Guarded

Author: Sara Davison
Genre: Mystery/Suspense
Series: The Night Guardians #2
Release Date: February 1, 2020

The tip the stranger left sent Nicole a painfully clear message. The past is no longer in the past.

Nicole is fighting to bury the memories. Someone else is fighting to keep them exposed.
​
Detective Daniel Grey is back in town, and diner owner Nicole Hunter isn’t sure how she feels about that. It’s been almost seven years, and now she doesn’t just have herself to think about but her six-year-old son as well. If she does find the courage to take a chance on love, her heart could be smashed into pieces. Again.

And it’s not only her heart that is in danger. Someone is working hard to disrupt her present with reminders of the past she has worked hard to forget, especially her darkest memory—of the night her husband was gunned down in the street in front of her. As much as she might want to push Daniel away, Nicole needs him closer now than ever before.

But the one she trusts to keep her and her son safe has a secret that may prove to be the biggest threat of all.

---

Reviewer: Anna Bottoms

Guarded is the first book I’ve read by Sara Davison, and I’m looking forward to many more. In this book, Sara has interwoven stories of second chances, forgiveness, and love, along with some well-written suspense.

Each arc of the story is filled with authentic emotions from the greatest joy to the deepest heartache, the love of family to the deepest despair, and everything in between.

Through each person’s trials, we are shown how easy it is to give in to those things that hold us captive and rob us of our purpose. A thread of Faith is woven through the story as each protagonist battles with letting go of past hurts and fears and trusting God’s plan.

Daniel has carried Nicole’s rejection for years. Is he strong enough to risk taking another chance?

Nicole lost her husband due to the secrets he carried. He died doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. Is she willing to take another chance on love?

Along with the romance aspect of this book, the suspense had me guessing what was going to happen next, and who it was going to happen to. I was taken by surprise when the antagonist’s plan was revealed.

I was given an ARC courtesy of the author through Interviews and Reviews, and this is my honest review. I recommend this book.

---

---

Reviewer: Mindy Houng

This is the first book I’ve read by Sara Davison. I was quite excited to read her book because I’ve been hearing such great things about this author’s work. Unfortunately, I had not realized that this second book of The Night Guardians Series is a literal continuation of the first book. Since I had not read Vigilant first, I had a hard time grasping the details from the first book that are pivotal to the foundation, both in plot and character development, in this book. 

There is definitely more romance than suspense and the plot is character-driven. There are funny and also endearing scenes in the book that will make the reader bond a little more with Nicole, Daniel, and Nicole’s son Jordan. Nicole is a difficult heroine to understand and her previous and present feelings for Daniel were hard to sort out. Daniel is a loyal and loving protector but I also had some trouble connecting with him. Introducing Troy and Mikayla as additional third person limited point of view voices, confused me in the beginning, but their roles became more clear as the story progressed. 

The series should be read in order, to get the most out of the stories and characters.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher via JustRead Publicity Tours and was under no obligation to post a positive review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.

---