Bea Reviews Life of Lies by Sharon Sala

Publisher: Mira Books
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: September 26th, 2017 
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
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Blurb from goodreads:

Fame, fortune...and a fatal obsession

Sahara Travis is used to being worshipped by adoring fans, but now someone is fixated on her in a dangerous way. After multiple attempts on her life, she reluctantly agrees to hire a security specialist for her protection, though the last thing she wants is some burly bodyguard invading her personal space.

Former army ranger Brendan McQueen's job is to keep the starlet safe and track down her would-be assassin. But when Sahara receives news that her estranged mother has been murdered and her father, the top suspect, is missing, Brendan quickly realizes this is much more serious than your average celebrity stalker.

With Brendan and her devoted assistant, Lucy, in tow, Sahara returns to her family estate in New Orleans to uncover the identity of her attempted killer before he can close in on his final target.

My Thoughts:

Sharon Sala has been on my radar for a while, I even have one of her small town romances in my TBR, but this was the first book of hers that I read. Hollywood glamour, an ex-Ranger, romance, mystery, thrills, family drama, it had so many elements that I like.

Sahara (which I kept reading as Sarah) left home 15 years ago and hasn't looked back. In the meantime she has become a hot Hollywood actress. While on set for a film, a wardrobe assistant eats some of her food and dies; the food was poisoned. While the set is shut down for the police investigation. more attempts are made on her life and her agent/manager hires a bodyguard, Brendan. When her mother is murdered, and her father goes missing, Sahara reluctantly decides to return home. Once there she, and the reader, gets a surprise.

 Brendan is a former Ranger who know works as a bodyguard and he takes his work seriously. He lays down the rules and expects Sahara, and Lucy, to abide by them. He's not a jerk about it, just firm. His job is to keep Sahara safe and alive and he will do whatever it takes.

Sparks fly between Sahara and Brendan (gawd, I love that name. It's a favorite.) but at first they ignore them. Brendan is professional and knows it's a bad idea to get involved with a client while Sahara is too focused on everything going on. Sala slowly builds up the steam between them, taking it slow, building the tension until they can't take it any more. Even so, given the genre, things happened quickly including the "I love you"s. I do have one gripe about the sex scenes - there was no condom use, nothing to indicate that any form of birth control was used, and a total failure to discuss any aspect of safe sex. That's just so unrealistic, and stupid, in this day and age.

The mystery itself was twisty, full of surprises, and kept me guessing. While some of my guesses were correct, others were wrong and there were some events that I just didn't see coming. Some things were over the top, very soap opera-ish, but Sala spun a good yarn that kept me reading and I want to read more by her.