Protectors: The Early Years

These early books show how love can be sacrificial and how thinking of others first can be the best choice. Also how love can be accepting of other's differences.

Guarding Jeannie: 3 stars. 6 years ago Sam Dundee, after being shot and thrown off a boat after an op goes bad, is washed ashore on a small island. There a young woman, Jeannie, who is empathic, saves his life. Now Jeannie needs Sam's help when a zealous and insane minister and his followers threaten her life. While Sam could have sent any of the agents from his protection agency he goes himself since he owes his life to her. Jeannie constantly put herself in public situations which put everyone else at risk, not smart. This book had a good plot but it was lost in the love story which was too sickening sweet. Plus I sure wouldn't want anyone inside my mind, that's just creepy! Also, how many houses on a small island in the south have basements? Blackwood's Woman: 5 stars J.T. Blackwood returns to his home in New Mexico to recover from a mission that cost him an eye. Joanna Belmont has moved there after a brutal rape. When the two come together it's eerily similar to a long ago romance between J.T.'s great-grandfather and Joanna's great-grandmother down to the matching silver and turquoise rings, although they both fight it. When Joanna's rapist returns J.T. does everything he can to keep her safe. The story from her great-grandmother's diary tells of a love that surpassed time. This is just a great book! Roarke's Wife: 4 stars Cleo McNamara needs a husband and child within a year in order to save her family business and her heritage. She also needs a bodyguard and Simon Roarke is willing to supply all three. But while fighting the problems and threats on her life Simon starts to wonder how much he'll be giving up once all three are fulfilled and he has to walk away. **Most of Beverly Barton's books are set in the South. But the only thing she uses that is particular to Southern "language" is y'all which she sometimes uses to refer to as few as two people. Every part of the country has its own way of speaking. In Ohio we add "at" to everything. Ex: "Where's that dog at?" Southerner's tend to drop their g's. Ex. "What do you think you're doin?" and/or drawl things out. In Ohio we talk fast & in different parts of the state the way of speaking varies. In Ms. Barton's books every Southerner no matter what state, from the mountain people to business execs talk the same. I lived in the South for several years and my husband's family still lives there. You can't spend much time there without developing an accent. This is something that I find jarring in all of these books. The strangest part is Ms. Barton lives in the South.

The first book deals with a woman with psychic abilities. She saves a man's life and 6 years later needs his skills as a bodyguard to protect her from an insane preacher. I found it to be a touching story but a little too "otherworldly" for my tastes. The second book deals with a woman who moved to the Blackwood ranch in New Mexico to recover from a brutal rape. 4 years later she is still there and meets J.T., the owner of the ranch who she feels a deep connection to. When her rapist escapes prison she finds herself in need of a bodyguard and J.T. (a former Agent turned bodyguard) takes the job. This book was my favorite- both characters were well developed and their internal demons formed some complicated issues.The third book deals with a woman who is in need of a husband and bodyguard. Her uncle died, leaving her the family business but only if she marries and has a child within a year. But someone in her family has decided she should sell and has tried to kill her. Simon Roarke takes her hand in matrimony and becomes her husband and bodyguard. He needs the million dollars she offered to take care of his insane ex-wife. They both find their attraction growing into something more but will they be able to battle their fears and a killer? This book was good- there was just enough romance and action to keep me interested. The family was a little too much but had interesting personalities.