Reviewed by JustJen
Title: Guarded Desires
Author: Morticia Knight
Series: Uniform Encounters #4
Heroes: Stephen Morris/Joseph Pirelli
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 206 Pages
Publisher: Totally Bound Publishing
Release Date: February 7, 2014
Available at: Totally Bound, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance Ebooks
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: A sexy young National Guardsman, a snarky bear of a DEA Agent and a vicious Mexican drug cartel. Someone’s going to be sorry.
Special Agent Stephen Morris thought his home life had settled into a pleasantly dull routine. Hanging out in his yard and barbequing is a typical weekend for the brawny mid-thirties man—and his partner Rigo from the DEA office is usually there with his family to keep him company. Being assigned to a main border crossing in Nogales, Arizona, keeps him busy enough at work, so he doesn’t have time to worry about love. However, that doesn’t mean he’s not lonely.
Twenty-two year old PFC Guardsman, Joseph Pirelli, is on an active-duty-for-training mission to help support border patrol and the DEA. The Vasquez drug cartel has become even more vicious than ever—going so far as to target civilians on both sides of the border. Joseph and Stephen are thrown together in a direct conflict with the cartel and a part of Joseph’s dark past is revealed.
Joseph is incredibly attracted to Stephen, even though he doesn’t typically go for older men. He longs to find love, but is still recuperating from an abusive past. The idea of becoming close to a man who could physically harm him brings up fears that may ruin his chances at any kind of relationship with the big teddy bear agent.
Sometimes love shows up when you aren’t looking for it and gives you a chance you shouldn’t ignore. Both men will have the opportunity to wonder what it would be like to lose the other and to decide what they’re willing to risk to be together.
Review: This is my first book in this series, which I believe can all be read on their own. In this story, we have sexy DEA, Stephen and his partner, Rigo, who have been working to bring down the Vasquez Cartel. Things begin to go terribly wrong fairly quickly as these guys have to change gears to find potential moles. Stephen and Rigo have a wonderful partnership, with enjoyable banter and a great camaraderie. It is with the help of Rigo, that Stephen takes a chance at something with the young Guardsman, Joseph.
Joseph is a sweet young thang, with a bit of a horrendous past all thanks to his last relationship where he was used and abused. He has come through with shining colors though and has gotten much of his confidence back. Unfortunately, he still has some trust issues, but lucky for him, Stephen picks up on things right away and does everything he can to ease the way for Joseph. I absolutely loved how Stephen helped Joseph work through his fears and wanted to be there for the long haul, even if they didn’t know how they would make that happen.
There is a lot of action as the guys face the Cartel while trying to flush out the traitor. There are connections and twists that intertwine enough to make this interesting but not too completely far fetched. This was a story that had a little bit of everything in it – humor, mystery, action/adventure, sweetness, emotion, and of course, hot loving. It was quite enjoyable, and I’m looking forward to the next one.
Overall Impression: I really liked it
*I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.*
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