Nina has lost her memories and Ewan is doing everything within his considerable power to help her mend. This part of the book dragged on, it took effort to keep going because frankly I was invested and wanted to know how it ended.

The conclusion to the love affair between Nina and Ewan continues to take twists and turns. This book is not a standalone, it is best to read the books in the order published. Nina is constantly struggling with her memory and possible threat of her termination. I loathe to state this, but perhaps this should not have been a trilogy and instead should have been combined into 1 novel and the repetitive scenes could have been cut.

The conflict in each book is a new person who wants to get rid of Nina or use her tech. And that new person seems to be all connected to the same person. What is painful is watching Nina trying to figure out what is going on. For someone who used to be able to make split decisions in battle, to constantly wonder if she's already done something before, met someone before is unnerving. It does demoralize a person and make her questions her sanity. I didn't like this part. And with Ewan trying to take care of everything, basically making Nina a victim all over again puts me ill at ease. He means well, but basically leaves Nina powerless instead of empowering her.

He takes advantage of her memory loss to do a "do-over". This comes across as dishonest to me. Maybe more disingenuine because once again he comes from a position of power and knowledge whilst Nina is in the dark. This is not something I like. Nina and Ewan does not seem to ever come together on equal footing. Ewan always has the upper hand. This final book brings a nice closure to the romance.

After receiving the other two books in an ARC and loved the story, I was quite ready to read the last one and ended sorely disappointed. It felt rushed and not put together well, like the other simply didn't know how to end it.

I've been a fan of Megan Hart for a while and will gladly read anything she writes. It amazes me how she can switch from one genre to another and still got hooked with them. This series is no different. It started real strong and though the second book kinda dipped, I was hoping for a strong finish with Ewan and Nina's story. Only, I was slightly disappointed. It took a really long time picking up and by that time, I just want it to be over. The ending was also a bit lacking for me. I was expecting for a bit more. It was an okay read, nothing special.

Ewan is responsible for the program that made soldiers enhanced so when Nina was assigned to guard him they fell in love, then out of love then in love when something happened. Nina was injured pretty severely both physically and mentally so Ewan takes her to his safe house to help her heal. Part of her healing it not to tell her about her memories just to let them come to her for risking her hurting herself again. Nina and Ewan have a very complicated relationship and how Nina will come back to Ewan remains to be seen. The story is set in the future and having not read the prior books I found this easy to get involved in.

I felt similarly about Forbidden Stranger as I did the second book. The first book was unique and interesting, but the drama overall here has been very irritating. I'm disappointed for not loving it more.

This one was definitely better than the second in the series, but it still felt a little stale. I would’ve loved more developement on some of the other characters instead of all the repetitive sex scenes. You could probably combine the first with this one and call it a day. I don’t know if the story warranted three parts other than to make people pay more money.

Over the course of two books, Dangerous Promise and Wicked Attraction, Nina Bronson and Ewan Donahue's love story has been full of ups and downs. In both of those parts of the series their relationship was strained at the beginning, after a while it would improve and they'd be a happy couple, and then something major would happen to drive them apart. The same could be said about Forbidden Stranger, with the difference that at the end of the book Nina and Ewan got their HEA. After three novels, all I can say is: Finally!

Nina and Ewan's situation at the end of book two was, to put it delicately, awful. It reminded me of something I read on one of the author's pages. Creator of worlds. Destroyer of worlds. — I believe that's what it said. The happy love bubble Nina and Ewan were living in was destroyed. Nina was in a bad shape, mentally and physically, and Ewan was desperate to make her better. In that desperation, he took Nina to his private island, where she would be taken care of, and be away from anyone who could try to harm her. The majority, and I mean great majority, of this installment is Nina's recovery, and while I understand that regaining her strength and recovering her memories was a slow process, I wish it didn't take up so much of the book. I found myself losing interest in the story, and that is something that doesn't happen to me when I'm reading Megan Hart's books. She writes beautifully, and Forbidden Stranger is beautifully written. However, I didn't enjoy reading this part of the trilogy as much as the previous two. One reason would be that Nina's memory recovery took up about two thirds of the book, if I remember correctly. The other, and the main reason, was that this was the third time Nina and Ewan were going through the stages of their relationship I've mentioned in the beginning, and when it got to "something major would happen to drive them apart", I was frustrated. I was frustrated because it was the third time they were separated, and even more frustrated because this time around Nina's reasoning for cutting Ewan out of her life after everything he did to keep her alive and safe was... ah, I want to say stupid, but I won't. I'll say it was weak, in my opinion. Can Nina forgive Ewan for not telling her the truth about why she lost so much of her memories, or are they doomed to never be together again? The question was even in the blurb, and on behalf of Ewan who was advised/ordered not to tell the truth to Nina by her doctor and anyone in charge of her care, I was insulted. Yes, I was insulted on Ewan's behalf!

