Ellery Mountain #10
Someone wants JC dead, and Adrian is the only thing standing in the way. Has war followed them home? Or is something more sinister at play?
JC struggles to understand his place in the world, and despite being wealthy beyond imagination, he’s never found real happiness outside of his friendship with Adrian. Enlisting in the army is his attempt at finding purpose, but tragedy strikes, and only the Ellery Veterans Center can help put back the pieces of his shattered life. With a bullet fragment in his brain and seemingly no chance of ever being the man he once was, he begins to lose hope.
Adrian didn’t hesitate to follow his best friend to war, but with their unit decimated in an ambush and JC bleeding into the dirt, Adrian buries his hopes for the future to keep the man he loves safe. Acting as JC’s bodyguard means he is secure for now, but threats from an unknown person escalate to attempted murder, and Adrian has no choice but to take JC and run. When the Sanctuary Foundation intervenes and takes them into their care, they might be safe, but revealed secrets could destroy everything.
Sometimes, even if love finds a way through tragedy, it can be impossible to imagine forever.
This book features characters from my action-adventure romantic suspense Sanctuary series, but you do not have to have read Sanctuary to enjoy this story. This best-friend-to-lover, hurt-comfort romance has bodyguards, threats, found family, and a guaranteed love-filled happily ever after.
RJ Scott has done it once again! Turned me into a blubbery mess all the while making my heart warm with this tale of love, friendship, recovery, healing, drama, and of course a hint of mystery. For those who have read the previous entries in Ellery Mountain, I would say The Soldier and the Boydguard probably touches a little more on the mystery element and as good as it is(kept me guessing to almost the reveal) it is not the dominate factor. Just a great multi-genre blend all the way around.
As a 24/7 family caregiver, I purposely held off on reading Soldier until November so I could fully appreciate the caregiving element for National Family Caregiver Month. The author gets Adrian's desire and frustration spot on, for a caregiver to find the right balance between assistance and letting the loved one do for themselves is often the hardest part of one's day. Through Adrian's inner monologue we can literally see that scale(the caregiver's brain) waffling between too much and not enough.
Don't mistake my above comment as the author trying to teach a lesson, this Ellery entry is 150% entertaining but just knowing the author put that much heart into that aspect of Adrian's role in JC's life made this story even better. I just really have a greater sense of respect for an author who "gets it", be it through thorough research or personal experience, that blend of reality and fiction can really be a "make or break" moment for me. RJ Scott definitely makes it.
I don't want to touch too much on JC only because I'm afraid once I start talking about this brilliantly created character I'm going to give too much of the mystery factor away and as you know I'm a spoiler-free kind of person. I will say that his journey is equally heartbreaking and heartwarming. The pain alone, both physical and emotional, brought tears to my eyes but knowing he gets up everyday despite it also made me smile. Some days he may have had to force himself and some days it may have been all Adrian's doing but whatever the reason he still did it. That tells me all I need to know about the kind of man JC is so there is no way I am not rooting for him.
Caregiving doesn't have to be long term, it can be short term as well but it's always ongoing and constant while needed. Through JC and Adrian's friendship as well as their individual inner monologues, RJ Scott lets us see that. Sometimes that constant need can be hard but also rewarding and it's their friendship that shows that the most but it also helps strengthen the love.
Okay, I know I'm talking about the caregiving element too much but as a caregiver it is a subject that is close to my heart and one that when done so accurately, I need to showcase it. I apologize for being too wordy on the subject.
One more thing I want to mention and that is the inclusion of members of the author's Sanctuary series. It's been awhile since I read that one but I remembered the characters instantly and found them to be just as enjoyable now as when I first discovered them.
So to sum up this overly wordy review: The Soldier and the Bodyguard is amazing and edge of your seat heartbreaking yet uplifting, a winner from beginning to end.
The lie in the mirror was that I couldn’t see the bullet fragments in my head. Only machines could see the damage, but I knew what was in there, and I scratched near the scar, which itched like fuck.
“Hey, don’t do that,” Adrian murmured and laced our fingers together so he could tug me away from worrying at the skin. He’d have been horrified if I’d told him I had this idea that, if I scratched hard enough and then tilted my head, the fragments would fall out.
I did that in my dreams, but I’d also discussed it in my chats with my therapist, who told me it was understandable to feel as if I could reach into my brain and pick out the metal.
Understandable. Reasonable.
“Sorry.”
Adrian squeezed my hand. “It’s okay; I’m just jealous that you have a wicked scar for the ladies.”
I glanced at him. “And the men.”
He nodded and I wish I knew what he was thinking, but Adrian had this inscrutable way about him. Or maybe it was that my brain wasn’t working enough to try to read his thoughts the way I’d always been able to do before. My doctor likened this challenging part of my recovery to face-blindness, saying that the part of my brain that understood expressions was damaged.
“Yep, all the men, too,” Adrian corrected himself in his usual upbeat breezy fashion, then pulled me away from the mirror and sat me in the chair. I couldn’t tie my hair back on my own, but he knew that, and already had the thin leather he twined in my damp curls to tame them. “Ready for a shave?” He picked up the shaver, but I shook my head. “You’re gonna grow a beard, JC? For real?” He was teasing me because that was what Adrian did. He pulled me out of the dark times, and he laughed with me, and at me, and he made me remember I was still alive.
I wish I weren’t alive. I would give anything for Taylor or Asti to be here instead of me.
“It hurts,” I admitted, and as soon as I said it, I wanted to take back the words because Adrian dropped to a crouch in front of me.
“What hurts?” he asked with urgency.
“The… thing,” I patted my cheek, but my hand was shaking, and I dropped it immediately.
“Your head hurts?”
“No.” Yes.
Ellery Mountain—a series of books set in the town of Ellery in the Smoky Mountains focusing on heroes as they navigate the barren landscape of being gay in a small town. Read stories of men like Finn the cop, Daniel the ex-marine, Kieran the carpenter, Marines, SEALs, teachers, soldiers, and a town that embraces them with love.
Saturday's Series Spotlight
Writing love stories with a happy ever after – cowboys, heroes, family, hockey, single dads, bodyguards
USA Today bestselling author RJ Scott has written over one hundred romance books. Emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, single dads, hockey players, millionaires, princes, bodyguards, Navy SEALs, soldiers, doctors, paramedics, firefighters, cops, and the men who get mixed up in their lives, always with a happy ever after.
She lives just outside London and spends every waking minute she isn’t with family either reading or writing. The last time she had a week’s break from writing, she didn’t like it one little bit, and she has yet to meet a box of chocolates she couldn’t defeat.
BOOKBUB / KOBO / SMASHWORDS
EMAIL: rj@rjscott.co.uk
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