Falling For Her Bodyguard

Bodyguard #2

by Emily Hayes, Abby Craden (reader)

The beautiful and extremely wealthy Leigh is straight and engaged to marry a man... isn't she?

This is an Age Gap, Forbidden, Coming Out Bodyguard Romance, super steamy, super sweet, always a Happy Ever After.

Morgan Hart is a bodyguard and martial arts expert. Her new client is reknowned for being a stone cold Ice Queen- very hard to please, having fired her 5 previous bodyguards.

Leigh Rayson is from a very wealthy family. She is straight and engaged to a man but Morgan can't help but be drawn in by her magnetic beauty.

Morgan soon discovers that all is not what it seems and Leigh has been keeping secrets. Will Morgan get to the bottom of the mystery? And will she be able to resist the lure of her gorgeous client as she does so?

Genres: Lesbian, Romance, Audiobook, LGBT, Queer, Contemporary Romance, Novella

1 pages, Audio CD

Published July 30, 2024

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Reviews

[Sky. · Rating 1 out of 5]

That ending was SO RIDICULOUS, it made laugh so hard 😭😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Like you know she’s deep in the closet and you think it’s ok to propose to her in public?? In front of her homophobic mother after being broken up for weeks???? And that’s supposed to be a grand gesture??? How is that ok? Is outing someone is ok nowadays just because you “love them”? If she truly loved and knew her she wouldn’t have done that and Her saying yes is ridiculous, if it were me I would’ve slapped her 😒.

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

let me start off by saying the premise of the series, especially this standalone book is one of my favorite tropes: bodyguard and rich adult. unfortunately, i do not remember what i read because not only was the pacing TOO fast for my liking, nothing was really flushed out or explained. the author obviously wanted this to be a spicy novella because the sex scenes were well written and thought out, but the rest of the book...it was underwhelming and i felt like i spent an hour and 30 minutes reading a lot of off screen scenes instead of actual things i wanted to see.


!!!!spoiler ahead!!!!

not only that, i HATED the confession scene because of how harmful it is. leigh is closeted with a homophobic family yet morgan proposed to her in front of her very homophobic parents that would cut her off immediately knowing she was gay and which she does! and right after, leigh was in harms way because of her stalker to which i cringed at the party goers all having their hands up, flaunting how to help leigh and morgan (don't get me wrong, i love a good community and support system but in that scene, it left a bad taste in my mouth)

the 2 stars is really for the sex scenes, but the plot...i probably wouldn't do that again.

[arley_starkreadingmad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ask me at about 80% what I thought about this book I would have said it was meh/fine, not bad, but also not good.

But you make the ‘reunion’ be one FMC proposing to the other FMC AT A VERY PUBLIC CHARITY FUNCTION WHEN THE OTHER FMC IS STILL IN THE CLOSET AND ALSO SURROUNDED BY HER HOMOPHOBIC FAMILY? There’s not a single reason on this earth that outing someone in front of their family that you know is homophobic and will disown them in public. Who the fuck thought this was ok? Especially after the two FMCs not speaking for several weeks after their inevitable breakup. But everything is fine because the other FMC said yes and the FMC doing the proposing says “don’t worry we are a team” after the other fmc’s family publicly disowns her.

Right. Cool. Absolutely not. Pre this situation I thought this book lacked depth and chemistry. The timeline was out of wack because how else can you show your two fmcs falling for each other. It was like “a few weeks passed. Things happened. More weeks passed. More things happened”. We get told they are in love “more in love than they’ve ever been” but WHY? We get told so many things but not shown.

Overall I thought it was just not well written before this reunion, now I just think it’s badly done.

[Vita L. Licari · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this entertaining book on my TBR shelves. Morgan is a bodyguard assigned to protecting Leigh. Leigh has been getting threatening letters. Though Leigh is gay, she's marrying Jake, her bestfriend who is also gay. They're both keeping secrets from their families.
But the attraction between Morgan and Leigh is immediate. And eventually Leigh tells Morgan her secret. The sex is off the chart! But, there's so much more!
For several hours of pure fun, I highly recommend this book! 5 stars!

[Joanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Like 80% of this was fine, not as good as book one but still enjoyable but what in the everloving fuck was that ending??? Sorry but in WHAT world is it appropriate to rock up to a fancy event your ex is attending (and that's a stretch because they didn't even really date) - OUT HER BY PROPOSING TO HER in front of her extremely homophobic mother, her fiance/beard (whose also closeted) and sudeently everything is fine. Like they never had any real discussion about an actual relationship, they just hooked up. Please let's NOT pretend that outing someone in a grand gesture is romantic??? disgusting and dangerous.

The way all the other guests started offering financial help after her mother blew up at her and disowned her also felt very "and then everybody clapped" and the epilogue where the mum suddenly was okay with the gay just felt dumb and rushed.

Maybe I'll read the next one since they're free on KU anyway but this has put me off those a bit.

[V · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know a lot of people here seem to dislike the ending but I thought the charity gala was hilarious. It felt like I was watching a soap opera where I kept saying wtf 😂 the part where random people jumped in to offer support was so unrealistic it made me laugh.

I feel like if you can enjoy a book without questioning everything and just take things at face value you'll be able to enjoy this book.

The spice in this book was focused on edging so if you like that it's there.

I like that the book is super short so it'll be a quick listen and plus Abby Craden as narrator is always a win for me. I can't deny that if it was a different narrator I might not enjoy it as much as I do.

[Scriptmonkey · Rating 1 out of 5]

First off, apologies. I'm sick--no, not because I read this entire series, though I suspect it made the symptoms worse--but because it has affected the depth of my reviews. Granted, this series is on the shallow end even for this genre, but I think potential readers deserve a comprehensive warning for terrible books instead of gushing 5-star reviews from people who would likely fail the Mirror Test and get disturbing results on the MMPI.

In any case, I read the series out of order (in that I skipped this book), but it doesn't matter as these books are not meaningfully connected and lack the coherence for it to make a difference even if they did.

The book begins with a relatively standard plot, Leigh is faking a straight relationship with her bestie Jake (also gay), to the point where they are going to married. However, someone is not happy about it and is threatening to kill Leigh (gasp). Who could it be? You'll never guess!! Why? Spoiler: It's an ex-boyfriend of Jake (named Simon) from 10 years earlier that was never mentioned or shown until the end.

The story would have us believe that Leigh pretends to be a spoiled rich kid (to keep up the ruse for the bodyguards and justify firing them if they get to close to her precious secret). However, the ONLY reason she wants to keep her sexuality a secret is that she fears her mother will revoke her trust fund and if that happens, since she never pursued her studies and has no skills to speak of, she'd be destitute--in other words, she actually lived the life of a spoiled rich kid anyway.

Morgan, the bodyguard has a black belt in four, yes four, martial arts. Karate, Jiu-Jitsu, Aikido, and Krav Maga. Why those four? Probably because the author picked them out of a hat. Why four at all? It seems excessive. Do I think the author knew three were of Japanese origin and Krav Maga was an Israeli self-defense system that incorporates elements of Karate and Aikido as well as other disciplines? I do not. Why? Well, the ending will help justify my reasoning.

Moreover, despite having four black belts, despite one of those being a grappling martial art and another being tailored to real world situations, she fails to subdue or even restrain the attacker (Simon) in the confined area of a bedroom. That Simon was able to enter the room through the window suggests Morgan failed to secure the premises like a good bodyguard should. If you're wondering if the police got involved for an attempted murder--they did not. Why bother them?

This conversation occurs somewhere around here:

Jake: I think we can trust her (with the secret/not outing us).
Leigh: Think is the operative term. Thinking isn't good enough.

A more apt, if unintentionally self-aware, description of these stories has not yet been written. Clearly, the characters have all eschewed "thinking".

Now, Morgan prides herself on her professinalism. So, naturally, she immediately lusts for Leigh and they have sex before the ink is dry on the contract--as professionals do. However, Morgan immediately turns into a Dom, restraining Leigh and punishing her by forbidding orgasms without permission. This is from the very start--not something they eased into. Not only does she forbid them, Morgan makes the punishment last for weeks.

Leigh reveals that she had also stopped washing her female parts properly for fear of triggering an orgasm/punishment. That the next scene was Morgan going down on her did not help my feeling of sickness. She doesn't say this but this is basically what happened in my head: "Oo, you haven't washed yourself down there for weeks? Let me taste it." Yeah, I'm going to need a new keyboard.

During this period (ew, not that kind, it's gross enough down there), Leigh reflects that she's enjoying this orgasmic refusal torture: "Being used as nothing more than Morgan's sex toy made her feel beautiful, desired, and loved." I don't think Leigh/Emily understands the meaning of the phrase "nothing more than a sex toy" if she thinks being objectified and reduced to a piece of silicone and plastic is "being loved".

Okay, so the "climax-dénouement-epilogue" portion of this book may have been the most brazen display of stupidity I've read in any book.

Let me set the scene: It's been weeks (four weeks since Leigh's last orgasm for those keeping score), with no progress (or attempts at progress) on the stalker/attacker case. Leigh and her mom are discussing the wedding while Morgan stands on the other side of the room fantasizing about what she'll do to Leigh in bed. Suddenly, the window explodes!! (that is to say a shot was fired, shattering the window).

