Book Review for PROTECTING PIPER by Cynthia Eden

She was off limits. 

Eric Wilde has always known that Piper Lane isn’t for him. She is his younger brother’s best friend…and probably more. But that hasn’t stopped Eric from wanting her. For longing for the one woman that he can’t have. Sure, he’s rich, successful—he’s built a security empire, and he’s got the world at his feet. Only he doesn’t have her. 

He is the one man she needs the most. 

Free-spirited Piper Lane has always considered Eric to be the enemy. He’s seemed to resent her, and the guy just flat-out makes her nervous. Every time she’s around him, she winds up doing something horribly embarrassing. But, this time…everything has changed. This time, he’s the one man she needs the most. 

Something is stalking Piper. 

A stranger has broken into Piper’s home twice, and she feels like someone is following her. Watching her every move. She needs a professional to help her—so enter Eric Wilde. He promises her protection, he promises to put his best investigators on her case, and he even moves her into his house. Suddenly, the guy who has always been the villain in her life…he’s now playing the role of hero. 

Everything will change as the danger mounts. 

And maybe Eric isn’t so bad, after all. The more time that Piper spends with him, the more she realizes that her feelings for Eric are far more complicated that she ever imagined. Desire explodes between them even as the danger deepens around her. Someone in the dark is targeting Piper, and he is determined that if he can’t possess her…then he will destroy her.

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The double-layered intensity of the story had me all twisted and on pins and needles as I binge-read Eric and Piper's story. I absolutely adored this tale and the fact that the author was able to change my opinion of the hero as the story progressed. 
Eric is an alpha man to the point of being stubborn, boorish at times, could seem like a bully if not looking a bit more deeply into the tale. In the beginning, I had my eyebrows lifted and ready to pounce on him for real until he started to truly communicate with Piper - and with his brother Ben - when he was able to form sentences and have conversations instead of just claiming Piper as 'his'. He turned out to be an adorable, loving, sexy beast, that completely won me over, the last tipping point towards the end of the book, a conversation he has with Ben. 
Piper is no shrinking violet either. She is a strong, capable, successful woman who has built her own prosperity. She might have had less when growing up, yet that had not held her back when pursuing her dreams. She is capable to defend herself, she is able to hold her own, yet with this secret stalker, she is going to need all the help she can get, cause the culprit is out for blood.
The connection between Piper and Eric has been developing in the shadow of his brother, Ben's friendship with her. Yet there is a unique history, a tight bond between Piper and Eric, that is revealed as the story unfolds. 
And the chemistry between Eric and Piper - oh wow. I knew Cynthia Eden can write some steaming love scenes, yet Piper and Eric - they set the bar up high on the smoking hot loving. 
But Protecting Piper is not just a hot love story, there is an element of creepy stalker who is out to get Piper and everyone close to her. When part of a story is told from the culprit's point of view, I often get that dreadfully morbid, completely freaked out feeling, like only great suspense brings to you. And this stalker is escalating quickly while making people in Piper's life look quilty. Talking about intense, gory scenes... 
An ardent love story, combustible and filled with feels, in the middle of a frantic search of a prowler escalating into a savage killer. 
Steamy, danger-filled romantic suspense just the way I love it...
~ Five Spoons

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Award-winning author Cynthia Eden writes dark tales of paranormal romance and romantic suspense. She is a New York Times, USA Today, Digital Book World, and IndieReader best-seller. Cynthia is also a three-time finalist for the prestigious RITA® award. Since she began writing full-time in 2005, Cynthia has written over eighty novels and novellas.


Cynthia lives along the Alabama Gulf Coast. She loves romance novels, horror movies, and chocolate. Her favorite hobbies including hiking in the mountains (searching for waterfalls) and spelunking.

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