Format:
ebook
Publisher’s Synopsis:
Located on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille in beautiful Northern Idaho, Camp Bay Chalet is a discrete and cozy B&B, popular with both locals and minor celebrities for its fabulous holiday weekends.
The pic seen around the world….
The son of Hollywood royalty, North Astor-Ford has lived his entire life in the public’s eye. He knows better than anyone that someone is always watching.
So when one not-so-innocent picture meant for a hook-up accidentally ends up crossposted across all his social media, North is left humiliated and scared. With no one to turn to, he flees to Camp Bay Chalet to be close to the one person he used to count on to protect him from the world.
Liam’s life has been in a holding pattern since the moment North fired him three years ago, even if it was for the best. A romance between a bodyguard and his client would’ve caused exactly the sort of scandal Liam was hired to prevent.
Now that North is back in his orbit, Liam’s going to do what he does best, protect North from the world. And maybe, just maybe, the charm of a Camp Bay Chalet Christmas will be enough to both heal North and bring about the romance they’ve both always wanted.
North’s Pole takes place in the Camp Bay shared universe, but can be read as a stand-alone.
Point of view:
1st person. Alternating between North & Liam’s perspectives.
Rellim’s Thoughts:
DNF @ 30% – Bummed that my first holiday book of the season was a miss. I usually enjoy Leta Blake’s writing, but I couldn’t connect here at all.
First, the set up is odd – the teen son of one of the wealthiest families in the world has a 19-year-old bodyguard? Liam was *nineteen*. I don’t even know how one would be considered competently trained at that age. Much less why you’d pair them with a 16yo. Blake tries to explain/justify it but that almost makes it worse. Nothing happens while North is underage or still a protectee beyond both MCs acknowledging attraction.
Blake missed the mark for me on crafting North as endearingly naive. I don’t know how anyone who got to 21, including a few years in college, could be so completely clueless. There’s nothing to explain it in the book other than every character using some euphemism for stupid. Worse, she’s written North so incompetent bordering on disabled that I seriously questioned whether he was capable of consent.
At this point I hadn’t even made it to the sex scenes but I couldn’t come back from feeling an ick factor, so I quit. I’ll still read more Blake in the future.
About the author:
Leta Blake: Author of the bestselling book Smoky Mountain Dreams and the fan favorite Training Season, Leta Blake’s educational and professional background is in psychology and finance, respectively. However, her passion has always been for writing. She enjoys crafting romance stories and exploring the psyches of made up people. At home in the Southern U.S., Leta works hard at achieving balance between her day job, her writing, and her family.
You can connect with Leta Blake here: