Angela Bissell’s second novel, Defying Her Billionaire Protector, is a sexy, searing and scintillating contemporary romance with a feisty heroine, a gorgeous Alpha hero and plenty of passion, drama and emotion to keep readers engrossed until the very last page!

When an accident as a teenager had robbed her of the use of her legs, Marietta Vincenti had vowed not to let this tragic twist of fate interfere with her life or quell her spirit. Independent, strong and intelligent, Marietta has not allowed her disability to define her and she has fought hard not to be wrapped up in cotton wool and treated like an invalid by her brother, billionaire Leo Vincenti. As the owner of her own gallery, Marietta has made a success of her life, however, recently she cannot help but be concerned by the disturbing messages she is getting from a secret admirer who is stalking her. Marietta knows that she can get to the bottom of this mystery and look after herself, but her brother Leo is not convinced – so he calls his close friend, security expert Nicolas Cesar, to protect her which makes her absolutely furious!

Marietta is incandescent with rage. She is not some damsel in distress who needs a white knight to rescue her. She has always looked after herself and refuses to let anyone get in her way – even if they are as good-looking and enigmatic as Nicolas Cesar! When she is whisked off to Nico’s private island for her own protection, Marietta vows not to make it easy for her protector who seems to have come up with the perfect solution to quell her protests: kissing her senseless…

Nico had built an impenetrable wall around himself to keep people and emotions at bay. Battle-hardened and scarred, Nico had had no qualms about protecting his best friend’s sister, but he is adamant that he is going to keep their relationship strictly professional. But thrust into close proximity on his own private island with Marietta, giving into temptation soon proves inevitable and before long, Nico finds himself opening up to her and acting upon his feelings for her. But with so much baggage, is Nico ready to take a leap of fate and put his heart on the line? Or will he continue to let the past hold him hostage?

When Marietta and Nico get back to the real world, will they have the courage to take a chance on love? Or will they continue to be condemned to a lifetime of loneliness and regret?

Defying Her Billionaire Protector is a fantastic tale about redemption, healing and falling in love that I devoured in one sitting! Angela Bissell is a terrific storyteller who draws her readers in from the get-go, makes them care about her wonderfully drawn characters and keeps them hooked until the very last sentence. In Defying Her Billionaire Protector, she has penned a captivating tale imbued with drama, sensuality and pathos and featuring a remarkable and admirable heroine who is simply inspirational and a gorgeous and brooding hero readers will adore.

Intense, dramatic and mesmerizing, Defying Her Billionaire is the another keeper from a wonderful new writer: Angela Bissell!

Angela Bissell’s Defying Her Billionaire Protector gets a “wow” from the get-go thanks to its cover. While MissB is loathe to try a new author (burned one too many times), she wanted to know what an author, especially in the glamor-puss HP-world, could do with a wheel-chair-bound heroine. Bissell centres on a hero and heroine who have both lost a lot. Drunk, teen-aged Marietta Vincenzi got into a car with an inebriated driver and now, at thirty, lives with the consequences of that decision, as a paraplegic. While Bissell wants to throw a spotlight on the problem of drinking and driving, to her credit, she isn’t judgemental, or didactic. Marietta has regrets, but overall, she’s a heroine who is at peace with her life and living it fully. Marietta is an aspiring visual artist who runs a successful gallery. She lives on her own, but is close to her family, a brother, sister-in-law, and pretty adorbs baby nephew. But, she has a problem – someone is sending her creepy anonymous notes, gifts, and flowers. Marietta has a “secret-admirer-turned-stalker”. Into her full Rome-set life arrives Nico César, her brother Leo’s friend, and owner and operator of a security company. With the bond between Leo and Nico strong from ties forged in the Foreign Legion, Nico will personally oversee and be the primary operative of Marietta’s security detail. Like Marietta, Nico suffered loss when his beloved wife Julia was kidnapped and killed fifteen years ago. Nico is haunted by his inability to save her and, as a result, inures himself to love and commitment. Our hero has never concluded that it is better to have love and lost than never to have loved at all.

