Review: 3.5 Stars-  I Liked But Not Loved It
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 18, 2013
Protecting Lulu -  J.M.JeffriesThis is an interesting novel.  It deals with several different topics besides romance. One topic is the idea that a woman doesn't need to be stick thin to be thought of as beautiful, Lulu is a model, I suppose the term might be, a plus-sized model.  She is NOT a size 4.  She is gorgeous, smart and very,very wealthy.The other issue this novel deals with is celebrity stalking, and what happens when the threats escalate and physical danger starts playing a part in Lulu's life. After the danger becomes more real, with a hit and run, Lulu's brother Wilder brings in a team of bodyguards.  Each guard is sexy in his or her own right and I assume that they will most likely each have his or her own story, if their story isn't told within this novel.This is a fairly slow read, and by that I mean that there really is not a lot of real action for most of the book. There are other underlying mysteries such as the unsolved murder of Lulu and Wilder's parents 22 years ago.There are many secondary and tertiary characters, which at times can confuse the story. However, this can be forgiven, as this looks to be the set up novel for the rest  of the series.If the action can be considered slow, then the romance went at a snail's pace.  It is commendable of the author to try to keep Lulu and Noah's romance apart from Noah's work.  It is commendable to keep it it this pace, in  this day and age of the `anything goes' types of books, but it left me confused as to what genre was supposed to have been.  The synopsis speaks of them falling in love, but I never really saw that happening.What I did see was (poor editing aside) a story where the female lead reminded me of a modern day "Auntie Mame." The movie with Rosalind Russell playing the lead. Lulu reminds me of that type of character, one that on the surface looks to not be taking anything too seriously or being a little dumb, but deep down inside is affected by all that is going on around her, is very clever and smart.Lulu is working in a shallow field, one of beauty, sex, gossip and superficiality, so you do expect some sort of shallowness to her.  However, you don't really get that she is shallow, she  has a good heart, she is smart and clever, never smarmy and she honestly loves everyone. Noah, on the other hand, is her polar opposite - he is highly masculine, rigid, almost unaffected, a real man's man. He is deep and brooding and takes his world and work  very seriously.  This makes them perfect for each other.As I said, there were a lot of technical, grammatical and editorial mistakes, especially in the latter half of the book.  The fact that there was more than one couple getting together in this book was a rather unique idea.  The story was interesting, the mystery was fairly difficult to figure out, the sex was very brief and a happily-ever-after was had by almost all!