Rachel Lacey

Rachel Lacey, author of Stars Collide, serves up a steamy tale of Hollywood fame and subterfuge about a glamorous actress and the sexy bodyguard posing as her girlfriend. Natalie Keane is one of Hollywood's top leading ladies, but she's paid a steep price for her fame. After she was stalked eight years ago, the ensuing media frenzy almost broke her. So when a new threat arises, Natalie agrees to extra security, but she wants to keep it under wraps. The last thing she needs is another tabloid spectacle, especially during awards season. Taylor Vaughn has made a career as a bodyguard to the stars, but an injury has kept her sidelined for the past three months, jeopardizing her future in the job she loves. When an opportunity arises to work for Natalie Keane, Taylor jumps at the chance--even before knowing the details of the assignment. From the moment they meet, Natalie knows this could work: Taylor, the bodyguard, masquerading as her girlfriend. The perfect cover story. But as circumstances push the two women closer, the lines between fantasy and reality begin to blur.

Cover Story

❓ #QOTD What book would you love to see adapted into a film or series? ❓

🦇 Natalie Keane is one of Hollywood’s top leading ladies. Unfortunately, with fame comes unwanted attention, sometimes in the form of crazed fans turned stalkers. With award season approaching as the man who held her hostage gets released from prison, Natalie agrees to extra security. To avoid another tabloid spectacle, her bodyguard, Taylor Vaughn, poses as her in-house girlfriend. Is it the perfect cover story, or will fantasy and reality blur as these two women grow closer?

💜 After reading Rachel Lacey's Stars Collide last year, I was all too eager for another sapphic celebrity/forced proximity story. This one even features a character from Stars Collide (plus a few fun cameos): Taylor, who was previously Eden Sands' security detail. The story is layered, focused on healing from past trauma instead of the trauma as it happens. With most stories, we neglect that process, going from a dire situation to a rescue to a happily ever after epilogue. Lacey invites us to recognize how trauma can have a ripple effect on our lives, and how healing is an ongoing process. Natalie learns how to build a safe space for herself, even knowing that nothing in this world, including her own safety, is guaranteed. 

💙 To be completely honest, the chemistry felt rushed and forced for me. There's a flare of initial attraction between the two women when they first meet, not when Taylor interviews to become Natalie's bodyguard, but even before that, as a memory. We don't feel and experience that moment live, which fails to give readers the chance to experience what the characters felt as it happened. Most of the conflicts don't feel dire, which creates a lack of tension. Since the story is focused on healing after a trauma, it's more reliant on internal conflicts for momentum. We get a lot more show than tell (internalizing than action) as a result. Also...there's an adorable little kitten in the story, and while she becomes a way for the FMCs to bond in a cute found family moment, she's all too quickly forgotten once the FMCs start sleeping together. 

🦇 Recommended for fans of Alexandria Bellefleur and Anita Kelly's sapphic romances. 

❝ I'm less afraid when I'm with you. ❞

❝ Everything felt better, brighter, less overwhelming or terrifying, when Taylor held her. ❞

❝ Our cover story became a real-life headline. ❞

❝ She brought Natalie here to show her the stars, but instead, Natalie had made her see stars in a completely different way. ❞

Jazelle H

🦇 Cover Story Book Review 🦇

❓ #QOTD What book would you love to see adapted into a film or series? ❓
 
🦇 Natalie Keane is one of Hollywood’s top leading ladies. Unfortunately, with fame comes unwanted attention, sometimes in the form of crazed fans turned stalkers. With award season approaching as the man who held her hostage gets released from prison, Natalie agrees to extra security. To avoid another tabloid spectacle, her bodyguard, Taylor Vaughn, poses as her in-house girlfriend. Is it the perfect cover story, or will fantasy and reality blur as these two women grow closer?

💜 After reading Rachel Lacey's Stars Collide last year, I was all too eager for another sapphic celebrity/forced proximity story. This one even features a character from Stars Collide (plus a few fun cameos): Taylor, who was previously Eden Sands' security detail. The story is layered, focused on healing from past trauma instead of the trauma as it happens. With most stories, we neglect that process, going from a dire situation to a rescue to a happily ever after epilogue. Lacey invites us to recognize how trauma can have a ripple effect on our lives, and how healing is an ongoing process. Natalie learns how to build a safe space for herself, even knowing that nothing in this world, including her own safety, is guaranteed. 

💙 To be completely honest, the chemistry felt rushed and forced for me. There's a flare of initial attraction between the two women when they first meet, not when Taylor interviews to become Natalie's bodyguard, but even before that, as a memory. We don't feel and experience that moment live, which fails to give readers the chance to experience what the characters felt as it happened. Most of the conflicts don't feel dire, which creates a lack of tension. Since the story is focused on healing after a trauma, it's more reliant on internal conflicts for momentum. We get a lot more show than tell (internalizing than action) as a result. Also...there's an adorable little kitten in the story, and while she becomes a way for the FMCs to bond in a cute found family moment, she's all too quickly forgotten once the FMCs start sleeping together. 

🦇 Recommended for fans of Alexandria Bellefleur and Anita Kelly's sapphic romances. 

✨ The Vibes ✨
⭐ Sapphic Romance
⭐ Hollywood Romance
⭐ Actress/Bodyguard
⭐ Fake Dating
⭐ Forced Proximity
⭐ PTSD/Healing From Trauma

💬 Quotes 
❝ I'm less afraid when I'm with you. ❞
❝ Everything felt better, brighter, less overwhelming or terrifying, when Taylor held her. ❞
❝ Our cover story became a real-life headline. ❞
❝ She brought Natalie here to show her the stars, but instead, Natalie had made her see stars in a completely different way. ❞

i feel like admitting this will get my lesbian card revoked, but "cover story" is the first rachel lacey book i've read and i can't believe it took me so long to read something by her! i absolutely loved this book, natalie, taylor, and their love story. i mean, who doesn't love a bodyguard trope?! and make it lesbians?! it's obviously the making of a great book! beyond all of that, i felt like natalie and taylor's relationship developed so naturally and even their miscommunication and the baggage they brought into the relationship all felt so real. insta-love isn't really a trope i like, so i really appreciate a dynamic that develops at a realistic and healthy pace. overall, this was a really fun (and surprisingly tense!!) book that besides being a fun combination of the bodyguard and fake dating tropes, it also tackled their individual healing journeys in a very satisfying way. thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book! cover story is out from montlake on march 26.

Cover Story

Reviews