This is the first book by Ms Dee that I have read in a fair few years. Narrated in first person, past tense, alternating point of view between the two protagonists, it’s the story of the eldest of the Wyatt Brothers, Jonah, as he looks to change directions in his business, when he meets a young woman under less than ideal circumstances.

And here’s the thing, Rianna is very young–barely 21. But she’s a 21 year old single mother who has been taking care of herself and her son since before he could walk, and she generally acts like it.

Beware: really bad treatment of suicide; whorephobia, swearing; teenage pregnancy; parental neglect/abuse; explicit sex on page; swearing.

I need to start with the most problematic bit here: Jonah’s mother died by suicide when he was not yet twelve, and the treatment of suicide by both main characters is bad.

In the text, it’s understandable that Jonah struggles with all the traumas of his childhood; his resentment makes sense given how the character is written (more on this below). Similarly, it can be argued that Rianna, who is still very young, and who lived several years with her abusive conservative puritanical Evangelical grandmother, would see suicide as selfishness. However, there is a passage from her point of view in chapter 9, and another one later in a conversation between the three brothers in chapter 18, that no one who has lost a loved one to suicide, or who struggles themselves, should have to read through–especially not without warning.

With that said, I really liked this story; it reminded me of what I liked about the author when I first read The Countess Takes a Lover, back in 2008.

Both of the main characters are well developed; they are good people who have learned to guard their emotions and to be careful who they trust, and how much.

Jonah’s childhood is the stuff of nightmares–extreme poverty, an emotionally and physically abusive drunkard of a father and a mentally ill mother; then her death, followed shortly after by his father taking off and leaving him, at barely thirteen, to raise his younger brothers and keep Child Services away. He’s devoted all of his energy for over fifteen years to attain financial stability, and he has closed himself off emotionally almost entirely–even from his brothers.

He’s not a virgin, or necessarily sexually inexperienced, but Jonah has never been in a romantic relationship–hell, he doesn’t even have close friends. When he wants sex, he hires someone, but mostly he’s okay in the quiet and with his hand. So, when he meets Rianna, and he realizes that he’s attracted to the person as much, if not more than, the grey eyes and the body, his entire world is knocked off its axis.

“As we sat at the kitchen table, drinking hot coffee and listening to Travis babble some childish fantasy, it hit me that this might be what it would be like to actually have a family. Other bodies invading my space, other personalities to work around, other people leaving a mark on the blank sheet of paper that was my life.” (Jonah’s point of view, chapter 6)

For her part, Rianna’s has never experienced ‘normal’ family life. For the first twelve years of her life, her mother used to drop her off at friends’ or relatives’ homes for days or months, until her own death by accidental overdose, at which point her maternal religious fanatic grandmother took over–only to kick Rianna out when she got pregnant.

For a couple of years, Rianna tried to make it work with the baby’s father; the moment he slapped her, she grabbed her baby and what few possessions she had, and left. After two years on her own, she is painfully aware of her own lack of worldliness–she has a book as her only resource to help her navigate mothering a young child, and spends considerable emotional resources agonizing over whether she’s doing it ‘right’.

And, in true “genre romance has a whorephobia problem”, she also agonizes constantly over reality: that the best-paying job someone without education or skills, but who’s ‘pretty enough’, can get in yet-another-small-hill-town in Kentucky, is stripping at a seedy dance club.

Allow me to elaborate: her car is breaking down on her, winter is almost here, she’s behind on rent, babysitter, and can barely afford food and utilities, and yet she’s beating herself up for taking the one job that keeps her and Travis housed.

So, when Jonah offers her more money than she makes in a week, for an hour of sex, these are her thoughts: “I should be disgusted by him and myself” (chapter 1) and then “Of course I don’t want to have sex, how many of the women you pay for sex actually want to have sex?” (chapter 2). Needless to say, it ends badly.

