Reviewed by Anna Lynn

TITLE:  Atonement

SERIES:  The Protectors

AUTHOR:  Sloane Kennedy

NARRATOR:  Michael Dean

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

RELEASE DATE:  September 30, 2019

LENGTH: 9 hours and 5 minutes

BLURB:

“Once a f–k up, always a f–k up.”

Words 26-year-old Dante Thorne has had to live with for more years than he can count and a title he finally earned at the tender age of 16, when one careless decision led to tragedy. And since he can’t deny the truth of the words, why not live by them instead? F–king up, f–king, it doesn’t matter as long as it feels good and makes him forget the day he failed the one person he’d always sworn to protect. A good philosophy to live by, until Dante meets the one man who might actually have him wishing he was something more….

At 41, and with a distinguished career as a Texas Ranger under his belt, Magnus DuCane should have been in the prime of his life. Instead, he’s mourning the loss of the daughter he couldn’t save and contemplating a future that looks nothing like the one he had planned. The only bright spot in his life is the young grandson who has suddenly been returned to him after going missing two years earlier and the new family of men that he’s been welcomed into with open arms.

But with his iron will, unfailing self-control, and unflappable discipline, Magnus knows he can start a new chapter and get his life back on track…if he can just get past the disturbing, unexpected feelings one young man stirs in him. Because, everything about Dante Thorne is wrong for Magnus. His arrogance, his cocky attitude, every single unfiltered word that falls unchecked out of his mouth and, of course, the fact that he’s a man.

But when his well-meaning friends send Dante with him as a bodyguard when he returns to Texas to testify in a high-profile case, Magnus begins to see beyond the brash words and endless sexual innuendo. And when he starts to discover that what he sees isn’t all that bad, suddenly, the fact that that Dante is a man instead of a woman no longer seems like such a big sticking point….

REVIEW:

The Sixth book in The Protectors series by Ms. Sloane Kennedy and without bias, my most favorite of the whole series. Once again, it is voiced by the amazing Mr. Michael Dean.

As we know, this beloved series is about a group of men who have sworn to protect those who have been abused sexually, kidnapped and sold through human trafficking, sexually-slaved and other such heinous crimes. They are the ones who take care of those who have escaped the arms of the law. They take care of those who have repeatedly committed the crime even after being incarcerated for it and somehow released again. But these men have also been through so much in their personal lives. They have lived through horrors you and I could never imagine going through, least of all, surviving it and living on with their lives, no matter how hard things get.

We first met Dante Thorne (have I mentioned how much I love him?) a few books back where we saw him as alternately guarding Matty while his father then (Tate) was trying to help Hawke (Matty’s other father now) find the people who murdered his wife and unborn child. Those people happened to be Tate’s brother and father who he escaped from all those years ago. Dante was still on the sidelines in those stories but in this installment, we will learn his background story and why he is who he is now.

When Magnus DuCane learned that his grandson is alive, he ran to Seattle to be with Matty while he was undergoing chemotherapy for his Leukemia. He was a decorated Texas Ranger but he felt inadequate because he couldn’t even take care and find his daughter when she went missing with his grandson all those years ago. Right now, there is no place he’d rather be than beside his grandson and the men who have become Tate and Matty’s family.

But before Magnus could start on his new life he has to close his former life and that means going back to testify in the last case he was working on and to formally submit his resignation. He also has to put his property for sale so that he could move to Seattle where he can be closer to his grandson and his newfound family.

What he didn’t count on was being attracted to the young man who is guarding his son and will be the one protecting him while he testifies back home. Dante is arrogant. Dante uses his looks and charisma in order to get what he wants. Since they first met, Dante has been enticing him and making sexual innuendos one after the other which he puts down time and time again. But then Dante, behind all his masks and bravado, is hurting really bad. His history is such that it will open your eyes to several truths about him and the reasons why he lives his life as it is.

Dante hasn’t stopped searching for his younger brother ever since he lost him a decade ago. He endured so many painful memories in the process but he won’t stop until he finds Alecks. Every few months he is in contact with a young man who lives in the same world that he suspects his brother lives in too. He knows he has fucked up so many times but Magnus made him believe that he is not irredeemable. He can be better. He swore that he will become a better man, someone worthy of Magnus.

These stories could bring you down on your knees but it can also restore your faith in mankind. That in the midst of all these chaos and instability, there are still people who are willing to risk their lives to make this world of ours a much better place to live in.

Dante is one-of-a-kind! He is so brave but so vulnerable at the same time. He is arrogant and insecure in more ways that it’ll give you a massive headache. But he is someone who epitomizes more young people nowadays. People who act worldly but behind those worldly arrogance lies an innocence that will tear your heart out. He will make you want to cuddle him and never let him go. Although he will fight you all the way!

This particular book tugs and breaks my heart but I wouldn’t not read it because it is amazing. Mr. Michael Dean’s voiceover has made it more so. All the raw emotions that Dante lets out, all the pain that Magnus endured during his marriage and his daughter’s addiction, his helplessness and vulnerability when faced with the reality that his daughter is truly gone, all those can be heard in every word that Mr. Dean utters. The emotional rollercoaster that Dante went through when he finally found his brother, and that talk he had with Alecks will break your heart. You can hear the unbreakable bond between the brothers that not even years of not seeing each other can diminish. Awesome Mr. Dean!

Amazing job Ms. Sloane Kennedy and Mr. Michael Dean! I have no words to express how awesome you both are!

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Audible 

Amazon