Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: In Safe Hands
AUTHOR: Victoria Sue
NARRATOR: Michael Pauley
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
RELEASE DATE: June 27, 2019
LENGTH: 7 hours, 31 minutes
BLURB:
Former helicopter pilot Maverick Delgardo’s injuries ended his Air Force career, leaving him bitter and one drink away from becoming an alcoholic. When his sister asks for his help on a private protection case to babysit a disgraced pop star, Mav reluctantly agrees.
Deacon Daniels, onetime lead singer and idol to his teenage fans, saw his career and reputation ruined when a reporter’s exposé led to a devastating scandal. Without money or a job, a heartbroken Deacon has lost custody of his baby niece. And just when he thinks his life can’t get any worse, a stalker’s threatening messages escalate to murder.
Mav only agreed to one meeting, but his protective instincts kick in, along with an attraction to Deacon. When the body count increases, however, Mav is unsure he is up to the task of protecting Deacon from a killer. But it is too late for Mav to step away, now that he’s lost his heart, and he must find the strength to reassure Deacon and his niece that they are in safe hands no matter the cost.
REVIEW:
If I give you the name Maverick and tell you that he’s a (former) pilot, are you getting the same flashbacks as me? 😉
Well, when we first meet Mav he’s far from the dreamy guy you just imagined. His last mission left him scarred in every way imaginable. His looks cause people to stare or turn away, his missing leg is another thing that just adds misery to an already miserable existence. Add a hefty dose of self-pitying alcohol and survivor’s guilt and you might get closer to the Mav we have in this book. He’s not unlikable in any way, he’s just down in the way where you’ll either want to give him a big hug or a swift kick in the behind.
His change comes gradually in the form of his sister asking him to take a meeting in her stead. As she said, all he has to do is sit behind a desk and look half-way competent for the duration. Seeing as he owed said sister a lot he agrees to meet this disgraced former teenage throb of a musician. It doesn’t take long for them to realise that the stalker and story they thought was made up was something far worse, because now there isn’t only threatening notes left on his car. There are dead bodies.
Both Deacon and Mav does a tremendous amount of growing in this short time. Maverick finally accepts the past and his current state. Yes he might be disfigured, he might have only one leg, and yes people might stare, stammer and be just a little bit afraid. But if he just gave them half of a chance he might just realise that the staring and stammering was because of admiration and awe – just like the “kid” selling him a car. As for Deacon, he realised that just because he lost one fight (the custody of his niece) that didn’t mean he needed to stop fighting altogether. There was still hope. As they said they were both down, but neither was out. And not even a serial killer was going to stop them from going after what they wanted.
Michael Pauley… I’m seriously running out of words to describe this guy. If you have any, please give me a shout because I might want to borrow them 😉 Anyway he is talented for sure. With a wonderful voice and great pacing he brings Mav and Deacon to life – but also the horrors that follow the latter.
Going back to the kid with selling Mav the car – or rather the remodeling of his current one to fit with his prosthesis. For me that was a moment or meeting that really touched me. Because Pauley and Sue so clearly showed us that something as innocent as a look or lack thereof can be interpreted in so many ways depending on what baggage you are carrying on your back. For Mav it was a rejection due to his scars and lost leg. For the kid (Gah, I can’t remember his name, and I wish I had the print version to look it up, that’s the one negative with audios) Mav was a reminder of the dad he lost in war. A reminder that they sometimes do come home. He was in awe of him. From this rambling you might think this was something huge in the book, but it really wasn’t. It took a few minutes at the most, but it made an impact, on me, but also on Mav. So kudos to Pauley and Sue for truly bringing that to life.
In Safe Hands was a nice story about two lost men finding each other, realising they still had something to fight for. Finding the will and ability to live but more importantly to love.
RATING: 
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