Author Spotlight : Katherine Center

Welcome to The Overdressed Teachers podcast! In this special author spotlight episode, we dive deep into the enchanting world of bestselling romance author Katherine Center. Join me as I share my personal ranking of her novels and explore the magic that has captivated readers worldwide.

Katherine Center has woven tales of love, resilience, and self-discovery, and in this episode, we celebrate her unique voice and storytelling magic. From heartwarming narratives to empowering journeys, each of her novels has left an indelible mark on the romance genre.

I'll be sharing my personal ranking of Katherine Center's novels, discussing the themes that resonate throughout her work, and delving into the reasons behind the enduring popularity of her stories. Whether you're a longtime fan or new to her work, this episode offers insights into the brilliance of Katherine Center's storytelling.

But that's not all! We'll also explore the two book-to-movie adaptations inspired by Center's work. From the page to the screen, her characters and narratives come to life in a whole new way.

So grab your favorite cozy blanket, settle into your favorite reading nook, and join me for an exploration of Katherine Center's novels. Whether you're looking for a new book to add to your TBR list or you're a devoted fan, this episode is a celebration of the magic that happens when literature and love collide. Let's dive into the world of Katherine Center together!

Books Discussed:

• The Bodyguard
• Things You Save in a Fire
• Happiness for Beginners
• Hello Stranger
• What You Wish For
• The Lost Husband
• The Bright Side of Disaster

Source:

• Katherine Center's website

For links to the books discussed in this episode, click the link here to take you to the Google Doc to view the list.

For episode feedback, future reading and author recommendations, you can text the podcast by clicking the "Send us a message button" above.

For more, follow along on Instagram @whereileftoffpod.

Transcript

Kristen Bahls: 0:09

I'm Kristen Bahls and you're listening to the Overdressed Teachers podcast, and today I'm going to be talking all about one of my new favorite authors, Katherine Center. So this podcast is a complete author spotlight into all of her novels that I have read so far. But before I get into all of that, I just wanted to start off with telling you a little bit about my trials and tribulations trying to get into audiobooks. I know, I may seem like I'm stuck in the past because, of course, I like a regular book. I do tend to like a hardback copy. I can use my Kindle and get an ebook, most of the time still kind of bugs me. Because the whole purpose of me reading is to get off a screen. So the last thing I really want to do is read another, look at another screen, but I'll do it. However, with audiobooks, I like podcasts. You would think that audiobooks would be great because, of course, you have your hands free. You can do a bunch of stuff still listen to books. However, I don't know. I just have not fully gotten into audiobooks yet and it may be because I'm making the wrong choices. You can definitely tell me a few of better suggestions than what I'm finding because, honestly, that really just could be it. So that is noted.

Kristen Bahls: 1:32

But I'm an overthinker, if you could not tell, and when I decide to read an audiobook I cannot simply pick an audiobook. I have to think about it for a second and decide what genre I'm going to try. And in my head I just feel, like you know, with anything mystery related, it's going to be really difficult for me to keep all of the details and characters straight. So I felt like it would be better to start with a romance audiobook than a mystery, because I don't know, in my mind I'm like I don't think I'm going to catch any of the twists beforehand. I feel like details are going to get lost If I even for a second stop paying attention, that I'm probably going to miss something. And I felt like it would just be easier to kind of zone out with mystery novels, just mystery, or thrillers, just kind of based on like the general pacing. So I said let me try a romance novel first. Maybe that will be a better start for an audiobook.

Kristen Bahls: 2:31

Well, you know, it definitely is a preference that you have to find what kind of voice actors you want to listen to when they're narrating it, and nothing against voice actors. They are amazing, but it is very personal. If there is not a voice actor that you like hearing their voice, it's going to be really grading the whole book and so you just have to really pay attention to what you like in an audiobook narrator and go from there. That's kind of where I'm getting picky. So I started off and I'm not going to say the specific book because I do not want to throw that voice over actor under the bus. And they may be really fantastic to other people and it's just me. It could 100% just be me.

Kristen Bahls: 3:16

But as I'm listening to this book and it's one that I really wanted to read, I'm listening to it, I got it for free through the library to listen to that audiobook. I hit play and automatically there's, of course, a girl narrator and a guy narrator for each one of the chapters. But as I'm listening to the guy like he's supposed to be super attractive and his voice just reminds me of Kronk from the Emperor's New Groove and I just can't. Like everything he says just sounds ultimately cheesier in the Kronk voice. I could not handle it. And so I ultimately ended up just ordering the book on Amazon and reading the book and liking the paperback copy, but that one I DNF'd on the audiobook version could not handle it. And DNF'd is did not finish, if you didn't know that, but anyway. So I said, okay, that's fine, maybe it's just a preference thing, maybe I can find a voice actor narrator that doesn't sound like Kronk.

Kristen Bahls: 4:18

And I think my problem as I'm starting to realize this and tell you the story is honestly the male voice actors. I don't know I I don't know why. I guess, like with female voice actors, you know they can be okay and I can still get into it, but with the guys, I don't know, I guess their voice just grates on me if I'm not a fan. Because then I tried listening to another YA novel romance and with that one I ended up listening to the whole thing. I did like the book and the voice actors did a good job.

Kristen Bahls: 4:49

But one thing that really bugged me and I'm sure that this is with all books like I said, I'm new to audiobooks, so you know I feel like I need a preface this with who knows if this is how they all are. But basically, if the male voice actor is reading the chapter and there's any kind of female character, or if a female voice actor is reading and there's any kind of male character. It's not as if they switch dialogue back and forth and are edited together. They have to change their voice to match that character, so they have a specific voice. So the guys will, you know, go up an octave or two or five to match a mother or the girl in the book and it just, I don't know, it drove me insane. I felt again. I felt like anything that they said was automatically cheesier because their voices went up an octave and it sounded so cheesy. But whenever the girls went a little bit deeper for the guy characters, I don't know, it didn't bug me, but it did with the guys.

Kristen Bahls: 5:52

All that to say, maybe audiobooks aren't for me, maybe I haven't found the right narrator slash voice actors yet. I will keep trying on this, but I'm not so sure about audiobooks. That being said, it's probably just me. Please give me any suggestions. I want to like audiobooks. I really do. It would be so much easier, but I just have not found my favorite yet. But that doesn't mean that I will not keep looking. So just to put that out there. Audiobooks may or may not actually be my thing and I feel like I'm failing miserably at them and not a fan. But that could always all change. So any recommendations are much needed. Especially now that Spotify subscriptions give you 15 hours, I think, of free audiobook listening a month, and of course libraries have a lot of audiobook options. It's a way for me to get the newest releases without having to buy them myself. So of course you know I'm going to be in for that. So let me know your suggestions. But to the actual topic of today, Katherine Center. So Katherine Center, she is a romance novelist and she is awesome and I actually kind of found her on accident.

Kristen Bahls: 7:11

So I was thrifting. I am an avid thrifter, if you didn't know. But when I was thrifting I was looking on the books, because you always have to look at the books when you're thrifting. And I was looking at that Bookshelf and I saw, you know, those covers that like are really popular Mainstream books that you know that everyone's read and talked about how good they are, but you don't really fully know the plot. But you just know that like, hey, if it's a dollar or two dollars, I should probably read this because everyone says it's good. That was what happened. I saw The Bodyguard, which is that kind of yellow book jacket cover and I was like I know I've seen and heard a lot of good things about this so it might be worth a try. So that's what I did. I picked it up. I think it was like two dollars. I didn't even really think about it that much. I obviously read a lot of mystery and thrillers before I got to this book. And as I was kind of looking at what was left on my bookshelf before buying something new, I saw that book that I thrifted, The Bodyguard and I said I'll give it a shot.

Kristen Bahls: 8:07

It was amazing. It was absolutely amazing. So that's how I discovered Katherine Center, is by randomly picking up The Bodyguard on a thrift trip, and then I decided to read it and fell in love with all of her novels. So then I wanted to read more works by her because I thought it was so genius. And so that is why today's episode is all about Katherine Center.

Kristen Bahls: 8:29

So a couple facts about Katherine. and these facts are all from her website, www. katherinecentercom. That's where I do get a lot of information on her. She does keep her website really well updated, so just keep that in mind if you ever want to find out a little bit more about her. A couple fun facts about her from her website. So she is from Houston, Texas, which I am from Dallas, so I do love getting to see another, you know, Texan native. So anyway, she is from Houston.

Kristen Bahls: 9:00

You'll notice a lot of her books actually do take place in Houston or other parts of Texas, but I think almost all of them are specifically Houston. And she actually took ten years to be published, which really just kind of astounds me. And, of course, you know she says that it helped her get better and focus on what she really wanted to write. But, wow, I just don't understand how it took her ten years to be published, because her books are incredible, but you know what, if that's what it took to get us there, we're okay with it. Also, one thing you should know about her is that she really writes the kind of books that she wants to read, which I appreciate that, and I think that that's key. If you're going to create content, you should definitely create things that you actually want to consume. And one of her quotes that is on her website that really kind of sets the scene for all of her books is that Katherine believes the single most inspiring thing about the human race is the way life knocks us down over and over and over, but we keep on getting back up, and I would say that that is definitely a central theme in a lot of her books.

Kristen Bahls: 10:02

They're not gonna be the super cutesy, unrealistic Romances. It's definitely going to be more down-to-earth and realistic for all of her novels. So just kind of keep that in mind. That is definitely a trait of all her novels and I think that that's one, one of the many things that just makes them so good and relatable and realistic. These are going to be realistic novels. It's not going to be a total fairy tale, just so you kind of know what you're getting into.

