This was easy to read and engaging from the beginning! I loved the role reversal premise which kept it fresh. As a former Houston resident, I loved the local setting references. Center’s characters were believable and had me rooting for them from page 1!

Hannah doesn't look like your typical bodyguard, but she is good at what she does. In the midst of a personal crisis, she is put on a new job for a high profile client. Jack Stapleton is a world-famous actor who needs protection and Hannah has been assigned as his primary Executive Protection Agent. The job requires for her to pretend to be his girlfriend and to spend time with Jack and his family. Hannah has always prided herself on her professionalism - never get close to the principal, don't reveal anything personal about yourself, and definitely don't fall for them. Protecting Jack will tear down Hannah's high walls that she has built around herself in ways she could never imagine.

I called it pretty early with this book. I knew from the second chapter that it was going to be a 5 star read for me. And then I met Jack and I was a COMPLETE GONER for this book! I usually take notes about reactions to books and things I love about them as I read and my notes for this book ended up being about four times as long as they usually are. I loved it so much!

The character development in this book was superb. From Hannah, to Jack, to Hannah's team that she worked with, and to Jack's family - Katherine Center breathed life into each and every one of these characters. They had depth and complexity to the point where I found myself even liking Glenn, a character who I think was meant to be disliked. Not only were they great characters, but the dynamics between all of them were fun and complicated just like relationships in real life.

The dialogue in this book was insanely sharp and witty! The banter bouncing back and forth between Hannah and Jack was easy, natural, but also uniquely amusing. I found myself laughing out loud at every turn in their conversations.

I loved Jack and Hannah's connection and what they meant to each other. Hannah was constantly making Jack laugh (most of the time unintentionally) and it was awesome that she could do that for him considering the difficult time he was having. They each were in different places in journeys of grief and they were able to connect over their lost loved ones. Jack gave Hannah the confidence that she was missing, but he also made her slink into a puddle of awkwardness all the time because of his swoon worthiness. It was great to see a strong character like Hannah not be as professional and put together as she thought she was because the flaws made her feel more real.

This book is about love, but not necessarily in the way you think. Yes, there is a love story where two people find love with each other. It's also about finding a way to love yourself despite your flaws and the bad things you've done and allowing people to love you. It's about putting your love out in the world so you get love back.

Pick up this book for a fake-dating/celebrity/badass woman story with lots of romance and a bit of suspense. This is a 2022 MUST-READ and you won't regret it!

Steam level: 🔥½
⚠️: death of a loved one, grief, alcoholism, fatal car accident, drowning, driving under the influence, cancer, stalking, mention of domestic violence

First book I have read by Katherine Center and it was so enjoyable. I loved the humor and the characters. Plain ordinary Hannah Brooks is an executive protection agent assigned to protect a movie star from a stalker. It is decided that she will pose as his girlfriend which some consider a stretch. Hannah has repressed her emotions since she was a child and does not let anyone too close to her but there is something about Jack…

I found this book very entertaining and look forward to reading more by this author.

this book was so fun to listen to. Iove the characters and their relationships. The narrator was fantastic and really nailed both characters' voices. Highly recommend the audiobook and the book itself! Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

The perfect summer beach read. I loved the funny, light-hearted tone even though there's plenty of trauma-filled backstories that Center writes so well. And the hot Hollywood actor vs. the "ordinary" bodyguard makes for some amazing banter. This is a new favorite that will make a great go to re-read.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of The Bodyguard by Katherine Center. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and St Martins Press for providing an ARC to review.

Hannah Brooks, bodyguard extraordinaire, finds herself guarding the body of megastar Jack Stapleton. Jack came back to Texas to take care of his sick mother but has the slight problem of a stalker fan, hence the need for a bodyguard. They are forced to pretend to be dating and quickly fall for each other but can pretend become a reality?

I give The Bodyguard a 4.5/5. I have been burned lately with women's fiction that stated there would be romance, and then there was little to no romance. This was NOT the case in The Bodyguard. The story was full of quirky romantic hijinks, and I couldn't help but laugh out loud as Hannah and Jack fell in love. If you are looking for a fun and fluffy romcom, then The Bodyguard is a must-read.

Things I loved: I love Center's heroines. They are always so likeable and relatable. Same goes for the hero.
I love her writing. Her books are compulsively readable. Can't put them down.

I love the family dynamics. The hero's issues with his brother and his mother's illness were both great plot points.

