A federal judge has been murdered. There is only one witness, and an assassin wants her dead. U.S. Marshall Marcus O'Malley thought he knew the risks of the assignment . . . but he was wrong.
Introducing the O'Malleys, an inspirational group of seven, all abandoned or orphaned as teens, who have made the choice to become a loyal and committed family. They have chosen their own surname, O'Malley, and have stood by each other through moments of joy and heartache. Their stories are told in CBA best-selling, inspirational romantic suspense novels that rock your heart and restore strength and hope to your spirit.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Dee Henderson is the author of 27 non-fiction and fiction titles, including Jesus our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus the Truth and the Life, The Good News Project, Taken and the acclaimed O’MALLEY series. Several titles have appeared on the USA Today Bestseller list; Full Disclosure has also appeared on the New York Times Bestseller list. For details visit: DeeHenderson.com
I actually got into this much quicker than I expected. I really like Marcus's character. He and Shari were a good match. I do find some of the strategy talk is kind of boring at times. I just wanted to see the action and the romance. But still really good. and I love the faith in this one too!
*happy sigh* That one was the best yet! <3 I absolutely loved both Marcus and Shari, and loved hearing their stories. I could relate to both characters in a lot of ways, and the supporting cast was also fabulous. Beth was especially sweet. The Guardian keeps you on the edge of your seat pretty much the whole time, but leaves plenty of time for sweet heartwarming scenes, and some comedic relief. The romance was so sweet and perfect. There were a few too many\too described kisses for my liking, but the rest of the book was lovely. The themes of faith, salvation and prayer were spot on, and so inspiring.
This is my favorite O’Malley book so far. Not only is it dealing with prayer and how God allows some prayers to be unanswered, but it also has rich characters. The salvation testimony in this book isn’t as prolonged as the other books, but I find that only helps it be unique and real life. Shari was a woman whose faith was shaken but brought back to the foundation of Jesus Christ. The spiritual message was strong.
I really liked the intensity in this one. It actually had some riveting parts that drew me in more than the other books (so far).
And you get to know other members of the O’Malley family, which only makes me eager to hear their stories.
Again, I have slight issue with the romantic relationship being between a saved person who knew their love interest wasn’t a believer. It doesn’t matter which way you put it, it just feeds unrealistic expectations for readers. That part I didn’t fully like.
So far in all of this series, I find many examples of God dealing with individuals through His providence in dealing with lost people about their salvation. Also you also see God allowing adversity and other trials on Christians to get the weak Christians stronger in their trust on the Lord. This is a good book showing the steps to maturity among Christians by putting complete faith in God because God knows what He is doing. Even those who are lost in the story see how Christians react to the problems of God working in their life. A lot of lessons taught in this fictional story.
Augh! Try to review a book on my tablet and it says I rated it 3 stars. Okay. . .no, it was definitely a five star book! I loved getting to learn more about Marcus, and Shari's story was so heartbreak. But the way she handled it, the way she leaned on God through it all was just so good. And of course her and Marcus just had the sweetest relationship ever!! And the sibling relationships! I adore this series! I love all the sibling interaction. It's just precious. :)
A good book (like all her others). The things I like most about the books are the romance aspect, but more importantly, the fact that each of the siblings has a different issue about God to deal with and I find that Dee Henderson makes the issues real - I can definately relate to a number of the themes and have enjoyed all the books. The ability to make people aware of aspects which might be affecting their relationship with God as well as the solution and the reasoning for making the choice I feel is a necessary one which makes us, the reader, think.
I loved Marcus. He was an awesome leader, and I loved his interaction with his siblings. He was so sweet with his sisters. <3 His struggle with faith was believable and moving. And I loved seeing Kate again. *Happy sigh* The only thing I did not like in this book was
I was seriously wondering if this book would EVER be done. I don’t like giving up on books, but this wasn’t anything like the 1st 2 in this series. Sherri wasn’t relatable at all, and the O’Malley’s fell in love with her by talking to her on the phone like twice? The beginning was good, good enough that it kept me reading, hoping that it would get good again. I don’t think it did. The ending was a HUGE let down. So much so, that I have the next 2 books in this series and debating on reading them. I normally like Ms. Henderson’s writing. Enough complaining, but be warned, may be a waste of your time as well. I am being generous by giving it a 2.
