ALC Review: The Shippers by Katherine Center
The Shippers
Author: Katherine Center
Narrator: Patti Murin
To Be Published: May 19, 2026
Audiobook: 11 hours 8 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: April 22-29, 2026
Jessica’s Rating: 5 stars
Book Description:
She wants him to help her woo someone else. Genius. Foolproof. Can’t go wrong.
After a lifetime of being bad at love, JoJo Burton vows to solve her intimacy issues once and for all at her sister’s destination wedding on a cruise ship. Armed with 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). Determined to woo him for closure, she ropes in her childhood bestie, Cooper Watts, as her wingman. Cooper: who RSVPed no, but showed up anyway. Cooper: who moved to London without a word four years ago. Cooper: who broke her heart.
Shipboard antics abound in this witty, heart-tugging, childhood-friends-to-lovers romance, as JoJo and Cooper team up, fake flirt, slow dance, share a cabin, sing duets, get jealous, answer long-held questions, and finally, at last, discover truths about each other that will change everything.
Jessica’s Review:
Katherine Center has a new novel coming out and Patti Murin narrates it!?!? The Shippers equals a fun ‘beach read’ to start the summer off! Katherine Center books are almost always a ‘must listen to’ and they are just entertaining fun reads.
We have JoJo, our FMC who starts out the novel about to get married, but doesn’t. It’s a whole story on its own. Six weeks later JoJo’s sister Ashley is getting married on a cruise ship and the whole family is meeting up again. Joining this wedding after crashing JoJo’s is Cooper, JoJo’s longtime childhood friend and also Finn. Finn was JoJo’s first kiss as a child and is also newly divorced. The plan is to get JoJo and Finn together by the end of the wedding week/cruise.
There is a lot that goes on in the novel in addition to the romance. We have family coming together, and miscommunication galore! If the miscommunication trope is a negative foryou, then you might want to skip this one, but I loved it! We have a lot of fun side characters: JoJo’s parents (mainly dad), grandma, cousin Harmony, and ‘Bridesmaid 2’(Does she even have a name?). These characters were so much fun! I was fully involved in the novel from the beginning. We have JoJo who is ‘book smart’ (she’s really good at Math) but not ‘street smart’ in the slightest. She was just so entertaining for me. And she gets into so many over the top situations you can’t help but laugh at times.
Patti Murin is back narrating another Center novel. When I saw that I got excited! Murin always does a superb job and I have yet to feel like we need a separate male narrator for the male voices when she narrates. Murin is one of the narrators I always look out for.
This romcom is no spice, but there is chemistry and a little bit of steam. I knew the direction the novel was going to ultimately go (thanks to my love of thrillers!) but enjoyed the ride JoJo took me on.
Some people say romcoms are predictable but Center address that in her Author’s Note to the reader/listener. Center achieves what she meant to for me with this novel: A fun romcom. Romcoms are supposed to leave a reader with a HEA (Happy Ever After/ Happy Ending), even if you figure out the most of what is going to happen. The Shippers was a long time in coming (Thanks Covid) but it is finally being released for everyone to read and enjoy.
Many thanks to the publisher for approving me for this one, I really enjoyed it!
Pre-Order Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK I like this cover with the blue dress much better than the US cover!
Cover Reveal: My Spanish Romance by Olivia Spring
Today I am helping in the cover reveal for the upcoming novel My Spanish Romance by Olivia Spring. The publication date for this one is January 19, 2023 (OMG!) and will be here before you know it!
Book Description:
My Spanish Romance: Falling For My Brother’s Best Friend…
Dating her brother’s best friend is against the rules.
But some rules are meant to be broken…
After discovering her cheating ex’s plans to move into her building, accountant Lily jets off on a sabbatical to Marbella.
When she unexpectedly bumps into her brother’s best friend, hot Spanish DJ Carlos—the guy she’s had a crush on since forever—sparks fly.
But Carlos promised Lily’s brother he’d never mess with his little sister. Breaking the bro code would end their friendship.
