★★★★★ Guarded Desires by Lexxie Couper
This is the third book in the Heart of Fame series and is the first m/m romance. I loved the book, even more so than the first book in the series, but I think I am probably a bit impartial as I have a definite preference for m/m! 🙂
Guarded Desires by Lexxie Couper
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
The Blurb…
“Desire like this wasn’t in the script…”
Small-screen sex symbol Chris Huntley is on the fast track to becoming the next big action-blockbuster movie star. When his latest movie takes him to Australia for a red-carpet premiere, he thinks he’s ready for anything.
But nothing could have prepared him for his raw, carnal response to his Aussie bodyguard. Sexual attraction to a man is a first for Chris. Now he realizes why his relationships with women have never felt quite…complete.
Liev Reynolds is comfortable with his bisexuality, but his attraction to Chris is an inconvenience he must ignore. For starters, there’s his professional ethics. Then there’s the long trail of female broken hearts in Chris’s wake.
Hard as they both try to keep their minds on their jobs, desire and a little matchmaking tip them over the edge. But Hollywood endings aren’t real life. And when the truth leaks out, their careers aren’t the only collateral damage.
Warning: A hunky Hollywood sex symbol. A smoldering, stubborn Australian. A desire so powerful it cannot be denied. A kiss. And a photograph. This “isn’t” your normal boy-meets-boy story.
So what did I think?
“A desire and need and hunger that changed everything. Everything.”
I absolutely loved this book – it pressed all the right buttons and was just what I was in the mood for!
For some reason (probably wanting to believe in fairytales), I adore stories where a famous person falls for an ordinary guy. Ok, so Liev wasn’t exactly your run-of-the-mill guy, at least not where I hang out “…a six foot three bi-sexual firefighting bodyguard…” but I’m sure you get the gist.
Chris is an actor with a high rating TV show and a new blockbuster action movie about to be released. He is in Australia for the premiere. Chris has a reputation as a real ladies man and has never been attracted to another man. That all changes when he meets Liev, the bodyguard assigned to watch over him for the week in Sydney.
Liev was a gorgeous character – sexy, protective, caring. He wanted to do the right thing by Chris and I just wanted him to get his so well deserved happy ending.
What I most liked about this story was Chris’ reaction to his attraction to Liev. He is wildly turned on but it isn’t purely a physical attraction. “It had little to do with Liev’s sexy Australian accent and everything to do with the way Chris felt…complete when the man was near him. Not just safe, complete. Which only confused Chris more. He hadn’t realised he wasn’t whole until then.”
But there is no doubting their chemistry and the sex is hot – it is raw, hard and passionate – and there is no holding Chris back, even if he’s never had this type of sex before.
The direction the story took was pleasantly surprising, NOT falling into the standard plot line of the celebrity running from being found out to be gay. Of course things don’t go smoothly. Firstly there are all the problems associated with the men acknowledging they should be together and finally the problems trying to sort out the future.
My only concern with the story was the role Chris’ PA Bethany played in bringing the men together. I really liked her character but never fully understood her true motivation for bringing Chris and Liev together. I’m glad she did but the tactics she used just didn’t seem to fit with the professional assistant she appeared as – she didn’t even call Chris by his first name so her actions were very surprising.
Actor, bodyguard, action, drama, sexual chemistry….4.5 stars!
To find out more about Lexxie Couper and her books visit her website.
Buy Guarded Desires from Amazon.
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