Close Protection

Phoenix Ridge Police Department #1

by Emily Hayes

One night. No names. No regrets—until she walks in as your new bodyguard.

Welcome to Phoenix Ridge a fictional, women-led police department where justice is healing, power is accountable, and every officer we meet is a queer-inclusive, feminist anti-racist badass who actually deserves the badge. (This is not the US police department you know. Phoenix Ridge is the PD we wish we had. Come and escape there with me!)

This is a forced proximity, one night to forever, mistaken identity lesbian romance with plenty of risky moments.

Dr. Ivy Monroe never planned to fall into bed in a hotel with a mysterious stranger the night before entering witness protection.

She especially didn’t plan on that stranger turning out to be Detective Julia Scott—the very officer assigned to keep her alive.

Ivy’s testimony could bring down one of the most dangerous criminals in the city. Julia’s job is to protect her at all costs. But between the close quarters of a safe house and the unresolved heat from their one-night stand, sticking to the rules gets harder by the hour.

They can’t afford distractions. But some sparks are too strong to smother—and the only thing more dangerous than falling for each other might be not falling at all.

Genres: Queer, Romance

446 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 2, 2025

About the author

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

Reviews

[Stephany · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Geri Tisdale · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF’d at 70%

I very rarely DNF a book, but this one lost me around the halfway mark. I soft DNF’d at about 50%, but decided to keep going because (without spoiling anything) I wanted to see what happened with a certain character.

Unfortunately, the story just never pulled me back in. It felt really repetitive — one chapter would describe how Julia was feeling, and then the next would use almost the exact same wording to describe Ivy. That started to wear on me after a while.

I also found Ivy to be a pretty toxic character. Julia deserved better, plain and simple. On top of that, I was surprised to realize the entire story takes place over just a few days — it reads like it should span weeks.

Overall, I’m bummed this one didn’t work for me. I really wanted to like it, but it just wasn’t worth finishing in the end.

[Sophie Shults · Rating 2 out of 5]

not bad

Was okay,
Cute story line if not a little predictable in the sense of what would happen
Written well enough and had a good balance between action, story and spice

[Shelby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had potential but fell short. Almost stopped reading due to the grammar errors and paragraphs that would repeat themselves. You could almost tell when the author stopped writing for the day and then picked it up the next day. There were also several errors such as a character would be wearing a v-neck tee and then in the same scene she was unbuttoning her shirt. Another error talked about a character being tied to a chair. The very next paragraph that character was then walking to another room to be tied to the chair. Kinda hard to walk to another room if you were already tied to a chair in the paragraph before. There were several errors like this plus repeating the same things over and over that made me almost not want to finish this book. However my OCD prevents me from not finishing books. The smut was good at least, the characters were likable, and the story had a good plot which is why 3 stars.

[Christine E Carcary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart starter

It's always a pleasure reading intelligent stories full of twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat. This latest one is no exception among so many others from this author. Always full of hot interesting characters, with enough to keep you guessing till the exciting finale. There's action, vulnerability and amusing banter, not forgetting 🔥 moments to bring them together, thoroughly enjoyable.

[Kirian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Once again a terrible AI book.

In the first chapter "the woman" occures 69 times. And I'm not even able to count the amount of adjectives on those pages.

Also them after exchanging a few senctences, in just after they begin to undress eachother:
- "You're beautiful," she said simply.
Ivy wasn't prepared for how the words affected her - a warmth that had nothing to do with desire and everything to do with being truly seen.

That's fast even for instalove.

[H Fabs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the setup of this one and enjoy Emily’s writing. Love a woman run city! I will say there were repetitive moments and phrases that kind of pulled me out of the story and it probably could have been shorter but it was still a fun ride. Julia and Ivy are brilliant, badass and hot together.

[M Silver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved, Loved this Book

It was hard to put down from the beginning to the end. I was able to get a visual in my head and it was as if I was on the outside looking in. This book grabbed my attention and kept me going. The characters were awesomely portrayed. It was steamy and full of twists.

[Kim Tunney · Rating 5 out of 5]

close protection

The cop having a one night stand or as she thought!! Unknowingly with the dr she was going to be allocated on protection duty the ups and downs the temptation of more was always there but trying to remain professional until she couldn’t resist anymore 🌈🌹

[Erik S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very impressive

Emily I've read so many of your books. They are all simply amazing just some may be greater than others. So many I can't keep up with all your amazing stories. THANK YOU for the great enjoyable and SEXY WRITING. One of your biggest FANS.

[Krysta]

Sentences were very repetitive and she used the same phrases over and over again. I fully understand people’s claim for AI use. A second pair of eyes editing this book would have improved it drastically. I like the story line but DNFed it due to the repetitive nature.

[Ramona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth the read

Overall this was a good book. My only criticism is there was quite a bit of repeated sentences or phrases and became a little redundant at times and the book likely didn’t need to be as long because of this. But still a great book!

[jennifer white · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it read it in one ssitting. Good story line and lots of action. I loved the forensic accountant never heard of one it was grat....

[Rebecca Gaddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

too notch

Excellent crime to resolution with a side of sexiness! The story is compelling & driven. And, the characters are credible!

[Lisa Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book

This book was great. I had a hard time putting it down! The characters were human; it felt very real.

[Zayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

love these Emily Hayes stories. They are something familiar and unique with each read. All with their own issues and problems and complex, emotional, lovable characters.

[Sal · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too repetitive and predictable.

[Frances Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

I really enjoyed this book I recommend this book can't wait to read the next one I enjoyed the characters the story line I couldn't put it down

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this book. There was so much repetiton it ruined the story. Since the author has 7 books out in 4 months, i suspect she used AI to write it.

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good premise but repetitive and inconsistent. And repetitive. To the point where you think you’ve lost your place and are rereading. I suspect there’s AI involved but not much proofing.

[Rein · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot and redundancy

While the plot was semi good, the rest was beyond repetition and I found myself praying for the end. This was a very hard read for me.

[Anne Hartley Pfohl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very repetitive, not very well edited. Could have been half the length.

[bambi gravlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating

This story brings you through many twists and turns. Has you so captivated you're unable to step away. Definitely a must read 😉

[BeReads17 · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good! I mean a little unrealistic but a fun read that entertains. It reminded me of a soap opera which i love! I mean who doesn’t love a good detective romance.

[Pauline Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book I've read by Emily, I've read most of the series she has produced and watched her writing getting better and better. I really look forward to the next one.