Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Bodyguard

Cute little rom com I finally picked up after seeing the hype lol. I’m glad the fmc didn’t allow those toxic people back into her life and was able to find the family she always wanted during a time of healing.

Content Warnings

allisonk9's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny hopeful mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

jillwedemeier's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Another 5-star read from my queen, Katherine Center!

Read this book if you like:

🌼Fake dating

🌼Forced proximity

🌼One bed

🌼Celebrity romance

🌼Forbidden romance

The Bodyguard is the story of Hannah Brooks, an Executive Protection Agent (A.K.A. a bodyguard) who has been assigned to protect famous movie star Jack Stapleton from a crazy, corgi-breeding stalker. Because Jack’s mother is sick, he insists on keeping his stalker—and bodyguard—a secret. Hannah agrees to pretend to be Jack’s girlfriend while visiting the Stapleton family ranch in Texas. But when the stalker leaves a threatening letter, hand-knit sweater, and nudes on his doorstep, the danger becomes all too real.

This book was so incredibly heartwarming and just downright funny. The humor and banter had me laughing out loud. Once again, Katherine Center has written a masterpiece. It is just a perfect romantic comedy!

Content Warnings

kdscolley's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Jack and Hannah are client and "protective agent" respectively, but this story is so much more than that. Jack's struggle with grief and spotlight are so well executed. Hannah is fresh off a breakup from a year long relationship with...her co-worker. The way he speaks to and about her was horrible, so watching her find herself again was amazing. What a fun mix of "mystery" and romance.

Content Warnings

madanxiety's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous hopeful mysterious

3.25

Overall a sweet novel. There were a couple things I didn't like.

Firstly, Kennedy Monroe's character was so flat in such a cliché way, it was disappointing. It's just so uninteresting when women are pitted against each other in this way. She was just ridiculously vapid, and the closest we get to seeing any depth in her is a brief comment form Jack about how she's super insecure. The stalker/attempted murderer had more depth than her! I suppose he's a more significant character, but I still don't think there's much justification for such lazy writing. It's the bimbo vs. the pick me; have we not, by the 2020s, evolved beyond that? Have we not determined that actually, the real women that exist who like attention and are conventionally attractive, are still multifaceted people with histories and interests like anyone else? I can tolerate tropes like fake dating that simply move the plot forward, but I cannot tolerate tropes that work solely to demonize women.

The second thing I didn't like all that much was the twist at the end. This isn't a major gripe tho. I was just so caught off guard because it seemed to so clearly be a nightmare that would never end, which seemed logical because Jack struggled with nightmares, and I was like oh he'll be able to return the favor and comfort her. Like when she was walking back to the car and it took a million years, that seemed to obviously signal to how slow you are in your dreams. I think I wouldn't have minded the twist too much if it had been revealed a little sooner. Because by the time she was watching the footage (which is when I finally became convinced it wasn't a dream - probably later than most, I'll admit lol), I had to replay the whole last like 30m I feel like lol bc I'd spent most of it impatiently grumbling, waiting for the supposed dream sequence to end already. Am I an idiot for this lol? Maybe, but it was a little too Twlight Breaking Dawn for me.

I also wished there'd been a little more romance between Hannah and Jack. We only really got two scenes of them together communicating/acting in their feelings. Obviously the whole book was them like developing the feelings, and that in itself isrl romance, but I'd have liked if they got more time actually together. Which is funny bc I saw a similar comment under a different book I recently read and thought they were crazy. So it's probably a to each their own kind of situation.

I know this has been a mostly critical review, but I really didn't hate the book. The style of narration was interesting; it reminded me of voice-over narrators in film and TV, both humorous and personal. I think it's just one of those books you can breeze through quickly, needing to know the resolution, but that won't really stick with you all that much.

Content Warnings

More...