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In His Safekeeping
HER PROTECTOR
One by one the government witnesses who'd testified against a mob associate began to die--and now Tara Ford was the last witness remaining. Suddenly with a killer shadowing her every move, she was forced to rely on the protection of U.S. Deputy Marshal Brad Harrison--a man whose take-charge attitude made her temper flare and whose strong sensuality made her heart race.
Brad never let emotion interfere with duty. But in close proximity with all-too-sexy Tara, he forgot all the rules. His instinct to keep her safe was as basic as his desire for her. And when he held her tenderly, he couldn't help but wonder who posed the most immediate danger--the killer or Brad's charge.
One by one the government witnesses who'd testified against a mob associate began to die--and now Tara Ford was the last witness remaining. Suddenly with a killer shadowing her every move, she was forced to rely on the protection of U.S. Deputy Marshal Brad Harrison--a man whose take-charge attitude made her temper flare and whose strong sensuality made her heart race.
Brad never let emotion interfere with duty. But in close proximity with all-too-sexy Tara, he forgot all the rules. His instinct to keep her safe was as basic as his desire for her. And when he held her tenderly, he couldn't help but wonder who posed the most immediate danger--the killer or Brad's charge.
260 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2002
26 people want to read
About the author
Shawna Delacorte
70 books11 followersShawna Delacorte has lived most of her life in Los Angeles, California. Even though she earned her living for many years by working in television production, she's always been interested in writing. However, writing novels was the furthest thing from her mind when she made her first serious attempt at putting fingers to keyboard with the hope of creating something that would catch an editor's attention. She combined her interest in writing with her longtime avocation of photography and began doing magazine articles.
In 1991 Silhouette books purchased Sarah and the Stranger, her first published novel, for their Desire line with a release date of August, 1992. She was honored with the Waldenbooks award for Bestselling Series Romance by a New Author. The award was presented at the Romance Writers of America National Conference in 1993. She has since appeared numerous times on the Waldenbooks Bestseller List and has been included on the USA TODAY Bestseller List.
She has always loved mysteries — novels, movies, plays — and has participated in several interactive murder mystery games, one of them on a train from Chicago to New York. So she naturally expanded her writing to include romantic suspense and straight mysteries.
In November, 1994, she made the career change to write full time. She is temporarily residing in Wichita, Kansas. She still does some photography. She loves to travel and particularly enjoys visiting England as often as possible. In addition to writing full time, she also teaches an eight-week fiction writing class twice a year in the Continuing Adult Education Non Credit classes department at Wichita State University.
Shawna enjoys hearing from her readers and can be reached at 6505 E. Central, Box #300, Wichita, KS 67206, or by email at ShawnaDelacorte@aol.com.
In 1991 Silhouette books purchased Sarah and the Stranger, her first published novel, for their Desire line with a release date of August, 1992. She was honored with the Waldenbooks award for Bestselling Series Romance by a New Author. The award was presented at the Romance Writers of America National Conference in 1993. She has since appeared numerous times on the Waldenbooks Bestseller List and has been included on the USA TODAY Bestseller List.
She has always loved mysteries — novels, movies, plays — and has participated in several interactive murder mystery games, one of them on a train from Chicago to New York. So she naturally expanded her writing to include romantic suspense and straight mysteries.
In November, 1994, she made the career change to write full time. She is temporarily residing in Wichita, Kansas. She still does some photography. She loves to travel and particularly enjoys visiting England as often as possible. In addition to writing full time, she also teaches an eight-week fiction writing class twice a year in the Continuing Adult Education Non Credit classes department at Wichita State University.
Shawna enjoys hearing from her readers and can be reached at 6505 E. Central, Box #300, Wichita, KS 67206, or by email at ShawnaDelacorte@aol.com.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 2, 2020
U.S. Marshal Brad Harrison has discovered a connection between several apparently "accidental" deaths: they all testified at the trial of John Vincent, who later died in prison. The only witness left is Tara Ford, so he tracks her down in order to keep her safe. Of course, while trying to figure out who wanted all the witnesses dead, Brad develops non-professional feelings for Tara!
It's not hard to see why Shawna Delacorte didn't write many Harlequin Intrigue books! Brad and Tara never came alive as characters. There is lots and lots of internal musings from the two (with the added annoyance of no paragraph breaks when perspective changes), but not a whole lot of dialogue. They never have a proper conversation not related to what they're going through, unless it's Tara demanding she make her own choices in life without Brad telling her what to do. Her mother and previous fiancee tried to control her, you see, and she just won't have it!
What dialogue there is, is very formal and not how normal people would speak. As far as the lack of communication between the two, Brad is still haunted by his wife's murder on his watch - and he never once tells Tara that he used to be married, or that it ended so tragically! Isn't that something a couple would discuss at some point? It doesn't bode well for their future beyond the book, nor does Brad's apprehension over a relationship just two pages before the supposed happy ending!
The plot was highly repetitive. Brad and Tara scoot from one location to the next while discussing who might have wanted the witnesses dead and who is now after Tara. They have their suspects and their theories, and just rehash them again and again and again. Brad has a highly convenient lodge he and Tara can stay at that belongs to his never-mentioned-before-now sister, 75% into the book! That sort of lazy, convenient plotting always takes me out a story!
