The Bodyguard | Katherine Center
July 19, 2022 | St. Martin's Press
Source: Library
Author: Website
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 comes 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, like a jerk, 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.
I will be honest and admit that I had no interest in reading this book. I liked the premise, but there was no pull in me to read it. That is until I decided that I wanted to accomplish as many of the Kindle Challenges as possible. Essentially, there are 15 goals to reach for in a certain amount of time (usually 3 month durations) and all are through the Kindle app. Anyways, one of the goals was to read a Best Books of 2022 pick and this one just happened to be available through my library. So, fate decided that I would read this book.
Y'all, I couldn't put this book down. I read this in two sittings because I became so invested in the characters and the story and the romance. No, it's not the best romance I've read, but this is one of the first books in a long, long time that's taken all of my focus. I fell in love with Hannah and Jack and the entire concept of this bodyguard situation. It wasn't a concept I'd read about before, and I loved the stakes it created in the relationship.
Hannah's voice was so sharp and quippy and funny. It was a lot of fun to read about the antics in her life and how she was managing such a stressful job at all time. There were parts of her character that I wasn't the biggest fan of--I'll talk about that later--but I also related to her. I'm relatively good at handling rough situations, as long as it's not too personal. So, I understood her wanting to escape from her daily life, and when that wasn't an option, to simply make herself so busy she didn't have to think about the rough moments.
I want to say that I did want more from Jack. He was doing his best to handle a complicated family situation and an even more devastating family experience, and I wanted nothing but the best for him and his family. And while the resolution of his complicated family situation was one that I liked, it almost felt too perfect for me. But sometimes a nice and clean ending is what a story needs.
All that said I wish that the women in this book who were not Hannah were written better. From Jack's ex-girlfriend to Hannah's ex-best friend, I wish the women were not so cookie cutter stereotypes. Removing the stereotypes would've added such a great layer to who Hannah is as a person and that's my biggest gripe with this book.
In the end I read The Bodyguard in record time, and I enjoyed every minute of it. It's funny and heartfelt and I genuinely loved the relationship between Jack and Hannah. There were certain choices near the end of the book that would've annoyed me, but I choose to let it go.
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