Duke Falkner is a no-nonsense bodyguard—a job he takes very seriously. So seriously, in fact, he’s never taken a vacation or enjoyed a moment in his own life. He uses his strict lifestyle as repentance for a childhood moment that stole away every member of his family. Although a moment he was not responsible for, a moment he has been unable to shake.Sage Ellis has just had her life torn apart in … torn apart in similar fashion. Her estranged rock-n-roll father has just been killed and her mother has been shot right in her front of her. Before she knows it, she’s being swept away to a remote location to be protected by a bodyguard she’d hoped never to see again.
As Duke and Sage are brought together again, they replay their tortured past and a relationship that ended before it began. But as they work to figure out who is after Sage and her family, their feelings slowly start to once again reveal themselves and Duke begins to let go of his past. Will he hang on to his bad boy ways, or release his tight fist on his past for a relaxed future with Sage?
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A bunch of strange events. It made me feel like I was missing something. Cute HEA though.
Loved the first 2 books of the Bad Boys of Willow Valley series and this one is a winner also. I’m loving the roller coaster ride that this series is going on, emotions range from love to hate , attraction to distraction. When I started reading this , I kept thinking to myself that she needed several spanking lol. Shannyn Leah, these books are all home runs and the series wins the game
I really love second chance romance books and this one doesn’t disappoint. Duke is a body guard and a loner for a reason. Sage didn’t think she’d ever see Duke again but now he’s her body guard. Lots of twists and turns Loved the characters
I do have to say, when I first opened this book I got the biggest laugh at this author’s wittiness.
She basically states…because everyone wanted Hawk’s story, she gives us Duke =) Gotta keep those readers on their toes 😉
Poor Duke and Sage. My heart breaks for the journey they both had to go through to find their way back to each other and in a place where they both felt they were able to give to the other person.
For Duke his adult life has always been about his job as a bodyguard. He chose this profession under the pretense that doing this would ease him of the guilt he feels for the tragic events that took away his family at 10 years old. But there was one moment of weakness in Duke’s history and that was when he started up a sexual relationship with Sage Ellis.
Sage Ellis is the daughter of a rock-n-roll god. However, he’s not the father material that Sage needs and when she finds herself being denied the love and acknowledgment she craves from him she spirals out of control into drugs, drinks, and parties. When Duke walks away from her in the same kind of fashion as her father, putting his career before her, she spirals and vows that she’ll never trust or rely on a man again.
Years later and Dean (Sage’s father) is found dead and her mother has recently been shot in Sage’s condo after receiving death threats. However, prior to her mother being shot she made plans to put herself and Sage in protective custody with one of the best body guards she knows.
When Sage and Duke are thrown together, Sage is once again at the mercy of a man she never hoped to see again. However, old feelings are hard to overcome and Duke and Sage find themselves trying to find their way around the thick chemistry between them to figure out who is trying to harm Sage and her mother and murdered her father.
This is such a great book to read. Love Duke and Sage and them battling their own personal demons but also the ones they have for each other. The regrets, misguided memories, feelings, a difficult road taken to create a second chance at a great future.
Sexy and suspenseful! I loved it! I always wondered about Duke and was excited to read his story. It certainly didn’t disappoint! Original, unpredictable and fun!
Sage and Duke have a rocky past and both of them are keeping guilty secrets. Sage is not at all pleased that her mother hired Duke to protect her and all her teenage brattishness comes to the fore. Being faced with Sage once again, Duke discovers that his past keeps confronting him but when he takes the bull by the horns, he finds that all is not what he thought. I loved Duke’s strong persona and although it took time to warm up to Sage, she eventually emerges from behind her facade to become the woman Duke needs. I enjoyed meeting up with the characters from Willow Valley once again as well as the some of the newer ladies with their wicked wit and charm. There is a fair amount of suspense in this novel that keeps the reader immersed in the plot. This story is the third in the Bad Boys of Willow Valley series, and although characters from previous novels appear in this one too, it is nevertheless a standalone with an unexpected ending. I received a copy of this book as a gift and this is my honest and voluntary review.