DNF at 24%.

This is not a book that really understands much about the way the world works, and while I'm generally OK with a lot of silliness for a romance novel, this pushed a little too far. Haley's mother is said to be a state senator, yet works in DC and interacts with Capitol Police, which are things that United States Senators do. Haley's dad has a Michelin star but demonstrates none of the other signifiers of elite cooking, as if that's just a thing that Sarah Castille had heard of as a way to make it clear he was good. The novel opens with Ace immediately after the Oscars, so in March or so, but then a couple chapters later it's almost election time, which would make it almost November? Haley's mom talks about her getting protection from the US Marshalls despite that not being a thing they do. All these things are the sort of thing that an editor should have picked up.

But the thing that really killed it for me was when, a quarter of the way through the book and after multiple flashback chapters that show us how much Haley's father meant to Ace, Ace looks at the watch that Haley's father had given him and thinks the phrase "He'd been like a father to me." No shit! People don't think sentences like that, and after giving us so many goddamn flashbacks we know that's true already! Enough. This wasn't funny or sexy enough to justify reading any further.

Haley Chapman comes from a prominent family and one that likes to keep a perfect image on the outside after tragedy. Her goal is to become big in the music world and currently DJ’s for the college radio station. When Hailey’s life is in danger her mother hires family friend Ace Murphy to be her bodyguard. He might be her late brother’s best friend but having Ace follow her all over campus might be too much to keep either of their true feelings at bay. On the other hand, maybe the time together might be what each needs to heal them both from their pasts. A touching bodyguard romance merged with music, second chances and action. Told in first person and present/past tense to see how their relationship began and unraveled. Dual POV.