This is the 6th book in the series. The first 3 were about the Raines Brothers. This last set have revolved around ex-military men who who now work for a private-investigator firm.

Sage Dumont works for her grandfather in Houston at Marine Drilling International. She has worked hard to work her way up in the company based on her job performance and not her last name. She thinks she has the perfect job and is engaged to the perfect man. She manages to land a deal to negotiate buying a drilling platform from a Sheik in Saudi Arabia. If she manages to get the deal she is hoping for a promotion to President.

Sage's grandfather knows there could be potential trouble by bringing a Saudi family into Houston. So he hires Atlas Security to help during the negotiation. Jake Cantrell used to be in Special Forces. He is very familiar with Middle Eastern protocols. He wants Jake to help Sage through the negotiations helping with the proper protocols in dealing with the Sheik and offering any protection should it be needed.

Sage isn't happy about having a bodyguard around but recognizes that she doesn't know how to act and speak around the Sheik and doesnt want to offend him or his family that he is also bringing. She also isn't happy about the strong sexual attraction she feels for this big brute of a man, after all she is engaged to a nice man who is what she thinks society would expect her to marry.

Jake is also very attracted to Sage but doesn't mess with engaged women. So he decides he is just going to do his job in teaching Sage what she needs to know for the Sheik's visit and providing protection duty.

Things don't quite go as planned though.. There is a bombing, drug trafficking, internal conflict between the Sheik and his daughter.

The romance between Sage and Jake was hot and didn't develop too soon. I think the author also did a fantastic job of showing the Saudi's customs for both the men and the women.

The best part was finding out she is going to write another 3 books in this series. We got to meet Alex and Sabrina in this book and their book is sure to be full of fireworks between these two. ( )

Good book. Jake has been hired by Sage's grandfather to be her bodyguard while she is participating in negotiations with a Saudi prince. Sage isn't at all happy about it and makes her feelings clear to Jake. He isn't too thrilled with her either, but an assignment is an assignment.

Jake and Sage get off to a rough start. Sage doesn't think she needs protection or help from Jake. He didn't make the best first impression when he mistook her for the receptionist and she isn't going to forget it. Sage has worked her way up in the family company and could be in line to become CEO if she pulls off this deal with the Saudi prince. She's strong and determined and knows exactly what she wants. She sees Jake as the caveman type, there to intimidate, but not much use otherwise. He's nothing like the sophisticated men like her fiance. She quickly learns that there's much more to Jake than meets the eye. Jake isn't too thrilled to be protecting a businesswoman who probably got her job because of who she is. He sees her as a spoiled society girl playing at real work. That doesn't last long as he sees just how good she really is at her job.

I liked Jake a lot. He's a little rough around the edges, but he is highly intelligent and honorable. He's attracted to Sage, but since she's engaged he's determined to keep his hands to himself. I really had fun seeing their power struggles at the beginning. It didn't take as long as it could have before they developed a good working relationship. I liked seeing the way that his view of life changed over the book. He went from a lone wolf type to one who was willing to form relationships. I really liked his Big Brother relationship with Felix. It was another layer of his personality that showed what kind of man he was.

I had a harder time liking Sage. She's earned her place in this business, that's no problem. But I didn't like the way that she had basically selected her fiance because of his pedigree and what she saw as suitable qualities. She's attracted to Jake, but sees too many inequalities between them, which made her seem rather snobby. I liked the way that exposure to Jake had her rethinking her engagement. There were a couple encounters between Jake and Phillip that made me laugh. Once Phillip is out of the picture things get pretty hot between Jake and Sage. They spend a lot of time telling themselves why a relationship won't work long term, but they can have fun short term. I loved seeing Jake start to plan a future and wanted to slap Sage silly for what she said to Jake near the end. I'm glad she came to her senses and saw that they belonged together. I felt like Jake could have made her work a little harder to make up, but it was good.

The suspense was quite good. I enjoyed learning the bits of protocol that Jake taught to Sage. The theme of the story was realistic and easy to believe in. The leaking of the story that led to the protests obviously had a purpose, and that became more clear as the book went on. Sage was a bit naive about the danger of the protests which led her to make a stupid move, but she learned her lesson quickly and Jake got high points for the way he handled it. Things got a bit more intense with the conversation Jake overheard between the sheikh's son and his friend. Add in an explosion, drug trafficking and some possible terrorist activity and the last quarter of the book had me staying awake until I finished it.

I loved seeing the backup and support Jake got from his friends and coworkers. It wasn't just on the business side either. I loved seeing them come together for the takedown at the end. There were some great sparks between his coworker Alex and Sage's friend Rina, which means their story is bound to be good. ( )

Against the Sun The Raines of Wind Canyon by Kat Martin
ISBN: 9780778313502
Jake Cantrell's job was to watch over Ian Dumonds granddaughter while the Saudia Arabia sheik was in town with his family.
Sage Elizabeth didn't think she needed a bodyguard.
She's engaged to Phillip so Jake is not a threat to getting serious over.
Interesting to learn so much about Muslims and their customs.
Sage has them lined up to shop one day where the stores they want to visit will shut down to the public while they are there.
Another trip is to the family ranch to ride horses and stay overnight. Then onto the talks of the sale-the main reason why the Sheik is there.
Jake follows some of the son and cousins talk about drugs, shipment and money and doesn't like the sounds of it. He thinks as he's been away from
the country for a long time that he's gotten the words translated wrong.
His other ex Marine friends are close by and have helped with guarding and escorting when he's needed them.
Sage's friend Rina likes Alex, one of the extra men but she's living with Ryan who's away for a few days.
Sage was slowly but surely forgetting about Phillip and concentrating more on Jake, she had only kissed him once.
Missing person, drugs, betrayals, bombs going off and sex are just a few more things to look forward to in this book.
Just when you think the whole book is done, finish has been written, other things have come to light ... ( )

Sage had a rough beginning to life but has earned her way up the office ladder to be in contention for Vice President of the family oil business. She just has to land a deal with Sheik Khalid AlKahzaz. Grandfather Ian, has hired a body guard for her while the Sheik is in town.
Jake Cantrell, tall, muscular and not interested in spoiled rich girls.
Sage easily earns his respect as she grows to fall for Jake. That means a broken engagement and a sharp left turn in her life plans.
This was a well thought out story as are all of Ms. Martin's books in this series. Just the right amount of passion. Just the right amount of angst and charged moments. For once, like a breath of fresh air, the plans of the good guys to bring down the bad guys actually work out. I loved that. So tired of everything going wrong and the good guys come off not looking too bright. This was a page turner and very hard to put down. ( )

A nice addition to the series, though not one of my favorites. The characters and their romance were just okay; nothing spectacular, though. Even the suspense seemed a bit tame--I thought it was way too easy to figure out the bad guy in this one. By the time the main characters caught on I kind of hand that "what took you so long?" feeling. I did enjoy the addition of the sheik and his family--nice cultural details in that story line--and both Sage's friend Rina and the sheik's daughter A'lia were strong characters that I enjoyed reading about. Even though I probably won't be rereading this one, I definitely plan to continue with the series. ( )