| Title | : | Undercover Bodyguard (Heroes for Hire, #6) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0373444842 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780373444847 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 224 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2012 |
Undercover Bodyguard (Heroes for Hire, #6) Reviews
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Yet another wonderful suspense novel from the pen of Shirlee McCoy. She is incredibly talented at this genre and I am on a mission to read all her books. She has over 50, so I am in for a treat, as I only discovered her this year! She creates such wonderful characters, swoon worthy heroes and includes a powerful spiritual dynamic. I am a forever fan.
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I loved the story line, and all the charactors in this book. Shelby is very independent, working hard at her bakery. She does not want to depend on Ryder to protect her. She does not want to fall for him. She had some bad relationships before, and is content to stay single. As the threats against her heats up, so is the growing emotion she feels for Ryder. She tries to run from her own feelings, but we all know we can’t do that… I really enjoyed this book. The old lady is this book made me laugh so many times. The only annoying thing about this book is the author repeated herself throughout the book. I guess it was to put power behind the words, I just found it irritating. Other than that I really did enjoy this book!
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Love anything by Shirlee McCoy. She keeps the story interesting from word one. And most of the stuff I've read is series stuff so even when the story ends it's not really over, you get to revisit the characters again in the next book or two or three.
I liked the way this story flowed, how the relationship came to be so naturally over time. Three Forever. -
Actual rating is 2.5 stars
Shelby Simon's runs her own business, a bakery that is popular with most town's people. It's not uncommon to see her walking to make a delivery when her 1958 Cadillac decides it doesn't want to start. But she wouldn't give away old Blue (the car is pink) and plans to run it into the ground because it was her grandmother's who she loved very much. So that's exactly what she was doing when she runs into a strangely dressed male jogger who gives her the creeps. Other then keeping an eye on him to make sure he's not going to kidnap her till he disappears, her walk to her delivery goes off without a hitch (minus being 5 minutes late). All of that explodes in her face (see what I did there?) when she rings the doorbell of her friend's place and the house explodes all around her.
Ryder Malone is a security specialist about to open his 4th headquarters for his security company. Former military, he retired after an explosion killed 4 of his fellow soldiers and left him with a bad leg. When the house Shelby Malone was delivering to explodes (he was sent by old lady Dottie to help Shelby) he leaps into action in order to pull Shelby away from the fire raining down. This, mixed with the fact that Dottie hires him to watch out for Shelby (two donuts and a coffee per day), and the fact that he's actually worried about Shelby (and maybe attracted to her) has him following her about acting as her personal bodyguard.
Shelby doesn't need Ryder, both as a protector or as a potential suitor. 2 relationship failures and she's out. A little more caution and she'll be fine, right? Only someone tries to rob her bakery and shoots her in the back as she tries to flee. Someone set her house on fire...Ryder may be overbearing but maybe what she needs is her own Hercules protecting her...
Okay, this book was interesting. I waffle between liking it and not liking it. Ryder is pushy and overbearing in my opinion. I don't really like that. Nor do I like how Shelby mostly just takes it or agrees. But that's just me. I did love the action though. It's not often that a suspense romance has the main character nearly offed 4 times. That is just good story writing, in my opinion.
What made this a 2.5 star read for me though was the fact that Ryder and Shelby maybe were together (being generous here) for 2 weeks tops. Shelby is then in hospital with a serious infection for a month. At the end of the book she's out and still recovering, so being generous again, I figure she's maybe been out for 1-2 weeks. Ryder proposes at the end of the book. So, you've known each other for 2 months. One of those months was basic hospital visitation. And you're proposing???
Maybe I'm just an old crotchety realist, but I don't think that's a firm foundation for a marriage. Also, Ryder wants a fall wedding. So, doing some rough math they have maybe 1-2 months before the wedding. So, you've known each other 3-4 months and you'll be married. And how the hell do you pull off a wedding in 1-2 months??? They say you should be getting your dress AT LEAST 6 months in advance (I also think this is stupid, but I see their point about orders and shipping and adjustments). How does this work??? I would like a romance that doesn't spew out these unrealistic numbers and expect the reader to swallow it. I want details. HOW do they pull this stunt off???
End unrealistic timeline romance rant!
