of character for him. 

One of the best parts about this book is that there is a good deal of suspense that runs through the pages, much better written than in recent books in the series. I liked it. 

From the sound of it Merrie's story is in the works for the future sometime, which should prove to be interesting. 

Description

The man who shattered her trust is back to protect her… New York Times bestselling author Diana Palmer delivers a breathtaking story of second-chance love. 

When Paul Fiore disappeared from Isabel Grayling's life, he told himself it was for all the right reasons. She was young and innocent, and he was her millionaire father's lowly employee. Three years on, Paul is the FBI agent assigned to Isabel's case. Too late, he realizes what life in her Texas mansion was really like back then—and how much damage he did when he left. 

Once love-struck and sheltered, Isabel has become an assistant district attorney committed to serving the law, no matter how risky it gets. But right now, the man she can't forgive is the one thing standing between her and a deadly stalker. She knows Paul won't hesitate to protect her life with his own. But if she can't trust herself to resist him, how can she trust him not to break her heart all over again?