Kristen Bahls: 10:31

But if I'm going to rank her books, so I am ranking all of her books. And, by the way, this is really difficult. When you find a good author like Katherine or even Sarah Adams, which I will get into her books on a separate episode, I think I really want to do an author spot light is hers on her as well. But when you find a good author like this, it's really hard to rank her books. So by no means am I saying that any of her books stink. They do not. They're all good and it's just some grab you a little bit more and again, preferences, just like I talked about in the last episode. We all have different preferences, so what plot lines grabbed me? Different plot lines may grab you. Of course.

Kristen Bahls: 11:14

One thing I really appreciate about her book is that about her books in general, or that they have very different, distinct plot lines, so it's not going to ultimately feel, you know, like the same trope over and over and over again. I mean ultimately their romances. So you're still getting a romance with each one. But they all take place in different settings. The characters are at different stages of life, so you really get a variety to try to find what things you connect to the most, and you might find some situations that you also kind of connect to the most. So, all that to say, I enjoyed every one of her books. I enjoy reading them all of the time. I think that they are great and you will laugh and cry and smile all, all at once. So just kind of keep that in mind.

Kristen Bahls: 12:01

All great books here's where I would rank them. So The Bodyguard is just number one. I've heard a lot of people say that this is their favorite book like ever, ever published. I don't know it was really good, but I would definitely say that The Bodyguard deserves to be in slot one. And then number two is the book Things You Save In a Fire. Number three for me was Happiness for Beginners. Four was Hello Stranger. Five was What You Wish For. Six was The Lost Husband and then coming in seventh is The Bright Side of Disaster. And again, this is my ranking. I have not read How To Walk Away and Everyone is Beautiful. Yes, so I believe that those are the only two books I left off this list because I have not finished them yet.

Kristen Bahls: 12:50

I was reading like Katherine Center after Katherine Center after Katherine Center, but I decided to make myself take a break and not read them all back to back, because then I would be through her novels so quickly. So I've been making myself like put a little bit of distance in between reading each one, so that's why I still have two that I haven't read from her, but I do have them ready to go in my TBR pile, of course. Breaking them down in order of rank, so, starting with number one, The Bodyguard, Hannah and Jack, the two main characters, are absolutely adorable and unless you've read the book, you don't know. But I would like to say I called the twist in the beginning immediately. I knew the first twist as soon as it happened. I don't want to spoil it for you, but I would like you to know. If you have never read it and you're reading it, just know that I, I got the first twist right off the bat. I predicted it, so would like to point that out.

Kristen Bahls: 13:45

But the plotline of this is that Hannah is a bodyguard she's a female bodyguard and she is hired to protect Jack, who is a famous actor from a very eccentric we'll call her eccentric fan slash stalker, while he's trying to visit his mother in Texas after a health scare. And basically he wants to keep the family in the dark about real threats and you know all that stuff, the life of being an actor and so to do that, he explains that Hannah is his girlfriend. So that way it'll make sense why she is constantly present in his life and always around, and that also allows her to stay at the house with them, so that way she can truly protect them and they can be in the same place. So of course it's a fake dating trope already right off the beginning and I would say that this book, the banter is just fantastic. So the banter is absolutely great and I think that this could be adapted into a rom-com tomorrow and I'm kind of upset that it hasn't been. And we'll talk about this later as we get to those books. But two of Katherine Center's books have actually already been made into movies, and not that I don't appreciate those movies, but I just do not understand whenever you were deciding that you wanted to adapt a Katherine Center book into a movie, why, why did you not pick The Bodyguard?

Kristen Bahls: 15:01

Why was that not the first book that you thought of? It's actually been described as Miss Congeniality meets The Proposal, which does describe it pretty well. It is great. I mean, the writing is great. I feel like you could just take this and pull a script off of it so quick and have a screenplay ready to go and make it right into a movie. I think that this would be a complete hit. That's what I think is that it should really, really, really, really, really really be a movie. But you know, maybe it's in the works and I just don't know about it.

Kristen Bahls: 15:36

We could dream, and when I said that it was Miss Congeniality meets The Proposal, what I meant was that, aka, if there ever was a movie. I think that Sandra Bullock would be fantastic to be Hannah, because of course Hannah is strong and kick butt and gorgeous. So there you go. And then, honestly, I could really kind of see Ryan Reynolds as Jack. I think that could work, so there could be a reunion. I know that they were really good friends after they worked together on The Proposal. So, you know, instead of doing The Proposal Two, or anything like that, maybe they should just do The Bodyguard together. I think that they would be a great duo if this we're gonna be cast into a movie, which it totally should.

Kristen Bahls: 16:15

Number two on my list is the book called Things You Save In a Fire. The plot line of this book is that Cassie is a female firefighter and she's working in her dream station in Houston. Of course it's Houston and it's a co-ed station that even has a female chief. And the reason that I harp on these specific details is because, after an incident that shall not be named, for reasons which you will find out later in the book, Cassie is forced to move to a smaller station until the heat kind of dies down from this incident that she found herself entangled in. So she goes from co-ed, progressive station, with a female chief in Houston, she ends up being transferred to a station near her estranged mother who is asking for her help because of an illness, and so she moves closer down to Boston. So she goes from Houston, this progressive, co-ed station, to Boston, which is a total boys club, that specific station in the book, fictional, of course and as a newbie she basically has to prove herself. So she's pretty much in the same situation as a rookie would be. And of course there just happens to be a cute rookie who starts at the exact same time as her, and so they basically kind of go through like some of the hazing in this firehouse together.

