Author: Katherine Center
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: July 19, 2022
Description: 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.
Rating: 4 Stars
Review: Katherine Center feels like coming home, but that could be because she writes about Texas, where I am located. Her books are a little bit safe but extremely delightful.
Set in Houston, TX, Hannah has just lost her mother, and her boyfriend dumps her right after the funeral. They happen to both work for the same private security firm as bodyguards. When Hannah is put as the lead bodyguard for the World’s Sexiest Man Alive, Jack Stapleton, for his extended stay in Houston, we get a common troupe, of fake girlfriend, so his parents don’t know he requires a bodyguard.
Jack is dealing with heavy family issues. His brother died in a car accident, a car that they were both in. He is estranged from his other brother, and his mother is dealing with a cancer diagnosis. He also has a stalker.
While all this seems very heavy, Center likes to keep things very light in her style of writing. Lot’s of one line zingers, and fast dialogue keep this book moving. At times, this book did seem a little predictable, however this is Katherine Center, and she tends to make any story sparkle.
Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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