The Shippers Katherine Center

One of the hottest, fastest-rising rom-com stars delivers her latest swoon-worthy novel about a destination wedding on a cruise ship.

After a whole lifetime of being bad at love, JoJo Burton decides to solve her intimacy issues once and for all at her sister’s destination wedding on a cruise ship. With the help of a little pop psychology, she diagnoses herself with a fixation on the neighborhood guy who was her her first crush and first kiss (and who just happens to be a newly-divorced wedding guest ), and she decides to woo him during the cruise for some long-delayed closure. Only problem is, her sister’s a little busy being a bride at the moment—so JoJo ropes in her childhood bestie, Cooper Watts, to be her wing man. Cooper: who RSVPed no, but then showed up, anyway. Cooper: who left town without a word four years earlier and moved to London. Cooper: who was, if she’s honest, the worst heartbreak of JoJo’s life. It’s bliss for her to see him again, and it’s agony, too—and the more they team up for Project Conquest, the more she obsesses over questions she can’t bring herself to ask.

Shipboard antics ensue in this witty, heart-tugging, childhood-friends-to-lovers romance—as JoJo and Cooper fake flirt, slow dance, share a cabin, sing duets, treat sunburns, get jealous, rescue each other over and over, and finally, at last, figure it all out in the most blissful, swoony, romantic way.

No one does summer romance quite like Katherine Center. THE SHIPPERS will take readers on the cruise of a lifetime in a story awash with romantic longing, top-notch banter, long-held secrets . . . and true love rediscovered.

Kindle Edition, 336 pages

Expected publication May 19, 2026

 by St. Martin's Press

3.75/5 stars

Katherine Center is an auto-read author for me. Ever since reading The Bodyguard, I’ve been slowly working my way through her backlist, and I’ll pretty much pick up anything new she releases.

I was also lucky enough to receive both a digital and audiobook ARC for this one, so I ended up doing a bit of a hybrid read, which worked really well for this kind of story.

The audiobook is narrated by Patti Murin, I’ve listened to a number of books she’s done before and have always enjoyed them. She really does know how to bring a book to life.

A romance set on a cruise ship? As a cruiser myself, I couldn't wait to dig in.

The setting was a lot of fun. Between the wedding prep, the close quarters and all the classic cruise ship moments, it made for a easy, beach read. It has that light, escapist feel her books are known for, but still with some emotional depth underneath.

JoJo is definitely one of those slightly messy, figuring-it-out characters. Her plan to 'fix' her love life added some humour, but also highlighted some deeper issues. I didn’t always agree with her choices but I understood where she was coming from. Then there is Cooper… the childhood best friend who left without a word. Their history is what drives this story. It added tension and gives the romance more weight, even when the story leans into the lighter, rom-com moments.

The romance hits a lot of familiar tropes along with Center's witty banter is always fun to read. Overall, this was a fun, easy read. Not my favourite of hers, but still a solid addition to her backlist and exactly the kind of book I reach for when I want something light and romantic.

My thanks to Macmillain Audio and St. Martin's Press for audio/digital arc in exchange for honest review.

The Love Haters by Katherine Center

It’s a thin line between love and love-hating.

Katie Vaughn has been burned by love in the past—now she may be lighting her career on fire. She has two choices: wait to get laid off from her job as a video producer or, at her coworker Cole’s request, take a career-making gig profiling Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer in Key West.

The catch? Katie’s not exactly qualified. She can’t swim—but fakes it that she can.

Plus: Cole is Hutch’s brother. And they don’t get along. Next stop paradise!

But paradise is messier than it seems. As Katie gets entangled with Hutch (the most scientifically good looking man she has ever seen . . . but also a bit of a love hater), along with his colorful Aunt Rue and his rescue Great Dane, she gets trapped in a lie. Or two.

Swim lessons, helicopter flights, conga lines, drinking contests, hurricanes, and stolen kisses ensue—along with chances to tell the truth, to face old fears, and to be truly brave at last.

Kindle edition, 320 pages

Audiobook, 10 hours

Expected publication May 20, 2025

by St. Martin's Press/Macmillan Audio

5/5 stars

Oh how good it feels to jump into a Katherine Centre story, some of my favourite rom/coms she has penned.  The Love Haters releases in less than a month, I highly recommend it.

Told from Katie Vaughn's point of view she takes on a job she is nowhere near qualified for, She is not only trying to help a coworker out but also possibly saving her own job. She gets way more than she bargained for.

As I’ve come to expect with this author, this wasn't just a rom/com, she also deals with relevant subject matter. For Katie, it is dealing with her inner demons in terms of body image, love ability and being too hard on herself. With a wonderful cast of characters I was thoroughly entertained with a story that was heartfelt. It made me laugh, smile and feel for all the characters, even George.

I was lucky enough to get both the e-book and audiobook for review purposes and I listened and read both. Center’s books are a perfect fit for audio since they are usually from the point of view of the main character, it's like she’s telling her story. The reader did an awesome job bringing Katie's story to life with heart and emotion. The e-book worked great for curling up on the couch to read and unwind. I will be adding the print copy to my shelf to go with her other books.

The Love Haters is a story of friendship, loss, self love and stepping out of your comfort zone. There is a Great Dane named George Bailey, who one can’t help but love along with Lucky his new little friend.

My thanks to St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for advanced copies in exchange for a honest review.

What You Wish For by Katherine Center

Samantha Casey is a school librarian who loves her job, the kids, and her school family with passion and joy for living.
But she wasn’t always that way.
Duncan Carpenter is the new school principal who lives by rules and regulations, guided by the knowledge that bad things can happen.
But he wasn’t always that way.

And Sam knows it. Because she knew him before—at another school, in a different life. Back then, she loved him—but she was invisible. To him. To everyone. Even to herself. She escaped to a new school, a new job, a new chance at living. But when Duncan, of all people, gets hired as the new principal there, it feels like the best thing that could possibly happen to the school—and the worst thing that could possibly happen to Sam. Until the opposite turns out to be true. The lovable Duncan she’d known is now a suit-and-tie wearing, rule-enforcing tough guy so hell-bent on protecting the school that he’s willing to destroy it.

As the school community spirals into chaos, and danger from all corners looms large, Sam and Duncan must find their way to who they really are, what it means to be brave, and how to take a chance on love—which is the riskiest move of all.

With Katherine Center’s sparkling dialogue, unforgettable characters, heart, hope, and humanity, What You Wish For is the author at her most compelling best.

Paperback, 368 pages

Published July 13, 2021

 by Griffin

3.5/5 stars

As I continue to make my way slowly through Katherine Center's backlist I listened to the audiobook of What You Wish For on a travel day recently.

What You Wish For started out as a fun and quirky story. When Samantha meets up with your former coworker, she realizes how much he has changed from his past quirky fun loving self. She wants to know what happened, well one part of her wants to know what happened the other is trying to make him fun again.

This was a lighthearted story that also dealt with some serious subject matter, not just for Duncan, but for Samantha as well

What You Wish For is a story of healing, friendship, and standing up for something you believe in.
Though this isn’t one of my favourite Katherine Centre books I did enjoy it. I love the message and the ending.

My audiobook was obtained through my CloudLibrary subscription from my local library.

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center

She’s rewriting his love story. But can she rewrite her own?

Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a screenwriter. She’s spent her life studying, obsessing over, and writing romantic comedies―good ones! That win contests! But she’s also been the sole caretaker for her kind-hearted dad, who needs full-time care. Now, when she gets a chance to re-write a script for famous screenwriter Charlie Yates―The Charlie Yates! Her personal writing god!―it’s a break too big to pass up.

Emma’s younger sister steps in for caretaking duties, and Emma moves to L.A. for six weeks for the writing gig of a lifetime. But what is it they say? Don’t meet your heroes? Charlie Yates doesn’t want to write with anyone―much less “a failed, nobody screenwriter.” Worse, the romantic comedy he’s written is so terrible it might actually bring on the apocalypse. Plus! He doesn’t even care about the script―it’s just a means to get a different one green-lit. Oh, and he thinks love is an emotional Ponzi scheme.

But Emma’s not going down without a fight. She will stand up for herself, and for rom-coms, and for love itself. She will convince him that love stories matter―even if she has to kiss him senseless to do it. But . . . what if that kiss is accidentally amazing? What if real life turns out to be so much . . . more real than fiction? What if the love story they’re writing breaks all Emma’s rules―and comes true?

Kindle Edition, 325 pages

Expected publication June 11, 2024 

by St. Martin's Press

4.5/5 stars

Coming next week to a bookstore near you The Rom-Commers is Katherine Centers’s latest. An auto read author for me, I was fortunate enough to get both the digital and audio arc. I highly recommend both formats.

The Rom-Commers is the story of Emma Wheeler, whom I connected to her right away, I think mostly because I have been a caretaker myself so I was able to feel what she was going through, how she put her life on hold. Then there is Charlie Yates, the cranky screen writer who is idolized by Emma, but has no desire to have her help.  He is having issues with the rom/com he is writing (though he doesn't really know it...yet).

This was a great read, there was great banter, laugh out loud moments along with a serious side - as I have come to expect with this author. It was well written with real characters in real life situations. Definitely a book and author I recommend.  Be sure to read the blurb, it gives more details into the story - if you want, I actually went in blind.

My thanks to St. Martin’s Press for a digital arc and McMillan Audio for the audio arc.

Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center

A year after getting divorced, Helen Carpenter, thirty-two, lets her annoying, ten years younger brother talk her into signing up for a wilderness survival course. It's supposed to be a chance for her to pull herself together again, but when she discovers that her brother's even-more-annoying best friend is also coming on the trip, she can't imagine how it will be anything other than a disaster. Thus begins the strangest adventure of Helen's well-behaved life: three weeks in the remotest wilderness of a mountain range in Wyoming where she will survive mosquito infestations, a surprise summer blizzard, and a group of sorority girls.

Yet, despite everything, the vast wilderness has a way of making Helen's own little life seem bigger, too. And, somehow the people who annoy her the most start teaching her the very things she needs to learn. Like how to stand up for herself. And how being scared can make you brave. And how sometimes you just have to get really, really lost before you can even have a hope of being found.

Paperback,352 pages

Published September 1, 2020

 by St. Martin's Griffin

4.5/5 stars

Katherine Center, is not a new author for me, I discovered her last year when reading The Bodyguard, and am now slowly making my way through her back list. I jumped at the chance to read this one before the movie version comes out today on Netflix.

I went into this book blind, with no idea of what was going to take place. The story starts off right away as Helen (with an H) begins a journey that she hopes will lead to a stronger more confident self.  It's been a year since a messy divorce. Little does she know the obstacles that will come in her path along the way.

This is such a fun read for me. I finished it in a matter of days. Not only did Katherine Centre take me out into the wilderness but she did it with a great story, some wonderful dialogue which is always great in any book, all within a layered adventure. As with any Rom/Com, it isn’t always fun and games, but some hidden hurts of the past surface to provide healing.

As for the ending, and by ending I mean the epilogue. I really liked it, it was different in the sense it wasn't cheesy or too neat and tidy, but rather realistic and believable.

Definitely a book and author I recommend. Fingers crossed, the movie is just as good.

“I don’t think trying to be happy means you can never be sad,”

“It’s sadness that gives happiness its meaning.”

This book was part of my 2023 Reading Off My Shelf Challenge - #54

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center

Sadie Montogmery has had good breaks and bad breaks in her life, but as a struggling artist, all she needs is one lucky break. Things seem to be going her way when she lands one of the coveted finalist spots in a portrait competition. It happens to coincide with a surgery she needs to have. Minor, they say. Less than a week in the hospital they say. Nothing about you will change, they say. Upon recovery, it begins to dawn on Sadie that she can see everything around her, but she can no longer see faces.

Temporary, they say. Lots of people deal with this, they say. As she struggles to cope—and hang onto her artistic dreams—she finds solace in her fourteen-year-old dog, Peanut. Thankfully, she can still see animal faces. When Peanut gets sick, she rushes him to the emergency vet nearby. That’s when she meets veterinarian Dr. Addison. And she’s pleasantly surprised when he asks her on a date. But she doesn't want anyone to know about her face blindness. Least of all Joe, her obnoxious neighbor who always wears a bowling jacket and seems to know everyone in the building. He’s always there at the most embarrassing but convenient times, and soon, they develop a sort of friendship. But could it be something more?

As Sadie tries to save her career, confront her haunting past, and handle falling in love with two different guys she realizes that happiness can be found in the places—and people— you least expect.

Kindle Edition, 336 pages

Expected publication July 11, 2023

by St. Martin's Press

Audiobook, 10 hours, 15 minutes

by Macmillan Audio

4/5 stars

I  discovered Katherine Center's books after reading The Bodyguard last year. Since then, I've been slowly working my way through her back-list. However, Hello Stranger, which is set to release on July 11, 2023, isn't on that list. Luckily, I was able to obtain an advanced audiobook copy, and boy was it a treat!

The story follows Sadie, who's in desperate need of a break. But just when she thinks she's getting one, something unexpected happens that sends her life on a completely different path. I found the book to be both fun and educational, as I even had to Google "acute prosopagnosia" (face perception blindness) to fully understand what was going on (unlike Sadie).

Hello Stranger is a touching story about a woman still dealing with her mother's passing and her new step-family, giving off some serious Cinderella vibes. While the middle of the book was a bit slow, the last quarter was enjoyable as everything came together. I  loved the ending, it surprised me in ways I didn't anticipate. It's always a joy when an author can keep me on my toes.

Overall, Hello Stranger is a well-written and entertaining story about family, grief, and trusting oneself. I highly recommend both the author and the book.

My thanks to St. Martins Press for the digital arc and Macmillan Audio for the audio arc in exchange for an honest review, all via Netgalley.

How to Walk Away by Katherine Center

Margaret Jacobsen has a bright future ahead of her: a fiancé she adores, her dream job, and the promise of a picture-perfect life just around the corner. Then, suddenly, on what should have been one of the happiest days of her life, everything she worked for is taken away in one tumultuous moment.

In the hospital and forced to face the possibility that nothing will ever be the same again, Margaret must figure out how to move forward on her own terms while facing long-held family secrets, devastating heartbreak, and the idea that love might find her in the last place she would ever expect.

Paperback, 368 pages

Published July 9, 2019 

by St. Martin's Griffin

4/5 stars

Another instalment as I go through Katherine Center’s backlist. How to Walk Away was published in 2018.

Margaret Jacobsen has it all, or so it seems. Everything changes when an accident lands her in the hospital.

Without going into too much detail about this story suffice to say Maggie embarks on a journey that takes her to places she never imagined, to revisit relationships and past hurts. It's a story about the dynamics of family and new friends. Maggie’s story is told from her pov, giving this reader a glimpse into her thoughts and feelings. It’s a difficult time to say the least.

While dealing with some serious subject matter Katherine Center has once again written a heartfelt story with wit, nice banter and some laugh out loud scenes. It’s a story of forgiveness, unexpected changes and hope.

I listened to the audiobook, though I did read some from my print copy. Both of which are excellent formats.

This book was part of my 2023 Reading off my shelf challenge with the audiobook obtained via CloudLibrary.

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

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.

Kindle, 320 pages

Expected publication July 19, 2022

by St. Martin's Press

Audiobook, 10 hours, 30 minutes

Macmillan Audio

4.5/5 stars

I read this book after reading a couple of dark psychological thrillers, it was exactly what I needed, in terms of switching up genres.

Katherine Centre is a new-to-me author, I was unfamiliar with her books but this one grabbed my attention for the cover and interesting blurb. It releases in a couple weeks and I was given both a digital arc and audiobook for review. The audiobook comes in just under 11 hours with Patti Murin doing a great job reading, it was a pleasure to listen to.

The Bodyguard is definitely a rom/com and while a fun one it does contain some serious subject matters that haunts this cast, it was written with respect and tastefully handled.

Movie star legend, Jack Stapleton reluctantly agrees to an Executive Protection Agent (aka a bodyguard) against an obsessive corgi carrying fan.

Hannah also deals with the recent passing of her mother and betrayal from friends.

Like I said this a a fun read/listen. It was well written, I laughed, cringed and cheered on Jack and Hannah as they navigated their time together along with the obstacles they encountered. Basically it's the type of Rom/Com I enjoy because it doesn't lack the Com part.  This a book and author I recommend, I will be searching out her backlist.

My thanks to both St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for advanced copies in exchange for a honest review.