Tate (Susan May Warren) – Review

Posted 31 July 2019 by Katie in Christian Fiction, Contemporary, Review, Romance, Suspense / 5 Comments


Title: 
Tate
Author: 
Susan May Warren
Genre: 
Romantic Suspense
Series: 
#2 The Montana Marshalls
Publisher: 
Independently published
Release date: 
9 July 2019
Pages: 
320

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Tate (The Montana Marshalls, #2)


About the Book

What will it cost this bodyguard to save the woman he loves? 
 
Bodyguard, Tate Marshall, has always been the family troublemaker. Maybe it’s his impulsive propensity to get into the middle of problems that don’t belong to him. But once in, he can’t stop himself from trying to solve them and that includes his recent dilemma. He’s in love with the woman he’s supposed to protect, the beautiful Gloria, “Glo” Jackson, daughter of US Senator and presidential hopeful Reba Jackson. A member of the country band, the Yankee Belles, Glo was targeted in a recent terrorist attack designed to deter her mother from running. 
 
Glo is as stubborn as her mother, and Glo isn’t about to hide from threats, at least the kind that won’t cost her heart. Because she’s already paid a terrible price for the war on terror, and she can’t let herself love a man who might die, especially because of her. 
 
As the campaign heats up and the threats deepen, so does the attraction between Tate and Glo. But when they’re discovered, and Tate is fired, what will he do to protect the woman he loves? 
 
And what will Glo do to keep from losing another man to the costs of war?

Excerpt

The doctor came out of the room. “He’s awake and asking for you all.”
    “Is he going to be okay, doc?” This from Knox, who’d been standing away, texting on his cell phone.
    “Yeah. He’s tough. I didn’t know he was an ex-Ranger.”
    It was news to her, too. Which showed her just how little she actually knew about Tate.
    Knox nodded. “He’s been out for about five years.”
    “I served with a number of Rangers during Operation Desert Shield. Those guys don’t know how to fail.”
    “Let me talk to him alone,” she said to Knox.
    He gave her a grim nod.
    She pushed into the room, her throat thick.
    Tate sat up in the bed, sipping on water. He set the cup on the tray when he saw her. His mouth cracked up into a wry smile. “How you doing, Fight Club?”
    His tease bounced off her. She slid onto the bed, this time near his free hand. Took it in both hands and pulled it to her chest. “Tate, I…” She drew a breath, not sure how to tell him—
    His smile vanished. “Glo, first—I know I scared you. I’m sorry—I’m so sorry. I don’t know how Slava found me. I thought we’d be okay. That I could slip away without the Bratva knowing I’d been in town. I made a mistake. It won’t happen again, I promise.”
    Her eyes were filling, and he let her hand go, reached up and touched her cheek. “I hate seeing this bruise on you.”
    She nodded. “Tate…this is bad.”
    “I know, babe. But I’ll be okay and back to work in no time. I know we probably need to talk about that kiss…” And now he offered a dangerous, rakish smile, despite his injuries.
    That kiss. Her gaze flickered down to his mouth, back to his eyes. No, no, no
    “Tate—”
    “Okay, wait. Listen. I need to tell you—thanks for not leaving me. I know I kept yelling at you to run, but…you saved my life. Thank you for staying.”
    She might be ill. Because she was going to run. Far and away.
    Glo closed her eyes, tears cutting down her cheeks, and of course he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into the well of his chest, pocketing her right next to his beating heart.
    Probably the only place that wasn’t bruised.
    Yet.

Review

Well, if you’re looking for something to jack up your heartrate, this’ll do it! It gets a triple A rating from me for angst, action, and adrenaline—from the first page until the last. I mean, the end of Knox was a pretty big hint as to what we would be in for with this story, but even so, I wasn’t really prepared.

First the angst. I’m not a big fan of angsty romances—hot then cold, she loves me, she loves me not kind of stories. But Glo’s genuinely in a difficult place in this novel. There’s no doubt she’s attracted to Tate, but she already lost one guy she loved to the war in Afghanistan. Falling for an ex-Ranger who’s just been beaten up by a Russian mobster doesn’t seem like the safest choice for her heart. At the same time, Glo’s mother says the magic words she’s always wanted to hear: I need you. For Glo, the choice to walk away from Tate is obvious, if painful. Add in the fact that Tate is then hired on as security by Glo’s mother on a strict “no-Glo” policy, and you’ve got a double batch recipe for tug-o-war between the head and the heart. Yes, I mixed my metaphors. That’s what angst does to me.

Bottom line: I might not like angst, but it was totally true to these characters, their situation, and their emotions, and if there’s one thing I love about Susan May Warren’s characters, it’s how believable they are, even when they’re irritating me. Lol!

The action and the adrenaline really go together—two sides of the same coin—but I have to say, it felt to me like Susan May Warren has taken her action writing up a level in this book. There are some intense moments! Whew! But in amongst all this angst, action, and adventure is a still, small voice: What if you let God show up for you? Show you that you don’t have to do anything for Him to love you. I loved that this message spoke not just to Tate and Glo’s spiritual lives, but also to their struggle to feel worthy of earthly love—romantic or otherwise.

What else did I love? Ford and Scarlett! I love that we’re getting concurrent stories in this series. While Tate and Glo are the primary focus of the story, Ford and Scarlett’s story begins here, and I absolutely cannot wait to dive into it fully with the next in the series. Especially with that little bombshell she dropped in the last lines of Tate! (No, these books aren’t cliff-hangers in the sense that you don’t get a complete story, but she definitely leaves you desperate to get your hands on the next book!)

Basically, Susan May Warren just keeps the good stuff comin’.

I received a copy of this novel from the author. This has not influenced the content of my review, which is my honest and unbiased opinion.

Previous Books in the Series

Read my review

Knox

About the Author

SusanGrowing up in Minneapolis and attending the U of MN, I learned to love city life, although I’m a woodsy girl at heart. Or maybe I’m an adventurer — having lived and traveled all over the world, including Siberia, Russia as a missionary for eight years. Probably that’s why my characters can’t sit still, and seem to get into one scrape after another — they’re too much like me! I love God, my family, my country, my church, and feel privileged every day to be able to write stories.

Here’s my “Official” Bio.
With over 1 million books sold, critically acclaimed novelist Susan May Warren is the Christy, RITA and Carol award-winning author of over forty-five novels with Tyndale, Barbour, Steeple Hill, and Summerside Press. Known for her compelling plots and unforgettable characters, Susan has written contemporary and historical romances, romantic-suspense, thrillers, rom-com and Christmas novellas.

With books translated into eight languages, many of her novels have been ECPA and CBA bestsellers, were chosen as Top Picks by Romantic Times, and have won the RWA’s Inspirational Reader’s Choice contest and the American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year award. She’s a three time RITA finalist and an eight time Christy Finalist.

Of her books, Publisher’s Weekly has written, “Warren lays bare her characters’ human frailties, including fear, grief, and resentment, as openly as she details their virtues of love, devotion, and resiliency. She has crafted an engaging tale of romance, rivalry, and the power of forgiveness.”

And Library Journal adds, “Warren’s characters are well-developed and she knows how to create a first rate contemporary romance…”

Susan is also a nationally acclaimed writing coach, teaching at conferences around the nation and winner of the 2009 American Christian Fiction Writers Mentor of the Year award. She loves to help people launch their writing careers and is the founder of www.MyBookTherapy.com and www.LearnHowtoWriteaNovel.com, a writing website that helps authors get published and stay published. She’s also the author of the popular writing method, The Story Equation.

Connect with Susan:  Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram

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