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Protecting His Past → Guarding Royalty Book 1 by Elouise East

~Synopsis~

His secrets catch up with him, but luckily, protection is in his blood.

Dominic has big shoes to fill. His promotion to the Lead Protection Officer for the king came at a price no one wants to think about. However, it’s something he is very aware of. When his past comes calling, he has to make even more split-second decisions, and he’s terrified of the potential consequences. Not for himself, but for those he cares about and protects. Including a certain PA who’s never too far from his thoughts.

Randall has been the King’s personal assistant for many years. It’s long hours and extremely busy, but he loves it. Even after being held prisoner by a twisted man hell bent on revenge, it didn’t diminish his love for the job or the people he works for. But he never imagined falling in love. Especially with someone ten years younger than him. But love is love, right?

When Dominic’s secret comes to light, he has to shore his defences against those people who would use it against him. And the harder he falls for Randall, the more chinks in his armour appear.

How can he keep everyone safe when the clock is ticking?

Protecting His Past is a kinky, age gap romance with a handsome, secretive bodyguard and a personal assistant, who thinks he’s too old for love.

Genre: Contemporary, BDSM

Trope: Bodyguard Romance, Age Gap, Workplace Romance, Hurt/Comfort

Purchase Link

Universal Link

Review

Protecting His Past is the first book in a spin-off series to the Club Royal series, I haven’t read many of those, but they are waiting on my Kindle for me, I do think however that while it may be nice to know some of the characters from the previous series, you can easily read this as a standalone series.

I enjoy a good romantic suspense read and Elouise does a good job of slowly unravelling the secrets that Dominic and his sister May have been keeping along with who is the person behind the threats to Dominic and his family and Randall who gets caught up in the danger due to his new relationship status with Dominic.

The chemistry between Dominic and Randall was great and I enjoyed watching them admit how they were feeling and then take steps to move their relationship into a romance rather than a friendship and working relationship.

Randall is much stronger than he gives himself credit for, he is still recovering from the violent situation that went down in the previous series (I haven’t read it and felt there was enough information given to understand what went down) and he doesn’t have the greatest self-esteem in some aspects of his life. But he really steps up when needed and shows the inner strength he has.

I liked Dominic a great deal also and I liked that he didn’t need to play the lone hero for most of the time and relied on his team to help him keep his sister safe and to work out who was behind the danger and why.

I am looking forward to the next book in the Guarding Royalty series.

Excerpt

“Good morning. How can I help?” he asked.

Dominic stopped in front of his desk. Randall peered up at him, wanting to stand but knowing it wouldn’t help with their height difference. The crease between his eyes was more pronounced than usual, and his stubble was longer than normal. The suit he wore every day was missing, and in its place were jeans and a polo shirt, things Randall didn’t think he’d ever seen him in.

When Dominic’s hazel eyes met his blue ones, his heart skipped a beat. “I wanted to thank you for what you did for me last night.”

Randall shook his head. “I didn’t do anything.” Dominic lifted his eyebrow, and Randall’s cheeks heated. “Okay, maybe I did a couple of small things, but that’s it.”

“Regardless of whether you think it’s small or not, you helped get my sister out of there, and I appreciate it more than you know.”

“How is she?”

“She’s okay. Scared, frustrated, pissed, and everything in between.” He huffed a laugh.

“Can I ask what happened?” He wasn’t sure he should ask, but he was nosey. Especially when it came to Dominic, not that he would ever tell him that.

“Her ex was abusive, and he eventually got caught up with the wrong people. He became a mule, amongst other things, and May testified against them all. She went into witness protection when she received death threats. That was five years ago. I haven’t seen or heard from her in all that time. Until last night.” He fidgeted, staring at his hands. “Someone found her through her handler. He was the only one who knew her old and new identity, as far as I’m aware.”

“Was?”

Dominic’s gaze met his. “The police found him dead. Tortured.”

Randall’s stomach churned. He was so sick of this shit. Why couldn’t everyone just live happily and leave everyone else alone?

Dominic chuckled. “It would be nice, wouldn’t it?”

Randall frowned, then closed his eyes. “I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

“It’s okay. You’re completely right. Unfortunately, it comes with our territory, doesn’t it?” He scratched his chin. “Well, mine, anyway.”

“You have the royal family behind you now. That should make it easier to protect her.”

Dominic shook his head. “I’m not bringing them into this more than I already have. It’s my family; therefore, I need to deal with it.”

Randall’s mouth twitched as he tried to keep from smiling. “Good luck with that.”

There was no way Dominic would be dealing with this alone if Randall knew the royal family at all. They were probably already working on trying to find whoever was after May, and he doubted it would take them long with how many contacts they had. Although saying that, they struggled when it had been Ernest, their own family member—even if he was family only through his marriage to Charlotte.

Randall shook away the thought and refocused on Dominic. “If you need help, ask. Don’t go putting your life in danger because of your ego.”

Dominic glared at him, but Randall didn’t take offence. “I don’t have an ego.”

“Well, you do, but not much of one. But this is your family, Dominic. All bets are off when family is involved.”

Dominic nodded slowly and then got to his feet. “Thank you, Randall. I appreciate your help, and I know everyone around here does, too.”

Randall’s face heated again, and he ducked his head. “No problem. I’m here if you need anything.” Absolutely anything.

Dominic smiled and left the office, and Randall blew out a breath and leaned back, staring at the door. He had given up all hope of romance or relationships in his life, but it didn’t stop him from dreaming about it. And he refused to admit how often Dominic played into those dreams. The man was ten years younger than him, and he had his whole life ahead of him. Randall was just waiting for retirement, and even then, he probably wouldn’t retire until he was unable to do the job any longer. He loved working for the Sutcliffes, but it didn’t leave much time for a social or romantic life. He was happy, though. He could deal with the loneliness if it meant he could do this job every day.

About The Author

Elouise East writes sweet and steamy connections in gay romance. She also touches on taboo stories under the name Elouise R East.

Books that tell stories where friendship and family are the focal point – be it blood family or chosen – are very important to her. That’s why she includes a variety of personalities, talents, ages, situations and abilities as she believes a story or character needs. She wants her characters to be real, to be relatable, to be free to have whatever views they tell her they have. And trust her, most of the time, she does not have any say in the matter! Her characters come to life on the page for her as well as her readers. Their stories unfold in front of her as she writes, and she has very little input into how they want to be shown. Just like in real life, the lives of her characters change with every choice, every interaction and every conversation. And she wouldn’t have it any other way. She writes books that are emotionally realistic, even if liberties are taken with other aspects of the stories. She doesn’t know any other way to write. It comes from deep inside.

Who is she? A single parent to two children living in the UK. An avid reader who still tries to devour every book she can get her hands on. A student of learning about any subject that takes her fancy. An author of books she would read herself. And a romantic at heart who loves anything cheesy.

Connect With Elouise

https://linktr.ee/elouiseeastauthor

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