Review: I could live inside this series! LOVE!!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 11, 2012
Bodyguard and warrior, Max always gets his man. In this case he's not after a man though, he's after a scared woman on the run. Sarah knows what she saw and what she saw was a vampire attack. Labeled as crazy and shut away she escapes only to run into the one thing everyone tells her isn't real.....a vampire. Except Max doesn't want to kill her, he claims to want to help her if she'll help him. He and his band of vampire brothers need access to a lab only Sarah can get them into. Does Sarah dare help Max, a being she should be afraid of? And if she should be so afraid, why does her body ignite every time he even looks her way? Max knows they are destined to be together but can he keep her alive long enough to permanently seal their bond?The Dark Protectors series now has a novella to add along side the full length novels I have come to love and count among my favorite series of all time! Generally a novella is meant to tide over voracious readers while they wait for the full length novels to come out. Sometimes with a year between books authors will rely on the novella to hold the interest of readers and bring them back to the series with each new release. Book 2 of the Dark Protectors series, Claimed came out in Oct of 2011. Tempted was just released March 27th and book 3, Hunted, comes out on the 24th of this month. So the novella seems to be a bit late to tide people over but you won't find this reader complaining. I will take peeks into this series anytime Rebecca wants to share them with me.This novella showcases Max, Janie's warrior bodyguard and his transition from deadly assassin to protective but lovable babysitter.  A loner for years Max isn't sure he can be the protector Dage wants him to be and connect with the little girl. Though Janie seems instantly at ease with him, Max doesn't assimilate as quickly but eventually become a best friend to the little seer. After several months he is sent on a mission to find a woman who may have the answers the vampires seek, access to a lab that created a protein to help in the battle against the diseases attacking their mates. Problem is, Sarah has been labeled as crazy because she witnessed a Kurjan attack and she's on the run from them, her half brother who wants complete control over the pharmaceutical company they run and the hospital she escaped from.From the moment they meet Max and Sarah feel the undeniable connection between them. That alpha instinct I've come to love in this series comes roaring full force into Max and he just knows she is his. Though she has no idea that Vampires/Kurjans are real or different, she adjusts quickly upon finding out the truth and embraces Max with everything she has. Coincidentally she's also is a teacher and just what Max needs to help with Janie and all the other shifter children and soon to be vampire kids.Her access to the pharmaceutical company and her half brothers duplicity with the Kurjans becomes the problem at the forefront. Sarah, though she is constantly passing out from shock which got annoying, takes everything in stride...mostly. She holds together fairly well, aside from the passing out of course and I did generally like her character. I found myself chuckling at her feeble attempts at fighting. I really hope that Max teaches that woman to land some effective blows because while she tried her best to be a viable opponent, she is really weak in that area. Very...human. I also laughed at Max's attempt to NOT mate her because he was concerned for her safety with the mate disease seemingly running rampant. I kept thinking, uh, since when can they stop it? I mean Conn mated by accident according to the other brothers (something that will be delved into in book 3, Hunted). So certainly, if a mating could be stopped then Conn wouldn't have mated his witch. Max seems insistent though and because he was thinking only of her safety I have to love him for it. Even if it was inevitable.A solid novella giving us a peek into one of the most amazing series I've ever read! I'm so glad that Zanetti seems to be able to write the full length novels and then switch easily into novella mode.I give Tempted by Rebecca Zanetti 4 stars!Nikki @ Ramblings From A Chaotic Mind