One of my favorite times of the year is when I get to read a new book by Katherine Center. She never fails to deliver a story that brings a smile to my face. The Shippers is filled with great banter, plenty of shenanigans, and wonderful characters.

JoJo is terrible at love, or so she believes. When she hatches a plan to seduce her childhood crush at her sister’s destination wedding on board a cruise ship, well, let’s just say that it is far from smooth sailing for JoJo.

Thank goodness, her childhood best friend showed up for this wedding. Cooper Watts and JoJo were inseparable from the moment he moved to her street, but something happened to their relationship four years earlier when he just up and moved to London, England without a reason or a goodbye. JoJo has always wondered why he left her like that but was too nervous to actually ask and find out. Together again, though, she is determined to get a chance with her childhood crush and is hoping that Cooper will be her wing man.

The Shippers is a lighthearted friends-to-lovers romance. I was rooting for the characters right from the beginning. Yes, there is some emotional baggage that the characters are carrying with them. Yes, there is the push and pull between them (and I may have wanted to give them a good shove a few times myself). I enjoyed my time with these characters. While their antics were sometimes over the top, it is fiction, and I was more than happy to just sit back and let the characters take me on a romantic adventure.

I found myself sneaking a few minutes here and there to read a couple of chapters in between real-life chores, and when that happens, I know that I loved a book.

*5 Stars