“I wanted this man’s arms around me, cocooning me in safety. I wanted to feel like I didn’t have to be brave for a few hours. I wanted to let him be my courage. My protection. My shield.”Cameron Whitbury—billionaire aerospace mogul—can engineer her way out of any problem. Sure, she’s living with the threat of a potential sex scandal thanks to her lying ex. And that attempted mugging in her … attempted mugging in her parking garage might not have been a random attack.
But she’s totally got this. Sacrifice her privacy to an overprotective bodyguard? No thanks. She doesn’t need a six-foot-five, motorcycle-riding, square-jawed, hazel-eyed man-beast shadowing her every move.
Jude Ellis—one-man security operation and professional problem solver—is ready to retire from the cloak and dagger stuff to live a normal life. He doesn’t need another client. Not even one with coppery-red hair and mile-long legs who looks hot AF in a sexy pair of heels.
To appease her worried friends, Cameron hires Jude as her bodyguard. And despite their feisty banter and their rampant—and totally inappropriate—sex fantasies, they’re both determined to keep it professional.
But as the danger to Cameron escalates, the heat simmering between them just might combust.
Author’s note: Big wall-of-man hero with a fierce (and growly) protective streak. Confident and snarky heroine. All the banter. Sex in a closet. And a daring rescue with a big, heart squishing HEA.
The Bluewater Billionaires are four shared-world hot romantic comedies written by Lucy Score, Claire Kingsley, Kathryn Nolan, and Pippa Grant. They can all be read as stand-alone novels.
more
Beautiful, Bold Romance!
I loved Cameron and Jude’s love story! The characters came to life with vivid strokes of the author’s words. There was texture and depth to their relationship. The characters are endearing and bold. This romance has witty banter, sexual tension, and a bit of suspense. The story flows with ease, emotion, and intrigue. Fantastic read!
Romance Rehab: book recs, author services, general badassery: https://www.romancerehab.com/
The heroine in this book was great, but it earned all 5 of its stars on the hero, Jude. I love him. He’s my official new book boyfriend.
Plot overview: Cameron Whitbury—billionaire aerospace mogul and engineer–has a stalker, so her friends talk her into hiring Jude, badass extraordinaire, as her bodyguard and personal security team. Laughs and sexy times ensue.
First of all, I read a review of this one somewhere that complained that it wasn’t deep enough for their liking. Well, you know what? I’m not looking for deep, angsty, and emotional reads when I pick up a rom com. I want light, sexy fluff—and that’s exactly what The Mogul and the Muscle delivers. There’s a few laughs, there’s some killer sexual chemistry between Jude and Cam, there’s a super smart and successful STEM heroine, and there’s a muscle-y badass bodyguard. That’s more than enough for me. If I want a deeply emotional read that’ll wreck me for days I’ll look elsewhere. But this light, funny, low-angst, feel-good read was EXACTLY what I was looking for when I downloaded.
Now that I’ve said that, let me count the ways I adore Jude:
1. He’s a badass alpha male, but he’s never an alphahole. He’s confident in his ability to do his job better than anyone else on the planet, but he’s also surprisingly (and sweetly) a little clueless about his appeal to the opposite sex. It was all very endearing.
2. There’s a scene where Jude’s on a first date before he meets Cam, and his idea of small talk is all kinds of hilarious and adorable.
3. Jude is never in any way threatened by Cam’s success, intelligence, or wealth. He never feels like her successes diminish his manhood in any way. Her awesomeness is never a problem for them as a couple.
4. There’s never any angsty whining about how he can’t protect her if he’s sleeping with her. (I’m looking at you, The Bodyguard.)
5. He’s not afraid to put on a pair of parachute pants and a mesh shirt and attend an 80s-themed party.
6. He’s not some inexplicably super successful 20-year-old. He’s 40. I LOVE mature romance heroes.
Cam is a pretty awesome heroine, too, but because I loved Jude so much, her awesomeness is somewhat diminished. But:
1. I loved that she’s a STEM heroine and a billionaire. You just don’t get enough female billionaires in romance novels these days.