Criticisms: we are told that they fall in love but I didn't really see it. They always seem more like buddies. I wanted more angst and slow burn. I was never convinced that the hero was falling in love with her.

The ex bf really bothered me. What doesn't make sense is all we see is him being a huge jerk, yet as he's breaking up with her, she tells him she loves him. And we're told they dated for a pretty long time. I wish we could see a good side of him, because why would she have dated him long term? What's worse her best friend betrays her and dates him right after he breaks up with her (right after her mother dies). So now we have a terrible best friend.

I loved what eventually happens between the ex and ex best friend. I just question the believability of the main character's taste in boyfriends and friends.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, but the romance was somewhat lackluster compared to this author's previous books. I will still continue to read everything she writes

Harlequin Junkie Top Pick!

A first person narrative laid out like an intimate conversation with the heroine, Katherine Center took a role reversal romance, added some fun, lively bantering as well as true depth to the storyline to round out The Bodyguard.

I had such a great time reading this book. I’m new to Katherine Center’s work but Hannah and Jack’s romance makes me want to run out and grab up everything she’s written. From the funny, super quick back and forth conversations to the charming secondary characters and even the tough personal issues both Jack and Hannah were working through, The Bodyguard just floored me. It had everything from elements of a rom-com to a romantic suspense and a family saga thrown in. But it absolutely worked for me.

Can I just say, Poor Hannah! She recently lost her mom, with whom she had a complicated relationship–but still, it was her mother. Then there was how (and when) her smarmy ex-boyfriend broke up with her. She had a betrayal by a close friend around the same time. And then Hannah was tasked with keeping a devastatingly handsome movie star safe. In Texas. The last place in the world (literally) she wanted to be. I got a kick out of how Hannah fought tooth and nail to turn down the assignment, how her boss Glenn pushed back, and how she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind afterwards. It was comical. But it also showed Hannah’s backbone made of steel. She knew herself when it came to her job. It was her personal life that was a big old mess.

Jack, well… *dreamy sigh* Jack was the ultimate movie star but he was also such an honest to goodness nice guy. It makes me smile just thinking about how caring he was with his parents as his mom fought a serious health battle–and how Jack found joy in just about everything Hannah said or did. I loved their scenes together. There was delicious tension between them of course, but it was how close they became over time, creating a tight connection that was unique to them and so very beautiful for others around them to see.

This is the first book I’ve read of Katherine Center’s and I really liked it. The bodyguard is a funny sweet closed door romance. Hannah and Jack were so fun and cute together. I’m a sucker for a famous main character so I knew I would probably like this. The book is a good mix of fun and feels! I got approved on NetGalley for both the ebook and the audiobook so I did a combo reading this. Mostly was the audiobook version though. Patti Murin is the narrator and she’s awesome. This definitely makes me want to read some from this authors backlist.

Thank you Net Galley for an ARC of The Bodyguard by Katherine Center. Wow! She did it again. This was a totally heart warming romance that I would recommend to anyone. Katherine Center is one of my favorite authors and this is totally why. What a beautiful book, I should say another beautiful book.

I loved this book that felt light-hearted, while still delving into some real issues. It was a fun twist to have gender norms challenged with a female bodyguard. This one felt like the perfect summer romance read. It definitely gave me "Happiness for Beginners" vibes, which is my favorite Katherine Center book. A win for me!

Hannah Brooks is The Bodyguard in the latest novel by Katherine Center coming out in mid-July. Hannah is a petite person, but she can take out an attacker with a wine bottle opener, a ballpoint pen, or even a dinner napkin.

When her latest assignment is with celebrity Jack Stapleton, she has to prove herself to him by flipping him on his back and possibly dislocating his shoulder because he thinks she is just the cleaning lady he has hired. While Jack needs a bodyguard because he is being stalked by a crazy fan, he doesn’t want one. Instead, he wants to just visit his family home in Katy, Texas, without his cancer-stricken mother learning that he may be in potential danger.

Pressured by the studio, he accepts Hannah only if she poses as his girlfriend rather than doing her job in the regular fashion. Hannah is not happy about that tweak, but her boss insists she will do what the client wants. However, thanks to photos of her with Jack finding their way to the Internet, her cover is blown, and she becomes ripe for attack by the stalker herself.

