Book Review :: The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
ISBN: 1250219396
Published by St. Martin's Press
on 19 July 2022
Genres: Adult, Romance
Pages: 309
Goodreads

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.

Last updated on 18 February 2026

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What is The Bodyguard by Katherine Center about?

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center is the story of Hannah Brooks, who may look more like a kindergarten teacher than a lethal weapon, but she’s actually an Executive Protection Agent hired to safeguard superstar actor Jack Stapleton from his stalker. Despite her initial reluctance, Hannah finds herself pretending to be Jack’s girlfriend to keep his family in the dark about his situation.

Jack, who is famous for his beach sightings and board shorts, has been out of the public eye since a family tragedy a few years ago. He returns home to his Texas ranch when his mother falls ill but doesn’t want his family to know about his stalker or the fact that he’s hired a bodyguard.

As Hannah and Jack spend more time together, their fake relationship starts to feel real. But for Hannah, protecting her own neglected heart proves to be the toughest challenge yet. With so much at stake, what could possibly go wrong?

My thoughts on The Bodyguard

I really enjoyed The Bodyguard by Katherine Center! The plot, while a little crazy, is one that I can see being a Hallmark movie*. Ha. There are enough elements in it to make it interesting but almost too many to make it plausible. Which is exactly what a romantic comedy is like: relatable but also very, very fictional.

“I think just because you can’t keep something doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth it. Nothing lasts forever. What matters is what we take with us.”

The characters in this book are really enjoyable to read. I like Hannah as a main character, and I’ve never read a story where there’s a main character in a protection agency or something like the FBI or CSI or any of those sorts of groups. But it was fun to read a Hannah who knew jujitsu and could take a man 3 times her size down.

Jack was immediately likeable and while you could see exactly where the story was going, it was still a lot of fun to read it playing out. His family makes for amazing supporting characters, and honestly, I’d read spin-off stories about nearly all of them. The protection agency characters are a little less likeable and there’s a lot of drama going on at that end of the story … but the Stapleton family makes up for it, tenfold.

“I wondered if having faith in yourself was just deciding you could do it – whatever it was and then making yourself follow through.”

There were moments where Hannah, as the narrator, said things such as “I know you’ve seen that movie” or “you remember in this movie when Jack did xyz” – she addressed the reader like we were in her world and we were aware of Jack the celebrity. This was really fun, because, while I have not seen any movies that the fictional Jack Stapleton is in, it almost felt like I had.

There’s an epilogue in this story which is a sweet, more reflective sort of epilogue. A what-happens-next in the characters’ lives. It is still from the perspective of Hannah but it was more thoughtfully written, more ‘here’s how the events in the book changed and shaped me’ type thing. Which was actually really lovely! It rounded up the story nicely.

I haven’t read anything by Katherine Center before, but if The Bodyguard is anything to go on, then I’m keen to try some of her other books too. If you like romance without too much spice, fun characters, a few classic tropes like fake-dating, then pick up this book and let me know what you think!

The latest book release coming out from Center at the time of writing this review is Hello Stranger which is out in July 2023, and I think I’ll pick it up!

Have you read The Bodyguard? What did you think?

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*2026 update: They’re making it a movie with Leighton Meester and Jared Padalecki! 🤣