Thank you for the chance to read this book early!

I really enjoyed The Bodyguard! I loved that the bodyguard was the woman instead of the guy. The characters all had really great chemistry and I enjoyed this one start to finish. The setting was in Houston which was fun since I'm from there. It really added for me to know about the locations mentioned.

I really thought Hannah was relatable even though I didn't have much in common with her. I liked her regardless. She had some issues (like being a workaholic and not opening up to people) She did ride the line of cliched but the story was fun enough that it worked.

Jack Stapleton was a really fun character being a famous Hollywood actor. I was afraid I might not find him that likeable, but I did (and sometimes I liked him the most of everyone) I loved his family, and I was really interested in what happened in the past to pull them apart.

Overall a really fun and fast paced read! I'd love to see this as a rom com move!

Well I’ll definitely be posting a better picture of this amazing book when it comes out because the digital book next to the physical copy doesn’t do this book justice.

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center comes out in July and I was extremely lucky to receive the digital copy through @netgalley .

In her newest release we meet Hannah when everything in her life just seems to be going wrong for her. Her mother dies, her boyfriend dumps her, she looses an assignment she was supposed to go on to her best friend, and she’s not sure what she’s going to do. She then gets put on the job of body guarding a celebrity actor and the only way they can really do it without his family knowing is by pretending to be his girlfriend.

❤️Review❤️

This book gave me all of the feels! I was smiling, laughing, crying, and even had a bout of anger in all of the good ways. Hannah will break the 4th wall and talk to the reader, which really had me hooked and engaged. It felt like a girlfriend hanging out with some wine and telling a story. It had all of those classic 2000 rom-com vibes. Many times it actually reminded me of the Miss Congeniality movies. It delivered a romance story with the humor and cuteness, but also handled difficult topics. If you like romance and Katherine Center, you are not going to want to miss this release in July.

Don’t worry, I’ll remind you again when it’s released!

5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#Bookstagram #NetGalley #EBooks #DigitalBooks #DigitalReading #KindleReads #WinterReading #RomanceBooks #NewBooks #2022Books

I absolutely loved this book! The best fake dating trope while also adding in meaningful moments. I will read anything Katherine Center rights. Loved it!!!

Every time I hear there is a new Katherine Center book my heart flips with joy andI want to read it immediately but end up hoarding it for the right moment. With all of the build up I inflict on her books it would be easy to be let down but I never am and The Bodyguard did not change that,

Hannah is already reeling from the death of her mother and the end of her relationship but instead of being able to hide and lick her wounds she is assigned to protect one of the biggest Hollywood heart throbs. To make matters worse she has to pretend to be his girlfriend convincingly enough to fool his entire family. It doesn't help that Jack is even more charming in person or that his family is proof that happy family exists. The more time Hannah spends with them all the more lines start to blur in her mind but some people are better actors than others.

A joy to read from start to finish, I loved Hannah and Jack and their connection but loved Hannah's connection to Jack's family even more. I do wish we had been able to see more of Hannah as a badass bodyguard. She stumbles more than shines in the toughness arena and I wanted more after all of the insults and doubts hurled her way,

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love rom-coms and what is done very well in THE BODYGUARD is the author resists the urge to make every conversation a tumble of words with one funny remark after another. Instead the lines she writes give the reader a chance to chuckle and savor the witticism.

Hannah is assigned to be a bodyguard to movie star Jack, She is serious and by the book after they have to portray a fake couple to insure Jack’s safety. The lie creates more problems than it solves and we are left wondering about the origin of any threats.

The overall atmosphere is of people trying to overcome tragic events from their lives, to forgive themselves and forgive each other. There is also a bit of satisfaction in taking a tiny sip of revenge before forgiveness.

The love story is wonderful and peppered with “is s/he just acting or is this real?” It is a rather chaste novel for those looking for that sort of information. I really enjoyed it for its humor and ability to grab all my emotions.

I received an advance copy of the book, read it and this is my voluntary review.

I love this book and the excellent banter between the two main characters has a lot to do with that. This is a fun and compulsively readable romance between a petite female bodyguard named Hannah whose mother has recently died and Jack, a tall, Hollywood heartthrob who may have a stalker and who definitely has some lingering baggage from the death of his brother. The two end up in a fake relationship situation (which is a trope that sometimes doesn't work for me, but here the reason for it is mostly justified) and so spend a lot of time getting to know each other.

Now, I like Katherine Center's books but I do not care for famous people romances and the female character getting swept into a fairy tale. I enjoyed this one because that isn't what happens. It doesn't take place in Hollywood — it's set in Houston and on a nearby ranch — and both characters felt like real people with insecurities and emotional scars. Of course, it's great to see a woman in the role of a bodyguard, especially since she's not a muscular bouncer type (but she can flip a 6'3" man and has excellent aim), but I also loved the found family aspects of the story, the fun twists, and the way Hannah and Jack get to know each other which ends up bringing them both to a better place emotionally.