In the remainder of the story an old villain reappeared to wreak more havoc than the first time, and endanger the lives of the main characters. This part was fairly short. It kind of just flew by. The ending came. Nina and Ewan get back together. On the last page. How very Megan Hart.

Even though I can't say I liked Forbidden Stranger as much as the previous books, all in all, The Protector series was an enjoyable read. This book, however, made me think it would have worked better as a duology.

Aggie was the cook and housekeeper. The knife Aggie gave Nina to help peel the root vegetables just didn’t feel right but why would Aggie lie to Nina. Aggie had scars and didn’t like it when Nina mentioned them. Nina had a problem with retaining information since waking up from the accident she also couldn’t remember. Nina had a voice in her head that didn’t sound like hers yet it had the feeling of familiarity. As if she were hearing herself through a recording. Nina wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to it. In the first few days after she had woken up here, every part of her was in agony and nothing but a blank void where her memories should have been, she’d heard the voice a lot. Nina had fought it along with everything and everyone else. The doctors who came to help her. Even Aggie. Nina was ashamed to remember. She couldn’t remember fighting with Ewan who was her boss but she was certain she had. It had taken a while but it was easier now dealing with not being able to remember anything about her life before the island. Nina eventually put the knife down and was going for a walk to get out of Aggie.s domaine. Nina’s parents had died and so had her single sister - she couldn’t recall their names or faces but she did remember they had existed. Nina was always tripping. Bumping into things, and dropping things. Nina worked hard to gain back the strength and coordination she knew bone deep she once had. It was getting easier to keep her balance but out of nowhere she could discover herself spinning out of control , her feet betraying her by refusing to keep their place firmly on the ground. There was less pain as time went on but there was still times when Nina feared she would never be right. Nina was centered in the world- she knew about pop culture, and how money works, and what words meant and what places looked like that were not on the island. But she couldn’t remember herself taking any part of it. The ocean called to Nina. Ewan was the man who saved Nina’s life and she remembered that but not the details. Nina always felt safe, protected, and rescued when Ewan was around her. Nina even had fantasies about Ewan. Ewan had made the island a safe place for himself originally form the groups determined to hunt him down. He had always meant for the island to be a safe house like his family's mountain cabin where he and Nina had gone to escape the death threats.It had been where Ewan and Nina had fallen in love the first time and where he had discovered who was behind the threats against him. The island was the perfect place to take Nina a place away from anyone who might try to harm Nina again. There was nothing on the island to accidently trigger her memory of what happened to her while she had been held hostage by the league of Humanity who worked for Ewan’s former partner Wanda. They had tried to rip the upgrade out of Nina’s brain where Crosson had implanted it during the attack in the mountain cabin. They hadn’t succeeded but they had done a lot of serious damage to Nina’s mind. The original tech ewan had designed had been meant to help people. But the government had taken it over and used it to create enhanced “ super” soldiers . It had been the total opposite of what Ewan had intended the tech to do. Public outcry forced the soldiers out of the Army and further use of the tech Nina had barely survived the surgery to implant the upgrades for the existing tech. Ewan ahd activated the self destruct in Nina’s brain after he first rescued her and she had thrown herself off the cliff. There had been no way to safely delete the self - termination function. Ewan ahd to keep Nina safe from trying to destroy herself. If Nina was not the same woman he’d first met who had no problem putting him in his place and keeping him on his toes she was still the woman he loved more than anything in this world.
I enjoyed reading this book. Although I did feel it dragged some for me but not enough to give up finishing the book. I enjoyed the plot. A lot. I loved how ewan cared for Nina and still loved her even knowing she may never remember being in love with him. Also she may hate him for all the lies he told her to protect her if her memory comes back. I advise you to read the previous books of this novel to have a smooth transition to this book. I didn’t like that ewan couldn’t be honest with Nina but i understand why he did as he did. I felt the ending was a little rushed. I loved Aggie and how she cared for Nina it wasn’t just a job for her. I loved the characters and the ins and outs and I recommend.

