Booked All Night: Crowne Jewel by CD Reiss - ARC Review & Release Blitz

He claims that he can't protect me if he falls in love with me.

Crowne Jewel, an all-new bodyguard, enemies-to-lovers, second chance romance from New York Times bestselling author C.D. Reiss is available now!

Protect me at all costs.

That’s the mission my father placed on Anton Markov—my new bodyguard. Shield me from a ruthless, faceless stalker. The menace hijacked my online presence, levied chilling threats my way, and promised to unleash a barrage of damage to me personally and professionally.

There’s one problem with Anton.

It’s simple. I despise him.

He stole everything years ago—my heart, dreams, and dignity.

With a four-line farewell note stuck to my kitchen table, he broke my heart and almost my spirit.

But it seems Anton has his own collection of grievances over what happened in New York, and he’s not willing to let them go.

It’s complicated. He hates me.

As my stalker escalates his threats, Anton and I are thrust closer together.

His smoldering good looks, irresistible charm, and unwavering dedication to my safety blur the line between lovers and enemies.

He claims that he can't protect me if he falls in love with me. With the danger closing in, we’re about to put that theory to the test.

Anton and Lyric are one of those couples that you think really shouldn't work (and really they think the same) but they really do. They deal with this by a little bit of pretend that I think both of them know is a shield, so they can say they are keeping their distance from one another, but at the same time they (and the reader) know that there is really no distance between them.

The secondary characters are interesting and add to the story, without making you feel you need to have read all of the previous titles to understand who they are or what is happening, although I suggest doing so as all of the Crowne titles are a lot of fun.

I loved a lot about this title and the way it was constructed. I loved the agency the characters were given, even though I think some of that was an intentional risk on the part of the author (although we have come to expect that from this author, so it wasn't a shock) and how real each of them felt.

I also appreciated that it was clear the author actually knows Los Angeles and didn't set it in LA by learning about the city in a short visit and some time on Google. I get it, you can't always set every book in your home town, but I sometimes struggle reading titles set in LA...not this one.