SUMMARY
She’s got his back.
Hannah Brooks looks more like a kindergarten teacher than somebody who could kill you with a wine bottle opener. Or a ballpoint pen. Or a dinner napkin. But the truth is, she’s an Executive Protection Agent (aka “bodyguard”), and she just got hired to protect superstar actor Jack Stapleton from his middle-aged, corgi-breeding stalker.
He’s got her heart.
Jack Stapleton’s a household name—captured by paparazzi on beaches the world over, famous for, among other things, rising out of the waves in all manner of clingy board shorts and glistening like a Roman deity. But a few years back, in the wake of a family tragedy, he dropped from the public eye and went off the grid.
They’ve got a secret.
When Jack’s mom gets sick, he goes home to the family’s Texas ranch to help out. Only one catch: He doesn’t want his family to know about his stalker. Or the bodyguard thing. And so Hannah—against her will and her better judgment—finds herself pretending to be Jack’s girlfriend as a cover. Even though her ex, says no one will believe it.
What could possibly go wrong?
Hannah hardly believes it, herself. But the more time she spends with Jack, the more real it all starts to seem. And there lies the heartbreak. Because it’s easy for Hannah to protect Jack. But protecting her own, long-neglected heart? That’s the hardest thing she’s ever done.
Image and summary from Goodreads.
REVIEW
The Bodyguard was my second book by Katherine Center and one of the main reasons I picked it up now was because it’s being adapted into a movie later this year. I always enjoy reading the book before watching the screen adaptation, so it felt like the perfect time to finally see what all the hype was about.
Going into this, I was honestly expecting to love it. Fake dating and forced proximity are two of my favourite romance tropes and they’re usually enough to pull me into a story almost immediately. Unfortunately while I enjoyed parts of the book, it just never fully clicked with me.
One of the things I did like was the role reversal of having Hannah as the professional bodyguard. It’s not something you see very often in romance and it immediately made the premise stand out. Watching her protect Jack while trying to convince everyone she was actually his girlfriend created plenty of entertaining moments and I appreciated that the story leaned into the humour without making Hannah’s job feel like a gimmick. She was competent, capable and more than able to handle herself, which I really admired.
Jack was also easy enough to like. Underneath his Hollywood celebrity status, he was surprisingly down to earth, thoughtful and genuinely kind. I enjoyed the quieter moments where you got to see beyond the public persona and understand the pressures that came with his career.
The problem wasn’t really the characters themselves, it was my connection to them.
I liked both Hannah and Jack individually, but I never became emotionally invested in their relationship. I kept waiting for that moment where I’d completely buy into their chemistry, where I’d be desperate for them to end up together, but it never quite happened. Their romance felt sweet but it also felt predictable and I found myself guessing most of the major story beats well before they happened.
Normally, fake dating and forced proximity are a winning combination for me because they naturally create so much tension and slow burn chemistry. Here though, I felt like those tropes played out in fairly familiar ways. There wasn’t anything particularly wrong with the execution, it just didn’t surprise me. I wanted a little more emotional depth or a few unexpected twists to make the romance stand out.
That said, I completely understand why so many readers adore this book. Katherine Center has a very approachable writing style that’s easy to read and the story has plenty of charm. It balances romance, humour, family dynamics and personal growth in a way that I think will work wonderfully for a lot of readers. Unfortunately, I just wasn’t one of them.
Overall, The Bodyguard was an enjoyable enough read, but it wasn’t a memorable one for me. I finished it quickly, appreciated the unique bodyguard premise and liked both Hannah and Jack, but I never formed the emotional connection I was hoping for. Even though this one didn’t completely mesh with me, I’m still curious to see how the movie adapts the story and I’ll definitely be interested to compare the two once it’s released.
-Rachelle
I’m on Instagram at @rachellesbookshelf
