Safe by the Marshals Side (Witness Protection #1) by Shirlee McCoy

Safe by the Marshals Side (Witness Protection #1) Reviews

• 
  Melanie

  Safe by the Marshal's Side was a good read, but because of the way it started (with the heroine already under protection), I felt like I almost missed a big chunk of the story. I get why it was written that way, but it stopped me from feeling connected to the book right away.
  
  I liked the characters and the bits of danger in the book. I also liked how they held off on the romance until he was done protecting her as the witness.
  
  All in all, Safe by the Marshal's Side was a fine read. It moved at a pretty fast pace, which was great.
  
  *I received a complimentary eBook copy of this book for my honest review. As always, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.*
• 
  Sheila

  Such a great read. Annie such a strong women. Sophia is adorable, and I really liked the us marshalls.
• 
  Hannah

  This was a nice, innocent story. The writing was good and the characters interesting. It was a quick read and kept me guessing until the end. And the ending was very satisfying!
• 
  Hailey Rose

  This is a cute "feel good" story! Very clean. I enjoyed it greatly!
• 
  Wendy Sparkes

  #1 Witness Protection Continuity.
  
  After her husband's murder, Angel Delacorte and her daughter Sophia go into Witness Protection.
  
  Angel (Now Annie Duncan) saw the murderers. The trial is fast approaching, and she is going to testify.
  
  Only someone doesn't want her to testify.
  
  She has been in a safe house for about a year. No one had found her. Until now.
  
  Where is the leak?
  
  Annie has to trust the marshals protecting her to keep her safe ~ only since finding out about the betrayal, lies and gambling addiction of her husband, trusting doesn't come too easily any more.
  
  Plus the last words her husband spoke, "Keep the baby safe." keep haunting her. What did he know?
  
  A great start to the Witness Protection continuity. I appreciated the look inside on witness protection, and like Annie, I know the lack of freedom to be able to go out when you want, and to always be on the alert and ready to move would start to drive me nuts. To be watching out for her daughter as well, and having to trust her to other's care at times, I could appreciate the fear she felt doing that. To give up your family and friends and support system at a time you need them the most must be difficult. Shirlee McCoy did a great job showing that side of it. I'm looking forward to finding out what happens next.
  
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  You really do need to read these books in order as each book, while a story on its own, also has a plot which runs & develops through all the 6 books, building up to the grand finale in book 6. This means that you will not only want to read this book, but also the following 5 in the series! So if you are looking for a one off story to read, then this is not the book for you. However, if you are short of reading material & want a series to get you going, then you might want to try out this series.
  
  
  
  
• 
  Paula Legate

  I loved this book! It's a keeper! Hunter and his team are the US. Marshalls that have been protecting Annie, and her precious daughter Sophia for the past year. They have to keep Annie alive and well so she can testify against the two people that killed her husband. Hunter is frustrated that the location to the last two safe houses has been leaked. He wants to trust everyone he works with, but the evidence is there that not everyone can be trusted. Hunter handpicked 4 people he knew he could trust.
  
  The suspense and action was good. This is a faith based book. Both Annie, and Hunter read the bible, and pray. They both believe in God.
  
  The characters of the book were all likable. I loved little Sophia. Her mom would ask her what she wanted for dinner, and her answer was always cookies. The little girl loved her cookies. Annie was a good mom. She always put her daughter first. Annie would do anything to protect and keep her daughter safe.
  
  The friendship that build between Hunter, and Annie was sweet. Hunter is a US Marshall, and on the job. He stayed professional throughout the book until after the trial. That gave Hunter, and Annie time to know one another, to share each other's hopes, and dreams.
• 
  Melissa

  Thankfully this story was only category length or I would have DNF after about the fifth chapter. What I liked: the hero (Hunter) was a great character both as an individual and part of the couple and I liked the other US Marshals that are on Hunter's team and their interactions with one another while doing the job. The kid was cute, but if the story didn't have the kid in, the story would have been exactly the same. I thoroughly disliked the heroine - what a whiny, naïve idiot who is still in love with her evil dead husband. She was more like a Christian version of a NA heroine. The religious aspect of the story was done with a deft touch for about 2/3 of the book and then it went into over load. But what I most hated about this book is that it ended on a cliff hanger and basically was used to set up the rest of the series (written by different authors about the same US Marshal team). This was not a complete story; the author dropped a plot twist about how this was bigger than the dead husband's gambling debts to the organized crime boss but would not say what it was about or how deep the dead husband's actions went to the bigger crime. The "I love yous" came out of the thin air real quick at the end.GRRRR....
• 
  Erik Orrantia

