An entirely unenjoyable read for me
First- I like this author, even if I haven’t loved every book. I enjoyed the Covington Security series and had been looking forward to this spin off series, preordering all the books. How could you not love some hunky motorcycle riding Robin Hood Vigilantes?
I started this book the day it was released and quit fairly quickly. I started and stopped this a dozen times minimum because I just couldn’t get into it. I enjoyed the related previous series and wanted to read the books that came after this one, so every time the next one was released I’d pick it up again and still couldn’t do it. I finally just force fed it to myself. Not sure it was worth it.
We are told Daria is so mature for her age, at the ripe old age of 22 yo, but God she felt so immature. I had to keep reminding myself she was in law school and not high school or a freshman in college. Harm is much older at 37yo, and should be more mature, but he’s not much better. I guess that makes the age gap work 🙄 They drool and lust after each other like teens. I didn’t buy their chemistry at all, and it always felt weird. It had zero to do with the age gap, because as I said they were both oddly teenage hormone lust controlled so they both felt similarly immature. And I always love a good age gap, so the age difference wasn’t the issue.
Harm is a former Green Beret turned vigilante of sorts, tasked with being a body guard to Daria- who he discovers is the daughter of his sworn enemy. All of that means nothing though because apparently her looks alone cause him to lose his brain cells, training, and thirst for vengeance. Not to mention loyalty to his family, in particular his sister. It must be looks because it happens at literally the first glance. 🙄 #InstaLust
I finally finished the book by getting the audiobook, thinking it would be easier to force feed if I listened to it while working. Not helpful. Nothing against the narrators- but I think it made it worse. I literally rolled my eyes and laughed at inappropriate times for the whole book.
For starters, Daria makes sure we know she is French at every single opportunity. I got sooo tired of hearing how French she is. ‘I’m so mature because I’m French, I’m so sexual because I’m French and we go to nude beaches and have free sex because we are French, everything is better when you are French.’ Seriously, we get it. 🙄 So hearing all that crap in a French accent made it even more obnoxious. I don’t think she had a single personality trait outside of being French.
“I was in love with him. Not the American falling in love… No, this was the French kind of love.” 🙄🙄
Overall, I didn’t buy the chemistry. I didn’t find her to be this intelligent mature for her age woman who wanted to right all the wrongs in the world by going into international law, yet a man she never met shows up and says “your mom was murdered but no one can know, also come with me and do exactly as I say” and she just says “oh… ok”. Maybe if she was a sheltered child, but that wasn’t the persona she presented when talking about her life with her mother and how French she is.
And Harm… Green Beret, vigilante, loses his mind by seeing a clueless pretty little girl? Forgets the vendetta entirely, forgets how to bodyguard. He goes full PTSD crisis TWICE at a frat party and then just swipes it under the rug like it was nothing.
Overall not at all enjoyable. It took me literally forever to finish and I hated most of it. I’m leery to start the rest of the series, but have been looking forward to them, so I hope this was a one off.