Book Review: Safe by the Marshal’s Side by Shirlee McCoy

Title: Safe by the Marshal’s Side
Author: Shirlee McCoy
Series: Witness Protection Continuity Series, Book 1
Publisher: Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense
Genre: Inspirational Romantic Suspense
Published: 2014

Safe by the Marshal’s Side makes a great start for the Witness Protection continuity series from Harlequin’s Love Inspired Suspense. As a fan of Inspirational Romantic Suspense, I’m hooked, and ready to read through the rest of the series. Happily, the sixth and final book has recently been released, so I can go snag them all for my eReader without delay.

Book Description (From Publisher, Harlequin’s Web site):

HER LIFE IS ON THE LINE

For a year, U.S. marshal Hunter Davis has protected witness Annie Delacorte and her toddler daughter. But now, someone is determined to stop Annie from testifying against the men who killed her husband. To guard Annie, by-the-book Hunter will have to break a promise to himself: to not get emotionally involved. After all, he already cares more deeply than he ever imagined for the sweet family of two… a family he’ll do anything to keep safe and sound by his side.

My thoughts:

The blend of romance with suspense makes for a fun and lively read.  As the story begins, someone has discovered the location of the safe house where Annie and her daughter have been hiding under the protection of Hunter’s team of U.S. marshals.  When an intruder makes an intimidating and clearly threatening delivery, Hunter whisks them off to a new location.  But that’s not the end of the danger.  Far from it.

With the trial date approaching, and uncertainty building over how the location could have been leaked, and how to prevent further security breaches, the tension is pretty high throughout.  Plus there’s the growing attraction between Annie and Hunter as she comes to realize there’s more to him than the strictly business persona he’s shown her for the past year.

I found both hero and heroine to be very likeable people with believable goals and motivations.  And Annie’s daughter Sophia was simply too cute for words.  It was fun to watch them face significant challenges together and draw closer in the process.

The action on both the suspense and romance fronts heats up at the end of the book, and I enjoyed the vivid way certain scenes were described to draw out the reader’s emotional responses.  The ending certainly worked for me.  There’s a surprise twist introduced at the end and a few details are left unresolved, setting things up for future books in the series.  I’m definitely looking forward to finding out where the Witness Protection continuity series will go from here.

To learn more about author Shirlee McCoy and find out how to connect with her on social media, check out her Web site.  And for those who read and enjoy this title as much as I did and want to find the rest of the series, here’s a list of the titles and their respective authors.

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