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Protective Instincts
Professor Dena Montgomery may be young, only nineteen, but she is a mathematical Olympiad with a genius-level IQ, earning a Ph.D. for her at sixteen. Yet, her large family calls her The Absentminded Professor, with good reason. Dena could recite the calculus for the Pythagorean theorem as if it were her address but couldn’t, for her life, remember what was on her grocery list or whether she ate three meals on any given day. She may be shaped like a Barbie Doll, but still, she’s no lightweight. Her family didn’t leave her defenseless either. Though she had a propensity to wear Western-inspired clothing, Dena learned to be a marshal arts master. That skill served her well one cold, blustery, snowy night when she left her office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to walk home and rescued two tender-aged children from being abducted. Although one man died, Dena’s protective instincts kicked in to save the little boy and girl.
Cambridge, Massachusetts' Police Lieutenant Darrius Pappas caught the case. Yet, he doesn’t know what to make of the beautiful, yet the incredibly young woman in his interrogation room. Surveillance video footage at the murder scene showed that this Doctor Montgomery went all Jessica Campbell Jones Cage on the UNSUBs to save children not much older than toddlers. Talk about a super shero? She looked like some type of avenging angel and fought like a tigress protecting her cubs. Darrius, young for his police position, had never seen anything like her in his home country of Greece. Since coming to America to attend college and compete in the Olympics as a champion swimmer, Darrius has had more than his fair share of women. However, something about Doctor Montgomery creates an itch he can’t seem to scratch.
The case becomes even more complicated when an entity created by the G7 takes it over. Darrius is swept up into the FBI/CIA/Interpol task force and taken away to an undisclosed location. That’s when he learns that Doctor Montgomery is much more mysterious than he could have imagined. When a second murder involving Dena Montgomery occurs during his investigation, Lieutenant Pappas’s protective instincts kick in. He will risk everything to save Dena and the children and get to the bottom of both cases.
Cambridge, Massachusetts' Police Lieutenant Darrius Pappas caught the case. Yet, he doesn’t know what to make of the beautiful, yet the incredibly young woman in his interrogation room. Surveillance video footage at the murder scene showed that this Doctor Montgomery went all Jessica Campbell Jones Cage on the UNSUBs to save children not much older than toddlers. Talk about a super shero? She looked like some type of avenging angel and fought like a tigress protecting her cubs. Darrius, young for his police position, had never seen anything like her in his home country of Greece. Since coming to America to attend college and compete in the Olympics as a champion swimmer, Darrius has had more than his fair share of women. However, something about Doctor Montgomery creates an itch he can’t seem to scratch.
The case becomes even more complicated when an entity created by the G7 takes it over. Darrius is swept up into the FBI/CIA/Interpol task force and taken away to an undisclosed location. That’s when he learns that Doctor Montgomery is much more mysterious than he could have imagined. When a second murder involving Dena Montgomery occurs during his investigation, Lieutenant Pappas’s protective instincts kick in. He will risk everything to save Dena and the children and get to the bottom of both cases.
280 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 3, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 2, 2023
This has been a real pleasure to record Protective Instincts this latest thrilling audiobook for Ann Jeffries. The ending is such a surprise. I won't even hint at the denouement, such a jaw dropper it turns out to be. Suffice it to say even Ann has out done herself in terms of the limitless possibilities that spin in an Ann Jeffries created world.
ATTENTION FANS! - *BONUS* - We also get maybe a teeny bit of resolution (because anything can change!) to our last Ann Jeffries' extravaganza, Country Cool, City Chic, Continental Class. We get a glimpse of many of the fabulous characters of The ALEX-MONT KIDS SAGA BOX SET ONE including the dazzling Eve Montgomery & Simon Wilde of Walking on the Wilde Side, the internationally fabulous Linda Montgomery from An Ulterior Motive: The Alex-Mont Kids Saga, 1 and a return to the uneding love of Kile and Brian Montgomery in A Forever Kind of Love.
But a particular aspect to Ann's work that appears in every novel, but really hit home to me in PROTECTIVE INSTINCTS, is the role of family. Perhaps the great Maya Angelou said it best:
"The idea is to write it so that people hear it, and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart."
That's how Ann Jeffries writes.
