Madeline's Protector by Vanessa Riley

Description:

If all the young men of England leapt off a cliff, Madeline St. James wouldn't care. Then she'd have peace. Her nightmares of courtship would end, and she'd cozy up with a Psalm in her aunt's quiet sculpture garden. Yet, a chance meeting and a bullet wound change everything, and Madeline must trust the Good Shepherd has led her to the altar to marry a dashing stranger, Lord Devonshire.

Death and pain are no strangers to Justain Delveaux, Lord Devonshire, and he vows his dutiful bride will be kept safe and in her place. Though this compromised marriage is in-name-only, his wife and her unwavering faith both intrigue and allure him. Perchance when he thwarts his brother's killer, Justain will tempt the unpredictable Madeline with the comfort of his arms.

 But can Madeline and the stubborn earl forge a true bond before the next disaster strikes?

My Opinion:

Madeline's Protector was really good for a first book. Granted, their were things I didn't care for and their were grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors. But not so much that it makes the book unreadable.

Most Christian books that I have read from self published authors don't mention God  as much as I would like. This one however did a pretty good job. It focused on the fact that Madeline knew she could never be completely happy as Justain's wife unless he had a relationship with God like she did. The one thing that I didn't like about this was that Justain was bullheaded throughout the whole book on this topic until the VERY end. Probably the last few pages. I think his character should have started to sway in his beliefs throughout the book, not just all the sudden, BAM, I want Jesus.

It's obvious that Vanessa tried to have more conflict in the story than just Madeline and Justain butting heads, for example, Justain's issues with his brother's killer. And I like that she tried to do this because I do need more than just a romance story, but I didn't care for how she did it. Sure, theirs a little violence in the beginning, but then the rest of the book is pretty calm. Nothing else happened to get my heart pumping. Justain's issue is occurring "Off Camera" because the people who work for him are handling it, and by the end of the book his problem is not even resolved, only Madeline's is.

The romance was good, but I was extremely upset at the end. Neither of the two said, "I love you!" You know that they do love each other, but it would have been a whole lot better if they said the words.

Overall, it was good for a first book. Their were things I liked and things I was glad she tried to achieve in her writing. I was just disappointed with the outcomes.

Rating: 3 1/2 Stars