As the newest SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) Team member, Officer Maximo “Max” Ferreira is irritated that his first assignment is not diffusing a terrorist threat, but instead providing protection to the controversial blogger Tess Abbott during her lecture tour in New York City. He believes the job is nothing more than glorified babysitting but after one look at the sexy journalist, suddenly, his job is no longer a hardship.
The attraction between them is immediate, and Tess’s take-charge personality in the bedroom is like a dream come true. Unfortunately, Tess is too wrapped up in her work to take their relationship seriously. When an attempt is made on her life, it will take all of Max’s training to convince her to stop trying to handle everything on her own and stay where he can protect her best–in his arms.

After reading Protecting His Interests, I was interested to see where Suzanne Rock was bringing this series. I was hoping for a little more from her characters and a little more from the story. I did get a stronger male character in Max but didn’t get a much of a different character in Tess.
Max is SWAT and this is a first for me … I have never heard of a SWAT team doing a protection detail. But, it’s fiction and his role in this story was interesting. He was an alpha male living in the shadows of his father’s legacy just as Gabe was. He was uber protective and hot as hell in bed but I did question some of the decisions he made.

As for Tess … well, she was just as spoiled as Scarlett and just as stubborn. She was an Albino and felt like she was looked at as a freak and this played a huge part throughout the story. She was a blogger that was having threats made against her. Unfortunately, she didn’t take them seriously and put them in danger more than once because of her disbelief. She was more worried about her blog, her shoes and her best friend than she was about the safety of herself and those around her.

In the end, they were both betrayed by the people closest to them and found solace in each other’s arms and they found a way to make it work.

Kitty’s Summary:
It was hard writing a review on a two-book series at the same time. I did keep comparing them. But, in doing this, I was able to see where Suzanne Rock was trying to take us. I was disappointed with no interaction between the brothers. They were mentioned in each other’s stories but that was about it. Three brothers in the same profession who grew up with no one but each other would have had some kind of contact. I was also taken aback with how quick Max and Tess jumped into sex. I understood Gabe and Scarlett because they had a past but, Max and Tess went at it within hours of meeting each other for the first time. There is a third brother that is mentioned in both books. I would like to read that story, if there is one, just to see if there is more interaction between them all and to see if the women that she writes are a little more considerate towards the men who are trying to protect them.

"Keeping Her Close" was an ok read for me. Max, being a SWAT guy, just didn't seem to have his head in the game. He didn't see what was right in front of him. And when did SWAT guys go on a protection detail assignment? As for Tess, she was a bit too immature. Being in a different country, she just didn't take the threats against her too seriously. It was all about sex and running for both characters with a lot of the suspense being lost. That being said, reading it from that standpoint, I felt it to be more of a young adult read. I would like to thank NetGalley, Swerve, and St. Martin's Press for gifting me "Keeping Her Close". My opinion is my own. This is mine. 3 Stars!

Fast paced love story. Tess is a blogger for crimes against humanity / Human Rights issues in the middle East and Africa. She has had several death threats and the New York police have been asked to protect her. Her father is a UN diplomat and has not communicated with his daughter for over a year. There is a secret military group in Africa that is trying to shut Tess up - trying to force her to apologize for her blog. Tess is against having the police protect her / so she and her friend attempt to take a cab to the local University where she is supposed to be a guest speaker, An attempt on her life happens when the cab she was in with her friend is in a car accident killing the two drivers, and injuring her friend, The police officer from the airport apprehends her at the accident and attempts to keep her hid / safe. Unfortunately they are found and need to run again. The story is fast paced / cat and mouse action.

I enjoyed this book. I liked the chemistry between these characters from the first moment they meet. There is a good amount of action and suspense. I was a little frustrated with Tess at times but overall I really enjoyed this book.

Keeping Her Close isn't horrible but it's not good, either. It's a little boring, frankly.

