Title: Guarded
Author: Cat Grant & L.A. Witt
Genre: Contemporary Romance / BDSM
Length: Novel (344 pages)
ISBN: 9780989694940
Publisher: Cat Grant Books (April 7th, 2014)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥3.5~4 Hearts
Reviewer: Thommie
Blurb: On the surface, rock star Jordan Kane has it all. His band No Rules is burning up the charts and headlining a world tour. His bodyguard doubles as a hot, kinky boyfriend who knows just how to push all his buttons. But behind the scenes, he’s suffocating.
Jase Hewitt never imagined he’d have a shot at bedding the larger than life rock star – never mind dominating him – but now he’s worried he’s in over his head. Jordan’s kinks run deep, dark, and sometimes dangerous, putting Jase’s desires to both pleasure and protect him at odds.
They might have a fighting chance at finding the safe, happy medium between what Jordan needs and what Jase is willing to give, but there’s one problem: Daniel, Jordan’s childhood best friend, the band’s talented guitarist — and a volatile, hard-partying drug addict. Jordan is determined to save Daniel from himself, but Jase has been there, done that, and desperately wants to protect Jordan from the inevitable heartache of watching an addict self-destruct.
When Daniel goes off the rails again, Jordan calls off the tour to get him help. Tension within the band skyrockets and pressure from the record label sends Jordan into a dark spiral. Now his band — and his life — are balanced on a knife’s edge, and Jase is the only one who can pull him back… but only if the echoes of his own tragic past don’t push him over first.
Purchase Link: ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-guarded-1441814-354.html
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Guarded-Cat-Grant-ebook/dp/B00JGWKT1I
Review: Rock stars, drugs, sex… Nah, not good enough, let me try this again.
Gorgeous, stunningly hot rock-star and equally drool-worthy bodyguard; addictions to alcohol and drugs with seriously realistic repercussions packing one hell of an emotional punch; lots of kinky, domineering, controlling and breath-taking (pun intended) sex that drives you out of your mind with the carnal and sensuous eroticism it packs. These are the ingredients of this exiting book and trust me when I say that this was one hell of a ride I didn’t expect.
Truth is I feared this would be just another one of “those” books, that generate the same old theme with nothing new to give, and I was a bit apprehensive of it when I started reading. But, really, I should’ve known that both authors wouldn’t simply write a trivial story. This book is so much more than that. The view and life of the rock stars when they are off the stage and all lights are off is amazing. The needs they have, the tiredness they feel, the choices they make, everything is charged with realistic-feeling emotions that do not fail to turn you inside out, drain you out of everything, only to recharge you with new feelings of hope, happiness and eroticism in the end.
The characters, Jordan, Jase, and Daniel are… the best description I can find for them is raw. They are humane, they are flawed to the bone, and they are geniuses who drown in their own brilliance. Their strengths and weaknesses are sublime and you can’t help but feel a number of emotions for each of them.
I loved Jordan, I hated Jordan, and I pitied Jordan. His love for both Jase and Daniel was heart breaking and it managed to do just that, break my heart a bit in the end.
Daniel; he just killed me. I managed to re-live the same emotions I used to feel about a number of extremely talented people who simply throw their life away, and/or can’t find the strength to go on despite their brilliance.
But Jase, I think he was my favorite character, though I hated his guilt to no end. He made me happy, he made me horny (yes, he did) he made me cry, he made me mad.
In the end, what I’m trying to say I that these authors manipulated their characters to the max of their strength in order to deliver an incredible story that lacked nothing. It felt too real, it felt too raw, and it definitely felt too hot.
If I wasn’t so emotionally drained by the end of this story, I think this book would’ve taken a good 4.5 hearts from me, but I just couldn’t handle it all. While I had fun, and I loved the BDSM aspect more than I can say, I couldn’t handle the emotional roller coaster that came within the blink of an eye. The highs and the lows of the story were too close to each other and I constantly felt unbalanced while reading it, not being able to set for one bit in a particular emotion, and that was what in the end took a heart from my rating.
Overall though I found it an amazing book, incredibly well written and worthy of your selves. Strongly recommended for those who love a love story that takes lots of work to stand and survive.