The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

A great read with my least favorite rom-com trope.

My thoughts:

I have to admit the “fake dating” trope is my least favorite. Knowing a relationship starts off with lies just really bothers me – even if it’s not real as in fictional. But this story and these characters and Katherine Center’s writing style won me over. Hannah is a tough cookie Executive Protective Agent assigned to protect Jack Stapleton – Hollywood’s golden boy. In order to protect him and help deal with family issues they have to pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend. Normally, this would turn me off in a second but the way these characters are written and their dialogue kept me engaged and even laughing out loud. I loved this story and these characters. I definitely recommend this one for a beach read or just an escape into the worlds of Hollywood and Texas.

“…I wondered if having faith in yourself was just deciding you could do it – whatever it was – and then making yourself follow through. So I decided something right then: Every change you take is a choice. A choice to decide who you are.”

*Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced digital copy of this book.

Publisher’s Synopsis:

Katherine Center’s The Bodyguard is “My perfect 10 of a book. As funny and sweet as all the very best nineties rom-coms, but with Center’s signature heart-tugging depth. I wish I could erase it from my mind just to read it again for the first time. A shot of pure joy.”—Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book Lovers

She’s got his back.
Hannah Brooks looks more like a kindergarten 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.

“Great rollicking fun! Prepare to laugh and swoon and grin your pants off.”—Helen Hoang, New York Times bestselling author of The Heart Principle

“Absolutely, unequivocally delightful!”—Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wish You Were Here