This was an enjoyable, gentle read. I loved that it was a romance between two women and the dynamic of Eve being Katherine's personal protection officer was great.

I felt that the relationship itself was a little underbaked. It felt that they were suddenly in love and I really wasn't sure why as they had only had a few, very tame interactions and it felt like neither of them had really shown their true selves to the other. In that respect, it felt forced and rushed.

The action packed climax was compelling though and I did want to find out what happened. The ending was lovely and a satisfying pay off.

Perfect for a gentle piece of escapism!

Thanks to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for providing this ARC for reviewing!!!
Protecting the Lady is a lesbian bodyguard/client romance between Eve, a retired protection officer who has come out of retirement to protect Katherine, the daughter of a judge whose life has been threatened by a gang.
Protecting the Lady is short and sweet. I devoured it in a day. I would have loved more pining and yearning considering the positions that Eve and Katherine are in. I just think it would have made their relationship seem stronger overall. However, I loved their interactions and flirting towards the end and I would have loved to see this sassy, flirty energy throughout the whole story. I loved Paula and Michael as side characters, they were quite fun. Also, I liked that the action scenes did not have too much detail as that’s where I tend to lose interest.
Overall, I rated this book 4/5 stars. I really enjoyed it and if you are looking for a sweet sapphic romance its one I’d recommend. I haven’t read anything else by Radley but I think I might start working through her backlog as I loved this read!

Review of Protecting the Lady by Amanda Radley

Thank you NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for providing me access to this eARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Protecting the Lady is a romance novel told in the points of view of both Eve Webb, a former protection officer who quit her job a few years ago after a traumatic incident and Lady Katherine Lovegrove, an event planner who bears the weight of being the daughter of a mother who had a smidge of royalty and the daughter of a father who is a high-profile judge. These two meet when Katherine’s father decides a verdict against a powerful crime family who sends Katherine a death-threat in the mail which leads her father to hire Eve to protect her. Readers who enjoy stories about complicated characters are sure to enjoy this book. Fans of high-stakes danger as the backdrop for a romance will love the consistent build-up of the action with the payoff of an explosive ending. This novel is a combination of an enemies-to-lovers and bodyguard-romance story, but the drawback is that there isn’t as much build-up for the romance as I think was needed.
Two out of five stars.

Additional Thoughts:
I thought the action sequences and the build up to the danger were both done very well. Every time the characters relax and think they’re safe, there’s a new reminder of the eminent threat on Katherine’s life which I thought was exciting.

I also like that there is a big difference in the points of view. Eve and Katherine are very different narrators which I thought was wonderful. Doing more than one point of view in a story can be tricky, so I appreciated the way it was done here.

The main problem I have with the book is the way it seemed to veer off suddenly when it came to the romantic element. They hated each other and then they suddenly didn’t hate each other and they were suddenly in love. I can enjoy fast romances, but it felt a little rushed here. I’m sure some readers will enjoy the way the romance in this story goes, I just didn’t like the way the combined enemies-to-lovers and bodyguard-romance tropes were done here. Since romance is one of the most important elements of the book, it cast a bit of a disappointing shadow over the book for me.

I also didn’t like the pacing of the book. The beginning felt a little slow for me; I understand that the exposition was important so we could get to know Eve, Katherine, and the situation that brings them together, but it took a lot of time. I also thought the ending felt rushed. I still had some questions about events within the story which left me feeling a bit unsatisfied.

I wanted to like this book because I loved the premise, but I unfortunately did not enjoy the execution. Of course, it’s all a matter of personal preference. There is definitely an audience for this book who will enjoy it immensely. I just didn’t like it all that much which is why I’m giving it a low review.

Protecting the Lady comes out October 12, 2021!

(The reviews are up now.)

An enemy to lovers romance with a bodyguard aspect, this clean romance is a quick and pleasing read.

When Lord Lovegrove must pass a sentence on an infamous crime family it is his daughter who is put at risk. Katherine is a 'Lady' like no other and works for a living rather than falling into royal duties. Her fierce independence is torn away when her life is threatened and she must have 24hr protection. In comes Eve, back from Japan after an early retirement she is the only woman up for the job.

This book tends more towards the action/ protection side of the genre than romance. The developing relationship tended to take a back seat and was definitely a slow burn. The relationship between Eve and Katherine was more like friendship for the majority of the book with the romance element only appearing towards the end of the book.

