Texas Bodyguard: Chance - Janie Crouch (HI #2167 - Sept 2023)

Series: San Antonio Security (Book 4)
 
She has secrets she prefers to keep hidden.
Too bad he's so good at getting to the truth.
 
When a violent attack puts Maci Ford in the hospital, security expert Chance Patterson learns that she's carrying his baby. Even though she ended their relationship, he's determined to do whatever it takes to protect her and their child. But, as her stalker's behavior escalates, Chance can't shake the feeling that Maci is still hiding something from him…
 
Terrific ending to this series. Chance and Maci have been picking at each other since the first book in the series. It is evident to everyone around them that they are attracted to each other. No one knows that they got together for a short time before Maci broke things off. Now she's pregnant and hasn't told him.
 
I've liked Maci from the start. She does a terrific job of keeping the brothers organized and in line. She is a private person and doesn't share anything about her past. She has worked hard for everything she has but is constantly harassed by her addict mother. Keeping her past separate from her present and future is very important to her, including hiding it from Chance. But when she discovers she's pregnant, she realizes it has become more complex.
 
Chance grew up in the foster care system until the Pattersons adopted him as a teenager. In those foster homes, Chance was expected to look after everyone else, a habit he has been unable to break. He still puts everyone else before himself. So when Maci reveals her pregnancy, he vows to do everything possible to keep her and the baby safe.
 
Matters become complicated when Maci gets involved in their current case. A case of stalking against an internet influencer turns into the hunt for a serial killer. Maci becomes the killer's target, and Chance's determination to keep her safe puts them in forced proximity. I was glued to the pages as the brothers worked to keep Maci safe and identify the killer. I also enjoyed seeing Chance work to get past Maci's walls and show her that they belonged together. I ached for Maci and her belief that Chance and the others wouldn't want anything to do with her if they knew her past.
 
The story's suspense and the search for the serial killer was intense from start to finish. The twists and turns of narrowing down the suspects kept me guessing until the end. The final confrontation was a nail-biter. I loved how Maci kept her head, giving Chance and the others time to find her.
 
I loved the epilogue and seeing the entire Patterson family together. 

Texas Bodyguard: Weston - Janie Crouch (HI #2160 - Aug 2023)

Series: San Antonio Security (Book 3)
 
A determined bodyguard.
A fierce heiress.
 
And death is just a shot away… Silent, stealthy and professional, Weston Patterson is always two steps ahead of trouble -- until he's hired to bodyguard a woman he never expected to see again. Someone won't stop until Kayleigh Delacruz is dead. But the feisty heiress is challenging Weston to keep her close as well as safe. Will the suspicions between their different worlds lock them in an endgame impossible to survive?
 
Fantastic book that kept me enthralled from start to finish. I've loved getting to know the Patterson brothers, and now it's time to focus on Weston. He is the quiet one in the family who watches and considers before taking action. He was abused as a child by his father and eventually put into the foster system. The summer he was nine, he accompanied his landscaper foster father, Henry, on his work at the Delacruz estate. There he met Kayleigh, Leo Delacruz's daughter, and they became good friends during that carefree summer. Then Henry died, and Weston was moved to a different home, and he and Kayleigh didn't see each other again until Leo hired Weston to be a bodyguard for Kayleigh.
 
Kayleigh is the daughter of single parent Leo Delacruz. He is a ruthless businessman whose actions frequently bring trouble. A traumatic event when she was younger left Kayleigh with nightmares and difficulty trusting. Her relationship with her father is strained, and she resents his attempts to protect her, frequently evading his security people. She is a successful photographer who travels the world. On this visit home, she and Leo butt heads again over his protection plans.
 
Leo remembers Weston and his friendship with Kayleigh, so he hires Weston to protect Kayleigh back on the Delacruz estate. Kayleigh does not know Weston's purpose in being there - she thinks he's a landscaper like his foster father. She's not happy to discover the truth, but Weston's skills as a bodyguard are needed when they come under attack.
 
I loved watching the relationship develop between Kayleigh and Weston. Each has some trust issues to overcome, but neither can deny the connection that still exists. I enjoyed seeing them get to know each other as adults and discover that the old feelings have grown and matured. There is a rough spot when Kayleigh discovers that Weston is a bodyguard, not a gardener, and it takes some work for Weston to win back her trust. I loved seeing Weston support Kayleigh's independence while he stood by her side to protect her. I loved seeing them grow closer, and the ending was fantastic.
 
The story's suspense kept me glued to the pages, and up way late to finish it. Leo's ruthlessness as a businessman has brought trouble to him and, by extension, Kayleigh. There are multiple possibilities for who is behind the latest situation, and when I thought I had it figured out, something would happen to change my mind and spotlight another suspect. The intense action kept Weston and Kayleigh barely one step ahead of those after her. The ending had several twists that I never saw coming. The final confrontation was a nail-biter that had me on the edge of my seat until it was over.
 
I enjoyed seeing all of the Pattersons involved and supporting Weston. His brothers always have his back, and I liked seeing them work together. I also loved seeing Weston and Kayleigh spending time with Weston's parents. It was an eye-opener for Kayleigh to see Weston so relaxed and relatively talkative when he was there. I'm looking forward to Chance's story. 

Texas Bodyguard: Brax - Janie Crouch (HI #2136 - Apr 2023)

Series: San Antonio Security (Book 2)
 
A baby in his care…
A target on their backs
 
A skilled security expert and bodyguard, Brax Patterson is ready for anything…except unexpected custody of his reckless half-brother's baby boy. Someone will kill to take young Walker -- and silence his resourceful new nanny, Tessa Mahoney. With her help, Brax is breaking all the rules to keep them safe. But will his and Tessa's shattering secrets prove too lethal to survive?
 
Whew! Another gripping tale from the pen (keyboard?) of Janie Crouch. Like the book before this one (Texas Bodyguard: Luke), this one opens with Brax's introduction to the Patterson family. My heart ached for the boy and everything he'd been through in his short life. He's wary of the couple wanting to take him home with them, fully expecting his time there won't last.
 
When next we see him, Brax is pondering how his life turned out - from living on the streets at age twelve to owning a security company with his three brothers. They are of different races but have each other's backs, unlike Brax's feckless half-brother Robert. Robert shows up at Brax's house one night with a story of an emergency and drops off his baby boy. Brax is shocked but not surprised when Robert disappears and later has guardianship papers delivered to him. I had to laugh at Brax's first few days with little Walker - it had a Three Men and a Baby vibe. Brax thinks he's died and gone to heaven when he finds a phone number in the diaper bag that he believes belongs to Walker's nanny.
 
When we first see Tessa, she's caught in Robert's mess. The men who are after him believe that she knows where he is. After trashing her apartment, the next step is threats to her life. Tessa barely makes it out of her apartment ahead of trouble and realizes her only option is to go to Robert's brother. She knows nothing about him other than their brief phone conversation. When she shows up at his office, Brax assumes she's the nanny and asks no further questions.
 
I ached for Tessa, who would do anything to have her son back in her arms. Initially wary of Brax, she doesn't tell him the truth about who she is or the trouble she is in. I loved watching her settle in as Walker's "nanny" and smiled at her happiness in being reunited with him. Seeing how she and Brax connected and the unexpected contentment he found with his pseudo-family was sweet. But that peace doesn't last long.
 
The twists and turns that followed kept me on the edge of my seat. Brax isn't happy when he discovers Tessa's lies but believes the truth when he hears it. Complicating matters, Brax is due to testify against a local cartel leader who is determined to ensure that he doesn't live long enough to do so. As attacks from both sides escalate, Brax and his brothers work to find a solution. The final confrontation is a nail-biter with a twist no one saw coming. The resolution was excellent, and hopefully, everyone gets what they deserve!
 
