On Her Guard

I have to balance the 1st review and say that I loved this book. The handling of a child's murder was shocking but well done and the whole espionage thing seemed fairly plausible to me - after all, THIS IS FICTION! One has to suspend one's picking at points of reality when reading it. I liked the strength of the female character and felt the author did a good job with that. The difficult transition from anger to forgiveness was perhaps not handled perfectly but it is always the problem with writing fiction - the handling of changing emotions and characters. Overall, I think this is a great book and one of my few keeper books. Check out - Blind Spot - Romantic Suspense with environmental theme

On her Guard is truly a raw and special read. The characters are real and gritty, the plot is both realistic and interesting and the heat between Nikos and Ellen and Faith and Worth are sure to keep you reading til the last page. I have to admit even though Nikos and Ellen are the main characters, Faith and Worth's story really hit home because Faith wasnt the stereotypical beauty in most romance books. She was an average woman who had a real connection with a man who shared a emotional, scary and traumatic experience with her. I enjoyed Worth because he was not only sexy, but he had real insecurities about love that all people feel when they have met someone who challenges there opinions on love. I was so in love with Faith and Worth's story that I am planning on buying their continuing story in "SO THIS IS CHRISTMAS". Not to mention the love scenes by both couples are steamy, realistic, hot and sensual. I swear you will never want the story to end. Plus there is a heartbreaking discovery that will definetely bring a tear to your eyes...this is wonderful read..you wont be disappointed.

Wow. That about sums this book up. Beverly Barton did an extrodinary job of expressing characters emotions. Ellen Denby is the CEO of The Dundee Agency, who is called in to find a kidnapped child and her nanny. She is unaware that the father of the child, Theo Constantine, has called in his own backup. Ellen is shocked to see Nikos, the man she had a two week fling with nearly 15 years ago. Nikos is more than shocked to find Ellen, whom he knew as Mary Ellen, the CEO of the agency. He as been undercover for the British SIS for the past 18 years, but he had never forgotten Mary Ellen, whom he fell in love with the two weeks they were together, but couldn't put her life in jepordy. If only he knew......When I read what Ellen went through when she got back to the states after her fling, I couldn't stop crying for 10 pages. Being a mother, it was especially hard to read and I almost had to put the book down.This is a book that takes us through the ups and downs of Ellen and Nikos' relationship, Theo and Dia, and later in the book Faith (the nannny) and Worth.

In this latest addition to her Protector Series, Beverly Barton has engaged the help of fellow author Linda Howard to brainstorm - and the central protagonist Nikos Pandarus emerges irresistibly dark, haunted and every bit an archetypal alpha male. An SIS spy for the English, he has earned the hatred from Hakeem - the honcho of the fearsome terrorism organisation Al'alim when he killed his son. Hakeem's brother Omar has commandered his son Wasim to kidnap the daughter of Theo Constantine - a influential Golnar businessman and will set her free on the condition that they release their imprisoned brothers. Theo enlists the assistance of Ellen Denby who heads the protection agency and his best friend Nikos without knowing they were erstwhile lovers. The tension between them stems from a deep hatred when their short affair compromised Ellen's life -and caused unbearable grief for the loss of a loved one which is unknown to Nikos. With searing poignancy and complexed characters, Beverly Barton brings a resonant drama on lost innocence, guilt and remorse that pulsates with the rhythm of frenetic action. Ms. Barton's scrupulous research on espionage and military operation breathes realism into the plot without forsaking on the romance and kinship. She makes every side-character including the grieving mother Dia, comrades Sawyer and Lucie textured and relevant to the plot and even concocts a beautiful secondary romance between the nanny Faith and tough-guy ranger Worth. Yet the element that excruciatingly tugs our heartstrings is the bittersweet romance between Nikos and Ellen where it shines with compassion, smoldering passion and ultimately forgiveness. The unguarded emotions found in this elegant and simple tale makes this one of the best read I have had this year.