Morgan dashes across the room and thinks she can't be faster than a bullet. And yettttt--in the next line, Emily describes Morgan as reaching Leigh and pulling her down just as the bullet struck her--turning a killing shot to the head/chest into an arm wound. Remember those scenes in the X-Men movies where Quicksilver runs so fast everyone else looks frozen? Best scenes in the films. Anyway, that's what Morgan just did. She's a superhero now.

Cut to the hospital, Morgan realizes she needs to break-up with Leigh because...because ummm, her personal feelings make her unable to...that is...umm..she has reasons, okay. Simultaneously, Leigh's mom tells her to fire Morgan because she senses their impure thoughts (is Mommy Dearest also a superpowered mutant??) and Leigh, fearing for her trust fund, knows she must. So, when Morgan visits her, Leigh tells her what has to be and Morgan agrees. This upsets and angers Leigh because she expected Morgan to fight for her (not that it would have changed her mind, but she wanted Morgan to scream and cry about it). She wanted her to suffer too--because sharing suffering is what love is. I guess. I mean, it's in the vows...sorta.

Life is meaningless and drained of color post break up--a break up that lasts a whole short chapter and a half. Grayson (Gray), the owner of the bodyguard company from Book 1, whose own lack of ethics kicked off this series, tells Morgan to go fight for Leigh. Tell her how you feel. You can't risk losing love! Though you can postpone orgasms for some reason. Now, I don't believe in such things, but there is a chance that Gray is Satan, the great enabler.

This is where many of the negative reviewers get upset--as Morgan goes to a public event, a charity gala, and boldly knees and proposes to Leigh--outing Leigh (and Jake) in the process, putting the trust fund and their relationship with their families at high risk. Leigh accepts. Her mom tells her the trust fund is revoked. Immediately, another woman throws her trust fund at Leigh. Whew, that was close. She was poor for five seconds. Selfish. Rude. Infuriating. All true. However, such a scene is common enough in romantic stories--take The Graduate. Sharing suffering is love, but apparently being wildly selfish is also love.

What most (okay, all that I read) did not mention is that the stupid was just getting started. Simon attacks but Morgan, her Spidey-Sense tingling, pulls Leigh out of the path of the bullet--then captures Simon. Jake gives a Scooby-Doo unmasking ending comment, "Jinkies, it's Simon..." Okay, he doesn't say "Jinkies" but in my head he did.

Morgan tells Leigh that Simon won't be bothering her anymore but Leigh laments, with the trust fund gone, she won't be able to "hire the best prosecution lawyers" to get him put away. "Hire the best prosecution lawyers"?!? How the (insert favorite expletive) does Leigh/Emily think the legal system works. Simon has committed a host of crimes, including multiple attempts at murder. The victim doesn't hire the district attorney to do their job. If nothing else, Law & Order has been on the air for 35 years.

Another helpful guest offers up a great criminal attorney for Leigh. If they are being hired for a criminal prosecution, that would make them a defense attorney--for Simon.

Nobody steps in to tell Leigh, "What are you? Stupid? That's not how any of this works." That they don't can only mean that there are two stupid people here. The author for writing it and myself for reading it. Now, on to the epilogue.

This series loves its epilogues. Truthfully, it is a genre trope. However, Emily likes to make the epilogues years long instead of a paltry six months or a year later. The four-year leap here was to show Leigh getting her degree in--it doesn't matter. She's already got great job offers for--it doesn't matter. None of it is ever stated.

Celebrating at home (that means sex), Leigh, a bit tipsy yes, suggests they make a baby. Morgan, showing more awareness of her body parts than the legal system, tells her she lacks the equipment to help Leigh make a baby. Now, I'm thinking they are going to bring Jake in for the donation. Oh no no no. Leigh responds with:

"We can make a baby--with doctors and science and stuff we can. They can take our DNA and use it to fertilize eggs or something like that. I'm sure I read it somewhere."

Leigh, a just now today college graduate, says, "with doctors and science and stuff." She read somewhere (a science fiction novel or some QAnon page conspiracy page perhaps) that they can take a woman's DNA to fertilize her eggs and make a baby. What in the name of The Island of Doctor Moreau is she talking about?

Whatever it is, they both consider it practically a done deal just by stating it, so when Leigh's mom, after four years of silence, talked to a couple of LGBTQ+ people and has realized she was totally wrong and her entire value system was false--like people do all the time. Practically never. It's a happy ending for everyone! Except Jake, who married his boyfriend Mike, but was totally disowned by his family and they never made up--but the hell with Jake.

[Patricia OHara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good reading

I enjoyed the book and found that I was really looking forward to Leigh and Morgan being together. Adding in Jake was a new twist to plots. The book didn’t provide any surprises about how it would end with Morgan getting her man! Of course she would, but the wedding question and the ending provided some fresh air when Amanda finally came to terms with her daughters life.
I’m recommending that people should read your book for themselves to find what a writer you are.

