Reviewed on Hearts On Fire... http://heartsonfirereviews.com/

Gabe MacKenna is known throughout Wentworth Prison as a tough, ruthless man not to be crossed. He is everything that comes to mind when you think of a prison thug. Most of the guards turn a blind eye when Gabe is on a roll. In prison for life, Gabe has nothing but a quickie with a willing inmate, bland food and poker for cigarettes to fill the lonely hours when not working for the prison itself. Joey Cooper arrives at Wentworth in 1936 and catches Gabe's eye immediately. A handsome, young doctor, Joey is a total innocent when it comes to prison life. He is brutally raped by MacKenna in the showers one evening. When he returned to the cell block after a short stay in the infirmary, Joey is terrified to learn that Gabe is his new cell mate. Gabe offers Joey protection, for a price, but soon it's Joey that has Gabe breaking all the promises he made to himself when he entered Wentworth. This book just blew me away because on one hand it is a brutal, gritty story and on the other hand it is a beautiful love story. I was caught up in that juxtaposition until I turned the last page. Ms Baggins has the rare gift of being able to create characters that are crude, flawed social misfits and makes the reader adore them. This story is definitely character driven. Gabe truly has no redeeming qualities and is not someone you would bring home to Mom yet I found myself cheering for him right until the end. The characters evolved slowly as did the connection between Joey and Gabe. The story line read smoothly and clearly and my attention never wavered from Ms Baggins' nearly excellent writing style. I am a fan of prison stories and also like a good romance story. This book supplied both without an overabundance of pages that tend to bog down some books. There is no HEA to Gabe and Joey's relationship but I knew there couldn't be because of the length of the men's sentences. I honestly believe that a HEA would have ruined this story. I cannot recommend this story highly enough and look forward to reading more of Ms Baggins' works. ( )

Starkly beautiful

My mental images of this story are mostly in black and white. Some of the more passionate moments carry shades of colour. This could be due to the time period when the story took place. I think it was down to the writing itself.

I rarely read historic fiction. ‘Protection’ was an exception. I wanted a male on male prison romance. This ticked all my boxes. Raw, intense, erotic, and starkly beautiful.

n.b. This was more violent than what I typically read. It was crucial to the plot and not excessive. ( )

4.5 stars. Excellent book. Ripped my heart out but I love her more for it. Does that make me a masochist?
The only objection I have is that it came to an ending too abruptly. ( )

The rape scene was a little tough for me to get through, but I am glad I kept reading and that Joey was able to forgive Gabe, and they were able to have a relationship. I love that we got to see that Gabe did have some redeeming qualities, and that he gave his life for Joey (which I knew he was going to do before he did) just blew me away. How could I not cry?! ( )

The rape scene was a little tough for me to get through, but I am glad I kept reading and that Joey was able to forgive Gabe, and they were able to have a relationship. I love that we got to see that Gabe did have some redeeming qualities, and that he gave his life for Joey (which I knew he was going to do before he did) just blew me away. How could I not cry?! ( )