Guardian

Guardian by Sierra Riley

Age: Adult
Category: LGBTQIA+
Rating: 4 stars

Helen Thinks: Due to working in family law, Alexander Wilson has always kept his sexuality a secret solely due to being afraid that families wouldn’t approve of their children being helped by a homosexual and because he was afraid he’d be fired from the firm. Alex believes he’s happy this way - just him and his beloved corgi, Valentina. However, when his car starts to make funny noises, he pulls into the nearest garage and meets the gorgeous tattooed ex-soldier come mechanic, Titus. Straight men like Titus don’t go for guys like Alex but he can’t help but develop a crush on the man and when Titus comes to Alex for help to save his niece, Phoebe, Alex is more than willing to help - that’s what friends do, right?

I feel like I’m going to have to try and control myself while reviewing “Guardian” by Sierra Riley seeing as I loved it that much I think I’m just going to ramble on and on about how amazing it is without actually making a point... Bear with me! First of all, I’ve just got to say the cliched contrasting leads were fabulously written. I absolutely adored Alex’s portrayal. Yes, he was a little nerdy and loved his space facts but Riley didn’t overcompensate this. Whenever it was brought up, it didn’t look like Riley was just mentioning it to prove all the research she had done (or maybe it’s a secret love of hers!) and didn’t want the facts to go to waste. He was never patronising with his intelligence and I fell in little in love with him, lucky Titus. And speaking of the handsome, muscular love interest with his military background and his beautiful ink to remind him of that time. Charming, beautiful and who doesn’t love a big man that’s good with children seeing as he’s his niece’s guardian after the death of her Mother? They might be contrasts but they sure as hell complimented each other beautifully and I applaud Riley for her amazing writing skills.

I always give a writer extra brownie points when there’s an actual plotline to go with the love story because in some novels the characters can just float along from one meeting to the next but that is not the case in “Guardian”. Due to Phoebe’s biological father showing up one day at her karate training - after being absent since finding out her Mother was pregnant - Titus needs to hire Alex to help him keep his guardianship of the girl and ensure her Father doesn’t. Riley wrote this flawlessly. It planned out like you’d imagine a real investigation into the biological Father would go as well as all the steps Alex and Titus had to go through to ensure they were doing the right thing for Phoebe. Plus the sexual tension that mounted due to them not being able to act on their feelings due to ‘conflict of interest’ with Titus being Alex’s client made this story absolutely addictive - and probably the reason why I read it all in one sitting!

Guardian was my first novel by Sierra Riley and I can definitely guarantee that it will not be my last novel. I can’t wait to delve into the rest of her novels if they deliver as much as “Guardian” did.