Blurb:

I thought I’d come to terms with my solitary existence.

Most days, I even told myself I preferred it.

After all, the dogs at my shelter didn’t ask questions about my appearance. They didn’t stare at my scars. They didn’t make me feel ugly.

Then I met Gage. He came to the shelter to adopt a dog, but even after that, he kept returning. Was he just coming to help, like he claimed? Or could I dare hope he wanted to spend time with me?

Would he? Handsome, brave, heroic Gage, who could have any woman he wanted? Could he possibly see me as more than just the quiet, reclusive woman who ran the dog rescue outside town? More than the scarred woman everyone else looked away from?

I liked Rory from the first time I met her.

How could I not? She was caring. Smart. Beautiful. Even though I knew it couldn’t go anywhere, it didn’t stop me from wanting to spend time with her.

Friends was enough, I told myself over and over. It was all I could offer. It was all my wounded self-esteem would allow me.

Until I found her unconscious and injured in the woods, with no memory of how she got there. Until I held her in my arms and realized I’d do anything to protect her. Until I realized just being friends wasn’t enough.

But first, I need to make sure she’s safe. That the person who hurt her is caught. And I’ll draw on all the skills I learned in the Special Forces, along with the help of my Green Mountain Guardians teammates, to make sure no one hurts her again.

Buy Link:

https://a.co/d/6ZT0Xvx

Available in KU 

*****

Review:

Often in these kinds of stories the suspense part is what brings the couple together and I always think of the beginning of Speed 2 when Annie says that “relationships based on extreme circumstances never work out” 🙂 Here Rory and Gage develop a friendship over weeks of him coming to her dog rescue to help out so there was a good basis for their interactions and their deepening feelings. But both have some insecurities that they need to work out and time spent together figuring out what’s going on allows them to come to terms with them.

I did feel like A LOT happened to poor Rory in a short amount of time but everything worked for me. I liked the villain, the reasons why, and how it all played out. Nothing seemed to be a stretch and I liked the way the guys worked together to keep her safe & figure out what was going on.

I had two things going into this – it’d been a while since I’d read a romantic suspense and this is the first story I’ve read by Cobie … and I think I need more of both! I feel like she blended the romance element and the suspense portion well, giving each the necessary time & attention. This seems to be her thing so I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on Cobie and picking up more of her books.

*****

Author Info:

Gia Cobie is an award winning author living in upstate New York with her husband and small zoo of animals. She loves writing about protective heroes and the strong women they fall in love with.

In her spare time (when she has any!), Gia enjoys reading and spending time in the Adirondacks, and also has a weakness for reality romance shows, wine, and buying way too many books!

Follow Gia for updates on her latest releases!

https://www.giacobie.com

~