Tag: Rom-com

What’s Ashley Reading?: The Shippers

The Shippers by Katherine Center

First line: Mrs. Richmond’s wedding gown was itchy, for one thing.

Summary: After leaving her groom at the altar, JoJo Burton has decided she is going to finally break her cursed love life. With the help of her sister and her former childhood best friend, Cooper, she is determined to catch the eye of her teenage crush. Luckily, he happens to be attending her sister’s wedding cruise. However, with her sister busy with wedding details most of the scheming falls to her best friend. As they spend time together, she remembers all the things leading up to their falling out years before. JoJo hopes that this time together will help her and Cooper’s friendship but with each passing day, there seems to be something more between them. Will she need to abandon her plan or is she willing to lose Cooper forever?

My Thoughts: Again, such a wonderful summer read from Katherine Center. I had so much fun with this one. It took me back to the days when I spent summers outside with the neighbor kids until the sun went down. It was funny, charming and heartwarming.

The book begins on JoJo’s wedding day. She is stuck in a horribly itchy wedding gown belonging to her future mother in law. It seems like a sign and then her childhood best friend, Cooper, shows up to save the day! What a wonderful start to a rom-com, then add to it a cruise ship, former crush, a plan to seduce said former crush and a lot of miscommunication.

As readers, we watch her make mistakes when it seems so obvious to us what she should choose. However, while feeling exasperated with her choices I laughed along at the ridiculousness of it. In the end, everything always works out but the middle full of messiness kept me reading until the end. While sitting by the pool or enjoying a summer getaway this should be in your reading pile. It will make you laugh and remember your childhood summers spent with all your neighborhood friends.

What’s Ashley Reading?: The Rom-Commers

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center

Summary: Emma has spent the last ten years taking care of her disabled father. Then one day her best friend calls her with the opportunity of a lifetime. She is being asked to work on a screenplay with her favorite screenwriter, Charlie Yates. As she reads the screenplay she realizes that this will take a lot of work but it is a challenge she is willing to pursue but she worries about her father. Leaving him with her sister who has little idea of what Emma has done to take care of him she takes a leap of faith and embarks on her chance at advancing her career.

But upon arrival she discovers that Charlie did not know she was coming. After some convincing and perusal of her work he reluctantly agrees but this job will not be as easy as she imagined. Charlie does not appear to care about the script or even believe in love. Emma is determined to show him that rom-coms are worthwhile and she will prove it to him no matter what.

My Thoughts: This is my second Katherine Center book and I enjoyed it just as much as the first, Hello Stranger. The title, The Rom-Commers, is exactly why I have enjoyed these two books. They are easy to read, have cute scenes between the two main characters and follow the usual pattern of a rom-com. Sometimes I just want something easy and silly. This fits that bill exactly.

Each character is hard-headed. They constantly butt heads and argue but this perfect romantic tension. At times I did find the story a little drawn out but it was easy to overlook. I enjoyed it, laughed at some of the silliness and got frustrated with the characters at appropriate times. This is perfect for reading at the pool side on vacation or with a cup of tea on the patio.

**Release date is June 11, 2024.

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