A Safe Place (Harlequin Super Romance, #1768) (The Devereux Family, #1) (Harlequin Larger Print Superromance, #1768)

by Margaret Watson

Cal Stewart has it all. Tall, blond and built, the football star is a smooth-talking charmer. But there's one situation he can't talk himself out of–and now he's stuck doing community service at Frankie Devereux's after-school center for troubled teens.

Six weeks and he's out of there. End of story. Except, from the start, Frankie gets under his skin. She's tough and vulnerable, passionate and guarded all at the same time. She makes Cal want to unravel her. Protect her with everything he's got. But he's no shining knight. What he should do is focus on his career and forget all about her. Too bad that's easier said than done.

• ISBN13: 9781472026750
• Publish Date: 27 January 2014 (first published 1 March 2012)
• Publish Status: Permanently Withdrawn
• Out of Print: 6 May 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Mills & Boon
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 288
• Language: English
• URL: https://millsandboon.co.uk

Reviews

[chymerra]

When I read the blurb for A Safe Place, my attention was caught. A football player was doing community service. A woman was running a center for troubled teens. That was enough for me to agree to review it. I am glad I did. A Safe Place was a fantastic read.

The plotline with Frankie, FreeZone, and the head of DCF was troubling but well written. I was troubled because I had no issue seeing what happened to Frankie in her teens happening to a girl in real life. I am not going to go off on a tangent but sometimes people in positions of power like that prey upon the very people they are supposed to protect. I cheered when Frankie took the power that man had over her and owned it. I also cheered when Frankie delivered on her promise.

Cal’s plotline wasn’t as extreme as Frankie’s, but he did have issues. He was dealing with a possible career ending injury and doing community service. His plotline didn’t go into his issues as deep as it did with Frankie, but they were there.

I didn’t like Cal. He was a self-absorbed jerk for about 90% of the book. Everything about that man irked me. The way he treated Frankie. The way he treated the kids, Ramon especially. He turned everything into about him or sex. He did get better as the book went on but still. I couldn’t bring myself to like him.

I thought that Frankie was a strong woman. She overcame some horrific things in her early teens. She turned that pain into something positive. Her determination to help the teens in her center was admirable. I also liked the strength that it took to confront the man that hurt her. Like I said above, she owned it.

As much as I didn’t like Cal, he and Frankie had some serious heat together. Their sexual chemistry was off the wall. When they finally did have sex, it was hot.

I didn’t get much of a romance vibe from Cal and Frankie. It was more of a sex thing for me. So what happened at the end of the book didn’t jive with me. Don’t get me wrong; I was happy about it. But it was something that I couldn’t even picture.

The end of A Safe Place was satisfying. I can’t get into why but I ended the book with a huge grin on my face. I can’t wait to read book 2!!