LOVED IT!! Wow! I was blown away at how much I loved this novel!! I fell in love with Marcus and Shari. Marcus is the protective type and he had me swooning more than once! Shari is the 'victim' but possesses a quiet strength. I mean, if I went through everything she did, I'm not sure I would've made it. I loved how the elements of faith were touched on. For those who said it was too preachy, it wasn't at all. If you are genuinely looking for answers that Marcus was looking for, then this novel is perfect for you. The secondary characters were also lovely. The plot came together fabulously and I was furiously turning the pages to see what would happen next! Can I mention that this novel won a Christy award?!! Does that convince you to get this novel? This is a must read!! I very highly recommend this novel!!
Rereading this series because it’s been awhile. Ebook from Libby second in the O’Malleys series. Glad I was able to find on Libby. This books focus is on Marcus. He is charged with an indoor political rally that goes badly. When a candidate is short and killed, things take a rapid turnaround. Lots of action, clean but definitely a suspenseful thriller.
Like the previous books in this series it is very well written and has excellent character development and is fast paced with lots of suspense until the last page combined with realistic description of the relationships and solid Christian values – an exceptional reading experience.
The Guardian by Dee Henderson Genre: Suspense, Christian Romance, murder mystery Format: Kindle Timeframe: More or less current day Location: Chicago, IL Characters: Marcus O'Malley: Eldest O’Malley, 38 year old single US marshal Shari Hanford: Witness to a murder, 34 years old, unmarried speech writer Kate, Jennifer and Lisa: Three O’Malley sisters Dave Richman: FBI agent, working with Marcus, dating Kate Joshua and Beth: Shari’s brother and mother
Shari Hanford is a witness to something horrible in a hotel room just as US Marshal Marcus O’Malley was heading to that floor to relocate and protect a federal judge. This immediately becomes his case…to protect the witness and her remaining family members.
There are always so many twists to Ms. Henderson’s books that they are hard to put down. This book is no exception.
There’s a murderer who believed his disguise would keep him safe. The protection team is on a hunt for who Shari saw. While the shooter is sure he won’t be caught, the witness still needs to be eliminated, and the route to that end is elaborate. What Lisa (a forensic pathologist as well as sister to Marcus) does to find the least little clues is pretty amazing.
Two specific things I’m realizing about this series: 1) The author has a main character who is a Christian, and another main character who is an unbeliever. Both are placed together for some reason and both begin a relationship that usually passes beyond friendship. The non-Christians are all the O’Malleys. In their orphanage-life “God” seemed distant or had abandoned them, so these unrelated orphans became a family, learning to rely primarily on each other for the past two decades. 2) The gospel isn’t in great detail, but Christ is proclaimed by believers in such a way that the non-Christian is challenged to rethink his/her ideas about God.
In The Guardian, two characters fall in love. When the Christian accepts the unbeliever's marriage proposal, it isn’t written that the Christian is aware that the person she's going to marry had turned his life back to Christ. So his lack of faith is irrelevant to their marriage vows? She got what she wanted...him. That’s a pet peeve of mine in Christian fiction. Why do Christians put themselves in a position to fall in love with someone who doesn’t share their greatest value? Could it be that what they want is of greater value than the Son of God who saved them? Another thought is why Christian authors think it’s okay to write about a Christian falling in love with an unbeliever... and for them to pray that they could spend the rest of their lives together? Does II Cor. 6:14 mean nothing?
Sigh.
Aside from that fact, which brings it down a notch, the book is amazing!!!
The Guardian was the first book I read in Dee Henderson’s The O’Malley Chronicles, even though it’s the second one in the series. I’ve been hooked ever since. How could I not be when it includes humor, core family values, Christianity, tough emotions and circumstances, and a host of characters that crawled into my heart? Not to mention the suspenseful plots that fuel each story.
This particular novel features Marcus O’Malley, the guardian of the clan, who works for the U.S. Marshals. When a federal judge is killed on his watch, Marcus determines to guard the only witness and hunt down the shooter. But what will he do when his heart get tangled up along the journey?
One of my favorite things about The Guardian is how detailed it is. The way the author intricately designs each chapter heightens the suspense along with my curiosity. Perhaps that’s why I’m on my third read of this incredible series.
