What do you think?
Rate this book
The Delancey Dynasty #1
Her Bodyguard
Always stubborn and independent, Angela Grayson thought she could take care of herself. Lucas Delancey knew better. Someone was stalking his best friend's little sister, and Lucas wasn't going to leave her side until he knew she was safe. Even though that meant he'd spend torturous hours resisting the curve of her lips.
Angela didn't want a bodyguard. Especially one who'd rejected her after one soul-melting kiss a lifetime ago. But she was in over her head. And she knew she could trust Lucas to protect her. She just didn't know if she trusted him not to break her heart again….
Angela didn't want a bodyguard. Especially one who'd rejected her after one soul-melting kiss a lifetime ago. But she was in over her head. And she knew she could trust Lucas to protect her. She just didn't know if she trusted him not to break her heart again….
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 21, 2010
About the author
Mallory Kane
163 books139 followersBestselling romance author Mallory Kane has published over 40 romantic suspense titles between Harlequin Intrigue and Tule Publishing Group, and she has multiple independent projects spanning genres. Mallory loves romantic suspense with dangerous heroes and dauntless heroines, and she enjoys tossing in a bit of her medical knowledge for an extra dose of intrigue.
Mallory taught herself to read at age three, starting a lifelong love affair with books. Her mother, a librarian, loved and respected books and taught Mallory that they were a precious resource. Her father was a brilliant storyteller. His oral histories are chronicled in such places as the Veterans' History Project at the Library of Congress. He was always her biggest fan.
When she's not writing, Mallory enjoys designing one-of-a-kind jewelry using broken vintage pieces and creating collaged greeting cards. She lives in East Tennessee with her husband, Michael, and their cats. Mallory loves hearing from her readers. Connect with her at www.mallorykane.com, @mallorykane on Twitter, and AuthorMalloryKane on Facebook.
Mallory taught herself to read at age three, starting a lifelong love affair with books. Her mother, a librarian, loved and respected books and taught Mallory that they were a precious resource. Her father was a brilliant storyteller. His oral histories are chronicled in such places as the Veterans' History Project at the Library of Congress. He was always her biggest fan.
When she's not writing, Mallory enjoys designing one-of-a-kind jewelry using broken vintage pieces and creating collaged greeting cards. She lives in East Tennessee with her husband, Michael, and their cats. Mallory loves hearing from her readers. Connect with her at www.mallorykane.com, @mallorykane on Twitter, and AuthorMalloryKane on Facebook.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 29, 2024
Do I give leeway to a book for being stupid, problematic and implausible, with a toxic hero, because it is a quickie category romance designed to be read quickly and discarded?
No.
I have read plenty of quickie category romances that manage not to be stupid, problematic and implausible and do not have a toxic hero.
This book is about Angela Grayson, who is in the crosshairs of a crime family because her brother is the one prosecuting them. (More on that later.) Her brother asks his best friend, Lucas Delancey, to act as Angela's bodyguard and make sure nothing happens to her. Angela hasn't seen Lucas in 12 years, ever since she was 16 and he was 18, when she kissed him to show him her feelings, and he rejected her to go live a life in another state.
The book starts with Lucas putting spy cameras in Angela's apartment without her knowledge. Basically, on the very first page, the book had lost me. I don't care that he's acting as her bodyguard. This is not okay. It is a completely disgusting violation of her privacy. This is only made worse by the fact that he has taken an apartment in a building directly opposite hers that allows him to see inside her apartment. He really wants to make sure he doesn't miss a thing! This also negates his "noble" note to himself that at least he didn't put a camera in her bedroom. You didn't need to, Luke - you can see right into it anyway!
There were so many other options here! The most logical one would be for Angela's brother to TELL HER she might be in danger so that she can participate in the effort to look after her own wellbeing, by having all the required knowledge. No. Instead, her brother and Lucas constantly infantilise her, because heaven forbid she learn anything scary or distressing! It was just so disgusting. Angela has a few too-stupid-to-live moments, but the case could be made that it's because the men in her life won't let her do anything for herself or experience the world for herself. No wonder she's dating weird, pasty men that everybody else thinks is awful.
Erm...
There isn't anything Lucas does to redeem himself for this right-out-the-gate yuckiness. When Angela learns that he has been spying on her and tries to leave his apartment, he physically restrains her and puts a hand over her mouth so that she can't scream. That's deprivation of liberty. It's sickening. At one point, when Angela says she isn't hungry, he replies with, "Yes, you are." He is constantly criticising her choice of home and location and dictating that she should live in the property left to her by her parents, and takes potshots at her for her taste in men.
