Protecting Olivia by Caitlyn O'Leary

After almost being beaten to death, Olivia Prescott is recovering in Fate Harbor. There she meets firefighter Joshua Parker, who was everything she wants in a man, and she begins to fall in love. Later, his best friend and fellow firefighter, Ian Ransom, returns, and she recognizes a long lost piece of her soul.

Rather than coming between the two friends, she flees back to Boston. When Joshua and Ian find out that Olivia’s life is in danger, they realize that their friendship and Olivia mean more to them than any sense of betrayal. They recognize that to keep her they must learn to share her. Their background in law enforcement allows Joshua and Ian to protect Olivia while helping to discover who is behind the attempts on her life. While finding out who is behind the plot to kill Olivia, can they convince Olivia that the three of them are meant to be together and make a life in Fate Harbor?

I read this author's books out of order.  I read the third one first, then the first one and now just finished the second.  All three are tied together but can easily be read independently and there are no repeating plots in any of the books.  Each one has a set of characters and their own struggles and story, while bringing in characters from the other books and I have adored all three. 

Protecting Olivia gives us the story of Ian, Joshua and Olivia.   She grew up with her foster parents Betty and Butch and obtained foster brothers Sam and Chance who were in the first book.  Now living in Boston and being the head of a charity for the homeless, she is attacked and almost killed leaving her in a coma for three weeks.  Once she was released from the hospital she was taken back to Fate Harbor by Chance to recover with his family. 

There she meets Ian and Joshua.  The guys had just come back from a major fire in Montana where they were almost killed and lost two other firefighters.  With their emotions raw and hearts broken they see Olivia and she brings light back into their darkness. By using their knowledge from their past jobs, they decide to help her discover if the nightmares keeping her awake are really just nightmares or flashbacks from the crime.  No one really believes her since she had a major head injury and they are still determining if there is any brain injury so she jumps at the chance for their help.  Love begins to bloom between the three but she realizes that the fight the men had was because of her.  She can’t come between best friends so she leaves suddenly and goes back to Boston.

With her life in danger and her health deteriorating, Ian and Joshua make a mad dash to Boston to protect their woman.  They have decided that loving Olivia and making her happy is more important than forcing her to pick one.  They plan to offer themselves as a unit to her if she will have them both.  Of course she is thrilled to not have to make a choice between them but danger lurks close in the shadows and threatens to destroy what the three are trying to build. 

I found a lot of suspense and drama in this book as they try to find out who wants Olivia dead and why.  We also get a lot of passion and hot romance between the three as the two alpha males set the rules for her in order to keep her safe and happy.  What I loved most about this book is how the author painted a picture for the readers regarding the needs and issues of the homeless and children in the system.  With Olivia growing up in foster care after her mother died and her dad dumped her we could understand her passion for helping other children in similar situations.  Her devotion for the under privileged and forgotten screamed off the pages begging the reader to pay attention and feel the need to help.

I LOVE this authors Fate Harbor series and I can hardly wait to read the next one.  She gives us a real story that captures your heart and attention and makes strangers become friends before you have finished the book.  

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