2. She has a workshop where she tinkers with her household appliances and makes them more efficient when she needs a distraction. How awesome and adorable is that?
3. She’s a little irritated that she needs a bodyguard, but she never does anything terribly stupid just to spite him or show him that no one is the boss of her. I HATE it when heroines do crap like that in bodyguard romances.
So, long-story-short, Jude alone is worth the price of admission on this one. But overall, it’s one hell of a ride and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
I loved this book! Just like the first book in this series, this is my favorite book so far from this author. Claire Kingsley wrote such a beautiful love story, with heat, vulnerability, intrigue and some hilarity.
Cameron is another powerful billionaire who hires Jude to keep her safe because someone is trying to hurt her or kill her. Even though she loves her career and has fabulous friends, she is lonely and does not trust men thanks to her jerk of an ex-boyfriend. Again, like in Lucy Score’s 1st book in this series, we get to watch a strong but vulnerable hero fall head over heels for his lady. Jude tries to keep things platonic, but the heat between him and Cameron is sizzling! They want and need each other and I only wanted to smack him upside the head for like two seconds when he drove away on his motorcycle…
Kingsley and Score are such a great team of writers! I cannot wait for the next two books in this series by their fellow romance writing godesses.
Jude & Cameron are literally couple goals! I loved this book so much.
I just love the Bluewater community and all the quirky residents, whether human or of the animal variety.
In Mogul and the Muscle we follow Cameron Whitbury, a self-made billionairess and a global leader in innovation within the aerospace industry. After Cam fights off an attempted mugger, her friends arrange for her to have a body guard. Enter Jude Ellis, retired marine and CIA operative, who is trying to retire in the beautiful Miami but always finds himself with another referral for a security job.
Additional security incidents and attacks on Cameron personal safety as well as her professional reputation occur, and as Jude works tirelessly on identifying the culprit behind the attacks he finds himself falling for the smart, fierce, strong and beautiful Cameron.
Cameron doesn’t want to need Jude, still vulnerable after her ex’s betrayal, but having Jude around provides comfort and reassurance. As he protects her from ensuing incidents, accompanies her on shopping trips and charitable events, Cameron develops feelings for Jude as well.
If you like your romance swoony, witty, steamy and funny, with a side of suspense you will not want to miss this EPIC story!
Jude is a delicious mystery of a man I would hire to protect me too. I love the strong, successful females and their bond. This was a steamy, witty, absolutely fun read.
5 Mogul and the Muscle Stars
The Mogul and the Muscle is the second book in the Bluewater Billionaires series by Claire Kingsley, it is also my first read from this author. I came across this series due to my love of Pippa Grants books and boy has it been worth the ride.
“No, I’m not dating anyone,” she said. “Not for about six months. And probably never again.”
Cameron is a badass and also an aerospace mogul CEO, she’s definitely a woman in a man’s world and feels she needs to prove herself constantly. She is the ultimate mix of class and style but is down to earth as well. She keeps to her small circle and likes her life like that until she is attached and convinced she needs more security and needs to hire a bodyguard.
Jude Ellis was a marine veteran and former CIA agent who is hired as a bodyguard to protect Cameron. All her wants to do is retire and live a normal life but his best friend convinces him to take this one last job as a favour to him. All he has to do is protect Cameron until that can find out who is after her.
“You bugged the shoes you’d thought she’d wear if she was mad or trying to ditch you?” “Exactly,” I said over the roar of the engine. “And I was right.”
This was such a great read and I really enjoyed Cameron’s book. She is so entertaining to read and I couldn’t help but fall for Jude. We also get all the lady billionaires and the rest of the wacky Bluewater Springs secondary characters and all of this madness gives us a 5 star read. I will definitely be reading more books by Claire Kingsley.
This is a stand-alone book, but highly recommend reading the rest of the series if you haven’t as they are all highly entertaining and fun!