Max Ferreira has been assigned to guard an ambassador's daughter while she's in New York. Despite being with the SWAT team for so little a time, he knows that being picked for dignitary protection is a step up so he is determined to give 100% to her protection. That is, until he meets the spoiled girl he is assigned to protect. First she rejects his protection, then she takes off in a cab, forcing Max and his partner Vash to go after her.

When things take a serious, read violent, turn, Max knows protecting her has to be his number one priority, not giving into the inexplicable attraction he feels for her. As he and Tess hide out in New York, though, they can't help but explore their attraction, and soon they're steaming up the sheets while trying to avoid the men trying to kill her.

I was really excited to read Keeping Her Close, because I love romantic suspense, and Max being on the SWAT team was an intriguing idea. However, it fell flat for me. I never bought into Max and Tess as a couple, never felt their connection. I suppose it was brought upon sharing small quarters and being on the run together, but their chemistry never felt genuine or particularly passionate. Tess came across as a spoiled, cold princess at first, and I never connected with her, even after it was revealed that she wasn't really spoiled or cold. She was bland as hell, though. And then there's Max. He was hot and cold with Tess, so much so that I wanted to smack him more than once. And he just wasn't the alpha male, take control kind of guy I thought he'd be, considering that he was on the SWAT team. I think the secondary characters, the Max and Tess's best friends Vash and Kami were much more interesting characters than either Max or Tess, and it's never a good thing when the secondary characters outshine the main characters.

The whole cause Tess was fighting for, human and albinism rights in Tanzania, sounds like an interesting idea on paper, but there weren't enough details provided for me to care about Tess's cause. She didn't display enough passion about her cause, nor did she explain it very well, so I was left bored by her and her cause. I wanted to care, because the idea is an interesting one, but unfortunately, I ended up not caring at all, either for her, her cause or for Max. Yikes!

Also, one little editing problem I noticed was that in the beginning Max introduces himself as Maximo Ferreira, also Max Ferreira, but toward the end when they're talking to Tess's father, he introduces himself as Max Ferrari. I'm not sure if this was a typo, or deliberate, either way, it was confusing.

This is Book 2 in the Hot Heroes in Blue series. We meet Max as he’s at the airport waiting for Tess to get off the plane. Max is part of the local Swat team and is site leader for Tess’s dignitary protection. She’s a blogger and has had some death threats made against her. There’s a lot of action going on here starting as soon as the leave the airport and it continues all the way to the end of the book. The villains in the book will be a big surprise because it’s so unexpected! I really enjoyed reading this book. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book that I received from Netgalley.

This is the second book in this series by. this author. This is a fast paced story with lots of action. This book has a sexy hero and a feisty heroine always a fab combination. A fantastic romantic suspense story. I can't wait to read more from this author in the future.
Highly recommended
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book

Tess and Max don't quite feel like real people, as strongly written protagonists should. The writing is a little stilted, the set-up not quite believable. He's a SWAT leader but on protective detail? She's suffers from albinism, but again- it doesn't seem real.

I think what I wanted was some Gritty Realism...something that struck a chord within me and gave me something to root for. Instead, it's a book that one reads just to plug through until the end.

**ARC Provided by the Publisher, Swerve, via NetGalley***

3.5 Stars

I am not sure why now, but at the beginning I was not sure if I was going to finish this book, there was something about Tess who really rubbed me wrong and I had a really hard time relating to her. But, I liked the first book by this author, so I kept on. And, I did enjoy it overall.

I like the relationship between Max and Tess, I liked the idea that he wanted to be so protective while she wanted to be able to take care of herself. I also liked that the heroine was strong, that she was capable, and that you like her. It was funny, actually, that the character I did not like at the beginning was the one I really connected with at the end.

The pacing was good overall, but the end seemed to move a little more quickly than the beginning, although this might be related to the fact that I liked the heroine more by the end.

Overall, I did enjoy this title and I do recommend it.

I like a book with suspense and romance and this definitely had that.
My problem was the characters were just a little off for me. Max made some decisions that just did not add up considering what role he played. Tess, although I had compassion for her, I felt someone in her possession would have taken the threats a little more to heart.