Nico is cold, aloof, darkly handsome, and ripped. Marietta is fiery-tempered, quick to argue, confrontational, and has a great rack. Miss Bates loves these romance descriptors, combining genuine personality traits with the physicality that attracts the other. Marietta has to be a tad “doth protest too much” to retain her independence from her overprotective brother. Leo and Nico decide that, while Nico puts all his influence and power to identifying and stopping the stalker, she and Nico will travel to Nico’s private French island, the Ile de Lavande. Whoa, the sparks do fly between resistant Marietta and brooding Nico and they’re marvelous. Nico in particular is ruthless regarding Marietta’s defiance; he overrides her. What Bissell achieves is a heroine who is not TSTL and hero who is both brooding and witty, respecting Marietta’s needs and boundaries until he doesn’t for good reasons:

Marietta could be stubborn. Resolute. Headstrong. No doubt those qualities had served her well through some difficult times, helped her overcome the kind of obstacles most people, if they were fortunate, would never have to face in their lifetime. He respected those qualities, admired them, but right now he’d settle for a lot less lip and a great deal more acquiescence.

Miss Bates quotes to give you a sense of Nico’s and Marietta’s great characterization: making them more than the alpha-protector and poor girl in the wheelchair. She also quotes to show you how Bissell is an adept, captivating writer. Nico’s sense of Marietta is serious and balanced and then that great detail appears about “less lip”.

Bissell’s great challenge in writing her HP romance with these characterization parameters, given the line’s profile, was the sex scenes. Miss Bates thought the love scenes somewhat successful. Bissell doesn’t skirt the issue of Marietta’s paralysis, but MissB’s not sure if she’s true to reality. Does she have to be given the HP’s spirit? Maybe the nature of the HP beast is, by definition, hyperbolic? But Miss Bates appreciated what Bissell did and enjoyed reading the novel. Marietta thinks about her attraction to Nico and isn’t reticent or overly modest that he’s attracted to her. She has doubts, natural ones, but they’re not exaggerated:

The truth was she had wanted to provoke him – because a reckless yearning had been building in her all day. A yearning to find out if a man like Nico could be attracted to a woman like her – a woman whom society largely viewed as disabled. She knew the wheelchair frightened most men. Some wrongly assumed she couldn’t have sex …

It turns out that Nico doesn’t make that assumption and the love scenes are as charged as a reader would expect an HP’s to be. But there are also great moments of realistic conversation between Marietta and Nico and some painfully honest confrontations:

“Marriage is fine,” she said. “It’s just not for me.” … “When push comes to shove, few men want to tie themselves to a cripple for life.” Nico’s brows slammed down, his face darkening. “Don’t call yourself that,” he said tersely. “What? A cripple?” She affected an air of indifference. “Why not? That’s how most people see me.” Which wasn’t strictly true. She was fortunate; she had people in her life who saw the woman first and foremost and not the disability. But equally there were those who never saw beyond the wheelchair. Never saw her.

Romance, of course, proves this true irrespective of wheelchair, until that one person comes along who sees the hero and heroine purely for themselves and how those selves are imbued with value for being themselves. Marietta and Nico’s road is rocky: they make mistakes and misjudge each other. They share passionate love and become really good friends. Lastly, Bissell never holds out for Marietta to get a sprinkling of magical-cure fairy-dust. The epilogue, as a result, is one of the best Miss Bates has read. With Miss Austen, Miss B. says that in Defying Her Billionaire Protector is evidence of “a mind lively and at ease,” Emma.

Angela Bissell’s Defying Her Billionaire Protector is published by Harlequin Books. It was released in December 2016 and is available at your preferred vendors. Miss Bates received an e-ARC, via Netalley.

The second part of a duet by a new author Ms. Bissell 5 stars it again. Marietta Vicenti is wheelchair bound from an accident.   As bad as that is what is worse is she is being stalked and has no clue who it could be.  Her brother Leo who you met in her first book will do anything he must to protect his sister.  He hires Nicolas Cesar to keep her safe. Nico fears nothing so he will take it upon himself to protect Marietta in whatever way he feels necessary, except she doesn't feel she needs to be protected.  Confronted with him at her apartment, he follows her and they find her door open.  Someone has entered her apartment and finally she realizes this may be more serious than she thought.  Nico isn't sure Leo will agree with what he plans to do but he said protect her and that is what he will do.  Together on his island she is safe from the stalker but what about from Nico?  Another amazing story don't miss this one its another wow.