Kristen Bahls: 17:38

And throughout the book Cassie's threatened by an anonymous creep who just does not want her at the station and it's very like serial killer cut up words, throwing things at her car stuff, like that kind of threatening, various levels of threats, and so she's trying to get used to her new reality at the station. She's trying to spend time with her estranged mother that she does not have a good relationship with, and and she's trying to figure out who's sending her these anonymous threats and then, of course, not fall in love with the rookie, which they call the rookie the entire time, but his name is actually Owen and she doesn't know his name for a while. But that's neither here nor there. His name is Owen, Owen the rookie, and this book is incredible. If it didn't sound incredible from my lovely plot synopsis that I crafted, then I don't know what will get you to read this book, because it was awesome.

Kristen Bahls: 18:31

I really liked the character of Cassie and with all of her characters. None of the characters are perfect. They all go through some kind of trial and tribulation and they question themselves and they try to do their best and they're constantly growing, and especially with her, like she has had to fight to be a fantastic female firefighter in her field and so basically, she can prove to everyone that she is amazing, even though you know, at first they don't really want to give her the time of day. So you know there is a lot of, it's not like these characters just walk on clouds and everything works out perfect for them. There are a lot of struggles and all of her characters are realistic. Just like I said in the beginning with that quote, they do get knocked down again and again and they keep getting back up and eventually I mean all of her books have some type of happy ending. So you are gonna get there. It's just you have to get through a little bit of grit first.

Kristen Bahls: 19:23

And if this were a movie which it also should be. Again, the two books that they decided to adapt into movies I'm not saying they were bad decisions by any means, but if I were picking, I would definitely pick The Bodyguard first, and then Things You Save In a Fire would make a fantastic movie. I mean, a female firefighter kicking button, taking names, I don't know why you would not want to see this movie. So I think it should be adapted into a movie and if it were, I already casted the main two characters. So I would imagine that Missy Peregrim would be a perfect, perfection, a perfect Cassie. She would be perfection as the role of Cassie. And then I would say Ben Feldman would be amazing as Owen the rookie. I could see him as Owen the rookie. So anyway, if I were going to cast it, I would cast Missy as Cassie and then I would cast Ben as Owen the rookie. We'll see if this turns into a film. I hope so. I hope that both of these do in the beginning, and, speaking of books that did get turned into a film.

Kristen Bahls: 20:26

We have up next in spot, number three, Happiness For Beginners. And I would like to make it known that this is not my typical plotline. And when I read the book jacket and saw that the entire book was going to be centered around like a big camping slash hiking trip, I honestly kind of wondered if this was gonna be for me. It's like, okay, maybe this is the Katherine Center book that is just not my favorite. They've all been hits so far, but maybe this one is just not going to work quite as well. But I really enjoyed it. Shocker. I laughed, I cried and I smiled through most of the books, sometimes all at once. You only know, if you've read a Katherine Center book, the roller coaster of emotions that you are about to embark on.

Kristen Bahls: 21:10

But you have a range of hikers and outdoorsmen throughout the novel. Some are novices, some are experts, so basically you can really relate to any of the characters, no matter your actual personal experience with hiking, which I thought was pretty smart for Center to do. So. That way, you know, you may really relate to the rookies who rookies, novices, who are just trying to get into hiking and how they didn't know that you're supposed to break in your hiking boots, before you actually go on the hike to not get insane blisters, stuff like that. And then you also may relate to those expert hikers, slash outdoorsmen, who already know how to do everything and are completely annoyed with the novices taking up time and going on this big trip. So you will get a variety of levels, which means that you can definitely relate to all the characters. Plotline for this book. Helen, the main character.

Kristen Bahls: 22:06

She gets divorced and she decides that she's gonna go on a big hiking trip to change her outlook on life. She is determined that this hiking trip is going to solve her problems, make her new person, and it's really just what she needs. And this is no ordinary like hiking trip. It is a hiking camping trip that is extremely intense and mainly made for outdoorsmen. And they all have to sign waivers, of course, and she finds herself basically surrounded by college kids and none other than her younger brother's friend, jake, and Jake signed up for the trip. You'll find out his motives later on, why he signed up and is going as well. He is a skilled outdoorsman and Helen is not. Helen just decided she was gonna go on this trip, bought all the stuff and decides to go. Without a lot of experience. So just keep that in mind.

Kristen Bahls: 22:58

The story details the trip and there are several twists that I'm not going to spoil for you and I don't want to tell you if she finishes the trip or not. You're just gonna have to read to find out. But just know that a lot happens over the course of her journey and it'll help Helen find her way again and possibly reconnect with her brother, Duncan, who was Jake's friend. Duncan oh my gosh, Duncan is her brother and Jake is Duncan's friend and she is not very close with Duncan, even though he idolizes her. You'll find out again more of the backstory with that if you read this book. But there's a lot going on. Just like Center's books, there's always a lot going on. It's not like just they're only trying to find romance, like they are normally at a transition point in their life or they're trying to figure out something, or they're making some big change or moving somewhere. So it's kind of a lot of change at once is really how most of these stories take place.

Kristen Bahls: 23:53

And funny thing is that Katherine actually went on a similar hiking trip in college herself, according to her website, which I thought was pretty interesting and that definitely explains a lot, because, of course, she is the queen of detail and you also feel like you were on this hiking trip with them. Similar to many of her books, all the characters have depth, and one thing that I really like is that you always end up falling in love with all of the characters, like the supporting and the minor characters just as much as the main character, and they all have very distinct personalities and they just mesh well together. Most of the time. I mean, in a couple of her books there are annoying characters, but they're supposed to be annoying for a reason that you'll find out later in the book, but all of them have depth, they have really distinct personalities and you find yourself really gripped to the story as a whole, instead of one of those books where you're reading going. I don't like any of these characters. So that's one thing that I do really enjoy about all of her novels and, of course, and happiness for beginners. I really liked all the other campers, which was kind of great because you know, normally with a lot of characters I can't keep up and I'm trying to figure out their names and everything, but she did a good job on giving them such distinct personalities that I could remember, or she would call them like the sorority girls or whatever. So that way she didn't even give me a name and I didn't even have to try to figure out now which one is this person again, and it made it a lot easier to read and keep up with what was going on and keep all of the characters apart. So that was much appreciated, and just the way that she incorporated all those characters was pretty skillful. So I enjoyed that for sure. I will say.

Kristen Bahls: 25:32

The only thing that I was kind of weirded out by I will not kind of I was weirded out by was how much younger Jake was. Jake is Duncan's friend, her younger brother, and basically how over the course of the book no, is that a spoiler, okay, spoiler alerts. Yeah, this is a spoiler. I would say that this is a spoiler because, yeah, okay, so we are going to give you a couple seconds to fast forward through the podcast. Again, you can look at the chapter markers and fast forward back to the movie deep dive. I will not give any spoilers once I get to the deep dive. So, yeah, you can go ahead and skip to that before I go on. Okay, here's a spoiler. So I was weirded out how much younger Jake was. There's a part in the book where he basically talks about being a teenager and being completely in love with her at first sight when he saw her at her wedding in her wedding dress and he himself is a teenager at this point, and that would just kind of be my only complaint. It just really weirded me out their age difference and I, yeah, it just weirded me out just how, I don't know, the age difference was weird. But honestly, I feel like you could have done without the crazy age difference, shorten that up a little bit, and then you could have played on the fact that Jake was Duncan's best friend, and that's what weirded Helen out a lot, especially because she wasn't close with Duncan before she ended up completely falling in love with Jake. So I would just say that I think you could have done that without the age difference, and the age difference weirded me out and I was not a fan of that part specifically, especially, like I said, the wedding dress thing. I don't know, that just kind of, not not a fan. So I think that Center could still could have, without such an age range, done what she needed to do with Helen being weirded out by the fact that it's her brothers, her little brother's friend. So, anyway, those are my two cents. Agree to disagree, but that was the only thing that really bugged me about this book.

Kristen Bahls: 27:37

On to the movie deep dive. So there is a movie it came out in 2023. And it is called Happiness for Beginners. Titles are the exact same, and this is on Netflix I think it's still on Netflix came out in 2023. And with both of her books I am impressed with the star power that's on here.

Kristen Bahls: 27:57

So, Helen, the main character is Ellie Kemper, and you probably know Ellie Kemper from The Office, Bridesmaids, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. She is Helen. And then Luke Grimes plays Jake. You probably know him from Yellowstone, and so they are an interesting pair. But again, Helen's supposed to be a lot older. And then you have Jake, who is the younger brother's friend, and then one of the kind of like supporting yeah, one of the supporting characters is Nico Santos and he plays Hugh, and you would probably recognize him from stoop, stoop or store oh wow, you know today is interesting. So you probably recognize him from Super Store or Crazy, Rich Asians or Guardians of the Galaxy.

Kristen Bahls: 28:44

So you do have a couple star power minor characters. Same with Blythe Danner plays Gigi and you probably know her from Meet The Fockers. So you have a decent amount of star power, which kind of surprised me. Not that I think that Katherine Center deserves any less by any means. It's just it was a very interesting selection of cast and just thinking that these are her first two novels that have been adapted into movies, I wasn't sure what kind of star power that they would get. But they really did, and both have actually done pretty well on Netflix. So maybe that means that my hopes of the bodyguard and or things you say in a fire will be adapted into movies. Please, please, please, hopefully. But what I wanted to say about the movie specifically, this is a book podcast, so I'm sure that you're not shocked that with both of these movies I would say that the book is better. Of course, however, I enjoyed this movie probably a little bit more than the Lost Husband as an adaptation.

