Product Description

In the first in the Honor series, Above All, Honor introduces single-minded Secret Service agent Cameron Roberts and the woman she is sworn to protect—Blair Powell, the daughter of the President of the United States. Cam’s duty is her life and the only thing that keeps her from self-destructing under the unbearable weight of her own deep personal tragedy. However, she hasn’t counted on the fact that the beautiful, willful first daughter will do anything in her power to escape the watchful eyes of her protectors, including seducing the agent in charge. Both women struggle with long-hidden secrets and dark passions as they are forced to confront their growing attraction amidst the escalating danger drawing ever closer to Blair.

From the dark shadows of rough trade bars in Greenwich Village to the elite galleries of Soho, each must balance duty with desire and, ultimately, choose between love and honor.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #202381 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 180 pages

About the Author
Radclyffe is a two-time recipient (2003, 2004) of the Alice B. award for Lesbian Fiction and has written numerous lesbian romances (Safe Harbor and its sequel Beyond the Breakwater, Innocent Hearts, Love’s Melody Lost, Love’s Tender Warriors, Tomorrow’s Promise, Passion’s Bright Fury, Love’s Masquerade, shadowland, and Fated Love), as well as two romance/intrigue series: the Honor series (Above All, Honor; Honor Bound; and Love & Honor) and the Justice series (Shield of Justice, the prequel A Matter of Trust, In Pursuit of Justice, and Justice in the Shadows).

She lives with her partner, Lee, in Philadelphia, PA where she both writes and practices surgery full-time. She states, "I began reading lesbian fiction at the age of twelve when I found a copy of Ann Bannon’s Beebo Brinker. Not long after, I began collecting every book with lesbian content I could find. The new titles come much faster now than they did in the decades when a new book or two every year felt like a gift, but I still treasure every single one. These works are our history and our legacy, and I am proud to contribute in some small way to those archives."

Customer Reviews

Classic Romance w/ all the Angst & Action You Could Want
Blair Powell is an artist living in New York City. She has spent years in the limelight, first as the only child of a governor, then after her father becomes president, as First Daughter to the widowed Powell. She's one of the most recognizable women in the world and must behave perfectly, assist her father, and periodically attend state dinners and international functions. Blair can hardly remember a time when she wasn't trailed by a contingent of Secret Service agents. But she has grown tired of this gig-especially because she has spent years hiding something very important. The daughter of the president of the United States is gay.

How can Blair have a life, a relationship, or any privacy at all with a protective detail shadowing her every move? She becomes adept at slipping away from her protectors, and this becomes a major problem. Every seedy bar she enters, every apartment she sneaks off to, every unscheduled visit to a store or gym could potentially spell disaster for her. But to have freedom is more important to Blair than her own safety.

And then the attractive, honorable, and imminently capable Agent Cameron Roberts is brought in to whip the team into shape and crack down on Blair's incorrigible actions. No longer can Blair be allowed to run free. This doesn't square with Blair's needs and desires. She believes that "the handsome agent saw her only as an assignment-an object to be moved, contained, and controlled on some giant chessboard. Blair might be the queen, but she had been stripped of her power. She was ruled by pawns, and she hated it. Especially when her keeper was a woman so attractive that she felt a twinge of desire every time she saw her" (p. 56).

Chess is a good analogy for the game of feints and dodges that goes on between the two women, one determined to keep Blair safe at any costs, the other determined to maintain her autonomy and freedom. Cameron is honorable and plays by the book. She will not surrender to her own emotions, even as she begins to feel more for Blair than she thinks she should. Neither woman fully realizes the danger that surrounds them, for there are forces at work behind the scenes that could bring death and disaster to Blair and anyone around her. Will Cameron be able to protect Blair? And can she protect her own heart from the growing affection she feels?

This is a classic romance with all the angst, all the action, and all the twists and turns that any reader could want. Not only did Radclyffe nail the Secret Service details and all the procedural issues facing a team responsible for such an important assignment, she is also right on with both of these engaging characters. Cameron and Blair are multifaceted, sexy, bull-headed, and downright fascinating. No wonder the author has been able to write a whole series. I look forward to reading the next book, HONOR BOUND. Highly recommended. -Lori L. Lake, author of lesbian fiction and freelance reviewer for Midwest Book Review, Golden Crown Literary Society's The Crown, The Independent Gay Writer, and Just About Write.

An Unbeatable Combination of Action and Romance
"Above All, Honor", Radclyffe's first in a series involving the President's daughter and the Secret Service agent assigned to head her security team, is a tale of forbidden desire set amidst today's world of political turmoil and public fixation with celebrities. Combining the complex characterization and stark eroticism we have come to associate with Radclyffe's romances, "Safe Harbor", "Love's Melody Lost", and "Innocent Hearts", with the kind of taut, tight plotting required of an outstanding action thriller, "Above All, Honor" fulfills every desire.

Blair Powell, the only child of the nation's leader, resents the intrusion into every corner of her private life of those charged to protect her and will do anything to preserve her independence. With the added pressure of protecting her father's political image in a world where image could determine the outcome of the next election, Blair struggles to keep her true passions from the world. Cameron Roberts, the agent reluctantly assigned to guard her, is tortured by secrets of her own. When a threat to the First Daughter's life brings emotions to a boil, they are forced to confront their mutual desire.

As always, Radclyffe's prose is lean and sharp, lending itself well to the staccato pace of an action thriller shot through with the soaring romance which is the hallmark of her fiction. Timely, intriguing, and ultimately satisfying to both the intellect and the senses, "Above All, Honor" is a fitting entree into the world of politics, forbidden passions, and hidden dangers inhabited by an unforgettable cast of characters.

Another Winner in the Honor Series
Whether you read Radclyffe's series books, like the Justice series or the Honor series or the Provincetown series, or you read one of her stand-alone romances, you can not go wrong.

I have been reading lesbian fiction for many years, and can honestly say that I have never come across a writer that has so affected me. Her characters are strong, intelligent, and romantic. Naysayers will say that Radclyffe's characters are too perfect almost never flawed - either in looks or character. That may be true, but aren't you tired of the genre's penchant for ordinary? Radclyffe's characters are always enchanting, intoxicating, enticing, and intense. The stories, particularly in the series books, are all first class. Most of her series books are page-turners. And in two of the books, I actually turned to the last page to make sure that the main characters survived - something I never do.

Radclyffe let us believe, at least for the duration of each of her books, that the grand passion, the true love, the happy-ever-after are all possible. She lets us believe that being a strong, intelligent woman does not mean that we will be alone and/or isolated.

The only caveat I have is to read the series books in order. And if you enjoy watching a writer grow, then read the non-series books in the order they were written and watch Radclyffe's talent grow before your very eyes.