Brad's behaviour for the first part of the book is that of a stalker. His idea of safekeeping is to leave Tara alone for long stretches of time while he goes to work. Tara is that annoying kind of innocent, fragile-but-secretly-strong type who carries on constantly about this all being her fault. Brad's "admiration" of her ability to stay strong in the face of danger was condescendingly portrayed. He may as well have just patted her on the head and said, "Good girl."
There were some okay action bits, and I didn't hate it, but it felt muuuch longer than its 25o page length, that's for sure!
It's not a keeper.
It's not hard to see why Shawna Delacorte didn't write many Harlequin Intrigue books! Brad and Tara never came alive as characters. There is lots and lots of internal musings from the two (with the added annoyance of no paragraph breaks when perspective changes), but not a whole lot of dialogue. They never have a proper conversation not related to what they're going through, unless it's Tara demanding she make her own choices in life without Brad telling her what to do. Her mother and previous fiancee tried to control her, you see, and she just won't have it!
What dialogue there is, is very formal and not how normal people would speak. As far as the lack of communication between the two, Brad is still haunted by his wife's murder on his watch - and he never once tells Tara that he used to be married, or that it ended so tragically! Isn't that something a couple would discuss at some point? It doesn't bode well for their future beyond the book, nor does Brad's apprehension over a relationship just two pages before the supposed happy ending!
The plot was highly repetitive. Brad and Tara scoot from one location to the next while discussing who might have wanted the witnesses dead and who is now after Tara. They have their suspects and their theories, and just rehash them again and again and again. Brad has a highly convenient lodge he and Tara can stay at that belongs to his never-mentioned-before-now sister, 75% into the book! That sort of lazy, convenient plotting always takes me out a story!
Brad's behaviour for the first part of the book is that of a stalker. His idea of safekeeping is to leave Tara alone for long stretches of time while he goes to work. Tara is that annoying kind of innocent, fragile-but-secretly-strong type who carries on constantly about this all being her fault. Brad's "admiration" of her ability to stay strong in the face of danger was condescendingly portrayed. He may as well have just patted her on the head and said, "Good girl."
There were some okay action bits, and I didn't hate it, but it felt muuuch longer than its 25o page length, that's for sure!
It's not a keeper.
April 18, 2018
In His Safekeeping
June 24, 2002
Author Shawna Delacorte returns for her third Intrigue with "In His Safekeeping," a muddled tale that fails to engage. Tara Ford has tried to get on with her life after testifying against her former boss. Then U.S. Marshal Brad Harrison comes to tell her that the other five witnesses in the trial have all been killed. She's the only one left. Brad vows to protect her. Can he resist his attraction to the vulnerable beauty long enough to figure out who is after her?
"In His Safekeeping" was an acceptable read. It wasn't a terrible book. It wasn't a good one either. The beginning is awkward and I had trouble getting into the story. This is another book where the characters feel an instant attraction and immediately begin fixating on the other person's body. Sometimes it can work. Here it felt too forced and unbelievable. The author tells us they are attracted to each other instead of showing it or making me feel it. Tara is also a very weak heroine, both foolish and naïve. Some of the information she withholds from Brad because she doesn't think it is relevant is so obvious I had to shake my head in disbelief. The setup is also slightly unbelievable and the story is occasionally hard to follow.
On the plus side, "In His Safekeeping" improves on the fatal flaw of Delacorte's last Intrigue, "Secret Lover," where so much time was spent on the secondary characters that the hero and heroine weren't a big part of the story. Here the focus is mainly on Tara and Brad. Delacorte does a reasonably good job keeping the suspects balanced so any one of them could be the guilty party. "In His Safekeeping" is an okay book, but not one I can recommend.
June 24, 2002
Author Shawna Delacorte returns for her third Intrigue with "In His Safekeeping," a muddled tale that fails to engage. Tara Ford has tried to get on with her life after testifying against her former boss. Then U.S. Marshal Brad Harrison comes to tell her that the other five witnesses in the trial have all been killed. She's the only one left. Brad vows to protect her. Can he resist his attraction to the vulnerable beauty long enough to figure out who is after her?
"In His Safekeeping" was an acceptable read. It wasn't a terrible book. It wasn't a good one either. The beginning is awkward and I had trouble getting into the story. This is another book where the characters feel an instant attraction and immediately begin fixating on the other person's body. Sometimes it can work. Here it felt too forced and unbelievable. The author tells us they are attracted to each other instead of showing it or making me feel it. Tara is also a very weak heroine, both foolish and naïve. Some of the information she withholds from Brad because she doesn't think it is relevant is so obvious I had to shake my head in disbelief. The setup is also slightly unbelievable and the story is occasionally hard to follow.
On the plus side, "In His Safekeeping" improves on the fatal flaw of Delacorte's last Intrigue, "Secret Lover," where so much time was spent on the secondary characters that the hero and heroine weren't a big part of the story. Here the focus is mainly on Tara and Brad. Delacorte does a reasonably good job keeping the suspects balanced so any one of them could be the guilty party. "In His Safekeeping" is an okay book, but not one I can recommend.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews