👫🏻 The Bodyguard - Katherine Center

4 ⭐️ - am I late to the game on this one? Maybe, but even so, I very much enjoyed it! It was fun, lighthearted, and a little exciting and mysterious.

Hannah is a bodyguard and is assigned to a big shot hollywood star, Jack Stapleton. When she is assigned to pretend to be his girlfriend in order to protect him, she is forced spend all her time with him and his family without falling for him…

This is your classic, feel good, rom-com. There were lots of “fake” lovable moments, Hannah and Jack have consistent banter and sarcastic conversations, and eventually grow to enjoy each other’s company. I really really enjoyed this one. I was frustrated with some points of side plots and feeling like they were irrelevant but overall, really great. Definitely add it to your list if you’re a hopeless, fun loving, romantic person or reader!

Loved Katherine Center's latest: The Bodyguard - another one of her female heroine specialties! Center's books are always an uplifting read while navigating a romance and life. Excellent read!

Another amazing book by Katherine Center!!!
Jack Stapleton is a movie star who steps out of the spotlight when his brother is killed. When he needs to return home to help take care of his mother who is receiving cancer treatment, his team wants to hire a bodyguard to protect him from crazy stalkers. Reluctantly he hires Hannah, who acts as tough emotionally as she is physically. She’s just buried her mother and been dumped by her boyfriend.
Well, I think we all know where this story goes after this…. But you need to read and find out for yourself. The story was funny, charming, and heartwarming. I will read anything Katherine Center writes in the future!

Thank you #netgalley and #stmartinspress for and advanced copy of #thebodyguard in exchange for an honest review.

Hannah isn’t what you’d expect from a bodyguard, or an Executive Protection Agent, as she would say, but she’s good at her job. However, doing her job well proves to be difficult when she’s hired to protect famous actor Jack from a stalker. Jack not following protocol makes things hard enough, but when he says that he doesn’t want his family to know about the stalker or the bodyguard thing, it proves to be her most challenging assignment to date.

The Bodyguard was not what I expected when I picked it up, but I was thoroughly entertained from start to finish.


Most of the characters were lovable, well developed, and had good character growth arcs. Hannah was strong and no-nonsense, and Jack was fun-loving and outgoing. They were complete opposites, but together they were charming and had great chemistry. I also loved Jack’s family. However, the antagonistic characters lacked dimension, and it felt like they were caricatures rather than fully fleshed-out characters.

I also did not particularly like how Jack’s neurodiversity was handled. He mentions his ADHD once, and it’s never really brought up again, nor does it come through in his characterization other than him being outgoing. It ends up feeling like a throwaway detail.

Although the plot and the characters were a little over the top, The Bodyguard was a fun ride with twists and turns to grab your attention the entire time. It’s a perfect lighthearted summer read.

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

I own many Katherine Center books, but this is the first one that I actually read and I loved it so much!!! The characters were so wonderful and this story can only be described as a warm hug. I enjoyed everything about this book and I highly recommend it!

I wanted so badly to love this. Things We Save in a Fire is one of my all time favorite books. But while that book was hard-hitting while also still managing to be light and fun in a lot of places, this just felt like pure fluff. I couldn't connect with any of it. Fake dating and celebrities are some of my least favorite tropes and I wanted to give it a chance, but this just was not for me.

4 out of 5 stars. If you ask me, I'll tell you to read it.

The story of a female bodyguard protecting a reclusive Hollywood actor, while posing as his girlfriend for his family. I had a lot of fun reading this one.

Vibe: Miss Congeniality

This doesn’t have a ton of depth to it, but it’s sweet/cute. VERY rom-com-y.

I absolutely LOVED this book. I laughed, I cried, and I had a goofy ass smile on my face reading/listening to it. I thought the book was written so well.

I loved Hannah. She was relatable to me..well kinda! I really enjoyed her character. She'd gone through stuff and still gave it her all. And Jack, what can I say about Jack? He was such a sweet guy. Plus I'm a sucker for a guy in glasses.

