The Shippers by Katherine Center

 

Title: The Shippers

Author: Katherine Center

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Release Date: May 19, 2026

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

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. 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.

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A summer rom-com!

Jojo Burton is a runaway bride. When the story begins, Jojo is about to marry her long-standing boyfriend. But before she walks down the aisle, her best friend, Cooper Watts, shows up from England and helps her realize this isn’t what she wants.

Six weeks later, she is on a cruise where her sister, Ashley, is getting married. Jojo dated Ashley’s fiancé years ago—long before he and Ashley got together—and he still seems to hold a grudge against her.

Jojo believes that in order to break the curse she feels she has about intimacy and finally be lucky in love, she must kiss her first kiss again. Finn Turner grew up in the same neighborhood and was Jojo’s first kiss. Luckily for her, he is now divorced and has RSVP’d yes to the wedding.

Katherine Center has written some of my favorite rom-coms. Her novels usually make me laugh and cry. The Shippers was cute, but I can’t say I loved it. It had great characters that made me want to learn more about them—like Jojo’s parents and Ashley. However, some of the characters were unlikable. I really disliked Ashley’s fiancé. Holding a grudge against Jojo for so many years just wasn’t right. If I were Ashley, I wouldn’t marry him.

My favorite character, hands down, was Cooper. He was supportive, patient, and sweet toward Jojo—always there for her. Jojo, on the other hand, was very immature for her age. She created most of her own problems, and many of her decisions were quite questionable.

Cliffhanger: No

3.5/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by St. Martin's Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Night We Met by Abby JimenezSay You'll Remember Me #2

 

Title: The Night We Met

Series: Say You'll Remember Me #2

Author: Abby Jimenez

Publisher: Forever

Release Date: March 24, 2026

A beautiful, compelling novel that revels in laughter, friendship, and the messy choices life can throw our way.

In everyone’s life, there’s a split-second decision that can change everything...

For Larissa, it came when choosing which guy to ride home with after a concert. That night, she had no idea she’d met the perfect man. She and Chris are great together, co-parenting a slightly unhinged rescue Yorkie, sharing their favorite books, and judging bread (pumpernickel for the win!). For the first time amid all her side hustles to scrape by, things finally feel easy.

But Chris isn't the one who drove Larissa home all those months ago—Chris is her boyfriend's best friend. All Chris wants is for Larissa to be happy. Standing by on the sidelines is slowly killing him, but making a move would destroy someone else. And he’s just not that guy.

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How did I miss this release this year? No clue

Larissa works as a waitress. She also takes on smaller jobs just to pay off the debts her father incurred using her name. She is living with her mother, who never seems to pick the right guys.

Chris is a pharmacist dealing with the loss of his mother.

These two meet after a concert with friends. Larissa needs a ride home and has to choose between Mike and Chris. She decides to go with Mike, who is Chris’s best friend.

Two months after Mike and Larissa start dating, Mike calls Chris to bail him out. He had promised to take Larissa and his mother to the hospital for Larissa’s mother’s hand surgery, but Mike was too tired and hungover to do it. Chris gets dressed on his day off and takes them instead.

After Mike helps her get her broken car out of the shop, they make their relationship official. Unbeknownst to Larissa, Chris was the one who forced Mike to help with the bill.

Chris and Larissa form a friendship that deepens over time. They also bond after finding a dog they name Wooferine—a Yorkie with a hunting streak. Larissa helps potty-train him and walks him while Chris is at work.

This is probably one of the best ways a love triangle has been done. Mike wasn’t a bad person; he just needed to realize he needed help. Chris was enabling Mike most of the time. Chris reminded me of Cyrano de Bergerac with everything he was doing in the background. He was making Larissa’s life better without her knowing it was him helping her, and all those lovely things he did for her made Larissa fall for Mike, believing it was him doing them.

The narrators, Terea Palmes and Zachary Webber, performed this audiobook perfectly.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan

 

Title: Dolly All the Time

Author: Annabel Monaghan

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons

Release Date: May 26, 2026

If they start by pretending, can they end with something real?

Dolly Brick has never met a problem she couldn’t solve. Not when her mom left when she was twelve, and not at thirty-nine when she moves with her son back to Whitfield, Rhode Island, for the summer to keep her dad and brother from losing the family home.

So when she comes across Stewart Whitfield—annoyingly handsome scion of the Whitfield family—with a flat tire and at the wrong end of a very public, very humiliating breakup, it’s in her nature to help. But Stewart’s proposed arrangement ends up being more than either of them bargained for, because as public dinners and high-society benefits turn into sunset boat rides and kisses that hit her bloodstream like a ghost pepper, Dolly starts to feel something more than helpful. She’s never relied on anyone besides herself—can she really start now?

