Book Review: The Shippers by Katherine Center

Official Synopsis: After a whole lifetime of being bad at love, JoJo Burton decides to solve her intimacy issues once and for all at her sister’s destination wedding on a cruise ship. With the help of a little pop psychology, she diagnoses herself with a fixation on the neighborhood guy who was her her first crush and first kiss (and who just happens to be a newly-divorced wedding guest), and she decides to woo him during the cruise for some long-delayed closure. Only problem is, her sister’s a little busy being a bride at the moment―so JoJo ropes in her childhood bestie, Cooper Watts, to be her wing man. Cooper: who RSVPed no, but then showed up, anyway. Cooper: who left town without a word four years earlier and moved to London. Cooper: who was, if she’s honest, the worst heartbreak of JoJo’s life. It’s bliss for her to see him again, and it’s agony, too―and the more they team up for Project Conquest, the more she obsesses over questions she can’t bring herself to ask.

Shipboard antics ensue in this witty, heart-tugging, childhood-friends-to-lovers romance―as JoJo and Cooper fake flirt, slow dance, share a cabin, sing duets, treat sunburns, get jealous, rescue each other over and over, and finally, at last, figure it all out in the most blissful, swoony, romantic way.

This book opens at JoJo's wedding, as she is debating if this is what she wants, if a life with Pierce is everything she ever dreamed of. That is when Cooper comes back, looking worse for wear and telling JoJo how to fake faint to make it believable. Cooper and JoJo have been inseparable since they met as kids, frequently getting into trouble together and rarely seen without each other. That is until one day, post-college, Cooper moves to London and stops talking to JoJo all together. Now he is back, telling JoJo not to get married and when she calls it all off...he disappears again.

Now JoJo is trying to figure out why she is so bad at love...as well as how Cooper could have the audacity to leave after telling her to call off her wedding. As she counts down the weeks to her older sister's wedding, she becomes determined to show everyone that she has grown up, and isn't as bad at love as they all think. Ashley, JoJo's sister, has a plan that would bring JoJo together with her long-term crush...Finn, which will definitely fix all of her problems...right? That it is until Cooper decides to again just show up while they are waiting in line to board the cruise ship that Ashley's wedding is on. Cooper looks different this time, clean shaven, hair cut and dressed in an outfit that would make JoJo drop to her knees if it was anyone else. JoJo doesn't know if she should be annoyed at Cooper or relieved he is there to help with the plan.

As JoJo tries to make her childhood crush become something real, she also keeps finding herself returning to Cooper. who is there to help with everything, listens when she talks about her job (which is math, no one lines math) and talks her up to everyone who is trying to bring her down. But there is no way Cooper could have feelings for JoJo...right? He left without a word and didn't talk to her for four years and now he's back and it feels like what JoJo imagines home would be.

This book is a fun ride of antics, plotting siblings and nosy neighbors...all stuck together on a cruise ship as they prepare for a wedding. Between the wedding drama, the silly games and roommates who are using the room for their own pleasure, we get to see what happens when you keep a bunch of people together on a boat for a week. One thing about this book is that very early on I knew the ending, I feel that way about a lot of Katherine Center's books. However, this book was like a warm hug at times, and knowing that no matter what it will have a happy ending was something I needed at the time of reading. There is no spice in this book, or low if you count kissing as spice, but the story is sweet and the side plots are also really fun.

I really enjoyed having JoJo realize how her own problems may have stemmed from perceived problems between her parents, and how we got to see them figure out their issues as well while stuck on the ship. I think having the story overall take place in a close quarters situation was really great, especially during a certain part of the plot where 'getting back to each other' becomes harder because the whole thing is on a ship. I also enjoyed that this story didn't have that 'well it happened on the ship, lets not take it to real life' moment.

If you need a good beach, or cruise, read for this summer that has a lot of funny antics and an overall cute love story, this book is definitely for you. This is a warm hug of a romance that will definitely give you some butterflies at times.

I rated this book 3.5 / 5 stars!

The Shippers comes out May 19, 2026!

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