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Guide to Katherine Center Books in Order
If you’ve been a Book Girls’ Guide reader for very long, you know that we always seem to connect with Katherine Center books. She writes excellent contemporary fiction books with realistically flawed characters facing challenging life issues, each with an uplifting message and a touch of romance.
We often see questions about which Katherine Center book someone should read first, or whether any of her books have connected characters or storylines. We’re here to answer those questions and give you a synopsis of each of her books in order of publication!
Katherine Center Books
Below is a list of every Katherine Center book in order of publication. While we provided a synopsis of each book, be aware that each title goes deeper into the character’s life struggles than you may expect. If you are sensitive to any topics, be sure to check trigger warnings before reading any of her titles. We did not include trigger warnings for all the books as many would be spoilers.
New Katherine Center Book for 2024
Do you need to read Katherine Center’s books in order?
No, each of Katherine Center’s novels reads as a standalone. Although she has written two short stories that bring together the characters from some of her books, these characters have no overlaps within the novels themselves (with one minor exception). As a result, her novels can be read in any order.
Center’s short stories (which are included in the book list above) are both written as prequels to her full-length novels, but are best enjoyed after reading their full-length counterparts because they provide further insights into the characters.
The Girl In the Plane brings together Margaret from How to Walk Away and Cassie from Things You Save in a Fire, creating a bridge between these two novels. And The Guy at the Wedding creates a bridge between Happiness for Beginners and What You Wish For.
Printable Katherine Center Book Tracker
Looking for a printable version of this chronological Katherine Center novel list? Our Buy Me a Coffee BFF’s have access to a cute printable tracker featuring the covers of all her novels, including her 2024 release, The Rom-Commers. Join our membership site today for instant access to your copy, along with some other fun perks!
Are There Any Katherine Center Movies?
Two of Katherine Center’s novels have been adapted into Netflix films. The Lost Husband was made into a 2020 Netflix movie starring Leslie Bibb and Josh Duhamel (watch the trailer here). In 2023, Netflix released Happiness for Beginners staring Ellie Kemper and Luke Grimes. While we also enjoyed the Netflix movie version of Happiness for Beginners, we were disappointed that it was not set in Wyoming.
We would love to see more of Center’s books made into movies, although we strongly believe that the book is always better. If we hear any updates on future film adaptations, we’ll be sure to keep you posted.
About Katherine Center
Katherine Center always knew she wanted to become an author. She wrote her first novel in sixth grade, won a creative writing scholarship in high school, majored in creative writing at Vassar College, and won the Vassar College Fiction Prize. But the life of a writer is not an easy one, and it took a decade of struggles before she succeeded at publishing her first novel, The Bright Side of Disaster.
Like many of the characters in her novels, Center learned a lot from the experience of getting knocked down and getting back up again. Those lessons have certainly found their way into her writing.
Center was born and raised in Houston, Texas, where she is now raising a family of her own. Her love of her home state comes through in many of her novels, including The Bodyguard, which she set on a ranch like the one her grandparents owned along the Brazos River west of Houston.
More Authors You’ll Love
If you enjoy Katherine Center, we think you’ll also enjoy novels by some of our other favorite authors, including Abby Jimenez and Emily Henry. Like Katherine Center, each of their books are a balance of romance stories with deeper topics.
