The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

Katherine Center's The Bodyguard is “My perfect 10 of a book. As funny and sweet as all the very best nineties rom-coms, but with Center’s signature heart-tugging depth. I wish I could erase it from my mind just to read it again for the first time. A shot of pure joy.”—Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book Lovers

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.

“Great rollicking fun! Prepare to laugh and swoon and grin your pants off.”—Helen Hoang, New York Times bestselling author of The Heart Principle

"Absolutely, unequivocally delightful!"—Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wish You Were Here

Am I going soft or slowly becoming a romcom fan? We’ll revisit this another day but here today I loved the The Bodyguard. Right out of the gate Hannah Brooks is a stellar protag that’s hilarious to read. I tend to be critical of romance novels as I often have problems with tone and the internal character voice being gratingly overdramatic, but The Bodyguard had me constantly chuckling and smiling. Hannah is still overdramatic but her self-awareness of how dumb she’s acting coupled with snappy humor keeps things fresh and engaging. The first half reminded me of a hypothetical modern cross between Miss Congeniality and the Proposal (the fish out of water tale of competent and professional woman and the fake dating for family tropes). And that alone would make it a fun yet cliched read.

What really sold me on this book is the perfect balance between the focal romance between Hannah and Jack and the overarching plot of the personal protection service and threats made against Jack’s life. I often find romance novels have an uneven emphasis between the two parts or ping pong back and forth abruptly, however this one effortlessly incorporates both. The personal protection bodyguard service is not just an excuse to pair off two seemingly opposite individuals, Katherine Center constantly applies Hannah’s background into her character’s ethos and didn’t disappoint me in providing her a glorious moment to shine and show off her action chops in the book’s final sequence (all while providing a great laugh). I also love that although Hannah is utterly heartbroken and in pieces, she’s the one doing the actual saving and protecting in a gender-reversal swap (independent and strong female characters, we love it!). Hannah’s coworkers and team also provide a lot of great banter and dialogue, I would be content reading a standalone spinoff with just them, their work and office hijinks. On the flipside there’s some nice applications of Jack’s acting career as well, though some of them moments are not utilized quite as effectively as Hannah’s.

If I have to fault this book anywhere, it’s probably the conflict and tension between Jack and his brother Hank feels a bit forced and the arguementive dialoged contrived. Not everything can be rosy and merry in this otherwise breezy read but compared to how well developed the other characters and plot threads are, this one feels like the weak link.

In the end though, this was such a entertaining and fun read. While it’s obvious that things will always work out on the Stapleton’s family ranch, there are some clever plot twists that keep things interesting if you’re someone like me who can get bored of straight romance. It’s all light-hearted but the threats and development around (and on) Jack’s life were surprising and there’s good character development all-round. And really that’s probably what a rom-com books needs to do to win over this Glenn-like reader (Glenn, the true hero and villain of this book), just be solid all-around and well-done.