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.

Hers to Protect is an excellent crime/romance novel. I look forward to reading more. I was on the edge of my seat scrambling to get to the end. I am planning on reading it again a little slower this time to really feel out some of the details i missed in my rushed state the last time around.

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.

This book was way more violent than I thought it would be. I couldn't connect with the character, care for the romance or even the story because of the excessive and meaningless violence. 

For sure the Author, Nicole Disney as a lot of potentials and I will check her upcoming releases but this book wasn't for me.

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

This was my first book by Nicole Disney and I was very happy with it. It was a great mystery/thriller. I enjoy the fast forward type stories. Where the characters knew each other when they were younger and then find each other again when they are older. It allows for the storyline to really shine because the relationship is mostly developed and they can just catch up. Saying that with this story would make it very simple, because their catch up was quite a big part of the story because of the differences between who they were when they were kids and now. One is a gang leaders girlfriend and drug dealer and the other is a cop. So there was quite a gap to cross, but it was done nicely and I really did enjoy the story and the resolution. I really look forward to reading more novels by this author.

I recieved this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Warning: Graphic details of violence, murders and bloodshed in general. There are also one or two spoilers so proceed with caution.

This was a very conflicting book to read. On one hand there are cops who are after a gang due to a domestic abuse tip off and on the other hand we have a major drug trafficking gang who's activities are discussed. 

This book kinda felt like Game of Thrones to me. I know it's a very wierd comparison but it works in my head. In Game of Thrones you spend a lot of time in the grey zone as you have favourite characters, who may or may not be a villain. Like I love Ramsey Bolton, inspite of him being a sadist and completely evil, or Cersei Lannister Inspite of her being the definition of malice. Similarly I spent most of my time reading this book in that very zone. I found myself liking the gangsters more than the so called protagonists. 

I don't know what the author started out with, as this wasn't the run of the mills crime fiction. A majority of the book, you could say almost half of the book is from the gang members' perspective. I think this is the reason I was sympathising with the gang. Inspite of them being violent and prone to bloodshed, I could relate to what they were thinking. There was a lot of talk of loyalty and it kinda gets carried on throughout the book. 

Now coming to our protagonists, I am not saying that they were bad characters, it's just that the way they handled things was kinda annoying. I did not like Adrienne up until the climax, and it was mostly because she was pretty useless till then. Her views on everything are so skewed and she seems to be kinda stupid. Kaia on the other hand was a wierd cop. She is a lawful officer, but some of the things she did pushed the boundaries of right and wrong. But then again she redeemed herself in the climax. 

What I liked: The writing was great. Except for the lack of connection between a few scenes, the writing was not that bad. In fact I think I would actually read more books by this author. The climax was bloody brilliant (no pun intended). I won't spoil it but damn that was amazing. I also loved a few gang members. 

What I didn't like: The way the whole plot was put forward. I felt this nagging me through out the book, that I couldn't keep track of what was happening. I think this might be because of the fact that I did not read this book continuously, I split it out over 3 days. There was lot of gap between two consecutive readings and had to like recall what was happening. I also felt that there was a lot of loose endings which weren't tied up. I think there needs to be a novella or something to tie em up. There were also a lot of unrealistic things towards the end of the book, especially the part where Kaia is stabbed and she still manages to gun down so many people in the end. That didn't make sense to me but eh it's fiction and anything can happen. 

My rating: I was initially going to give this book 3 stars and call it a day, but then increased it to 3.5 stars as the climax was awesome. But since I can't give 3.5 I will be rounding it off to 4. I'd say this is a one time read, for a marathon reading session, as it's difficult to finish over days.

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.

I really liked the characters but I think a few could have been more developed. There was a definate flow to the story and a build to a climax. Some points it seemed too much like an action film but it is fiction. Overall it was an enjoyable face paced read. There may be some triggers when it comes to domestic abuse though.

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.

this is a hard book to read, Kaia and Adrienne were lovers in high school when a terrible 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 an abusing relationship with a high level gang member and wants nothing to do with the police and can’t believe Kaia is a Police Officer. little by little adrienne starts to trust Kaia and they fall in love again

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.