And she’s happy with how things are–really–until British royals rent the property next to hers and their brooding bodyguard decides she’s a security threat. Piper quickly realizes that one person’s fairy tale is an ordinary woman’s nightmare as a media frenzy takes over the island and each run-in with Harrison Cole is hotter and more confusing than the last. But beneath Harrison’s no-nonsense exterior lies a soft heart, one that could tempt a woman who’s sworn off attachments into believing in white knights.
But when Piper finds herself smack in the middle of a royal scandal that rocks the island she’ll need more than Harrison’s strong arms to shield her–she’ll have to do a little rescuing herself. With careers, hearts, and friendships on the line, Piper and Harrison will have to decide what they’re willing to give up for a chance at their own happily ever after.
Comment: When this book came out, some readers (in the several platforms I follow) had commented the idea of using the obvious reference to Harry and Meghan's decision to move to the US wasn't the best, but now I've read this book - clearly based on that situation, but not ABOUT that - I can say I actually had a great time reading and I did like the protagonists.
In this story schoolteacher Piper is not having a great afternoon at work, even though vacations are almost here, and when she travels home her path is blocked by this incredible guy who claims he is the bodyguard of the royals Edward and Monica, who left England for a small island on Canada, to stay out of the spotlight. Well, to try. Many people on the island are happy with this situation and they like being close to the royals, but it's Piper and her paranoid mother who will be their neighbors and that will certainly mean a lot of hassle, Piper thinks. However, the close proximity to Harrison, the bodyguard, is not only challenging but fun, and Piper can't help but liking to spend time with him... the problem is, at some point the royals will go back home, and Harrison too...
Somehow, the less positive comments I had seen made me think the book would be one of those stories where the neighbors would complain about the royals or the story would highlight the negativity about what that entails for a small community, but I was immediately surprised by how fun and mostly light this was, in the sense that the royals aren't seen as bad or too entitled, not is this the kind of story where it's some people against others. In fact, the story is mostly about the romance between Piper and Harrison and was certainly rooting for them.
Piper is a likable heroine because she is funny and entertaining but she is also living with her mother, who has some kind of paranoia and mental issues, and Piper feels it's her duty to help and be there for her. How not to applaud this decision? I also liked how she was a practical person but still open to the idea of falling in love and while her interest in Harrison wasn't as practical nor "planned", I also felt so happy they made a connection and were interested in one another. It's not, perhaps, the sweetest of romances, but it was still rather rewarding.
Harrison was, of course more mysterious, but once he and Piper started established a pattern - at first it was some wariness from her and duty from him - and started being friends among the sometimes silly situations they saw themselves in, I found their relationship to develop into something that was more than sweet, it was starting to feel solid and with the possibility to be lasting. I was really into the whole idea their were becoming more than just casual or neighbors. Of course the idea Harrison would leave when the royals would felt a tricky obstacle but the author found a good enough way to make this work.
The royals here are an obvious inspiration as I've said, but that is it. Apart from the obvious, they are characters who sometimes interact with the protagonists but it's not meant for the attention to be on them. In fact, it's almost as if they are a prop to justify the doubts in the relationship between Piper and Harrison and how could they think about the future when only the notion the royals would leave is certain. I also got the idea the royals were just motivation and not an attempt by the author to really use their presence or what they represent to advance the plot, or to imply a "message" or something.
The mental health issues addressed in the character of Piper's mother were interesting. The idea is also not to use this character as the embodiment of an issue, but I think it was thoughtful enough to write this character in a way that can be a possible vision of what her issues are, and not as if this is the only idea one can have of people who have paranoia or what we perceive as such. I was also surprised by how simple the resolution of this issue was, but to be fair, this is clearly a romance and sometimes in romanceland things happen more easily than in real life...
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