This is such a fun series! Each book keeps getting better.
This story follows Cameron, an engineer and CEO of an aeronautics company. She gets attacked in a parking garage and her friends convince her to get a bodyguard. Hilarious situations ensue.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book!
When Cameron in attacked in the office parking garage her friends decide she needs bodyguard/fixer. Enter 6’5″ Jude, a friend of Derek, Emily’s husband. As Cameron and Jude spend their days together, the coincidental accidents keep happening and soon he is having to protect her 24/7.
This series of romance books is hilarious. The four highly successful women designed the enclave where the built their homes and they only sell lots to people they like, so it is a very entertaining place to live. Neighbors include Steve, the three legged alligator who eats roasted chicken, the free range Saint Bernard who wanders from house to house, and the foul mouthed bird who escaped from animal control.
Funny, a bit intense at times, romantic, and sexy, it’s a great read.
I suddenly want a bodyguard! Loved Jude!
Love the witty banter!! Such a fun light hearted sexy romance read!! I HIGHLY recommend!!!
I keep saying it but it bears repeating, Claire Kingsley creates some of the most engaging, provocative, complex and genuinely likeable characters that I’ve ever run across. Then she weaves them into interesting, evenly paced storylines filled with romance, suspense, mystery and a bit of danger thrown in for good measure.
Can I just say that Jude Ellis just ticks all the boxes on my list. He’s tall, handsomely rugged, quietly effective and sexy. Cameron Whitbury is a strong, successful woman who is vibrant, intelligent and gutsy. She’s a tad naive about her safety and quite reluctant to increase her personal security until Jude is foisted upon her by well meaning friends. Jude and Cameron grow closer as incidents surrounding her safety escalate. Once the line into personal is crossed there’s no going back for either of them. Once the threat is neutralized these two do get their HEA!
For a change of pace the billionaire is female and she needs a security specialist. Our hero is 6’5” of tattoos and muscle with a CIA background.
Mystery, tension inducing rescue, sexual tension and a storyline that grabs your attention will have you enjoying this great read.
Audiobook Review
Overall 4 stars
Performance 4.5 stars
Story 3.5-4 stars
This was a great story to get lost in during this time of social distancing. It was a nice twist on the billionaire/CEO trope to have the heroine in that role. I really loved how intelligent and driven Cameron was and the strong female friendships throughout the story. Cameron’s banter with Jude was so fun and I loved the build up between them. They both are slow to trust for various reasons and I really enjoyed seeing them let the other in slowly. It certainly didn’t hurt that Jude was a big and protective alpha on the outside, but a teddy bear inside either. A certain scene in a storage closet was crazy hot and I might just need to read all the bodyguard romances now. 😉 There is a bit of predictable suspense and action and I did feel that the ending wrapped up a little too quickly and neatly, but the epilogue left me smiling and the bonus epilogue was the cherry on top. If you have a chance to read the author’s note at the end of the ebook version, I definitely recommend it too. I always find them extremely informative and insightful and wish they could be included on the audiobook.
I really enjoyed the narration by Joe Arden and Desiree Ketchum and thought they did a fantastic job bringing Jude and Cameron to life. Joe Arden is one of my favorites and I love how well he can narrate male and female characters. This is my first time listening to Desiree Ketchum and I was pleasantly surprised. I liked her inflection and comedic timing, but I would have liked a little more variation between her characters. Overall, this was just the kind of fun romcom that my heart needed.
I love the Bluewater Billionaire Series so I couldn’t wait to read this second installment. This book is about Cameron who is a CEO of an aerospace company. She is attacked in her parking garage and her besties decide she needs a bodyguard. Enter Jude Ellis, hot security expert.
Jude and Cameron have loads of chemistry and it jumps off the page. They try to keep their relationship professional, but we all know that lines will be crossed. It has a slow build and I couldn’t wait for them to give in. They also develop a friendship that was fun to watch develop.
