This book was fun! It was a little predictable, and a little far fetched at some points, but I loved both Hannah and Jack, so I had a great time reading about them.

I squealed what I saw this ARC in my inbox!!! @katherinecenter is one of my favorite authors!! I read this one in a day (thank you COVID). It gave me vibes from the movie The Proposal and I am here for it!!
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Hannah works for an agency that protects people of importance. Her next assignment is for Jack Stapleton, People’s Sexiest Man Alive and a famous actor. So when she tells Jack she’s going to be following him, he has one problem. His mom was recently diagnosed with cancer and having a bodyguard would make her nervous. So…he has a compromise. She pose as his girlfriend!
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I loved this book so so much!! Jack and Hannah’s relationship was very much a slow burn. And I was rooting for them the entire time! *Grab this one on July 19! Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the ARC in exchange for my review. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

The Bodyguard is a fun, frothy rom-com read that I enjoyed. It was a reversal of the usual trope - famous female movie star guarded by a hunky bodyguard, although the rest of the book is full of the usual rom-com plot lines.. Hannah is the tough-as-nails bodyguard while Jack is the movie star. She's called in to guard him when he visits his Texas family due to his mother's illness, and of course, he convinces her to pretend she's his girlfriend so not to upset anyone.

Hannah has her own insecurities she's facing - thanks to an ex, of course - and Jack struggles with his trust issues. Both are able to overcome them in each other's arms.

Honestly, I did skip through parts of this as both scenes and characters were predictable. If you're looking for a nonthreatening, escapist read about romance, this is for you.

I am a huge fan of all things Katherine Center so I wasn't surprised I loved The Bodyguard. I'm not a huge fan of the Rom-Com covers so at first I didn't realize who the author was. Katherine's books usually have some sort of big tragedy or obstacle the main character is trying to overcome but The Bodyguard was different. The best part is the main characters were both very likeable and it was so funny! So many times I caught myself smiling. Katherine has such a nice flow to her writing I can finish her books in one sitting!
"To what we've held onto.And what we've lost."
Hannah Brooks is a workaholic who spends all her time traveling and protecting her clients. She doesn't have time for fun or leisure activities and she likes it that way. When her mother passes away Hannah is forced to take some time off at work and then reassigned to a new client in Texas, not overseas as she was planning. She needs the escape to drown out her sadness, not to be stuck in her hometown.
The client is a high profile movie star and major heart throb with a weird stalker who knits his face on sweaters and loves corgis. Hannah must get beyond his good looks and charm and focus on her job. You never get involved with a client, never give them any personal information about yourself, and don't let your feelings cloud your judgement. Well very quickly Hannah starts to break her own rules by becoming close to Jack and his family. Are these feelings real or is Jack just acting? Can she let her guard down after she's been hurt? Everything that Hannah has worked so hard for and thought she wanted is on the line, but maybe she wants something different now.

A little disappointing actually - while a cute read, and had Center's normal combination of humor and heart, it felt underwritten to me. Like, it needed something *more.* The romance needed more yearning or slow burn maybe. I just wasn't super invested in their story, because I felt like everything stayed pretty surface level. It feels like it was rushed out, and needed a little longer to marinate.

A sign of a good book to me is one I can read in one sitting and/or stay up late to finish! This one covered both bases. The love story had Katherine Center’s usual charm and unusual setting/premise and the characters were easy to root for.

Katherine Center does it AGAIN! I crushed this in less than 24 hours and I didn’t want it to end. I was hooked from the very beginning and could not put this book down. I encourage you to pre-order this and read all of Center’s other books while you wait!!!

Huge thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Very cute, fast paced RomCom. Could get a bit winded in parts - particularly how Hannah felt about certain events or people - but it all fell together quite well.

I received a complimentary copy of this book "The Bodyguard" and all opinions expressed are my own. The first chapter or so I was not sure about this book. The story quickly picked up and I was looking forward to reading each day to find out what was happening.

I loved this book, probably my favorite Katherine Center book yet! When Hannah gets assigned to Jack Stapleton - I was hooked and needed the love story to unfold. It was unique and so fun. I could definitely see this as a movie or tv show adaption as well.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

I always love Katherine Centers books and The Bodyguard is no exception. The characters are always so well-developed and believable. In The Bodyguard, Hannah Brooks is a trained bodyguard that is tasked with protecting famous actor Jack Stapleton from his crazy stalker. It's the 'pretend girlfriend/boyfriend that moves into something more' trope and I absolutely love it. There are so many outside forces that will try to get in the way of these two being honest and sharing feelings that you don't really know which way it will turn out. This is an excellent, fast read and if you've loved Katherine Centers other books you will absolutely love this one too.

Katherine Center just gets better and better. The romance is perfect, the banter is hilarious, and Jack's parents are adorable. P.S. Did anyone else keep picturing Hannah's boss as J.K. Simmons?

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hannah is the last person you would think of as a bodyguard. Short, slim, and ordinary enough to be a kindergarten teacher, but she can take you down with a dinner napkin or a wine bottle opener. The best part of her job is the travel and she has her heart set om Korea, then London. But first she has to prove herself with a local job in her home state of Texas.
Jack Stapleton, superstar moviestar and voted sexiest man alive, has dropped off the radar the past year after the death of his brother. Now he's on his family's ranch caring for his mother while she undergoes cancer treatment. Jack's stalker, a middle age corgi dog owner and knitter, lives in Houston and has shown up on his doorstep, so his movie studio hires Hannah's security company. But Jack doesn't want his family to know about the threat and that he needs a bodyguard, so Hannah goes undercover as Jack's girlfriend.
Hannah has never been the kind of woman to take a vacation. She lives for the excitement of her job, so she at first tries to refuse the assignment, especially after her ex (who also works with her and is in competition for the London assignment) tells everyone no one would ever believe Hannah is dating a movie star. But weeks of laid back life at the ranch and spending all of her time pretending to be in a relationship has her starting to believe Jack actually has feelings for her. Could this be real or is he really that good of an actor?
I love how down-to-earth Jack is despite his fame. He's struggling with his own problems which only makes him seem more real. Hannah has feelings of self-doubt herself especially after dating Robby, so she believes Jack's affection is all part of the act for his family. I love how Jack thinks describing her as ordinary is a good thing and Hannah took it as an insult! Cute, clean, feel-good rom-com.
I received a complimentary advance reader copy of this book. The views and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center was a delightful escape. It took me a little while to get immersed in this story, but by the end I was hooked. Romance is not my typical genre, but Center’s writing is engaging and enjoyable without being too over the top and predictable. This will no doubt be one of the top beach reads of the summer.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center is a light, page-turner of a novel that had me grinning more than once. Ms Center's writing is easily digestible and almost feels like a guilty pleasure in the best possible way.

Hannah Brooks is an Executive Protection Agent, aka a bodyguard, who puts her job above all else, most notably any fun or frivolity. Being unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend and co-worker, she is less than thrilled that her next job will keep her at home in Houston, when all she wants is to put some distance between herself and her problems. But when it is revealed that she will be protecting gorgeous film star Jack Stapleton, her interest is peaked by the novelty of the assignment, which is unlike any before. As the two spend all of their days and nights together, it seems that Hannah's most difficult challenge will be protecting her own heart.

This is an easy, feel-good read that, while admittedly predictable, will leave you smiling.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC.

The premise sounded promising but the payoff was just not there. The main character was incredibly unlikeable and immature, the pacing was strange and the drama was ridiculous. I get it’s fiction but no!

I wish I had more to say to round out my review but I really disliked it. There is definitely an audience for this book, I’m just not it.

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for an ARC in exchange of an honest review.

I LOVED THIS BOOK! I feel like I need to shout about it so everyone can hear and and fall as deeply in love with this story as I did.

The chemistry between Hannah and Jake poured out of this book. Every stolen glance, every caught breath, every whisper of a touch had me wanting more and more. The strength of Hannah was just incredible. She knew her boyfriend was trash and not only did she move on immediately, she never let him get the better of her. She was confident and charismatic without being a know it all. Jake and his entire family were wonderful. The assention to the conflict was perfectly done. I just loved absolutely everything about it

I've loved Katherine Center's previous books so was super excited to get an advanced copy of this one! This book reads like a Miss Congeniality re-telling - it was a fun rom-com that I could see working as a Netflix movie.

Hannah is a Executive Protective Agent assigned to protect action-star Jack Stapleton from his middle aged, corgi obsessed stalker. There's just one catch- he doesn't want his family to know. So she takes on what might be her toughest assignment yet - playing Jack Stapleton's girlfriend.

This was a really cute story even though it was a bit predictable. While I didn't enjoy it as much as her previous books I would still recommend to anyone looking for something light-hearted. I really loved Jack and his family and the hijinks that ensued.

This checked off everything I look for in a book. Was not disappointed. Really enjoyed this book. I will read more from this author. Must read

Four stars.
Katherine Center is one of my favorite authors. I discovered her books way back in 2010 when I read "Bright Side of Disaster" and fell in love with her writing (and immediately read all of her other books that had come out since 2006). Her ability to imbue her characters with real personalities is one of a kind. I also think she has a knack for writing realistic yet witty dialogue that I can actually imagine real people saying.

Her latest book, "The Bodygaurd", did not disappoint, for all of the same reasons. Katherine Center remains one of my favorite, auto-buy authors and her books are great reads when I need something more fun and lighthearted, but with real emotional substance.

*Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for this honest review!