Katherine Center has cleverly titled her latest rom-com THE SHIPPERS. The setting is a cruise ship, so in that sense the title is logical. But I learned that “ship” is slang for relationship. To be specific, the verb means wishing for two people to be together; the noun is the actual romantic pairing. In this novel, the romantic couple being “shipped” seems to be clear from the start, but as we know, things in fiction (and real life) are not always what they appear to be.

Jojo Burton is walking up the aisle on the first page. She's getting married to the man to whom she's been engaged for four long years. The first hint that all is not well is the book’s first sentence when we are made aware that the wedding gown is horribly itchy. The dress belongs to her future mother-in-law who didn't even allow her to alter it. It merely was adjusted with safety pins. 

"No one writes rom-coms like Katherine Center.... You'll smile throughout the cruise and even more so at the very satisfying, unsurprising, romantic and perfect ending."

As Jojo is ready to proceed with the processional, a figure from her past appears. Cooper, her childhood best friend who disappeared four years ago (coincidentally right when she became engaged to Pearce), flies in from London. He looks burly and hairy, with long wild locks and a shaggy beard. His muscular, manly body does not resemble the boy she remembered from childhood and their teen years. He tells her that she can get out of the wedding. Stop, drop and roll. After a brief conversation, Jojo meets her fiancé at the altar, fakes a faint, and calls off the wedding. 

Now Jojo is convinced that her love life is jinxed. She is destined to dump every man who falls in love with her. She only falls in love with those who don't return her feelings. Her older sister, Ashley, is getting married on a cruise ship, and Ashley comes up with a plan to cure Jojo of her cursed love life. 

Ashley has read research stating that people become imprinted on the individual with whom they share their first kiss. So if Jojo can recreate that first kiss with Finn, the guy who kissed her when he was 13 and she was 10 as a dare, she will either fall in love with him or the curse will be broken. Finn will be one of many neighborhood friends attending the wedding cruise. So Ashley and Jojo create a whole plan for the cruise in order to bring Finn and Jojo together so that they can fall madly in love, or at least recreate the kiss. 

But Cooper shows up on the loading dock, handsome and confident, drawing everyone's eye because he looks like a movie star. Cooper has cut and styled his hair; he is dressed to the nines and wears sunglasses. That's when we know that it is not Jojo's destiny to end up with Finn. But she doesn't know that yet. The fun is watching Jojo convince herself that Finn is the person for her, watching her try to help her father fix his relationship with her mother (who has asked for a divorce), and watching her try to become a different person to entice Finn into falling for her. 

No one writes rom-coms like Katherine Center. She is the goddess of love stories and finding lots of humor in relationships and our inner workings. She really gets people --- their idiosyncrasies, insecurities and soft, gooey centers. Because in our hearts (our soft centers), most of us want to feel protected, loved and understood, and to make strong connections with others.

When we find someone who can provide those things, we've found our “ship.” Don't expect suspense. We know from the beginning that Jojo and Cooper will be the HEA of the story, and on the (cruise) ship they will find their ship. The whole novel is even more clever than the title. It's charming. You'll smile throughout the cruise and even more so at the very satisfying, unsurprising, romantic and perfect ending.