More than once, I had considered calling Kelly. There wasn't a man on earth I trusted more than my brother's best friend. He had been a permanent fixture in my life for as long as I could remember. If anyone could protect me from this unknown menace, it was Kelly Connolly.

I have really been in the mood to read a good romance book, especially with a strong alpha male, recently but I have been really swamped with my NetGalley books and other books in my tbr pile. I just couldn't help myself and picked up this book and ignored all the other books I had to read.

I really enjoyed reading about both Bee and Kelly and loved both of them, well until Kelly acted like an unbelievable jerk at one point but I'll get to that later. Bee may have needed help and protection once she thinks she is being stalked but she is also super smart. I loved that she was really smart and had her own successful business. What can I say about Kelly? I was just swooning all over the place. He is why I was so absolutely hooked in this book but also why I started to like it less towards the end. Something happens towards the end and Kelly becomes a jerk and I hated it. Frankly I felt it was thrown in there just so the final struggle at the end could happen more easily. I still enjoyed the book overall but I just did not enjoy what happened when Kelly became a jerk.

I would recommend this book if you are looking for a romance book with a hot alpha male, some great steamy scenes, oh and an appearance by the Russian mob.

This book was so much better than I thought it would be.  I was prepared for a fanfiction/the crappy side of independent publishing novel and got so much more than my little jaded been disappointed too many times heart was expecting. 

The storyline of Bee dealing with two stalkers and Kelly wanting to protect her while training for fights to work off his father's debt was engaging and fast moving.  There are a ton of side characters that are completely compelling; I must know about them!  It does distract from the main storyline and make the reader feel pulled in a million different ways, especially since this is a pretty short read.  I feel like there could have been some George R.R. Martin book length numbers with all these characters.  (I'm aware there is a Russian Protector series where a lot of these characters get their story.  Bet your sweet ass I'm slapping down the green to read it as fast as I can)

A slight complaint with the ending and very contrived, didn't feel natural of Kelly and Bee's bodyguards thinking she made up the whole obsessed-penis-pictureing-up-and-down-the-block stalker. Really? Over protective Kelly, who has known Bee for YEARS, just decides that she is a manipulative liar face and leaves her completely alone?  Not buying it.

Other than that, quick, intriguing, magnetic side characters, good solid reading.

Excuse me while I go get my Russian on....  

3.5

This is spin off from Rivera's Her Russian Protector series and while you don't have to read those books to enjoy this one I'd recommend it because there is quite a bit of character crossover. 

This has one of my favourite tropes, guy falling for his best friend's sibling, and it's always a winner for me. Kelly's family owns a gym/training facility that's in jeopardy because his father has a gambling addiction and now owes money to loan sharks and the mob. 

In order to save the gym and their father Kelly agrees to do an underground fight tournament for the mob. He's a former marine and his brothers are also ex-military but they're still recovering from injuries. Add into the mix, Kelly is trying to protect Beatrice, his best friend Jeb's younger sister, from a stalker. 

I enjoy Rivera's writing. This is more erotica and she does a great job with the sex scenes but as a result some of the plot suffers. The stalker storyline is pretty transparent, although the Jeb twist did surprise me. I would have enjoyed more details about the tournament but it was glossed over. Still I found what we did get with the training and the brief fight mentions very interesting. 

There is a TSTL moment by Kelly and Bee's bodyguards which had me shaking my head at how easily manipulated they were by the bad guy. I like the Connollys. I'm looking forward to Jack's story and especially Finn's because I'm hoping it will be an M/M, I have my suspicions! :D 

A good erotic read. Heavy on the sex and light on plot but with strong, interesting characters that have all very distinct personalities. Not quite a standalone but you're not inundated with other characters to the point where you're swimming in confusion.