About the Book

Zane is thrilled to be working again with Special Agent Tessa Reed, his best friend–and the woman he desperately wishes could be more.

Though Tessa almost lost everything, she battled her demons and came out on the other side healthy and healed. But when her role as the liaison between the Raleigh office and the president’s protective detail wrenches her past back into the present, her greatest failure threatens to come to light.

Zane refuses to let Tessa go through this alone. But can he stand by the woman he loves and protect the president from a mounting threat at the same time?

Sparks fly as award-winning romantic suspense writer Lynn H. Blackburn closes out her Defend and Protect series with this explosive tale of secrets kept, lies exposed, and relationships restored.

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Other Books in the Series

In My Opinion

With Under Fire, Lynn H. Blackburn wraps up her Defend and Protect series, and readers finally get all of Tessa and Zane’s stories.

If you are a romantic suspense fan who is more into the romance, you will enjoy the book. The story is easily 85% romance and 15% suspense, and most of the suspense is concentrated to the last few chapters.

I enjoyed learning more about Tessa and Zane—their history as friends as well as their individual backstories—but at times the book was repetitive with their should we remain friends or should we risk the friendship and entertain becoming more. And for me to say that is unusual because friends to more is my favorite romance trope.

Yes, there is an investigation going on throughout the book but it feels thrown in to give us a break from the rumination of our hero and heroine. I actually found myself wanting more high stakes and tension with the investigation. I mean, these characters are protecting the president, so why isn’t that more urgent?

All that said, I love how Blackburn focuses on the friendships built with this team of people (there was the same element in her previous series as well). Those relationships are well-balanced between the romance and the more intense chapters.

Disclosure statement: I receive complimentary books from publishers, publicists, and/or authors, including NetGalley. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.