Then we come to his term of "endearment" for her.
Brat. Yes, you heard right. Brat.
Angela seems to have no problem with this, but that's probably because she's not terribly bright, has been in love with Lucas her whole life, and that's what he called her when they were growing up. To still be using it on her when she's an adult just demonstrates how he continues to infantilise her and actually seems to have a great deal of contempt for her. He and her brother continue to try to hide the reality of the situation from her right up until the end of the book.
And why the 12 years of no contact after they kissed? What actually happened? Did he explain why they couldn't be together or why he wanted to start a new life in a new state? Did he ghost her? Did she kiss him and he went, "Yuck."? We get no detail. It seemed extreme enough that Angela didn't try to even speak to him - or him to her - for 12 years, yet he's jumping at the bit to be her bodyguard, and she only expresses mild annoyance that he's back in her life and spying on her with cameras. Not even a phone call or email in all that time?
The plot underlying this whack-a-doodle "romance" is a head-scratcher, too. The son of the crime boss that Angela's brother is prosecuting wants to kill her, and his siblings want to kill the prosecutor's own family, in order for him to throw the case against the crime boss out. Um...he can't do that. He has a boss - and a whole office - that decide whether to prosecute a case. He'd just be taken off the case. It makes more sense to go after the jurors because they're the ones who, you know, DECIDE ON A VERDICT.
The son going after Angela is determined to show his father that he is capable of being in the family business. He does this to the point of basically backing himself into a corner to get killed or go to jail. I thought he might have some terminal illness, but no, he seems willing to die to free his father. Getting yourself killed or jailed is a strange way to prove you're smart enough to make your father proud.
We also had this bizarre bit where Lucas gets into a fight with Doug, a guy Angela dated who was obsessed with her (and had also put cameras in her apartment!), and Doug gets arrested. Although Lucas is suspended from the force, the cops let him go in and question Doug and let Angela, a witness, watch! How is this legally allowed? The case would get thrown out of court as soon as Doug got a court-appointed lawyer. This is all stuff you can pick up from 10 seconds of googling or watching a couple of police procedural or law shows. It is really lazy writing.
Golly, did I miss anything? I don't think this book got anything right. The hero was a toxic asshat who infantilised the heroine. Character decisions and motivations made little sense. The plot held no surprises and didn't bear close scrutiny. It was certainly fun to pick it completely apart, so in a sense I enjoyed it (!), but there's no way I can give this mess more than 1 star.
No.
I have read plenty of quickie category romances that manage not to be stupid, problematic and implausible and do not have a toxic hero.
This book is about Angela Grayson, who is in the crosshairs of a crime family because her brother is the one prosecuting them. (More on that later.) Her brother asks his best friend, Lucas Delancey, to act as Angela's bodyguard and make sure nothing happens to her. Angela hasn't seen Lucas in 12 years, ever since she was 16 and he was 18, when she kissed him to show him her feelings, and he rejected her to go live a life in another state.
The book starts with Lucas putting spy cameras in Angela's apartment without her knowledge. Basically, on the very first page, the book had lost me. I don't care that he's acting as her bodyguard. This is not okay. It is a completely disgusting violation of her privacy. This is only made worse by the fact that he has taken an apartment in a building directly opposite hers that allows him to see inside her apartment. He really wants to make sure he doesn't miss a thing! This also negates his "noble" note to himself that at least he didn't put a camera in her bedroom. You didn't need to, Luke - you can see right into it anyway!
There were so many other options here! The most logical one would be for Angela's brother to TELL HER she might be in danger so that she can participate in the effort to look after her own wellbeing, by having all the required knowledge. No. Instead, her brother and Lucas constantly infantilise her, because heaven forbid she learn anything scary or distressing! It was just so disgusting. Angela has a few too-stupid-to-live moments, but the case could be made that it's because the men in her life won't let her do anything for herself or experience the world for herself. No wonder she's dating weird, pasty men that everybody else thinks is awful.
Erm...
There isn't anything Lucas does to redeem himself for this right-out-the-gate yuckiness. When Angela learns that he has been spying on her and tries to leave his apartment, he physically restrains her and puts a hand over her mouth so that she can't scream. That's deprivation of liberty. It's sickening. At one point, when Angela says she isn't hungry, he replies with, "Yes, you are." He is constantly criticising her choice of home and location and dictating that she should live in the property left to her by her parents, and takes potshots at her for her taste in men.
