I have loved this author for a while and this book just reaffirms my love for her words. This book touched my heart and I’m really glad I read it! I look forward to more from this author!

Seriously completely adore this author!

To keep her safe, he'll have to uncover all her secrets...

Rayne Alexander. A face I never thought I'd see again, and one I never could forget. Nine years ago, she left town-and me--without a backward glance. But now she's back, with a haunted look in her eyes and a feisty attitude that didn't exist when we were teenagers. Seeing this grown-up--and sexy--Rayne is something I wasn't prepared for... and it's bringing up feelings I'd thought I'd buried years ago.

Although I want to demand answers from Rayne, working on black ops at Night Eagle Security has taught me that it's sometimes better to keep my mouth shut. So when I catch her hiding a photo of a little boy, I'm curious. When I see her jump as her phone rings, I'm concerned. But the second I notice a car following her home, I know she's hiding something. Something dangerous. And while I may not know why she left or why she's back, if there's someone out there Rayne is afraid of, I'll make damn sure that threat is eliminated.

Rayne was working late at her job in Phoenix, AZ one night when she came across some info on her boss’s desk that she shouldn’t have. The kind of information that could ruin him and put him in prison. He doesn’t catch up with her as she runs from the building but she knows that she needs to get the hell out of Dodge. She takes her eight-year-old son, Decker, and runs back to her hometown of Wilmington, North Carolina. When she had first moved to Phoenix she had changed her name so she figures going back to her old name will hide her sufficiently. Not the case.

Rayne moves into her sister’s house as her sister is out of town and gets a job at Night Eagle Security. She never planned on seeing her high school boyfriend, Jeremy Teague, ever again but the minute he walks into NES – cuz he works there – all of the old feelings start to come back. Rayne had gotten pregnant by Jeremy when she was a teen and then was cast aside by Jeremy, his grandparents who raised him and then her own parents. She knows she shouldn’t have any feelings toward Jeremy except disdain but that’s not what happens. When Jeremy finds out that Decker is his (because he never knew she was pregnant) he’s so excited and wants nothing more than to be with Rayne and Decker and make them a family.

Rayne’s old boss, however, wants her captured and brought to him so that he can take care of her the way he wants. Jeremy will do anything to keep Rayne and Decker safe but will he be able to in the end?

Sworn to Protect is a good little second chance at love romance/suspense story. It had a lot of ins and outs and things going on.

Rayne is back in her hometown. She loved Jeremy when she was younger but his grandparents told her that he wanted nothing to do with the baby when in fact they never told him she was pregnant. Then her parents took to a clinic to get the baby aborted and she ran. She’d been living the last 9 years thinking that Jeremy betrayed their love but that wasn’t the case at all. Once Rayne and Jeremy are together again things fall into place and all is good. Except for her old boss that’s threatening her. I was a little confused about the boss, quite frankly. He was at first after her because of the things she knew about him but then it turned to the fact that he didn’t want her dead he wanted to keep her and tame her sexually – ew. It was more than a little creepy, to say the least and kind of a weird, expected twist. Then Jeremy’s grandfather got involved and it was a bit too much.

Of course NES gets involved as that’s what they do but it all seemed a little too easy. IDK, there was just some aspect of the story that was missing that made this a good book, but not great. The elements were there but there was something in the execution that was lacking, imho. The characters were good, the story was a decent one but I definitely didn’t end the book thinking, “Wow, that was really good!”

So in the end a decent read but it wasn’t something that grabbed me and wouldn’t let go.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

This will post as a guest review on Book Binge.
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SWORN TO PROTECT starts with a bang and keeps going at a fever pitch until the final page. It’s a sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat read.

Told in first person, present tense (dual pov), Sworn to Protect is about Jeremy, a former Army man who has joined a private security firm, and Rayne, his former high school sweetheart.

Nine years ago, Rayne found out she was pregnant. Due to a disagreement, she ran away and had the baby alone. Cut to the present and she’s working for a wealthy businessman. She accidentally discovers information that implicates her boss in theft. Fearing for her life, she returns to her home town with her son. She’s followed by her boss, who's determined to silence her (but not before he dominates her sexually). Rayne’s sister helps her get a job at a security firm, and you can guess who Rayne runs into on her first day of work.

Jeremy has spent the past 9 years trying to forget Rayne, but one look, and he’s back in deep. It’s the same for Rayne, only she has a secret she needs to reveal: their son.

From then on, the romance develops at a fast pace, and the plot thickens when Rayne’s former boss follows her home and is determined to grab her.

I really enjoyed this book. It has a few unexpected twists, as well as the satisfying conclusion.

Sworn to Protect was an excellent read. I can’t wait to see what this author comes up with next.

Thank you NetGalley, Forever, and Diana Gardin for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ms. Gardin has penned a heartfelt, passionate and thrilling read in this first book of her Rescue Ops series, which hooked me from the very beginning with what the heroine is going through. Will she escape the danger and manage to uncover the information she needs to get the bad guy arrested? However, it was from the moment the heroine came face-to-face with the hero for the first time in years that made this book really intriguing and a total page turner for me. What went wrong with their relationship in the past when they still feel so much for each other?

As for the dialogue, it was told from different points-of-view -- Jeremy, Rayne and the bad guy -- and I loved every moment of it, because it was a wonderful mixture of intense, emotional and playful banter between Jeremy and Rayne as well as between the main and secondary characters. Jeremy's teammates are very accepting of Rayne and I liked how far they were willing to go to help him keep Rayne safe. I also liked the growing bond between Jeremy and his son as he got to know the incredible child that he missed out on knowing for so many years, because of the interference of those that should have cared more about Rayne and Jeremy.

Both the main characters entertained me from start to finish due to their back stories, the history between them and their growing relationship. Will they get their second shot at happiness, or will their happiness be ripped away from them again by the greediness and jealousy of someone that should have one of the main characters best interests at heart. Furthermore, the heroine is strong and brave by what she's done in raising her son without much support and how she copes with what is happening to her now. I also liked that she put her trust in Jeremy to help her against the person after her and also opened up to him about what happened to make her leave him years ago when they were so in love. Certainly, Rayne's willingness to open up made sure that past mistakes wouldn't be made again and that those that wanted them kept apart wouldn't win.

While Jeremy, he's been through a lot and I'm glad that he didn't turn away from Rayne because of how things ended between them in the past. That he gave her the chance to explain why she left and the reasons for him being unable to discover her whereabouts. I also liked how protective and courageous Jeremy was and his willingness to break the rules if things went awry in his planning of keeping Rayne and his son safe. Will he win against the bad guys, especially when he learns just how far someone was willing to go to keep he and Rayne apart?

Overall, Ms. Gardin delivered a wonderful read in this book where the sex scenes were filled with plenty of heat and passion and illustrated that nothing would keep Jeremy and Rayne from achieving their second shot at forever love. The way this story ended had me concerned for the main characters due to the decisions they'd have to make, because they couldn't afford to make the wrong ones. Not with so much at stake. However, it was the epilogue that wrapped this story up perfectly, as we discover how far Rayne and Jeremy have come on their journey to a second chance. I would recommend Sworn to Protect by Diana Gardin, if you enjoy romantic suspense, second chance romances or books by authors Paige Tyler, Cat Johnson, Maya Banks or Elle James.

As a fan of Diana Gardin's Battle Scars series, I was very pleased to find Rescue Ops is a spinoff of that series. The couples I enjoyed are all back and the new story is also set at the Night Eagle Security. I was a little disappointed that yet again our heroine is kidnapped. That was just a bit too much of a recurring theme. The book is intriguing enough to overcome that one flaw.

Again, we have a super likable couple. These two both made mistakes when they were young and believed the wrong people allowing adults with less-than-honorable intentions to separate them. Now the two are thrown back together, somewhat circumstantial, somewhat contrived by Rayne's sister. Rayne has a huge secret but it doesn't take Jeremy to figure it out. The two are soon running for their lives and even the danger is more than it seems to be initially.

Gardin creates really good characters and puts them in sexy and scary situations in very intense, believable ways. This story, like every Gardin book I've read, is filled with well-developed characters, both good and evil, hot sexual attractions and intense life threatening suspense.

I remain a fan and look forward to the next book in the series, Promise to Defend.

reviewed by Jem Stone