In Conclusion
For the most part I liked this book. It would be a solid 4 stars if it were not for the unrealistic ending and the fact that I found Ryder a bit too pushy in some places and Shelby a bit too compliant in the same places. So it lost half a star for the pushy, agreeable thing. Full star lost for the ending not being at all (in my opinion) realistic. Maybe just don't read the last bit... -
Shelby has trust issues but Ryder Malone is a very patient man. When Shelby is nearly blown up, the perpetrator realizes she is a witness and may have seen something he doesn't want known. Now he is out to silence her. Fortunately, Ryder happened to be on scene as well. As the owner of a Security Contractor. And he is set on protecting Shelby even though she doesn't believe she needs protecting.
As bombs burst and shots fly, the real danger is to her heart. Shelby finds herself drawn to the handsome bodyguard in spite of her best intentions. Her grandmother, Beulah's words kept ringing in her ears, "The only good man is a dead husband with good life-insurance policy." It must be true since her mom and sister wholeheartedly believed it. Could Shelby find a man who loved her for who she was? Maybe this time...
Great story filled with suspense and a sweet romance!
Highly recommend! -
Bakery owner Shelby Simons can't deny a stalker is after her. Still, knowing she's at risk is one thing. Admitting she needs a bodyguard is quite another. Especially when the bodyguard is Ryder Malone. The former SEAL is too big, too tough and way too attractive. Yet Ryder won't take no for an answer. If she can't find a place for him in her life, he'll make one, working undercover to protect Shelby and find her attacker. But as Ryder and Shelby get closer to answers—and each other—the killer starts closing in…
Heather's Notes
I got tried of Shelby and her two strikes, although the author does circle back around to it. Otherwise, it was a pretty good book. I enjoyed it, and liked the characters. I did not know it was part of a series, so now I am going to go check out some of the other books in the series. -
Shirlee McCoy is one of my favorite writers in the Love Inspired Suspense series. I enjoyed this book about a woman who is being stalked by a killer and the self-appointed bodyguard determined to protect her. I liked the chemistry between Shelby and Ryder and the humor provided by Shelby's older friend Dottie. I would recommend this book to others who like a good, clean adventure story.
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Love this book, series & author!
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Very good short read keeps you captivated
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Action, action, acyion
Characters life like, believable, lots of action, believable plot. Loved it all! Loved how characters carry on from previous story, yet can stand alone . -
I always want to know about the ones who came before. Will Skylar find her sister? Will the baby be okay? I still want these and other questions answered.
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I really liked this series til this book. I did not like Ryder in the last book, and I did not like him at all in this book. He was way to controlling.
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The benefit of Harlequin/Love Inspired style books are that they are quick easy reads. It is an added bonus when they are written in a way that consistently keeps your attention and Undercover Bodyguard did just that. I picked up Undercover Bodyguard on our first snow day of the year and was able to start and finish it within just a few hours. Usually at some point in a book there is a section where you start to decrease in interest a bit and use that as a stopping point, kind of like a commercial break, but with Undercover Bodyguard there wasn't a chapter that slowed down my interest or made me want to stop and take a break. Lastly, I appreciated the balance that Shirlee McCoy uses while writing and combining the romance and the mystery and not focusing too much on one or the other.
http://bookescapeblog.weebly.com/revi... -
I forced myself to finish this book , I was really bored with the characters , I couldn't get myself to like Shelby nor Ryder.
Shelby annoyed me , I know we're supposed to sympathize with her because of the so many bad things happening to her but for some reason I just couldn't , she came out as whiny and a little TSTL too , I know she has reasons to whine but her crying every few pages ticked me off especially that most of the times it didn't feel genuine and the way she kept putting herself in dangerous situations pissed me off , she has no self preservation and she never listens when it comes to her safety and for someone who got shot " I'm referring to the first time oh yeah she gets shot twice " she seemed to recover pretty quickly which was very unconvincing and heels ?? really .. you got shot but wore heels a few days later .. ookay , bottom line I didn't like her character nor was I convinced by how things progressed. Ryder on the other hand was a character I could have liked but he lacked a spark that would have brought him more to life , he was one dimensional and I didn't really care about him , it was also annoying how he kept scaring Shelby by popping out of nowhere unannounced , he never even alerts her and because of that she almost fell from the stairs once GAH his actions were not very bright and for someone who had a feeling from the beginning that the murderer was after Shelby he was pretty useless.
As for Shelby and Ryder being together , there couldn't be a more wrong pairing. They never clicked nor connected , their relationship when they actually had one " which is very debatable" felt forced , I never understood why Ryder liked Shelby .. the things he saw in her were invisible to me , as for Shelby all I got from her was that she thinks Hercules is hot and since he reminds her of Hercules then yipee yay.
