The Guardian

Rating:
Summary: I can recommend this book to anyone! Dee Henderson is great!
Review: Suspense, action, love, humor, faith in God, excitement, mystery... these are the elements used by Dee Henderson in book 2 of the O'Malley series, "The Guardian". As I said, I can recommend this book to be read by ANYONE! It's fantastically written. The O'Malley series are about the O'Malley family. The O'Malley consists of seven brothers and sisters, three boys and four girls. Since they were little they had been in the same orphanage and when they got out of the orphanage, they decided to 'adopt' each other, taking the name O'Malley as their family name. They all have very important jobs, Marcus is a U.S. Marshal, Kate a negotiator for hostage situations, botched-up robberies, etc., Jennifer is a doctor, Jack a fireman, Rachel a trauma psychologist, and Lisa is a forensic pathologist. This story is about Marcus, the guardian of the family.

U.S. Marshal Marcus O'Malley is helping with security at Chicago Jefferson Renaissance Hotel, making sure nothing goes wrong at a judicial conference. During the banquet, political speech writer Shari Hanford, stumbles into security control center by accident. There she meets Marcus and he leads her back to the ballroom. Both finding each other attractive, they set a date to have coffee the next morning. They part happily anticipating seeing each other again. Little do they know that they would see each other again sooner than they expect, under very grim circumstances.

Judge Carl Whitmore, friend of the Hanford family, is unexpectedly chosen to be the next Supreme Court justice. He is murdered that very night, killed in cold blood. But the killer did not expect to have Shari open the door from the adjoining room while he is still there. He fires at her but she is saved by her brother, Josh, who pushes her out of the way. Josh is hit in the shoulder and Shari's father is shot in the chest. The killer escapes and U.S. Marshal Marcus and others must make sure he is caught and brought to justice. And one more thing, they must protect Shari because the killer wants her dead, for she saw his face. Marcus must guard Shari from danger while at the same time begins to fall in love with her. But Marcus is uncomfortable with Shari and her praying to God. He had once been a believer when he was very young and had prayed all the time. Then he had been hurt when his mother had died and didn't believe in prayer anymore. Can Shari teach Marcus to believe in God and prayer?

I just loved the characters of Marcus and Shari. They are so realistic with such good characteristics such as kind, loving, trustworthy, patient, and caring. But this story just isn't about Marcus and Shari, it also involves the O'Malley's, Dave Richman (Kate O'Malley's boyfriend), and Marcus' partner, Quinn Diamond. I love the banter between Lisa O'Malley and Quinn! This book focuses on prayer and I absolutely agree with everything it says about prayer in this book. Just because God doesn't answer you doesn't mean that He's not listening. God is always there and He has a plan and a time for everything. We just have to trust in Him.

The first in the O'Malley series is "The Negotiator" in which the main character is Marcus' sister, Kate O'Malley. This is also another great book! Then after this book is "The Truth-Seeker" with Lisa O'Malley then "The Protector" with Jack O'Malley. Can't wait to read those, too! Other books by Dee Henderson is "Danger in the Shadows" (written before "The Negotiator" whose main character is Dave Richman's sister, Sara Richman) and "True Devotion", the first in the Uncommon Heroes Series. I highly recommend all of these books!! Trust me, they're all fantastic!

Rating:
Summary: Oh yeah the O'Malley Series!
Review: The drama in this is so good you get all caught up in what's happening around the characters you forget it's a romance until it happens. That makes for a nice suprise.

Although I loved Marcus and Shari, I fell in love with Quin.

Rating:
Summary: Oh yeah the O'Malley Series!
Review: The drama in this is so good you get all caught up in what's happening around the characters you forget it's a romance until it happens. That makes for a nice suprise.

Although I loved Marcus and Shari, I fell in love with Quin.

Rating:
Summary: My Absolute Fav!
Review: The Guardian is my definitely my favorite book out of all the O'Malley Series books. I completely fell in love with Marcus and his story. His struggle with believing in God again was so real and I loved how he really wrestled with it, instead of just having an immediate overnight conversion like so many other Christian Romance novels portray. I also love how close all the O'Malleys are to one another...and how they'd stick by each other through anything. Dee Henderson has done another masterpiece with The Guardian!

