The Shippers

By Katherine Center

NO ONE DOES SUMMER ROMANCE LIKE KATHERINE CENTER.

She wants him to help her woo someone else.
Genius. Foolproof. Can't go wrong.

DELUXE EDITION―a gorgeous hardcover edition featuring beautiful sky blue sprayed edges

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.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250408059
• ISBN13: 9781250408051
• Release Date: May 2026
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Laugh-out-loud beach read

Thanks to NetGalley, Goodreads and St. Martin’s Press for an advance reader copy. All comments and opinions are my own unless otherwise noted. If it’s a Katherine Center book, it’s at the top of my TBR list. So I couldn’t wait to read this one. The characters were likeable, the bad guys earned their negative reps, and the meant-to-be couple were perfectly suited even if they both don’t realize it till the end. An almost wedding, a cruise, another wedding, childhood friends-to-lovers, fake flirting, miscommunication, clever banter – this had many traditional romcom elements and also plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. Yes it was predictable but I couldn’t put it down. This isn’t as perfect as Center’s top romcoms ("Hello Stranger," "The Bodyguard," "The Rom-Commers," "The Love Haters"), but it’s a fun and entertaining beach read.