I was drawn to this book because bodyguards are my catnip. This one had a clever plot line. Grace and John were an interesting couple. It took me a bit to really embrace them as a couple. But by the end of the book, I was all in on their relationship and hoping they could pull it all together. Between John's extreme alpha tendencies and Grace's secrecy, their relationship is quite bumpy.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. The characters felt well-developed and the storyline was creative.

Thank you to NetGalley for this reader's copy.

First A Lady is well written, with lots of romance and suspense as you would imagine. The cover and the summary are excellent. I did struggle a little getting into it, but overall a good read.

This is a well-written book, with a flowing story line and compelling characters. The book got a bit draggy towards the end, but overall, it was an enjoyable read, particularly for anyone looking for a romance book with the 2 leads having great chemistry with each other.

The summary is what caught my eye to read this book. So glad I did! The writing is fantastic mixing mystery and romance. The characters were a little far fetched, but to me that's with any good romance book. While some parts lagged, the flirting and intriguing plot kept me reading in one sitting. Nice work!

I received an ARC from Netgalley.

Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I liked that the author takes us into the action from the beginning. Right into the scene where the president is murdered and the secret agent, John is unable to save him. We meet Grace, the first lady who is described as beautiful, posed and determined like Grace Kelly. She is a grieving widow who seeks out the agent who saved her life that night and helped her feel safe. Except John is haunted by what occurred and blames himself leaving a bitter, barely a shell of a man.

He refuses initially to help guard Grace on her tours and when he changes his mind he acts controlling and angry. Can't say I was a fan of the hero. He admires Grace's intellect and strength yet treats her like a child that needs overprotection and scorn. Despite this I liked the flow and twist of the plot just wished we had a less Alpha hero.

Absolutely loved this novel! Excellent character development, and totally keeps you wanting to find out what happens next. Highly recommended!

3.5 stars

The story was exciting and built up well. It was obvious that the heroine had some secrets she wasn't being forthcoming with and that the hero was a bit broodly alpha male. I thought there were occasions when Grace appeared spoilt for no good reason and some of her actions seemed misplaced. John was Ok as a character but possibly needed a bit more depth. I only reaslised some of his angst towards the end of the book. This was a contemporary story so not my normal genre. I did wonder whether Jade was building back stories for some of John's colleages. It was amusing that his team were named after the characters in Snow White! I would read more from this author, perhaps one of her cowboy ones.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review."

Loved this book very much. It had just enough sweet, sexy romance and the storyline was great! I highly recommend!

I really liked the story. It had romance, suspense. I really liked the characters the banter between them was really good. I found that the story dragged on spots. I definitely will read another from this author.

LIked the look of the front cover of this book and then was further drawn in by the promising blurb. However, this book just didn't work for me.

Unfortunately I didn't really get to like either of the characters. The way they reacted to things that happened just didn't seem quite right to me, I didn't like how they worked with each other - neither seemed any good at all at being protected/protecting! Also the sex, ugh, that really didn't do it for me and it didn't seem to fit with the tone of the rest of the story either, jarring.

So, no, I wouldn't recommend this book.

2.5 stars. This was a mediocre book which could’ve been a bit better with a great storyline that just wasn’t delivered well.

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book and it's genre is the written variant of fast food. It is junk, it is probably a bit unhealthy and unrealistic and a massive guilty pleasure.

I mean, the book has some issues - like inconsistencies, weird dialogue and things that just do not make sense. But lets be honest. We, the readers are here for the sex and the happily ever after. And as long as those two are satisfactory it remains a guilty pleasure.

This was a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review from netgalley - thank you

Loved this
A great holiday read
Got through this in one sitting - couldn't put down

I don't want to give any spoilers out but great rounded characters

I very quickly came to care about the characters - so well written - and cared about the outcome of their journey

Would highly recommend. I haven't read any of Jade Cary's work before but will definitely be looking out for more

This novel started out so perfectly I couldn't have seen myself giving it less than 5 stars, unfortunately for me, their sexual relationship did not feel true to their characters and his attitude towards her was ridiculously misogynistic most of the time. I felt that First a lady was a really good story ruined by the author's sexual fantasies - I have no issues with the fantasies themselves, but it just did not mesh with who these people are. It was also more sex than actually protecting the first lady and for a first-class security personnel and ex-secret service agent, he kinda sucked at actually protecting. My main gripe is that some aspects were glossed over and accent on the sexual part - I wished for a better balance. I really loved the start of it though and I was kinda curious to see what would happen which is why I stuck to the end.

(2.5 stars, rounded to 3) Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the free copy in exchange for my honest review! All opinions are completely my own.

I have some very mixed feelings about this book. I feel that it's important to note that, while they aren't the majority of what I read, I have nothing against passionate romance novels. I love a good guilty pleasure romance as much as the next guy, and a well written sex scene can be really great. That being said, I don't think that this book really did anything for me.

Some bits of the plot were interesting, and I did find that I liked the characters. It was their relationship that gave me a bit of pause. I don't mind a Dominant-Submissive relationship in books, but this relationship seemed to live right on the line between that and borderline abusive. So while I did have moments that I really wanted to enjoy this book - the story, the banter dialogue and parts of the relationship and scenes that were clearly consensual, etc. But the couple of times that it seemed to cross back over to the other side of that line just kind of turned me off of the novel, so to speak.

I didn't hate the book, though, by any means. It was still an enjoyable read and, if we are ignoring those couple of instances referenced above, I liked the rest of their relationship. Also other than a few bits of the plot that were a bit confusing, and never fully explained, the plot was fun too. I found this book on NetGalley's back catalog because I was looking for something fun and frivolous that wouldn't require too much brain power or time to get through. And while I think that this did for the most part accomplish that, there were enough little moments that seemed problematic enough to me that I probably won't be going back to re-read it anytime soon.

If one of my friends or family members was going to pick up this book to read I wouldn't go out of my way to stop them, but unless I knew that it was exactly what someone was looking for then I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it either. Over all, with the issues above, I find myself just feeling a bit conflicted and a bit "mehhh" about this particular read. This one just wasn't for me.

Really enjoyed this story. Will definately be reading a lot more from this author. A real case of opposites attract. Very hot, but also great. storytelling between the hotness.

Very enjoyable read. The former First Lady is scheduled to honor her assassinated husband and the political powers would like her to be protected by the same Secret Service responsible for her husband's death, She counters their proposal demanding her own private security. The sparks fly when she hires the man she feels saved her from dying the day her husband was slain. Good characters and nice transition form England to the States.

This was a great read. First Lady Grace Ashton Coolidge has just introduced her husband in New Orleans when he is shot by two of his secret service detail. John Marin is standing behind the president but by the time he realizes what happened it is all over. He picks Grace up and take her out of there as fast as he can. He does not see her again until she is standing in front of him asking for his help. He is enjoying the easy life on his boat in the Caribbean and does not want to be back in the political drama but Grace needs someone she trusts to be her security and John is the guy. He with some of his friends take the job. It is a hard struggle of wills and some sexual tension they both try to ignore. Can he keep her safe for what she has to do?

A good bit of writing. The story caught my interest and held it until the end. I liked the story building and dialogue. Good overall.

If you liked Scandal you’ll enjoy reading this book. It’s filled with romance and dirty politics. Widowed, First Lady Grace Coolidge needs protection so she hires former secret service agent John Marin and boy do these two have chemistry. Grace is strong through all she’s been through and Marin is an all aloha male doing whatever it takes to protect her. My only complaint is I felt certain plots in the story just felt thrown in and I struggled in some places to follow the events. Overall though, it was an enjoyable read