Review - - The Bodyguard Affair

The Bodyguard Affair

by Amy Lea

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: December 2, 2025

Reviewed by Hellie

 

Andi Zeigler lives a double life. By day, she’s the no-nonsense, steadfast personal assistant to the Prime Minister of Canada’s wife. By night, she slips out of her heels and writes romance novels under a top-secret pen name. But when her steamiest book, The Prime Minister & Me, unexpectedly becomes a bestseller, rumors of a real-life affair between her and the PM start swirling out of control.

Enter Nolan Crosby, the PM’s new close protection officer (aka bodyguard) – and Andi’s failed one-night stand from three years ago. Nolan’s in town very temporarily to care for his mother, who’s battling early-onset Alzheimer’s. But when the scandal erupts, Andi ropes him into a fake-dating plan.

As loyal employees, they’ll pretend to date for the summer, just long enough to put the scandal to bed and save their boss’s reputation. In an unexpected plot twist, Andi and Nolan discover that keeping their romance strictly fictional might be easier said than done.

Hellie’s Heeds

Thank Goodness for Winter break because this was just the book I needed for my travels and it was all the things I adore about a “vacation book.” The book goes back and forth between the two main characters (in a first person writing, which allows a deeper POV for readers to connect to the characters immediately.) Rom com humor can be a bit subjective for readers, but I adore Amy Lea’s style of absurd humor (the “meet cute” happens when the hero walks into the bathroom stall as the heroine is using it) is blended with real emotional pulls as the heroine is dealing with a breakup, only to learn her best friend now wants to date her ex. And in fact, the ex had wanted to date her friend the whole time–their relationship had been a mistake. Seriously, dude? I just…related with this heroine so hard with her need to keep this friendship and to put aside her needs and reactions in order to please everyone else. But her character arc isn’t even the bigger one! The hero’s struggle with his complicated relationship with his mother and her new diagnosis of Alzheimer's just kicks the reader in the chest as you wonder how is this author going to make a positive resolution to this story.

Amy Lea does what I feel is an awesome thing with her “one night stand” scene. (I feel having sex so early in the story can deaden the sexual tension, which is why I love to read romance, so it can be a chancy thing to have the sex too early in my opinion.) It’s a one-night stand that doesn’t connect at a physical level, but instead connects at the emotional level, providing each character with something they need at this point of their lives before they part ways in the morning. Therefore when they meet again a few years later, the heroine, Andi, has been outed as a romance author who wrote a book called The Prime Minister & Me, when she is an assistant to the Prime Minister’s wife–and it seems the obvious choice she forges a fake dating relationship with her former one-night stand, now the PM’s bodyguard, to deflect the scandal. 

Their “summer of love” is filled with the easy connection they had experienced when they met three years ago and it deepens into an even better friendship, but also, oh, the sexual tension! Neither seems to want to ruin things with sex, especially Nolan, who knows he’s leaving at the end of summer. However, they finally come to their senses–and oh, the scenes are steamy. So worth the wait. Even better, the heroine starts writing again–and with the new popularity of her scandal-producing book–this couldn’t be timelier. The character arc for Andi had exactly the elements needed to make her the more confident, “I’m worthy” character in the end, but it was Nolan’s arc that broke me. Oh my God, the dog, people. You have to read this book for the dog. 

I kept reading scenes and dialogue to my husband–and would say, “Does this sound familiar?” because the heroine honestly felt like my doppleganger. Then I would read scenes with the hero, and my husband would sniffle (he’s a notorious Disney crier) and I would be like, “I know! Right?” This book is on my top 5 books I’ve read this year (2025). All the feels. If you haven’t put it in your TBR pile yet, do so. Top Dish all across the board. 

Review - - The Catch

The Catch

by Amy Lea

The Influencer Series - Book 3

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: February 13, 2024

Reviewed by Hellie

 

 

In a last-ditch effort to rescue her brand from the brink of irrelevance, Boston fashion influencer Melanie Karlsen finds herself in a rural fishing village on the east coast of Canada. The only thing scarier than nature itself? The burly and bearded bed-and-breakfast owner and fisherman, Evan Whaler—who single-handedly disproves the theory that Canadians are “nice.”

After a boating accident lands Evan unconscious in the hospital, Mel is mistaken for his fiancée by his welcoming yet quirky family, who are embroiled in a long-standing feud over the B&B. In a bold attempt to mend family fences, Mel agrees to fake their engagement for one week in exchange for Evan’s help with her social media content.

Amid long hikes and campfire chats, reeling in their budding feelings for each other proves more difficult by the day. But is Mel willing to sacrifice her picture-perfect life in the city for a chance at a true, unfiltered love in the wild?

Hellie’s Heeds:

I’ll be honest–I read this for the fisherman. Mel’s profession is such that I was like, “Ugh, so she’s basically a Kardashian?” and I almost passed up this gem. However, I have to commend Amy Lea for creating a character so likable and even relatable that I was on Team Amy by the end of the third chapter. Evan is a delightfully grumpy fisherman–but oh, so much more. It could be that I too adore a great plaid flannel shirt and that I don’t understand the allure of multiple steps for makeup and serums to create the “perfect flawless look.” I mean, sure, yes, people who do all those steps do have a very flawless pretty look–but at what cost? 

This premise was basically a premise of the famous rom-coms, While You Were Sleeping and The Proposal–taking the best of both worlds (i.e. Sandra Bullock, most beloved heroine of all time; and Betty White, most beloved mamaw of all time) and adding laugh-out-loud scenarios like The Time Evan Took Mel on a Boat and She Nearly Drowned Him and also, What Not to Do When Peeing in the Woods. There is lots of laughter and also lots of poignant and thoughtful moments that really humanize both Evan and Mel–they feel like your besties that you hope will work out in the end. 

I also live for a heart-tugging Black Moment for our characters–and it was there in spades–but also, oh, the Make Up (Grovel) scene! This was just a very satisfying story that hit all its beats that felt true to the characters and the stories. Please add it to your reading list–I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.