Kristen Bahls: 29:38

The Lost Husband had a lot that I had to try to explain in a movie, which is difficult that you weren't going to get, versus reading the book. But I will say that with this I just want to know why did they take out the car ride slash hotel scene. I don't know, I just felt like it needed to be left in. And again, I get that with a movie you have to tell a lot of really complex things in a short amount of time. So I get it, but I don't, I don't know it. Just it kind of bugs me a little bit.

Kristen Bahls: 30:09

And I get that they didn't touch on Nate much, which honestly it's kind of understandable. You know he is, oh that. No, I can't say who he is because that may be a big spoiler, but Nate is crap, I can't, I can't say it. Ok. So anyway, they didn't really touch on Nate a lot, which is understandable. I feel like that could have muddled the plot to talk about you know him and add him in, and it would have been, I don't know, kind of difficult. But I still can't get over them taking out the car ride hotel scene because basically in the book Jake gets a ride with Helen to the hiking camp and more spoilers. So I can't. So anyway, something happens at the hotel whenever they both have to stay at this hotel on their way to the campground, and you miss all of those moments in the car and the hotel, which seemed pretty integral for the plot to kind of give the background that Jake likes Helen and has a crush on her going into the hiking trip. They played it a different way in the movie where they both met there. She saw him, she was like what are you doing here? And you know, you don't really know that he has a crush on Helen beforehand because of course he's playing it cool for the whole hiking trip because she tells everyone to pretend that they don't know each other anyway. So you don't really get that background without the car ride slash, hotel scene in the beginning.

Kristen Bahls: 31:41

And also they end up replacing the sorority girl campers with the vow silence girl who I just feel like is not as dynamic as the other characters and like subplots that are going on in the book. But again, you know, I don't know. I feel like vow silence girl is a lot harder to set up and keep going versus just the two sorority girls, because you would instantly know who they are, because they're kind of a cliche ish. I was in a sorority, so I'm not saying being a sorority is a cliche, but the way that they're written they are kind of a cliche and so I feel like they would have been easier to add in for the story and I don't know. They just added a little something in the book that I wasn't really getting from the valve silence girl in the movie. So I will say that.

Kristen Bahls: 32:25

And also, they only gave one certificate. Why? Why did they only give one certificate in the movie and then they gave two in the book and they really downplayed like Helen's sadness, even though they mentioned like that she wanted her certificate, they didn't really play up that she wanted the certificate on this camping trip because she wanted to be the best and she didn't want to just go and do something, she wanted to be the best and get the certificate. And I felt like it really helped set up her unrealistic expectations going into this trip as a novice and it also explained the motivation behind how hard she worked while on the camping trip. So I don't know, I just feel like without these two is kind of I didn't get her motivation as much and I feel like the certificate would have been a really easy thing to put in the screenplay. But you know, it is what it is. And also the last thing that really bugged me. So I would say the two things probably that they took out.

Kristen Bahls: 33:18

That bugged me the most was, like I said, as I've said like three times now, the car ride slash hotel scene in the beginning. That was annoying. And then also I feel like they just overall downplayed Hughes relationship with Helen. And if you're gonna get someone with Nico, like Nico Santos, to play opposite of Ellie Kemper, like why, why, why are you not putting a little bit more into Hugh and Helen's relationship, like I felt like it just seemed a little bit more casual, whereas they became a really, really close friends in the book and I just wasn't getting that in the movie. So I feel like I would have liked to see a couple more like dialogue scenes and stuff like that. You know there's a lot of like talking on the bus between them and stuff that goes on in the book that doesn't quite happen in the movie. So again, I would really play up that. I think that that would, I don't know. I think that that would help touch on it for me. But overall I did really enjoy the movie. It was very cute and they had good casting choices. So I do agree with all of that. It's just, of course the book is better, because of course the book is always going to be better.

Kristen Bahls: 34:16

Next up on my list we have Hello Stranger. Hello Stranger is Katherine Center's latest novel and the plot is that. The plot is that Sadie is a portrait artist and she gets in this freak accident that leaves her with temporary facial blindness. She's pretty sure it's going to be temporary, but she's trying to cope with that. She's trying to work through some family issues that she's got going on. She's trying to care for her dog, slash best friend, slash fur baby, and she has to create a submission for this art contest that she made it through a round. That's really really important to the story as well. And in the midst of all of that she ends up falling in love with two different men and she can't actually see their faces because of the facial blindness. So of course she would fall in love with them and meet them at the same time that she can't see faces temporarily. So that is a little bit of a wrench in her plans and I enjoyed this book.

