Tag: Katherine Center

This Chick Read: The Love Haters by Katherine Center

Katie Vaughn’s life has gone up in flames. She’s ended a bad relationship and now her job is facing lay-offs. In order to save her own, she take a job producing a video in Florida about a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson, despite not being able to swim. Something she hides from her coworker, Cole- who is also Hutch’s brother. That’s just the first lie she ends up telling. When she gets to Florida and meets Hutch, who’s possibly the most handsome man she’s ever met, she gets caught up in a few more lies, the least of which is not being able to swim. As she faces some of her fears, and gets to know Hutch and his aunt Rue, Katie realizes she needs to take this chance to really be brave at last.

Katherine Center’s novels come out every year just as Summer is about to start. I look forward to reading her books because I know I’m going to love the characters and the fears and/or obstacles they are always trying to overcome. She writes with a tongue in cheek sense of humor but also with a lot of heart, which makes her books lovely to read. The Love Haters had all of these things. Wonderful characters who weren’t perfect and needed a little smoothing over, and obstacles that they needed to overcome before finding their happily ever after. This story wasn’t any different, so why didn’t I connect with it as much as I usually do?

Katie and Hutch were interesting, their lifestyle choices understandable, and the conflicts in their lives emotional. Each of them separately were amazing. I think I didn’t feel a huge connection between them as a couple. Katie had a tendency to hide herself behind some of her phobia’s and Hutch had learned from a young age to hide his feelings. These walls each of them had built kept the reader, or at least this one, from that connection that I’m always looking for between the romantic couple. For me, that was problematic and I felt a little like I was reading a synopsis of a therapy session. Hoever, the story was great, their situations relatable, and they were both lovely, nice people and you couldn’t beat the sunny setting.

Maybe it’s just me, but because of these little things I held back on my rating by one star. Nothing huge, this one is still a four out of five rating, but normally I go all in with five stars for this author, so it’s a bit of an anomaly for me. You may feel completely different! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest!

Click this link to purchase this book!* The Love Haters

Copyright 2025 the Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate-if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center

Emma Wheeler longs to fulfill her dream of becoming a screenwriter. She’s spent her life obsessing over the great screenwriters, and teaching a course in the local community college. She lives at home and takes care of her kind-hearted father who needs full-time care. When she gets a call from her agent to head to Hollywood to work on a screenplay with the very famous writer Charlie Yates she calls in that favor from her little sister who just graduated from college. ‘Please come home and watch dad so I can try out my dream for six weeks.’ When she gets to LA she finds a man who doesn’t want help from a nobody to fix his horrible screenplay, in fact, he doesn’t care if it never gets fixed! To Emma, this is a travesty and despite not knowing if they’ll re-write the whole thing, she stays.

Emma was such a wonderful character. Having given up her dreams in order to give her father a great life, the reader is set up to root for her story, wherever it may lead. The fact that it leads to Hollywood and working with her screenwriter hero, Charlie Yates is icing on the cake. The fact he turns out to be difficult and surly is par for the course, but this girl loves a good enemies to lovers trope and I’m eagerly along for the ride. Charlie, of course, ends up to be a good guy with reasons for acting the way he’s acting and pretty quickly warms up to Emma. I love their journey, as well as the conflict and resolution in the latter third of the book. The whole story just had a roundness that made the reader feel great about how the conclusion was reached.

I’ve been waiting for another Katherine Center novel that has that magic formula of romance, comedy, and tragedy similar to her 2022 novel, The Bodyguard, and The Rom-Commers gets it just right. A fabulous enemies to lovers story that made me laugh, tear-up, and anticipate the fabulous happily ever after that I know is waiting at the end of the book. If you’re looking for that book to put in your beach bag, don’t leave this one behind!

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest!

Click this link to purchase this book!* The Rom-Commers

Copyright 2024 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: Hello Stranger by Katherine Center

Portrait artist Sadie Montgomery wakes up to a temporary condition called “facial blindness” making painting portraits absolutely impossible to do. She is determined to find a way to paint her entry to the North American Portrait Artists competition, a chance to make a name for herself with her art. As she is navigating this new world she is also falling in love with not one, but two very different men. Her life is a mess and her family one big drama so she’s used to overcoming obstacles but this one might be more than she can take.

