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Too many times, I’ve watched the bad guys walk free.

The justice system is a joke, and now that I’ve walked away from it, there’s no going back. Blurring the lines between ex-cop and bodyguard is as easy as breathing.

I’m a protector at heart, and I’m done playing by rules that don’t work. Getting my hands dirty is just a pleasurable bonus.

When the outspoken and gorgeous as hell Montana runs to me after a hunter in the shadows sets his sights on her, my instincts won’t let me turn her away.

I’m going to have to cross every line to keep her safe… including the ones preventing me from exploring the sizzling connection between us.

No matter what it takes, the man determined to take what’s mine won’t succeed as long as I’m breathing. Now, I only have to make sure he doesn’t get to her before I get to him…

Chased, book two in the Hollywood Guardians series, is a steamy, dark, forced proximity bodyguard contemporary romance featuring an ex-cop protective, alpha male and the feisty, red-headed heroine of his dreams. Happily ever after guaranteed. Download today and let the binge reading begin.

377 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 1, 2022

441 people are currently reading
3573 people want to read

About the author

Heather Ashley

25 books674 followers
Hi! I’m Heather.

It’s great to meet you! I’m a socially-awkward introvert who loves love stories. I’m not awesome at singing or keeping my house clean, but I somehow find the time to obsessively read romance novels. I consider it one of my many talents.

In my opinion, you can never have too many books (or french fries…), messy buns are a girl’s best friend, and I’d probably die without my laptop. If I wasn’t over-committing myself to future stories or procrastinating to meet my deadlines, I’m not quite sure what I’d do with myself.

Be sure to find all sorts of sneak peeks and my more than likely cuss-word filled rantings over on the blog. Oh, and if you’re a fan of getting in the mood to read and connecting to the characters that way, check out the playlists that accompany each story in the “Playlists” tab.

Peace, love, and abs for days.

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5 stars
356 (30%)
4 stars
333 (28%)
3 stars
331 (28%)
2 stars
95 (8%)
1 star
34 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
Profile Image for Tamzin.
220 reviews
July 3, 2022
Was just a nice little romance with a hint of true crime.

I read this after seeing a TikTok by the author and the scene that she put on TikTok was not in the book.
Profile Image for demi.
616 reviews2 followers
July 7, 2022
Unfortunately, I don’t think this is a series for me. I absolutely love a bodyguard romance but this was just not it. Ronin is supposedly a great, deadly cop turned bodyguard who has had a crush on Montana for a while. But he’s supposed to be a full grown adult and yet he seemed unable to keep his head on the job and separate his feelings for Montana and keeping her safe. He lost all sense of professionalism, always only thinking about her sexually and it was just bad to read. He constantly denied Montana in the beginning, yet he ruined her dates and wouldn’t let her move on. And Montana, you wouldn’t think she was 32. I found her immature and grating to be honest. I suspected who was behind it all fairly early so wasn’t too surprised by this.
96 reviews4 followers
July 27, 2022
There is so much I did not like about this book but I am giving it 4 stars because while I didn't like either of the main characters I continued to read it. I am quick toss a book aside if I am not enjoying it so I am intrigued that the author was able to keep me invested in finishing it. To be honest I can't tell you what I liked about it (but obviously I did because I kept reading!) Something kept my attention because I have a TBR pile that is miles long. But I am clear on what I did not like.

Spoiler.....

Seriously do not look unless you want to know the details.

First I did not like the FMC. She was contradiction after contradiction. She decided she wanted a baby because her brother (the golden child) was having one. She has not given one thought to how this baby is going to be impacted by her high pressure career. She loves her job and isn't willing to make changes. She said this multiple times. She said he could not win in the race for their parents love. She had a messed up relationship where she was always trying to earn their love. 5 page later she gives up on the MMC and says she does not want to work to earn someone's love. She is open about the fact she wants a baby daddy and that is most important but angry he doesn't want a commitment. She is supposed to be this bad ass rock star manager yet multiple times she pouts and sticks her lower lip out. She is spoiled and demands her way with no consideration for anyone else. She is being physically stalked, has had 2 kidnap attempts, multiple break ins where her clothes are stolen, her birth control is stole, notes are left in her house, pictures of her having sex are left in her house and her custom bed is destroyed 3 times. None of this cause her a moment of worry and she refuses to stop meeting guys on social media and dating apps because remember she has to get pregnant to compete with her brother. She was so unlikeable I was actually rooting for the crazy killer.

