Action, personal drama, and romance fill this police
thriller set in Sugarland, Tennessee. Detective Shane Ford
has a good friend who's a football star. When the player
is found dead at home, Shane is suddenly the legal guardian
of unhappy Drew, his sixteen-year-old godson. In SWORN TO
PROTECT, Drew understandably doesn't like the idea of
moving from a city to a town, changing school and leaving
his home. But nobody was prepared to hear that the clean-
living football player had died of a new designer drug
based on amphetamines.
Shane had a brief romance with Daisy Callahan, another
detective, against regulations. Both regret that it ended
but can't seem to restart the situation. As Daisy takes
responsibility for juveniles she gets involved with Shane
and Drew. The moody boy doesn't like his new schoolmates
and takes up with one boy who seems different. Just as
Daisy and Shane decide to date in defiance of regulations,
Drew starts sneaking out for destructive behaviour.
Jo Davis has previously written a series about
Sugarland, The Firefighters of Station Five, some of whom
reappear in this tale, Her characters and background
are well established. However this reads perfectly well as
a standalone and there are plenty of investigative
particulars, from the case of a vagrant shot dead to
tracking a consignment of drugs. Also the sad details of
clearing out a house after a death, and readjustment to
life without parents ring true. Shane is described as a
serial bachelor but he has to adapt fast to parenthood.
Daisy does seem too fast to accuse him of stepping out
behind her back; but perhaps her pride was hurt as well as
her heart. She also jumped in to a rowdy situation well
over her head, which I thought was inappropriate for
someone with her training and experience. Lesson: women
come off badly in fights against big men.
SWORN TO PROTECT is an adult romance, intimate and
believable between two people discovering that nobody in
the world means more to them than their lover. There's
also criminals and police action aplenty, enough to keep
the reader on the edge of the seat. I read this book in a
sitting and recommend it both to fans of Jo Davis and
anyone who wants to get started on her stories.
From the author of the Firefighters of Station Five novels... Sugarland loves their men in blue, especially Detective Shane Ford. But Shane’s mission to protect and to serve has just gotten personal.... Detective Shane Ford, Sugarland’s favorite cop, has been blindsided by the sudden death of his best friend, NFL star Brad Cooper, and by becoming the legal guardian of Brad’s son, Drew—a bitter, angry sixteen-year-old with a dangerous secret. Shane is determined to pry the truth from Drew, but he manages only to alienate him—and winds up going head-to-head with Juvenile Officer Daisy Callahan, whose job is to protect the teen’s best interests. Shane has always been drawn to Daisy’s beauty and strength, but he’s determined not to allow their intense attraction to interfere with his duty ever again. It’s a vow that will prove difficult to keep, as the realities of Shane and Daisy’s blossoming love and their growing bond with the grieving teen propel Shane headlong into danger for the new family he has sworn to protect.