The world is a great big dumpster fire right now and it’s got me all depressed. So when I picked up Love and Protect by Lori Ryan I was just hoping for a decent romantic suspense read–what I got was a surprisingly comforting, healing book that brought tears to my eyes.

I mean, it’s still a romantic suspense so there is some violence–this isn’t a comfort read the way a traditional Regency is. Also trigger warning for discussions of domestic violence and rape.

The book opens with Laura Kensington planning her escape. Her husband, Patrick, is a rich and powerful man who abuses her–tortures her even. Now pregnant, Laura has saved up some money and is the process of purchasing a new identity when she learns her husband died of a heart attack. Now personally I think Patrick should have died of being slowly pecked to death by really mean parakeets, but okay. This should be a relief to Laura, but Patrick’s shitty, rich, powerful family plans on buying off a judge so they can keep her kid.

Also, as the icing on Laura’s shit cake, Patrick’s business partner was embezzling from the business and plans on killing Laura because he assumes Patrick left her proof of it.

With the help of an ER doctor who figured out she was being abused, Laura flees to a ranch in small-town Evers, TX. The ranch is run by May Bishop and her two sons, Cade and Shane, and they agree to shelter Laura for the time being.

Now this is where the warm fuzzies come in. The ranch is this beautiful safe space where everyone is nice to Laura and treat her with kindness and respect. They respect her emotional and physical boundaries–they don’t bully her into talking about her abuse. They don’t ask for anything in return; they just provide a sanctuary for her and let her heal on her own terms, in her own time.

Cade is especially kind to Laura and cognizant of her needs. He rehabs injured and neglected animals on the ranch, and he has such a wonderful gentleness and understanding about him. In this scene he talks to Laura while she’s having a panic attack while still making her feel safe:

Laura heard a soft voice behind her and heard footsteps walking back toward the house. She slid one hand to the side [away from her face] and saw Cade sit down next to her, arms draped casually over his drawn up knees. He kept his body angled toward the barn and didn’t reach out to her.

“We’ll just stay here for a bit. When you’re ready to get up, you reach out for my arm, and I’ll help you up, okay?” Cade said.

Then, much to Laura’s surprise, he simply talked. He didn’t ask questions or try to figure out why she’d fallen to the ground and covered herself like the town idiot after a harmless touch. He didn’t make a big deal out of the fact that she was practically curled into a ball. He talked about nothing and everything all at once.

“I’ve always loved this time of day. Come to think of it, I love any time of day, but this time is especially nice. Middle of the day, after morning chores are done: animals fed, stalls cleaned, all turned out to pasture. After lunch, I’ve got nothing but playtime to look forward to. Ride a few of the horses. Do some training with my girl, Red.”

Cade’s voice was soothing, calming. A balm somehow on her frazzled nerves. He spoke as if he expected nothing from her, and that in itself was comforting.

Cade is sexy because he’s kind and because he respects Laura. He’s not a beta hero, but he also isn’t an alpha who is going to jump in guns blazing to save her. He respects her trauma, her need to heal, her timetable. Throughout the book he’s very aware of his physical presence and how it might make Laura feel. He always brings himself to her level–sitting if she’s sitting, etc. He always makes sure she doesn’t have to get past him to exit a room. This is such an incredibly thoughtful and insightful way to treat someone who suffered horrible physical abuse that it made my heart hurt.

So often romantic suspense heroes solve violence with more violence–and I get some of that appeal. I get the desire to see a really bad person beaten up or scared or even killed. This book takes a totally different approach, and while Cade does wish Patrick were alive just so he could beat the shit out of him, it’s an approach that I don’t think I see often enough. Ryan focuses her writing on the healing from trauma, not the trauma itself.

Cade, and the magical ranch where horses and dogs and cats are healed and rehabilitated was a balm to my soul as well. Sure there was some action, some sex, some chase scenes–and that was all well done, but this middle bit of the book, on that sleepy ranch where Cade was keeping his distance but still signaling to Laura that she wasn’t alone, man that just SLAYED me.

Then there’s this scene. Laura is in the barn, watching a feral cat give birth:

Laura watched the cat pant and knelt down in front of her. The cat turned wide eyes to her as though as if she didn’t know if she should trust Laura so close to her.

Laura couldn’t help but think how much this must hurt. “When the pain gets to be too much, baby, just go somewhere in your head. Go to your favorite place and leave all the pain behind. Just let it all go.”

Okay, so I’m crying. Laura is working through her abuse, using the coping skills she had to develop to help an animal who is in pain. Yep, sobbing. Right here.

I would recommend Love and Protect to readers who are leery of romantic suspense as well. Yes, there’s the murder-plot side of things, but the book is never bloody or scary. There’s action and some suspenseful moments, but it’s nothing that I think would actively cause anyone to be scared. That said, I read some pretty creepy shit so my tolerance is high. Also, obviously, the themes of domestic violence and discussion of rape will not suit everyone.

But if you’re looking for a feel good book, I think this is it. It made feel better about my world for sure.

---

NB: Love and Protect is currently 99c at Amazon and Kobo.