The murder plot was so boring , I got nothing from the villain ZIP NADA .. he was boring and we never even got a decent scene at the end with him , I was hoping for something much more exciting than that not to mention the villain was too stupid because A) she would have never been able to recognize him so the idiot just messed up things for himself B) for someone who's supposed to be a cunning killer his last attack was the dumbest thing EVER , like really everyone knows you visited her in the hospital ..... and the reward for world's most stupid villain goes to ...
Overall I didn't enjoy this book , I expected a lot more but unfortunately it was a miss for me. -
Undercover Bodyguard by Shirlee McCoy
Heroes for Hire Book 6
Shelby Simons is done with men. She had two strike-out relationships behind her and wasn’t going for the third. She happily worked at her bakery, Just Desserts with the special people she helped out by hiring them. And then trouble began when she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Along with a stalker she gained an unwanted bodyguard, an unwanted handsome bodyguard. She really did not want the feelings the man stirred to life in her. She was not going to open herself up to hurt again. Only her heart didn’t seem to be listening to her head when it came to her self-appointed protector.
Ryder Malone always wanted family, he dreamed of a home with a wife and children. After his last romance he realized that maybe a family was not in God’s plans for him. Although he was finding that going to his favorite bakery held more interest for him than just the donuts and coffee. The owner’s smile was as addictive as her baked goods. When his baker girl ran into trouble he found himself wanting to protect her….whether she wanted him to or not. This tough ex-Navy SEAL and owner of a security company isn’t tough enough to protect his heart when it comes to the beautiful baker.
I have enjoyed all the books in the Heroes for Hire series. Shirlee McCoy writes her stories so they bring the characters and situations to life so prepared to dodge bullets, avoid explosions and visit the hospital often. And of course hoping the couple will stop being so stubborn so they can see the love being offered them as well. You meet both Catherine Miller and Darius Osborne in this book and their story will be told in Book 7; Navy SEAL Rescuer.
http://justjudysjumbles.blogspot.com/...# -
The overall story was good, and I'd recommend it. I enjoyed the plot itself, and the ending was satisfying.
However, as an editor, I noticed several minor hitches in the structure and proofreading. It's not enough to keep someone from liking the book, and those who aren't story geeks like me probably wouldn't notice anything wrong.
The one thing I found irritating was that the back cover copy described the heroine as having a stalker. By the end of the book, that seemed to be very much not the case. (SPOILER ALERT) Yes, Shelby had someone hunting her...but stalking? That seems to be a misnomer. There's a difference, in my opinion, between being stalked and being hunted down for elimination, to get rid of a witness who doesn't really know she's a witness. And Shelby wasn't being stalked (which implies an obsessive romantic connotation). She was being hunted by a killer for seeing something she shouldn't have, something that would lead back to the killer. Throughout the whole book, I kept waiting for this stalker to arrive on scene, and he never did. The hunter, however, was present, and the attempts on her life were quite obviously attributable to him. -
A great little before-bed read.
A quick and fun read, Undercover Bodyguard, will keep you on the edge of your seat with the danger and licking your lips at all the bakery goodies.
The characters were likable, each has their own struggles but they also have their faith. Shirlee McCoy did a nice job teaching lessons on trusting God and taking a chance on people in an entertaining way.
One thing I enjoyed about this book is the location. How often do you see a novel set in Spokane, Washington. Having lived not too far from there as a child it was fun to read the somewhat familiar places, South Hill, Manito Park, Deaconess Hospital, the Union Gospel Mission.
If you are looking for a story with some danger and romance...and mouth-watering bakery treats without the calories, then Undercover Bodyguard just might be for you. -
Loved this installment in the Heroes for Hire series. Shelby is being hunted by the person who murdered her friend, Maureen Lewis. The murderer wants her dead and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Her friends and employees have other plans. They hire bodyguard, Ryder Malone, to protect Shelby. They have both been hurt by people that they thought loved them but the feelings they begin having for each other make them rethink their vow to stay single.
This book is one of McCoy's better books and doesn't get preachy which she sometimes does. She let the story evolve naturally. It is fast paced and full of action. Shelby is shot twice. She is trapped in a burning house. She is blown up at her friend's house. A final attempt is made to kill her in the hospital. Ryder is there to save the day every time.
