DISCLAIMER: I received an advanced reader copy (eBook) of Witness Protection Widow by Debra Webb from Harlequin through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Witness Protection Widow is part of the February 2020 Harlequin Series Blog Tour. It’s a novel in the Harlequin Intrigue line.

Book Summary

Can the witness protection program keep her identity secret?

After Allison James finally escapes her marriage to a monster, she becomes the star witness in the case against her deceased husband’s powerful crime family. Now it’s up to US Marshal Jaxson Stevens, Ali’s ex-boyfriend, to keep the WITSEC widow safe. But as the danger escalates and sparks fly, will Jax be able to help Ali escape her ruthless in-laws?

*Summary is courtesy of Harlequin

SPOILERS! This review contains spoilers. If you have not read this novel yet, I highly recommend you do not read this review, so you do not spoil your reading experience. However, please feel free to check out my other book reviews!

Witness Protection Widow

“Most widows grieved the loss of their spouses. She did not. No matter the circumstances, she had never wished him dead, though she had wished many, many times that she had never met him.”

Allison “Ali” James is a young widow in the witness protection program. She’s awaiting a trial to testify against her deceased husband’s father and their powerful crime family. US Marshal Jaxon Stevens (aka Jax) is the marshal assigned to Ali to keep her safe until the trial. He also happens to be her hot ex-boyfriend. Sounds intriguing, right?

Witness Protection Widow by Debra Webb is part of Harlequin’s new Harlequin Intrigue line. When I read the book summary for this novel, I was indeed intrigued. My expectations were as follows – a steamy romance with a hot guy and an action-packed suspenseful story. This novel had so much potential to be all of those things, but unfortunately, I was left an unsatisfied reader. Don’t get me wrong, there were parts of this story that I did enjoy. 

Ali James, The Witness Protection Widow

Ali, our very Witness Protection Widow is a strong woman with a well-written backstory. She loved a man named Jaxon who left her, she lost both of her parents in her twenties, and she was married to an absolute monster for five years. This woman has been through some tough shit. Not only did she unintentionally marry into a family who had run organized crime for four generations, but her husband, Harrison Armone, wasn’t who she thought he was. Ali thought she had a perfect marriage and a perfect handsome and charming husband who gave her everything she could dream of, such as lavish gifts, clothes, jewelry, and trips around the world. Everything except children, which she learned to live with because she was so in love with him.

When Ali discovered that the Armone family was in some shady business, she saw her husband for who he was. Harrison was controlling and extremely abusive. He tortured Ali and threatened to kill her if she ever left him. Fast forward, Harrison’s father, Harrison Armone Senior, murdered his son in cold blood – with Ali as a witness. Now that his son was out of the way, her creepy father-in-law told Ali that he “owned” her too. Ew. Besides praying she would die, the only way out of this nightmare was to escape. Run, Ali, Run! So, she did and reported the Armone family to the FBI. Hello, witness protection program!

“In the movies, witness protection was made to look like a glamorous adventure, but that could not be farther from the truth. It was terrifying. Justice depended on her survival to testify in court, and her survival depended on the marshal assigned to her case and on her own actions.”

Ali’s Story

The most intriguing part of Witness Protection Widow was reading about Ali’s backstory, and why Ali stayed with her evil husband for five torturous years. I liked Ali’s story because it was real and raw. Sadly, she suffered mental and physical abuse, but I think it’s good that this book sheds a light on relationship abuse. Ali’s story seems to be on the extreme side of the spectrum, but I’m sure anyone in an abusive relationship can relate to Ali’s situation to some degree. Maybe they aren’t shackled in chains, but metaphorically they feel shackled to a relationship they can’t escape from.

Oddly, the physical pain was the only aspect of those last three years of her marriage that reminded her she was still alive. She had felt dead most of the time. A body floating through time. The numbness that had overtaken her life had been profound—except for the physical pain he wielded. Sometimes she even looked forward to the moments when the pain reminded her that her heart was still beating.

Ali and Jax

In Chapter 1, Ali is living with her watchdog, Bob, in a safehouse in Winchester, Tennessee – aka the middle of nowhere. It’s T-minus four days until the trial against Armone. US Marshal Jaxon Stevens (aka Jax) took over as her marshal when Marshal Halloway got into an accident. *Enter Ali’s hot ex-boyfriend* 

Ali and Jaxon’s relationship proves that timing is everything. I do believe that. When Jax and Ali were in their early twenties they were in love and planned to get married. But, the timing wasn’t right for them. Jax left for Seattle to become a marshal. He wanted Ali to come with him, but she didn’t because she wanted to stay with her sick father. After all, she was all he had. Jax blamed himself for not tracking down Ali sooner before she made the biggest mistake of her life – getting involved with the Armone family.

I liked the dynamics of Ali and Jax’s relationship. At first, they blamed each other for leaving one another, but they reconciled when they both realized they shared the blame. I thought it was sweet that after ten years they still cared for each other and wanted to protect each other. Jax’s job was to protect Ali before and during the trial, but Ali wanted to protect him from getting hurt by Armon’s men. It was obvious that Ali and Jax would get together. But once they did, I just wasn’t feeling any passion between them. I know, I know! I hate to say this, but I’ve read YA books with couples that were steamier and more romantic than these two. I love when a couple comes back to each other after a long period of time, but Ali and Jax lacked the spark that I thought they would have had.

Where’s the Action?

So, since the book was missing that kind of action, I was hoping for the other kind – the action movie type action. Most of the book is Ali and Jaxon fleeing from one off the grid location to another as Armone’s men tracked them down. Although there were some fistfights and a few bullets, I felt like the action scenes weren’t very suspenseful. Unfortunately, I was not on the edge of my seat like I anticipated.

A Different Ending

Witness Protection Widow had so much potential, but the conclusion fell short for me. Throughout the story, there is so much build-up to the trial against Armone. *Reads in theatrical trailer voice* Will Ali and Jax survive the trial and make it out alive? But, the trial was summarized to a page and glossed over before I knew it. I had to backtrack because I thought I missed something important. There wasn’t any dialogue during the trial. No shootout between Jax and Armone’s men in the courtroom. I seriously thought someone was going to get shot, and that the trial was going to be the climax of the story, but unfortunately, it wasn’t. I’m glad that Ali won her case (at least…I think she did?) and she was going to begin a new life with Jax, but as a reader, I wasn’t satisfied with the ending. I really wanted more.

Final Thoughts & Rating

While reading Witness Protection Widow, I wanted to give it 3 stars. I was highly anticipating the trial between Ali and Armone Senior. But, when it was glossed over, I had to lower my rating. Unfortunately, I’m giving Witness Protection Widow 2 out of 5 stars. The book isn’t bad. Truly, I love Ali’s story, and I’m glad there’s a book out there that shines a light on relationship abuse. But, the ending had the potential to be suspenseful and action-packed, and it fell short. Although as a reader I wanted more, I recommend reading Witness Protection Widow for Ali’s story because her story deserves to be heard. 

Thank You

Thank you, Harlequin for inviting me to join Harlequin’s Blog Tour, and Netgalley for the digital advanced copy! Witness Protection Widow by Debra Webb is part of the February 2020 Harlequin Series Blog Tour. Check out Witness Protection Widow, which is now available in stores and online!

If you’d like to see what other books I’m reading these days, follow me on Goodreads!

♥ Candis