[Lisa’s Review]: Up Close and Personal by Kathryn Freeman

Sizzling chemistry, a page-turning will they/won’t they romance and the hottest twist on one of your favourite movies…

British actor Zac Edwards is the latest heartthrob to hit the red carpets. Hot, talented and rich, he sends women wild…all except one.

Close protection officer Kat Parker hasn’t got time to play celebrity games. She has one job: to protect Zac from the stalker that seems to be dogging his every move.

Zac might get her hot under her very starched collar, but Kat’s a professional – and sleeping with Zac is no way part of her remit…

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Here’s the thing: on a superficial level, Up Close and Personal is a sweet, entertaining, gender-swapped version of “The Bodyguard”. The plot is interesting enough even if predictable, and the characters are charming.

What made me request this book is obviously the non-traditional distribution of roles. I’ve read my fair share of bodyguard romances and never once was the bodyguard female and the client male. YAY! The initial chapters were fun to read; Zac and Kat immediately started the playful banter and teasing, promising the world for their future relationship. Unfortunately, the following chapters did not make good on said promise.

While I liked them both as individual characters, and I thought they were a decent match, their relationship simply didn’t do it for me. As I said, I enjoyed the beginning and the apparent physical attraction they had for each other. However, as things further developed, the relationship felt superficial, and the emotional depth I had hoped for wasn’t there. The emotions weren’t enough for me to back up their intense physical relationship, even if the corresponding reactions were there. For me, the balance of physical and emotional is crucial in romance novels, and to me, it simply felt like the scale was clearly tipped in one direction.

Whereas Kat’s background was decently developed and is quite intriguing, Zacs history felt a bit underdeveloped to me. The repercussions of his past are nicely weaved into this character; still, the story behind said circumstances, which are eventually relevant to the plot, could have been more detailed. Then there’s the conclusion of the overall storyline, which happened far too quickly for my taste, felt rushed and incomplete, and lacked a bit of drama and mystery. I knew exactly what was going to happen, how it would play out, and what would come afterward.

All in all, it was a nice, and quick read, but it’s not something I’d re-read or necessarily recommend to someone looking for passionate romance. Additional minus points for the cover because the people on there look nothing like the characters. WTF?! If the female bodyguard storyline sounds interesting to you, though, give it a try. Maybe it works better for you than it did for me.

!Spoiler-alert for Richard Madden’s and Keely Howes’ the Bodyguard!

Lisa

Hi! I’m Lisa. I’m twenty-three, a college student and a book lover. I spend every free minute, and most of my lectures, reading all kinds of books, which is how I ended up here. While I particularly enjoy books of the young and new adult variety, I also love historical fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal, all things romance, and one or the other classic as well. If I’m not reading, I’m either working, sleeping, binge-watching my newest obsession on Netflix, or on my way to Starbucks, to satisfy my slight caffeine addiction.