zefrien's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
mellowy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
jamietherebelliousreader's review against another edition
3.0
3 stars. I liked the plot but the characters never did grow on me and I didn’t buy the romance at all. Blair is absolutely insufferable. I despised her character and how vapid, bratty, and shallow she was. There was no growth or depth. Blair felt like a robot. Just there and with no interesting characteristics. They spend 90% of the novel having sex with other people and then all of a sudden I’m supposed to believe in their love? Nope. I’ll probably continue on with the series only because I do really like Radclyffe’s writing but this first book just didn’t do it for me unfortunately. Three stars for the action packed plot and great writing.
lo_oneill's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book, I was specifically looking for a lesbian fiction book which is how I discovered Radclyffe and I am glad I did. The book that captured me from the start and I struggled to put it down, great writing and a great story. The only reason that I haven't given it a 5 star rating is an echo of some of the previous comments on the cliché pairing of a closed off butch character falling for the femme character, the lesbian community is more diverse than this and not saying that it is not common but it has been done in novels and I would like to see a little more variety.
Overall, great book and I would highly recommend.
Overall, great book and I would highly recommend.
gloriamontagov's review against another edition
2.75
➥ 2.75 Stars *:･ﾟ✧
Cam leaned back, a soft smile on her lips. "Then it appears we have a problem, Ms. Powell. If I can't guard you, what excuse do I have to be with you?"
Blair took a deep breath. "How about because you love me?"
She kissed Blair gently on the forehead, and whispered, "Well, there is that."
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Kelly look away 😞💘. Sadly, I wasn't quite blown away by Above all, Honor, the first book I've read by this author. But, I consider that this was written in 2001 and that I saw someone say that this author's other books are far better. So, although I didn't adore this one, I'm still looking forward to reading more of this author's work.
The premise was strong. Cameron (h), a serious no bullshit bodyguard gets assigned to Blair (h), the daughter of the president of the USA, who promiscuously escapes her protection and goes to gay bars.
The writing was blunt and simple, I like it that way. But the actual development of the romance lacked. These women have had maximum 7 conversations by the end of this novel, and I think that was the main issue. Up until 40%, these women have not spoken seriously once. It was only that Blair had started to make sexual advances on Cameron, but I unfortunately found those to be quite jarring and out of place. For example, a led to b and they were fighting in a ring, Blair mainly attacking and Cameron mainly deflecting, and Cameron does an attack that lands Blair on the floor. Blair convinces Cameron to teach her how to do it, but after she does, she shoves her knee between Cameron's while there are MEN WATCHING. Keep in mind that these women don't know anything about the other. I feel that, if this had been more of a private moment, and it had been once they'd known each other better and could mess with each other a little, it could have been really good, but since I hadn't seen these characters developing their feelings for the other, I couldn't really root for them. Instead, the advances seemed random, ineffective and not really romantic.
What goes hand in hand with that is the lack of intimacy and vulnerability. There are about 3 times where Blair says "thank you" sincerely and supposedly vulnerably, but that's all we get in terms of the characters softening for each other. I was waiting for there to be a moment of high stakes, where they were seriously worried for the other, or where one broke down and the other listened to her patiently. And there were hints of that going to happen, but it never felt fully developed to where it actually felt like the relationship between them was growing. Although the featured quote is cute (the cutest I could find), I was pretty shocked when it was said because I didn't see them being at the "I love you" stage at all. I think that, in this book, Radclyffe failed to really show emotional connection and development of feelings. Sometimes, Cameron would say that Blair was so beautiful that she was attracted to her more than sexually. But then...what? Emotionally? Because that's unfortunately not evidenced at all.
There was one moment that got near to what I'd wanted, where they were both tired and the slept with their head on each other's shoulders while on a private jet and they woke up in a bit more disarray and comfort than usual. But even that moment wasn't lingered upon enough to make significant.
The third person narrative was another slightly jarring aspect of this book, because it was sort of omniscient? It would swish from perspective to perspective but it was hard to know who's? Sometimes we were in a side character's voice while they observed the two women interacting, but these changes were not smooth and clear enough.
Blair was an incredibly underdeveloped character. Her struggles are hinted at but we never see an exploration of what she goes through. Her voice, when we're in it, was shallow. Similar to Cameron, as we are told Cameron has had to grieve the loss of her lover but we don't see her talk it out with Blair or process her emotions in general. It's like it was just a fact added to her character profile.
Also, Blair's sleeping around started to seriously rub me the wrong way. I understand that as the presidents daughter, she couldn't do much. But in her acquisition of her "conquests" she would be sort of malevolent about it. It just made me uncomfortable, but maybe that's just me. She spoke about wanting to humble young butches? Because that was apparently really satisfying? When reading the sex scenes between her and her conquests, there's just such a lack of respect and care, which I found to be quite alarming. One time, Blair ties one of the said butches up with ties. And that's. Fine. I guess? But there wasn't any emphasis placed on consent at all and it felt as though the women she was with had just been naive and clueless about what she was going to do to them. Which was especially strange when she would continuously imagine they were Cameron? I just think having sex with a person and imagining them as someone else is seriously low.
And, this encounter had been when Cameron and Blair's relationship had become slightly (!) more established, at the 75% mark. So it was really jarring to read about her having sex with a stranger (again) while entwined with Cameron.
At the end, Blair gets really worried about Cameron, though I won't spoil why, and that's presented as being the epitome of love, or at least her realisation. But, that should have just been the start, in my opinion. Hoping that someone doesn't die is not a strong determinant of true love.
Overall, although the premise was strong and this author has clear potential, the romantic element was so severely lacking, in ways that even bad romances still achieve sometimes. So, hopefully her other books are better, because (if I'm not wrong) this was one of her first.
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rakhya's review against another edition
3.0
One of Radclyffe's oldies but goodies, skillfully narrated by Abby Craden.
This one was a 3-star listen (and read) for me.
I really liked Cam and Blair, and the action parts of the story. The drama, though, was a bit much for me.
The head hopping, which I was prepared for, is another thing that swayed me towards a three.
Both aspects seem to be common to the early works of Radclyffe's I have read so far. I will have to check out some of her more recent books to see how her writing has evolved and matured over the years.
This one was a 3-star listen (and read) for me.
I really liked Cam and Blair, and the action parts of the story. The drama, though, was a bit much for me.
The head hopping, which I was prepared for, is another thing that swayed me towards a three.
Both aspects seem to be common to the early works of Radclyffe's I have read so far. I will have to check out some of her more recent books to see how her writing has evolved and matured over the years.
m3l89's review against another edition
4.0
Easy and quick to read lesbian romance. Slightly predictable but enjoyably so. I'm intrigued to see where the series goes.
zen's review against another edition
I'm not even gonna rate this because it was so absurdly boring I had to force myself through it and I also kinda skipped some parts because to be honest they just did not give me anything interesting to work with. I did not care about the characters. I did not care about the sex scenes. I was kinda interested in the plot – hell knows I like me a good bodyguard story – but literally nothing exciting happened, unless you count how many time Blair escaped from highly guarded places full of people who it appears don't even know how to do the most basic job of a security guard? I'm actually kinda angry because of how much I wanted to like this book. Also the narration was boring, the head hopping distracting, in general I felt no emotions whatsoever. Maybe it just wasn't for me
plumeriade's review against another edition
2.0
i feel bad giving this a 2, but it really was just ok. nothing terrible or offensive, but it lacked any real personality or chemistry, imo, and was too focused on what every woman was wearing and how her boobs looked in said clothing. and it's funny that another reviewer said the plot was sacrificed for sex scenes because i didn't find them all that good.