Katherine Center strikes again! Hello Stranger is more than a romance novel, it’s really about a woman trying to find her way in an obstacle filled life. Her facial blindness is just one more problem, but when she meets a very sharply dressed veterinarian she’s determined that they are the perfect match. Until she meets her very helpful neighbor. Unable to identify anyone by their faces she has to rely on all of her other senses which makes for some great comic relief. Sadie’s sad story becomes heartwarming and that humor makes a kind of unreal problem feel very real indeed.

I thought it a very clever tool to write a novel where descriptions of people’s faces just don’t happen. Just like Sadie, the reader is totally reliant upon the clothing people wear, their perfume, or even what they eat to identify friend or foe. This novel was really different and although I wasn’t surprised by where it led me I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the journey. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest.

Click this link to purchase this book!* Hello Stranger

Copyright 2023 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: How to Walk Away by Katherine Center

Margaret Jacobsen seems to have it all. Promising new job, adoring boyfriend, and a brand new condo- her life is stretched out in front of her and her future is bright. Until an accident finds her in the hospital- no job, a boyfriend who has fallen apart, and a new world that is filled with physical therapy and building a new life with her new body. This was not the life that Margaret thought she’d be living. Faced with new limitations, Margaret’s life revolves around the next 5 weeks in the hospital and gaining the mental and physical strength to live her new life. She meets Ian, a physical therapist who is brutal in his regard, and unfriendly in attitude. Despite all that’s going on in her life, Margaret does everything she can to bring him out of his shell and while working with him, builds a connection.

First of all, wow. At first I had a really hard time reading Margaret’s story. What happened was so brutal and her boyfriend/fiancé was an absolute turd. Her mother seemed to be a controlling nightmare too and I was ready to give up-but then her sister Kit showed up and the sisterly support propped me up until I saw beyond everyone else’s issues and Margaret’s strength became the heart of the story. Kit was a godsend, not just to poor Margaret, but also me who was looking for something to love about this story that was so hard to read. Don’t get me wrong, it was well written, but it was also pretty brutal. Kit added some much needed humor. Then there was Ian- he seemed to be a bit of a jerk, but underneath that gruff exterior he was solid gold.

This story had so much strength and heart. Yes, it was sometimes hard to read but each page I turned showed a different side to this kind of crazy family that I started to look forward to seeing what else was going to be revealed. This family had skeletons, hard feelings, and lots and lots of love. Family drama at its best.

The one thing I was slightly disappointed in was the love story aspect between Ian and Margaret. Ian was pretty closed off for most of the book and I just wish that the reader could’ve made a bigger connection with him. I loved him for Margaret (I can still hear him calling her Maggie in his Scottish accent), but the ending would’ve had a greater impact if I liked him as much as I did Margaret. Although, it was humdinger of an ending. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* How To Walk Away

Copyright 2023 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

Hannah’s looks are her biggest deception. She dresses like a librarian and her petite size makes her seem harmless. In fact she’s anything but. She is an Executive Protection Agent, in layman’s terms, a Bodyguard and she’s just been hired to protect A-list actor and heartthrob, Jack Stapleton from his corgi-loving stalker. Jack is in Houston to visit his ill mother and plans to spend the month at his family home until she gets better. In order for Hannah to do her job she must pose as Jack’s girlfriend, keeping their real relationship a secret from his family. This means she must ditch her pantsuits and clean up her conversational skills all while keeping an eye out for danger.

Hannah, like most women in the world, finds Jack extremely attractive and being in close contact only makes that attraction grow but living in close quarters also helps her see the man behind the star qualities. Living with his family, it also becomes readily apparent that there’s a secret that has kept this family apart, with the two brothers at odds. Hannah’s own childhood wasn’t great and the idyllic farm setting and love between Jack’s parents gives her a look inside a happy marriage and makes it hard for her to keep her feelings separate from the job she needs to do and the man she needs to protect.