  I hate to give one star, but I have to admit that I found the storyline boring and the writing juvenile. I was hoping for some interesting plot twist--none. I was hoping for suspense--none. Sex? None. Instead, I got loosely veiled Christianity pushed down my throat. I really thought there was potential and, if nothing else, there were very few typos or editing errors. But there was lot of head bouncing, constant irritating changes in verb tense, a tendency to skip over what might have been excitement by suddenly switching to past tense, telling what happened in a few short sentences. Example: all the work up about a trial and then suddenly it was yesterday's news. I almost always finish a book that I start but this one was nearly discarded about two thirds through when I was nearly certain that it was going nowhere but boring predictability. I hated to be right about it, but I was.
• 
  Sarita

  Rating 3.5
  
  I enjoyed this Romantic Suspense from a new to me author. The build up of the suspense was done at a great pace and the author even got me guessing incorrectly who might have been involved. Since this is the start of a series, a lot of questions were still left open, which would continue to be resolved as the series unfolds.
  
  The romance between Hunter and Annie grew at a reasonable pace and was sweet, not to much in your face. I loved the characters and Annie's protective love over her daughter Sophia (who was so cute I wished I would one day have a daughter as cute as she was - I don't think I would ever think about a cookie and not think back to this book and Sophia).
  
  All in all a great read for Romance Suspense fans and looking forward to the rest of the series.
• 
  Faith

  Thank you, Ms. McCoy for writing a clean, suspenseful story. There was some romance, but nothing ever went beyond a kiss. The violence was not graphic and the story was very believable. There were a few loose ends left to be wrapped up in the other books in the series, but since it is part of a series, that is understandable, though slightly disappointing. The part I liked best about the book was the fact that the main characters were Christians, but didn't bang you over the head with their Christianity.
• 
  Cathy

  Wow, I loved this book! My first by this author but not my last. Also am excited to read the others in the series. The characters were extremely likable and the romance was realistic. I loved the conversations. This is the best of the LIS series. Sometimes I want to skim these books because they can be cliche or repetitive but not the case with this one! Highly recommended!
• 
  Andrea Cox

  Repetitive. Repetitive. Repetitive.
  
  I have no clue how many times the dude had to remind Annie that she needed to follow the rules, but I was definitely the one beaten over the head with it. One would think that after a year in protective custody, she would be very well aware of the rules and would gladly follow them, especially considering how close the court date was—which, of course, signaled the nearing end of her isolation. She seemed to follow the rules just fine except for once (and that time was completely understandable, considering how oppressive and bossy the leading man had been toward her leading up to that point), so I don’t understand why Hunter chose to remind her ad nauseum that she better be a good little girl and mind her manners. This lady was old enough to have a two-year-old of her own; she certainly didn’t need to be treated like one. Besides that, she’d acted with nothing but respect toward the team and the rules, which showed me she was well beyond needing the reminders.
  
  Because of the above reason, I found the romance improbable. Why would a lady purposely choose to date or fall in love with a man who belittled her and treated her like a very young child with an attention deficit disorder, needing constant reminders of how to follow rules? Personally, I don’t want to be involved in such a controlling relationship.
  
  Another thing that bugged me: The team of marshals was unprofessional and immature. I wouldn’t trust them to protect a dead duck let alone a woman and her young daughter. In front of the clients, they bickered amongst themselves over breakfast, stared daggers at one another while moving the clients to a new locale, one of the marshals flirted with the client, and the team leader lectured the client about not falling in love with his partner BEFORE he even approached the partner about acting with professionalism and not flirting with clients. This team was a hot mess, and I’m not sure how they’d had a 100% success rate prior to this, considering they didn’t get along very well or know how to behave while on the job. This team was incompetence personified and not a realistic representation of the United States marshals service.
  
  The only realistic character was the two-year-old child. Her moods, tantrums, joy, and energy levels were absolutely normal to a lot of kids that age. She was adorable, and I wish the story had fully focused on her, as she was definitely the showstopper. I liked that her mom was trying so hard to create a normal routine for her amid the chaos of being in witness protection and just how unsettling that whole experience can be.
  
