Damon (The Protectors #1)

Welp, I did it again. I signed up for a TBR (To Be Read List) Challenge. My TBR list has 925 books on it right now so, in theory, this seems like a great idea. Last time I tried it I fell flat on my face, giving up at a whole 2 books. Dont judge, theres just so many shiny new ones coming out all the time! Well, and all my favorite comfort reads calling to me. I mean Horse and Tack are demanding. They deserve at least one or two rereads a year. But, Im determined to at least get one book a month off that list read. I can do that, right? And maybe Ill find someone wholl give Horse a run for his money, or at least keep him company on that top book boyfriend list. You just cant have too many yummy alpha book boyfriends.

First up is book one in a series that keeps popping up on my feeds. I chose Damon from Teresa Gabelmans The Protectors series because it ticks off a lot of my boxes: an alpha vampire in protector mode and a heroine whos a social worker whose goal in life is to take care of the kids placed in her care. Plus its been hanging out on my Kindle App since 2014. Goodness, thats a long time.

It started out great. The vampires outed themselves the year before and since then all sorts of problems have popped up. It seems like vampire blood can be synthesized into some kind of drug so vampires are turning street children into vamps. Some of those children are being placed into foster homes where they are repeatedly drained of their blood for profit. Another problem that has come up is Vampire foster parents taking in human children and then using them for food on tap.

I had all these questions though. Why didnt they place vampire children with vampire parents? And why did they place human children with vampire parents? And dont even get me started on the fact that once turned, Vampire children dont age. So a six-year-old stays forever stuck with a six-year-old body. And it was presented like they forever had to stay in foster care. Um, why. Seems even if they are stuck in that tiny body, they still age in mind and spirit. Unfortunately, I wasnt enlightened with any answers.

Anyway, all my questions aside, these kids needed help as did their poor, beleaguered social workers, especially Nicole. She was like Super Woman, willing to take any risk in order to keep these kids safe. Nicole presented me with a huge conundrum because I really liked her as she was extremely brave and had a heart of gold but O-M-G was she freaking Too Stupid To Live. Literally. Every situation she was faced with I could always predict what she would do as she always picked the dumbest choice. She refused to see the danger she was in and took risks that not only threatened her life but those around her too. And dont even get me started on her Hail Mary play at the end. Actually, TSTL doesnt even begin to cover it.

As for Damon, he was one sexy, hot, vampire. Protective, bossy, and he even had a little bit of a sense of humor. His little I cant have her complex got on my nerves though. He also missed clues that were right in front of him. I cant tell you how many times I said Seriously! You cant figure that out out loud. But my husband probably can since he kept glaring at me when Id interrupt his movie.

This was cute and funny at times, and I did actually like the characters so its unfortunate they werent the sharpest tools in the shed.