Tag: bodyguards

REVIEW: Moorewood Family Rules by HelenKay Dimon

REVIEW: Moorewood Family Rules by HelenKay Dimon

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Avon in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Jillian Moorewood is newly released from prison. Crashing her family of con artists’ big garden party by arriving – unannounced – in a helicopter was a stroke of genius. They were nearly apoplectic.

She had told them all they needed to go straight while she dealt with her prison sentence. But with her out of the way, they doubled down on their schemes. Now Jillian is going to wrangle this family onto the straight and narrow, no matter what it takes.

Jillian’s allies insist she have a bodyguard because the rest of the family won’t go down without a fight. And Beck the bodyguard is committed to keeping Jillian safe – and finding all the evidence they need to keep her that way. The banter and steamy interactions between them is just a bonus!

Review

This was so fun! I couldn’t read this as quickly as I wanted to – these last few weeks have been just too busy. But this was never far from my mind in the long gaps. I remembered everything in the interim while I waited to pick this back up again (something that rarely happens when I have to take a break from a story). I longed to curl up with it. Once I carved out some time, I blitzed through to the end.

This was a perfect fit for me. I loved Jillian. Her revenge fantasies – and realities – were right up my alley. I couldn’t wait for her family to get their comeuppance, but at the same time, I also didn’t hate them when they were on the scene. The author does a masterful job of walking the fine line between making the reader want to see them get theirs while also not making readers despise them. The choice to give one of them a few POV chapters really helped with this too.

I enjoyed Jillian’s personal journey as she wrestled with her responsibility for and to her family. There were some Enneagram 2-ish vibes to this part of the story that I enjoyed. I highly recommend this book – super satisfying story with great characters!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½*

*♥♥♥♥½ = I loved it! Would re-read.

REVIEW: The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

REVIEW: The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Hannah’s work is her life which gets problematic when her mother dies and her boss forces her to take bereavement leave. And that’s complicated even more by her complicated feelings about her mother. And the fact that her boyfriend dumped her the day after the funeral.

But instead of getting a distracting new protection assignment far, far away from her ex and her grief, Hannah’s next client is two-time Sexiest Man Alive, Jack Stapleton.

Jack’s in town to help his mom go through cancer treatment. And he’s fiercely protective of her. Nothing can stress her out – like a bodyguard or talk of stalkers. So he wants Hannah to pretend to be his girlfriend while she’s on duty. Whatever. How hard could that be?

Review

I have had this book on my wishlist since I first read the synopsis months ago. First, it has a fake relationship at the center – a trope that is like catnip to me. Then, the protective agent is the woman – awesome! And the plot is right up my alley as a reader.

I had high hopes for this – and it met every one. The characters are endearing (well, not Robby). The romance is sweet and cozy. And an unexpected bonus? This is HILARIOUS! I could not have asked for a more delightful reading experience.

Romance fans, fake dating fans – don’t miss this one! The minute I finished I was ready to flip back to the first page and start all over again. Another favorite for 2022.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥+++*

♥♥♥♥♥+++ = Best of the best!

REVIEW: Star Wars: A Queen's Hope by E. K. Johnston

REVIEW: Star Wars: A Queen’s Hope by E. K. Johnston

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Disney Lucasfilm Press in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

The Clone War is heating up. And that means even though Anakin and Padmé are married now, they each have a job to do. Yes, it means secrets – from their closest friends and at times from each other. But they can keep their love and their duty separate.

Padmé’s handmaidens have duty as well. Sabé is on Tatooine hoping to make headway on her mission when Padmé calls her into service. Sabé will pretend to be the Senator while Padmé goes off on a crucial mission for the war. A lot has changed since they last used this trick – can they really pull it off again?

Review

I have so enjoyed the characters in this series. It’s been great to get more about Padmé, but it’s the handmaidens that I have found fascinating. And I love how the author has let them evolve over time, especially as Padmé’s role has changed.

There are a few fantastic “interludes” through the book that focus on a female character in the larger story. Each passage begins with the character unnamed, and we only get her name at the end. They are all cleverly written and left me wanting more.

While I enjoyed those things, I felt like there wasn’t one driving storyline here. Instead, this seems to be filling in around Star Wars events we know from the movies and shows. We know about Geonosis, we know about Palpatine’s secret agenda, we know about clone troops, and we know about the wedding. So the author takes those things – and some others – and then lets us experience them from other perspectives, like those of the handmaidens.

For a plot-driven reader, this can be less than satisfying. Any danger situation is over fairly quickly, and the stakes are low because we know the main characters exist past this book. But character-driven readers will find a LOT here to enjoy. How does Padmé’s secret relationship change how she relates to her friends and her job? When people find out about her marriage, what changes?

Series fans should definitely pick this up. Newcomers should probably start with the earlier books to get to know the handmaidens in order to enjoy this one to its fullest.

Rating: ♥♥♥½*

*♥♥♥½ = Good +

REVIEW: Queen's Peril by E. K. Johnston

REVIEW: Queen’s Peril by E. K. Johnston

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Disney Lucasfilm Press in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

When Padmé Naberrie became queen of Naboo, she surrendered her name and her former identity – for the length of her service – for the good of her office. She was Queen Amidala to everyone, even her family. But behind the closed doors of her quarters, with only her handmaidens around, she could be Padmé again, at least a little.

The handmaiden group Queen Amidala and Captain Panaka developed was new for the monarchy. Actually, Panaka had proposed just a double, a body guard. The queen had the vision for a larger group. And together the girls developed a system that would both protect the queen and use all of their individual skills to help her excel in her new role.

And the girls will need their protection systems well-honed and the kinks all worked out if they are going to survive the threat to Naboo and to Queen Amidala’s throne that is on the way.

Review

This was great! While I liked Queen’s Shadow (♥♥♥♥), which is a companion novel with these characters that takes place later in the timeline, I thought this was better.

This is an origin story. It begins with Padmé waiting for the results of the election. It showcases the recruitment of each of her handmaidens and the development of their security team. This was my favorite part of the novel.

By the midway point, events on Naboo have caught up to the story of The Phantom Menace. Since I’ve seen the movie, I appreciated how the author left the movie moments out of most of the story. She made enough references to tie the two together, but this fills in some great context and behind the scenes information. Since I have seen the movie, I don’t know how this storytelling choice will play out for those who have NOT seen the movie. (Would someone pick up this book without having seen the movies? I don’t know.)

As soon as I finished this, I had to watch The Phantom Menace for a refresher. I don’t think there is anything in the book that changed the movie in a significant way, but I did enjoy having some “insider information” about what was going on. This also makes me want to go back and re-read Queen’s Shadow now that I know more about the various handmaidens. (This might sound weird, but I also appreciated how the author wove menstruation into the story considering most of it focused on teenage girls. There’s been discussion in YA circles about how you rarely see periods acknowledged even though half the population have them, unless the book is specifically about menstruation in the first place – like Go With the Flow (♥♥♥♥) or Revenge of the Red Club.)

This is not as quiet of a story as Queen’s Shadow. The tie-ins with The Phantom Menace brought more action to the story – battles, holding camps on Naboo with executions and torture (off page), etc. Readers who are looking for Jedi and light saber battles won’t find as much to enjoy here as they might in a different line of Star Wars novels. But those looking for a richer character-based story and more on Padmé and her bodyguards should definitely check this out. (Violence: executions, torture – off page. LGBTQ+: F/F relationships)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½