This was a wild ride - and definitely not for the faint of heart. Hers to Protect is a dark, gritty, action packed book that is chock full of violence and mayhem.. If you're looking for a sweet romance or fluffy beach read, this may not be the best pick. The plot revolves around Kaia, a police officer, who responds to a domestic abuse call and finds the victim is her former high school sweetheart, Adrienne. Just to amp up the conflict and violence, Adrienne's current partner is a high level member of a rather nasty gang, As I said this is action packed and the plot moves quickly with a fair amount of bloodshed and had a more realistic feel than most lesfic crime novels. The characters are complex and flawed - with some good development of Gianna (the abusive partner/gang member). Overall, the darkness of the plot overshadows the romance aspect and with everything else going on, it is sometimes hard to connect with the MCs and their relationship. If you go in with your eyes open and not expecting a fluffy romance, this is a great read and really good hard hitting crime novel.

I enjoyed this book overall but the beginning dragged a bit. It was really cool to see gay cops and see both sides of the cop argument. I thought the gang aspects eg family were really well done as well as the abusive relationship being handled really well. All in all I thought several aspects of this book were really well done but the story itself just dragged a bit.

An honest review thanks to NetGalley. This was a great fast moving story; it does have a lot of violence, bloodshed, and abuse. Though as this story focuses on a gang in Chicago, this was expected. This book dug deep into the workings of a gang and the relationship dynamics that gangs create, as well as the police side of gang activity. The journey that both Adrienne and Kaia went through was exciting and kept me turning page after page. I am excited to read more from Disney in the future.

I didn’t like the characters and therefore found it quite hard to relate to them. The storyline was good enough but my distaste for the abused partner coloured my reading of the book.

Adrienne and Kaia were were lovers in high school, but many years down the road Kaia is a cop and Adrienne is a gang leaders girlfriend. A domestic abuse call brings Kaia back into Adrienne's life, and she's determined to help out. But Adrienne doesn't trust cops, and getting out of the gang world is no easy feat. Can Kaia take down one of the strongest gangs in Chicago, and will she be able to save the love of her life?

So much happened in this book I don't even know where to start! I have no idea how this author brought to life this vibrant, gritty, world that (at least for me) is so foreign to my day to day life. But this book was brilliantly written, so that I was in every single moment of the book, seeing, hearing, smelling every single detail. I'll say it again. Brilliant. All the twists and turns in the plot were all well thought out and logical. There was no moment where I had to suspend disbelief.

I really enjoyed all the changes in POV, it allowed me to really get lost in the book and experience every fascinating moment. The characters were all really well fleshed out, and I found myself rooting for unexpected people. I didn't feel as strong a connection to the romance side of the this book, but it was sweet none the less.

The final fight scene was absolutely incredible. One of my favourite ever experienced in a book. The perfect climax for a perfect book.

This book is pretty violent, but it was well done in my opinion. Trigger warnings for abuse though.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, make sure you have an hour totally free to read the last 50 pages of this book. You will not want any interruptions. I just finished it and my heart is still pounding. What started out to be a "reunion romance", turned into a very interesting inside view into the running of an up and coming neighborhood gang. With all the drug dealing, gun running and revenge you can imagine. Weaved in there is a love story with life threatening devotion. I was hoping for an epilogue. I needed to know more than who survived. I needed to know what is their future. Maybe a sequel?

Loved it good read enjoyable would recommend reading it and the author amend other books in series won’t disappoint

Kaia Sorano and Adrienne Contreras grew up as best friends and young lovers when life takes an ugly turn and both girls lives go in very different directions. Kaia becomes a cop, while Adrienne falls into a life of selling drugs. They meet up again when Kaia and her partner Reid get a call out for a domestic violence call and she meets up with Adrienne who lives and loves Gianna, a high ranking member of a violent street gang who likes to beat on Adrienne. This is a really good read. Fast paced with a fair amount of action. Excellent read.
eARC via NetGalley

This novel from Nicole Disney is a good read, and an unusual one. It focuses on some women members of a gang in Chicago and their relationships, and how life descends into chaos when a certain policewoman becomes involved.
The book touches on loyalty and betrayal, lost love and new beginnings, despair and hope. It is gritty and violent and gives a realistic sense of life in a rough Chicago gang. I think the violence is essential to the plot - these women do not have a genteel lifestyle and casual brutality is their normal.
There is a romantic subplot, but it is secondary and not as well developed as it could be - although I appreciated the fact that we discover Kaia and Adrienne's history at the same time as they do. There is a lot of action in this book and perhaps there just weren't enough pages to fit it all in.
Overall, I can definitely recommend this book, I liked it a lot, and I am sure that Nicole Disney will get even better with future novels.