  This book also wasn’t as action packed as I’m used to from Love Inspired Suspense, though what little action was there was pretty good. However, the plot didn’t all make sense, especially the revelation in the final chapter. For obvious reasons, I can’t really discuss that one. Suffice it to say, I think Sophia would have been in much greater danger throughout the story had this shock-and-awe turn of events really been a thing through the full story. It was a non-factor, so I’m not sure why it even came into play in the final chapter. That felt way too late in the game to be pertinent to the outcome of the entire story.
  
  While I wanted to enjoy this book, it turned out to be a miss for me.
  
  Content: gambling addiction mentioned
• 
  Karen Collier

  Safe by the Marshal’s Side makes a great start for the Witness Protection continuity series from Harlequin’s Love Inspired Suspense. As a fan of Inspirational Romantic Suspense, I’m hooked, and ready to read through the rest of the series. Happily, the sixth and final book has recently been released, so I can go snag them all for my eReader without delay.
  
  The blend of romance with suspense makes for a fun and lively read. As the story begins, someone has discovered the location of the safe house where Annie and her daughter have been hiding under the protection of Hunter’s team of U.S. marshals. When an intruder makes an intimidating and clearly threatening delivery, Hunter whisks them off to a new location. But that’s not the end of the danger. Far from it.
  
  With the trial date approaching, and uncertainty building over how the location could have been leaked, and how to prevent further security breaches, the tension is pretty high throughout. Plus there’s the growing attraction between Annie and Hunter as she comes to realize there’s more to him than the strictly business persona he’s shown her for the past year.
  
  I found both hero and heroine to be very likeable people with believable goals and motivations. And Annie’s daughter Sophia was simply too cute for words. It was fun to watch them face significant challenges together and draw closer in the process.
  
  The action on both the suspense and romance fronts heats up at the end of the book, and I enjoyed the vivid way certain scenes were described to draw out the reader’s emotional responses. The ending certainly worked for me. There’s a surprise twist introduced at the end and a few details are left unresolved, setting things up for future books in the series. I’m definitely looking forward to finding out where the Witness Protection continuity series will go from here.
  
  To learn more about author
  Shirlee McCoy and find out how to connect with her on social media, check out her Web site. And for those who read and enjoy this title as much as I did and want to find
  the rest of the series, here’s a list of the titles and their respective authors.
• 
  June

  This is going to be a great continuity series and Shirlee McCoy did an awesome job of starting it off. Her books are usually pretty intense and this one follows that pattern..
  
  Hunter is a US Marshal who protects witnesses. Usually it's the criminal that he protects though, so this case of protecting the innocent woman and her child is just a little different for him.
  
  Annie just wants to testify against the men who killed her husband and then get on with her life, and raise her daughter without someone else telling her what to do every moment..
  
  And then we've got the strained relationship between Josh who lost his partner, Daniel, and Serena who is Daniel's sister. She blames Josh for Daniel's death so things are usually tense when they are both working together.
  
  There's always a bit of excitement when the bad guys find the safe house and everyone is suddenly on the move.
  
  Bombs, bullets and babies. :) Looks like some exciting times ahead. 5 more books to come. I've read several really interesting witness protection books lately. Very fascinating subject
• 
  Sarah

  Annie has been in hiding for a year. The trial is soon, soon it will be all over. It seems like it would be easier now. Instead the stress has piled up & things seem to be getting tougher. Annie has done what she was told & has been safe. She did it for Sophie. But as unexpected things start happening she struggles to stick with it & wonders if agreeing to testify was a good idea.
  
  Annie struggled with trust, understandable after what she learned about her husband after he was killed. Hunter held himself aloof from the people he protected. But Annie & Sophie were different. It was neat to watch him show some "humanism" after the way he was described as standoffish. He definitely believed in telling it straight & not beating around the bush.
  
  Just when it seems like everything has worked out, new evidence comes to light that leads smoothly into the next book. It's going to be interesting to read the next one & see if Annie, Sophie & Hunter are in it.
  
