Lieutenant Zola Zeringue, Jazz, has always loved and respected women and children. When a young woman, more child than woman is in danger, he comes to the rescue, even knowing he can't save them all, he does what he can. He never expects to be hauled off to jail for trying to help one the young woman, but that's what happens. Considering Jazz is a Navy SEAL who's identity and whereabouts are surposed to be Top Secret this is not a good thing. He knows his teammates especially his best buddy, Hawk, will get him out. He's not prepared however, for Vivi and the effect she has on him, when it's apparent she's the one who comes to his rescue.

Vivi Verreau has many disguises and few know exactly who or what she is. When she's ordered to get a GI out of hot water, she's not happy, even knowing he was trying to help the girl, it still galls her to have to help a serviceman. After all they are part of the problem she's trying to help end, young women, girls being used for sex. As the Interpol liaison for the United Third World Against Exploitation of Women, she knows she has to do as she's ordered by T, her real boss at GEM. So she helps to get Jazz out of trouble, and even knowing he's bad news, she can't help feeling attracted to him.

Soon Vivi and Jazz find themselves working together on a mission, but with secret missions going on within missions and things going not as planned, Vivi soon finds herself in need of a protector. Can she come to terms with her past to embrace her future? Can Jazz find the truth hidden behind all the disguises? But the most important question of all is, will any of them make it out alive?

Ms. Low has given us a truly engrossing tale with THE PROTECTOR, one that I found hard to put down. The characters are alive and jump off the page at you. While this is the first book in a new series, it is related to Ms. Low's previous two books and we do see a couple of characters from these books. THE PROTECTOR can stand alone, but if you want to know about these characters you'd should read the previous two books. It is my feeling that this is the best story Ms. Low has given us to date. Those who love alphas and military men as much as I do, will certainly enjoy this one. The secondary characters are a true asset and at times scene stealers, especially Hawk, who's book, THE HUNTER, will be coming in July 2005.

If you want an adventurous action-filled read, then this is one you don't want to miss. I will warn you that this book is set totally in other countries and therefore some scenes may be hard to read. However, I did not find this particular story to be as gut wrenchingly hard to take as some scenes from previous books. I highly recommend THE PROTECTOR, if you want to meet some great characters and take a truly enjoyable ride.

    Wendy Keel
    A Romance Suspense Review

Rating:

The Protector
Author: Gennita Low
Publisher: Avon Books
Release Date: January 2005
Blue Ribbon Rating: 4
Format: PRINT

Navy SEAL Jazz Zeringue never thought that helping a young girl avoid the unwanted attention of some unsavory bar patrons would land him in jail. To his surprise, he's released by the actions of one enigmatic Vivi Verreau. It's obvious that there is more to Vivi than she shows him, and he finds himself wanting to get under her skin and into the heart of the real Ms. Verreau. When his next mission has him working beside her, he finds it to be the perfect opportunity to get to know her, no matter that she seems to not be affected by his actions.

Vivi has spent most of her life in one disguise or another. Her current assignment is no different. While she is more affected by Jazz that he thinks, she knows that he's just interested in a facade. Or is he? As she works together with him and his SEAL team on an extremely important mission, she realizes this smooth Cajun charmer may be more dangerous to her heart than she ever thought possible.

THE PROTECTOR is full of non-stop action and plenty of intriguing characters. Gennita Low has written an intense novel. Her SEALs are the strong, alpha males that you would expect, but she's also given them distinct personalities that shine. Vivi is a very strong woman, able to hold her own with the soldiers she's working alongside. Even her secondary characters are fascinating. The build-up to the final mission carries through the entire book, and it's Ms. Low's attention to detail that made the book so readable. She doesn't gloss over the planning and preparation, which gives a very gritty feel to the book that I definitely enjoyed. I highly recommend THE PROTECTOR to those who love a great romantic suspense with a military flavor.

Romance Junkies Reviewer Nicole

THE PROTECTOR - Gennita Low
Avon Books
ISBN: 0-06-059110-2
January 2005
Contemporary Romantic Suspense

Somewhere in Southeast Asia - Present day

Jazz Zeringue and his company of SEALS just completed a mission and are taking a little down time in a city with the usual amenities: noisy bar, women, and booze. Trained by his Maman and several sisters in Louisiana to respect women, Jazz tries save a small girl from being sold in a back room of the bar, and ends up being arrested by Interpol. Hawk, co-commander of his team, gets instructions from the wizened old lady in charge of the "back rooms" and has Jazz released the next day. But it seems the Admiral in charge of their group has volunteered them to be part of a combined mission with Interpol to free a truckload of underage girls bound for a life of degradation, rape and slavery.

Vivienne Verreau was disguised as that wizened old lady at the bar, and she is working with Interpol to free the human cargo on its way, and several other missions even she isn't privy to. Along with a rough and cynical childhood, she inherited a dislike of anyone military, including Jazz and his friend Hawk, both looking at her with that gleam of interest in their eyes. Her mission is to work with the SEALS and perform an extraction of the girls as they are trucked into town, blow up a bridge, let the scum in charge go free for some reason; oh, and destroy a load of illegal arms in the convoy. Nothing out of the ordinary that a group a SEALS can't handle everyday, right?

THE PROTECTOR is a mystery/action book unlike any you have read. Any comparisons to other writers of the same genre simply cannot and should not be made. This has a much more complicated plot, many more characters, and is by far more hard-hitting and intense. Do not choose this book for a quick read; its many facets require far more concentration with its depth and attention to detail.

Vivi and Jazz begin a game of thrust and parry as they each have many responsibilities within their groups. Jazz and sidekick Hawk have a relationship where each one can read the others thoughts, and both are centered on who can get Vivi's attention first. Throughout the book, I got the feeling Hawk was merely playing with Jazz, using their special affinity to push him in Vivi's way. Vivi is involved in several projects, some with purposes not even known to her; she is only the tool of her group.

The kinship between Jazz and Hawk is one of the highlights here, a soldierly melding between two men that contains complete faith in each other's abilities, and the skills to work both together and independently to perfection. Along with the rest of the SEALS group, each soldier is a delight and a puzzle to meet. Vivi has her boss, known only as "T", a woman of such mystery that we hardly scratch the surface of her story. There are also other plots involving the Triad crime family that give this story more than enough twists and turns to please any aficionado of this type of book.

THE PROTECTOR is a tale of great depth and intensity, and not for the casual reader. This is the third in a series about these SEALS, but there are no carryover characters or details that intersect between the books. The charismatic and lethal Hawk will have his story written later this year, and it also promises to be not for the faint of heart. Gennita Low is an amazing new talent who has quickly made this type of story her own. I highly recommend THE PROTECTOR as a book to embark on for a reading adventure. This is not merely a short trip, but a voyage of discovery.

Carolyn Crisher
http://www.romrevtoday.com/rom_suspense_01-05.htm