Silver Creek Bodyguard

Silver Creek Bodyguard by Lindsay McKenna is the fourth book in the Silver Creek contemporary romantic suspense series. In an attempt to hide from her criminal half-brother Manny, Sara Romano has moved to Silver Creek, Wyoming.

She’s purchased a Victorian house that had a building behind it that has been renovated into a retail space, lab, and clinic for her herbal remedies business. After several attempts on her life in Texas, she has agreed to a full-time bodyguard that will pose as her assistant. Wes Paxton has just finished a year of physical therapy for a gunshot wound that caused him to shift careers from a Navy SEAL to being employed by a global security company. His first assignment after moving to Wyoming is to protect Sara.

Both Sara and Wes are likeable characters with an immediate attraction and chemistry that develops into friendship and builds slowly over time. Both have histories with emotional and physical traumas that haunt them. However, both also had role models that showed them how people should be treated. I enjoyed seeing how each tried to understand their feelings for the other and how their emotional barriers were gradually broken down. The secondary characters played background roles with several of them being in the previous three books in the series. This helped with continuity and added to the feeling of community that abounds in this series.

The first five chapters give readers a chance to bond with Sara and Wes as well as learn about Sara’s business and the Silver Creek community. Readers also get insight into Manny’s thoughts and actions and the suspense starts to build. With the sixth chapter the action and suspense go into overdrive.

The writing and dialogue gave me a strong sense of Sara’s business and the Silver Creek community. While it is portrayed as very idyllic and somewhat unrealistic, I wanted to believe in it and enjoyed it. This is a community that lives and works as a close family. Neighbor helps neighbor. Of course, this is offset by the introduction of the criminals to bring suspense and danger into this close knit community. The suspense part of this book started somewhat later in the book than I expected, but once it started, there was plenty of action and danger. The sixth chapter is a pivotal moment in the narrative and very memorable as the danger escalates.

This book has a lot of details in it on herbs and herbal remedies. I felt this added depth and made the book more realistic. Additionally, I learned a lot while reading the novel. The author did a fantastic job of transporting me to this community with great world-building. The only steamy scenes in the book are in the last 25 percent of the story.  Themes include trust, courage, friendship, respect, romance, PTSD, and helping those in need.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It was an entertaining book that was emotionally intense at times. The author did a good job of meshing the romance and the suspense without either suffering. I appreciate the balance in the book’s pacing, taking readers from moments of slow-burning plot reveals to shocking action scenes, and outstanding revelations. If you are a fan of contemporary romantic suspense without instant love, then you may want to check out this series. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Kensington Books – Zebra and Lindsay McKenna provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for March 29, 2022.