It’s not often I say this about a contemporary romance, but in my eyes this novel was absolutely perfect. Hannah and Jack developed a great friendship and their interactions had moments of laugh out loud humor and tenderness. Hannah may have been starstruck by Jack’s good looks, but I was gobsmacked by their connection. I have read many books by this author and for me, this is her best book yet. There were depths to these characters that connected with the reader making me root for them both. Each of them were going through personal turmoil and leaned on each other while working through those feelings. This novel is a multi-faceted gem.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest.

Click this link to purchase this book!* The Bodyguard

Copyright 2022 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: What You Wish For by Katherine Center

Samantha Casey is the school librarian at a small school that focuses on diversity, learning, and creativity. She has thrived in this environment and is now completely different than the once mousy woman she was. When their beloved principal passes away the newly hired principal, Duncan Carpenter, resurrects from her past. She had quietly been in love with him and he is in part the reason she left her last job. However, the Duncan that shows up for the first day of school is not the happy go lucky guy she used to know. This Duncan is a suit wearing, straight-laced, security conscious man and he proceeds to turn their lives upside down.

I loved the community of people that surround Sam Casey in this novel. A with previous insecurity and shyness issues, Sam has blossomed in the “safe” environment of this small town in Galveston, Texas. As the novel moves forward we learn more about just how much Sam has changed and why, especially as she faces her past crush and is deeply disappointed at his new demeanor. The old Sam would’ve run away, but this new Sam ends up leading the charge, fighting for their rights while at the same time searching for the man she used to know.

Duncan was pretty easy to understand. Based off Sam’s memories he’d obviously done a bit of growing up, but there was something bigger behind his actions. I loved how Sam picked away at his armor to find that more fun loving man underneath. What You Wish For was the perfect mix of quirkiness, drama, and I especially loved the heart in which this author embued in her characters. From the start of the book I was invested in Sam, and then when Duncan entered the scene and his demeanor was a direct contradiction to how Sam had described him sealed the deal. I along with Sam wanted to solve the mystery and truly enjoyed the journey of finding out all of these characters secrets.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this ARC from the publisher through NetGalley for my honest review and it was honest!

Click this link to purchase this book!* What You Wish For: A Novel

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*Amazon Associate- if you should purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center

Cassie Hanwell is a decorated firefighter with a plan of rising through the ranks. She gets a call from her estranged mother who wants her to move up to the Northeast because she has recently lost sight in one eye and needs help navigating her new world. After a surprise incident lands Cassie in hot water at work, her work plans derail and she decides to start anew in Maryland with her mother. Unfortunately the firehouse family she is joining is nothing like the one she left behind and she has to prove herself as well as live with a woman she hasn’t had a relationship with since she was sixteen.

There was a lot going on in this book but Katherine Center did a great job of not overwhelming the reader and somehow tying all of the plots together into a cohesive story and a really solid novel.

At first I thought Cassie was never going to warm up. She had an awful back story and didn’t seem willing to forgive her mother. If it hadn’t been for the change in firefighter houses and how she tried so hard to prove herself to the guys I may not have been able to wait her out. Fortunately her interactions at work helped make the pages turn quickly, THEN she finally warmed up to her mother! Whew! Throw in the side love story and by the second half of the book I was all in.

This was a novel about relationships. Cassie’s relationship with her mother, the guys at work, her attraction to the rookie, her relationship with her father. There were some heartwarming and heartbreaking moments and even though there were a few different sub plots I liked how they all added to Cassie’s story and didn’t work against each other. All in all, I liked this novel, it was easy to read and made me feel good at the end. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Opinions from around the Blogosphere

“I loved every minute of this book and was sorry to turn the last page. A wonderful, humorous story of love and forgiveness with a strong and endearing main lead, ‘Things you save in a fire’ is a book you won’t forget.” Happy Tonic

“I loved this book- at times it has a light touch- but Katherine also provides some meat in the situations Cassie must face- and decide how to handle them.” Traveling with T

Click this link to purchase!* Things You Save in a Fire: A Novel

Copyright 2020 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I will receive a small stipend.

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