Kristen Bahls: 35:14

Like I said, I've enjoyed all of Katherine Center's books, but with Hello Stranger, and I've heard a lot of really good reviews on this, so maybe it's just me. To be fair, I read this book after reading two fantastic, really quick, fast-paced romances. So that may be why I wasn't as much of a fan. Just because I had read those other two books. They were really fast-paced and I felt like this one took me about halfway through to really get into it. But again, I mean with Katherine Center's books, like she's really going to set up not their despair, but like she's going to set up whatever obstacles they have in life and she is going to really touch on those for a while before you get to the happy parts. So I think that also that might have been why it took me a second to get into the book, because she's describing her illness and how hard it is and how depressed she is, which is very fair. I mean, she got in this major accident and has to try to deal with facial blindness as a portrait artist, so that alone is really hard for her, and so anyway, it just took me about halfway in to get like really into the book. But of course I really enjoyed the ending.

Kristen Bahls: 36:17

I liked it and I am glad that I stuck with the book, because at first I really felt like I was kind of just reading it. Just because it was a Katherine Center book. But by the end I did think it was cute and of course the dialogue is always really good. So I did want to point that out, that it wasn't my favorite. That's why it's a little bit further down the list, even though it's gotten good reviews. I don't know, maybe it's just the point that I was at, I wasn't ready for this book, but I would still recommend it. I think it was good. It's just, I don't know, it wasn't, obviously it wasn't The Bodyguard, but you know it was still still a good read. So I would still recommend it If that sounds like a good plot to you. But basically I just thought that the book jacket made it seem a little bit more like fast-paced and not better, but just, I don't know, it hyped it up for me and I didn't feel like it lived up to the hype, but still really enjoyed this book overall. And then next down the list after Hello Stranger. We are at What You Wish For.

Kristen Bahls: 37:17

And when I saw that this plot was going to be about a librarian and an administrator, I was so excited. I thought this was going to be my kind of plot because of course I was a teacher. I worked in education. I love a book set in education. I say that but you know if it's a good book. I love a good book set in education that is realistic, and Katherine is super realistic on everything else and she does a lot of research for her books. So I figured that this was a safe bet. I was gonna like it and I'm not saying that I didn't like it but I just felt like ultimately it did kind of fall flat. Just overall it did fall a little bit flat for me, but I still really enjoyed it. So I do want to preface it with I really enjoyed it. It just fell slightly flat from what I thought it was going to be. It was kind of like Hello, Stranger. Like I really enjoyed it, in the end. I would give it at least four to five stars, probably both of them, because they turned out really nice. It's just they didn't move as quickly as I wanted to or I don't know. Some something about them didn't quite capture me the way that some of the books a little bit closer to the top did. So just keep that in mind. But with this plot I would like to say there is a trigger warning for school shootings. So again, trigger warning for school shootings.

Kristen Bahls: 38:29

If you're going to read this book. And the plot is that Sam is a librarian who is in love with this amazing teacher and his name is Duncan. And then she ends up moving to a different district and he has a girlfriend at the time and she is just totally in love with him and feels like like it's just never going to be reciprocated and she just feels like he is so out of his, out of her league that basically nothing's ever going to happen. So she moves to this different district, tries to forget about him and moves on. And she's a librarian the entire time and this is at an elementary school. And then what happens is a new principal comes in after the old one and with the old one he actually passed away from a tragic accident that I am not going to get into because I don't want to spoil anything. But basically, a new principal comes in that is the exact opposite of the old, beloved principal and shocker, it is Duncan. So Duncan comes in. He's the complete opposite of the other guy and he's also the complete opposite of the guy she knew at this old school, who she was absolutely in love with, who was really silly and goofy, and now he is completely uptight. So he's totally, totally different person. Wearing like a gray suit, when he used to wear all kinds of like crazy stuff and bright colors. So complete opposite of her.

Kristen Bahls: 39:51

And then Sam, again she's the main character. She's a librarian, she's trying to figure out. Can she fix the school morale? Can she make sure that her old feelings for Duncan aren't gonna come bubbling up and try to fix everything and set everything on the right path? I don't know, I can't tell you, because you're just going to have to see and read the book to find out.

Kristen Bahls: 40:11

In the other books that magic with the minor characters really comes into play. I enjoyed all the characters and there are a lot of different like subplots going on in this book, which is also really good too. So I do appreciate that there's not just like a main plot that's always moving forward. Katherine's center does always kind of have a lot of like subplots, minor characters and different things that are going on. So it's not, you know, there's a lot at all times. Um, and of course Sam, she second guesses herself like a lot, like a lot, a lot. To the point of frustration for the reader, me specifically. But it did make it more realistic. I do like how most of her characters. They will second guess themselves, they'll really think about things and so it's not just like they just magically go and they know that they are on the right path because they're in a novel. It definitely makes it a little bit more realistic. But yeah, Sam, Sam's gonna second guess herself again and again and again. So just keep that in mind. It's realistic to a fault. But here here it is kind of a fault because Sam gets slightly frustrating. Um, yeah, she does get slightly frustrating because she's just standing in her own way. So it does make it a little bit more realistic.

