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!
Audiobook Review: What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
What Alice Forgot
Author: Liane Moriarty
Narrator: Tamara Lovatt Smith
Published: May 1, 2010
Audiobook: 13 hours 32 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: March 15-23, 2026
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
Alice Love is twenty-nine, crazy about her husband, and pregnant with her first child. So imagine Alice’s surprise when she comes to on the floor of a gym (a gym! She HATES the gym) and is whisked off to the hospital where she discovers the honeymoon is truly over — she’s getting divorced, she has three kids, and she’s actually 39 years old. Alice must reconstruct the events of a lost decade, and find out whether it’s possible to reconstruct her life at the same time. She has to figure out why her sister hardly talks to her, and how is it that she’s become one of those super skinny moms with really expensive clothes. Ultimately, Alice must discover whether forgetting is a blessing or a curse, and whether it’s possible to start over…
Jessica’s Review:
Imagine this: You wake up in the hospital. Other than being unsure why you are there, you are thinking you are 29, have a happy marriage, and newly expecting your first child. And it is 1998. Then you are told it is actually 2008, you are 39 (No Way!?!?! That’s middle age!!!) with three children (Wait a minute..not one but three kids!?!?!), estranged from your sister, and in the middle of a divorce (WHAT!?!?). That’s what happens to Alice after she has a fall in the gym.
This is the basic premise of What Alice Forgot. The reader/listener goes on the journey with Alice to try and figure out the who, what, when, and whys over the forgotten last ten years. There are many mini mysteries that Alice must figure out, or does she even want to? This is a book about family misunderstandings, forgiveness, second chances, and love.
Can you imagine missing the last ten years of your life?!?! This was a book club read and called for a lot of discussions. The ten years that Alice forgot a lot happened in the world: She doesn’t even remember 9/11. And then all of the technological changes over that time including Y2K! Even going back from now in 2026 to back to 2016, I have gone through so many changes! It’s scary to think about.
I did have some issued with the narration. At times it was hard to distinguish differences in characters journals/homework, etc. I had to go back in my audiobook at the beginning of most chapters to figure out who or when the chapter was occurring. Maybe a second narrator or even just a change in her tone would have been helpful.
Other than the narration issues, I did enjoy this one!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
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Audiobook Review: Without a Clue by Melissa Ferguson
Without a Clue
Author: Melissa Ferguson
Narrator: Karissa Vacker
Published: February 17, 2026
Audiobook: 8 hours 43 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: February 24-28, 2026
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
When a mystery writer mysteriously dies on a cruise filled with rabid fans, his protégé (and personal assistant) teams up with a rugged cowboy and fellow writer to crack the case. One part Only Murders in the Building, one part Book Lovers, and a whole lot of laughs, Without a Clue will keep readers guessing and swooning until the very end.
If there’s one thing Penelope Mae Dupont prizes most, it’s her composure–her ability to stay calm in the face of stress. It’s a vital trait in her job as a personal assistant to renowned mystery author Hugh Griffin. But when Pip organizes a book cruise featuring The Fabulous Seven–seven celebrated authors from different genres who have supported each other through thick and thin–her famed composure is in danger of sailing away. One boat, hundreds of devoted readers, and seven Big Personalities. What could possibly go wrong?
Disaster strikes when, on the second day of the cruise, Hugh is found murdered. And, in the face of gross incompetence by the on-board security force, Pip realizes she’ll need to be the one to discover who did it. With the ship stranded in the middle of the Atlantic and no help on the horizon, it’s up to her to unravel the mystery. Along with her friend Nash–a dreamy Western author who’s just as rugged as the cowboys he writes about. As Pip’s composure starts to sink faster than a leaky dinghy, Nash becomes her anchor in a storm of clues and red herrings.
With Nash at her side, Penelope dives into the murky depths of the mystery, navigating treacherous waters filled with unexpected twists and turns. No one, not even a desperately hopeful mystery sleuth named Pip, could anticipate the wild ride ahead. Whether she likes it or not, she is on the adventure of a lifetime . . . and maybe, just maybe, she’ll find love along the way.
In this laugh-out-loud funny Clue-meets-Emily-Henry rom-com, Penelope Mae Dupont is about to find out that in the world of mystery and romance, you have to risk going overboard to find the truth.
Jessica’s Review:
This was such a fun novel to listen to! And Karissa Vacker narrated it: She is a narrator I look out for, so when I saw this one, I had to listen to it!
We have Penelope (Pip) who has organized a book cruise (that would be so much fun to go on!) featuring The Fabulous Seven and the cruise is seemingly going well until… we have a murder of one of the seven! And it was committed by another one of the seven! On board security is useless so Pip finds herself having to ‘catch’ the killer… without harm coming to anyone else. And along the journey comes a possible love connection… or is it?
Again, Without a Clue was so much fun! The listener gets a little bit of everything: mystery intrigue, murder, and maybe a love connection! Come on this cruise and follow Pip figure out just what is going on! You’ll be in for an adventure all the way unto the end! I was not expecting the novel to go the way it did!
If you need a fun read with some murder and intrigue, give Without a Clue a read or listen! Many thanks to the publisher for granting me an audio copy to listen and review. I enjoyed this one!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK