I was the fortunate recipient of a coveted “Skip the Line” library loan from my local library’s Libby app last week. Imagine my surprise to find a brand new release from one of my favorite romance authors – Katherine Center! I previously read two other books by Center, and enjoyed them, so I jumped right on this one. I’m glad I did – this was an absolute five star read that delivered so much more than your average rom-com.
The Plot:
Katie Vaughn is a videographer who works for a company that makes short form video content for a variety of clients. She has her own YouTube channel where she produces short documentaries about local heroes. If someone saves a puppy from a fire, she asks permission to shadow them for 24 hours and turns it into a “Day in the life” documentary.
She also recently got out of a long relationship, in the worse way. Her fiance, a musician, finally hits the big time. He has a song go viral, and she later finds out that their engagement is over when she sees pictures of him with an A List pop star all over her Instagram feed. This is devastating, and it exacerbates a lifelong issue she has, obsessing over her appearance – specifically, her weight.
Raised in Dallas, her mother left he family young, and her stepmother constantly made comments about how she could be skinnier. It wasn’t necessarily from a bad place, but it’s pretty well known around here (I live in Dallas) that skinny is superior, and you can never be skinny enough. This leads Katie to hide her body in nothing but dark, oversized clothing. Center writes Katie’s inner monologue in excruciating detail, and if I am being honest, I saw a lot of myself in that dialogue. It’s how I look at myself in pictures, it’s how I hate clothes shopping because I will look fat in everything, it’s how I never walk down the street without imagining all of the ugly, mean things people are saying about me. Needless to say, this book really dug deep into my psyche and made me take a good, hard look at myself.
Katie’s boss, Cole, tips her off that there are going to be layoffs at the company, and he thinks she does good work. He arranges for her to take one of his jobs on location in Florida, filming a short recruitment movie for the Coast Guard. She’ll ride along on a helicopter rescue mission with her boss’s brother, Hutch. She can stay at their aunt’s place, a small complex of rental cottages, and film the video that is certain to propel her career to the next level. Why? Hutch recently rescued Jennifer Aniston’s dog from a fall off of a cliff – and he’s gone viral.
Katie arrives in Florida, and learns that the airport has lost her luggage. Cole’s Aunt Rue is delighted to dress Katie in colorful, tropical print dresses, bright colored bikinis, and every other type of outfit that she’d never dream of putting on. She almost has a panic attack, but Rue is so sweet and caring she decides to just push through it.
She’s in a new place, dressed in a new style, and she meets him. Hutch – the most beautiful man to ever walk the Earth. He’s apparently perfect – with a rescue dog, doting on his elderly aunt, rescuing people from drowning day to day, and he immediately agrees to help teach Katie to swim before their big helicopter rescue.
She falls hard for Hutch, and unbeknownst to Katie, he falls hard, too. They have an amazing first kiss, and the next day, he completely shuts her down. This is the miscommunication trope but not the way you think – Cole, Hutch’s brother – calls and tells Hutch a lie that completely shuts down any romantic interest he had in her.
All of this is happening while Katie is rediscovering her own body, her own desires, and seeing her life differently. What I loved about this book is that Katie took me on the journey with her, and by the end, I was even looking at myself a little differently. If that isn’t a five – star book, what is?
Publisher’s Summary
It’s a thin line between love and love-hating in the newest laugh out loud, all the feels rom-com by New York Times bestselling author Katherine Center.
Katie Vaughn has been burned by love in the past—now she may be lighting her career on fire. She has two choices: wait to get laid off from her job as a video producer or, at her coworker Cole’s request, take a career-making gig profiling Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer in Key West. The catch? Katie’s not exactly qualified. She can’t swim—but pretends that she can.
Plus, Cole and Hutch are brothers. And they don’t get along. Next stop: paradise! But paradise is messier than it seems. As Katie gets entangled with Hutch (the most scientifically good-looking man she has ever seen . . . but maybe a bit of a love hater), along with his colorful aunt Rue and his rescue Great Dane, she gets trapped in a lie. Or two. Swim lessons, helicopter flights, conga lines, drinking contests, hurricanes, and stolen kisses ensue—along with chances to tell the truth, to face old fears, and to be truly brave at last.
Swim lessons, helicopter flights, conga lines, drinking contests, hurricanes, and stolen kisses ensue—along with chances to tell the truth, to face old fears, and to be truly brave at last.
