Carol Moncado

Protection for Hire by Camy Tang

Tessa Lancaster’s skills first earned her a position as an enforcer in her Uncle Teruo’s Japanese Mafia gang. Then they landed her in prison for a crime she didn’t commit. Now, three months after her release, Tessa’s abilities have gained her a job as bodyguard for wealthy socialite Elizabeth St. Amant and her three-year-old son.

But there’s a problem or two … or three …. There’s Elizabeth’s abusive husband whose relentless pursuit goes deeper than mere vengeance. There’s Uncle Teruo, who doesn’t understand why Tessa’s new faith as a Christian prevents her from returning to the yakuza. And then there’s Elizabeth’s lawyer, Charles Britton, who Tessa doesn’t know is the one who ensured that she did maximum time behind bars. Now Tessa and Charles must work together in order to protect their client, while new truths emerge and circumstances spiral to a deadly fever pitch.

Factor in both Tessa’s and Charles’s families and you’ve got some wild dynamics—and an action-packed, romantic read as Tessa and Charles discover the reality of being made new in Christ.

I’ve talked with Camy once on the phone and met her at conference last year. She has a fabulous synopsis worksheet which I’m sure is of little interest to most of you but was a lifesaver for me! In short, she’s a very cool person. Plus she used to have a pink streak in her hair. I loved that ;).

On to the review…

I loved this book! Finished it in two days, which is saying something these days. Not because I don’t love reading still or whatever, but I have so much going on that I rarely have enough time in any given day to read a whole book.

Tessa is wonderful! She’s human and flawed and made new through salvation. Charles has the potential to be a real stick in the mud [he’s a lawyer, after all], but he’s not in the slightest. Well, maybe a bit. But not too much.

The twists and turns were hard to predict. One of the biggest ones niggled at me off and on during the book, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Camy did a wonderful job of keeping the suspense high and realistic. The action was wonderful and “kick butt”. I wish I had moves like Tessa!

I did know this was a series, but didn’t realize it was one of those series with the same main character all the way through. So the romance side of the book was a bit disappointing for me, but I’ll reserve overall judgment until the series is over. For a series of this kind, the romance was exactly where it should be but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t a bit disappointed still ;).

Overall rating: 8.5 out of 10

Thanks to Camy and Zondervan for a free influencer copy of this book.