DRC Review: The Shippers by Katherine Center
- Story Eater
- 1 hour ago
- 3 min read
Release date: 19 May 2026
Rating: 5/5
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Genre: Fiction/Romance
Synopsis: 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.
Review
Find yourself a favorite author who make you laugh your guts flat like this one, folks.
This book is just one long string of hilarious banter and fantastic, swoony romance (with no explicit sexual content for those who like those kinds of books).
Books must be entertaining for me to read them more than once; they must be exceptionally so for me to read them twice within a short span of time. Center's novels have always been favorites of mine. I first discovered her through NetGalley when I read Hello Stranger, after which I read her entire backlist in record time. Since then, every release is automatically preordered, and if I'm lucky enough, I get an early copy to read and review.
Until The Shippers, the undefeated favorite Center novel for me was Hello Stranger. JoJo and Cooper are possibly the best couple I've read in a romance lately (and maybe ever). I love the camaraderie, the hilarious exchanges, and the endearing loyalty they share. At its heart, this romance revolves around a miscommunication trope (with a side of friends-to-lovers), and I don't mind in this instance. Readers shouldn't grow frustrated with a couple of oblivious and emotionally stunted adults with a glaringly obvious problem that could easily be solved by a simple conversation, and the way this instance of miscommunication progresses toward a solution is so fun to read.
As with any Center book, there are some heavier issues for characters to deal with. Even the "unlikable" characters wind up worming their way into readers' hearts. That one odd cousin or childhood crush that folks just misunderstand really shine in this story. And, even though I generally hate stories that take place on ships or basically any confined space where the plot can be monotonous and just drag, Center does a splendid job of making up for the lack of scenery with characters and plot. I didn't get bored a bit.
My thanks to St. Martin's Press via NetGalley for the DRC, for which I willingly give my own, honest opinion.
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