• 
  Theresa

  This is a great story. Wish life didn't get in the way so I wouldn't have had to put it down. Lol, FANTASTIC STORY. There was a few things left unanswered but hoping there will be a book to answer those questions. The main ? Is about Josh and Sereina. I loves by get. He is so in control that it kind of make u want to see him loose it. Annie is awesome. No Matter what happens she will do anything to keep her baby safe . That was her husband's last die'n request, so Annie will do it. Even at the cost of her own life. HUNTER AND HIS TEAM WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO KEEP THEM SAFE. So the team guards her while see and her daughter r in witneSS protection waiting to testify against the the men who kids her husband. Will HUNTER and his team be able to keep them safe. Guess u will have to read and find out.
• 
  Jane

  Safe by the Marshal's Side is a love story with lots of danger, a strong handsome marshal named Hunter and a cute and positive woman in witness protection with her daughter Sophia. Annie's husband Joe was killed in their kitchen and she survived when the killer's gun misfired. She did get a good look at both killers and has spent the last year alone with her infant daughter in witness protection. The killers find two safe houses and use scare tactics to work on her not to testify. Even after the conviction, the group of headed by 'Mr. Big' is still after Annie for an exciting conclusion and a happy ever after too. Safe by the Marshal's Side has lots of action, tender moments, great characters and an adorable toddler to make is not only a good romance but exciting too.
• 
  Ashley Clark

  Spoilers!!
  
  
  This was a flat in my opinion .. Good story but to me the action wasn't much of anything. It never spiked high enough for me.. I was also disappointed in the characters.. If he can take her to church every Sunday then I'm sure he could have made a trip to the park happen more then once.. Hell I'm sure playing in the back hard could have been done.. I know it's just a book but oi.. That really got to me and maybe because I've got kids?? The romance... I know they liked each other through out the book but the BAM I love you at the end... Wth? More the likely wouldn't recommend this to someone.. Or read again.
• 
  Katrina Epperson

  A wonderful story in the Witness Protection series. We are introduced to Annie Duncan and Hunter Davis who are thrown together after Annie witnesses the murder of her husband. The US Marshals are providing protection for her and her 22 month old daughter until the trial of the suspects. Hunter has moved Annie and Sophia several times, but as the trial date is closer he brings her back to St. Louis. As the case heats up so does the feelings of Annie and Hunter. This is a suspense with a little romance. I would recommend it to anyone.
• 
  Lisa

  Now this is a great story! Shirlee McCoy gives a strong lead in with the Witness Protection series. Annie sees who murders her husband and goes into Witness Protection with her daughter, Sophia. Hunter Davis leads the U.S. Marshal team protecting Annie and Sophia. Hunter and Annie are the best couple I've seen in a long time. Marcus O'Malley and Sheri, from Dee Henderson's The Guardian, are my all-time favorites, but Hunter and Annie... a very close second. Enjoy!
• 
  Ruth

  LOVE all mysteries by Shirlee McCoy.....have read all but a few of her first ones and have yet to find one that was not good!!! I love it when the authors join in and do a continuity and I am most anxious for the 2nd book in this series "Witness Protection" to come out in Feb. by Margaret Daly, another wonderful suspense writer!! Thank you ladies for sharing your God given talent with us bookies!!! We love you!!
• 
  Lacey Black

  I really like this book. It was suspenseful and very engaging. Annie is being protected by the US Marshalls and is about to testify against the men who killed her late husband. Hunter is the lead Marshall who is hellbent on protecting Annie and her young daughter. Their attraction is intense and both struggle to work through it. When Annie is free to live her life, will her life involve Hunter? You find out...though this book also ends with a cliffhanger - who is Mr. Big?
• 
  Barbara

  The difficulty of being in the witness protection program is hard to imagine, especially if you did nothing wrong. Add to that a toddler daughter to protect and you get an idea of the tension in this book. Shirlee McCoy does an excellent job showing the difficulty, yet necessity, of trusting God and not trying to do things yourself, even when someone is trying to kill you and your baby. This is an enjoyable read with a satisfying ending.
• 
  Bonnie Drummond

  This Series is a great Romance Series to read.Safe By The Marshall's Side puts you onto a very big problem for all Law-in-Forcemeat every where that has been going on for decades. When you read this series be proud of all the Officers that try to stop these things. Safe By The Marshall's Side book #1 in the Witness Protection Series by: Shirlee McCoy will get 10 gold stars .
• 
  Norma

  Excellent
  
  Excellent
  
  This was a wonderful, clean, and suspenseful story. I loved how the author showed Annie and Hunter working through what they were feeling. I also loved that it was a Christian story as well. I highly recommend this book.