Protecting What’s His
This was Tessa Bailey’s debut, published in 2013–and, back in the day, I loved it.
I recently re-read it and, again, it made me laugh. It has an extremely alpha lead, a wise-cracking heroine, and it is full of an absurd amount of filthy, shameless dirty talk. I mean that as a compliment.
The premise is simple: Ginger, fed up with her disaster of a mother (a drug-addled mess with a suspicious stash of cash), grabs her teenage sister, Willa, and bolts from Nashville to Chicago. They land in a rundown apartment with their prized possession—a Dolly Parton statue, because who wouldn’t value a statue of Dolly above all? Somewhat problematically, their neighbor across the hall is Derek, a lieutenant with a badge, a bad attitude, and about as much charm as a parking ticket. The first encounter between the two is hilarious–it’s a gloriously awkward mess involving Dolly Parton references and the kind of banter that makes you wonder if they’re flirting or just really bad at conversation.
Derek, nursing a case of emotional constipation after the loss of a fellow officer, doesn’t exactly roll out the welcome mat. But he’s curious enough about Ginger’s situation (the best ass he’s ever seen) to run a background check (because nothing says “potential love interest” like mild surveillance). Soon enough, he starts connecting the dots: Ginger’s mom has a rap sheet longer than Derek’s patience, and it’s clear Ginger and Willa didn’t move for the fresh air.
Derek’s approach to romance lacks even a hint of subtlety. If you’re into sweet, poetic declarations of love, you might want to sit this one out. Derek’s style is less “roses and serenades” and more “I want you in my bed, and by the way, I might handcuff you if you don’t move fast enough.” Case in point: I want to be buried inside you so deep I have to remind you of your own name. Subtle? No. Effective? Absolutely, because Ginger, for all her sharp edges, is completely here for it.
That’s the beauty of their dynamic—Ginger doesn’t just tolerate Derek’s caveman routine; she revels in it–she’s had so much on her plate that she kinda never got around to orgasmic bliss. Derek, Ginger correctly intuits, wants control of her body so that he can drive her out of her mind again and again. It’s easy to see why she falls for his bossy talk. As for Derek, he’s a goner for Ginger. He spends his entire workday maintaining control, only to completely lose it the minute Ginger walks into the room. It’s possessive, it’s a little ridiculous, and it’s wildly entertaining.
While Derek is busy asserting his alpha status, Ginger’s not sitting around. She’s fiercely protective of her sister, handles her bartending job with a no-nonsense attitude, and refuses to let Derek’s protective streak define her. The relationship she has with Willa is one of the highlights—genuine, funny, and refreshingly free of the usual sisterly rivalry nonsense. It’s rare to see female characters who can joke with each other without devolving into stereotypes.
The novel has its problems, especially in the last 20% where the story takes a left turn into melodrama, with a big dramatic event that feels like it stumbled in from another genre entirely. It doesn’t ruin the book, but it does feel like someone cranked up the dial just when things were humming along. Also, while we get plenty of heat between Derek and Ginger, the emotional arc of their relationship could use a bit more time to breathe. You almost wish they’d talked as much as they, well, did everything else.
But here’s the thing: despite its occasional missteps, Protecting What’s His knows exactly what it’s doing. It’s bold, a little bonkers, and unapologetically sexy. If you like your romance with a side of snark, a load of dirty talk, and characters who can’t stop circling each other like cats with too much attitude, this one’s for you. It’s a very sexy, good time.