Rating:
Summary: The Guardian Rocks! + corrections to Review 1
Review: The Guardian is the best book I've read in ages! The characters are real, and the suspense and action keeps you turning the pages. Make sure you have plenty of time to waste when you start to read this book, cos you won't want to put it down. I highly recommend all of Dee Henderson's O'Malley series books to anyone who is considering reading them. In response to review 1, where it is said that Dee Henderson doesn't tell us enough about Dave - like where he got all his money - I take it that whoever wrote that review hasn't read Danger in the Shadows, as it explains the whole life story of Dave and his sister Sara. Their father is the American ambassador to Britain, hence the British accents and vast finances, but the money is also inherited from past generations. I reccommend that the writer of Review 1 read Danger in the Shadows. I also recommend it to anyone else interested in it.

Rating:
Summary: WOW!!
Review: The Guardian is the second book in the O'Malley series and it is everything I expected and then some. The O'Malley series just keeps getting better and better. I could not put the book down. Dee Henderson just knows how to blend Romance, Faith, and Mystery.

I fell in love with Marcus in The Negotiator and it only gets better in The Guardian. I wish I had a friend like Marcus let alone a brother. He has just enough humor and support for both Sherri and the O'Malley's.

If I had to pick which O'Malley book was the best I would have a hard time. Because I enjoyed them equally.

Rating:
Summary: A hero with a sense of honor and chivalry!
Review: The Guardian, book 2 of the O'Malley Series by Dee Henderson, was a pretty good read. This book, like it's predecessor, is something of a whodunit with elements of romance added. I don't read much fiction, but I enjoyed the first book of the O'Malley series (The Negotiator) enough to buy this one too. My wife and I read this one concurrently too, and we enjoyed discussing the story as it developed. Our discussions allowed us quality time to get away from the mundane things in our lives and share some time together.

The opening of this book was pretty tough on my wife and I. We are new parents (our daughter just turned four months). Dee Henderson describes an episode from Marcus O'Malley's childhood that really hooked into us. We see things differently as first time parents, and the beginning of this book hit us. After the opening scene, we find Marcus has grown up and is a U.S. Marshal. A murder takes place and he's involved in the investigation. Henderson gives us more insight into the killer in this book than she did in The Negotiator, so we figured out the details earlier in this story. So, again, the ending was anti-climactic to us.

The theological issue of this book is about prayer - specifically, when it seems that God doesn't answer our prayers. She handles the topic pretty well, but it is not overt, nor cumbersome. The story never lags for her to make her point.

I continue to enjoy the O'Malley family. Henderson has me hooked on getting to know them all. Marcus is a good character, a genuine good guy with some issues to resolve. Henderson gives us a hero with honor and a sense of chivalry.

My nagging question from The Negotiator was answered in this novel. It involved Dave - why does a Brit work for the FBI. He's not a Brit, he just grew up across the pond. His unnumbered millions are, as of yet, unexplained though.

The vocabulary of the characters is better in The Guardian than it was in The Negotiator. The dialogue seemed more realistic to me most of the way through, and Henderson did not seem to have a "pet" word in this book. I can only recall the word "roil" appearing once in this one (see my review of The Negotiator for more info on "roil").

In The Negotiator, Henderson really did a great job of developing a sense of joy when the O'Malley's got together. That feeling was not as developed in this book, at least it didn't stick out in my mind when reading this one. However, the big trait of the "family" in this book was loyalty - the family sticks together. As the oldest O'Malley, Marcus is the guardian of the family - and his identity is largely tied up in that role. He is a well-written character.

In the end, I really liked the book. I went right out and bought the third book of the O'Malley series. Again, I think that most readers, Christian or not, will enjoy reading it.

Rating:
Summary: perfect
Review: The item came swiftly and in perfect condition. I will buy from this seller again and would recommend them to everyone.

Rating:
Summary: A Lesson in Endurance
Review: The second book in the O'Malley series involves the oldest of the self adopted family, Marcus O'Malley. As a U.S. Marshall, he is heading up security at a political event when one of the judges vying to be Supreme Court Justice is shot and killed. Shari, the judge's speechwriter, witnesses the murder in the judge's hotel room and narrowly escapes her own death as the shooter panics.
With the murderer seeking to eliminate his only witness, it is up to Marcus and his partner both protect Shari and her family, as well as solve the mystery of the unexpected murder.

Dee Henderson authors another page turner that grips you to your chair until you have completely finished the book. Once her critic, Henderson has won me over to clearly devoted fan. I look forward to reading the next one!

Rating:
Summary: wonderfully romantic and suspencing
Review: This book is sure to be a favorite to all those romantics who like a little action thrown into the picture! It's a wonderful book that you can't put down even for a minute!
Amanda