Drama King Review
I love a good bodyguard romance every once in a while, but if she’s the protector AND there’s a slow-burn romance involved? Well, I’ll snatch that up faster than you can say, “I Will Always Love You.”
[Side note: if you haven’t seen The Bodyguard with Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston, you probably have no idea what I am referring to. Please watch it, though.]
I enjoyed the first book in this series, Homecoming King, and couldn’t wait to get to know Cyrus. Turns out that despite his superhero action movie persona, he’s just as much of a soft and adorable cinnamon roll as I suspected.
Drama King Summary
Drama King begins with a blind date gone bad, a case of mistaken identity, and a handsy car ride—and things only get worse for Cyrus and Beth from there.
See, Cyrus, as previously mentioned, is a Hollywood celebrity, and Beth has just been hired to be his entourage-disguised bodyguard. Talk about awkward.
Since both are consummate professionals, the polite distance and longing are at odds with growing closer throughout the story. After months of mutual pining, avoidance, and minor self-flagellation, Beth and Cyrus are finally, finally given the chance to be alone when they are stranded in a barn during a snowstorm.
But—and this is a big but—there’s still so much more storyline after the barn. I’ll get to that in a minute.
Opposites attract slow burn romance with emphasis on the slow
Beth is a rule-follower, and Cyrus lives to break the rules. Beth is stoic and doesn’t like attention, while Cyrus charms the pants off of anyone within a 5-foot radius. As you can see, this is very much an opposites attract romance.
It’s also a slow-burn romance with workplace and forced proximity. All of my favorite trope candy in one book…so I should have loved it, right? Well, I didn’t, and it kills me to say that.
Every element was there, but what I felt was missing was the actual connection between the main characters. I never felt like Beth and Cyrus had anything more than mutual respect for one another and kept waiting for the spark to ignite.
Instead, it felt more like it was doused by the leaky barn roof, and they skipped a few major steps by going right to undying love with ‘I want you, but I can’t have you, but I’ll always love you’ vibes.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the I Will Always Love You I was looking for in a bodyguard romance.
Thank you for the advanced copy of DRAMA KING by Penny Reid. All opinions are my own.
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About the Book
My Rating:
3/5
date published : December 13, 2022
pages : 294
audiobook narrators: Joy Nash, Ryan Lee Dunlap
audiobook length : 11 hours and 47 minutes
Bathsheba (Beth) Ryan can’t thank her best friend enough for helping her land the job of her dreams. After being relegated to second-string security for politicians in DC, being hired as an undercover personal security specialist by a giant Hollywood studio is exactly the kind of action she’s always wanted.
Until she meets her first assignment.
Cyrus Malcom can’t thank his agent enough for arranging a blind date with seemingly the woman of his dreams. After spending the past several years playing all the parts and climbing all the ladders, the lonely mega-movie star finds himself actually enjoying a night on the town for the first time in ages when he meets the gorgeous, funny, and genuine Ryaine O’Rourke.
Until she shows up at his studio meeting the next day with a completely different name.
A world-wide press tour and too many late-night parties later, Beth simply needs to get through a short, one-day visit during the Christmas holiday, and then she’ll be free of Cyrus Malcom’s confusing hot looks and cold shoulders for good.
But just as they leave the airport, it starts to snow . . .
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