A huge fan of Ms. Hart, I picked up this trilogy, blurb unread. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting but this wasn't it. Usually, Ms. Hart creates romances which break my heart. The conflict is a star-crossed lover. In this series, there is a major conflict between the lovers. It could be that I read this series completely out of order. I read book 2, book 3 and then this 1st one. I highly recommend against reading out of order. This trilogy should be read in the order it was published.

Nina Bronson may regret having donated her body after she was killed in action. Whilst her body was donated to science, they brought her back to life. Except she is blended with hardware which allows people to erase her memory. This made me pause because I'm an organ donor. I'm rethinking my organ donation after watching several movies of body donations post death and now this book. I digress.

Nina is suddenly considered not human and a threat after her years of service before and after death. She is then hired as a bodyguard to the man who not only created the tech, but made it illegal. This is not going to go well. Whilst Ewan is now wavering on his decisions, he is entranced with Nina and sees her as a human. My issue with this pairing is that I didn't really feel Nina's attraction to Ewan. Ewan came across as an idealistic professor in an ivory tower. His actions have consequences which he seems to either ignore or decline talking about. He is a type of person I cannot stand.

The story is well written. The sex scenes were okay. The chemistry was off for me. Still, this first book sets up the second book, Wicked Attractionwell.

Dangerous Promise is one of those books for me – did I really enjoy it or not?

I am being honest upfront, because I recommended this as a book to read in January but now that I have read it, I am not sure it is a book for everyone. Perhaps it is because it is not normally a genre I would read, or perhaps it is because it overlaps into more than one genre – not simply a romance, not simply a fantasy either. For me, I would add a further genre – erotica – and I think this is the element I am struggling with. I am not a prune; I simply do not normally pick up a novel with sometimes graphic sexual descriptions.

What is Dangerous Promise About?
Nina Bronson is a human, albeit an enhanced human. She was serving her country when unfortunately her life was taken from her. Having however, signed her rights away, they decided to experiment on her and while gaining her life back, she became one of just 15 super-enhanced soldiers.

Ewan Donahue, a billionaire playboy, is completely against these enhancements; does not agree that others have been able to play god. Why? Who knows, but he has become an active protester to these improvements, so much to that a law has now been passed so that no further humans can be experimented on and no further tech enhancements can be made on the individuals already scientifically augmented.

However, there is a slight problem.

Ewan’s life is in danger and therefore he hires the best security money can buy – Nina Bronson. Is this not a contradiction of all that he believes in and stands for?

On arrival, it is clear that Nina and Ewan are not going to get along. In her mind, Nina sees Ewan as ‘…a closed-minded bigot who stood in the way of her mental – and physical – survival’. Yet, her job is to protect him, putting herself in harm’s way if necessary in order to save his life.

Ewan doesn’t like being told what to do. He dislikes the around-the-clock surveillance; the fact that she has placed a second bed in his room, the fact that he cannot eat or work alone and the fact that he cannot use the bathroom in peace are things that he is struggling with. Surely, someone does not need to be present whilst someone else is on the toilet – however, Nina is unmoveable.

There is real tension in the house, they clearly do not like one another and yet there is something there. Something that neither of them will admit to, not even to themselves and it is not until Ewan’s life is put on the line and they have to go into hiding that their true feelings rise to the surface.

It is only then that we uncover the truth, why Ewan despises the technology. It is also at this point that we begin to see a different side to this arrogant, wealthy man, and perhaps it is not just Nina’s heart that begins to thaw.

Dangerous Promise is extremely well thought out. It is a novel about a future world where supplies are short (imagine living without coffee and real meat), where plagues, cold wars and hackers have helped to destroy the world and people are now living in a very different way. To come up with such a concept is admirable, but to be able to write as if you are living it and making it believable to the audience is a skill that Megan Hart has. Sadly, who knows what the future may hold and I may have just read something that in some way does predict what may take place in years to come.

At the beginning, I did feel that the characters were quite shallow however you do need to keep reading to find out more about what makes them tick, what they believe in and how they have reached this point. It is one of those books that took me until the very end to buy in to the lead characters only to have them taken away from me again.

I said at the beginning of this review that I was unsure whether I enjoyed reading it. For me, I wanted an action packed book that would lead to a bit of romance, what I wasn’t expecting were the sexual scenes that begun to appear quite frequently towards the end. I did think that in a way it detracted from the action element I wanted but it did help the characters to evolve. It helped me to develop a sense of remorse when things later went horribly wrong. It also led to me wanting to read more – I want to know what happens next? Do they survive? Will they work things out? Will they end up regretting their actions and go back to hating one another?

The fantastic thing is that unlike many other series where we have to wait months if not years (Yes, George R.R. Martin I am thinking of you here), the next instalment is due out on February 6th so not long to wait to find out what happens next.

Would I recommend this book to others? Personally, I liked it, but it is aimed at a certain reader. I have some friends who would absolutely love this and others who would question my sanity. I suppose this happens with any book but for some reason, this one I feel more fiercely about.

It is one of those books that would suit anyone who likes E.L. James, Sylvia Day and C.C. Gibbs.

Dangerous Promise is the first installment of The Protectors series by Megan Hart.

Nina Bronson didn’t ask to become like this. As her heart stopped for eight solid minutes, she was dead. But with the new internal technology, she was brought back to the living. The only side affect was she was ten times deadlier. Except, now her life is in the hands of a man she has to protect. For he, is prolonging the updates she needs in order to survive.

Dangerous Promise, is different and unusual on the outside. Though when reading, I found it grew close to the line where the rich falls in love with an average person. Yet, we know that Nina is anything but average. Having science being a huge part of the story, I was intrigued. Ewan and Nina certainly get off the wrong foot in the beginning, but as they spend time with each other, you can feel the passion and the sweet hidden moments. Along with the romance, there’s quite a bit of action (physical and sexually) speaking.

For the most part, I enjoyed the science fiction, though it’s not entirely my cup of tea. I believe Megan Hart did a wonderful job creating a unusual storyline that just clicked. I certainly recommend to those who enjoy science fiction stories though.

Megan Hart's Dangerous Promise was an unexpected surprise. I don't typically read Sci-Fi, but this book was an adventure!

This book isn’t something I expected. The characters were amazing. You can tell the author took time to plan out this book. This book wasn’t rushed. I can’t wait to read more.

It surely got an intriguing plot and there is no doubt of how excellent Megan Hart is as a writer and with that, I can’t help but expect it to be good especially knowing that it is something different from her. And sure enough, this turned out to be a decent one. Ewan and Nina are strong characters whom both have interesting stories to tell. Told in Ewan and Nina’s POVs, it shows how both have strength and power in their own way. I like the interaction between these characters and their constant bantering and flirting can be quite fun to read, but it is also a bit difficult to really connect with them. There are times I can’t seem to understand what was being said or what was happening because there is not enough world-building in the story. Although things are slowly presented as the book progressed, I would prefer it if there’s a little backstory that was immediately introduced at the beginning. Nevertheless, the world they live in is truly fascinating. Being it a Megan Hart novel, I expected some hot and heavy scenes. And sure, there is that, but the romance is quite a slow burn. But after finding out that all three books of the series are about Ewan and Nina, plus there’s that cliffhanger ending, then this serves as an introductory to the series. t might be a sci-fi romance but it is also not short of action, displaying Nina’s strength. Add the hint of mystery and suspense and you have a dose of everything from this book. A good read overall and a great start to a series.

A big thank you to NetGalley and St ,'s Press/Swerve for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. I am not sure if I have read this author before or not. I liked the book, but found it slow for some reason. I put it down and it sat unread for months. Started it again and was like I already read this. I feel like this is book 2 I don't know the world and felt the author assumed I did. I still enjoyed the book and characters. I really liked Nina. Not sure about Ewan. I rate it a 3.5 I think this is either a love it or hate it book. Let me know what you think.

As a Megan Hart fan, I was excited to start this series. Her characters are always well fleshed out and there’s great balance between the sexual tension, emotional connection and well written sex scenes. Having said that, I was a little disappointed in this one. It had a great story and kept me engaged, it just felt like it was missing something.

I love Megan Hart’s books and this one doesn’t disappoint. Very strong female bodyguard, Nina, takes care of billionaire, Ewan, from many death threats. She was a soldier who was enhanced because of a project he developed and she didn’t know all the details, which is not a good thing. She is an amazingly, strong woman who protects and defends Ewan at all cost. While spending several weeks alone hiding from danger a love begins to bloom and then the danger and all the truth appears.