I liked the story overall but I would have liked more from the characters.

I couldn't get passed that the heroine was an albino. I know the author wanted that to make her special and unique but it kind of did the opposite for me and totally distracted me from the story. I can't get passed that enough to enjoy it. if you can get over that, or even enjoy it, then you'll probably enjoy the book. the action scenes were good and dialog was good. I appreciate the opportunity to read the book and Thank Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Keeping Her Close is a witty romantic suspense. The story was well paced, and there was a good balance between action and character development. I look forward to reading more by this author

If you liked the first book in this series you will like this one as well, however both can be read as a stand-alone. Max is a member of the SWAT team and is unhappy to discover that his first job will be to babysit a controversial blogger. Tess is on a lecture tour in New York and has threats made against her. The chemistry between her and Max is steamy. Can they work together to discover who wants to hurt her? The story held my interest throughout, lots of suspense and drama. A good read.

Max comes from a family of law enforcement and he is ready for his first assignment. He was disappointed to learn it was protection detail for a blogger until he saw her.

Tess is a blogger and she doesn’t believe that the threats are real so she plans to carry on with her life just as it is however her hot bodyguard Max has other plans.

Max is determined to keep their relationship strictly business as feelings could compromise his reactions however Tess has other plans. Will Max be able to convince Tess that the danger is real and find out who is behind the threat before it is too late?

This story has a good combination of suspense, twists and romance. I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Keeping Her Close by Suzanne Rock is a romantic suspense with political and social issues. The plot is action packed taking the two key characters on a thrilling but dangerous journey. Tess is out to improve the conditions for others while Max is there to protect her. Along the way they find romance and love.

I enjoyed this suspenseful romance that brings to light the plight of many unfortunate souls. The writing flows so that while it is an average length novel (26 Chapters), it feels as if it is shorter simply because you get so caught up in the story. Part of what makes this such a wonderful story is that the intrigue and romance is balanced along with the dual perspective.

I didn’t realize that this is book two in a series but I had no problems reading it first. Each book seems to be about separate characters. Since I enjoy reading well written romantic suspense, other fans of the genre will want to check this out too. I can recommend Keeping Her Close.

Keeping Her Close is a great romantic suspense story with a sexy, irresistible hero and a feisty yet surprisingly sweet heroine. Suzanne Rock's Keeping Her Close reminds me a bit of Susan Stoker's books. There is a lot of passion, suspense, danger, and sigh worthy romance that just guarantees that I will LOVE IT! I am really loving this series so far and can't wait to read more. An absolute MUST Read!

This being the second book I've read in the series I was anticipating lots of intrigue, which there was sprinkled throughout the storyline. Tess is in need of protection due to various death threats. Max is assigned as her protection detail. It all goes a bit wonky after that, with a really strong political angle and talking on causes in other countries, wasn't really what I was expecting. Don't get me wrong, Ms. Rock does an amenable job of trying to convey the turmoil, just not sure it made sense overall.

This story just didn't work for me, I was unable to connect with the main characters and once that happened the story just fell flat for me.

2 out of 5 stars
Suzanne Rock wants readers to be taken on a while ride from the first chapters. The only problem is the story is unrealistic to the point it is laugh able. I wasn't able to get into the story and found myself uninterested in the characters who were a little too unbelievable.
I am male and I know what I am doing to keep you safe. I am woman and I can take care of myself even if it puts others in danger.
Advance Copy from Netgalley to my honest opinion

Enjoyable read with lots of action and a fast pace to the story. Tess Abbott is a very independent highly political blogger and SWAT team member Max Ferreira's latest assignment. He's to be her babysitter...er...bodyguard. Should be a piece of cake. Not so much. First he has to deal with his immediate attraction to the woman then an attempt on her life kicks things way up. So what was suppose to be a dull detail now has all his protective nerves tingling.

I'd definitely recommend this one.