Or it could be the closeness the O’Malley family exhibits. It reminds me of my childhood dream of having lots of children some day in the future. I wondered if they would grow up close, similarly to the O’Malleys. It’s encouraging to see that it’s possible, both in fiction (The Guardian) and in reality (my sister and I have become really close over the years).
Another amazing O’malley book to add to my “read” books.
I loved how this book portrayed Marcus as the leader in their close family. It really made his character so much more confident and strong.
The suspense was also amazing!! I was on the edge of my seat, and I was barely able to put this book down. Another aspect I loved was that Marcus wasn’t a strong believer. I have the opinion he was saved, but because of circumstances his faith wavered. I loved how Shari did not push him to revaluate his relationship with God, but only encouraged him and was there for him. Everyone has to make their own decisions regarding God, but that does not mean we should not be there with unbelievers or believers who have lost faith.
Only four stars because it wasn’t the greatest thing I have read recently. :)
I was 12 when I first started reading this series, and I remember completely loving it.
I somehow love it even more at 31.
This book was just perfect. I like how Marcus struggled and everything wasn't just a pat answer (actually, that's something I really love with this whole series, how each O'Malley comes to believe in a very real way). This book is hilarious, suspenseful, and romantic. (I still can't decide which O'Malley guy I liked the most as a teen, they were all book crushes.) I wish I could make everyone read it, so they'd understand how obsessed I am with this series.
Being the rather female chauvinist I am, as a general rule I prefer the O'Malley books centered around the sisters. Marcus is the one glowing exception. This book is one of the best.
Although in actuality, the gender of the main O'Malley shouldn't matter much because of the book's format. They are told from the perspective of both the male and female lead. Maybe it's just that the women for Jack and Stephen aren't as dynamic of characters. Marcus's love interest Shari, however, is as cool as they come. Ironically I think it took some time for me to warm up to her during the first reading. Part of it may very well have been that I didn't like her name. Also it's a testament to how quickly the reader falls in love with Marcus. What woman would possibly be good enough for him?
Now I do think Shari is worthy of Marcus. She's got major feminist appeal because she wants to be a politician. The relationship she and Marcus form feels like one of the strongest in the series. It develops over the course of many late night talks about both silly and deathly serious topics.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
At its heart, this book is about one's relationship with God through prayer. Yes, there is a love story, but it's not deeply developed; there is also a bit of a mystery/thriller element - but don't read it for that quality (how the investigation occurs, you can tell it was written by one who doesn't spend much time in the criminal arena - I mean, why wouldn't the investigation check hotel cameras? And how do the US Marshall's, FBI and local police just work so well together?)
Overall it is an enjoyable quick read that can kill some time.
A federal judge was shot and killed and Shari witnessed it happen. The murderer is determined to get Shari out of the picture but Marcus is even more determined to protect her. In the meantime, Marcus's sister, Jennifer, is in the hospital dealing with chemotherapy treatments for her cancer. Will Marcus be able to trust that Jesus is able to protect his loved ones?
I really enjoyed this one! Dee Henderson books are sometimes a little cheesy (the "hug time" thing with the pagers? really??) and predictable (I think all her books end with a marriage proposal/happily ever after), but I like her writing and her characters.
This series is so cute! Not sure how much Christian Fiction I'd read before this but I'm loving it. When they want a cold drink, they drink a glass of milk, tea or soft drink :-) When they get angry, they pray to God, no one says bad words and its full of suspense and action! Yay I say! Cant wait to read book 3.
This was so good! There were so many different twists and turns in the story. I love watching the characters start to believe in Jesus. The bond the O'Malleys have is so strong and so special. It makes me wish I could be an O'Malley. The love story is not overwhelming and doesn't take up the whole story. Very clean read.
Book 2, done. Marcus and Shari have long been one of my favorite O’Malley couples (don’t you worry, Rachel and Cole, you are still top billing), even if I really dislike the name “Shari” it’s so 80s/90s. I’d argue we have a slight “he falls first” trope on our hands.
