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.