This book was steamy, funny, and heartfelt. It was another excellent book in this fantastic series!!!
The Mogul and the Muscle is the second book in the Bluewater Billionaires, a series of standalone romcom novels that flips the script on the billionaire trope to put the ladies in the drivers seat (and higher tax bracket). While the first book – The Price of Scandal – was by an author new to me, this one is by Claire Kingsley, an author I have read many times and enjoy quite a bit.
This story follows Cameron and Jude – who we got a glimpse of in Kingsley’s Faking Ms. Right – as they attempt to navigate the waters of love and a threat hanging above Cameron’s head. Cameron is a sharp, smart CEO of an aerospace company that she’s revolutionized while Jude is an ex-military/CIA man with instincts like a bullwhip who wants nothing more than to retire from his accidental career as a private security bodyguard.
Right away, we see that despite their differences, both Jude and Cameron are well-matched in their humor, vulnerability, ability to mess with one another, and sheer stubbornness. Cameron doesn’t want a bodyguard and doesn’t think she needs one but when she’s talked into a meeting with Jude, he’s equally convinced that some personal security is exactly what she needs in her life.
I absolutely loved this story! Cameron and Jude both felt incredibly authentic and while both are badass, powerful people, they each have a past and insecurities that weigh on them. Seeing them own up to those insecurities and free themselves from the bindings of the past to forge towards a beautiful future together was amazing!
The only thing about this book I didn’t LOVE was the mystery subplot. There needed to be something serious propelling Cameron to get personal security and for Jude to stick around – I get that and I adore a good mystery. However, the one laid out here was a bit lacking … there were some serious incidents, a pretty hefty buildup, and some outrageously powerful players at the root of it all. After all that dramatic buildup, the peak of the mystery was unveiled … and then resolved in 2 sentences between Jude and the big, bad wolf. With the kind of events that transpired in the book and the people who ended up being behind it all, the resolution not only fell flat, I actually laughed out loud at how ludicrous it was.
The Mogul and the Muscle is a smart, sexy read for anyone who appreciates a push-and-pull that tugs at your heartstrings and enough chemistry to require safety goggles!
This is the first book I have read in this series. I would give it 3.5 stars.
I liked the premise of the book. I was expecting a bit more suspense, intrigue, or mystery. This was a pretty lighthearted romantic suspense. The person causing Cam all of the issues was pretty obvious. There was a twist at a certain point that had me wondering if it tied into something that happened when Cam and Jude were out one day. But, there was nothing ever mentioned about a connection.
I liked both Jude and Cam. I liked that Cam was a billionaire and Jude had no insecurities about it. I enjoyed their banter and appreciated Cam not having a superior attitude because she was rich.
It was a sweet romance, light on the suspense yet still an entertaining read.
An aerospace CEO, Cameron Whitbury needs a bodyguard. A former spy Jude Ellis, isdoing one last job as a favor for a friend. The friend has wound up being the one doing a favor for Jude.
The chemistry between Cameron and Jude is undeniable. She lives in a mansion on a private island
and Jude lives in a loft. How the two come together is a sweet story of truth, trust and love.
While the book is a fun sweet romance, it also has intrigue and spy type action. I enjoyed
the book and have read other books in the series.
Bluewater Billionaires or Vagillionaires as Cameron and her friends call themselves. Love the strong empowering relationships between these ladies. With their crazy enclave and even crazier pets. This time up is Cameron and Jude. Cameron is an actual rocket scientist and Jude is a bodyguard trying to retire. For his friend Derek price he agrees to help Cam after she had an incident in her companys parking garage. After major sparks between them, not so nice emails and a few more Incidents that can’t fight there feelings any longer.
Ok this series is 2 for 2 so far. Cameron and Jude were fun. Once Jude let his professional guard down they really had some great banter. The bit of mystery trying to figure out who was behind everything kept the pages turning as well.
Quick easy read that I really enjoyed. Claire’s books never disappoint me.