I found the characters to be much improved by the end of the book. Katherine begun as very childish and immature for a forty year old woman. It was hard to sympathise or connect to her until she opened up and snapped out of her entitlement.

Eve was the better developed character with more background given to her though her change in mindset was abrupt. The romantic relationship seemingly came out of no where like Eve's change in opinion about the aristocracy.

I enjoyed the time dedicated to the protection detail. I felt that it was interesting and helped carry the story forward.

My main gripe is that the relationship didn't have time to develop as for a large portion of the book the characters were kept separate. When a bit of romance was hinted Eve removed herself from the situation. While this was more realistic in terms of conflicts of interest it did hamper the flow and development of the connection.

Overall I did enjoy the book and finished in a couple of sittings. It isn't the typical steamy romance I would go for and was very tame to my usual taste. I'd read more from the author in the future though.

Compared to other books by this author, this one sits a little lower than she usually gets. Certainly it has some tension and suspense, but it is too slow paced, somewhat cold and rather dispassionate.

One of the main characters is neither more nor less than an aristocrat in a direct line of descent to the English crown, Lady Katherine Lovegrove, although she is an unconventional aristocrat, as she is out of the closet and has a relatively mundane job, organizing social events for high social echelons . Through no fault of her own, she's going to be in the crosshairs of an English crime family so she's going to need personal protection, much to her regret.

This protection will be provided by Eve Webb, a former officer of the English secret services who left her job due to a circumstance that left her with PTSD. She lives in Japan, happily more or less, and her former boss, now in charge of a private protection services agency, asks her to return to London for a matter of great importance, without specifying what.

Katherine and Eve are really polar opposites, but despite the initial reluctance, they realize what lies beyond their prejudices. But perhaps overcoming those prejudices is too exhausting, too repetitive for those of us who read it. It's also a shame that there are very few scenes between them on an interpersonal level.

3/5 stars

thank you to netgalley and bold strokes books for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

as someone who has had a life-long struggle trying to enjoy contemporary romance, i've finally found a book in this genre i could actually finish! overall a cute little romp. radley's prose, while a bit too tell-y for my taste at times, was straightforward enough for the book's short ~200 pages to feel like a fully complete work. the bodyguard trope is a tried and true formula so the romance worked, and i was pleasantly surprised at how tense and suspenseful the third act was.

now for my gripes: in general i couldn't fully picture any of the characters in my head because neither their appearance nor personalities were described besides basic features. eve is fit and katherine is beautiful, but what else? the prose hyper focused on what the pov character was feeling in the moment, but was too superficial go beyond that.

but my biggest issue with this book was that i just couldn't get myself to like katherine. she was written with a nice enough personality, but my views on inherited wealth are similar to eve's, and the attempts to justify katherine's childish behavior and entitlement didn't at all sway me the way it seemed to completely sway eve. and while the romance was cute, eve went from staunch anti-monarchist to lady katherine simp in what felt like a single chapter, which was in my opinion way too quick of a switch from a mindset so deeply ingrained in eve she had purposefully in her entire career never taken royal clients.

side tangent, but most of the blame regarding the initially strained relationship between eve and katherine was placed on eve, which i didn't think was fair given her background as a daughter of a working class family who experienced firsthand the inherent corruption and unfairness of royalty. so katherine is completely absolved of her involuntary yet nonetheless implicit involvement in centuries of wealth disparity because she ~works in philanthropy~ and ~gives money to charity~?? i'm not buying it.

still enjoyed overall. good premise and romance, but the quality would have benefited if more time was invested in making katherine less insufferable.

First things first, I enjoyed this!! It’s a cute premise and isn’t done badly. There were the classic misunderstandings between Katherine and Eve to drive the tension which were done pretty well and both characters were nicely defined.

I liked that both of them were true to character in how they interacted and argued but my main gripe was how Katherine suddenly decided she was in love with very little build up other than them getting to know each other more. It just didn’t make a lot of sense and felt pretty abrupt which definitely pulled me out of my happy romance place and stopped me enjoying the rest of the story as much I would have done otherwise.

Katherine’s dad was excellent and adorable and I loved Paula’s pride in her wallpaper as well as the whole staple gun scene!!

All in all I think it could do with an edit and some additional scenes between the two MCs but otherwise it was good and I enjoyed it.

I mean I went in without much of expectation so I liked it a lot. there was some moments where I was frustrated with Eve but overall, I enjoyed their characters and the story.