This is a great book full of adventure, suspense and eventually love.

So, I didn't do all my research before requesting this title. I hate DNF and at 21% I'd hit my limit. The story itself was ok, but I don't do sci-fi, therefore leaving me not in love. I have read heaps of Megan Hart books that I loved, this series was just not for me 😣.

This was an okay read for me I usually love Megan's books but this one was not my favorite it was well written but just did not hold my interest

4.5 stars

I had a hard time at the beginning of Dangerous Promise. But, as the story progressed and I got invested in the characters, it grew on me. In fact, I can’t wait to start Wicked Attraction to see how everything gets resolved.between Nina and Ewan.

Ewen started off as an egotistical sphincter (in Nina’s words). He refused to allow her to protect him in the way she was accustomed to. But, Nina is just as stubborn as he is and eventually gets her way. Besides, he requested her specifically to protect him, now he has to live with the rules. She needs to find a way to control her libido around him. She can control every other bodily reaction because of her enhancements, she should be able to control wanting him so bad. But, there is something about him that has her intrigued and interested. She will only sleep with him on her terms though. She has not been able to feel any emotions since her surgery so she knows there is no way that she could fall in love with him and he doesn’t believe in love. But, when they finally connected, it was more than what she thought it would be and suddenly, all her emotions came back and love bloomed. In the end, she not only felt love but heart-break and betrayal.

Nina may be faster and stronger than him but there is no way she will be in the bathroom with him, sleeping on a cot in his bedroom and beside him every minute of every day. But, as danger strikes more than once, he understands why she needs to be there. She has proven that she can protect him from those trying to kill him and respects her immensely. Now, if she wasn’t so sexy, so enticing, he may have been able to hold himself in check around her. He can’t get involved with her with the secret that he is keeping from her. Besides, she hates him, hates what he lobbied for, hates what he stands for. Now, after finding out the truth, she just hates him. He will do anything to get her back into his life, to try to get her to understand. He’s just not sure if she’ll ever forgive him or want him back.

Like I said, I did have a rough beginning to Dangerous Promise. I’m not sure if it was because of the futuristic aspects of the story or the characters themselves. But, they both started to grow on me as Megan Hart brought them from antagonistic to friendly to being in love. She absolutely drew me in with the transformation of Ewen and has me very curious as to how she is going to resolve the differences now separating them. Like I said, I am looking forward to Wicked Attraction and can only hope that it s half as intriguing and interesting as Dangerouos Promise turned out to be.

From the very beginning I loved this book, it has romance, dystopian, a woman in control of herself. You automatically begin to fall in love with the characters and hope that they fall in love with themselves. It's nice to see a book where the characters haven't fallen in love with each other from Chapter 2 and the author takes time to craft a story and friendship.

Glad I checked it out but this author just isn't my cup of tea.

This was an ok read, I was as invested into the story as much as I wanted to be, I thought I would have LOVED it more. I haven't read Megan's work in a while. This one was not too long and it didn't drag on or anything, I just think that for me I wasn't connecting with the characters. Overall the writing was good and the story flowed nicely, I am looking forward to the next story.

As soon as I read the blurb for this book I couldn’t wait to read it, and I was not disappointed!

Sci fi isn’t usually one of my go to choices of books to read but I could not put this one down, I loved the debates sparked through out the book and the banter between Nina and Ewan was really enjoyable! Looking forward to more of this series!

I don’t read much sci-fi romance, but I like it occasionally, and when I read one of my fellow AAR reviewers’ take on <strong>Dangerous Promise</strong>, it sounded really intriguing.

Set in a near future (a date is not specified, but I’m guessing late 21^st/early 22^nd century), <strong>Dangerous Promise</strong> introduces readers to kick-ass female bodyguard Nina Bronson, one of fifteen former soldiers who were all ‘enhanced’ using newly invented nano-technology which both saved their lives and has given them greater strength and stamina and the ability to control their physical and emotional reactions and bodily functions.  When Nina joined the army at nineteen and signed documents allowing her body to be used in the event of her death, she’d assumed it meant organ donation – not that she’d be brought back from the dead by having a number of nanochips implanted in her brain and nervous system.