MMC was supposedly a top bodyguard. All of his career choices and life choices is to avenge his sister who was killed by a murderer when he was 17. He caught the guy once but he slipped through the court system. We don't know how. This happened in Seattle. He decides to leave the police force and become a body guard for private security because they do not work within the bounds of the law. Now don't forget he is obsessed with his sister's killer who is a serial killer in Seattle. So it makes total sense he would move to LA to work for the private security firm. He is raging mad on multiple occasions and has to be held back by his team members not to attack someone or something. He is supposed to be this bad ass guy who walks into a gun fight with a knife, but has anxiety and has to take medication for which causes him to sleep for 12 hours at at time. While he is on duty. He has avoided all relationships because everyone dies and his job is to find his sister's murder at all cost but decides half way through that he is the one that has to put a baby in her belly. He has one conversation with his boss and friend who says and I quote be like the ice queen in the Disney movie and let it go. These are actual words from the book. He drinks iced coffees with whip cream and gets his feeling hurt when she doesn't like his black joggers. He sounded like a 16 year old girl half the time.

They are the worst security team ever! She is on the 16th floor in a sky rise in LA and someone climbs into window. They leave pictures of her having sex in the room. He finds out about it when they are at a different location and the team of security people ask if there are neighboring buildings around that someone could see in from. Keep in mind they have lived in her apartment for a week at that point. They did not know. The killer leaves massive amounts of blood and semen at the scene but the security team doesn't want to involve the police until they have fool proof evidence because this has to be the killer from Seattle. Other than attacking women in the dark there is no connection.

The killer is alway one step ahead of them and they can't figure out why. They never look into her cell phone...you know the electronic device you take with you everywhere and is the easiest thing to hack. They one you send text messages and emails on. Nope completely surprised at the end when they find out he has a hidden program on it. After multiple break-in, they finally find a small pin hole in the wall that allows the neighbor to look in and watch.

After some Scooby doo reveal shit we find out they both have a stalker. The guy is mentally unstable and his crazy sister who is totally into the MMC! The sister puts the brother up to doing all of this. Well they capture both of them and take them to the basement (also know as a torture chamber). They convince the sister to kill her brother so she can be with the MMC and of course they get it all on tape and plan to turn that over and her to the popo.

Yeah...

Profile Image for Hannah Gallagher.
193 reviews1 follower
August 19, 2022
**3.5**This book totally exceeded my expectations! The romance was fine, but the thrilller/scary side of this book had my heart in my chest. Genuinely should not have been reading before bed it made me so paranoid! Also I didn’t guess the bad guy at all and normally it’s pretty easy to spot so I enjoyed this thoroughly.
Profile Image for Sloth Incarnate 🍉.
415 reviews36 followers
Read
August 2, 2022
The fmc was supposed to be likable, independent, and strong, but I just found her whiny, immature, and just annoying. DNF’d at 37%.
Profile Image for Soph.
4 reviews
July 21, 2022
I LOVED this book. Bodyguard romance has always been one of my favorite tropes. I love the angst and the need to protect from our man, but I also love her need to stand up for herself. These two MCs had a great "I-hate-you-because-I-lust-for-you" relationship. I really enjoy when books offer more of a plot line than smutt, and this book did just that. There was crime and suspense served as a great side dish to the romance. Definitely a 5 star read!
Profile Image for eri.
199 reviews1 follower
July 10, 2022
The plot was a bit boring and the writing of the first chapters was messy. The characters were ok kinda bad but their chemistry was good. I liked the two final chapters.
Profile Image for Delilah.
111 reviews
August 4, 2022
DNF 6%

Montana was cringey. “Im so different” “I have such hilarious inner monologue “ It was just too much. I couldn’t take her or the story serious.
Profile Image for Chelsea.
360 reviews1 follower
July 8, 2022
Spoilers ahead.

Honestly the romance in this book wasn’t bad at all. I quite enjoyed the connection between Ronin and Montana.

