From beloved, bestselling author Katherine Center comes a warm, witty novel about the chances we take in life and love.
THE BODYGUARD
by Katherine Center
St. Martin’s Press, July 2022
Hannah Green is the last person you would envision as an Executive Protection Agent (aka “bodyguard”). Petite and non-descript, she is nevertheless an expert in her field who loves her job and the motley crew that make up her team. But when she is hired to protect Jack Stapleton, a Hollywood star with a tragic past who is coming home to Houston, she expects another spoiled, capricious player. Jack wants to keep her at arm’s length, which complicates her assignment. Hannah wants to keep him within arm’s length, which complicates her growing attraction to him. But each of them has secrets and heartbreak in their past that might prevent them from ever finding true love—even more than the different worlds they come from. With stalkers closing in, Jack and Hannah must each find a way to take chances…because every chance you take might bring you into harm’s way, but also might make you a little bit braver.
Katherine Center is the author of several novels about love and family: The Bright Side of Disaster, Everyone Is Beautiful, Get Lucky, and The Lost Husband. Her books and essays have appeared in Redbook, People, USA Today, Vanity Fair, and Real Simple–as well as the anthologies Because I Love Her, CRUSH, and My Parents Were Awesome. Katherine is a graduate of Vassar College and the University of Houston’s Creative Writing Program. She lives in Houston with her husband and two sweet children.
Le roman : Publié aux États-Unis en juin 2017 par St. Martin’s Griffin, THE IDEA OF YOU est centré sur Solène, une mère divorcée franco-américaine de trente-neuf ans. Après que son mari l’a quittée pour une femme plus jeune et annulé le voyage qu’il avait prévu pour emmener leur fille de 12 ans à un concert à Las Vegas, Solène ramasse les morceaux et brave la foule et la chaleur du désert pour l’accompagner à sa place. C’est là-bas qu’elle rencontre Hayes Campbell, 20 ans, chanteur du boys band britannique le plus en vogue de la planète, August Moon. La couverture médiatique de la relation qu’ils nouent devient vite envahissante, et bouleverse sa vie et celle de sa fille…
Danica Waterhouse is a fully modern witch—daughter, granddaughter, cousin, and co-owner of the Fix-It Witches, a magical tech repair shop. After a messy breakup that included way too much family « feedback, » Danica made a pact with her cousin: they’ll keep their hearts protected and have fun, without involving any of the overly opinionated Waterhouse matriarchs. Danica is more than a little exhausted navigating a long-standing family feud where Gram thinks the only good mundane is a dead one and Danica’s mother weaves floral crowns for anyone who crosses her path. Three blocks down from the Fix-It Witches, Titus Winnaker, owner of Sugar Daddy’s bakery, has family trouble of his own. After a tragic loss, all he’s got left is his sister, the bakery, and a lifetime of terrible luck in love. Sure, business is sweet, but he can’t seem to shake the romantic curse that’s left him past thirty and still a virgin. He’s decided he’s doomed to be forever alone. Until he meets Danica Waterhouse. The sparks are instant, their attraction irresistible. For him, she’s the one. To her, he’s a firebomb thrown in the middle of a family war. Can a modern witch find love with an old-fashioned mundane who refuses to settle for anything less than forever? 
BOSS WITCH (Book 2), April 2022: A modern witch finds herself accidentally falling for a witch hunter determined to make a name for himself in her small Midwestern town.
Everyone knows Miz Poppy, the vibrant reviewer whose commentary brightens the New Orleans nightlife. But no one knows Hollyn, the real face behind the media star…or the fear that keeps her isolated. When her boss tells her she needs to add video to her blog or lose her job, she’s forced to rely on an unexpected source to help her face her fears. When aspiring actor Jasper Deares finds out the shy woman who orders coffee every day is actually Miz Poppy, he realizes he has a golden opportunity to get the media attention his acting career needs. All he has to do is help Hollyn come out of her shell…and through their growing connection, finally find her voice.
To her friends, high school senior Liza Yang is nearly perfect. Smart, kind, and pretty, she dreams big and never shies away from a challenge. But to her mom, Liza is anything but. Compared to her older sister Jeannie, Liza is stubborn, rebellious, and worst of all, determined to push back against all of Mrs. Yang’s traditional values, especially when it comes to dating. The one thing mother and daughter do agree on is their love of baking. Mrs. Yang is the owner of Houston’s popular Yin & Yang Bakery. With college just around the corner, Liza agrees to help out at the bakery’s annual junior competition to prove to her mom that she’s more than her rebellious tendencies once and for all. But when Liza arrives on the first day of the bake-off, she realizes there’s a catch: all of the contestants are young Asian American men her mother has handpicked for Liza to date. The bachelorette situation Liza has found herself in is made even worse when she happens to be grudgingly attracted to one of the contestants; the stoic, impenetrable, annoyingly hot James Wong. As she battles against her feelings for James, and for her mother’s approval, Liza begins to realize there’s no tried and true recipe for love.