The Protector by NL Gassert

The Protector
NL Gassert
buy it here

Blurb
Soren Buchanan no longer wishes to work for his father, crime boss James Buchanan, nor does he want to continue his relationship with the dangerous and sexy Jolina Miciano. But Jolina has connections that would make James Buchanan more powerful than he already is. Unwilling to be a pawn in his father's game, Soren decides to stop seeing Jolina even if it means having to suffer through one of his father's vicious beatings. Bruised for his defiance, Soren flees to the FBI for help.

Mason Ward, former US Army Ranger and security specialist, lives a quiet life on a house boat docked off the island of Guam. Despite his lack of companionship, Mason believes he is living the life he's always wanted. Then a job comes Mason's way, one that will turn his life upside down: hide Soren Buchanan. Protecting Soren Buchanan should be easy money, but not for Mason. Soren is young, seductive and lacking the type of discipline that doesn't leave bruises. It doesn't help that Soren's physical presence brings up desires Mason would rather not feel about a mobster's son. Now Mason has to keep his mind on his job while being chased by thugs sent to bring Soren Buchanan home...dead or alive.


NL Gassert has written a wonderfully entertaining and gripping story featuring terrorists, an abusive father, a lush tropical setting and two men, who are total opposites, and the mutual attraction neither man can deny. This fast-paced story with it's great cast of characters will grab you and take you on a non-stop adventure from beginning to end.

Soren Buchanan, a young man running from an abusive situation, is entrusted by the FBI into the care of former US Army Ranger Mason Ward. Soren's father, James "The Smile" Buchanan, is a local crime boss with ties to terrorists and a very heavy hand with his family. When Soren tells him he has broken up with his girlfriend Jolina Miciano he is incensed. James needs to keep Jolina, who is a terrorist, happy, and if that means keeping Soren in her bed that's what James demands of his son.

From their first meeting Mason is attracted to Soren, he's young, sexy and a redhead, just Mason's type. But Soren is also hot-headed, lazy, pampered, with an alcohol and drug problem and so the attraction Mason feels comes with drawbacks. Living together on a boat in the middle of the ocean however will give them time to slowly forge first a friendship and then the more real and deeper feelings of new love.

When Soren's whereabouts are discovered and Mason is injured during an attempt to return him to his father, Soren must be the one to protect Mason. This change to their dynamics further serves to bring them together and also helps to put Soren on the road to self-discovery and maturity. The action is almost non-stop after this point in the story and had me glued to my Sony Reader until I finished the story.

Aside from Mason and Soren, the book is filled with some really well developed secondary characters. What I liked is that even the "bad guys" in the story are written well, so that whether it's Soren's father or Mason's brother, Jolina the ex-girlfriend or Ben who is Mason's business partner, good or bad, the characters are wonderful additions to the story. Another great part of the story is the setting itself, the author's descriptive style serves to really allow the reader to picture and really get into, the island of Guam.

This story is more an action-suspense with romantic overtones than the usual M/M romance/erotica book I'm used to reading and I really liked it. The emphasis on the plot, the character growth that Soren undergoes and the sweet slow buildup and sexual tension between Mason and Soren make this an incredibly fun, fast-paced and sexy story. I'm looking forward to the second story in this series which should be out sometime during the first half of 2010.

I enjoyed this story immensely. I felt it was very well written with an interesting and fast-paced plot that grabbed my attention from beginning to end. I highly recommend The Protector.