Most of the time, I really dislike the “evangelizing dating” plots of Christian fiction. And for good reason. I guess you could say I’m pro-evangelism, but definitely wouldn’t recommend as far as dating relationships go. (And I really do prefer when it stays out of my fiction). However, there is something really real about the way Dee Henderson writes the wrestling of faith in her characters that I love. I found myself pausing and highlighting things that were said between Shari and Marcus, and Marcus and Jennifer in regard to what it means to trust and submit your heart to Jesus. It’s not so hard to trust my own life, but the life of those I love, wow. I’m enjoying my 18th re-read of these books, but especially as it has had me slow down and contemplate my own wrestling with faith. I’m grateful.
It took me forever to read this book. I read the first few chapters and quickly got disgusted by Marcus and Shari's hitting on each other when they had just happened to meet by accident. So I set it aside for about a month until it got annoying. I can't stand starting a book and not finishing it. So I sat down and told myself I was going to read until it was done. For starters, I was really annoyed with all the kissing and flirting going on between these to mature, career-minded adults. It just didn't fit their characters. Then, Dee Henderson's overblown images of the O'Malley family, while SOME of it was fun to read, a lot of it got aggravatingly tacky. The Christian angle of this book came off as stilted and awkward. I know from personal experience that it is EXTREMELY difficult to take a character who believed at one point in his or her life and then rejected God for one reason or another, and make their re-conversion convincing. Even so, practically any mention of God or prayer seemed removed from the plot line and just stuck in here and there to tag the book as "Christian". But, in Ms. Henderson's defense, writing fiction where the characters naturally breath God and any mention of Him flows with the book is also extremely difficult. In real life, most people don't talk about God constantly, if really at all, so even though it is heartfelt, it just doesn't sound natural. I found Lisa's forensic pathology very engrossing, to the point where I viewed her scenes as the best parts of the book. As is usual with Dee Henderson, her dialog was interesting to read and mostly well paced, though I occasionally got lost in the longer conversations because she withholds some necessary he said/she saids. My favorite character, and one of the main reasons I kept reading, was Joshua Hanford. It was too bad that he was only a minor character, because he was excellently drawn and the only reason I gave this book three stars. Without him, it probably would have been two (and a half, if Goodreads let me do that...) And finally, as one of my friends complained, Dee Henderson's plots are virtually the same in every book; which is basically true. It begins with mild flirtation, digresses to something more serious, a damsel is always in distress and must be shipped off to some safe hideaway to be looked after by their love-interest and an avalanche of security (in most cases the mass security), the disbelieving person usually comes to faith in God around that point, meaning that an eventual marriage will take place, and then there is an abrupt and usually bullet-filled climax and everything is resolved in an upward of ten or eleven pages. It's the quick endings that get me. Ms. Henderson drags out the investigations, false leads, romance, danger,faith struggles, family issues, crime scenes and other interesting topics and then, boom, she drops the criminal culprit in the laps of the law where he is shot or arrested as the case may be, and then before you have really caught the significance of what just happened, the book ends and you are left to read the note by Dee Henderson that is stowed away in the back. Maybe the swift culminations after drawn out investigations are the way it is in real life; I don't know. But it doesn't make for a very conclusive novel-ending. One more thing: I wasn't the only one who thought that the last scene in this book was really...childish, am I? I mean, come on. Pager games? Really? It reminded me of Rolf and Liesl in the garden in "The Sound of Music" sending telegrams to each other. But Rolf and Liesl are sixteen and seventeen - not thirty something. "HUG-TIME"? Please...
This series amazed me- all the storylines flow from each other so wonderfully and this was a great one!! At the beginning I didn't really care for the match of the characters but Dee really pulled me in and her use of suspense had me sitting at the edge of my seat waiting to see what happened. Marcus's journey back into Christianity and Shari's struggle with keeping her own faith was so relatable and the book really helped answer some amazingly tough questions about a God who would let horrible things happen and why.
This is the second time I have read this story. Though it was not as fast paced as book one for me and the romance did not flow as smoothly as in book one, it was still a captivating read.
The situations the characters faced showed Marcus’s protective heart and head of the family beautifully. Not only does Marcus guard others as an US Marshal, but he clearly guards his family as well in the way he guides and makes decisions.
2.5. Honestly, I'm cringing so hard. I read these books when I was in the 8th or 9th grade and didn't realize just how sexist they are. Theres so much "I'm a man and therefore I must speak to another man about this thing that affecte a woman rather than the woman herself".
Not to mention the whole "this person must be a Christian in order for me to be more than friends" evangelism.