Well, I did it. I read a romance novel and completed it! This prompt from the TBR Jar did not defeat me. Another prompt is doing that. Before we dive into this review, please remember that I am not a romance reader. I do not enjoy romance novels, shows or movies. I can tolerate romance being a sub-plot but as the main plot, it just does not interest me. That being said, I think I still entered this with an open mind and gave it a fair rating. With that being said, let me tell you about The Bodyguard.
Summary of The Bodyguard
The Bodyguard is a romance novel written by Katherine Center. We follow Hannah, a woman who works as an Executive Protection Agent, more commonly known as a bodyguard. She’s good at her job, but is what you would call a work-a-holic. Desperately needing an escape after her mother’s funeral and her boyfriend dumps her right after, she is furious when her boss forces her to take time. Instead of letting her go on the next assignment, he sends her best friend Taylor and her now, ex-boyfriend. Yeah, her ex-boyfriend works for the same company. But when the team gets a big contract, it’s up to Hannah to take the lead.
Jack Stapleton
Meet our second main character – world famous actor Jack Stapleton. The actor is known for different roles in different films and makes women swoon at the sight of him…essentially. He’s back in Texas to visit his mom, who is getting surgery to help her beat a sickness. Unfortunately, Jack has a stalker and needs a bodyguard to keep him safe while he’s here. In comes Hannah. She thinks it’s just a standard job, just with a really attractive celebrity that she has fan-girled over in his movies. But, he makes things complicated when he says he wants it kept secret – and wants her to pretend to be his girlfriend!
The Story
Now Hannah has to remember how to do her job, keep her cover, and not fall for Jack. What’s the worst that could happen? It’s still a simple job – until Jack’s mom invites them to stay on the ranch until Thanksgiving. With a past family trauma, the Stapleton family has to learn to heal. And Hannah gets swept up in the moment while trying to keep her mind focused on her job so she can get the promotion that was dangled in front of her.
The Bodyguard Positives
This book had a few very lovable side characters. Doc and Connie Stapleton, Jack’s parents, were absolutely wonderful. They were an adorable old married couple and Connie just wanted her family to heal. And she wasn’t above using her illness to manipulate them into doing what she wanted. Kelly, one of Hannah’s co-workers, was absolutely hilarious. She was not afraid to be herself, even at work. Whenever she was in the scene, I usually got a good chuckle because of her. There were moments that made me smile or chuckle, but usually when these characters were involved.
The Bodyguard Negatives
The only thing I did not predict in this book, I felt like it was thrown in, out of left field. There was a vague mention of it and then when this specific scene arrived I was like, What the heck? Other than a small moment here and there, the two main characters were not enjoyable. I will say Jack had more enjoyable moments than Hannah. I wanted to strangle her so many times. The last thing I’ll say is probably more because it was a romance, not an action book. But there were almost no bodyguard moments in this book. Again, probably a genre thing.
Final Thoughts and Rating
I will say it was an easy book to fly through, and easy to consume. There was not a lot of complexity to it. I didn’t feel like it was slog the whole way through, but I also wasn’t necessarily eager to pick it back up right away either. My motivation is I wanted to get it done so I could return it and say I completed a prompt. So, because it was just a meh book to me, I’ll give The Bodyguard a 3 star rating. Do I want to pick up another Katherine Center book? No. My mind has not been changed regarding romance books. Maybe I’ll look into a romance fantasy style or romantasy novel. But I’m still on the fence about that because I hear most of those are spicy. And I don’t want to read a bunch of smut.
Running Out of Time
I can’t believe there is just a little over a week left in May! I only finished 2 books from the TBR Jar! Granted, I did choose Monte Cristo as one of those reads, and that is a mission in itself. However, with my 75 Booked challenge, I will say that I am getting a lot more reading done. Hopefully I can get a 3rd book finished before June 1st. As much as I wanted this to be the month, it definitely got away from me. But we will see what happens.
Improving Each Month
I do seem to be improving though. The first month I did the TBR Jar I read 1 book. Then I read 2 books. And if I’m lucky, this month will be 3. You’ve probably wondered what I decided to do with my past picks. The ones I did not get to are sitting to the side, waiting for me to get through my monthly picks and pick them up. I will get to them, I just don’t know when. And, if the year goes by and there are any left, I will put them back on the shelf for a second try next year. But, there are some things happening that make me think I’ll get a lot of reading done this summer. Until then just remember that anything can happen if we try.
