Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Gunnar’s Guardian
SERIES: Protect & Serve
AUTHOR: Pandora Pine
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 247 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2020
BLURB:
Aside from being a cop, Kennedy is used to living a quiet life. But when a new neighbor moves in next door, his peaceful days are at an end.
Gunnar pushes all Kennedy’s buttons. He’s rude, cocky, and overconfident. He’s also sexy, and Kennedy can’t deny the attraction that simmers between them.
He helps Gunnar find a job at the local firehouse, where the younger man seems to fit in well. As they grow closer, tragedy strikes. Will Kennedy be able to save the man who’s become his whole life?
Gunnar’s Guardian is the first book in the Protect and Serve Series and features a sexy cop, his annoying neighbor, hot firefighters, and an arsonist on the loose.
REVIEW:
Warning: Descriptions of domestic violence and abuse.
Kennedy is a guy who has overcome a very dark past. He was adopted into a family with other adopted boys. As adults, they are all very tight still and see each other regularly. He’s also become a cop. He’s a detective in his city and as he returns home one morning from a double shift, he has a new neighbor. The kid – well he’s a bit younger than Kennedy – is not overly friendly and a bit loud and all Kennedy wants to do is sleep. He’s none too happy to see the new neighbor – although he does think he’s cute – but very young.
Gunnar has moved in next to Kennedy and he’s pretty much lost everything. He’s not got a job, a boyfriend, a family. Kennedy discovers this pretty early on and gets his family involved in helping Gunnar – much to Gunnar’s surprise after their initial meetings. He sends Gunnar down to the firehouse where Kennedy’s brother is in charge and he takes Gunnar on at the station. He works hard and for the first time, feels like he might be doing something right. But then tragedy strikes on a call out and there is chaos. There is an arsonist on the loose and both the police and the firemen are trying to keep everyone safe. But there are other forces at work and Gunnar and everyone are at risk.
There’s not a lot of detail in the blurb, so I don’t want to spoil any of the plot here. I really wanted to like this story. I just didn’t connect with any of the characters. They seemed more like caricatures. My impression was everything was way too black and white. It was just so cliched a lot was over the top. I had a lot of trouble with the confrontation scenes towards the end of the book as well. I also couldn’t believe any of the details about the firehouse and the way Gunnar was allowed to do things after just joining. My observation is that isn’t how things work. I might try the next story in this series and I really liked Kennedy’s family, but ultimately there were too many issues for me with this story to recommend it.
RATING: 
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