This is my second Bridget Essex book to buy and after really, really liking The Longing I could not wait to read Protect Her. Overall, the same terrific writing and characterization is here, but I find myself troubled by the dynamics that exist between the two women, Maggie and Catherine. Catherine, especially, with her very recent past relationship with Maggie's sister _and_ her "stars in her eyes" adoration of Maggie, just strikes me hard as someone not at all ready to be in a new relationship.

Maggie thinks of Catherine as strong, but I just do not see that and, as I also do with The Longing, I I feel rather uncomfortable with the relationship portrayed...here, as in The Longing, the two women just not seem to be on equal footing and this took away a lot of the story for me.

A much, much smaller problem I have with Protect Her is how many times the author uses the word "growled." I lost count of its uses and have never known anyone to growl their words...whether she is a werewolf or not. Still, I would definitely read another Bridget Essex novel because she is so adept at capturing human emotion and love. ( )