A woman on the run from an abusive ex finds safe harbor with the man who’s always loved her in Archer. Debra Kayn’s first Hard Body story is fast-paced and energetic, but I wasn’t a hundred percent sold on the characters.

Kage Archer is a man trying to break free from his family legacy. Kage can be a bit of a domineering alpha sometimes, but I liked how hard her fought to stay on the side of good when it would be so easy to do otherwise. He’s been head over heels for Jane for years, so when she comes back home, frightened and hurt, he’ll do everything he can to help and protect her. Kage pushes Jane to become her old self, something which didn’t always sit well with me with what she had been through. As for Jane…she was the part of Archer I struggled with the most. I liked that she was able to find herself again, but man did she have quite a few TSTL moments. She and her friends jumped (or tried to) willy-nilly into dangerous situations in ways I think were supposed to be comical or fierce but really came off as juvenile at best. The romance between Jane and Kage moved quickly, but Ms. Kayn did an excellent job of showing the foundation between them. Whether it works or not considering Jane’s past is really up to reader preference.

The action of Archer is fast-paced and there are various levels of bad guys to keep the suspense going. I thought Ms. Kayn did a good job of blending the action and the danger, but since I was never really attached to the characters I wasn’t glued to the story. That’s not to say Archer is a bad book – it’s not. Jane and Kage just weren’t entirely my cup of tea so I wasn’t deeply invested in their book. That being said, I was very interested in some of the side characters and I’d love to read a book about Jane’s brother.