I was reading another book at the same time I started reading this. When I read digitally, I tend to read 5-6 chapters of one, 5-6 of another, and back and forth, I go between the two books. About 35% into this one, the other book got promptly abandoned. I don’t read enough romance these days, so I forget how good they make me feel, especially when it’s Katherine Center writing.
Hannah knows her job. She’s good at it, and it would be fair to say it’s her life. Above friendships, relationships, vacations, anything, is her job. So when she’s given a high-profile assignment after a string of really awful life events, she doesn’t want it. (I know, I mean, it’s Jack Stapleton!) But she will do her job, and she’ll do it well. Get in, get out, and move on. Fortunately for us, Center had other plans.
How much fun is it when a character breaks the 4th wall to talk to the reader? I think the author must adore it as much as I do because it worked really well here. This is a slow-building romance with someone who thinks she’s impossible at romance. And a man who’s dated his fair share of Hollywood elite. The two couldn’t be more opposite, right? This book is adorable. I liked the banter, the healing, and how the rest of the world disappeared for a little while. Thank you, St. Martin’s, for sending this along!
Book Links (releasing July 19th)
About the Book
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.
Rae's Reading Lounge 
Katherine Center can do no wrong in my book. Lovely review, Rae, I also enjoyed this book.
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She is fantastic!
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