Guarding her is my duty.And my desire.Fate brought us back together.Now that I’m her bodyguard… her.
She’s teasing me. She’s taunting me.
And soon I have her bent over my knee,
screaming my name.
No one will know.
It’s just a little fun.
Until player three enters the game.
There’s a baby on the way, and everything changes.
I’ll risk everything to guard her and keep what’s mine.
Guarding her is a 77k standalone novel with lots of steam, a hot hero, and a feisty redheaded heroine! For a limited time, Guarding Her includes bonus content from author Lexi Whitlow. Enjoy!
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Good read but predictable and the ending needs work.
2.5 rounded up. Meh…Maddox is the star, Avery is blech. The steam is great, the romance felt unbalanced and lopsided.
I really loved Maddox. He was sweet, tender, strong, and committed to doing the best he can with what he was given. He doubts himself and what he has to offer. He goes all in with a girl he loved and is willing to protect her from everything she’s trying to escape, even at his own peril. And then there’s the bonus that he’s smokin’ hot. There was so much for him to offer even though he isn’t sure he’s worth it. He does know, however, that once he makes a decision, there’s no stopping his determination to see it through. He worries for Avery and knows the part of her that she tries so hard to hide and sees her as worth so much more than she gives herself credit. When things get really rough he calls on the people he knows he can count on, even though their companionship was forced on him in the beginning, he did what he does best and turned straw into gold. He’s the ultimate knight in tarnished armor, the one you really want in your corner and in your heart.
And then there’s Avery. I didn’t like her. There’s a line between being feisty and just being a bitch. She crosses that line all the time. So what, a guy left with no word, you’ve got crappy parents, and your life is planned out for you…yes, those things are all terrible by themselves and even worse when piled on top of each other, but when push comes to shove, she just rolls and then has temper tantrums. Doing something to spite your hateful mother would be different if you were doing it for another, more genuine reason rather than just to piss her off. She chose her major and is excelling with it, awesome! But then when she chooses to follow her mother’s demands for Maddox’ sake, she goes against everything she says she believes in. That doesn’t read as love and self-sacrifice, it reads like a whiny martyr who really had no true convictions in the first place. I saw no moment where she really grew up, she just realized that the world was a lot bigger than her problems. She didn’t try to make changes, she just chose the easier road. No, her mom wasn’t the easiest, it was just the easier of the two options she saw. No trying to think outside the box or be honest with Maddox, no using the intelligence Maddox praises, no using her own resources, contacts, and convictions to see other possibilities, just giving in in the name of love. But love is more than that.
But enough ranting…
The book was fine and Maddox was really the star of the whole show. Avery was okay, but her redeeming quality was really Maddox. Ella is a great friend to have and she’s honest, sure of herself, and asks the hard questions. The villainous parents are suitably awful, and Salvatore is like the best friend and surrogate parent you could ever find. We read about Bebe peripherally and she even becomes a namesake later, but we don’t actually meet her so I guess she’s as great as everyone says. Overall, we have a relatively quick read with a really hot hero. And that was my takeaway.
Guarding her was one of the best second chance/secret baby romance stories I have read. Maddox & Avery’s love was so genuine and captivating that it made for an extremely pleasurable story. Lexi Whitlow created a perfect collection of characters from the heroes like Maddox who stole my heart to the villains like Evelyn who I just wanted to see burn. The main couple is faced with plenty of obstacles to overcome that it will leave readers on the edge of their seats until the very end. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a steamy journey filled with a taste of forbidden love, wonderful characters of all background and HEA that will bring tears to your eyes. Whitlow definitely earned 5/5 stars for this one!
A gritty, angst story of love versus evil. This was well written and characters laid out, some likable and some evil. Story and plot follow love that lasted childhood, teen years, interference, separation, and a second chance. Some sex but well within story. This was a bit hard to read as I haven’t run into evil people during my life so far but I have read and heard about them, both being parents of neglected kids.. Scoot Peck has a book that describes a a young teen who had been referred to him. He ended up interviewing and counseling the teen and the parents and concluded that the parents were evil and were destroying their child-teen. They had chosen to be and act in a way that was neglectful, unloving, unsupportive and caused many mental, emotional problems exhibited by the teen. They verbally refused to change anything or admit the damage they were told they were doing. This story has 2 parents that fit this category and labeling abuse is harder to accept when it part is dependency and neglect. The author allows his traumatized young adult to be in very dangerous situations before removing adult from parents accessibility and gives a HEA to the love story and future..