His to Protect

CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

​Title: His to Protect
Author: Stacey Lynn
Publication date: 07/12/2016
Publisher: Fallen Publishing
Kindle Unlimited: No
Cliffhanger: No
Rating: 5 out of 5

Blurb (from Amazon.com):
Declan James lost his last ounce of trust the day his wife walked out the door, leaving him to save the restaurant they built together. Throwing himself into his work, Declan swears off women--or at least, women who expect him to stick around in the morning. But when he discovers a skittish beauty scrounging through the Fireside's trash to feed her dog, Declan offers her a job and a place to rest her head. There's just something about her that awakens his protective side. And soon, not even that mangy mutt can stop Declan from caring for her.

After one too many trips to the ER, Trina Wilson finally gathered the courage to leave her husband, taking only her car and hyperactive boxer. Unfortunately, life on the run proves harder than she anticipated—until Declan takes a leap of faith on her. But even as Trina starts to see beyond his gruff exterior, she can’t relax, even for a moment. Not with her husband still tracking her down. What Trina doesn’t know is that in Declan, she has a powerful ally—and, if she would only follow her heart, a devoted lover.

My review
This book had so many positives going for it that I’m not even sure where to start! So, like I always do when I’m overwhelmed with information, I’m just going to list them out:

1. Trina was an awesome heroine. Abused but not beaten. She waited for her moment, and ran from her abuser with nothing but a few hundred bucks, some clothes and her dog. (She gets BIG points with me for taking the dog with her and not leaving him behind with her abusive asshat of a husband) It was a joy to read about her as she learned to live again and took back control of her life. Her courage was inspiring.
2. Declan was a damn-near perfect hero. He was all tough and alpha, but always gave Trina space when she needed it and let her be herself. He never tried to force her to fit into his life, and he never asked her to change. He also didn’t use his divorced status as an excuse to act like a man-whoring jackass like so many romance heroes tend to do these days. Declan kind of reminded me of a Kristen Ashley alpha hero And, folks, if you know me at all, you know I can think of no higher compliment than that.
3. The supporting cast of characters was great. You get just enough detail about them to make them interesting, but not enough that you feel they bog down the main romance between Trina and Declan.
4. The abuser got what was coming to him in the end, which I always enjoy. I probably would’ve liked to read about him suffering for his crimes a little more than he did, but I won’t deduct any stars for that. (Maybe other readers just aren’t as vindictive as I am. *Shrugs*)   
5. Minor spoiler alert. If you’re an animal lover like I am (meaning: if you like dogs more than you like people), you’ll need to know this before you can read the book and completely relax: the dog lives.  

Long-story-short: can’t recommend this one highly enough, folks. Give it a read!

Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
Crushes it! No rehab needed. This one is clean and sober.

Other reading suggestions
Given how great this book was, I’d recommend picking up this author’s backlist. And for a read about a hot alpha dude who falls for a woman who hasn’t had the easiest of romantic histories, try Kristen Ashley’s The Gamble. ​

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