This heartfelt rom-com delivers an emotional punch wrapped in witty banter, Texas charm, and unexpected twists. After betrayal by her best friend and ex, Hannah’s life takes another left turn when she’s hired to protect reclusive actor Jack Stapleton—under the cover of being his girlfriend. What starts as a fake relationship to keep Jack’s family in the dark slowly unfolds into something real, raw, and deeply romantic. Jack and Hannah’s chemistry crackles with every scene, from playful teasing to quiet vulnerability. While exes Robby and Taylor deserve a one-way ticket out of the story, it's Jack and Hannah who shine—healing each other’s wounds one corgi-filled crisis at a time. A warm, funny, and genuinely touching read.

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center is a fun, sweet contemporary romance. Hannah is assigned to be Jack Stapleton's bodyguard. Jack is Hollywood heartthrob that has been having problems with a stalker. However, Jack doesn't want his family to know about his stalker so when his mom gets sick, Jack asks Hannah to pretend to be his girlfriend for cover. All the relationships in the book were fantastic. This book definitely kept me hooked from the beginning.

I love a royal-universe romance! This was a really fun read, and I hope we continue to get more romances from Katherine long into the future!

I messed up by not reading this earlier when I received this. When I first started to read it, the first few pages were too sad for me at the time. I was right. You would need tissues for this book—triggers of death of family members.  The story was about Hannah, a private security guard, and Jack, the movie star she had to protect. It began the day after her mom's funeral when her boyfriend/co-worker dumped her. Too much sadness. With her job, she could divert her sadness to protecting Jack. What I loved was Jack.  He was kind and supportive. He knew how sensitive she was and was able to let her heal. He had a strange stalker who should have been in jail or counseling, at least. He took it all in stride. Hannah was a great main character.  She was tough and sweet at the same time. I enjoyed the romance. It was sweet and beautiful. I assumed her boss, Glen, gave her this job so she could have her happily ever after.  Which she richly deserved. The yucky parts were Robby and Taylor. They were dreadful people.  And they deserved each other. Honestly,  they were awful! I felt sorry for the stalker. Yet the resolution was satisfactory. The ending was terrific. Overall, the love story was filled with hope, love, and family. I always enjoy the author's books. This one didn't fail. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC.

I loved how the female MC became part of the male MCs family and the way that these two character's relationship progressed.

The Bodyguard is the age old tale of a female bodyguard tasked with keeping the sexiest man alive safe from stalkers and other nefarious folks. It was a fun, light read that kept me engaged and entertained. I would've liked to see a little more heat between the main characters, but it was a fun escape from reality.

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center is such a charming and heartwarming read!

This book delivers all the feel-good vibes with a side of witty banter and a dash of suspense.

Center's writing is delightful, and the characters are incredibly endearing. The fake relationship trope is executed perfectly, and the chemistry between the main characters is chef's kiss. The story had me laughing out loud and swooning in equal measure.

If you're looking for a book that will make you smile and feel all the warm fuzzies, this is a must-read!

Katherine Center’s books are always a fun ride! Delightful, lighthearted, charming, funny, and super cute! Couldn’t stop turning the pages!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Katherine Center for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own. ❤️

Oh what a fun and cute read! Was it my usual sultry spicy kind of read? No. But it was still such fun! Maybe it's the southern girl in me who loved the Texas inclusion, or maybe it was the whip smart witty banter. Either way, this is an absolute must read for both old and new fans of Center. She just keeps getting better!

🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

I adored this book, especially as a Texas native :) Loved everything about it! The gender swap is pretty funny here

This was a great, feel-good romance. I especially loved the family at the center of the novel. I’ll definitely read more Katherine Center.

Don't judge a book by its cover? What? We all do. With Katherine Center's books, especially. They are so delightful both inside and out. This one was no different in my opinion. It was a light, fun, romantic comedy that I could not get enough of. I love the idea of Hannah, the female lead, the one doing the protecting. This was a fun story, and being such a big Katherine Center fan, I had a pretty good idea how this author would end the novel. Sweet little palette cleanser for after you read and don’t know what to read next.

Thank you @stmartinspress @netgalley for the free book!

📖 Hannah is a bodyguard. When she gets assigned to Jack, a Hollywood heartthrob, she’s a little reluctant to take the job. Especially when she finds out she’ll have to pretend to be Jack’s girlfriend in front of his family. But when her boss offers her dream job in exchange for the assignment, Hannah is determined to see the job through.

💭 This was such a fun romance. I found myself giggling and smiling multiple times. I loved the banter and the chemistry between Hannah and Jack. I also loved Jack’s family, especially his parents. I think this one is my favorite I’ve read of this author’s so far. This is a perfect spring or summer read if you’re looking for a sweet, fun romance.

📚 Read this if you like…
Celebrity romance
Fake dating
Forced proximity
Closed door romance
Slow burn
Family drama

✍️ How I rated other books by this author:
Hello Stranger- 4⭐️
Things You Save in a Fire- 4⭐️
The Bright Side of Disaster- 3⭐️

Closed door bodyguard where she’s the bodyguard. It was sweet and cute. Good banter and side characters

I received this novel as an advanced reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I enjoy all novels by Katherine Center and this was one of my favorite. Perfect for fans of contemporary women’s fiction and romance.

This was a fun read! This was my first Katherine Center book. I had a vague understanding that it wouldn’t be very spicy, and, indeed, it is not spicy at all. I’d give it a 2 out of 10. However, I very much got into the “ramping it up” feelings. It was odd that it was 100% from the main female’s POV— I haven’t had one of those romances in a super long time. The biggest issue I had was the audiobook narrator mispronouncing Brazos and other Texas words/accent.

Hannah Brooks has been hired as a body guard for famous movie star Jack Stapleton… what could go wrong?

A big thank you to St. Martin’s Press for granting me access to an ARC of this book, even if the review is extremely delayed.

I’ve heard good things about this book, which always makes me hesitant to read something, and I’m sad to say I was very disappointed. I felt like nothing happened in this book until it was 50% over. I also felt that, despite this being a romance novel, the two main characters had NO chemistry. We see very few scenes of Jack and Hannah together and then all of a sudden they’re in love? Given everything that had happened to Hannah up until that point, it was very hard to believe. She had more chemistry with Glenn than with Jack.

I also felt like the “twist” (if it can even really be called that) at the ending was unnecessary. I understand there hadn’t been much action until that point despite Hannah being a body guard but you could take that entire chapter out of the book and it been fine. The weird 4th wall breaks were also unnecessary, those can be done well in a book but I just felt like this wasn’t the book for it.

Overall, the book was good enough to finish, but i probably won’t think about it again. However, given the great reputation of Katherine Center, I’ll definitely be giving her other books a chance!

Thank you again to St. Martin’s Press for a chance to read and review this book.

I really liked this one! I enjoy the switch of the MFC being the bodyguard, and this one was a lot of fun. Things We Save In a Fire is still my favourite from this author so far, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one as well. There was a lot of humour and I felt the chemistry between the two main characters quite well. It's a great "read in one sitting" book.

I had some issues getting into this. I found the early plot to be packed with clichés and there were moments when I just couldn’t connect with Hannah. But once we got into her backstory and the family drama, I no longer had that issue. All in all, I thought it was a sweet popcorn read that’s a bit different from the author’s earlier works but still fun and enjoyable.

Despite how the book is marketed, there’s something almost YA-ish about “The Bodyguard.” The writing has a Meg Cabot-esque voicy quality, and the concerns seem influenced by early Cabot and Kinsella romcoms. Like many of those stories, this romance is a fade-to-black, but it lacks the fun, biting, and sexy undercurrent that feels inherent to all great romantic comedies. The banter and chemistry between the book’s MCs is effective at times, but ultimately, these moments aren’t enough to rescue the book from everything that weighs it down.