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Fake Dating as it's best!

Dolly Brick and her son, Gus, are moving back to Whitfield, Rhode Island, for the summer to help her father and her brother, Christopher.

Dolly is a hard worker. She is a kindergarten teacher, an Uber driver, and a call-center representative for a company in Boston. She loves small-town life and knows Gus has been having trouble with friends at school, so she hopes he can make new ones here.

Dolly became an adult at twelve when her mother left the family. Her mother had been in an accident that injured Christopher, and she couldn’t deal with it, so she walked out. Dolly stepped up and took on all the responsibilities. The same thing happened when she got pregnant, and the father wanted nothing to do with being a parent—she became a single mom and handled it on her own.

Her life changes when she helps Stewart Whitfield, the town’s rich golden boy, change a tire. He recently went through a very public breakup after his fiancée was caught cheating with a baseball player. Stewart is trying to become the CEO of the family company and needs to improve his image. He proposes a fake-dating arrangement to help with that. In exchange, Dolly asks him to replace the roof on her father’s house.

Of course, the more time they spend together, the more they realize they enjoy each other’s company—and maybe there’s something real worth pursuing.

I love reading Annabel Monaghan’s books. They’re all great, and Dolly All the Time is no different. I fell in love with Dolly and Gus—they’re wonderful characters. Stewart was nice enough, but he could have been better when Dolly needed him to be there for her.

I listened to the audiobook because Julia Whelan is the narrator, and she is amazing.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by G.P. Putnam's Sons via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Other by Annie NeugebauerThe Outsiders Sequence #2

 

Title: The Other 

Series: The Outsiders Sequence #2

Author: Annie Neugebauer

Publisher: Shortwave Publishing

Release Date: June 9, 2026

A couple on an outdoor retreat meet their doppelgangers on a hiking trail and are soon tested on how well they truly know each other.

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After reading the first novella, The Extra, I couldn't wait to read The Other.

Set in the same world as its predecessor, The Other follows Elisa and Logan, a couple hiking in an attempt to reconnect before their marriage completely falls apart. They have been together for many years but have not yet had children, and that might be the thing that finally breaks them.

Elisa and Logan are ready to set up camp when they come across another couple at the site—Bryce and Allison—who look eerily similar to them. They are bewildered by the resemblance, but in the end, they decide to stay the night.

The next morning, chaos ensues.

I’m loving this series, and what a great, truly unexpected finale!

I will be setting aside any other book when the next book in this series comes out.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Shortwave Publishing via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Happy Ending by Chloe Liese

Title: Happy Ending

Author: Chloe Liese

Publisher: Gallery Books

Release Date: April 14, 2026

From USA TODAY bestselling author Chloe Liese, a clever and heartwarming rom-com that is perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Annabel Monaghan about two best friends who must fake a relationship for their exes.

Thea and Alex have three things in common—they love food, they hate where they live, and they’re both divorced. Otherwise, they couldn’t be more different.

Thea’s never cooked a day in her life. Alex is a world-class chef. Alex resents feeling stuck in his hometown. Thea resents the town for not feeling more like home. Thea and her ex are in a contentious custody battle for their dog. Alex and his ex amicably coparent their daughter. Beyond a few friends in common, a couple small-world connections (welcome to life in a mid-size city), their lives look nothing alike. Fast forward two years, and they’re truly the best of friends. No one would ever know their friendship began as a lie…

Two years ago, their exes got together immediately following their divorces, and somehow, Thea and Alex found themselves spinning a spite-fueled story about being old friends and first loves. Two years later, what began as a ruse has grown into real friendship—just friendship, despite what friends and family seem to think. But when their exes invite them on a two-week, “two family” beach vacation—daughter and dog included—Alex and Thea start to wonder if this story they’ve spun might have gotten away from them, and if it’s led them to the last place they ever thought it could: a happy ending.

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Is it a friends-to-lovers trope or a fake-dating trope? It’s a mix of both.

Thea is divorced. She was completely blindsided when her then-husband, Ethan, asked for a divorce instead of going to couples therapy. In the present, she shares custody of their dog, Argos, with him. Thea works at the Bookshop and loves her job.

Alex is a chef who is also divorced. He shares custody of his daughter, Mia, with his ex-wife, Jen.

