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caro_shelves's review
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book was a delightful read. Hannah's tendency to work too hard was relatable, and the gradual development of her relationship with Jack was a pleasure to follow. Although the fake-dating trope can be cheesy, the scenario of a bodyguard protecting a movie star from a difficult superfan made it believable. I loved seeing the growth of both Hannah and Jack as individuals and as a couple. Overall, it was a heartwarming and satisfying book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Car accident, Infidelity, and Cancer
Minor: Blood and Gun violence
marpaige's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Car accident
Moderate: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
bowedbookshelves's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Car accident, Death, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Medical content, Death of parent, Medical trauma, and Alcoholism
embelle's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This was my first Katherine Center book, and I enjoyed it! It’s a really fun, sometimes cheesy, and other times deep and reflective, rom-com that flips the traditional bodyguard/celebrity romance. I found myself reading this book really quickly and wanting to know what would happen to the characters, and I appreciated how the lighthearted romance was complimented by discussions about deeper thoughts, insecurities and reflections. Overall, I had a great time with this book and am looking forward to discussing it at my next book club meeting!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death of parent, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Mental illness, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Blood, Car accident, Terminal illness, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Infidelity
thebowandthebook's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Fun light read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking
Moderate: Infidelity and Sexual content
madanxiety's review against another edition
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.
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
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Cancer, Gun violence, Car accident, Toxic relationship, and Sexism
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism
winterdelight's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
23/6/2023 edit: was going through my annotations and i remember how much i got enjoyment from my overall reading experience. so I just had to bump my rating to 4.75 ✨
~~
“...Despite all my rules, that memory just shared itself. I wasn’t a sharer. I didn’t even share things with nonclients. Especially not painful things. But I suddenly understood why people did it. It felt like relief. It felt like dipping your feet in cool water on a hot day.”
Wow. It has been so long since I stayed so late reading a book. Like until 8am lmao
And now I'm running on 6 hours sleep 🥲
I was a bit worried at the first when I started it because I was finding it a little bit hard to engage with the story (my head is full of images of my beloved Nine that when the author described Jack Stapleton having "shaggy hair" and then grinning, I immediately thought of Nine my way to). Thankfully the writing and MC's POV was easy to digest and pretty funny (which is slightly similar to how Rick Riordan wrote PJO/Percy's sarcasm wit). That immersed me quickly to the detriment of my sleeping hours, that is lol.
The last arc conflict felt anticlimactic that's why I took off a few stars from my rating.
4.25 ✨
~~
“...Despite all my rules, that memory just shared itself. I wasn’t a sharer. I didn’t even share things with nonclients. Especially not painful things. But I suddenly understood why people did it. It felt like relief. It felt like dipping your feet in cool water on a hot day.”
Wow. It has been so long since I stayed so late reading a book. Like until 8am lmao
And now I'm running on 6 hours sleep 🥲
I was a bit worried at the first when I started it because I was finding it a little bit hard to engage with the story (my head is full of images of my beloved Nine that when the author described Jack Stapleton having "shaggy hair" and then grinning, I immediately thought of Nine my way to). Thankfully the writing and MC's POV was easy to digest and pretty funny (which is slightly similar to how Rick Riordan wrote PJO/Percy's sarcasm wit). That immersed me quickly to the detriment of my sleeping hours, that is lol.
The last arc conflict felt anticlimactic that's why I took off a few stars from my rating.
4.25 ✨
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Infidelity
laheath's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
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
4.0
When his mother is diagnosed with cancer, celebrity Jack Stapleton goes home to his family's Texas ranch. His studio hires security to protect him from a stalker and while most of the team works remotely, Hannah will stay with him 24/7. So as not to worry his mother and cause her undue stress during her treatment, Jack tells his family that Hannah is his girlfriend. Of course, his family loves Hannah and vice versa. The relationship between Jack and his brother is strained due to a tragedy years ago and Hannah helps Jack deal with that. What I didn't like was Hannah's lack of self-esteem, especially considering her career. Yes, there are plenty of details given about her childhood and previous relationships that had a negative impact on her, and she then ends up in the situation of comparing herself to celebrity girlfriends. She also has to deal with a couple of characters who are just downright mean and insulting, but still she does not stand up for herself in most of these situations. I liked the epilogue and I appreciate the author's note as so often this is not included in audiobooks.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Cancer, Death, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, and Car accident
Minor: Gun violence
theespressoedition's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Bullying
Moderate: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Infidelity
Minor: Sexual content
kimveach's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
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
4.0
Cute and funny
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Car accident, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Cancer, Infidelity, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Death, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts