This is my first Katherine Center book, and it won’t be my last. It’s a light-hearted, clean rom-com which combines the fake-dating trope with going undercover. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the gifted e-copy. Look out for this one on July 19th.
Here’s the premise: Hannah Brooks is an Executive Protection Agent (pretty much a bodyguard), but she looks more like a sweet elementary school teacher than a burly club bouncer. When she gets hired to follow famous movie-star Jack Stapleton home to his family’s Texas ranch, protecting him from his middle-aged stalker, she thinks it’ll be just another job. But with Jack’s mother battling a cancer diagnosis, Jack doesn’t want to worry his mom with the whole bodyguard thing, so Hannah agrees, against her better judgement, to pretend to be Jack’s girlfriend.
At first she wonders if they can pull it off. After all, who would ever believe that Hannah—a pantsuit-loving, makeup-avoiding, no-nonsense agent—would be dating someone like Jack Stapleton? But the more she gets to know Jack and his family, the more real the whole thing seems to be. She can’t help but wonder: is Jack really that good an actor? And although Hannah’s great at protecting Jack, can she protect herself from heartbreak?
My thoughts: I’ve always liked the movie Miss Congeniality, and this book definitely gave off those kinds of vibes with the undercover thing. It was funny and swoon-y without being shallow or fluffy—it covers themes with substance, like when you don’t believe you’re worthy of love, not settling for sub-par relationships just so you won’t be alone, and not trying to escape your life but embracing it to the full. A great summer read.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Photo by: Amy Humphries
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