Thank you Macmillan Audio for the ALC and St. Martin’s Press #partner, for the finished copy of The Bodyguard in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio
Published: July 19, 2022
Summary:
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.
My thoughts:
Katherine Center has been a favorite author of mine for a while. I had read quite a few of her earlier books and then I hadn’t read anything by her for a while, until her most recent releases…and for the life of me I can’t figure out why I stopped reading her. She creates such real, relatable characters and is able to infuse humor into her stories at just the right time while still giving us little moments of truth.
This book was just what I needed when I picked it up. Her books make me happy and that is exactly what this did. It’s like getting a warm hug the entire time you are reading it. I totally fell in love with the characters and the journeys they all took, and not once did it bother me that some things might be a bit contrived. This is fiction and I read to escape – and I needed this escape when I picked this book up and it absolutely let me. The banter between the characters, the witty lines – I was laughing out loud like there was no tomorrow and that’s what I love about this author’s writing. And then there is the serious side, where the author is able to dig deep and bring some emotional substance to the story that balances everything out. It doesn’t get too heavy, but it keeps the book from being too fluffy at the same time.
I totally binge-read this one because I became so invested in these characters and I needed a break from what was going on in my life and this book was just the ticket. Katherine Center is definitely an author I know I can count on. Her books all have little bits of wisdom peppered throughout and leave you with food for thought along with a great story to get lost in and I can’t recommend them enough! If you haven’t picked this one up yet, I definitely encourage you to do so!
Audio thoughts:
This was such a great book to listen to and the narrator, Patti Murin, did a fantastic job bringing this story to life. She gave each character their own unique personality and her pacing and intonation was spot on. I ended up listening to this one in one day because I just could not put it down…I loved it!