Thea and Alex meet for the first time at the front door of Thea’s ex-husband’s house when they discover that Jen and Ethan are together. In that moment, they come up with a lie: they tell Ethan and Jen that they knew each other years earlier and have recently rekindled their relationship.

Two years later, Alex and Thea are now great friends. They are clearly perfect for each other, but neither wants to risk losing what they have by crossing the line. Then Jen invites them on a couples’ vacation that includes Mia and Argos.

Could this trip be the one where lines finally get crossed?

Happy Ending was a slow-burning romance with likable characters—except for Ethan, who was a total douche. I loved Argos and Mia.

Cliffhanger: No

3/5 Fangs

Don't Fall in Love With Me by Paige Toon

 

Title: Don't Fall in Love With Me

Author: Paige Toon

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons

Release Date: April 14, 2026

What if the person you love the most is the one you can’t have?

Grace has loved Jackson since she was fifteen – when they spent every childhood summer exploring France's breathtaking Ardèche region together. They were best friends, until life took its course and Jackson married someone else.

Years later, Jackson re-enters Grace’s life with an irresistible her dream job in the very town where their story began. And he’s newly single.

As memories from those idyllic summers flood back, Grace encounters an old friend Étienne, who proposes a plan to help make Jackson jealous. But as their scheme unfolds, Grace finds herself questioning if the sparks between them might not be so pretend after all…

Unbeknownst to Grace, Étienne is harbouring a secret that could shatter her world.

Will learning the truth finally set her heart free?

Or is this the beginning of a love story bigger than she ever imagined?

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From the prologue, I knew this was going to be a good book.

When the book starts, we meet Grace, who has been in love with her childhood friend, Jackson, for years. It’s Jackson’s wedding day, and her heart is breaking.

Three years later, Jackson asks her to come work for him at his grandfather’s property in France for the summer. He is now divorced, and Grace can’t say no to a job she knows she’ll love—plus the chance to be close to him and her grandmother, Mellie, who lives in the same town.

Then we meet Étienne… and for me, the rest is history!

Don’t Fall in Love With Me made me laugh and made me cry. Paige Toon always makes me feel deeply through her characters. She has become one of my favorite romance authors. I fell in love with Étienne and the French setting.

I would recommend this novel to anyone who needs a break from real life. It won't disappoint!

Cliffhanger: No

5/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by G.P. Putnam's Sons via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lethal Prey by John SandfordLucas Davenport #35

 

Title: Lethal Prey

Series: Lucas Davenport #35

Author: John Sandford

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons

Release Date: March 25, 2025

Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers join forces to track down a ruthless killer who will do whatever it takes to keep the past buried.

Doris Grandfelt, an employee at an accounting firm, was brutally stabbed to death . . . but nobody knew exactly where the crime took place. Her body was found the next night, dumped among a dense thicket of trees along the edge of an urban park, eight miles east of St. Paul, Minnesota. Despite her twin sister Lara Grandfelt’s persistent calls to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the killer was never found.

Twenty years later, Lara has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Confronted with the possibility of her own death, she’s determined to find Doris’s killer once and for all. Finally taking matters into her own hands, she dumps the entire investigative file on every true-crime site in the world and offers a $5 million reward for information leading to the killer’s arrest. Dozens of true-crime bloggers show up looking for both new evidence and “clicks,” and Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers are called in to review anything that might be a new lead.

When one of the bloggers locates the murder weapon, Lucas and Virgil begin to uncover vital details about the killer’s identity. But what they don’t know is the killer lurks in plain sight, and with the true-crime bloggers blasting every clue online, the killer can keep one step ahead. As the nation maneuvers the detectives closer to the truth, Lucas and Virgil will find that digging up Doris’s harrowing past might just get them buried instead.

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Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers join forces to find a murderer.

Doris Grandfelt was working for an accounting firm when she was murdered twenty years ago. Her body was found in a park eight miles east of St. Paul, Minnesota. Her twin sister, Lara Grandfelt, has tried for years to find the person responsible for her death, but with no luck.

After being diagnosed with breast cancer, Lara decides to try one more time. She offers a five-million-dollar reward to any true crime site that leads to finding the person responsible for her sister’s death.As true-crime enthusiasts start showing up and more information is unearthed, Lucas and Virgil follow the leads. This time, it seems Lara might finally get the answers she has been seeking.

I always enjoy these books, and this one features a great sociopath who is smart and cunning. It wasn’t easy for Virgil or Lucas, which made it exciting.

I do have to mention that we don’t get a real conclusion for this book. There is a huge open-ended question.

Cliffhanger: In a way...not all the answers were given

4./5 Fangs