The plot however .. made me want to reach through the pages and slap each one of these “guardians”.

For men who make being morally grey bodyguards/guardians who do whatever is necessary to protect their charges.. the ones in this book were kinda stupid.

Turns out her stalker had control of the apartment right next door. I could have sworn that they “checked” the apartments that were close by to Montana’s but apparently they missed the one next door??? The one that apparently smelled like stale blood? Ok.

The stalker leaves Montana alone for like a month and a half and in the time the guys dropped all security measures when it came to tailing her ?? After realising how high risk this situation was and the fact that she could literally die if he got his hands on her?? They just let her walk around freely after a short amount of time of radio silence. Sure.

TW/ violence

ALSO let’s talk about the stalker finally capturing Montana, handcuffing her to a bed and then punching her three times in her stomach while she’s PREGNANT with TWINS.
Violence is fine in books for me usually, but the fact that she was pregnant sort of made it hard to read. The twins were magically okay tho.🥴

Overall, romance and characters were great, plot was hard to get through. Felt like these bodyguards missed the actual training of being bodyguards and mercenaries
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
168 reviews
June 5, 2023
2.5 stars

This book made me mad. First of all she kept going back to the same apartment that the stalker kept managing to break into. And she just kept ordering new beds when he would ruin hers. And after all that it turns out he was living next door to her?? And the apartment smelled like blood. Like they weren’t thorough enough to investigate next door?? It seems like they could have moved apartments. Also put some better security in place.

Secondly when she gets inevitably taken at the end it’s because they just assumed the stalker had given up and she went back to living her normal life. Like she had multiple bodyguards for such a long time and then scaled it down to nothing?? Like duhh you got kidnapped.

Also the kidnapped was Simon the bartender which was kind of predictable. He’s going on about how he’s gonna give her a baby and she decides it’s a smart idea to tell him that she’s pregnant. Like girl bffr. He obviously is furious about this and starts punching her stomach. Idk what she thought telling him that was gonna do.

She ends up being fine. Turns out it’s twins. Ronin and Montana just have a very boring relationship idk what they’ll talk about. Also she wants a nice wedding and he makes her elope at the end.

Overall he just was not a good bodyguard. He needs to find a new job. He literally got knocked out by the bad guy in a parking lot. Also I read this because of a tiktok and the scene from the tiktok was not in the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
106 reviews1 follower
July 15, 2022
Book was entertaining. There were some parts of the plot that confused me a bit, like things I thought would be important but ended up not mattering or being like I thought.
For example her texting the stalker back, I thought he would respond or Ronin would see the text or something but it was never mentioned again.
And some character aspects seemed inconsistent, like Ronin was freaking out that the condom broke but then was like oh well might as well get you pregnant then. I mean I know he had a talk with Connor and “came to his senses” but it still seemed fast.
Also I feel like he never had the deep heart to heart about his sister that I wanted him to have with Montana. He told Connor but then I feel like he never had the talk with Montana so she could understand why he was so closed off to love before. Like they were about to at breakfast but then it got interrupted and I don’t think it ever happened.
But overall it was entertaining and enjoyable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for lex.
37 reviews2 followers
July 29, 2022
after seeing a tiktok about this book I decided to give it a try. montana is a workaholic with a massive crush on one of the body guards working for the band she manages. when a serial killer attempts to kidnap her her crush becomes her shadow 24/7 to protect her. ronin (ro) is set on protecting montana from the serial killer that murdered his sister and got away with it. even though he has had a massive crush on montana for years, he does not do relationships and montana is looking for just that. a relationship and a baby daddy.

I genuinely liked this book although it got a bit repetitive at times. I loved ro and his spitfire though and can’t wait to read the shadow phoenix series!
58 reviews
January 5, 2022
great!

I started reading a story about a rockstar falling in love and got hooked. I read all 6 books and was mad that people were left out. What about Connor? Ronin? Grayson? Montana. I fell in love with Montana in book 1 and finally got her story with this book!! What a great story. I’m so glad for the happy ending and Ronin getting closure as well. It’s important to get closure to feel like he could truly be happy in the end. I want Connor marrying all his friends. Wonder who will marry him and Gigi though?
Profile Image for Lazy Bandit .
8 reviews1 follower
July 19, 2022
Main character is very childish - the Guardians…there’s so much to unpack. How did they not put 2 and 2 together…especially after having “hunted” said stalker over that specific length of time?