Lily knows that Casanova Carlos doesn’t do relationships, so all he could offer is a steamy holiday fling. And after wanting him for so long, if they spent the night together, Lily’s heart and body might never recover.
She tries to suppress her feelings, but when Carlos takes Lily to his favourite places in Spain, the attraction becomes harder to resist. With her brother hundreds of miles away, what he doesn’t know won’t hurt, right?
Should Lily throw caution to the wind and risk heartbreak by enjoying a sizzling Spanish romance? And if she does, will it lead to long-term love?
Order this fun, steamy, brother’s-best-friend, forbidden love romcom now and join Lily in Spain to find out!
This can be read as a standalone novel or as part of the My Ten-Year Crush series.
Now….. What does the cover look like?????? Keep scrolling to find out!!
Almost there!!!
Here it is:
Pre-order Here:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
About the Author:
Olivia Spring is a British, London-based writer of contemporary women’s fiction, sexy chick lit and romantic comedy. Her uplifting debut novel The Middle-Aged Virgin, which was released in 2018, deals with being newly single in your thirties and beyond, dating, relationships, love, sex and living life to the full.
In addition to The Middle-Aged Virgin, Olivia has published The Middle-Aged Virgin in Italy, Love Offline, Losing My Inhibitions, Only When It’s Love and the sequel When’s The Wedding?
My Ten-Year Crush, Olivia’s seventh novel, marked the start of a new series in 2021. My Lucky Night and My Paris Romance followed soon afterwards and book four, My Spanish Romance will be published in January 2023.
When she’s not writing, Olivia can be found enjoying cupcakes and cocktails and of course, seeking inspiration for her next book!
Contact the Author:
Twitter @ospringauthor
Instagram @ospringauthor
Tiktok
Bookbub
Blog Blitz: Blue Skies by Alana Oxford
As a part of the blog blitz, today I share my review for Blue Skies by Alana Oxford. I awarded this one 5 stars!
Book Description:
Life isn’t always a walk in the park, but when Patrice takes her Pomeranians to the park after a rough day at the office, fate steps in. An unlikely hero comes to the rescue when one of her dogs gets loose. Short, pale, and kind of cute, Seth doesn’t have a lot of confidence with the ladies, but he hits it off with Patrice.
But some things might be too good to be true. While Patrice wonders if Seth could possibly be “the one”, fate steps in again with a horrible twist. Will it be a deal breaker or just a storm before bright blue skies?
Blue Skies
Author: Alana Oxford
Published: August 29, 2020
100 Pages
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: October 6-8, 2020
Jessica’s Rating: 5 stars
Jessica’s Review:
This was a fun and quick read, and as you get closer to the end you find yourself reading faster to see what happens!
This was a welcome break from the thrillers I read, and this year in general. Blue Skies is a cute romcom novella, where at 100 pages you get a complete story. As I was getting closer to the end I was not sure it was going to have everything summed up but we did.
I adored both Patrice and Seth. You are rooting for those two to get together, but when you find out what the twist is… Wow…. It is definitely unexpected and makes you unsure of what is going to happen.
Blue Skies deals with a relatable situation that anyone with multiple dogs could find themselves in while walking. In fact, when I had the opportunity to join the blog tour, my sister had just had a similar run in that Patrice had at the park: She has two dogs and one got loose and ran off. My sister did not have a ‘unlikely hero’ come to her rescue, but a group of people helped her with her dogs. Everyone is fine, but because of this story I just had to sign up for the blog tour! I pictured my sister and her two dogs as Patrice and her Pomeranians as I read the novella. This definitely added to my enjoyment of the novella as I read it. Another coincidence is that I have an aunt named Patrice: How about that!?!?!?
This is my first read from Oxford and I hope to read more from her.
This fun novella is definitely recommended in this year of chaos that 2020 has become.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
About the Author:
Alana Oxford is a Michigan author of romcoms, sweet romance, and humorous women’s fiction. She wants her stories to bring sunshine and smiles to her readers. She enjoys improv comedy, moody music, everything book related, and has an ongoing love affair with the United Kingdom.
Contact Alana:
Twitter: @AlanaOxford
Instagram @AlanaOxford