In His Keeping by Maya Banks
Publisher: Avon Romance (1/27/2015)
Series: Slow Burn, book 2
Genre:
Source: Tasty Book Tours {Edelweiss}
Purchase links || amazon | bn | itunes | kobo || add to goodreads
Rating: ★★★★★
#1 bestselling author Maya Banks continues her suspenseful and steamy Slow Burn trilogy with this second book -- a twisting tale featuring a strong yet vulnerable heroine in danger and the sexy alpha hero who must save her.
Abandoned as a baby to a young wealthy couple and raised in a world of privilege, Arial has no hint of her past or who she belonged to. Her only link lies in the one thing that sets her apart from everyone else -- telekinetic powers. Protected by her adoptive parents and hidden from the public to keep her gift secret, Ari is raised in the lap of luxury, and isolation. That is, until someone begins threatening her life.
Beau Devereaux is no stranger to the strange. As the head of Devereaux Security, he's more than familiar with the realities of physic powers. So when a family friend approaches him about protecting his daughter, he's more than ready to jump on board. What Beau isn't prepared for is the extent of his attraction to his beautiful and powerful client. What began as a simply assignment, just another job, quickly turns personal as Beau discovers he'll do anything at all to protect Ari. Even if it costs him his life.
about Maya || Maya Banks is a #1 USA Today and New York Times bestselling author whose chart toppers have included erotic romance, romantic suspense, contemporary romance, Scottish historical romances. She is the author of the Breathless Trilogy, the KGI novels, the Sweet series, and the Colters Legacy novels.
She lives in the South with her husband and three children and other assorted babies, such as her two Bengal kitties and a Calico who’s been with her as long as her youngest child. She’s an avid reader of romance and loves to dish books with her fans and anyone else who’ll listen! She very much enjoys interacting with her readers on Facebook and Twitter as well as in her Yahoo! Group.
{ excerpt } .
“Oh dear God,
Gavin!Someone left a baby out here to freeze?”
The horror in her voice was evident. He was still too flabber-gasted to collect his scattered thoughts.
“Bring the carrier in,” Ginger said crisply,
as she hoisted the baby higher in her arms and rose from her kneeling position on the porch.
He followed her in but something told him he should be out
there looking for the person who’d left the baby. They still had to be on the premises.He owned quite a bit of acreage and it would
take several minutes to get off his land no matter which direction they’d come from.
But he was drawn to the picture of his wife standing by the fireplace, carefully unwrapping the baby and then tucking the downy head beneath her chin as she swayed inan effort to com-
fort the crying child.
“Is there a note?” she asked anxiously. “Anything at
all to explainwhat in the world someone was thinkingto do such a
terrible thing? It’s Christmas! You don’t abandon a baby in this kindof weather at Christmastime!”
Distress radiatedfrom her in tangiblewaves. He quickly
tossed the contents of the carrier and indeed,an envelope fell to
the floor next to the blanketsand two tattered stuffed animals.
“Read it to me,” she urged, though she never looked at him.
Her gaze was solidly fastenedonthe baby in her arms and for a moment he couldn’t breathe.
He was looking at what could never be for them. The pain
was nearly overwhelming. Ginger looked at the baby with such
tenderness and love as she rubbed her hand over the baby’s back in an effort to soothe him or her. Hell, was it a boy or a girl?
He tore open the envelopewith shaking hands and quickly
scanned, fully prepared to spare his wife anything that could hurt her. But what he read shook
him to the very core.
I can’t take care of my baby. She would always be in danger
with me. She needs someoneto
love
and protect her.I’m counting on you to raise her asyour own and
never let
anyone know the circumstances ofher past. You likely think I’m the most horrible mother on earth to give my baby to
complete strangers, but it’s because I love my daughter that I give her into your care and keeping and ask you to love her as I would and raise her as your own. She can never know about me or her biological father. Swear to
me you’ll keep my
secret. My heart is breaking, but only the knowledge that
you’ll provide for her as I cannot gives me the strength to do what
is best for her. She was deeply loved.Pleasenever doubt that. I only ask that you love her every bit as much as her father andI do.
When Gavin finishedr eading the letter, his hand was shaking
noticeably and Ginger sankonto
the couch, holding the baby tightly againsther chest as she stared incredulously at her husband.
Then he quickly went to sit beside her on the couch, rein-
forcing her hold on the tiny bundle because she was shakingevery bit as much as he was.
She pulled the blanket down to expose the baby’s face and Gavin lost his heart on the spot. A beautiful baby girl stared back at him as Ginger gently stroked her finger down
one soft cheek.
And as quickly as he’d lost his heart, he made a decision. A decision that would forever change the course of his and Ginger’s lives.
{ review} .
Before I truly begin, I have a bit of a confession...
I wanted to refuse to read all of Maya's non-KGI books, especially when her new books were all becoming mainstream reads. And when she apologized when fans were upset that Donovan Kelly's book wasn't up to their par? I was all Team Maya, hootin' and hollerin' about how she was the author, and if that's how Donovan's story went down, then that was the way it went down. C'mon, now, not all those Kelly boys can fall in love in extremely dire circumstances.
But then I took a deeper look at AFTER THE STORM and thought, maybe it wasn't so long, maybe it was a bit choppy, maybe this and that, because of everything else that was on Maya's plate.
Oh my goodness, maybe all of Maya's other worlds were taking over the KGI platform!
...and I was mad. I was sad... And I refused to read anything else she put out that didn't have a KGI stamp on it.