This is my third Radley book and each are very different. Eve Webb is a former protection command officer. Her former boss seeks to get her out of her early retirement for a high paying temporary job protecting one person from a possible imminent threat. Lady Katherine Lovegrove is 48th in line to the throne (at least she on the list). She works in London as a high-end events planner. Her life is being threatened because her father, who is a high judge, is passing sentence on a member of an organized crime family. She isn't thrilled to have a full time shadow.

Eve is by the book but does some early misjudging of Katherine and her actions. Usually with Bodyguard romances you see the romance develop as the two are forced into close proximity. But that is a weakness in this romance. Most of the time in protection they aren't even in the same room, let alone sharing meals or confidences. There are a few good conversations eventually on their differing views of monarchy and birthrights, but it isn't much to build a relationship. In fact Eve is such a rule follower that at the slightest hint she has feelings for Katherine she resigns her post. Except for the epilogue there are two brief cheek kisses. Radley is known for not having intimacy on the page in her books but I know she can create sexual tension and it is missing here.

I liked the premise of the plot and the main characters. As a protection book it is decent but as a romance it is meh. Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Haven’t read much by this author but found the characters in this book quite enjoyable. Aristocrat with commoner bodyguard. Shows the changing attitudes between the two women with respect to their respective positions. An OK story.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.


Eve who is a former protection command officer she left her job when a failed miscommunication cost lives. Eve is reluctant to take a job as a bodyguard when her former commander Charles ask her to because she is anti-monarchist who despises the upper class.

Lady Katherine doesn’t want to have a bodyguard but she doesn’t have much of choice because of threats aiming at her because her father Michael is the judge over case against a crime family they can’t hurt him but they can hurt his daughter.

Eve and Katherine meet and it doesn’t go well Eve sees her as snobbish brat but she starts to see her prejudice can cloud her judgment when she gets to know Katherine even though Katherine was being a brat for a person in their forty she was acting like a five year old I would think you want to get the people who threatening you so you can get to back your life she was crying about.

I enjoy the read but I wish we had more of build up to their romance.

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁.

Let's talk about what I like. I like the premise. I've read a couple of principal/bodyguard romances by various authors. They typically follow the same broad storyline and I've found myself loving most of them because I like the whole conflict of interest concept. I like Eve. She's cool, calm and collected and she plays her role as a protection officer well. Even as she slips up by developing feelings for Lady Katherine, she is quick to recognise how this clouds her judgement and compromises the safety of her principal and is also quick to extract herself out of the ops.

But for some reason, it was hard to enjoy Katherine's immaturity for the first half of the book. Childishness is cute at 20, but it can get a tad annoying at 40ish. The relationship escalated a little quickly, without much build up of emotions and no intimacy. On top of that, Eve is supposed to an anti-monarchist so this was too easy. I just wasn't quite sold on their chemistry. I think sexual tension and a couple of good sex scenes would have pulled a story like this together, but I know that it isn't Radley's style. But maybe a few dates and some romantic talk could have helped.

My first book by Amanda Radley so I did not know what to expect. If you’re looking for hot and steamy romance then this book is not it. As someone living in London, this book is anchored in my reality, from the Royal Family and the media frenzy surrounding them, the political climate to the actual London bombings so for me the lack of hot and steamy is secondary. There is romance, of course, but I think it could have been exploited more especially as the 2 MC lived together for weeks and we went through days of them not even making contact.
The book is well written and you can see the development of the MCs, especially Eve. I do feel I like the Epilogue is part of a different style book, the romance comes out front and centre and as such is somehow removed from the rest of the book. I did enjoy reading this book so I’ll give it 4 stars.

I was provided and ARC by NetGalley and Bold Strokes in exchange for an honest review..

I've read most of Radley's books and they have been both a hit and a miss. This one sadly is a miss for me. Which is sad cause I really enjoyed the last 2 I read and was really looking forward to this one.
I'm missing the romance, the build up, the depth that I know this writer can do. I read "flight sqa016" back when it was a fanfic so I know the author can do the build up, the romance and angst and the depth in a story. But I'm missing it here... there's no romance until the epilog. Before the epilog I counted only 2 cheek kisses and one 1 kiss on the lips that lasted 2 seconds.

I feel this book was just superficial. The plot sounded good and I feel the book had more to give but sadly it ended up being flat.