Over all book was good but took me a while to get through just due to the overall main character attitude lack of self preservation and overall childish attitude. Is she strong? Yes. Both need therapy IMO and wasn’t as captivating as advertised.

Most likely will not read others in this series as it didn’t really capture my attention.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
13 reviews
August 15, 2022
Spoilers

I liked the plot, thought is got a bit slow in parts and the time jumps without much description of the time got a bit confusing on how far along on the timeline the events were happening. Also felt like their wasn't much development of characters, or explaining their love it kind of just happened, same with him over coming his trauma wasn't explained he just magically was ready to commit to her. But overall good.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Mani's Books.
403 reviews
November 30, 2022
I was very up and down reading this book, certain parts were just a bit idiotic, like a team of highly trained and professional bodyguards wouldn’t think of obvious safety measures (including definitely NOT going back to Montana’s house ffs?) and other bits were cute like Bali. But the cute bits just did not make up for the rest of it.
The storyline had potential but it didn’t take off as well as I hoped! Bit of a shame
128 reviews
June 5, 2023
Tbh this book was a DNF. Nothing personal against the author, I just felt like the writing style was a bit all over the place and not for me. Also I usually love the lust-to-love trope and the bodyguard romance, but this felt like it just escalated so rapidly that we had zero backstory of Ronin and Montana's feelings for each other, the book just started with them having the hots for one another (did not read the previous Hollywood Guardians so I may have just missed that).
Profile Image for Cathleen Cole.
Author 32 books552 followers
July 8, 2021
This book is SOOO Good! From the very beginning to the nail biting end, you're left on the edge of your seat. I'll try not to give any spoilers away, but the plot is *chef's kiss*, the smexy scenes are scorching, and both main characters are strong and bada**. Montana cracks me up, and who wouldn't love all the alphaness that is Ronin? I am loving this series and can't wait for the next book!

Profile Image for Samantha.
30 reviews
August 8, 2022
Cliche with some kinks

If you like a mild breeding kink and vigilante sexy bad boy club... this is for you!
The characters are very cliche. Easy to like and see their lives. The story was fun to read, got a little repetitive in parts. The twist and turn leading to sexy bad boy things was super exciting!
Well written.
Can be read as a stand alone!
Profile Image for Kaylyn.
184 reviews4 followers
August 15, 2022
I liked it okay and it was a pretty good read. It wasn't anything too special to me, but I don't regret reading it or anything. Ronin was absolutely an alpha male and I liked him. There wasn't anything bad with Montana, but I just didn't really vibe with her much.

312 reviews2 followers
September 10, 2022
Hot Body guard and his Spitfire

New author for me. Cute book. Story flowed well..great secondary characters.. 🔥🔥🔥 scenes. I really enjoyed this book, 2ill be reading the rest of the series.
Profile Image for Tena.
187 reviews4 followers
October 3, 2022
started off good

Possible spoilers~

I was really into it until she woke up and he made a joke about her thinking about them doing it. It kinda jumped from them being acquaintances to being close friends. I just felt like it skipped and didn’t flow.
10 reviews1 follower
May 1, 2023
DNF at 39%

I’m really into bodyguard trope but here he is just a big teddy bear who cannot keep is head straight
They have a crush on each other for a while but i think it’s not writing in the right way!
Profile Image for Sierra loves Reading.
264 reviews15 followers
August 1, 2023
meh

Found this book from TikTok and was excited to read it. It didn’t have the scene the TikTok talked about. It started off good then I got over it at the 70% mark. The characters acted like teenagers not grown adults.
Profile Image for Jenn.
109 reviews4 followers
Read
May 3, 2025
DNF for now. I love Heather Ashley, but these characters, especially the FMC, was too juvenile, superficial, and petty acting for me. I just couldn’t relate to her, or care about her story. Maybe I will pick this book back up sometime, but for now, I’m having to put it down.
Profile Image for Suze.
30 reviews
July 13, 2021
Soo good

Love this series , I had been wanting Montana to find her hea for so long now.. and it was well worth the wait. !
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews

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