Roses & Thorns

Roses & Thorns

Thursday, March 19, 2015

To Protect and Serve by Staci Stallings



Blurb:
To save others’ lives, they will risk their own…
Houston firefighter, Jeff Taylor is a fireman’s fireman. He’s not afraid of anything, and no situation is too dangerous to keep him on the sideline if lives are at stake.
Lisa Matheson runs a semi-successful ad agency that’s on the brink of falling apart. Her employees are incompetent and her schedule has become exhausting. When she takes on a client with a brilliant idea for a big conference, she thinks that maybe, finally this is her lucky break. However, the fire station wasn’t what she had in mind for finding conference speakers. When she falls for a handsome but shy firefighter, it’s possible that life might just be going her way for a change. The only problem is she can’t control Jeff and the death wish he seems to have…

Donna's review:

Both Jeff Taylor and Lisa Matheson have some serious issues that have kept them from forming any sort of emotional attachments as adults. While there are some action scenes of fires in this book, it is largely an emotional read. Both Lisa and Jeff must come to terms with their past and their present if they are to forge a happily ever after with each other. Stallings does a great job building and peeling the layers away in slow increments so that the story is driven towards the end.

The portrayal of a firefighter’s angst and the trauma their family and loved ones endure for these men to follow their career is also well down. I am ashamed to admit I had never really given these men a lot of thought. They truly do put their lives on the line every day for the public.

I will say there were times the story drags a bit, and I often thought it could have been said in fewer words. Stalling’s style is not particularly unique, but her sentences for the most part flow and the story is read easily. There are a few turns of phrases she occasionally uses that did cause me to scratch my head and reread.

I also found the formatting a bit confusing. I read a kindle edition, so I can’t speak for the paperback. There were times it was not clear that the story was moving to a different point of view and it pulled me out.

Stallings writes Christian Fiction, so there is no premarital sex in this one. The heat level is relatively low and confined to the feelings of both characters and light kissing. However, it is taken for granted that both main characters are already Christians. There is no conversion for anybody in this book, and neither character had a particularly racy past.

An enjoyable, heart breaking read from start to finish. (Yes, I cried at one point, maybe two.) The plot is well done. The characters are believable. The pacing, except in a few instances, is quick.

I had a hard time putting this one down. 


Four roses!


Length:  352 pages
Prices:
Print:  $ 12.70
Digital:  $ 0.00

Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/Protect-Serve-Contemporary-Christian-Romance-ebook/dp/B008391QB2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426792279&sr=8-1&keywords=stallings+staci+protect


Thanks for visiting. Rose, Julie Donna & Rochelle

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