Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: Hair Out of Place
AUTHOR: Helen Juliet
PUBLISHER: self-published
RELEASE DATE: October 4, 2020
LENGTH: 356 pages
BLURB:
Prince Raphael d’Oro’s whole life has been trapped within the four walls of his London Penthouse. Nobody knows that he’s royalty, not even his sexy yet grumpy new bodyguard. But when assassins attack, Raphie is forced out into the real world, and his crush on Griff is growing too hard to ignore. An experienced man like Griff would never want a fumbling young thing like Raphie, right?
Griff Thompson is a professional, even when he finds out that happy-go-lucky Raphie with his mesmerising long hair is a hidden prince. No, he has a race against time to return Raphie to his European home country to save the throne and Raphie’s life. But there are only so many times they can share a bed before the pull between them is too strong to ignore.
No matter the draw, Griff knows his attraction to Raphie is pure fantasy. He’ll do whatever it takes to keep the young prince safe, and that might have to include not breaking his heart. Can he truly walk away, or will true love conquer all?
Hair Out of Place is a steamy, standalone MM romance novel featuring inconvenient bed sharing, romantic home cooking, possibly the worst assassins in the world, really long hair, and one fierce kitty. This book has guaranteed HEA with absolutely no cheating and no cliffhanger.
REVIEW:
Hair Out of Place is an age-gap, bodyguard romance with a mix of action, suspense, sex, romance and an underlying message of being true to yourself. This story is a loose riff on Rapunzel; Raphie’s isolation/captivity in the penthouse of a skyscraper for his whole life in order to keep him hidden from his father, the King of Campanula, Raphie’s long, flowing, gorgeous, blond hair, and his last name d’Oro which means “of gold” in Italian, are all nods to that fairy tale. (D’Oro is also a nice touch because it reflects Raphie’s extreme wealth, his royal status and that he is priceless in so many ways, especially to Griff.) The fairy tale underpinning of the story is made modern by layering on top of it a high stakes, action packed, on-the-run romance between 21-year-old Raphie and his 37-year-old bodyguard, Griff – and an adorable, yet cantankerous cat, ironically named Sparrow. The story hits the gas from almost the very first page and never lets up as Raphie and Griff try to outrun and outwit assassins that are out to kill Raphie. Raphie and Griff are instantly attracted to each other and ever-present threat and non-stop adrenaline amp that up until the chemistry overwhelms them and they give in to their attraction. But it’s not just sex; these two fall in love, hard and fast, and yet in an enduring way, despite their age difference, despite their different stations in life (royal/non-royal), and despite that it’s forbidden for a bodyguard to fall for the protectee.
The story is further layered with a message about accepting who you are and standing up for yourself even in the face of adversity. The literal representation of this is shown in how Raphie defends himself against his assailants and how he puts himself in jeopardy at the end of the story to take the stand he needs to in order to ensure his own lasting safety, but also to be able to live out and proud as non-binary and in love with an older man who is not royalty. The more subtle representation of that message is in all the smaller, but critically important details like Raphie’s choice of pronouns, his clothing preferences, and of course Raphie’s hair, which is a fundamental aspect of his identity not just because he’s been growing it all his life, but because it allows him to express himself notwithstanding any gender or societal norms.
This is a well-written story and the author did a great job giving dimension to Raphie’s character. Griff, not so much. It seems like there is a back story there that we were never made privy to, and his character isn’t given a whole lot of depth. Personally, I feel the chemistry between Raphie and Griff is weak, maybe because I couldn’t get a solid grasp on Griff’s character. Raphie’s personality is so vibrant, real and endearing, he is a mismatch for Griff on paper and the story didn’t sufficiently develop how that disparity doesn’t prove true. The plot is interesting and engaging, though, with a comedic edge to it, despite some turn of events that really weren’t plausible given the circumstances. There were times I felt like the plot and characters in this story were a cross between The Bourne Identity and Home Alone – a definitely odd hybrid that I’m not entirely convinced was successful.
This book is long so it’s definitely not a quick read, but, overall, it is enjoyable and the underlying positive message will leave you feeling fulfilled in principle, even if not so much by the romance itself.
RATING: 
BUY LINK: