Book Review: Protected, by Cindy Hogan

Over the weekend I had some spare time and treated my self to a book. I chose Protected, by Cindy Hogan. She released this book last March on the same day as I released my first book, Promises. (We had our launch party together and she was so helpful, as I was a bumbling newbie). What I can't believe is that I had waited this long to get around to reading her book. I had enjoyed her first book, Watched, and I was rewarded equally, if not more, as I read Protected.

In Cindy's first book, Watched, the MC, Christy witnesses the murder of a government official by terrorists while on a school field trip in Washington DC. In Protected, Christy enters the Witness Protection Program and undergoes the transformation from her unpopular nerdy-bookworm image into Michele, a character that is the complete antithesis. Cindy did a brilliant job of showing Christy make this transition, not just on the outside, but on the inside. I loved how she still kept Christy human, botching up her new cover and having to receive another image, Ari, this time as opposite as possible from Michele, and her original nerdy self. Having Christy slip into a second disguise was fun and kept me reading.

With evil terrorists always on Christy's heels, the tension was high, and kept me turning the pages and mad at myself for having to turn off my Nook and go to sleep when I couldn't focus on the page anymore.
Protected is a fun, clean, entertaining read for teens (and old ladies like me). I would highly recommend it. I'm just glad that I don't have to wait a long time for the sequel. It is scheduled for release later this month. Keep visiting this blog and watch for a review of the next book in the series. I will be part of a book blog tour of her new book, Created. I will also be giving away a copy of her first book in the series, Watched. Stay tuned.