Boston Detective Darrius Pappas comes from an orphaned background. As he spends time with Dena Montgomery and her legion of a family, he is transfixed by the close ties this vast group shares. True to his profession, he asks Dena a lot of questions about how this huge disparate order of folk came to be and how they came to be so close. Dena shares the story of her family and the abundance they share. I never tire of hearing it. She sums it up:
"They [Dena's parents] don’t ask anything of us in return except to be kind, honest, and hardworking. They also encourage us never to stop being curious about everything in our orbit. As a result, failure is not an option or found anywhere in our vocabulary.”
Darrius concludes from his observations and Dena's answers,
“They may not have been bound by blood, but it was clear to Darrius that they were cemented together by mutual trust, respect, and love.”
I have a friend or two who have this kind of bond with their family. A girlfriend that says, 'My mom is my best friend. I talk to her every day.' A fellow that tears up every time he speaks of his father and how close they were. While I have struggled to have that type of connection with my nearest, I am especially close with a cousin and her children. I hope to be a part of creating that kind of bond with my stepson and his new family. And I certainly have the dearest of a friend or two or three - and of course my husband - that are 'my family', my tribe, even though we are not 'bound by blood'. I am reminded of what they mean to me, and recommit to this connection and these people every time I record a book for Ann.
'Trust, respect and love' are the heartbeat of every Ann Jeffries' story. It continues to be an honor to help bring this message to our world of readers and listeners.
ATTENTION FANS! - *BONUS* - We also get maybe a teeny bit of resolution (because anything can change!) to our last Ann Jeffries' extravaganza, Country Cool, City Chic, Continental Class. We get a glimpse of many of the fabulous characters of The ALEX-MONT KIDS SAGA BOX SET ONE including the dazzling Eve Montgomery & Simon Wilde of Walking on the Wilde Side, the internationally fabulous Linda Montgomery from An Ulterior Motive: The Alex-Mont Kids Saga, 1 and a return to the uneding love of Kile and Brian Montgomery in A Forever Kind of Love.
But a particular aspect to Ann's work that appears in every novel, but really hit home to me in PROTECTIVE INSTINCTS, is the role of family. Perhaps the great Maya Angelou said it best:
"The idea is to write it so that people hear it, and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart."
That's how Ann Jeffries writes.
Boston Detective Darrius Pappas comes from an orphaned background. As he spends time with Dena Montgomery and her legion of a family, he is transfixed by the close ties this vast group shares. True to his profession, he asks Dena a lot of questions about how this huge disparate order of folk came to be and how they came to be so close. Dena shares the story of her family and the abundance they share. I never tire of hearing it. She sums it up:
"They [Dena's parents] don’t ask anything of us in return except to be kind, honest, and hardworking. They also encourage us never to stop being curious about everything in our orbit. As a result, failure is not an option or found anywhere in our vocabulary.”
Darrius concludes from his observations and Dena's answers,
“They may not have been bound by blood, but it was clear to Darrius that they were cemented together by mutual trust, respect, and love.”
I have a friend or two who have this kind of bond with their family. A girlfriend that says, 'My mom is my best friend. I talk to her every day.' A fellow that tears up every time he speaks of his father and how close they were. While I have struggled to have that type of connection with my nearest, I am especially close with a cousin and her children. I hope to be a part of creating that kind of bond with my stepson and his new family. And I certainly have the dearest of a friend or two or three - and of course my husband - that are 'my family', my tribe, even though we are not 'bound by blood'. I am reminded of what they mean to me, and recommit to this connection and these people every time I record a book for Ann.
'Trust, respect and love' are the heartbeat of every Ann Jeffries' story. It continues to be an honor to help bring this message to our world of readers and listeners.
March 23, 2023
I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the narrator and found it very enjoyable. These books are based on family and friends, and just like life, all emotions are shown. Dena is MIT professor and walking home one night, she hears a child's cry. The next thing she knows she has two frighten children and corpse. Now Dena and the children are in protective custody and has to deal with a family funeral and in a few months her dream will come true. Interesting characters and suspenseful, fast moving plot will keep you listen until the end. This is a very enjoyable series that just keeps getting better.
May 1, 2023
Professor Dena is young but she’s a genius in math. When leaving her office she witnesses an abduction of 2 young children. She helps and meets Lieutenant Darius. There’s another murder and he’ll do anything to help. Will there be romance as well. The Narrator makes this realistic, and can’t wait for the next.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews