Product Description

Bodyguard Natasha Chamberlain risks more than her life when she guards a defense attorney targeted by the mafia.

Protection specialist Natasha Chamberlain thinks guarding a defense attorney from a disgruntled client should be a fairly normal job, but when she learns he's been targeted by the mafia, she's ready to call it quits. However, the attorney holds her to their contract and Natasha finds her own life placed in danger along with her bodyguard cohorts, Pit and Bigun.

Natasha's fiancé Jonce Striker is fit to be tied when he learns this, which only confirms to him that the bodyguard field is too dangerous for his love. After Natasha is shot trying to protect her client, Striker delivers the final ultimatum: leave the bodyguard field or lose him. Natasha makes her choice but will she live to regret it?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #604843 in Books
• Published on: 2009-08-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Perfect Paperback
• 284 pages

Review
... definitely need to read the other three books in the Bodyguard series. They are witty and great fun. The characters are so likeable and provide you with an exciting and humorous story. Even the pets in Ms. French's imagination seem to have no boundaries, coming up with story lines and characters that the reader will find enjoyable. --Coffee Time Romance, September 23, 2009

Internationally published Christy Tillery French has once again created a delightfully suspenseful Natasha Chamberlain story that will keep the reader in stitches and eager to learn what happens next. Never a dull moment, the feisty Natasha earns her place in the bodyguard hall of fame with her antics, ignoring every rule about safety and sane bodyguard practice. Her guardian angel and pissed off fiancé, Striker, is every woman's dream even if he is a tad overprotective. A swift moving storyline with tons of action and unconventional characters; THE BODYGUARD AND THE SNITCH guarantees to engage and entertain! --Cata Single Titles, September 8, 2009

The strength of characters shine here, largely through dialogue. The usual coarse cohorts (in the shape of hirelings) join in the body guarding endeavors. The millionaire client (amusing in so many respects) is both obnoxious and strong-minded. The funny old celeb name, coupled with the Danny DeVito looks, make the client stand out from the outset.

The mystery is a satisfying blend of intrigue and the obvious. This is not the classic chase the clues type mystery, but an ongoing effort to sort out danger to the client, and current action.Romance and mystery blend to create a gripping, suspenseful story. --Long and Short Romance Reviews, September 9, 2009

About the Author
Award-winning, internationally published author and poet Christy Tillery French resides in Powell, TN with her husband and three dogs. She is a small business owner and book reviewer for Midwest Book Review. Christy is a volunteer with Wolf Creek Weimaraner Rescue and donates proceeds from her books to local rescue groups. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, the Guppies, High Country Writers, Tennessee Writers Alliance, and Tennessee Mountain Writers. Christy presently serves on the Board of Directors of Tennessee Mountain Writers.

Customer Reviews

Nattie's Back and She's Feistier than Ever
Bodyguard Natasha Chamberlain is hired by defense attorney Tommy James to guard his life 24/7. Since Natasha can't protect Tommy constantly, she hires her two friends, the fearsome twosome Pit and Bigun to help out. Tommy, who Natasha thinks looks like Danny Devito, tells Natasha he's received a death threat but doesn't know who is behind the threat. When Natasha learns a crime boss has issued a contract on Tommy's life, she's ready to cut and run but Tommy forces her to abide by their contract. Striker, of course, goes nuts when he hears this and is back to pressuring Natasha to marry him and quit such a dangerous field. Natasha isn't about to give up her career and pushes forward, trying to keep Tommy's rear safe. When she meets with the crime boss to discuss a resolution to Tommy's problem, she interrupts an attempt on the crime boss's life and ends up in the hospital with a bullet wound to her side. That does it for Striker and he and Natasha split up. While grieving the end of her relationship with Striker, Natasha continues to guard Tommy but now it looks like someone's out to get her.

This is a fun series, with quirky characters and laugh-out-loud dialogue and scenarios. Natasha is coming into her own as a bodyguard and not so out of control as in the first book. She's got backbone and isn't afraid to stand up for her client or what she wants or believes in. Her mom Stevie really grabbed me in this book. Now Stevie and Natasha's cousin Cameron have started their own bounty hunter business, thanks to Tommy, and much to Natasha's dismay. The wacky group of characters Tommy represents are fun to read. Tommy at first seems obnoxious but he grew on me. I liked him by the time the book was finished.

I look forward to the next in the series, which from the ending in this one, sounds like it's going to be a whopper.

Natasha Chamberlain, Protection Specialist

Author Christy Tillery French does it again with the fourth entry in her BODYGUARD series. In case you haven't met up with this series yet, it features Natasha Chamberlain--Nattie--as the bodyguard; or as she prefers to call it, "protection specialist." Nattie has what it takes to do the job, but she does face a few obstacles; for one thing, her wildly attractive boyfriend, Jonce Striker, can't bear the thought of Nattie in danger; and for another thing, Nattie's cases always morph into chaotic messes that toss her straight into harm's way. Not her fault!

In The Bodyguard and The Snitch, Nattie takes on the job of protecting a cocky criminal defense lawyer, Tommy James. She gets her assistants Pit and Bigun to cover the night shift, and she sticks close to Tommy during his business day. Tommy turns out to be a sleazeball who calls her sweetie-pie, tries to pass her off as his girlfriend, and worst of all, has concealed the fact that it's the mafia out to get him, to prevent him from testifying in a case.

Striker is beside himself (as usual) but Nattie sticks to her guns (also as usual). Their explosive chemistry runs through this series like a burning fuse. This time their stand-off over Nattie's job threatens to break them up; is that possible? As we've come to expect from this rollicking series, the cliffhanger ending foreshadows more fireworks on that subject.

These books have a lot going for them. Nattie and Striker are strong and fascinating characters; the supporting cast of regulars are tremendously entertaining and loyal to each other (though I'd like to see more of Nattie's crazy mother and grandmother in the next book); the writing is crisp and very funny; and there is a great sense of movement in the plot, supported by some great physical humor. If BODYGUARD ever becomes a movie or a TV series, they're going to need a stunt double for Nattie.

The characters associated with this case are wildly entertaining, especially the lawyer's oddball clients. There is the woman who perpetrates a Lorena Bobbitt and brings in the "evidence" (badly damaged by freezer burn) to negotiate a plea agreement; the vicious old woman who assaults a nursing home attendant with a bedpan because he turned off the TV when her favorite wrestling show was on; and ... well read it for yourself for the full, hilarious effect.

This series is maintaining its momentum beautifully. If you don't know Nattie yet, The Bodyguard and The Snitch is a great place to jump in, though for maximum enjoyment you might like to start at the beginning. A smart, sexy, brave and loyal "protection specialist" -- it's a great recipe for fun and Ms. French delivers beautifully.

Linda Bulger, 2009

5 reasons to read Christy Tillery French's Bodyguard series
Back cover blurb:

Natasha risks more than her life when she guards a defense attorney targeted by the Mafia.

Protection specialist Natasha Chamberlain thinks guarding a defense attorney from a disgruntled client should be a fairly normal job, but when she learns he's been targeted by the mafia, she's ready to call it quits. However, the attorney holds her to their contract and Natasha finds her own life placed in danger along with her bodyguard cohorts, Pit and Bigun. Natasha's fiancé Jonce Striker is fit to be tied when he learns this, which only confirms to him that the bodyguard field is too dangerous for his love. After Natasha is shot trying to protect her client, Striker delivers the final ultimatum: leave the bodyguard field or lose him. Natasha makes her choice but will she live to regret it?

It's no secret that I absolutely love this series. I was hooked with the first book and my addiction only grows stronger with each one so instead of a review, I thought I'd share a few of the reasons why I like Ms. French's Bodyguard series so much.

Number one--as Wilkie Collins said about cliffhangers, "Make `em cry, make `em laugh, make `em wait--exactly in that order." Ms. French does just that, sprinkling her books with touching moments, numerous laugh-out-loud scenes and then she ends them with a bit of a teaser that always leaves me wanting more and wondering what's going to happen next. The excellent writing and exciting plots are more than enough to keep me coming back, but that teasing hint of what's coming in the next book hooks me every time. In that respect, The Bodyguard and the Snitch doesn't disappoint. In fact, it just might be Ms. French's best cliffhanger ending yet. It seems Natasha...oh, wait, I don't want to spoil it but you'll know what I'm talking about when you read it.

Number two--the way the protagonist, Natasha, grows with each book, not only personally, but professionally too. With each story, she's a little bit more confident of herself, her job, and even though her personal relationship with Jonce Striker, the love of her life, doesn't always run true, the reader knows through her actions and thoughts that's she's coming into her own there too. Natasha is an independent young woman and though she makes mistakes, she's determined to learn from them. There are several places in this book where she catches herself doing something she doesn't consider professional and makes herself stop, step back, and rethink the situation. She doesn't always win the battle but at least she tries. This also happens in her relationship with Striker, both of which tell the reader the character is maturing as a professional and as a partner in love. Ms. French obviously knows what she's doing when it comes to developing her characters and I think she's bringing Natasha along nicely, not rushing things, but letting her grow at a realistic pace.

Number three--speaking of characterization, the secondary characters are fabulous. Yes, the main characters are well-crafted, but I think Ms. French has an extraordinary talent when it comes to creating secondary characters. Not only the ones who show up numerous times in the series, like Pit and Bigun--who I hope and pray will get their own book one day--or Stevie and Cameron--who are a delightful mishmash of trouble just waiting to happen--but Natasha's clients in each of the books; a millionaire computer geek, a show dog, a rock star, and in this one, a defense attorney, are all characters that I'd like to see appear again in the series. We get a little of that in this one with Roger, the computer geek, and Giki, the rock star, and I hope Ms. French continues to weave some of these fascinating secondary characters into later books. Her characterization skills are wonderfully apt and quite multi-faceted and it often leads to some of the most humorous passages in the books.

Number four; the romantic relationship between Natasha and Striker. I've always had a thing for star-crossed lovers, whether in books, movies, or TV shows; it is a plotline that I'm drawn to. Romeo and Juliet, Othello and Desdemona, Sam and Diane, Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn in almost every movie they made together, David and Maddie, even Eve and Roarke in a few of J.D. Robb's In Death series. I love them all and Natasha and Striker can easily be included on that list. It's fun watching these two alpha-personalities clash and seeing the give and take between them as they struggle to keep their relationship from crashing and burning.

Number five; humor. Ms. French has a sly sense of humor that often takes me by surprise which only makes her books more enjoyable. It is, of course, evident in The Bodyguard and the Snitch and I ended this one with a smile on my face...and a gasp at what's becoming Ms. French's trademark teaser ending, which brings us full circle, right back to number one!

With The Bodyguard and the Snitch, Ms. French has written yet another outstanding book that now rests in its pre-destined spot on my keeper shelf. As with every one of the books in this series, the plot is compelling, the characters and dialogue are original and believable, and the ending, well, let's just say I'm hooked and can't wait to find out what happens when Natasha needs a bodyguard of her own. Can you guess who it'll be?