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Hannah Brooks’ job is her life. She’s an executive protection agent (OK, sure, bodyguard), and she’s excellent at what she does. Yes, she’s only 5-foot-5, but she blends in and no one expects her to be a bodyguard. Her job is to research, investigate and anticipate any dangers. When her mother dies, her boss expects her to take time off; her mother’s dying wish was that she take a vacation. Neither of those expectations makes any sense to Hannah.
She’s eager to get back to Korea for a job, or to be assigned to Nigeria or Colombia. But her new job not only leaves her at home in Houston, it also makes her protect the very hot and very famous actor Jack Stapleton. The icing on this proverbial (un-tasty) cake: Jack wants her to pretend to be his girlfriend. None of these propositions appeal to Hannah.
Jack is back in Houston, where he grew up, because his mom has cancer. He doesn’t want his mom to know that he has a stalker or that his “people” are insisting on a bodyguard. He’s been out of the spotlight for a few years since his younger brother died. He doesn’t want anyone to know he’s in Houston, and Hannah and her team would like to keep it that way as long as possible.
Now, Jack and Hannah are thrown together every day, and the unusual nature of this job has Hannah a bit off her game. She’s wearing cute girlfriend clothes, and Jack is not just handsome and fit but … nice. And he’s insisting on talking to her even when they’re not in view of his family. Getting to know him is leading to her getting to like him, and not only is that bad for her job, but it’s hard to tell reality from the pretend relationship. Because there’s no way movie star Jack Stapleton could like average, normal Hannah Brooks, right?
The Bodyguard is so cute. It’s a perfect escape read, with likable characters who do and say adorable things. Hannah has had to take care of herself for most of her life; she’s not had much in the way of real love for a long time. She’s in her head all the time and a hard nut to crack. Jack is a handsome star who has a great personality and a sweet and loving family. Putting these two together and seeing what happens is decidedly entertaining.
Author Katherine Center writes in her Author’s Note that she wanted “as much light as possible” in this romance novel, which she started in the pandemic year of 2020. She says, “I loved being with my main characters so much, I would’ve happily added scene after scene of them teasing each other, accidentally snuggling, and giving each other piggyback rides.” I think we readers would be OK with more than the 300 pages she did give us. And I thank her for making this a good romance book without sex scenes and lots of profanity. A swoony and delightful read, indeed. And not a “guilty” pleasure; just a pleasure.
Rated: Moderate. Profanity includes 4 uses of strong language, about 35 instances of moderate profanity, 45 uses of mild language, and 25 instances of the name of Deity in vain. Sexual content includes kissing and a sex scene that happens “off-screen.” There are also some references to an affair and a character seeing two others having sex on a monitor (without any details). Violence includes the bodyguard character and co-workers talking about ways they can incapacitate others and some scenes of mild action along those lines. A scene involves a person threatening others with a gun, and one person getting a mild grazing injury from a bullet.