[Robin Kenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

These body guard books do certainly entertain me! The sex scenes are enough to send me to the showers!

Ms Hayes is certainly gifted in easily bringing characters to heated encounters rather quickly and leaving one a bit breathless. Her writing style fits just what I need occasionally and leaves me waiting for her next book! I recommend this series for the bit of pleasurable interlude that we all need occasionally.

[J.R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having faith does wonders!

Leigh's mother is very homophobic, so much a trust fund would be taken away. But Leigh has found away to avoid that, her soon to be husband is gay and the the death threats start arriving. Morgan is a bodyguard and she is a very good one and hired to protect Leigh. One problem with that is Morgan and Leigh have eyes for only each other. Oops! What now? Enjoy!

[Siddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Morgan is a professional bodyguard, a martial arts expert. Leigh is her client, engaged to Jake.
This is a good story, fun, hot steamy scenes, a bit of peril and angst but nothing bad, and a bit of homophobia from Leigh’s mother.
This is quite a light book, not too long, but most certainly worth reading.

[sue strawbridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Falling for her Bodyguard

I have read the book in eight hours I could not put it down what a wonderful story it one of the best that I have read.I have recommended it to all my reading buddies,there is nothing to fault.Can't wait for the next one..

[Zureena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Acceptance

This story hit its mark full on. That kind off emotional trauma still happens to a lot of people out there. Our MC's here went threw so much and love prevailed. Emotional rollercoaster but less steam in this book. Overall, a good read. Keep the tisues nearby.

[Christine Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, fantastic storyline

Wow,fantastic storyline. I loved the main characters their chemistry was hot.the twists in the story flow perfectly. I couldn't put it. It's definitely a must-read congratulations

[Jackie Dailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book

I really enjoyed the second book in this series.
The MC’s where both very likeable. I can’t wait for book 3.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some Like It Hot

Emily Hayes has done it again. She has written a very hot romance involving Morgan, the bodyguard, and Leigh, the damsel in distress.

[Kim Tunney · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow

Strongly written and emotional standing up for what you love is always exceptional very similar to book one just slight differences

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was honestly enjoying it but the second half just didn’t do it for me. I’m sorry I didn’t feel their love so the fact that they were so depressed just made me confused. 🤨Also I’m tired of the trope”oh the bodyguard can’t know I’m gay.” 🙄 Also not sure if Jake ever really agreed to come out. At first I was annoyed he was mad but later I was mad because Morgan didn’t run it through him knowing the deal Leigh and him had and so Morgan grand gesture wasn’t that grand in my opinion. In all honesty I feel like Leigh should have been the one to make the gesture because she had to choose Morgan and trust her and i had to come out which is a big deal.

[Lucien St Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this courtesy of the kindle program and this was a vast improvement on the first book in the series so I have given it four stars. Yes the story is simple but there's a villain, Morgan is dependable and decisive, Leigh's got some purpose and we see a progression and change in her also. You can read this as a standalone no need to read the other book in the series, all in all it makes for a decent read. Good Job

[Helen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I should have remembered that whoever is the person behind this name is a truly bad writer. From the very start shallow writing, numerous inconsistencies, one would think a 4 year wrote this. Therefore abandoned and when I see the name of the author...def not reading their books any more. I mean trying to read....

[Xiaoqing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many times, when a book involves a bodyguard, she is most likely a former soldier, but this book is different that the bodyguard has no military training, instead she is an expert of martial arts. The attraction between the couple is instant and the chemistry is out of the chart hot, love blurred the line of wealthy gap and vast different background.

[Margaritas Cherena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another lesbian love story. A pretty good story but the ending was rushed. The ending just came on. Not to much emphasis on the need for a bodyguard, no suspense it just happens. A good weekend read. This book is not for you if you like thriller and suspense.

[Jamie Morgan · Rating 1 out of 5]

talk about hokey

Maybe written by a high schooler or a man. You should know you don’t pay for a prosecutor. Development of a plot is a good thing with less porn and more reality.

[LovesickJunkie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a super cute sapphic bodyguard romance and I adored it.

[Elina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sorry, but the story was a little unrealistic and was happening pretty fast

[Vibeke · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars might be too much for this story. It’s way too short and superficial- you don’t get to know the characters.

[Ashton Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

This sapphic bodyguard novella was very cheesy and instalove, but also super steamy and a nice palate cleanser audio that’s available on Hoopla!

[Tia Tankard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wasn’t my normal read but very worth it

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending was just crazy!
An out of nowhere proposal, rich people throwing houses and money at them?!

[Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seemed very rushed with no real depth of the characters basically a lot of erotica that padded out a very flimsy story.

Revisited this title as an audiobook narrated by Abby Craden who certainly improves a story.