Review: More bang for your buck
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 9, 2012
"Welcome to the Oblique Cafe, where the coffee is strong and the patrons are odd."The Protectors are a group of adults who were all once parentless foundlings, abadoned as infants and raised by humans.  Not human themselves, it is unclear, even to them, what exactly they are or where they came from. But they do know their mission is to protect the humans from malevolent forces and to find the New Ones, others like them, who are as yet unaware of their origins, and to bring them into the fold.The Protectors series contains, obviously, light paranormal elements that were not too scary nor too difficult to understand.  Which is a good thing since I don't often read this genre for just those reasons!  Following is a brief description of each of the three books in this boxed set:Book 1 - A Wizard for ChristmasProtector Hadrian and kindergarten teacher Holly (a New One) try to stop an ancient soul-eater who is killing young adults and has targeted Holly as its next victim. This one is a short, sweet romance that seemed a bit hurried in the "rush to love" department.  But I guess that could be expected, considering the overall length of the story.  The weakest of the three books, in my opinion.Book 2 - Neptune's LairProtector Brendan and New One, attorney Dallas (who has as yet untapped powers to rival those of The Ancients) battle against being overtaken by The Darkness.  After the sex-free romance of the first book, I was surprised when this one started off with a (almost) bang - and it steams up the pages all the way through the book. Brendan and Dallas are likeable characters whose sexual interactions are what fuel their relationship.  More of a novella length, Book 2 kept my attention and is definitely worth a read - even if you don't read Book 1.Book 3 - Mystical SeductionProtector Horace, hiding from his destiny and his missing memories, and human anthropology student, Faith, run away from each other and from an evil prince intent on destroying them both.  This is the longest of the three books and reads more like a standard romance novel.  Horace (gah! what an awful name) and Faith fight their growing love for each other and we get a healthy dose of angst and misunderstandings. It also provides the set-up for the rest of The Protectors series. Once again, the main characters' burning libidos heat up the story.  This was actually my favorite of the three, even though it felt like it dragged a little in the middle.Characters from all three books show up in the others, as well as recurring secondary characters, such as the leader of the Protectors, Frank Stone, and super-bitch Protector, Kara.  I'm pretty sure any of the three could be read as a stand alone book.  Pretty decent entertainment for less than a dollar!