Beauty and the Bodyguard

Beauty and the Bodyguard

Megan Lynch is about to walk down the aisle with her future husband Richard or maybe not. Events that were supposed to take place take a turn for the dangerous as gunman surround the wedding party, some pretending to be bodyguards and for some reason someone wants to stop the wedding while others want it to be more like a shotgun wedding and want the bride to make sure she says her I Do’s. But, Megan is about to learn that the man she loved an ex-marine named Gage is not dead but very much alive. Added in he has been hired by a security firm to protect her but she has no idea from who or what. Things begin to spiral out of control when she realizes he’s alive, someone comes to explain why he is there and another tries to kill her. Someone is going to great lengths to make sure this wedding happens and in her heart she would prefer to say I Don’t to a man she does not really love or care about and who seems as you get to know him as someone self-absorbed and who has only his best interests at heart. So, why is she going to go through with it and who is this girl named Andrea whose plus one set this plan in motion that is threatening her with a gun? Megan appears fragile yet her wedding gown feels constricting and what she does to take this girl down is quite amazing and remarkable letting readers know that she is tough and that guns are not the only weapons.

The prologue and start of the novel opens with a prison break and then we meet our handsome bodyguard Gage Huxton who was presumed dead in Afghanistan but is very much alive. The author states that he escaped some wicked and dangerous captors and was tortured for six months. Most men come back with PTSD and the flashbacks and nightmares can be just as terrifying as he learns. He is not employed by Payne Protection agency as a body guard where is when we meet him, as it’s his job to protect Megan who happens to be the daughter of the Chief of the FBI and his former boss. Not told whom the bride is you can imagine what happens when he arrives at the chapel. Penny Payne owns the agency and the chapel choosing Gage very carefully for the job and knowing that Megan was in love with him. Lies and rumors separated him and he went to work for the FBI, then went back into the Marines and was sent into combat in Afghanistan. Thinking he is dead she decides to marry Richard her former boyfriend. But, the marriage would lack love; luster and feeling so when she sees gage you can imagine the emotional upheaval and conflicting feelings. The plan was to put Nikki in the gown that Megan was wearing, have her march down the aisle with her father and hope that no one sees the difference. But, when the veil is lifted how could they not know that something changed and Derrick, Angela’s brother is wise and will the wedding be stopped because of gunfire? Why did they take over the chapel and what was the real purpose? But, the characters at times seem disjointed and the fact that the FBI is there and not aware of what happened and there is a secret cache of weapons hidden in the tunnels makes this hard to fathom at times.

When the truth comes out and the killer finds his way in an FBI agent is shot and killed, they want Megan taken hostage, Nikki is in the line of fire and the person they want is hiding in plain sight. Why do they want to kill the groom? What part did he play in getting Derrick in prison? What is happening to the guests and will his plan pan out as Andrea thinks she has him over a barrel but he was using her just like everyone else? What exactly are they looking for and how many bodies will fall before they are all said and done? While Megan refuses to understand that she’s in danger, runs from her father and Gage and thinks she can save the day by giving herself up to the criminals. For someone who is supposed to be smart her thinking skills are off at times. Things spiral even further as Gage decides to make sure that Megan is safe as the killers decide that taking out one man is not enough. As Nikki is in danger and tells her captors they better beware of the brothers who are trained bodyguards and will rescue her end result might not be what she expects as Woodrow, Megan’s father has a plan of his own.
Revenge, retribution, loyalties, friendships and the hope that the guests will survive as the gunshots go off and the hostages just might fall before anyone’s plan comes into action.

Before Gage and Megan can find their way back to each other and Woodrow and Penny too a lot of words have to pass, promises have to be made and each one has to forgive themselves for their past mistakes and move ahead. The ending is filled with gunshots, bodies that fall and a killer that just might get away if Gage does not stop him and protect Megan. Megan is stubborn and refuses to see what is right in front of her but when they each stop apologizing for the past will they decide to move ahead in the future? The ending is violent and explosive as the final shots are fired, lives are hanging in the balance and The Beauty and the Bodyguard have to decide whether to part or remain together.

Fran Lewis: just reviews/MJ magazine