A Marshal's Courage: A Rescue Series Novella, Barb Shuler

On the run, constantly looking over her shoulder, Elayna is in the care of a sexy Marshal who's committed to keeping her safe and making her his.  But danger is nipping at their heels and they've got a lot to overcome if they mean to survive to make their ending a happy one.

Elayna is a fighter.  She's a fierce thing with a heart so full of love to give but no assurance that the man she wants to give it to sees her as more.  She loves his protection as much as she's growing to love the man himself and when she realizes that he's hers just as much that she is his in all the little things he does she begins to let her guard down and let him in.  We don't get a lot of who she is before she went into protection against her attacker.  Most of the information we get are little asides, small passing thoughts she has while we sift through all the crazy she goes through in this story.  I like her but never feel quite settled.

Daniel sees something special in her and it calls to him.  He's determined to keep her from harm no matter the cost.  His care of her and all the little ways he shows he cares is sweet and shows us another side to the tattooed, bearded hottie that wears the badge.  We get to know him mostly through Elayna's observations as well as small reveals through their stay with his family but we don't get a lot of depth into who he is and why.  One obvious instance of this is the surprise we get regarding his mental outburst after a sensitive piece of information is revealed regarding Elayna.  Why does he have those doubts about himself?  Why should we seek to soothe his fears and hope Elayna or someone else do it in our place?  Aside from feeling like we know of him rather than know him deeply, we can see he's a good man and can be a great partner for Elayna.

From the very start this was dramatic.  There's very little downtime in the entire story where Elayna is allowed to just breathe.  We see her go from crisis to crisis and her ability to run and protect herself is admirable.  I think she's mostly smart in most situations, choosing to run, fight, or just keep pushing and think those are great qualities in a leading woman.  There are times that her reactions speak to fear and immaturity rather than thinking things through and trusting others to protect and to love her.  Her constant battle between fear, shame, and embarrassment is a bit trying.  While the last bit is both heartening, amusing, and exciting, I still don't get a feeling of contentment, settling, or peace.  So the story is good for sure, but it's always a feeling of "go-Go-GO!"  Overall it fits with the author's stories where a good woman, a strong woman, is paired with a good, strong man who will go to the ends of the earth to protect her through every crisis and hold her tenderly when it's all over.

*$1.99 on Amazon or FREE on KU!