Ehhh. Excellent writing, great characters and characterization - and I _hate_ the 'bodyguard overcome by lust' trope. The only thing that got me through was that they knew it was a bad idea and mostly restrained themselves. But of course we got the scene where they're isolated together, momentarily safe but with the bad guys on their way - and they just have to have sex. Spiced up, in this case, with him being injured and seriously ill so he wouldn't be very good at standing watch even if he kept his mind on the matter. Sheesh! Also lots of twists and sneaky motivations - both for good and for evil. Gorgeous description - I was under a blanket on a warm night and shivering as they dealt with the ice storm. Well-written, good characters (as I said), but I doubt I'll ever reread it. Not good enough to overcome that trope, for me. ( )