Not long after she and her fellow ‘enhanced’ were created and the implications of the tech were fully understood, laws were passed outlawing any further implantations or any further development of the tech.  Nina and her fellows are thus the only enhanced humans in existence, and as the tech gradually decays, so will they, as they’ve effectively been denied access to the necessary upgrades.

Billionaire businessman Ewan Donahue is the highest-profile, most vocal of those who oppose the development of enhancement technology, and he’s a very visible target for those who believe the tech should be available to others – especially one organisation who wants to use it to build legions of super soldiers.  Being threatened is nothing new to him, but when the number of death threats he receives increases, leading to the deaths of not one, but two of his bodyguards, he approaches the elite ProtectCorps agency and hires Nina as his personal protection.

Both are well aware of the dichotomy inherent in their situation and make no bones about it.  But what Nina doesn’t know is that while Ewan now speaks out against the enhancement tech, he’s the one responsible for developing it in the first place.  Desperate to help his sister Katie, who was dying of Dementia, he invented and programmed the original software that connected to the brain and nervous system that should have allowed Katie to regain control of her mind and body… but sadly, the breakthrough came too late to save her.  After her death, and finally realising the implications of what he’d done, Ewan came back to reality with a thud and realised how messed up it was to want to play god with people’s lives - and made sure the program was shut down.

But their positions on either side of the debate don’t prevent a powerful attraction developing between them.  They are together 24/7 and spend a lot of time talking about many different things, including the ethical implications of the enhancement tech and Nina’s very existence.  Nina finds Ewan very attractive and her enhanced abilities allow her to work out that that feeling is mutual.  She isn’t averse to having a sexual relationship with him and is safe in the knowledge that she can turn off her emotions and just enjoy the sex… but for Ewan, it’s different. He’s come to know and like Nina as a person, and is falling in love with her, deeply and completely.  There are a number of superbly-written steamy scenes between them, and before very long, Nina starts finding it more and more difficult to keep herself aloof and begins slowly to open up and allow herself to have the sort of feelings for Ewan she’s never had for anyone.

Of course, the path of true love can never be allowed to run completely smooth, and with Ewan’s secret hanging in the air between them, the book concludes on a dramatic and heart-rending cliff-hanger with the story to picked up in book two, <strong>Wicked Attraction</strong>.

Ms. Hart establishes the background to her story brilliantly, and her world-building is superb.  The earth of the time the book is set is recognisable, but has suffered a second Cold War, environmental disasters as the result of an abortive attempt to colonise the Moon, and something called Gray Tuesday, when an unknown hacker destroyed ninety percent of the world’s servers and back-up data, wiping out bank accounts, personal data and generally causing untold chaos.  She also explores the importance of memory to who we are – the nanochips that give the enhanced their increased abilities can also be reprogrammed so parts (or all) of the person’s memory can be erased – and the idea that Nina and those like her are regarded with suspicion and hatred, and that they are somehow ‘lesser’ because of what they have become.

<strong>Dangerous Promise</strong> is an action-packed, sexy read based on a well-developed and intriguing premise which features two flawed, interesting characters with great chemistry.  I’m hooked, and will definitely be snapping up books two and three to find out how everything turns out.

I liked the storyline. It could be very interesting to see where this series goes.

3.5 Stars

I’ve always been a fan of Megan Hart, as you probably have noticed if you follow this blog for any length of time. Her stories are always interesting and to me they delve a little deeper than just a romantic connection. Dangerous Promise is the beginning of a storyline I can’t wait to know all about and a heroine I really liked.

Nina Bronson is the best bodyguard money can buy. She’s also one of the few humans who have had the experimental and controversial surgeries that have left her almost with super powers. Those same surgeries saved her life and forced her out of the Army. And now she’s tasked with protecting the man who is fighting for that technology to never see the light of day again and stopping any needed upgrades from reaching those who already had the procedures done. Little does she know what role Ewan Donahue really had in the creation of the technology and the guilt he carries for it.

I’m a sucker for bodyguard tropes and this is a great example of it. Nina reminded me of Major in the movie Ghost in the Shell. She’s come to terms with her new reality, she’s embraced some of it, struggles with other parts of herself. And most importantly, she struggles with how she connects with other people. While I liked the hero of this story and his own issues, I think Nina was the star of the show here for me.

There is a slow burn type of romance throughout this story but also be warned that this doesn’t end in a definite HEA. The story continues in the next book and keep in mind this is a trilogy that follows the same couple. For me, I was very satisfied with what we got in terms of the build up of their romance and connection in this one and it doesn’t bother me that it’s going to take a few books to get a conclusion. The storyline around them is interesting enough that I’m happy to be along for the ride.

This right here is my sci fi romance happy place. It’s all about the futuristic, genetically modified humans with some extra abilities and a world that’s just a little different and a bit more technologically advanced than today. Wrapped up in some danger, politics and corruption. No blue aliens in sight, sorry Suz. I can’t wait to read the next one.

So, okay, I did <b>not</b> realize this series was in fact one story told over three books, featuring the same characters, as opposed to a bunch of connected standalones with different leads. I'm kind of miffed about that to be honest. However I had planned to space these reads out a bit anyway and now I have even more reason to do so; helped by this not really ending on a cliffhanger. That being said, I'm going to be optimistic and hope we have good and satisfying reasons for dragging this out.

"<i>You think I'm vain.</i>"
"<b>Is that what you're calling it? How practically pre-millenial. No, your self-confidence is galactic, as the cool kids would say.</b>"

The world of <i>The Protector</i> series is ours but in the future. I think it's 2050-ish and technology has made many advancements. Including the ability to enhance humans. While the technology and laws were revoked almost before they could begin, the world boasts fifteen enhanced human beings. Most were soldiers who came back from deployment injured or near death, their bodies consigned to science, and so was the case for DANGEROUS PROMISE's heroine Nina. In book one of this series, she's introduced to her client, Ewan, who just so happens to be the one lobbying against her kind and their ability to receive upgrades to their software that mean the difference between a slow death and memory loss, and more years to live, serve, and protect. As a result, their relationship is rather rocky and I thought their early dynamic to be perfectly done.

"<i>You hired me to do a job that I'm qualified to do specifically because of the exact experimental surgeries you've worked to suppress, discredit, and make illegal. That just sounds practical to me, though. Certainly not <b>personal</b></i>."

This is my first read by this author and so I had little to no expectations going into this. I was intrigued by the premise which I had read -- one I skimmed over to try and go in blind as per my preference these days -- and delighted by the concepts, the snark, and the morality of Nina's existence vs Ewan's hypocrisy in needing the very thing she offers when his lobbying results in threats to his life.

"<i>If humanity is meant to evolve, it will happen the way it's supposed to. Not because we fill our heads with hardware.</i>"

The chemistry between these two is really interesting. Ewan is no alphamale for all that he's rich, handsome, intelligent, and adverse to emotional connections. Nina is the dominant in their interplay because she's stronger, faster, and unwilling to bend to his will when it comes to his safety. There's also an additional dynamic to their intimacy that I really enjoyed because it was atypical to the standard romance tropes.

<i>Donahue would never be the sort of man to understand how much easier it was to keep someone at a distance if you let them think they might get in your pants.</i>

However around the 50% and on is where things kind of fell apart for me. This is easily a four star read for the first half. But after that point the plot necessitates a long stretch of time where nothing really happens (which as I was reading made no sense to me as the time remaining wound further closer to the end only to resolve with a quick 'resolution' that was annoying but typical considering this is a series with more to come from these two) and combined with some strange (also, trite) dialogue choices sprinkled throughout the book, a weak hook to the story that I almost wish hadn't been known to us via his perspective, not to mention a few things that kind of happen unacknowledged only to suddenly be acknowledged later.. it didn't feel completely fluid.

"<i>You see me as a soldier or a woman. Not both. I can't be both to you?</i>"
"<b>I don't mean your gender. I mean--</b>"
"<i>You mean that I can't be strong and fierce and protect you, and also be your honey sugar cookie baby. Right? I can't be both things.</i>"

Complaints aside, this was a great start to this series. It has an interesting premise, with a bit of a change up from the typical bodyguard stories -- not to mention gender roles in general -- a slowburn romance that is probably going to be even slower going as their story drags on two more books, and I'm looking forward to where things will go in the next installment. There's a lot of potential here and Hart almost exceeded my non-existent expectations but I will definitely be going into book two with a certain amount of hope for more action and less filler.

3.5 "someone so concerned about what makes other people human or not should absolutely care that he's incapable of emotion" stars