Blog Tour: Review of Guarded by Eden Sloane

 

Title: Guarded
Series: Boston Renegades
Author: Eden Sloane
Release: October 20, 2026
Goodreads: https://t.ly/6RZRJ
Bookbub: https://t.ly/JeiyQ
Cover Design: Talina with Bookin’ It Designs
Promo Graphics Designer: @hercozybookshelf! 
 
Genre/Tropes:
●       Hockey Romance
●       Fake Marriage
●       Morally Grey Heroine
●       Single Dad
●       Bookish Hero
●       Found Family
 

NHL goalie Sebastian Voss can stop a hundred-mile-an-hour slapshot. Convincing a judge he deserves custody of his daughter? That’s proving considerably harder.
 
His solution? A fake marriage to the woman he’s already falling for.
 
For three years, Sebastian has fought to keep the little girl who means everything to him. But a steady stream of headlines portraying him as hockey’s favorite womanizing disaster has left his reputation in tatters and his custody case hanging by a thread.
 
If Sebastian wants to prove he can offer his daughter the stable home she deserves, Kat Morrison is his best shot.
 
She’s smart, beautiful, inexplicably unimpressed by his charm, and the first woman in years who makes Sebastian want something for himself. Asking a woman he barely knows to become his wife is probably insane. Falling for her before she ever says yes is definitely worse.
 
But if putting a ring on Kat’s finger gives Sebastian a better chance at keeping his daughter, he’ll risk his heart without hesitation.
 
Kat knows saying yes is a mistake.
 
Not because she doesn’t love him.
 
Because she does.
 
For three years, Kat has been forced to write the lies destroying Sebastian’s reputation, blackmailed into obedience by the one man who holds her brother’s future in his hands.
 
But now Kat is living in his house, wearing his ring, loving his daughter, and falling deeper for the family she was supposed to help destroy. Somewhere between stolen kisses, tangled sheets, and building a life together, their fake marriage starts feeling dangerously like forever.
 
Except forever has an expiration date when it’s built on a secret.
 
And Kat knows that when Sebastian discovers the truth, she may lose the only man she’s ever loved.
 
Buys Links (Kindle Unlimited):
Universal: http://books2read.com/u/4NKgpG
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0HD9RGTKN
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0HD9RGTKN
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0HD9RGTKN
Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B0HD9RGTKN
 
My thoughts:

 

Guarded is the first book in the Boston Renegades series.  This one is Kat and Sebastian's story.  The book was definitely one that I read straight through into the night.  I really enjoyed the relationship between the couple and how it evolved.  I really felt for Kat and her predicament.  I was really rooting for her to figure out how to get herself out of it.  I also loved the friendships that Sebastian had with his teammates and sister.  The third act of this book put me through an major emotional wringer, but it was worth it for the HEA.  I highly recommend it and look forward to the next book in the series.

About the Author:
Eden Sloane believes the best love stories aren't about perfect people. They're about imperfect people who keep choosing each other, even after the truth changes everything.
She writes emotionally charged contemporary romance featuring devoted heroes, resilient heroines, impossible choices, and love worth risking everything for. Her stories celebrate the courage it takes to love completely.
When she's not plotting emotional damage (followed by well-earned happily ever afters), Eden can usually be found gardening, trying to win an ongoing battle with the weeds in her yard, drinking far too much caffeine, enjoying a nightcap while watching BBC crime dramas with her husband, and keeping tabs on her four children.
And if you're reading this during the winter, please send warm thoughts. Eden is somewhere in the Midwest, questioning every life choice that led her to a place where the air hurts her face.
 
Author Social Media Links:
TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@edensloaneauthor
Facebook: http://facebook.com/edensloaneauthor
Instagram: http://instagram.com/edensloaneauthor
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Eden-Sloane/author/B0HFT97Q4D
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/71675058.Eden_Sloane
Website: https://www.edensloaneauthor.com/
Newsletter Sign Up: https://www.edensloaneauthor.com/Projects
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/eden-sloane
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@edensloaneauthor
Twitter/X: https://x.com/ESloaneauthor