Reviewed by Nikyta
Title: Hero Duty
Author: Jenny Schwartz
Series: Jardin Bay #2
Heroes: Jessica & Brodie
Genre: M/F Contemporary
Length: 114 pages
Publisher: Escape Publishing
Release Date: June 1, 2014
Available at: Escape Publishing & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: She can buy anything she wants…except the courage to stand up to her family. That’s where he comes in.
Jessica Trove is a billionaire Cinderella, bullied by her family, and terrified of the responsibilities crashing down on her shoulders. She knows what she needs to do — she just needs to find the courage to do it.
That’s where Brodie Carlton comes in. Jessica is used to buying anything she wants, and what she wants right now is a hero. She’s going to make Brodie Carlton an offer he can’t refuse: be her emotional bodyguard, and she’ll make him rich. The only question is who will guard their hearts?
Review:
Jessica’s felt like an outcast in her family ever since her mom died and her dad remarried. Now her father’s just died and she’s learned some shocking truths… such as the company her father ran and the money he lived off of were really hers all along. Now she has to fight her stepmother and stepbrother for what’s rightfully hers… but the problem is she hates confrontation and she’s too scared to make waves. But when she hears from a friend about a guy who left the military because of doing what’s right, she gathers the courage to ask the man to be her emotional bodyguard against her family. With Brodie’s help, will she finally be able to stick up for herself and gain back the courage she lost years ago?
On one hand, this book is a bit sad. Seeing the way years of verbal abuse has affect someone like Jessica, who’s a beautiful and bright woman, was very sad. She has no self-respect or courage when it comes to her family. But when Brodie comes into the picture, I loved that she finally had a bit of spine on her and FINALLY made it known that she’s not going to be meek and agreeable anymore, she’s going to FIGHT. I really loved that about the book because it was all about “this may be what you’ve made me into but I’m done being that way”. Granted, she needed help getting there but who doesn’t when it comes to something like this? On the other hand, it was sweet how much Brodie came to care for her so quickly and how he supported and encouraged her to show her claws.
I really enjoyed this one but I had two major problems. For one, the beginning made me feel like I was missing a HUGE part of the story, almost like there should have been two or three chapters before it or like this was a sequel where all of Brodie’s past was brought up. Which, it might have been considering the story before this one, It’s Love, Dude, is about Brodie’s brother. My other issue is that I didn’t like how the ending was handled. It was too ‘tame’ for all the issues that Jessica has been through. I expected more to it, something more or for Jessica to really assert herself. As it was, while Jessica did grow during the story, I felt the ending almost reverted some of that growth.
All in all, though, I really liked this one. Brodie might be the war hero but Jessica was the one with the emotional scars and I loved that Brodie was there for her even if he was ‘hired’ to be there at first. It was interesting to see the development between them and also see how things played out with her inheritance. If you’re looking for something that has a little bit of angst with an emotionally damaged woman and the ‘hero’ who helps her find herself, definitely give this one a go.
Overall Impression: I really liked it!
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for a fair and honest review.*
The Blogger Girls 