Center delivers another satisfying, romantic read with a swoonworthy hero and a delightful main character.
When a professional bodyguard is assigned to cover a famously reclusive actor, sparks fly.
Hannah Brooks is an Executive Protection Agent, better known as a bodyguard. Although many people picture bodyguards as big, burly men, Hannah stays undercover and unnoticed as a 5-foot-5 female agent, often blending in as a nanny. And although Hannah could easily incapacitate or even kill a threat, her job is to “anticipate harm before it ever materializes—and avoid it.” She spends most of her work time traveling the world, which is just how she likes it—that is, until her mother dies, her boss makes her take some time off, and her fellow agent boyfriend dumps her. Now she’s stuck at home in Houston, grieving and lonely, wishing for a job that could take her far away. So when her boss assigns her to an actor who’s visiting his ailing mother in nearby Katy, Hannah’s not interested. Sure, Jack Stapleton is one of the sexiest men alive, but he’s not even sure he needs a bodyguard despite having a very persistent stalker. But Hannah’s boss has no intention of letting her off the hook, so she ends up protecting Jack as he stays with his family on their ranch. Jack hasn’t been in the public eye since his brother died a few years ago, preferring to hide out in the remote mountains of North Dakota instead of making blockbuster films. Now that he’s back in Texas, he doesn’t want his mother to know he has protection, fearing the stress might adversely affect her treatment, so he convinces Hannah to pose as his girlfriend. As Hannah gets to know Jack and his family, she realizes that there’s more to him than she thought—but how much of their connection is real, and how much of it is acting? Center brings her signature warmth and wit to this movie-ready premise, blending a heartwarming romance with quirky side characters and even a little bit of action. Hannah, who worries that she’s inherently unlovable after getting dumped, is an endearing and vulnerable lead underneath her serious, tough-girl exterior.
Center delivers another satisfying, romantic read with a swoonworthy hero and a delightful main character.Pub Date: July 19, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-2502-1939-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2022
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.
A young woman’s experience as a nurse in Vietnam casts a deep shadow over her life.
When we learn that the farewell party in the opening scene is for Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s older brother—“a golden boy, a wild child who could make the hardest heart soften”—who is leaving to serve in Vietnam in 1966, we feel pretty certain that poor Finley McGrath is marked for death. Still, it’s a surprise when the fateful doorbell rings less than 20 pages later. His death inspires his sister to enlist as an Army nurse, and this turn of events is just the beginning of a roller coaster of a plot that’s impressive and engrossing if at times a bit formulaic. Hannah renders the experiences of the young women who served in Vietnam in all-encompassing detail. The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read, tracking the transformation of virginal, uptight Frankie into a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world. Her tensely platonic romance with a married surgeon ends when his broken, unbreathing body is airlifted out by helicopter; she throws her pent-up passion into a wild affair with a soldier who happens to be her dead brother’s best friend. In the second part of the book, after the war, Frankie seems to experience every possible bad break. A drawback of the story is that none of the secondary characters in her life are fully three-dimensional: Her dismissive, chauvinistic father and tight-lipped, pill-popping mother, her fellow nurses, and her various love interests are more plot devices than people. You’ll wish you could have gone to Vegas and placed a bet on the ending—while it’s against all the odds, you’ll see it coming from a mile away.
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781250178633
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
SEEN & HEARD
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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