ARC Review: The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

I received this book for free from Books for trade in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
Published by St. Martin's Press on July 19, 2022
Genres: Adult Contemporary Romance
Pages: 320
Source: Books for trade
Format: ARC
My Rating:
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Blurb:

She’s got his back. 
Hannah Brooks looks more like a kindgerten teacher than somebody who could kill you with a wine bottle opener. Or a ballpoint pen. Or a dinner napkin. But the truth is, she’s an Executive Protection Agent (aka “bodyguard”), and she just got hired to protect superstar actor Jack Stapleton from his middle-aged, corgi-breeding stalker.

He’s got her heart. 
Jack Stapleton’s a household name—captured by paparazzi on beaches the world over, famous for, among other things, rising out of the waves in all manner of clingy board shorts and glistening like a Roman deity. But a few years back, in the wake of a family tragedy, he dropped from the public eye and went off the grid.

They’ve got a secret. 
When Jack’s mom gets sick, he comes home to the family’s Texas ranch to help out. Only one catch: He doesn’t want his family to know about his stalker. Or the bodyguard thing. And so Hannah—against her will and her better judgment—finds herself pretending to be Jack’s girlfriend as a cover. Even though her ex, like a jerk, says no one will believe it.

What could possibly go wrong??? 
Hannah hardly believes it, herself. But the more time she spends with Jack, the more real it all starts to seem. And there lies the heartbreak. Because it’s easy for Hannah to protect Jack. But protecting her own, long-neglected heart? That’s the hardest thing she’s ever done.

My Review

I got this book through a trade on Twitter. And I’m so glad I did! I really enjoyed it! I really liked some of the more realistic things, even as it was a kind of out there story, I mean a bodyguard and a movie star. But I liked how everyone kept calling her ordinary and plain, but meaning it in a good way, well, the ones you wanted to mean it that way. I loved Jack’s family. They were so perfect, even with their issues.

Hannah’s ex was a total jerk, and while I knew what had happened with her best friend before the book actually spelled it out, I really liked the way the story took that plot point. So many times it goes a different way, things end up as the perfect relationship now, but this seemed so much more realistic.

There were so many perfect tender moments between the two characters. I loved all the little things. I loved how she slept on the floor, and how she made him laugh. I loved Hannah’s boss Glenn even if he was a brat in the way he did some things. I wasn’t sure how this story could end up with the two getting an HEA together with how their jobs would keep them separate, but the author handled all of that in a way that made so much sense and wrapped it all up neatly.

This is my first book by this author, and while I doubt I’ll go back and read her others, my time is limited, I’ll definitely be looking forward to more by her like this in the future I hope!