The first time I saw my landlord Jude Wayland, with his gentle brown eyes and a body built to do damage, I knew he was trouble. Sure, he has the nice guy routine mastered, but I’m not buying it. In my experience, no one does a good deed for free.Now that he’s seen me at my lowest, the sexy P.I with a white knight complex wants to uncover my secrets. He also has me craving more of his sizzling … of his sizzling kisses. But I can’t give in to my feelings for him. I promised my sister that I’d raise her daughter without a man, and I won’t let her down again.
Yet as my past catches up with me, bringing danger to our door, I’ll have to make a choice–let Jude in and betray my sister, or run, leaving behind the only man I’ve ever loved.
Ruthless Protector is the fourth book in the Lawless Kings series, but each of these sexy, gritty contemporary romances can be enjoyed as a standalone.
Other books in the series:
Book 1: Shattered King
Book 2: Broken Rebel
Book 3: Beautiful Killer
Book 4: Ruthless Protector
Book 4.5: Glorious Sinner
Book 5: Merciless King
more
Great Book that I really enjoyed reading
Jude has got to be one of my favorite book boyfriends EVER. He’s big and gruff and tough… and a total marshmellow inside. I love how he takes care of Willa and Tilly (or tries to anyway), as well as Faye, and pretty much everyone else around him.
Willa on the other hand, I just wanted to smack upside the head through most of the book. Oh, my gosh, was she difficult, and just mean to Jude. Sure, she’d had some bad experiences in the past, from her mother to her ex-boyfriend, and certainly her former brother-in-law, but nothing that seemed nearly bad enough to warrant her horrendous attitude toward people. It was amazing that she let anyone in at all, even Faye, let alone Jude.
I was incredibly happy to see these two together finally, although it obviously took all of Jude’s patience to keep things going. (Seriously, the man as written is a virtual saint.) And even after they’d begun to get close, and Willa knew that she should trust Jude — she still refused to do so. I could not believe that she was ever even contemplating leaving him.
Many of the minor characters in this tale were delightful as well. I totally loved Tilly and also Faye, among others. The way in which the others the King Agency had Jude’s back, both professionally and personally, was amazing and very good to see.
I was not a huge fan of the strip club venue, but those scenes were handled fairly tastefully. The love scenes between Willa and Jude were definitely hot! Especially the one where he discovers that she thinks about him when she’s dancing.
Some of the peripheral plot lines were a bit much for me. All the drama with that jerk Trent was bad enough, but the convoluted nature of the real situation behind most of that was somewhat hard to follow.
Overall though it was a really good story, excellently written, very well paced, and with a wonderful Hero. This is the first book that I’ve read in the “Lawless Kings” series, but now I’m thinking that I definitely need to read the others as well!
3.5 stars–RUTHLESS PROTECTOR is the fourth instalment in Sherilee Gray’s contemporary, adult LAWLESS KINGS erotic, romantic suspense series focusing on the men and women who work for the King Agency doing personal protection and security, private investigation (corporate and domestic), high-risk fugitive recovery, missing persons and kidnapping investigations. This is King Security PI and former police officer Jude Wayland, and waitress/exotic dancer Willa Hartley’s story line. RUTHLESS PROTECTOR can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.
Told from dual first person points of view (Willa and Jude) RUTHLESS PROTECTOR follows the acrimonious relationship between King Security PI and former police officer Jude Wayland, and waitress/exotic dancer Willa Hartley. Jude Wayland knows something is going on with his new tenant: mysterious strangers, and threats against her life, as well as her most recent venture into the world of exotic dancing find Jude going into protector mode as it pertains to the independent and untrusting Willa Hartley. The sole provider for her eight-year old niece Tilly, Willa becomes desperate enough to take on a position at the local exotic dance club, desperate enough when threats of another nature come knocking at her door. What ensues is the building relationship between Jude and Willa, and the potential fall-out as Willa continues to keep secret the who and why behind to threats to her life, and our heroine’s inability to trust threatens her relationship with the man that she loves.
Willa Hartley’s need for independence, and her inability to trust promote an aura of unfriendly and harsh. Our heroine’s aggressive attitude and unwillingness to ask for help threatens not only her life but the life of her eight-year old niece, and in this, she is a difficult heroine to like and accept. A little bit of TSTL (too stupid to live) syndrome does not make for an enjoyable character. Willa’s character development is questionable until the very end, and someone points out the truth of her actions against the man that she loves. Jude Wayland knows loss, and it is this loss that exaggerates his need to protect Willa and Tilly, an exaggeration that brings with it too many heart breaking memories of the past.
RUTHLESS PROTECTOR has a colorful cast of secondary and supporting characters all of whom interact with our story line couple. From fellow exotic dancers, the local cartel, the men and women who work for the King Security Agency, and the requisite evil with many faces, RUTHLESS PROTECTOR is a character driven story line about family, friendship, betrayal and love. The premise is engaging; the leading characters are broken and charismatic; the romance struggles in the face of our heroine’ s inability to trust or ask for help when it is needed the most.
Willa has a reason to not trust men and with a promise to her dying sister she sets out to raise her niece alone. As finances become tighter and someone from her pasts begins to blackmail her, she finds herself fighting just to keep her head above water. Along the way she is met with care and concern from her landlord. He feels like a safe place to land, but Willa knows better than to trust that feeling.