The story was predictable, even with the other characters. I called things from the very start, but I still enjoyed the book. It was a great beach read. I think the narrator did a great job. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and St. Martin's Press for the ebook and audio in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book so much! This was a top read for 2o22. Don’t sleep on this book, it’s excellent. I couldn’t put it down. I finished this in one day. This was my first Katherine Center book and it will not be my last. I definitely recommend this if you want a warm fuzzy feel good romance.

Things I loved:
▪️Some of My favorite Tropes in this…Fake Dating and Forced Proximity!
▪️The writing style. How Hannah was directly talking to the reader. I felt like I was part of the story.
▪️ Every time ‘Bobby’ (haha) humiliated himself or was cut down to size 👏🏻 PURE JOY!
▪️I loved that Hannah was scared of a certain animal…ME TOO. I’m terrified of them as well so I felt her pain 😅
▪️ This book was filled with so many laugh out loud moments, I cackled out loud a few times. Jack was seriously hilarious, lol.
▪️The ending …super awesome. I didn’t see that coming 👀

Thank you to netgalley for this #arc in exchange for my honest review.

Katherine Center has done it again! This laugh out loud romcom was perfect for the summer season. I loved it so so much.

The best way I could describe this book is wholesome. I really enjoyed it from start to finish, even though Hannah did bother me at times. It was a joy to read overall, and I already can't wait for Katherine Center's next book!

Once again, Ms. Center has created a delightful world full of great characters, fun and interesting situations, and the right amount of chemistry to keep the reader turning the pages. I thoroughly enjoyed the tension, sexual and otherwise, between Hannah and Jack and I was totally immersed in their drama.

The Bodyguard is a book you can lose yourself in to escape the real world for a bit. I loved it as I have loved all of Ms. Center's books. And now... I have to wait for her next one. That is always so hard. But seriously, I know you will love this book too!

4 stars. A little outside of my normal "go to" reading but I'm glad I did. I laughed and enjoyed this read a lot.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me take a peek at an early copy. My views are my own.

Such a cute rom com! I fell in love with the growth of all the characters. Hannah is a to the eye innocent woman but could defend even the man with the biggest ego and body. Then comes Jack Stapleton a handsome, insanely famous actor who is in need of her help professionally. Soon they find themselves living together and faking a relationship while he attends to his moms health along side his brother who holds a deep hate toward him for ruining their family through the tragic accident of their brothers death. Hannah and Jack soon connect more than they thought they ever would and you follow their journey while she protects him from a crazy stalker. What could really go wrong! Pick up a copy today! This book is hopeful, cute and a must read in the rom com world.

Another win by Katherine Center! I am not a regular romance reader but I always appreciate that Katherine's books are realistic and relatable. Writing is top notch with good character development.

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher/author for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This was my first Katherine Center novel, after hearing many great things about her previous novels. The Bodyguard follows Hannah Brooks, a executive protection agent who after losing her mother and being unceremoniously dumped is assigned to protect Jack Stapleton, one of Hollywood's hottest actors who has gone under the radar after a car accident that claimed the life of his brother.

This book had all of the elements for me to love it, fake dating, celebrity, famous/non-famous relationship but it ultimately fell sort of flat for me. While I appreciate that Hannah was a workaholic type character I just found her too unlikable as a protagonist. I understand that she was still working on finding herself but at many points she did not feel human. Nothing about her storyline really felt interesting to me. I did find the family tension with Jack intriguing and I liked the sort of twist action ending as well as the gender switched bodyguard trope. I enjoyed my time with the book but I did not love it.

Oh don’t mind me. I just went ahead and got the audiobook and a physical copy too because digital isn’t enough.

Short chapters? ✔️
Swoony slow-burn romance? ✔️
Unputdownable? ✔️

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a Very cute rom com with an small air of mystery. It was also a slightly different trope than most. The female mc was the grump instead of the male Mc

Most of us, at some point, have fallen in love with a character in a movie and imagined meeting the movie star in real life and starring in our own Hollywood romance. But in The Bodyguard by Katherine Center, one woman has to figure out how to maintain her composure while working for a Hollywood heartthrob.

Full review published on NightsAndWeekends.com and aired on Shelf Discovery