Additionally, I bought WHEN DAY BREAKS and never got around to reading it (which is sad and I really need to, because my favorite Kelly is Nathan, and if Nathan's your favorite Kelly, then you have to love Swanny). And then, the cover was announced for book 10, and while it's a bangin' cover, I was sad to see it belonged to Hancock. Hancock?!? So my Maya love was dwindling, and it kinda sorta mad me a bit depressed...which further spiraled when Maya went to Facebook and announced she'd put way too much on her plate, and she had to put her health and family first (sidenote, off the soapbox? TOTALLY understand this and am behind her 100%), which meant her publishing schedule was going to take a hit... Which further meant that after Hancock's book, the next KGI book wasn't going to be for months... like nearly a year months.
So again... I was sad. One of my favorite authors, one of my favorite series... and it was as if it were being taken away from me. You have to understand -- all the piloted shows that I like never get picked up, or they get dropped mid-series. This was one of those shows all over again.
...and then Tasty Book Tours announced a tour with one of Maya's new series and even though it was book 2, I wanted to give it a shot. You see, in my Maya protest, I wasn't going to buy a new book -- these mainstream puppies cost a lot! A few months back, I'd posted a little graphic thing and wrote a story about how sometimes I'll buy books instead of groceries... Well, lately I've been trying to be good to my budget and buy groceries. It's been hard but...
Back to the point. Thanks to Tasty Book Tours, I got to get a taste of what else Maya's been slaving at, and I've gotta say...
...what the hell have I been doing?!
I really... really... really loved this book. And I really... really... really need to read book one (because Caleb's all brooding and sexy-like), and there is not a doubt in my mind that this will be yet another Maya series that I own in both digital and paperback form (hence why Maya is so expensive for me).
It's probably because there are elements similar between the Kelly's and Devereaux's that have drawn me into this SLOW BURN series. Heck, maybe a bit could also go to the fact that Nathan's lady, Shea, has odd-powers too.... and let's be honest, if there's one (two) things that Maya does well, it's this family military thing, and the psychic thing.
Right from the beginning, you're drawn in to the love that Gavin Rochester has for his wife, Ginger. You want to cry for them; Ginger because she's so sad she's unable to carry a child, and Gavin because all he wants is for his wife to be happy. He would give the world to do just that.
...and when a baby girl ends up on their doorstep, he has the opportunity to make everything good in their world.
Over the next two decades, he and Ginger do everything they can to protect their baby girl -- initially because she was the baby that they long wanted, but then because it became apparent she had telekinesis powers and people were after her.
As a young adult, finally able to stretch her walls just a bit, Ari learns more about her powers -- and only due to the fact that her family was taken from her.
Maya writes quick-love, but she writes quick-love well. Beau is a hard-headed male, who is extremely good at his job. There is something about Ari, however, that makes him want to soften his walls and let her in, and in no time at all, he wants to protect her -- not as his client, but as his. Watching him protect Ari at all costs reminds the reader of the great love that Gavin and Ginger have, that Ari wants so badly to emulate but fears she'll never find.
As their relationship progresses, you watch the natural progression -- the teasing, the ability to be ones' self and show your true colors, and then the gutwrenching fear when that person is in danger. Everything about these two, everything about this book, I just loved.
Was Ari too timid at times? Eh, maybe... Was Beau too hard at other times? Yeah, probably...
But I really didn't care. Beau and Ari were very much the Yin and Yang that Ari jokes about them being -- way in the beginning. They balanced each other out perfectly and I just loved them.
I'm sorry, Maya, for doubting you and your newest adventures. It won't happen again.
It's probably because there are elements similar between the Kelly's and Devereaux's that have drawn me into this SLOW BURN series. Heck, maybe a bit could also go to the fact that Nathan's lady, Shea, has odd-powers too.... and let's be honest, if there's one (two) things that Maya does well, it's this family military thing, and the psychic thing.
Right from the beginning, you're drawn in to the love that Gavin Rochester has for his wife, Ginger. You want to cry for them; Ginger because she's so sad she's unable to carry a child, and Gavin because all he wants is for his wife to be happy. He would give the world to do just that.
...and when a baby girl ends up on their doorstep, he has the opportunity to make everything good in their world.
Over the next two decades, he and Ginger do everything they can to protect their baby girl -- initially because she was the baby that they long wanted, but then because it became apparent she had telekinesis powers and people were after her.
As a young adult, finally able to stretch her walls just a bit, Ari learns more about her powers -- and only due to the fact that her family was taken from her.
Maya writes quick-love, but she writes quick-love well. Beau is a hard-headed male, who is extremely good at his job. There is something about Ari, however, that makes him want to soften his walls and let her in, and in no time at all, he wants to protect her -- not as his client, but as his. Watching him protect Ari at all costs reminds the reader of the great love that Gavin and Ginger have, that Ari wants so badly to emulate but fears she'll never find.
As their relationship progresses, you watch the natural progression -- the teasing, the ability to be ones' self and show your true colors, and then the gutwrenching fear when that person is in danger. Everything about these two, everything about this book, I just loved.
Was Ari too timid at times? Eh, maybe... Was Beau too hard at other times? Yeah, probably...
But I really didn't care. Beau and Ari were very much the Yin and Yang that Ari jokes about them being -- way in the beginning. They balanced each other out perfectly and I just loved them.
I'm sorry, Maya, for doubting you and your newest adventures. It won't happen again.
follow the rest of the tour
by clicking here
{ giveaway } .
Thank you for hosting IN HIS KEEPING today! What a great review!
ReplyDelete