Then we come to his term of "endearment" for her.
Brat. Yes, you heard right. Brat.
Angela seems to have no problem with this, but that's probably because she's not terribly bright, has been in love with Lucas her whole life, and that's what he called her when they were growing up. To still be using it on her when she's an adult just demonstrates how he continues to infantilise her and actually seems to have a great deal of contempt for her. He and her brother continue to try to hide the reality of the situation from her right up until the end of the book.
And why the 12 years of no contact after they kissed? What actually happened? Did he explain why they couldn't be together or why he wanted to start a new life in a new state? Did he ghost her? Did she kiss him and he went, "Yuck."? We get no detail. It seemed extreme enough that Angela didn't try to even speak to him - or him to her - for 12 years, yet he's jumping at the bit to be her bodyguard, and she only expresses mild annoyance that he's back in her life and spying on her with cameras. Not even a phone call or email in all that time?
The plot underlying this whack-a-doodle "romance" is a head-scratcher, too. The son of the crime boss that Angela's brother is prosecuting wants to kill her, and his siblings want to kill the prosecutor's own family, in order for him to throw the case against the crime boss out. Um...he can't do that. He has a boss - and a whole office - that decide whether to prosecute a case. He'd just be taken off the case. It makes more sense to go after the jurors because they're the ones who, you know, DECIDE ON A VERDICT.
The son going after Angela is determined to show his father that he is capable of being in the family business. He does this to the point of basically backing himself into a corner to get killed or go to jail. I thought he might have some terminal illness, but no, he seems willing to die to free his father. Getting yourself killed or jailed is a strange way to prove you're smart enough to make your father proud.
We also had this bizarre bit where Lucas gets into a fight with Doug, a guy Angela dated who was obsessed with her (and had also put cameras in her apartment!), and Doug gets arrested. Although Lucas is suspended from the force, the cops let him go in and question Doug and let Angela, a witness, watch! How is this legally allowed? The case would get thrown out of court as soon as Doug got a court-appointed lawyer. This is all stuff you can pick up from 10 seconds of googling or watching a couple of police procedural or law shows. It is really lazy writing.
Golly, did I miss anything? I don't think this book got anything right. The hero was a toxic asshat who infantilised the heroine. Character decisions and motivations made little sense. The plot held no surprises and didn't bear close scrutiny. It was certainly fun to pick it completely apart, so in a sense I enjoyed it (!), but there's no way I can give this mess more than 1 star.
February 14, 2025
Angela has a stalker and a hitman both going for her. It's up to Lucas to protect her. He's doing a favor for his best friend who's her half brother and an ADA in Chicago. This takes place in New Orleans.
Lucas I thought could have done better job at staying under the radar for a while longer. He also got hurt more than once. Didn't feel like he was a detective for years. There were rookie mistakes made in the protection detail.
Neither Angela or Lucas were memorable to me. I adored his brother Ethan but he was barely in it maybe 3 times. Also it ended before we even found out what happened with the court case that Brad, her brother was trying.
Another book I'll be getting rid of.
Lucas I thought could have done better job at staying under the radar for a while longer. He also got hurt more than once. Didn't feel like he was a detective for years. There were rookie mistakes made in the protection detail.
Neither Angela or Lucas were memorable to me. I adored his brother Ethan but he was barely in it maybe 3 times. Also it ended before we even found out what happened with the court case that Brad, her brother was trying.
Another book I'll be getting rid of.
July 1, 2019
Another good suspense mystery / love story from Harlequin. Lucas has to protect his best friends little sister from getting kidnapped and murdered all the while trying to also protect her from him ( falling in love with her again). During his job, he also gets hurt and things start to pick up. Will he still be able to protect her or will she be kidnapped and hurt?
February 5, 2024
Angela Grayson thinks she is just being paranoid because she can sense people have been in her apartment. She has no idea that she could be in danger because of one of her brother's cases. She doesn't know that he has his best friend watching out for her.
It was a really good book, it just took me a little time to get into it. I think you will enjoy it as well
It was a really good book, it just took me a little time to get into it. I think you will enjoy it as well
April 26, 2016
I liked the intro. I thought the main male character was the stalker. It's a fun twist because both the starker and the savior were spies for Angela. This one was pretty good. I like how the romance was restrained to the ending of the book.
May 31, 2010
3 stars – Romantic Suspense
March 27, 2016
Heartstopping ending. A very good read!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews