“When you don’t know what to do for yourself, do something for somebody else.”
Katherine Center is a bestselling American author and one of the most popular romance novelists in the world. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she received her M.A. in fiction from the University of Houston, where she was the co-editor of the literary fiction magazine, Gulf Coast. Her debut novel, The Bright Side of Disaster, was published in 2006, and she has had multiple bestsellers since with the likes of How To Walk Away, The Bodyguard and Things You Save in a Fire making it on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. Center is also a TEDx speaker. Having called her stories ‘bittersweet comic novels’, Katherine Center books are known for their heartwarming messages and themes rooted in resilience, growth and discovery. If you’re looking for your next story brimming with emotion, hope and positivity, join us at What We Reading for our favourite Katherine Center books!
The Bright Side Of Disaster (2006)
Kicking off our list is Katherine Center’s debut book, The Bright Side of Disaster. Very pregnant and not quite married, Jenny Harris isn’t concerned that she and her live-in fiance, Dean, have accidentally started their family a little earlier than planned. Nevertheless, Dean is acting more and more distant. When he goes out for cigarettes one evening, he voluntarily relegates himself from husband to sperm donor. The very next day, Jenny goes into labour.
What follows are the turbulent months of single parenthood for Jenny. At least, in between the sore boobs, sleepless nights and bouts of crying (both from her and her baby), there’s no time to feel the heartbreak. Soon, however, she begins to find her feet by doing everything one-handed, making friends with a mommy’s group and even the handsome neighbour next door. But, when Dean arrives back at her door, Jenny is forced to grapple with whether she wants the old life she thought she wanted, or the new life she’s been lucky to find.
Everyone Is Beautiful (2009)
Lanie Coates’ life is rapidly spiralling out of control. With her husband and three little boys, she has left behind her cosy Texas town and all of her friends and family, heading Northeast. These days, Lanie always seems to rank herself dead last. And when another mother accidentally criticises her appearance, it proves to be the final straw.
Fifteen years, three babies and more pounds than she’s prepared to count since the day she walked down the aisle, Lanie is determined to feel like her old self again. She joins a gym, signs up for photography classes and finds a new best friend. Yet she also sets waves into motion that threaten her whole life, forcing her to navigate how to find herself, without losing everything else along the way.
The Lost Husband (2015)
It’s been two years since Libby Moran moved in with her hypercritical mother following the sudden death of her husband, Danny. But, when her crazy Aunt Jean offers an escape in the form of a job and a place on her farm in Texas, Libby soon finds herself packing the minivan, grabbing the kids and hitting the road.
Life on Aunt Jean’s farm is more wonderful and mysterious than even Libby could have imagined. Along with the hard work, long hours and quiet solitude that come with country living, are the cast of quirky characters living there. There’s the feed store clerk who claims to be able to contact Danny on the ‘other side’, the gruff but handsome farm manager and, of course, the enigmatic aunt she has never really known, but who may turn out to be everything Libby has been looking for.
Happiness For Beginners (2015)
One of the most popular Katherine Center books on the back of its acclaimed Netflix adaptation, Happiness for Beginners follows Helen Carpenter, who begrudgingly agrees to attend a wilderness survival course alongside her decade-younger brother. It’s supposed to be the kickstarter for pulling herself back together; yet, when she discovers that his infuriating best friend is joining too, she can’t imagine it being anything other than a disaster.
However, what follows are three weeks in the Wyoming wilderness that start to help Helen see her life for what it truly is. Somehow, the people who annoy her the most, start teaching her the very things she needs to know. Helen soon discovers that sometimes you need to get really, really lost to have any hopes of being found.
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How To Walk Away (2018)
Margaret Jacobsen appears to have a bright future ahead of her. She has a doting fiance, her dream job and the promise of a picture-perfect life just around the corner. Then, suddenly, on what should have been one of the happiest days in said life, everything she has strived for is taken away in an instant.
In the hospital and presented with the grim reality that nothing will ever be the same again, Margaret must work out how to move forward on her own terms. Along the way, she will have to confront long-held family secrets, devastating heartbreak and the notion that love may just find her when she least expects it.
Things You Save In A Fire (2019)
Another one of the bestselling Katherine Center books, Things You Save in a Fire introduces readers to Cassie Hanwell, a woman born for emergencies. One of the few female firefighters in Texas, she’s seen countless tragedies in her time. But, when her ailing mother asks her to up-sticks and move to Boston, it’s an emergency that even Cassie wasn’t prepared for.
The underfunded, old-school Boston firehouse is very different from what Cassie is used to, and the veterans there are less than happy having a woman in their ranks. The only one who doesn’t seem to mind is the handsome rookie. Still, Cassie knows better than to fall for a firefighter. Despite this, she soon feels her resolve slipping. But, will she jeopardise her place in a career where she has worked so hard to be taken seriously in?
What You Wish For (2020)
Samantha Casey is a school librarian who loves her job, the kids and the school family. But she wasn’t always that way. Duncan Carpenter is the new school principal who is ruled by regulations, knowing first-hand how bad things can happen. But he too wasn’t always that way.
Sam knew Duncan, in a different school during a different life, and may have even said that she loved him. But, when Duncan is hired as the new school principal, it looks like the best thing that could happen to her school and the worst thing that could happen to Sam. As the school community descends into chaos around them, and danger looms larger, Sam and Duncan are soon forced to find a way of confronting who they both truly are, what it means to be brave, and how to take a chance on love in one of the best romance books by Katherine Center, What You Wish For.
The Bodyguard (2022)
Nominated for Best Romance in the Goodreads Choice Awards, The Bodyguard is another one of the best Katherine Center romance books. Hannah Brooks might look like a kindergarten teacher, but she is actually an elite bodyguard hired to protect superstar Jack Stapleton from his stalker.
When Jack’s mother gets sick, he returns home to his family’s ranch in rural Texas to help out. The only catch? He doesn’t want his family to find out about his stalker problem. To solve this, he enlists a reluctant Hannah into pretending to be his girlfriend as cover. Protecting Jack should be easy. What Hannah soon starts to find harder is protecting her own heart as the two of them begin spending more time together.
Hello, Stranger (2023)
One minute Sadie Montgomery is celebrating her placing as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition, the next she finds herself in hospital with a condition known as ‘face blindness’. She can still see, but every face is now a jumbled puzzle of disconnected features.
As she struggles to cope with her condition, soldier on with her artistic career, work through some heavy family dynamics and continue to care for her beloved dog, Peanut, she falls into a complicated series of relationships with not one, but two very different men. 2023’s Hello, Stranger follows Sadie as she attempts to put her life back into focus, serving as an important demonstration of how some people only show up when we least expect them, and how there are always other ways of seeing things.
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The Rom-Commers (2024)
Emma Wheeler is desperate to be a screenwriter. But she also has to be the sole caregiver for her kind-hearted father, who needs full-time looking after. When she gets a chance to re-write a script for the famous Charlie Yates, it’s too good of an opportunity to pass up. She moves to L.A. for six weeks and the writing gig of a lifetime.
Unfortunately for her, Charlie doesn’t want to write to anyone. Worse still, the romantic comedy he has written is so terrible it might be bordering on the apocalyptic. Nevertheless, Emma isn’t going down without a fight. Standing up for herself, rom-coms and love itself, she is determined to prove him wrong, even if it means kissing him senseless to do so. But, what happens when that kiss is accidentally amazing and real feelings start to boil behind it? The Rom-Commers is one of the best romance novels from 2024 and another bestselling book by Katherine Center.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
