This Rec League was a tough one that stumped most of us, so we’re counting on the Bitchery to pull through with recommendations. This one comes from Jo. Thanks, Jo!
There are plenty of books with special forces guys coming to the rescue and acting as bodyguards but can the Bitchery recommend any books where the woman is the one doing the protecting?
Elyse: I think I read one by Jackie Ashenden, Make You Mine ( A | BN | K | G | AB ).
Carrie: I think there’s a female bodyguard in The Hidden Blade by Sherry Thomas ( A | BN | K | AB ).
Sarah: My brain is an embarrassing blank on this one.
Amanda: I haven’t read The Bodyguard by Ruchi Singh ( A ), but it was tweeted about by Sil from The Book Voyagers and I trust her excitement.
All right, Bitchery! What have you got?
If there’s anyone who hasn’t read Julie James’ entire oeuvre, About That Night involves a female prosecutor and he’s her witness in court.
Also there’s a Goodreads tag:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/39317.Female_Bodyguards
Nora Roberts’ – The Playboy Prince [Cordina series]. Lady Hannah is undercover bodyguard for Prince Bennett.
Sharon Shinn, Fortune and Fate. Last of the 5 books in the Mystic and Rider series. A female former member of the King’s Riders is hired to build a security force to protect the minor heir of a state by the girl’s guardian. Great romance and wonderful series that I frequently reread.
Isabel Cooper’s No Proper Lady stretches the “bodyguard” point s smidge, but Joan’s the badass warrior from the future out to save the world, while Simon’s rather mild-mannered and needs to be saved a time or three.
I have a couple for this!
Linnea Sinclair’s Hope’s Folly – she’s a bodyguard assigned to a rogue commander who’s joined a rebel force
Ilona Andrew’s Burn for Me sort of fits the bill. she’s a PI who behaves like a bodyguard and the hero is not ok with her trying to protect him
Susan Napier’s Mistress Deception – she’s co-owner of a PI firm and has worked as a bodygard – she’s physically stronger than the hero and he respects her for it
Lilith Saintcrow’s Steelflower – she’s exiled from a people who are similar to elves and agrees to act as a bodygard to another exilecwho is looking for his destined wife
Thought of another one. Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris’ MINISTRY OF PECULIAR OCCURRENCES SERIES- the first of which is PHOENIX RISING. It’s steam punk mystery series with romantic elements. The female portion of the investigative partnership, Eliza Braun, is a brash, special agent who is really good in a fight. Her colleague, buttoned-up archivist, Wellington Books (yeah, I know the names are kinda on the nose…) is more comfortable alone, in the basement.
Here’s a flavor of their interactions:
“You know, if I didn’t know any better, I would swear we were actually married.”
“I can’t think of anything more off-putting.” Wellington placed his hand in the small of her back as he continued, “than being married to a walking armoury. You, my dear Miss Braun, are a living, breathing advocate for bachelorism.”
Suzanne Brockmann has several books in her Troubleshooters series where the women and men are always coming to the rescue and saving each other, including sometimes acting as bodyguards. But the only one I can think of that has that as a main plot point is Force of Nature. The heroine works with the FBI to go undercover to protect a client while masquerading as his lover. The client she is protecting isn’t her hero in the story, but he does get his own love story. Also, Brockmann wrote a book that has a helicopter pilot heroine who helps save the special forces guys in Over the Edge. And her FBI sharpshooter heroine Alyssa Locke is also a heroine who gets to protect and rescue her man, as well as many others, several times throughout the whole series.
Star Crossed by Emma Holly and Warrior by Zoe Archer come to mind.
This is an oldie, but part of one of my favorite Harlequin series ever, Marilyn Pappano’s Southern Knights. Knight Errant has a hero who has refused police protection after failing to put a gangster away with his testimony, and a heroine who is a cop assigned to keep him alive without his knowledge, moving into the apartment next door. This whole series holds up incredibly well given its age and I’m thrilled to see it is now available on Kindle. https://www.amazon.com/Knight-Southern-Knights-Marilyn-Pappano/dp/0373078366