Hers to Protect is a hard book for me to review. There are two sides to every story and seeing it told from a cops point of view and then from a gang member’s point of view was something I hadn’t seen done before. I liked that we were getting to see Kaia, Adrienne, Gianna and Anna’s story unfold but there was such a disconnect between the two main characters, it was hard to read.

I love a cop story, the violence, the gore, the gritty gang life? None of that bothered me. It was a part of this story and if it had been left out, I don’t think it would have worked at all. But if you’ve ever been a friend with a cop, if you’ve ever had cops in your family, the things Kaia did for ‘love’ they wouldn’t have done. There’s a set of values, morals and care that cops have. Kaia abandoned all of that. Does it happen in real life? Oh, no doubt that it does. But how easily she drifted over the line from lawful to unlawful because of Adrienne, it made me angry. Sure in the end Adrienne realized that not all cops were corrupt but the whole thing irked me.

Due to the above, I found their rekindled romance unbelievable. I read some pretty crazy things, like men getting pregnant crazy, but this left a bad taste in my mouth. Sure they were teenagers in love, separated by parents and tragedy but it didn’t feel real. Like maybe more internal thought? More talk between the two? I don’t know. They were missing something vital for me.

Do I think that was the over all attention and to grab your attention to make you think? I do. Disney wanted us to see the allure of gang life, how far they would go for each other and how that influenced even those not initiated into the gang yet. She showed up that cops are both good and bad. That anyone can be tempted for the right reasons.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of her romance scenes. It was super fun reading about dancing tongues every time they kissed. It was a bit of an instant replay every time they got together. (I’m sorry, that sounds really bitchy and it could be the fact I had a procedure done on my neck this morning) But seriously, give us a little more variety.

Do I believe that Nicole Disney will become an amazing author? Oh yes. She has skill and can craft a scene well but there were bits and pieces that tricked a nerve for me. Maybe this one wasn’t my cup of tea and perhaps it’ll be yours.

I received an ARC copy of this book by the Publisher via Netgalley and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

WOW … This book is fantastic especially seeing as this is the author’s debut novel. I was hooked right from the very first page. I loved the characters of Kaia & Adrienne. You could feel the connection with them both and I also had a soft spot for Reid. The storyline was nicely written. Plenty of action from beginning to end. This author is definitely one to look out for in the future. I look forward to reading more of her work.

5 STARS

I TURLY Loved this author, I never head of her before but I'm certainly going to follow her work in the future. There's few things I'd imagine not happening in real life coz it seemed unrealistic to me, but overall the story was solid. The author gave everything from action to romance. You will fine chemistry, a hint of friendship and lots of action. Yet thinking about the book now to write a review I was surprised to notice the lack of development in Adrienne character and how fast their love came back. I would've loved to see more in terms of handling the dark side. Adrienne was so easy going despite the troubling life she went thro and K was too forgiving, it was kinda fast but not in away that bothered me while reading.
I dont think I will read it again but I highly recommend it to anyone, it's easy, fun read

This was giving to me in exchange of a honest review.

The actual story wasn’t bad, but I found I just could not connect to the book. Some parts were very exciting, especially the climax of the book, but I could not shake this feeling that the book was not working for me like it should. I think the author Disney has potential but I have to stay with the just okay rating.

This book is extremely violent. We’re talking blood everywhere, knife wounds, gun shots, brain matter leaking out of crack skulls kind of violence. Joc mentioned in her review that it felt almost Quentin Tarantino-esque, and I have to agree with her. I don’t mind that kind of pumped up explicit violence. Heck Pulp Fiction was one of my mother’s favorite movies. I can’t even tell you the number of times I watched that and the Kill Bill movies. My point is it wasn’t the violence that bothered me, but be prepared if you are considering reading this.

There are two main characters. One is a police officer and the other is a drug dealer. Again having a main character this is a criminal didn’t bother me. I love Ally Vali’s Cain Casey mobster series and Ashley Bartlett Cash Braddock series about a drug dealer. What stopped me from really enjoying the book was I could not connect with the characters. In between all this violence is a romance, but I found myself just not really caring about it. When the whole book is about how someone could die at any minute, not caring about the characters does not really work.

This is a very violent but exciting read that just did not come all together for me. The potential is definitely there I just needed more of a connection with the main characters. While this book didn’t work for me like I hoped, I would give Disney another chance.

Hers to Protect was a very fast moving story. It was also an extremely violent and graphic story, but unfortunately, violence and gangs go hand in hand.
The author tackled some other realistic issues such as crooked cops and police abuse of power. However,(and this was nicely done by the author), through the eyes of Adrienne, who once hated cops, came to realize and understand, that crooked and abusive cops were only a select few while many others were truly doing their job to serve and protect their communities.
The characters in this story were all too believable. The dialogue was raw, harsh, and emotional. The setting was realistic in nature, and the brutality depicted was a way of life for some. At certain points during the story, I felt like I was watching a scene from Sons of Anarchy, especially with regards to the last few chapters.
This was not a story for the faint of heart. It was a story about gangs, about making life choices. It was about the harsh reality of those choices, and unfortunately for many, it was their way of life…and death. I believe the author effectively demonstrated the allure of being in a gang family as well as the deterrents to such a life.