nina and ewan's story concludes in forbidden stranger and after all the angst and shocking twists it's totally well worth the wait. this time they must get to know each other again, since nina's mind has been reset one time too many. her fragile condition makes it difficult for ewan. he cannot be fully honest with nina, because her mind is not ready to process their tangled past. but keeping secrets is part of the reason they are in the predicament they are in.

together they must find a way forward and see if they can recapture the love and intensity that inevitably builds between them. ewan still loves nina deeply, fiercely, and everything he does is for her. and when she understands that, she does appreciate it. but she also can't help feeling betrayed. especially when she realizes that part of ewan's way of protecting her has been by tracking her every move and setting her up with watchdogs.

so much of the resolution depends on nina working through her anger and resentment of how she ended up where she is. luckily the attraction between these two is undeniable. and this time, there's no cliffhanger.

**forbidden stranger will publish on march 6, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/st. martin's press (swerve) in exchange for my honest review.

The Protector Series #3, Megan Hart's sci-fi-ish series takes place in a futuristic place that puts me in mind of Philip K. Dick, where at first appearances it's very Utopia like but under the surface lies a dark side that threatens to unravel it all. If you are going to read this one I really recommend reading the first two books in the series first because the events in those books rely heavily on what happened previously. My main issue with this book is that after two books with the back and forth I love you/I'm angry at you and never want to see you again between Nina and Ewan got old. The events in this book felt paltry compared to the other books and the external conflict was so short and underwhelming. Keeping with the theme of the other two books the first half of the book was Nina and Ewan falling in love all over again. I kind of wish it was switched that the romance part was much shorter and the external conflict with Jordan and the other enhanced lasted longer.

Due to the events of the the previous book Nina has no memory, it's been several months since Ewan and Al found Nina and since then they discovered not only did they take her memory they activated a self destruct type switch in her programing. (For those of you who don't know, Nina was a soldier who died in battle and was brought back using nanotech now she is enhanced. She's stronger, faster, an all around better soldier but when the world found out about it they ostracized her and the fourteen like her and they weren't allowed to be soldiers anymore so they went into private detail which is how Nina met Ewan.) The bad guys activated that switch so when ever Nina tries to remember what happened when she was kidnapped the self destruct coding gets activated and she tries to kill herself. She has already failed at such attempts, she was lucky Ewan was there with his team of doctors to save her. Now she's on an isolated island protected from the world while she tries to figure things out on her own without killing herself.

As much as it kills Ewan to not tell her he loves her for fear of everything that can happen he tries to keep Nina at a distance. Although Nina might not be able to remember she still loves Ewan, she just thinks it is wrong to lust after your boss that way. Nina works up the courage to make a move and Ewan isn't strong enough to turn her away. While they maybe enjoying their island paradise Ewan keeps getting reports the one by one the other enhanced are commiting suicide. Ewan has his people working on it as fast as they can but he's not the only one a former friend and now bitter enemy is working to figure out the coding too.

Overall, I did enjoy it the story fell a little flat for me especially the ending.

ARC - I voluntarily offered to review this book with no obligations and my opinions are honest
Nina lost her memories. She doesn't really "remember" Ewan.
Ewan is still super protective of Nina.
I loved the storytelling + the characters
The storytelling + the character's build were awesome!

This series and genre is not something I would normally go for, but I am glad I gave it a chance. Forbidden Stranger is the third book in the series, bringing about the conclusion to Ewan and Nina's story. The story line was imaginative and creative and I liked the characters. I did think the story was a little hard to follow at times and probably could have been shorter in length. It was on okay read for me.

