White Knight
Mari Carr
Ellora’s Cave [link to buy]
ASIN B0069RH8HG

Rating: 4 out of 5 paddles

White Knight is two books in one: a modern story of a homeless woman who saves a man who owns a fetish club from the demons of his past; and an erotic regency romance that the hero daydreams about throughout the book.

In the modern story, Shea has broken up with her abusive boyfriend, taken her savings and moved from Vegas to LA. Down to her last dollar, she finds work as a waitress in a strip club that Travis owns and –literally-oversees. He watches her as she sleeps in the club at night, to wanting to spend her precious money on a flea bag motel in a dangerous area of town. When she comes down with a cold and has to leave one night, he finds her, brings her back and acknowledges he has been watching her. They enjoy a strong attraction to each other, but Travis doesn’t like to be touched.

Then one night, Shea wakes from a nightmare and crawls in bed with Travis for security. When he tries to strangle her, she realizes he has been abused and he finally tells her the story of his great-uncle’s abuse when Travis was 12. It turns out the uncle left him all his money and Travis had used it to buy the club. Shea urges him to make a clean break. He takes off, gets into counseling, then comes back to start a relationship Shea when he feels he is ready.