About the Book
Book: Anchoring You
Author: Robin Patchen
Genre: Christian romantic suspense
Release Date: May 12, 2026
On the glittering waters of the Caribbean, a yacht captain’s fight for survival forces her to rely on a man she swore she’d never trust.
A fiercely independent yacht captain, Kenzie Wright has spent her life disregarding her family’s expectations. She thrives on freedom, charting her own course, and never staying in one place—or with one person—for long. But when a routine voyage thrusts her into the crosshairs of a deadly drug cartel, her carefully crafted agenda is blown apart. Her last hope to save herself and her crew is the partying playboy, Jaz.
DEA informant Jasper Aylett has spent years hunting the cartel leader known only as “the Phantom.” The mission has cost him everything—his family, his reputation, and his chance at redemption. When a beautiful yacht captain gets caught in the Phantom’s web, Jaz risks his life to rescue her. It’s his last chance to secure the information he needs to take his enemy down—and get his life back.
Kenzie is forced into hiding with Jaz, and now two cartels want her dead. With their lives on the line, Kenzie and Jaz must work together to unravel the Phantom’s network before it’s too late. But the closer they get to the truth—and to each other—the more their past wounds and buried fears threaten to tear them apart, leaving them vulnerable to an enemy who won’t stop until they’re both destroyed.
From a USA Today bestselling author… Don’t miss this heart-pounding suspense and swoon-worthy romance as Kenzie and Jasper discover their fight for survival—and for love—can only be won together.
Click here to get your copy!
My Thoughts:
I have really been looking forward to Kenzie Wright's story as she tries to break away some from her family and experience life on her own. Except life is not like that, and even though she has found a job she absolutely enjoys, she still needs help. From her family and from a man she really distrusts.
I found Kenzie's job fascinating. I am always up for a high sea adventure and this one taking place in modern times and the dangers of pirates/drug cartels. The modern times can sometimes get help quicker, but the seas are the same as times before.
Our hero, Jasper Aylett, or Jaz, has quite a bit of past baggage himself. He has hurt a lot of people and made some erroneous decisions that now sees him as a DEA informant. He just wants forgiveness and he is not sure he deserves it.
So, Jaz and Kenzie have some life-threatening adventures to get through all the while learning that their faith will grow stronger and they are loved fiercely.
I was provided a copy of this novel from the author. I was not required to post a positive review, and all views and opinions are my own.
About the Author
Robin Patchen is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of Christian romantic suspense. She grew up in a small town in New Hampshire, the setting of her Coventry Saga books, and then headed to Boston to earn a journalism degree. Working in marketing, she discovered how much she loathed the nine-to-five ball and chain. After relocating to the Southwest, she started writing her first novel while homeschooling her three children. The novel was dreadful, but her passion for storytelling didn’t wane. Thankfully, as her children grew, so did her writing ability. Now that her kids are adults, she has more time to play with the lives of fictional heroes and heroines, wreaking havoc and working magic to give her characters happy endings. When she’s not writing, she’s editing or reading, proving that most of her life revolves around the twenty-six letters of the alphabet.
More from Robin
Too Far Gone? Writing a Prodigal Hero
When I started writing Anchoring You, I knew the hero was going to be a challenge.
On the surface, Jaz is everything my heroine Kenzie despises: a charming playboy who flits around the Caribbean with a different woman on his arm every week and a drink perpetually in his hand. When he tries to get to know her, she wants nothing to do with him. She’s heard the rumors. She knows exactly what kind of man he is.
Except she doesn’t know the real Jaz. Nobody does.
Underneath the polished persona, Jaz is drowning. A gambling addiction led to crushing debt, which led to a desperate deal with a dangerous man, which led to five years of living undercover as a DEA informant. He’s lost everything that matters—his money, his reputation, his relationship with his brother, Noah, and most painfully, his daughter Charlotte, whom he left with Noah to keep her safe from the criminals who control his life.
Somewhere in the midst of all that, Jaz also lost his faith.
The Prodigal Who Doesn’t Come Home
We all know the parable of the prodigal son. He squanders his inheritance, hits rock bottom, and returns to his father’s open arms.
But what happens when the prodigal believes he’s wandered too far, done too much, burned too many bridges to ever find his way back?
That’s Jaz’s life when we first meet him. He tells Kenzie at one point, “I’m not sure if I left Him or if He left me, but God and I haven’t had a relationship since I was a teenager.”
Jaz isn’t angry at God. He’s not wrestling with doubt. He’s just disconnected. Numb. He made choices that spiraled out of control. People got hurt, and somewhere along the way, he decided that men like him shouldn’t expect grace.
I think a lot of people can identify with Jaz, even if their circumstances aren’t as dramatic as his. It’s not always a crisis of faith that pulls us away from God. Sometimes it’s shame, the quiet belief that we’ve disqualified ourselves. We believe grace is real, just not for us.
A Faith That Doesn’t Preach
Kenzie could have lectured him or quoted Scripture at him. But Kenzie, a strong believer, doesn’t preach. Instead, she lives her faith, acting on what she believes. In one quiet conversation, when Jaz confesses how far he’s fallen, she offers him truth without judgment:
”There’s no such thing as too far, Jasper. Not with God.”
Kenzie’s relationship with God is evident in how she treats people, how she handles fear, how she extends grace to a man the world has written off. Kenzie’s witness begins to crack Jaz’s defenses.
Writing Broken Heroes
I’m drawn to characters who carry weight—who’ve made real mistakes with real consequences, not just minor flaws designed to make them “relatable.” Jaz gambled away half his family’s estate. He slept around. He abandoned his daughter—even if it was to protect her. He spent five years lying to everyone he met.
These aren’t small things. I didn’t want to minimize them or sweep them under the rug in the rush to make him likable.
I believe in redemption. I believe people can change—not by willpower but by the power of God.
Jaz doesn’t have a dramatic conversion moment in the middle of the action. His journey back to faith starts with prayer, the gentle testing of God in moments of crisis.
And God answered, protecting and guiding him through the most difficult time of his life. When it was over, Jaz realized God had been there all along.
That’s the heart of the prodigal story, isn’t it? The father doesn’t chase the son down the road. He doesn’t force him to come home. But when the son finally turns around, the father is already running to meet him.
Jaz spent years believing he’d gone too far. Kenzie helped him see that there is no “too far” for God.
Because if grace only works for people who haven’t messed up too badly, it’s not really grace at all.
Blog Stops
Babbling Becky L’s Book
Impressions, May 25
Book
Reviews From an Avid Reader, May 25
Debbie’s
Dusty Deliberations, May 26
lakesidelivingsite,
May 27
Texas Book-aholic,
May 28
Truth and Grace
Homeschool Academy, May 29
For Him and My
Family, May 30
Cover
Lover Book Review, May 31
Book Looks
by Lisa, June 1
Blogging With
Carol, June 2
Fiction Book
Lover, June 3 (Author Interview)
Mary Hake,
June 3
Holly’s Book
Corner, June 4
Pause for Tales,
June 5
A Good
Book and Cup of Tea, June 6
The Bookish
Ledger, June 7 (Author Interview)
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Robin is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon Gift Card and a copy of Capturing You!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://gleam.io/XXPAN/anchoring-you-celebration-tour-giveaway