I loved the development of the relationship between Brax and Tessa. Brax is protective of her from the moment they meet, sensing that she is in trouble. Tessa is wary of him, having been burned too often to trust easily. Simmering in the background are sparks of attraction neither is ready to deal with immediately. I loved seeing them grow closer over the next few weeks. Brax is adorable when we see him interact with Walker, which makes it easier for Tessa to trust him. But it takes nearly losing each other for them to admit their feelings. I loved the ending and seeing the Patterson family all together. There is so much love, and there is always room for more. 

Texas Bodyguard: Luke - Janie Crouch (HI #2129 - Mar 2023)

Series: San Antonio Security (Book 1)
 
She’s seen too much
And he’s running out of time to save her…
 
The last person security expert Luke Patterson ever expected to see again is in desperate trouble. Claire Wallace witnessed her boss’s murder…and the killer is tearing her quiet life apart to find her. Luke will do anything to protect the childhood friend he never forgot. But as their secrets become an inescapable trap, will they survive to have any future?
 
Fantastic start to the new series. The San Antonio Security series is about four men, adopted as youths from the foster care system, who form their own security company. The adoptive parents who raised them are a fantastic couple, and I enjoyed meeting them all. This book focuses on Luke and the girl he never forgot. After Claire was sent to another home and Luke was adopted, they lost track of each other. Luke leans on the introverted side of the spectrum and is least likely to be asked to deal with their customers. He's gruff and grumpy (especially when it's his turn to deal with the paperwork) but has a talent for reading people that has served the company well. He has a great relationship with his brothers and his parents.
 
Claire has been an introvert all of her life, preferring to live her life and do her job with as little attention as possible. A computer genius, she has a job writing software and apps for a big company. When she and her boss, Julia, figure out that the CEO plans to use the app Claire has been working on to steal personal and financial information from its users, they know what they must do. As Julia gets the proof they need to stop him and sends it to Claire, she is murdered, and Claire witnesses it all on the video link. She knows she is in danger and goes to the only person she can trust for help - Luke.
 
I liked the first meeting between Luke and Claire. Luke never forgot the sweet girl he nicknamed "Kitten" and protected from the bullies at their foster home. He is determined to protect her and clear her name when she comes to him. He doesn't expect the burst of attraction he feels for her or the stirring up of emotions he's buried for years. Claire discovers that even after years apart, Luke is still her hero. I liked seeing them get to know each other as they worked together. I loved seeing Claire soften Luke's rough edges and laughed out loud at his brothers' teasing. At the same time, Luke's belief in Claire, her intelligence, and her strength gave her confidence and helped bring her out of her shell. I loved the scenes with Luke's parents, their unquestioning love and acceptance of Claire, and its effect on her.  I loved the ending and seeing them come together.
 
The suspense of the story was outstanding. The intensity never let up from the minute Claire connected with her friend and boss. When Claire finds out her boss plans to do something illegal with the program she wrote, she is more than willing to help get the information to the authorities. She was not expecting to witness her friend's murder and find herself the next person in the crosshairs. She knows she's in danger, which is driven home when she goes home to get her cat, Khan, before going on the run and barely escapes the thugs sent after her. She runs to Luke for help. 

I was on the edge of my seat as she and Luke barely stayed a step ahead of the men after them. The bad guy's influence and resources enable him to do anything he wants to stop Claire from exposing him. But Luke and Claire aren't in it alone. I loved seeing how his brothers had his back and worked with him. The final confrontation was a nail-biter as it looked like the bad guy might succeed in his quest. But not only is Claire smarter than he is, she also has a secret weapon that saves her life. I loved seeing it all go down, and the resolution was excellent.
 
One of my favorite secondary characters was Claire's Maine coon cat, Khan. He is a large cat and acts more like a dog than a cat. It was fun to see other characters interact with him. I loved the moral support that Khan provided Claire, as someone she could confide her fears and dreams and who kept her company in her lonely life. I liked seeing his antics as a guard cat-dog, plus he was an excellent judge of character.
 
I liked Luke's brothers. From what has been revealed so far, it sounds like all four men had rough lives in the foster care system. Luke's story was heartbreaking. The book's prologue was an emotional look at what it meant for him to be adopted by the Pattersons. I can't wait to read the stories of the other brothers.