https://celebrityreaders.com/2021/09/02/safeguard-by-stephanie-rose/

I received a free copy through Heart Eyes Press in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

4 stars — In some ways this book was really easy to read. There wasn’t a lot of conflict, just bits here and there. It was kind of nice to get a lot of happy getting together time. They resisted and resisted because of their pasts, but once they gave in I really enjoyed seeing them enjoying one another and supporting one another.

I think I had a hard time understanding just how damaged Melanie was from both the dumping and I think from the expectations from her parents. Not to mention her struggle with self-confidence/self-worth. The thing is that she was already making inroads on her self-worth journey, and so I didn’t get to *see* it as much. I appreciated her desire for independence and making sure she was putting herself first (or at least equally important)…but it got a bit frustrating at times…like something was missing for me to *really* understand her hangups.

Despite all that, she was infinitely likable. She was kind, caring, sassy. I loved that you could feel how much she genuinely liked children, and wanted to work with them. And seeing her make such a connection with Lauren just had my heart melting.

Similarly for Matteo, I didn’t quite always understand his hangups and damage from Callie. Like, I got it a bit, and I really appreciated the way Melanie forced him to really deal with his damage at the end, but I still had a slight disconnect.

And yet again, despite all that, I LOVED him. He was also kind, caring, and sassy.