ONE WARM WINTER

A handsome Irish bodyguard helps the heiress he’s protecting escape the frenzy created by a family scandal.

Wynter Bates is the adopted daughter of a tech billionaire and presidential hopeful, but she lives a quiet life as a linguist and translator. Ever since someone tried to kidnap Wyn when she was a child, her father has insisted on a full-time bodyguard. For the past year, ex-military officer Cullen Whelan has quietly and efficiently guarded Wyn, hoping to earn enough money to retire and leave behind his violent past. Wyn’s identity is thrown into question—and into a glaring media spotlight—when letters emerge that suggest she wasn’t adopted from a South African orphanage but instead is the product of her father’s love affair with a mentally unstable woman. Cullen whisks Wyn away to a privately owned compound on St. Thomas, where they pretend to be a couple rather than expose her situation. Although most bodyguard romances demand some sort of physical peril, here the only danger is to Wyn’s feelings. Her parents refuse to communicate with her, leaving Cullen to protect her from the emerging details and sordid drama. This is a slow-paced story that focuses on the interior lives of each character. Wyn and Cullen are both loners who fear commitment, but neither can resist their growing attraction. However, instead of showing Wyn and Cullen exploring their evolving relationship, Pope (Mostly Sunny, 2018, etc.) moves the most promising action and intimate moments offstage. Only later do they individually think, reflect, and ruminate about their feelings. This narrative choice to "tell not show" creates emotional distance between the reader and characters, eliminating any spark and deflating the chemistry of the love affair. The mystery of Wyn’s parentage is sidelined until the end, when the loose ends are tied up without much effort on her part.

A slow-moving and conflict-free romance.