Jude’s past has left him scarred and unable to allow anyone to get close to him. However, the more time he spends with Willa the more his heart opens to a life he had been holding himself back from. But Willa refuses to trust him with her problems and he can’t protect her if he doesn’t know where the trouble lies.
Despite not getting a lot of Jude’s point of view, I loved him. I understood his sense of loss and his reactions to Willa in the beginning were completely relevant due to her behavior. It would have been nice if he had moved into his protective mode a bit earlier, perhaps in an effort to learn Willa’s secrets. Although if he had, and Willa learned of it, she would’ve shut him out ASAP.
That brings me to Willa. She was definitely entombed in a prison of distrust and unwillingness to open to anyone. She does a lot of pushing and pulling and there was a time or two I wanted to smack her for her steel determination to remain loyal to a promise that was harming her rather than strengthening her. But again, I understood why she did it, but it drove me crazy all the same. She was independent and strong and when she reaches her lowest point she knows instinctively that Jude will have her back. Admittedly, much of her decision making was based on her desire to save Jude from himself. So yeah, it was all a bit back and forth, but very nicely done.
Overall, this was a very good read. The heat comes a bit later in the story but once it hit, it’s full steam ahead. Secondary characters from previous books add support where needed and we are given the potential for the next story.
I enjoyed Ruthless Protector. It was hot. It was dirty. It was drizzled with action and suspense. I was invested in the characters pretty much from the beginning and it kept my attention throughout. However, I must admit I had some issues with the heroine especially at the beginning, yes I get why she reacted that way but it still rubbed me the wrong way. I loved that the hero was grumpy, huge and alpha. This was my first book in this series but it won’t be the last as I plan on reading the previous books.
I recommend this book to those who love contemporary romance with hot sex scenes mixed with a bit of action and suspense.
ARC provided by author
4.5 stars!
GAHHH!! Sherilee Gray once again kills it with this addition to the Lawless Kings series as Ruthless Protector was AH-MAZING!!! I absolutely love this series and can’t get enough of the entire cast of characters. Jude and Willa were so fantastic and I loved them together. The back and forth and obvious tension and attraction was so erotic and sexy. I honestly couldn’t get enough!
When Willa Hartley and her niece move to Jude Wayland’s building, she notices the immensely sexy and towering man and the insane amount of sexual tension they have between them. But she made a promise to her dying sister that she wouldn’t trust any man and would go it alone in life to raise her niece. The result: she had emotional walls and barriers protecting her heart higher than any man could scale. That is until Jude decides he’ll scale them like the Superman that he is!!!
GAH!!! I loveeeeeed this story! It was SO HOT and fiery my kindle practically singed my fingers. I loved that Jude was so persistent and saw beneath Willa’s prickly exterior. His resiliency to breach her walls was only rivaled by his nurturing heart. I am legit obsessed with him!! And while I thought he and Willa were perfect together, I did find her mistrustful nature to be a little tedious. I respected her need for independence, but I felt like I was waiting for her to ask Jude for help for a long time!!
All in all, I FLOVED this book and hope we get Van and Tomas’ books in the future. They have stories that I am dying to read!!! Bravo! 4.5 stars! ~Ratula
Willa Hartely doesn’t trust men period, so putting her safety in the hands of one who claims she can trust him, is definitely concerning, but with the encouragement of her neighbor she decides to give him a shot. But somewhere between him keeping her and her niece safe, and keeping her dirtball ex brother-in-law away, she starts to fall for him, full well knowing it could lead to her breaking a promise she made. This little promise in play, the one that she made to her sister, where she agreed to raise her niece alone, without the support of a man, means that letting Jude in would go against everything she believes and what all she agreed to…
Jude Wayland is a broken man that carries a heavy burden on his shoulders, he let someone down a long time ago and has paid dearly for it everyday since, so his job as private investigator for the King Agency gives him a chance to help people, and feel like he is doing something worthwhile. In a small way it gives him a sense of peace, knowing that he is doing something good and making up for his shortfalls in the past. It also allows him to maintain his closed off approach to people, since he doesn’t do feelings or attachments. But then he meets his new tenant and her niece, and immediately he can tell she is hiding from something or someone, and his inner caring side starts to scream, she needs protection and he wants to be the man to keep her safe. But doing so might involve more than just him keeping her safe, feelings might come into play…and he doesn’t do those!
Ruthless Protector has a little bit of everything; heart-pounding action to keep you on the edge of your seat, two broken souls with heart-wrenching pasts that hit you deep in the heart, and an combustible chemistry that leads to steamy moments that will leave you with a permanent blush! As with the other installments in this series, this one comes with the same edge and vulnerability, but there is also an innocence and beauty to be discovered amongst all of the hurt and damage. I cannot say enough about the alphas in this series, they all are truly remarkable men, though they have this fierce protective side, they also have a tender side that makes an appearance here and there, and when it does you better hold onto your heart! Once again I am left in awe of Ms. Gray’s literary talents, she has created a story here that will completely decimate your heart, but somewhere along the way you will fill it being mended by her wonderful words and the heartfelt feelings expressed in those words. I highly encourage you to pick this one up, it will leave you moved, and harboring a serious Jude crush!!!
I requested an advanced copy of this title, and I am voluntarily leaving my honest opinion.