Review: Guarding His Heart by Synithia Williams
Guarding His Heart by Synithia Williams Published by Harlequin on July 1st 2018
Genres: African American, Contemporary, Fiction, Romance
Pages: 224
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Scoring for LoveSizzling-hot basketball star Kevin Koucky plans to end his career with a bang by posing au naturel in a magazine feature. When photographer Jasmin Hook agrees to take the assignment, she never expects the risqué photo shoot to end with a sensual slam dunk. But the handsome athlete comes with children and an ex-wife—emotional baggage Jasmin can’t handle. Little does she know that Kevin always plays to win…
Guarding His Heart is a sports romance featuring 2-time basketball champ Kevin Koucky, whose contemplating retirement from the game he loves. Leading up to that decision, he poses nude for her a sports magazine where he meets photographer, Jasmine Hook. He’s attracted to Jasmine and tries to use his charm but she seems unfazed, though readers know that’s not the case.
Jasmine is working on a very important photography project for an upcoming book, and after telling Kevin about it, they end up working together on a part of it when she visits his hometown in Carolina.
She’s focused on her work and though she’s attracted to him, she doesn’t want to get caught up in the drama she assumes may follow him. Kevin was a father of four children with two different women, both of whom he was in long-term relationships. I feel like there are sometimes negative stereotypes about men with multiple children in novels. I appreciated the fact that Synithia showed a healthy relationship with all children and their mothers. Jasmine had her own hang-ups about being with a man with children, thanks to the demise of her last relationship and some issues she had with her stepmother.
In Guarding His Heart, both Jasmine and Kevin had to learn to trust each other and their hearts to acknowledge when something great enters their lives. Both had trust issues from past experiences that almost cost them the happiness they both deserved. They each had personal issues that they were hiding until they realized that they could be vulnerable to each other. I liked reading about that, and with those subplots being so strong, I feel like the romance almost took a back seat. Their chemistry was a bit mild for me and while I appreciated the fact that they found their way back to each other, I wasn’t necessarily invested.
Guarding His Heart, the second book in the Scoring for Love series is a quick read about letting go of preconceived notions and allowing yourself to love again after heartbreak.
Natalya is the author of All The Things I Never Said, a soul-stirring collection of short stories, prose and love letters for the soulful wanderers, the brokenhearted and the hopeless romantics.
You can follow her rantings and occasional sparks of brilliance on Twitter @NatalyaMuncuff.
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