Sunday, August 3, 2014

Review: Guarded by Mary Behre

Guarded by Mary Behre
Series: Tidewater, Book 2
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Romantic Suspense with Paranormal Elements Guarded Cover
ISBN: 9780425268629
Release Date: August 5, 2014
Source: Publisher
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N

She’s given up on finding love…
Veterinarian Shelley Morgan has always preferred animals to humans, and not simply because she can communicate with them psychically. Unlike most people she’s known, animals have never broken her heart. But after six months in her new town, some of her favorite four-legged companions begin disappearing from the local zoo. Determined to track down the animals and their thief, the telepathic vet decides to investigate, unknowingly delving into a deadly mystery…

He’s ready to make her heart go wild…
Although his bear-like physique has been an advantage in the Tidewater Police Department, Dev Jones’s size often intimidates people. Only Shelley has seen past his massive build to the intelligent man inside, but that was years ago. So when she contacts him requesting his help to solve a series of animal kidnappings, he’s eager to reconnect with her. But the thefts escalate to murder and all the evidence points to Shelley as the killer, and Dev faces a devastating choice: forsake his career or risk losing the woman he’s grown to love…

Guarded is a stellar romantic thriller! Mary Behre’s second Tidewater novel was so engaging that I didn’t want to put it down for a moment.

Shelley is a veterinarian gifted with the ability to communicate with animals. A blessing for her, since she’s been left time and again by the people she’s loved and now only lets animals into her heart. But when Shelley learns that someone has been kidnapping animals from the local zoo, she digs into her past and contacts Dev Jones. Dev has always been in the friend zone where Shelley is concerned, but all that changes when they meet again. It’s easy to like both Shelley and Dev; they both have big hearts and are protective by nature. Their past history paves the way for a smooth friends-to-lovers transition and the ensuing romantic storyline was wonderful to watch unfold. Their biggest problem is Shelley’s unwillingness to trust others to stay, but Ms. Behre does an excellent job of showing exactly why Shelley is so wary.

The mystery of who is kidnapping wild animals and why adds intrigue to Guarded. I loved the twists and turns the story took, and I eagerly followed Shelley and Dev as they unraveled the mystery. With numerous lives on the line, multiple suspects, and a killer who’s setting Shelley up to take the fall, there’s ample danger to be found in Guarded. Shelley does have a propensity for jumping into dangerous situations without thinking things all the way through – something that detracted from the story a touch – but aside from that I pretty much loved everything about this book.

Some books are simply a joy to read, and Guarded was such a story for me. Mary Behre is definitely a romantic suspense author to watch, and I can’t wait to go back and read the first Tidewater novel, Spirited.


FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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