The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
Contemporary Romance
Published July 19, 2022 by St. Martin’s Press
ARC

Review by Angela

This was SUCH a fun surprise. I, like so many readers, am skeptical when presented with a contemporary romance with a cutesy cover and a blurb that sounds like it could possibly be a romantic comedy. But nonetheless, I grabbed a copy and dove in with high hopes.

And was rewarded with an amusing, sweet romance that kept me reading into the early hours of the morning.

The bodyguard mentioned in the title is Hannah Brooks, and she is going through some things. Mainly the death of her mother and being dumped by her douchebag boyfriend. The fact that she and her now ex happen to work together as protection agents just makes her humiliation worse. Hannah needs to secure an out-of-town job and spend some time far away from Houston, but instead, she’s assigned as primary on what should be a piece of cake job protecting a Hollywood A-lister while he’s in town taking care of his mother.

Jack Stapleton hasn’t been in the public eye since the car accident that killed his younger brother, but when his mother gets sick he heads straight to Texas to help take care of her. He doesn’t want or think he needs a bodyguard, but the movie studio that is pressuring him to complete his contract does. Jack’s stalkers may be quirky and weird, but they could also be dangerous.

Hannah and Jack are magic together. The big-name gorgeous actor who should be a pain in the ass, but is instead quite sweet, and the workaholic protection agent who is thrown into a situation unlike any she’s been in before in her job. Their chemistry was palpable and the back and forth dialogue sparkled with humor and wit. I smiled and laughed and kept turning pages until I got to the end to find out how they would end up together.

There are some deep themes in this book- Jack’s mom’s cancer diagnosis, mentions of the death of Jack’s brother and Hannah’s mom, Hannah’s backstory of her mother being abused and her dad deserting them, but I never felt like those dark themes took over what felt like a lighter romance. The epilogue is the icing on the cake of this closed-door romance. Seeing this cast of characters further into the future, happy and living their lives in such a positive way was fabulous.

I heartily recommend this romance. Great characters, great dialogue, and a great HEA.

Final grade- B+

Content warnings- off-page death of a mother and brother, off-page physical abuse of FMC’s mother, cancer, anxiety

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