Hers to Protect is a excellent crime/ romance novel. Kaia and Adrienne were lovers in high school when an event happened that separated them. 10 Year’s later they come into each other’s lives through a Domestic Violence call that Kaia mad her partner responded to. Adrienne is in a volitile relationship with a high level gang member and wants nothing to do with the police and can’t believe Kaia is a Police Officer.

Kaia gets herself involved with the gang task force and attempts to help Adrienne, even if she doesn’t want the help. She eventually gets Adrienne to accept help to try and help the Police. They still care about each other and things develop further. Gianna is intense and constantly trying to get to Kaia and Adrienne.

Hers to Protect was excellent and I look forward to reading more from this author. I highly recommend it. I was on pins and needles reading till the end and the action was intense.

Oh boy...this was raw with way more domestic abuse, senseless crime, unlikable jerks, and detailed description of bodily violence that seemed unnecessary. A little more subtlety would have engaged me more than the continual gruesome descriptions. If this were a movie, I would have been covering my eyes. Adrienne Contreras, a product of not feeling loved and as a result made some jacked up decisions. Kaia Sorano, feeling loss but knows she wants to make difference as a police officer. Some would say, what do you expect. This is a read about gangs and where there are gangs, there is gang violence. Apart from the gang violence, the story was interesting with the interaction between Adrienne and Kaia. There was a strong bond between them and it was particularly interesting to watch Adrienne deal with the decisions she made in her life and whether or not a change is needed.

I’m finding this novel difficult to review because there are two sides to it and for me they didn’t gel. On one hand it’s the story of two women who were teenage lovers and now find themselves on opposite sides of the law but still drawn to each other. On the other it’s a gritty, violent story of out-of-control gang politics and the ongoing fight against it.

I enjoyed the gang warfare side so much more than I did the romance. Kaia is called out to a domestic abuse incident to find the woman being beaten, Adrienne, is her ex-lover and her abuser, Gianna, is a high-ranking member of the Wild AK gang. Needless to say, Adrienne doesn’t want to press charges but Gianna is arrested anyway for resisting and assault.

Nothing is held back in describing the violence and disregard for the law and I often found myself seeing the action through a Quentin Tarantino-esque lens (and I am an unashamed fan of Tarantino). I was riveted by the drama and the craziness of the gang members’ motivations and behaviour. Then came the interactions between Kaia and Adrienne and I found myself getting bored. Everything was suddenly too clean, sometimes didactic and just lacking in fire. I struggled to relate to them and never quite knew who they were as individuals. The biggest shock came when I realised I was rooting for Gianna (not in the context as the abuser but as a gang leader) and it dawned on me that I had come to understand her better.

Adrienne was an interesting character with so much potential when she was with Gianna but once she was put with Kaia she became bland. There didn’t seem to any residual trauma from the abuse and she spoke like someone from a clean-living middle class family as opposed to a drug-dealing gang ‘wife’.

I could easily have given this four stars for the action and plot line, in spite of the incredible violence, but as a romance it fell flat for me.

Book received from Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

I don' t know how to describe this story, the only words that come to me once I've finished it are excessive and meaningless violence. There is a story about two women that meet again after ten years and after a traumatic breaking of their relationship when they were teenagers. But this past story has some sordid subjects. And the situation in which they meet now, one beeing a cop and the other beein a drug dealer, is not ideal for a romantic rekindle. But among all the physical abuse, violence, crime, felony, you name it, they reconnect, wich triggers a spiral of unrestrained violence. So, all in all, violence from start to finish. And sorry, but between all the turmoil, nothing made much sense to me.

If you’re looking for a light romance, Hers to Protect is not it. What you’ll get is an intense and violent story that grabs you by the lapel and shakes furiously. This book has a feel to it akin to watching a Quentin Tarantino movie, possibly a direct cross between Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill. Also like a Quentin Tarantino movie, it is incredibly well written with likable characters despite some incredibly dislikable flaws. These young women who are spiraling in a vortex of a vicious gang war in Chicago seem to have no way out other than to destroy everyone, literally, in their path to survival and perhaps a little redemption. The author does not sugarcoat a single topic and gratuitously writes gang life in vivid technicolor that is probably not for the faint of heart. Kaia and Adrienne’s reunion could have used a little more salt, but I get that maybe it couldn’t when you’ve got a vicious gang and crooked cops trying to kill you. It’s a stunning novel and one you won’t soon forget.