Book safety, content warnings, and tropes down below.

He wasn’t sure he could cope with this. How crazy to be so attracted to a guy who looked down on him like he was a worm.

I’m a little conflicted about this one. I mostly loved it. It’s got plenty of the stuff I usually love, with suspense, a bodyguard situation, mental health issues, mortal peril, all of that good stuff. I do however think the book needed more chapters, because it didn’t feel fully complete, at least not in a satisfying way *for me*. I would describe it as a tentative HFN, and unfortunately no epilogue to really bring it home.

These guys really had to work *hard* to be with each other. They got in their own way, in each others way, as well as external fuckery messing everything up. They both struggled massively with being vulnerable, and when one of them did lower their walls a little, the other one freaked, and they were back to square one. It’s of course a little frustrating to read push and pull like this, at least it is to me, but it also made a lot of sense for the characters. It wasn’t meant to be easy or straight-forward. It was heartbreaking at times, the way they treated each other, and for the longest time I thought Logan was really cruel. He isn’t, but he’s not that nice either, lol. Not that Zak is perfect in any way, which is evident from very early on.

In spite of this entire mess, I liked them together. They were both struggling in their own way, but managed to find some peace and happiness together, and I wanted that for them. I guess that’s also why I wanted the book to be longer, and an epilogue was sorely missed. I wanted to see them have that happiness for a bit.

This all ended up sounding negative, which honestly wasn’t my intention. It’s Barbara Elsborg, so of course I devoured the book in a short amount of time. She’s a brilliant writer, and this book is 7 years old already. It had the trademark Barbara Banter of course.

It felt like there was possibly meant to be a second book, or at least could’ve been, so I’m not quite sure how to rate it.

3.5 stars rounded up

⬇️ Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️

⚠️ Tropes & tags ⚠️
Bodyguard
Famous (former) musician
Age gap
Two tops
Enemies to lovers
Action & suspense
MI6 agent
Mental health rep
Push and pull
Milking (not cows)
Past trauma

⚠️ Content warning ⚠️
Explicit sexual content
Gun violence
Injured MC
Drug use (on page)
Excessive drinking
Descriptions of being severely beaten and injured (past)
Feelings of guilt and grief
Death of a parent (past, detailed)
Drug overdose (on page)
Hospitalization
Vomiting
Brief mention of parent suicide (past, off page)
Depression
Panic attacks
Past sex work of dubious consent
Mentions of underage sex work
Gunshot wound

⚠️Book safety ⚠️
Cheating: No
Other person drama: Zak has a detailed club hookup at the start of the book, before the MCs meet. Important for character development. No other drama.
Breakup: Yes
POV: 3rd person, multi POV
Genre: Romantic suspense
Pairing: M/M
Strict roles or versatile: Versatile (reluctantly, at first)
Main characters’ age: 25 and 30
Series: Standalone
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Pages: 280

“I haven’t had a cig—” “Forget the fucking cigarettes. You won’t see a shrink, you won’t listen to anyone. What do I have to do to make you see sense?” Zak felt himself drawing inward like a snail, pulling back all his vulnerable parts, which was just about everything, and hiding inside his shell. Trouble was he didn’t have a thick shell

“So where are we going? Assuming we actually make it.” “Kreigenmuir. Look in the atlas.” “How do you spell it?” Logan couldn’t resist. “A. T. L. A. S.”

Figuring he’d given Zak enough time to drift off, he emerged to see him wide awake and staring at him. Logan froze. Neither his feet nor his mouth worked. It was Zak’s heavy sigh that broke the spell. The guy turned away to face the wall and curled up on the bed. “Don’t say anything. Just go,” Zak muttered.

Logan needed someone to care for him, though he’d pretend otherwise. Breaking down his barriers would be a long slow process but every step and the more Logan fought, the deeper Zak knew he’d slide toward love.


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