Under the Warrior’s Protection

Letting down her guard…
Might save her life…
With their family name in tatters, Katherine Leofric and her sister are headed for a new life at their brother’s estate. They are escorted by the hardened Jarin, Earl of Borwyn, whom Katherine believes is only after her dowry! Then her sister is abducted on their treacherous journey, and Katherine must rely on Jarin’s protection. Now, seeing a different side to the man she’s sworn to hate, it’s her heart that’s most at risk!

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Author Bio :

Ella Matthews lives and works in beautiful South Wales. When not thinking about handsome heroes she can be found walking along the coast with her husband and their two children (probably still thinking about heroes but at least pretending to be interested in everyone else).

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Tracy’s Review:

Under the Warrior’s Protection by Ella Matthews

Tracy’s rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

After years of seclusion, shame and abuse, sisters Katherine and Linota Leofric are finally free, they will be leaving the Earl of Ogmore’s estate and will travel to their newly married brother’s estate. Hidden away with their abusive mother after their father was hanged for treason, Katherine never expected to marry, she considers herself too old and too plain, but she hopes that her younger, beautiful sister Linota will make a good match. She is waiting for Linota to return from the privy when she overhears Jarin Ashdown, the Earl of Borwyn and his steward Erik Ward talking about them. She learns that Ogmore has offered Jarin a hefty dowry to marry one of the sisters – Jarin was supposed to marry Ogmore’s daughter, but she chose Katherine’s brother and Ogmore is trying to smooth thing over. Jarin makes it clear that the girls are not worthy of his consideration since their father was a traitor and that marriage to one of them will taint his name with dishonor. Katherine is seething and is barely able to stop herself from giving him a piece of her mind. Later see witnesses someone who she believes is Jarin having a secret meeting, but soon realizes it is Erik. She then learns that Jarin is escorting the sisters to their new home and is not at all pleased.

Jarin is in a bind, he really needs the money from the dowry, but promised his father to uphold the family honor and promised his mother to be a better man than his father was. Erik insists that marrying Linota is the solution – she is lovely and brings not only wealth, but a connection to the powerful Earl of Ogmore. Jarin considers it, he feels nothing for Linota, which is good, considering his first marriage was fueled by lust and was a complete disaster. But Katherine, is a different story, she fascinates him, she is not a classic beauty, but she captivates him and makes him hum with desire and it is clear that she dislikes him. He should be glad and should leave her alone, but he can’t seem to stop himself.

They form a truce and agree that they both jumped to conclusions, desire sparks, but when Linota is abducted, Katherine makes Jarin promise to save Linota’s reputation by marrying her, Jarin agrees, but first they need to find Linota and find out who kidnapped her and why. Their search means they have to spend time alone together and the spark they felt begins to grow – but given his promise, they know nothing can come of it, but love isn’t easily dismissed and when they are given a second chance, will they take it or will they walk away?

This was a good book, but I wish I understood Katherine’s backstory a bit better, for instance, why did they live with Ogmore? What did their father do? Why was she treated like a prisoner? Maybe if I knew these things the story would have made more sense to me. Jarin was a great hero and easy to like, I did think they both needed a slap or two, but overall, I enjoyed the story. It has action, intrigue, betrayal, surprising twists, shocking revelations, warmish love scenes, a villain who gets off too easy and a very sweet epilogue. This is the second book in the series, I did not read the first book and have to wonder if my questions would have been answered if I did – I really don’t know, but I did feel like this story lacked adequate backstory to be a standalone title.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*