HOSTAGE SECURITY (Bachelor Bodyguards 14) by Lisa Childs

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 25, 2025

He’ll risk anything

To save the child he didn’t know he had…

After five years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit, Josh Stafford gets a fresh start as a security specialist. When work takes him to his ex-fiancée’s jewellery store, he keeps his distance. And then the son he’s never met is kidnapped… Josh understands why Natalie Croft doesn’t trust him. He’s ready to push emotions aside until their little boy is safe—no matter how much he still loves her.

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REVIEW:  HOSTAGE SECURITY is the fourteenth instalment in Lisa Childs’ contemporary, adult BACHELOR BODYGUARDS romantic suspense series focusing on the men and women who work for Payne Protection Agency in River City , Michigan.. This is twenty-eight year old, former inmate turned security specialist Josh Stafford, and single mother/ jeweler Natalie Croft’s story line. HOSTAGE SECURITY can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary but I recommend reading the series in order for back story and cohesion as many of the previous story line characters return as secondary and supporting characters.

Told from several omniscient third person perspectives, HOSTAGE SECURITY follows Josh Stafford on one of his first assignments with Payne Protection Agency, an assignment that brings him up close and personal with the woman he loves. Josh Stafford served five years for a crime he did not commit but desperate to protect the people he loved, Josh took the fall for someone close. Croft Custom Jewelry has had a number of thefts in the recent weeks, and the insurance company is desperate to uncover the truth. Assigned to stake out the shop where the woman he loves works, Josh comes face to face with Natalie Croft, the woman he left behind when his life spiralled out of control but all is not as it appears to be when a ransom note points to a missing child, a son Josh never knew he had. What ensues is the search for the missing child, as Natalie must come to terms with what is happening and why.

The world building focuses on a kidnapping and theft, a ransom demand and danger, betrayal and vengeance for a family struggling with illness and jealousy.

The relationship between Josh and Natalie is one of second chances. Five years earlier, Josh was sentenced for a crime he did not commit, and in the ensuing years Natalie kept their son a secret in the face of betrayal and humiliation. Working for Payne Protection Agency, Josh will discover a brotherhood of reformation, people who have faced betrayal by the people they know, and in this, Josh is hoping for a second chance at life and love. The $ex scenes are passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including several of the previous story line couples and heroes including Garek Kozminiski, Milek Kozminiski; Penny Payne Lynch. We are introduced to Natalie’s parents Claus and Marilyn, her sister Dena and husband Timothy; Josh’s sister Sylvie; sales clerk Hannah; and Natalie and Josh’s son Henry.

HOSTAGE SECURITY is a story of secrets and lies, betrayal and vengeance, power and control, greed and jealousy, forgiveness and love. The premise is intriguing ; the romance is fated; the characters are desperate and dynamic but I struggled with the lack of coordination for a security firm; the over the top actions and stupidity of our story line heroine that placed everyone in danger; and the continuous accusations against our story line hero.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy