Book Details
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 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.
Book Review: The Shippers
Hello Book Friends,
Today I’m reviewing Katherine Center’s latest and greatest The Shippers. So let’s get to it!
Reasons why you should read The Shippers:
- Childhood besties
- Destination wedding
- Friends to lovers
- He falls first
- Grumpy + Sunshine
- Unrequited love or is it???
Convinced yet?
Book friends, Katherine Center penned another romance novel readers will binge read in a heartbeat. The setup, the pacing, the characters, it’s all in a word, fantastic. You have a middle school art teacher who is emotionally stuck after her failed wedding day, where her childhood bestie rescued her like a knight in shimmering armor from a marriage she probably didn’t really want in the first place. That perhaps, she was just settling.
And then the story begins in earnest, where Jojo tries to reinvent herself enlisting Cooper (the childhood bestie) to help her get her childhood crush to really notice her all the while (and ever so slowly) realizing, who she is, is all she ever needed to be, and that a certain someone was who she wanted all along.
A swoony love story about recognizing self-worth and the people who bring you the most joy, Katherine Center’s The Shippers is a romance novel you really should RSVP yes to.
Happy Reading ~ Cece
RATING: 
– Exceptionally Inked
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About the Author
BookPage calls Katherine Center “the reigning queen of comfort reads.” She’s the New York Times bestselling author of over half a dozen books, including How to Walk Away, Things You Save in a Fire, and What You Wish For. Katherine writes laugh-and-cry books about how life knocks us down—and how we get back up. She’s been compared to both Jane Austen and Nora Ephron, and the Dallas Morning News calls her stories, “satisfying in the most soul-nourishing way.” Her books have made countless Best-Of lists, including RealSimple’s Best Books of 2020, Amazon’s Top 100 Books of 2019, Goodreads’ Best Books of the Year, and many more. Bestselling author Emily Henry calls her summer 2022 book, The Bodyguard, “a shot of pure joy.” The movie adaptation of Katherine’s novel The Lost Husband (starring Josh Duhamel) hit #1 on Netflix, and her novel Happiness for Beginners is now a Netflix original starring Ellie Kemper. Katherine lives in her hometown of Houston, Texas, with her husband, two kids, and their fluffy-but-fierce dog.
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publication details
| Pub Date | ISBN | Page Count | Publisher | Age Group | Source & Format | Review Posted Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26-May-19 | 9781250408051 | 336 | St. Martin’s Press | Adult | NetGalley, Digital ARC | December 30, 2025 |
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OTHER BOOKS YOU MAY ENJOY
Welcome Reader!
I’m Cecelia and I’m so glad you’re here! You’ll find honest reviews, book recommendations, along with other bookish essentials. So happy you stopped by!
– C
Let’s Be Friends
ABOUT THE CREATOR
CECE BECKMAN
Cece holds a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing from California State University, Long Beach. She lives in California with her husband and children. When she’s not reading or writing reviews she can be found wandering book aisles at local bookshops, drinking iced cold lattes with cold cream foam, or passing the time with her cats.
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