Thwarting threats and guarding vulnerable people is a job Hannah truly enjoys. She never mixes business with pleasure, but when she is forced to play the role of girlfriend for Mrs. Stapleton’s sake, her heart becomes vulnerable. The plot from there is predictable and a bit sappy, but it is an enjoyable, lighthearted read.

Katherine Center is the New York Times bestselling author of eight books, including How to Walk Away, Things You Save in a Fire, and What You Wish For. Her book The Lost Husband was made into a Netflix movie, and Happiness for Beginners will soon be offered on Netflix starring Luke Grimes from the TV series “Yellowstone.” She lives in her hometown of Houston, Texas, with her family.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting May 11, 2022.

I would like to thank St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

I enjoyed this book and devoured it in one day. It is a very standard rom-com framework with two people forced together who realize that, despite their very different backgrounds, they need each other. I appreciated the author’s writing style – clear, concise and straightforward - and didn’t find myself skimming paragraphs of exposition.

However, I found the two main characters' personalities inconsistent at times and the supporting characters one-dimensional and exaggerated for effect. This kept nagging at me as I was reading, but If you can let that go, it’s a cute story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Katherine Center for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Loved the flipped script in this one...a strong female protector! An great character in a typical romance trope and very fun to read.

I loved the spin with the female character as the bodyguard. This was a super cute rom-com. It was rather predictable, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment.

I don't typically read a book in a day, but I could not out this book down. I loved it. The witty banter was just enough to keep me laughing out loud. The idea for the character Hannah and her profession was such fun to read about. Highly recommend this book.

I laughed a lot on every page of the first chapters of the book. There is a comical set up when Hannah Brooks surprises heartthrob movie star Jack Stapleton with her jiu jitsu savvy while he giggles uncontrollably at her reaction to simple farm animals on his parents' farm.

I enjoyed all the repartee between these two very different personalities that resulted in lots of humor. On the serious side, the "bad guys" in both their personal relationships seem to be overly aggressive and overly rude. The contrast between Hannah and Jack's former girlfriend Kennedy and the contrast between Jack and Hannah's ex didn't have to be so stark, as it somehow didn't ring true.

The book could have wrapped up a bit earlier, but it was a satisfying conclusion and an entertaining read. I loved having so many laughs.

This was so much fun and so adorable! Both celebrity and fake dating stories are almost over done at this point, so it takes a really good story to catch my interest, and this story definitely fit the bill! Everything about this from the setting to the characters to the premise were absolutely charming.

I absolutely loved the unique spin of Hannah's career as a bodyguard. It added a different dynamic to the relationship as she was the protector, which was fun to see.

Recommended if you're in the mood for a mostly light-hearted romcom!

Content: language, fade-to-black

loved this book. It’s a 5 star Rom-com that I would love to be made into a movie. It made me laugh and tore my heart a bit and it didn’t have some cheesy plot line in it to ruin the book.

The Bodyguard is a romcom where an agent is sent out to protect a movie star who is probably the most famous person in America while he is visiting his family. Hannah Brooks, the ‘bodyguard’, DOES NOT look like she could take a grown man twice her size down, but she can. Jack Stapleton, the recluse movie star, is being stalked and while his threat level is low, he doesn’t want to alarm his parents as his mother has cancer. CUE THE PERFECT OPENING FOR HIS PROTECTOR TO BE HIS FAKE GIRLFRIEND.

Between all the side characters and our two main characters, this book had fun dialogue and was never boring. I read it in one day and loved every second of it. After picking this one up, I will definitely be picking up more books by this author.

Hannah Brooks
As a workaholic and Executive Protection Agent, Hannah is always busy and has never had time for outside-of-work relationships and activities. Her boss, Glenn, takes her off of a job that is abroad once her mother dies, and sends other people. This forces her to wait, and once they come back a new task arises– the one of protecting Jack Stapleton. Hannah may be all business and practical, but it’s hard to not admit that the movie star that has stolen countless hearts has a great face.

Jack Stapleton
Perfect face. Amazing actor. Common stalkee. After a family tragedy, he dropped from the public eye and did his best to stay in the shadows. However, when he returns to his hometown of Houston, Texas after his mother falls ill, he needs protection from stalkers and death threats. He needs to be away from the Hollywood life, and lucky him since his ‘bodyguard/fake-girlfriend '' happens to be as un-Hollywood as they get.

I will be raving about this book for DAYS at this point. It was so good. Not a single moment was dull and it kept me entertained while making me laugh.
(also shared to GoodReads and Instagram)