When they meet again–that “small hill town” thing–Jonah makes an effort to show Rianna kindness without strings, because he is aware of how much easier his own life would have been if someone had been kind.

It really is lovely to see the two of them interact, and to have both their perspectives; it does mean that most of the secondary characters are not fleshed out, and appear and disappear from the story without much ceremony, but the author makes it work.

As they grow closer and get to know each other, Rianna’s main objection to Jonah is that his money comes from an illegal operation; she has nothing against pot, other than the fact that it could land him–and, if she’s in a relationship with him–in jail. (A note: this was published before pot was legalized in Kentucky.)

There is a bleak moment later in the novel, but it is dealt with in a very grown up fashion by both of them; and one of my most hate tropes (“blood is thicker” and “family matters”) is subverted beautifully. Yes, there are the “we’ll pay for his care” and “well, she should meet her only great-grandchild” moments, but both of them understand that fulfilling a bare-minimum obligation does not mean they must subject themselves to emotional abuse and manipulation. (Repeat after me: you do not “have to” let toxic people in your life or heart just because “they’re family”.)

In sum, other than the (major) issue of how suicide is presented by both protagonists, and the usual whorephobia/respectability romance thing, this is a good relationship book with wholly adult protagonists; it ends with a happy-for-now heading to HEA that is believable and earned. There are a couple explicit make out and sex scenes, but again, they are well handled, and the reality of a toddler is not erased: we have tantrums, babysitters flaking out, and so on.

Guarded Passion gets 8.25 out of 10

I really liked JD's story and Micah's was good too, however Jonah took a bit longer to enjoy. His profession growing marijuana, although he has a plan for another legal venture, was a turn off. Rianna was a tough woman raising a little boy as a single mother, that's nothing new, but how she meets Jonah caused me to dislike him. It was a bad first impression, in Micah's book he was the strong controlling brother but he was soliciting for companionship and it seemed sleazy. He eventually redeemed himself. Not my favorite Wyatt brother but ended up a decent story. Received my copy through Netgalley.

Jonah Had basically raised his brothers from a young age. Jonah grew pot to support the family , his father had taught him that way to make money. Jonah is trying to go into a legal business and sell his land and pot.he is in a strip club on a business meeting where is to sell his pot business to Sam race. when he sees Rianne for the first time dancing. Rianne was a single mom raising her son Travis and with little education this job paid the best to help Rianne to pay the bills. When Jonah saw outside the club Rianne was having problems getting her car started he asked her to go to a motel with him and he would pay her. Rianne agreed after a while but once at the hotel could not go through with it and left and went home. Jonah had grown up fast and in a harsh environment and it shows. Jonah has problems telling Rianne he wants to date her. When he finally gets a date he goes online to use a checklist to make sure he was doing everything right. Rianne once home is determined to forget Jonah but that isn’t so easy. Jonah is starting a distillery. Jonah had an instant attraction to Rianne and wants to pursue that. The next time Rianne sees Jonah her car is again acting up and she is at the side of the road and already late for work.rianne is trying to get the car started Jonah stops and offers to take her to work and pick her back up after work and Rianne agrees. Jonah then starts helping and doing things for Rianne and feelings start to develop for them both.
I loved this story and really enjoyed it. It had a rough edge to it and I liked that it was different. I liked how Jonah really didn’t know how to approach Rianne for a date and that even though she was a stripper Rianne kept her morals and couldn’t sleep with Jonah for money even though she had tried. The writing was really good in this story and the plot was great. Although I would have liked this story to be ;longer and have more to it . I loved how Jonah and Rianne both cherished home. Family and love. I also love how the relationship was built and not just rushed into. I didn’t want to put this story down. I also like the humor in the story made me smile and chuckle at times. I also liked how Jonah did what he had to do to raise his brothers but then wanted to go legit. My biggest problem is the story didn’t feel finished to me but that just maybe me. There were great character and i loved them and I loved the ins and outs of this story and i recommend. If I could would give a 4.5.