KATHERINE CENTER
wants us all to read for joy. She’s the NYT bestselling author of bittersweet comic novels about how we fall down, and how we get back up. She writes deep, big-hearted romantic comedies about resilience, and struggle, and finding ways to savor the good things in life—the things that really matter—despite it all.
If you’re just discovering Katherine’s books and want to dive into her backlist, she suggests you work your way backwards! Here are her books, starting with the most current. 🙂
She thinks he hates love—and she probably does, too. How perfect.
A videographer who can’t swim has to profile a U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer.
“Katherine Center is the balm we need in the world right now. Her new book, The Love Haters, made me laugh out loud and escape, just as her novels always do. But this one has a more serious vein at its core: the reminder that if we want someone to love us, we must first love ourselves—in all our glorious, messy, beautiful incarnations.”
—#1 New York Times bestselling author JODI PICOULT
“What is it about Katherine Center and her uncanny ability to write beautiful, moving, realistic characters who also give all the fun, escapism vibes that we’re looking for in books?”
—GOODREADS REVIEW • REBECCA
On sale June 11, 2024!
A new classic love story by the ‘reigning queen of comfort reads’!! {BookPage}
He wrote a romantic comedy screenplay—and it’s terrible.
She just got hired to fix it.
Let the banter begin.
“For a good cry, many laughs, and a big hit of dopamine, read The Rom-Commers, a story about an aspiring screenwriter looking for real-life love. I am a massive Katherine Center stan, and this book is her best yet.”
—#1 NYT bestselling author EMILY GIFFIN in People
“Katherine Center brings rom-coms back to life.”
—SCREEN RANT
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Bodyguard comes a hopelessly romantic novel about finding love, confronting a haunting past, and figuring out what, and who, really matters.
She can’t see faces. He can’t see anyone but her.
“I loved it. Katherine Center’s books are like a hug.”
—EMILY HENRY • #1 NYT bestselling author of Beach Read
“Utterly and completely charming.”
—JENNY LAWSON • #1 NYT bestselling author of Let’s Pretend this Never Happened
2022
The feel-good, unabashedly romantic, deliciously witty binge-read of SUMMER 2022!!
She’s got his back. He’s got her heart. They’ve got a secret. What could possibly go wrong???
Hannah Brooks looks more like a kindgerten teacher than somebody who could kill you with a wine bottle opener. Or a ballpoint pen. Or a dinner napkin. But the truth is, she’s an Executive Protection Agent (aka “bodyguard”), and she just got hired to protect superstar actor Jack Stapleton from his middle-aged, corgi-breeding stalker.
“My perfect 10 of a book. I wish I could erase it from my mind just to read it again for the first time. A shot of pure joy.”
—EMILY HENRY • #1 NYT bestselling author of BEACH READ and Book Lovers
2020
A laugh and cry story about embracing who you really are, seeing what it means to be brave, and taking a chance on love—which is the riskiest move of all. With Katherine Center’s sparkling dialogue, unforgettable characters, heart, hope, and humanity, WHAT YOU WISH FOR is the author at her most compelling best.
“A timely, uplifting read about finding joy in the midst of tragedy, filled with quirky characters and comforting warmth.”
—KIRKUS • STARRED REVIEW
A People Magazine BOOK OF THE WEEK!
“This charming, often lighthearted novel touches on serious issues and celebrates the power of joy to trump fear and despair.“
—PEOPLE
2019
Katherine Center’s Things You Save in a Fire is a heartfelt and healing tour-de-force about the strength of vulnerability, the nourishing magic of forgiveness, and the life-changing power of defining courage, at last, for yourself.
“Another winner from Center.”
—Booklist • STARRED REVIEW
One of O the OPRAH Magazine’s 28 Best Romance Novels of 2019
“Will instantly have you addicted!”
—O Magazine
2018
How to Walk Away is Katherine Center at her very best: an utterly charming, hopeful, and romantic novel that will capture reader’s hearts with every page.
“If you just read one book this year, read HOW TO WALK AWAY. Katherine Center has written a beautiful and strong survival novel for the soul. If you have friend who is lost in life, do them a favor and hand them this novel.”
―NINA GEORGE • NYT bestselling author of The Little Paris Bookshop
“I loved it, and I think you will, too.”
—TAYLOR JENKINS REID • NYT bestselling author of Daisy Jones & the Six
2015
***SOON TO BE A NETFLIX MOVIE!!***
Happiness for Beginners follows the best kind of journey toward creating your own hard-won happiness—one where outer struggles lead to inner strength, where being brave inspires wisdom, and where joy stands tall, even among all the hardship.
“If you’re anything like us, you’ll read this book in one sitting.”
—InStyle
“This wise, delicious, page-turning novel won’t let you go. Katherine Center writes about falling down, growing up, and finding love like nobody else.”
—Brené Brown • #1 NYT Bestselling Author of Daring Greatly
2013
*** Now a MOVIE that hit #1 Netflix!!! ***
Perfect for fans of Jennifer Weiner and Emily Giffin, this tender and heartwarming novel explores the trials of losing what matters most—and how there’s always more than we can imagine left to find.
“A sweet tale about creating the family you need.”
—People Magazine
“A heartwarming tale that explores the trials of losing what matters most.”
—USA Today
2010
How do you change your luck? Katherine Center’s marvelously entertaining and bittersweet novel is about choosing to look for happiness—and maybe getting lucky enough to find it.
“[A] thoroughly enjoyable girlish romp.”
—Library Journal
“Center delivers an original, engaging, and touching novel populated with quirky and lovable characters, and ripe for discovery by readers looking for a cheering read.”
—Booklist
“A hilarious and touching take on what it means to be a grown-up, Get Lucky asks the quintessential question of whether we can ever go home again. A must-read.”
—Julie Buxbaum • NYT bestselling author of Tell Me Three Things
2009
Katherine Center’s Everyone Is Beautiful is a hugely entertaining, poignant, and charming novel about what happens after happily ever after: how a woman learns to fall in love with her husband–and her entire life–all over again.
“Center takes a woman at her most vulnerable time and sets her on a journey to find herself without losing what she holds most dear in a superbly written novel filled with unique and resonant characters.”
—Booklist
“Everyone is Beautiful is a loving and hilarious portrayal of motherhood and marriage. Katherine Center has a keen eye and a fresh take on the joys and pain of a new mother trying to do everything right, and to be everything to everybody. You will laugh and relate, weep and rejoice on Lanie’s journey of self discovery. I highly recommend the trip!”
—Adriana Trigiani • NYT bestselling author of Big Stone Gap
2007
A spirited debut novel with a terrifically appealing voice, a fantastic sense of humor, and a lot of heart, The Bright Side of Disaster reminds us that sometimes it takes the worst-case scenario to show us the best in everything.
“Bittersweet and utterly authentic . . . Novels as polished and mature as The Bright Side of Disaster just don’t come along very often from first-time novelists or, for that matter, from those with much longer résumés.”
—The Dallas Morning News
BookPage’s ‘Seven New Writers to Watch’
“Beautifully penned and truly memorable, The Bright Side of Disaster is a heartwarming and deeply emotional debut.”
– BookPage