I did have to suspend belief a few times — particularly when Hannah is scared of a cow. It didn't exactly match up with her overall training as a professional intelligence type person, but it was funny, so ok. I also liked that this was a closed door romance and was focused more on the two getting to know each other (although Hannah definitely spends plenty of time trying not to get sucked into the orbit of the handsomeness of her client) than tingling in the nether regions.

I've enjoyed all of Katherine Center's books that I've read so far, and this was no exception. This book was slightly different from her others in that it was a bit more of a rom-com than her usual woman's fiction/ romance style. However, I always appreciate her writing, her strong female characters, and the emotion and hardship her characters have to overcome, which adds a good deal of depth. The Bodyguard was a cute story and I enjoyed the plot and characters overall, This was a good, quick rom-com, that didn't make me cringe, like some do. I didn't find it ovely funny though.

I love Katherine Center books, they just have the perfect amount of romance and life lessons with a dash of sugar. The Bodyguard did not disappoint. I was laughing and enjoying every moment of Jack and Hannah.

Now what would make it better? If it was made into a movie. Hello Netflix! Here’s your next hit.


Thank you St. Martin Press for the review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a fluffy cute rom-com. I enjoyed that it took the bodyguard trope (i.e. the handsome guy protecting the beautiful damsel) and flipped the script.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I couldn’t have been more excited! Katherine Center books are a wonderful escape from reality and The Bodyguard was no exception. I can already envision this book as a blockbuster rom-com. Hannah Brooks is a executive protection agent who throws herself into her work to avoid having to think or feel anything about her own life. After losing her mother, with whom she had a complicated relationship, and breaking up with her boyfriend, Hannah was ready to dive deep into her work. Little did she know how life changing this would be. Assigned to protect high-profile movie star Jack Stapleton, Hannah re-evaluates her life and finds the strength to be “real” again. I flew through this book. A light, engaging read, it was the perfect escape from reality and total brain candy.

4.6/5 stars! If you love Emily Henry or KA Tucker's books (specifically Beach Read or The Simple Wild) and the women's fiction genre, this book is perfect for you!!

This book is SO magical, funny, emotional, and sweet. I felt so happy while reading it and felt so happy as I read the last page. The concept, female bodyguard x male celebrity, of this book was executed so well! I also loved the small town, Texas, ambiance this book had, the wilderness setting, and the concept of family and what that meant to Hannah. Hannah and Jack had such good chemistry and such a strong connection. They were such gorgeous characters with beautiful personalities while also being people who are fighting their own internal battles. I related to Hannah Brooks for so many reasons. One, I'm also a workaholic (studyaholic in my case) and I struggle on knowing how to relax/maintain a good work/social life ratio. I also loved that Hannah was such a badass bodyguard and was trained in jujitsu (I'm a first-degree black belt and I also box for fun). I love reading about female characters who are physically badass and intellectually smart but they're also vulnerable and emotionally distant and are determined on becoming more vocal about their emotions and feelings. I really appreciated how Jack helped bring out the relaxing, more carefree side of Hannah and how Hannah helped bring Jack back to life and made him a happier person while finding and loving herself in the process. It was such an intimate thing to witness. Jack is such a sweetheart and such a family guy. I adore him. He was always so gentle, respectful, and caring towards Hannah. Hannah bonding with Jack's parents and Hank was the sweetest, most wholesome thing. I love all the domestic scenes throughout this book. So comforting and cozy to read about. Jack doing things to honor Drew's memory meant the world to me and is something I always look for when there's the deceased spouse or sibling trope in a book.

This book has a lot of my all-time favorite tropes including:
- city girl x small town boy
- fake dating
- forced proximity
- female bodyguard
- celebrity love interest

One of the reasons why I didn't give this book a 5/5 is because I don't remember Jack/Hannah explicitly saying "I love you" to each other which was a bit bizarre. Like there were a lot of vocal confessions of how they've fallen for each other but not a distinct "I love you."

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

Another good one from Katherine Center to be sure and add to your TBR list for this summer. ❤📖😊 Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC and opportunity to provide an honest review.
I wasn't sure about the direction of this book at the start. The main character is an actual bodyguard and highly motivated to suceed in her career. I mean, you really need to be if you're protecting someone's life, right? Hannah is especially motivated since her job keeps her traveling and what she really wants to do more than anything is escape past hurt. I was not disappointed in this book! In fact, I'm already planning a reread.
The Bodyguard gives you fully developed, enoyable characters who will make you laugh out loud. The banter, flirting, and prospect of romance will have you quickly turning pages. A summer read that will have you smiling. 😊⛱️

Rather bland for me unfortunately. I am a fan of Center’s. This book had unlikeable & unrelatable characters. The storyline for me just wasn’t as readable as Center’s other lovely romances. To put it in perspective further, I never spent more than 48 hours reading her other books. This took my closer to 5 days. The trope of a mousy, too serious female lead who finds a silly and sexy male who changes them…not the best.

a new and interesting spin on fake dating and its pitfalls that left me feeling a little detached. the story felt like it was missing a relatability — throw an exec protection agent and movie superstar together, and that gets pretty far from reach. i could tell center was really working for it, though, but that aspect still fell a bit short for me.

#netgalley

This is a fabulous rom-comwith just enough real-life moments to draw you in and make you think about how you’d respond in similar situations. I loved the detailed information of what it’s like to be in the “executive protection” business, and the development of the relationship between the main characters. In addition to being a great story, this book is filled with moments about the big questions of life: how we see ourselves, how that shapes what we expect in relationships with others, and (most importantly) our human capacity to grow when given the chance. This was an excellent read and well worth the investment of time. THE BODYGUARD is my first book by Katherine Center and I am excited to check out her backlist.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book.

A funny and romantic story about a bodyguard and the movie star she had to protect. Quick and fill of hunir, this was a fun weekend read.

What a fun, cute, quick read! Like other Katherine Center books, The Bodyguard is a perfect blend of hilarious banter, insightful personal growth, and mostly-sweet romance. I enjoyed the fun twist on a classic rom-com trope, the pretend girlfriend, by making her a bodyguard and him an actor — so you never quite know what is real and what is just an act!

Like most rom-coms, this book is predictable, but that doesn’t make it any less fun. I literally laughed out loud a few times, but the characters were relatable and their growth was realistic.

Overall, if you’re looking for a quick, fun, laugh-out-loud romantic comedy, this is the book for you!

This was a cute book. I liked the characters, and there was a fair amount of attempt at humor, but most of it wasn't that funny to me. Just not my brand of humor. I love the idea of an average-sized woman being a deadly bodyguard. It's unexpected and I liked that. The issue is, that we don't really get to see her do much of what she says she can do. All the "bodyguarding" was them hanging out on a farm doing nothing.

This is the first time I've read a book by this author, I also hadn't heard of her before either. The prose was very different for me, not just for romance, but in general. It was, almost second person, and a lot of the events were told in past-tense. Example: "Later I would find out..." and so forth. It kind of made a bit of a disconnect with what was going on. The dialog passages, at times, were needlessly long. And things that could have used more explanation were glossed over. For how much time was spent on the MC talking about her trauma involving her mother, there wasn't any time spent on showing her overcome or move past what happened. She just seems to choose to let it go, and that's not how that works. There's also a bit of "not like other girls" coming from the MC, which feels out of place with characters who aren't teenagers. Not that it's okay to perpetuate that narrative but I would expect to not see that trope with adult characters.

The romance felt very surface level for me. I could buy that they were attracted to each other. But I don't buy the deep connection they say they had by the end of the book. I didn't feel the romantic chemistry. I don't know what they connected over, what they had in common, any shared interests. Nothing. They just seemingly fall in love.

I do appreciate that she told her garbage ex-boyfriend to take a hike when he tried to get back together with her after what he did. But I don't like that she risked her job for Jack. I think that climax at the end felt unnecessary. There had already been a climax for the story, and a second one felt unneeded.

I think this book would have been better had it taken place not in modern-time, but in the 70s. By the cover, I thought that was when it was taking place anyway. Especially with only three of the employees of this agency being women, I know women still aren't a large part of that industry, but not by that small of a ratio. This is also a personal preference, but I don't like when books use real celebrities and other forms of media in books. I think it dates them.

All-in-all, this book was just mostly okay for me. There were parts that I liked, but more that I'm just lukewarm on at best. I can see how this genre of romance is popular, it's just not for me.

I will recommend this book to patrons looking for contemporary romances, especially patrons who like books that defy traditional gender roles. The main female character is a bodyguard who's hired to protect the main male character. It's a nice twist on the popular bodyguard-romance genre that some patrons will really love.

I was already a Katherine Center fan, and just reading a few pages of this book reminded me why. I love her writing and ability to draw me in instantly. And I fell head over heels for The Bodyguard. It's a happy, funny, feel-good breath of fresh air!
Houston-based Hannah is a pint-sized but lethal protection agent. Yes, she is the bodyguard! Jack is a devastatingly handsome movie star with a stalker problem. When Jack returns home to his family's Texas ranch because his mom is sick, Hannah is assigned to protect him. Of course, Jack doesn't want his mom to worry, so he and Hannah pretend they're dating. I'm a fan of the fake dating trope, and in this book, we also get forced proximity and one-bed tropes.
There is strong chemistry, witty banter, and some laugh-out-loud moments. But also really poignant moments where Hannah and Jack deal with their struggles, family issues, and emotional growth.
Center develops her characters in a way that always makes me care about them. Even the secondary characters are well developed. I loved Jack's family as much as I loathed Hannah's ex. The plot was so fun, and the Texas ranch setting was beautiful. I loved every minute of this and could've stayed with Jack and Hannah a while longer. Just so so good. I highly recommend it! Thank you so much to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this ARC.