This is the third and last book in the Protector series, and boy, is it a wild ride. This can’t be read as a standalone, and, fair warning, this review will contain spoilers for the first two books in the series.

“It’s easy to blame someone else for the mistakes you chose to make, but it’s a lot harder to accept responsibility for them”


When we last left off with Nina and Ewan, Nina had been rescued from bad guys, but had been reset so many times that her memory was pretty much gone, including any memories of Ewan. Even worse, they’ve discovered that part of the upgrade involuntarily installed in Nina by Ewan’s former partner includes self-termination programming. If she comes upon the wrong set of memories or triggers, she’ll attempt to kill herself, and since she’s a super soldier, there’s not much that could stop her from going through with it. Ewan’s already activated the programming once by trying to tell her who she was after they first rescued her, and she threw herself off a cliff. To stop the command, they had to reset her – erase her memories – multiple times, and Ewan fears that any trace of the woman he loved is gone.

“Her sunny grin. It was the same and yet so different, the way Nina herself had changed, overall. Gone was the snark, along with her determination, focus, and stubbornness. She hadn’t become anything close to meek or mild, but she never argued with him the way she had before. She was polite, gently humorous, soft-spoken. Appreciative of the roof over her head and the care and keeping of her that she believed he provided because she’d been a valued employee and not because she was the woman he loved so desperately.”


So, we start out the book with a very different Nina than the kick-ass super soldier I’ve come to know and love. She’s weak, still recovering from her near-death fall, and unaware of her enhancements. Her memory is still fractured – some days she can barely remember what she ate for breakfast, let alone anything before her “accident.” Because, that’s right! Ewan’s had to lie to her again, only telling her that she was badly injured while she was employed by him. This time, at least, I had to throw up my hands and agree that, yes, Ewan’s lies are finally justified (I cannot believe I’m admitting that). Telling her too much at once could literally lead to her death, so yeah, Ewan’s doing the best he can by her. He’s set her up on a tiny island with two caretakers, trying to keep her safe from anyone who might still be after her (though that’s unlikely) and avoid triggering any memories inadvertently. Though the doctors seem to think that she may recover some of her memories with time, Ewan’s resigned to the fact that, even if she does, she may not want to stay with him. Even so, he’s made plans to turn over the running of his corporation to his second in command so that he can retire to the island with Nina, so he can be close to the woman he still loves.

“Ewan Donahue, the man who’d saved her life.
She did remember that. Not the details of it, although Aggie had told Nina the story, probably over and over, because Nina’s memory was so broken she was sure she’d asked to hear it more than once. But feeling safe and protected and . . . well, rescued. She could recall that with no problem. It was how she felt every time Ewan was around her.
Safe. Protected. Rescued.”


Nina is alternately confused and frustrated. She knows there’s things she’s not being told, and she knows the work she’s been given to do is just useless busywork. Most unsettling of all, however, is how she feels around her boss, Ewan. Mixed in with Nina’s struggle to regain her memories is Ewan’s quest to, basically, write a patch to remove the self-termination trigger. However, Katrinka Dev, mother to Jordie Dev, the villain from the last book, is also trying to fix the same issue, since the update has basically fried her son’s brain. As Nina’s memories slowly come back, can Nina and Ewan’s relationship survive the confrontation that is sure to come? And, oh, that confrontation was something I’d been expecting since the very first book, and I was extremely pleased with how it turned out. If I’d still had any doubts about Ewan, I think that really put them to rest.

“Sometimes, a lie wasn’t a betrayal, it was a lifesaver.”


My biggest con was that I felt the resolution at the end was too quick and too pat. There’s a lot of time spent initially on the island with Nina struggling to get her memories back, and then very little on what happens after the big confrontation. I mean, they’ve basically been waffling back and forth over the same trust issues for the entire three books without resolution, and at points it felt like the rest of the plot was just window dressing to test whatever fragile trust they’d build up between them. It felt weird to just have it wrap up so quickly. And, yes, there are some weird gaping plot holes, but I enjoyed Nina and Ewan’s relationship too much to get too worked up about it. Also, I’d really like to see a book with Al, Nina’s enhanced friend!

