Format Read:ARC provided from NetGalley
Release Date: May 14th 2012
Publisher: Carina Press
Formats Available: E-Book
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Author’s Website,  Kindle store, B&N

Book Blurb:

Jessica Pennington’s work as an etiquette coach requires her to be polite and proper at all times, especially now that she has a book coming out. The only thing that rattles her reserve is the increasingly violent emails and texts from her persistent stalker. With the book launch in jeopardy, she reluctantly hires a bodyguard.

Noah Samuels hates stuck-up, prim people like Jessica. He’s more the blunt, straightforward type. But to advance up the ranks at McCormack Security, he has to take the high-profile assignment. After a near miss on his first day on the job, Noah realizes that the stalker isn’t just hype cooked up to sell books-the threat is real.

As the stalker escalates from letters to letter bombs, Noah sees a vulnerable side of Jessica that rouses more than just his protective instincts. But can she let down her guard long enough to trust Noah before it’s too late?

My Thoughts:
Guarding Jess is yet another quite entertaining but not at all unique or memorable romance title I read this year… There was absolutely nothing wrong with Guarding Jess but I’m afraid it lacked most of those elements that would make it a story that could stand out among all the other romantic stories that one can choose from. On the other hand it was fun and quick and in its entirety an enjoyable read.

Let’s face it, I’m a sucker for romantic suspense stories, especially those that have a sexy and hot bodyguard in them. Granted, I like my heroines strong and not a damsel in distress in need of a knight in shining armour, but once in a while, I crave for a good alpha male that saves the heroine a couple of times. And Guarding Jess, had exactly what I was looking for: a delicious alpha male who was more than able to save the heroine, Jess. And Jess in turn, may have been a damsel in distress but she wasn’t weak at all. And I really liked that about her. Even when she was scared and her life was in danger, she was strong, she tried to mask her fear in a veil of stubbornness and didn’t run and hide when facing a dangerous situation. All those things made me really enjoy this story.

But, as I said in the beginning, there was nothing quite memorable about anything in Guarding Jess. Even if the story was well executed and interesting, the recipe is well known and even more well used. I can’t even count how many similar stories there are out there, and even if Shannon Curtis did a good job with her writing, in the end of day, I’m quite certain that I will forget everything about this book sooner rather than later.

I can’t pinpoint exactly where those feelings come from. Maybe because both Jess and Noah didn’t possess that certain quality to make me really feel them and invest on them. They were nice characters but nothing extraordinary. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t really love them, I couldn’t care for them. I just read their story, which might have been interesting, but that’s it. As soon as the book was finished, I moved on, forgetting all about them.

The clipped sentences, didn’t help matters either. They just made the narration seem forced. All those short sentences just distracted me a bit I guess.

And Noah and Jess I’m afraid weren’t the definition of a hot couple. I couldn’t feel the spark between them and in cases, I felt that the way they were brought together was a bit forced once more. I couldn’t feel their connection, their feelings towards each other. And the sex scenes lastly, were just okay. Or maybe I felt they were just okay because I just couldn’t invest in the main couple. Don’t know exactly what to blame for this one.

All in all, Guarding Jess is a cute and quick read that you will have a good time while reading it, but other than that there is nothing special about it. But it is not a bad book, not by a long shot.

I give Guarding Jess 3 stars

About Anna

Anna is a psychologist from Greece.You can almost always find her with a book stuck under her nose,so it's no wonder that all her friends make a joke of her.Apart from reading she dreams of the day she'll be able to travel around the world!Anna also blogs at Books to Brighten your Mood.

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