I'm usually a true crime, suspense, mystery, psychological thriller girl but every once in a while I need a good pallate cleanser and this was just that - a fun, easy to read, feel good romance with a strong lead female character.

Hannah Brooks is an Executive Protection Agent (aka a bodyguard) and has spent her career guarding oil execs and other high up people in that kind of business. She has not ever wanted to protect any one famous like a movie star...until that's who she is assigned to protect. After the death of her mother and a bad breakup (with a coworker) she is on a downward spiral and almost loses her job completely. So when she's assigned famous movie star Jack Stapleton she's less than thrilled. Jack is in town to spend time with his mother as she undergoes surgery and is dealing with a little bit of a stalker situation, warranting his agent to get him a protection agency.

I enjoyed the budding friendship and then romance between Hannah and Jack. I also enjoyed the clean aspect of this romance. There was nothing explicit in this story. When Jacks attitude toward Hannah changes dramatically at a key point in the story I kind of guessed what was up and I was glad for the ending to resolve everything.

This was a sappy, cheesy, lovely, easy romance and I recommend it for anyone who needs something fresh, light, and easy to read. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. Hannah works as a Executive Protection Agent but no one would guess. She's consumed by her work, most likely to avoid the other things in her life that she just doesn't want to deal with. Her mother has just died, then her boyfriend breaks up with her and her boss has taken her off a case and sent her best friend along her with ex. Things don't seem like they could get worse. As she tries to put the pieces together she looks forward to her next assignment to get back on track and get away...only to find it's in Houston (her home town) and protecting Jack Stapleton, a hunky actor, along with her ex. Jack has things in his past but at the moment his mother in the hospital and he doesn't want his family knowing that he needs protection. So, he wants Hannah to pose as his girlfriend. Hannah's ex says no one would believe that and, against her better judgment, she agrees. And off we go!

This was a fun, page-turning story. I've read several Katherine Center novels and always enjoy them. This one seemed to lack that extra something special that her novels normally have but still perfect for the cozy afternoon or beach read. 3.5 stars.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book. It was light and fun but with some serious moments as well. I liked the storyline, it was predictable in a few places but it didn’t make it less interesting. The characters were great and easy to like (or dislike in certain cases). This book gave me a lot of the feels.

Really loved this book. I am such a sucker for her writing and I love a fake dating trope. She painted a beautiful picture of the characters that made them very likeable.

AHHHHH I LOVE THIS!!!

This is super sweet and so adorable, I totally recommend!! The plot is perfect, the characters are perfect, and the romance is perfect. I just love it sm!

While the self-talk can be a bit grating at times, the characters are really fun to root for and it's a well-constructed story. Would happily recommend and think it would make a wonderful movie.

Love Katherine Center and this book is right up there among the faves. I love the subversion of the bodyguard trope and the romance was both sweet and intense.

I loved this book! Immediately lovable heroine and a highly engaging and immersive storyline. I found myself not wanting to put it down!

This was my third book by Center and I am hooked! In fact, I just picked up What You Wish For from my library and will be starting it soon.

I had The Bodyguard on my shelf for a while and read it as part of @allliereadsalot and @kayimreading ARC March challenge. (Yes I am behind on reviews and trying to catch up!)

What I loved:
•forced proximity, fake dating, strangers to lovers , grumpy/sunshine
•she’s the boss
•famous actor
•laugh out loud funny (esp the corgi lady)
•down to earth celebrity (unpretentious)
•quirky, non girly FMC
•the safety pin

What I didn’t love:
•Hannah’s boss and boyfriend during her time of grief
•constant reminders of Hannah’s stature, (she wasn’t really that small!)
•I didn’t like any of the side characters

I do think this story would better described as women’s fiction, not romance, but that’s just me.

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this eARC.

The Bodyguard released on July 19, 2022.

It’s Katherine freaking Center- do we need to say more than that? This woman just knows how to weave a tale and you’re better off for having read it! Bravo! Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this copy for review

What can I say about this gem of a book that hasn't already been said? I think it's pretty rare to find a genuinely funny Rom-Com, but this one had me smiling and chortling more times than not. Center's prose is as great as her beautiful covers, and this one is no exception. Probably my favorite of all her books so far! I love the gender swap here, making the protector a woman and the one in need of protection a man. Fake dating, small details that are called back to later, found family, closed door romance. This would be such a good movie. Someone make this movie!

DNF

I definitely thought it had potential but I just couldn't get myself immersed into the story. The plot had potential but I couldn't connect as well with the characters as I thought I could.

Didn’t really feel like I NEEDED to know more about the characters, which is not how you should feel about a book.

I just love Kathrine centers writing style this book sucks you in from the very first page!. Beautifully written as always!

While I liked the premise of this book, I found that it was hard to get over how many times Hannah made decisions that made no sense considering she is a professional bodyguard -- I'm usually pretty good with suspending my disbelief but it was very distracting to me here!

While Hannah and Jack's relationship didn't particularly stand out to me, what I did like was how it explored Hannah's issues with forming relationships and her ability to be emotionally vulnerable. Although a lot of this book wasn't to my taste, I think this is something that the book dealt with well.

📚𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐝𝐲𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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To no surprise, Katherine Center does it again! The Bodyguard was one of my most anticipated reads of 2022 and it certainly did not disappoint. The Bodyguard is now tied with Things You Save in a Fire as my favorite of hers. I absolutely adore the storylines and writing in all of her books, and I can't wait for more!
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Hannah Brooks is a 5-foot-5 professional bodyguard who typically goes unnoticed as an agent and spends most of her work time traveling the world, which she really enjoys. But when her mother dies, things begin to change. Her boss forces her to take some time off, her fellow agent boyfriend breaks up with her, and she finds out her best friend (also an agent) is hooking up with her ex-boyfriend. Now she’s stuck at home in Houston, wishing for an assignment that would take her far away. So when her boss assigns her to a local job protecting a famous movie star who’s visiting his sick mother nearby, Hannah’s not interested at all. Unfortunately, it’s not up to Hannah. Her boss doesn't give her the option, so she ends up protecting Jack Stapleton as he stays with his family on their ranch. Jack doesn't want his mother to know he has protection because he is afraid she will worry and the stress may affect her treatment, so he convinces Hannah to pretend to be his girlfriend instead of his bodyguard. The more Hannah gets to know Jack, she realizes that there's a lot more to him than she thought, but she isn't quite sure how much of their connection is real, and how much of it is acting.
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I absolutely love that Center always has a badass female as the lead character in her books, and Hannah was no different. The story was told from Hannah's point of view, so getting to know her and then following her through her assignment with Jack was so much fun. The banter between the two made my heart so happy. I was rooting for them the entire time.
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If you are looking for a fun, romantic, fast-paced, summer read with some humor and action, I highly recommend adding The Bodyguard to your list!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press as well as the author for this ARC.
#NetGalley #St.Martin’sPress #KatherineCenter #TheBodyguard

This author is an immediate buy, never fail book purchase for me. When I was granted permission to read this ARC, I was thrilled!

I love, love, love this author. Ms. Center is an unfailingly five star author. It’s always a pleasure to read her books and get to know her characters. This book was no exception.
Hannah is a badass whether she looks it or not. She is a bodyguard who gets assigned to protect movie-star Jack Stapleton from a stalker while he is in Texas caring for his sick mother. He doesn't want his family to know about his stalker so he wants Hannah to pretend to be his girlfriend. I feel like we can all predict what will happen from here.
This is a picture perfect rom-com in the vein of “The Proposal”. I can easily see Sandra Bullock in the lead role as Hannah. She would be able to bring both the toughness and the vulnerability that makes up a lot of Hannah’s character. Chris Pine or, of course, Ryan Reynolds can play Jack Stapleton as that seems like the natural choice. As can probably be gleaned from my comparison to a popular rom-com, this book is full of cliches and is quite predictable. Notice how I didn’t say that that was a bad thing. I have heard Ms. Center referred to as the “queen of comfort reads” and I would say that predictability is a big part of that. When I open books like this, that’s what I’m looking for. It made me smile, laugh, and roll my eyes.
One thing that should be mentioned is that this story took a little longer to get going than is typical for this author. I would have liked a little more to happen and maybe a shorter book.
All in all, this a a 4.5 star book that I’m rounding up to 5 due to the sweet and lightheartedness of it all.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and to NetGalley for an ARC of this Book.

I have read all of Katherine Centers previous book and love them all. This book was not a disappointment!

Her writing style is so fun, and her characters are great. .

This book is definitely another of her books that I will recommend for readers advisory. I can't wait to read what she has next!

This was delightful! I'm always a fan of enemies to lovers romances, and have actually ended up reading this twice. I love when there's a strong female protagonist who doesn't need to be saved by the love interest, and this book had that in spades. Also, for a genre that can be repetitive, I'd never seen anything with a female bodyguard, which was a fun twist.

Katherine Center will always be an auto-buy for me. I have met her, and she is a fantastic person and fun to listen to. I always feel like I'm sitting down and listening to her tell me a story when I read one of her books.