The Protector by Renata W. Muller
The Protector by Renata W. Muller
Review by Robin Davies
Renata W. Müller, the author, is a Hungarian. She was born and raised in Budapest, Hungary and has lived in Switzerland for many years. She writes contemporary romance, filled with passionate love, eternal obsession and family intrigue. This particular story takes place mostly in America with brief references to time the main characters spent in London without specific geographical or cultural references.
The main context of the book is focused on the first love of a young woman who’s parents died. The woman was raised by her aunt and uncle who have illicit ties to the criminal underworld. This aspect of the family is only a backstage setting to the overall story. The events could easily have taken place and been engaged without that twist. This element of the story is not fully developed in this book although there is room for it to be expanded upon in the ensuing book two continuation of the story.
The book opens up with a horrific robbery scene at the young woman’s store where she has built a business providing party services while simultaneously attending a local university. It initially seems as though the story will be predominantly about the criminal ties of the family but this is merely the backstory to the main characters’ romantic involvement.
This book is about teenage love and falls into the romance genre for classification. The general truth about life and mankind radiating through the novel is that there can be true, soul binding love even amidst tragic loss and life altering circumstances.
The timeline of the story is variable. Going from the present, back to earlier periods of action and then back to the present. The story takes place during different periods of the main character’s life and activities. The setting is real enough that one can imagine the flow and periods being discussed as well as being transported into the story. The setting of the different parts of the story does, in no way, detract from the overarching emotions and concerns of the different characters and what they are thinking and going through.
The main character of the book is Raven. Raven has several nick-names but it is always obvious and easy to follow along with what she’s being called. Her interest is in a man called Rafa who is from a questionable background but who is handsome, smart and head over heels into Raven. One of the themes of the story is about how important each character’s family relationships are to them. This carries through from the beginning of the story to the end.
The book depicts an intriguing story. There are two things that detract from the book and were ever present. First, I don’t quite understand why the timeline jumped around. It was easy to follow but it didn’t always make sense until well into the chapter what the purpose of the change in direction was all about. Second, the quality of the editing of the book is poor. There are grammar errors throughout the novel from the beginning to the end. There are repeated ideas and misspellings. The story itself, fortunately, stands on its own legs. Professional editing would help with this distraction. However, I would still recommend other people to read the book. It is explicit from an emotional viewpoint and is original in its depiction of first love.