“’You were strong,’ Ewan said, surprising her. ‘You’re still strong. You were funny, with a sharp wit. You still have that, too. You were loyal and brave and committed. You’ve lost the memories of you, Nina, but I promise, you haven’t lost you.’”


Overall, I enjoyed this series. I’m a big fan of scifi romance, and this definitely hit a lot of my buttons, even though I was initially worried about Ewan’s continued insistence of lying to Nina. So, one more time – if you’re interested in a scifi bodyguard romance with a kickass alpha heroine, this is definitely the series for you!

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

4.25-4.5 STARS

In this final installment to author Megan Hart’s Protector Series, Ewan and Nina’s tumultuous journey pulses forward, leading the reader towards a conclusion that left me craving more. With the addition of an epilogue, this series could have been wrapped up with a much more substantial bow. That aside, the conclusion to this crazy rollercoaster ride was an enjoyable one, overall.

Picking up where the last book left us hanging, we jump ahead a bit to find that Ewan has attempted to secure Nina’s safety by tucking her away on his island hideaway. And, so, with Nina now reset, Ewan must (once again) strive to win her heart. But since Nina’s memories could prove detrimental, Ewan must tread carefully, lest he destroy the woman that he loves. Slowly, the story peaks, reaching for a climax that’s fitting but not totally unexpected.

While futuristic stories are not my typical norm, this is simply a love story at its very core. And as such, I give my props to Megan Hart for delivering a beautifully traditional romance wrapped up in such a non-traditional way.

This is the conclusion of the three book series of Ewan and Nina. You need to read these books in order or you'll think you drank something really weird because nothing makes sense.
Nina has lost her memories and Ewan is doing everything within his considerable power to help her mend. This part of the book dragged on, it took effort to keep going because frankly I was invested and wanted to know how it ended.
You might be really irritated with the turns at the end and the very quick resolution of the story arc. But ultimately we got all of our loose ends tied up and very little left to be explored.

From the sci-fi side of Megan Hart, “Forbidden Strangers” is a drastic changes from her erotic works such as “Dirty” and “Broken.” Those expecting the emotion driven erotica may be disappointed. While “Forbidden Strangers” does have romance, the story seems more centered around the sci-fi.

Not to mention, it is the final novel in a trilogy, beginning where the previous novel left a cliffhanger. Not knowing what is going on can be frustrating. Having not read the previous novels leaves big gaps in the readers understanding of the storyline and world, so it is highly recommended to read the series in order.

While the premise is nothing new, Hart brings her signature style and creativity to this finale. Love it or hate it, the reader cannot deny the roller coaster that is this novel.

Megan Hart’s Forbidden Stranger is book three of the near future science fiction story of Nina Bronson and Ewan Donahue. Book two ended with a major cliffhanger which is where Forbidden Stranger begins. So it would be confusing for any reader to begin with this book; reading the series in order is best.

The title is a play on the storyline since Nina has no memory of the events in the first two books. Given the characters history, amnesia is a good plot device. There has been much bad and good to go on between Nina and Ewan in the first two books that a clean slate is about the only way these two can go ahead with their relationship. Still it is not long before problems and keeping of secrets surface, making the relationship murky once more.

At times I felt as if the story is drawn out when I would have preferred it to be all neatly tied up. However, more realistically, this would be how it would really play out. A unique take on enhancement and science fiction stories in general. I would give it stars just for being a science fiction story that is not having aliens kidnap humans! Romance readers of science fiction will enjoy unique series.

An ARC of the book was given to me by the publisher through Net Galley.

Phenomenal!

Extremely emotional roller coaster! I loved the way this trilogy ended and can't wait to read more by Ms. Hart!

I voluntarily read an advanced copy.

This book, while having a good premise and interesting back story, didn't work for me at all. The author didn't spend enough time explaining the world to the reader, so I was confused about the relationship between the main characters, what Gray Tuesday was, how the world looked like after the event, and just anything beyond the island they were on. The setting was strange, in that the reader can't really tell it's taking place in the future except for a few random mentions and weird futuristic words. The words were probably the biggest issue for me, they were so odd and unnecessary. Things like "shiny fine" and "galactically boring" just made me laugh. The book needed more worldbuilding, less silly futuristic phrases, and more relationship building between the characters.