GOOD GIRLS DIE BORED

4 stars out of 5

Juno Hardwick is a difficult character to love (heck, make that a hard one to just like). She’s a hard-nosed military veteran who’s seen – and probably participated in – it all. Now, she’s working as a sort of bouncer in a Southern California bikini bar, often getting herself in trouble for bouncing the customers she’s charged with bouncing off the wall a little too hard. She’s trying to save up enough money to get out on her own, but that’s not likely to happen anytime soon. Meanwhile, she’s also the caretaker for her tech-savvy sister Cassie, whose bipolar disorder gives her far more bad days than good.

In the midst of a rather nasty encounter with a suspicious character, she runs into Min-jung Eckland, a good friend she met during their combat years. Min now operates her own boutique security firm with another of her friends, Gabe Haddad. But she’s in this bar, at this time, to hire Juno to help protect Maelle Ruiz, a so-called investigative journalist – and a person Juno detests based on past interactions. The woman will need protection, Min says, for a three-day convention-style event.

Security in a situation like that wouldn’t be easy under any circumstances, but the fact that Gabe and Min are fighting and the business is in danger of shutting down adds even more unwanted details to the job, at least as far as Juno is concerned. An even more unwelcome detail is that Juno also is expected to partner up with another security guard named Ethan, a guy with whom Juno once had a relationship that didn’t exactly end well.

The story follows the team’s efforts to protect a journalist who’s burned more than one bridge during her career – all the while dealing with security leaks that increasingly seem to be coming from inside their circle of co-workers, family and friends. No one, it seems, can be fully trusted, but who, really, is the culprit and what, exactly, is he or she trying to accomplish? More to the point, who are they really after? Clearly, Juno must find the answers to those questions soon – or she may not live to get them at all.

Overall, the story held my attention and captured my interest, though as I hinted early on, the main character – and for that matter, most of the others – aren’t very likable. It’s a good bet for a summer beach read (or maybe a winter-by-the-fireplace), and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to get to know a new-to-me author.

Good Girls Die Bored by Elizabeth Little (Bantam, August 2026); 448 pp.