Kristen Bahls: 41:20

Next up on my list of Katherine center books I have the Lost Husband, and this one was also made into a movie. The plot line is that Libby, her husband, dies and she is absolutely furious at him. You'll find out why if you read the book. But uh, her life is pretty much falling apart and she decides to move away from her totally eccentric mother to raise her kids on her aunt's farm, because her aunt sends her a letter and says hey, I'll let you live on the farm and work on the farm. So she decides to do that. So she's basically trying to grapple with raising her two kids, grieving her husband, life on this farm, which is completely different from her living in the city, and then trying to connect with her aunt, who she was pretty much estranged from, and then also trying not to fall in love with a cute farmhand. She even ends up trying to talk to her husband via seance. But that's a whole another story and a little side subplot going on in the book. So there's the plot of the actual book.

Kristen Bahls: 42:23

Again, I enjoyed this. Um, it is towards the bottom because it started out a little bit slower, but I did enjoy it in the end. That life living on a farm and all that stuff was probably like one of the plots that I am not as big into. But this may be your thing and something that really speaks to you. So I mean it was good. It's just I would not peg this as my favorite Katherine center novel, but it was a solid novel and again it made you laugh, it made you cry, it made you smile throughout. So I'm not saying I wouldn't recommend it, I just don't know that it is one of my favorites of hers. In the movie, it just came out. While I say it just came out. It came out in 2020. So, whatever, three years ago, Happiness For Beginners was 2023. Yeah, and this one was 2020.

Kristen Bahls: 43:11

So in the movie, Leslie Bibb is Libby, and you probably know Leslie Bibb from Talladega Nights, Ironman, Confessions of a Shopaholic. She's been in a bunch of stuff. And then her co-star, the cute farm hand, his name is James, is played by Josh Duhamel. A nd I mean I feel like it's silly with some of them to say what you probably know them from, but because it's a podcast, you know, you may just kind of it may take you a second, so I'm just telling you. You probably know him from Transformers, batman. He just did a movie, shotgun wedding, which Jennifer Lopez Life as we Know it with Katherine Heigl, new Year's Eve and Safe Haven, that Nicholas Sparks novel that he did with Julian Huff. So again, he has been in a lot of stuff, but he plays James, the farm hand, and then other notable actors that are kind of more minor supporting characters. You also have Marcia is Sharon Lawrence, and you probably know her from NYPD, blue, drop Dead, diva, rosalyn Iles, desperate Housewives you name it. She has also been in a lot. And then I have one more notable actress for you, so Nora Dunn is the aunt, aunt Jean, and she has been on SNL Bruce Almighty, three Kings, pineapple Express, etc. Etc. Etc. So there's a decent amount of star power in this one again, just like in happiness for beginners.

Kristen Bahls: 44:35

But one thing OK, no, I'm not going to go there yet but they did cut out a lot of mentions of her late husband, which I feel like that. Ok, that was understandable for plot continuity. If you're constantly focusing focusing on the late husband and not moving the story forward, then I see how that could kind of take you back and just basically eat up screenplay time that you don't have going from the book to the movie. Right, that makes sense, totally fine. And they didn't add like just how much Libby questions if James likes her and I feel like that's what made it relatable is that she's constantly questioning if he likes her. I mean, that's kind of a central theme throughout the book and like I feel like she almost doesn't even believe whenever he kind of flirts with her. So anyway, I think that if they would have put maybe a little bit more of that or a little bit more like resistance in there from her, it would have kind of made more sense and it would have been a little bit more relatable, because that's one of the things that I really enjoyed about the book is that it did feel more relatable because she was second guessing herself, but that's because his personality was so surly so you know, I don't know. I felt like that kind of should have been put in the movie and I don't understand, I don't understand Sunshine. I'm sorry, but Sunshine just kind of frustrates me the way that they completely.

Kristen Bahls: 45:56

She is a supporting character and in the book she is a supporting character that really kind of moves the plot forward. She's the one that does a seance. She I was going to spoil something. You find out something about her backstory that explains why she's there, but she really helps move the plot forward and she becomes one of Libby's really really good friends. She's still one of Libby's friends in the movie, but they pretty much deleted her character almost entirely. It made her really really, really supporting, very supporting. Which was kind of frustrating, because in the book of course they didn't introduce Sunshine with this almost crash and then her talking to her and saying that she could see her dead husband and kind of setting up the scene for the seance you know, which they should have done a little bit better. They didn't do that and then, I don't know, they just pretty much deleted Suns hine's, like entire subplot, and whenever Sunshine, you know duh, I keep almost giving you a spoiler. But anyway, there is a fantastic subplot with Sunshine. She adds a lot to the overall plot and they just completely deleted her and didn't put a lot of points in there that they really should have. So in my mind they really just kind of glossed over Sunshine and I feel like they should have made that a little bit bigger deal. But I get it, you know you only have so long to try to tell the story in a movie, but that is kind of. Those are kind of my two biggest beefs. So really not including Sunshine. And then why they didn't add as much resistance of him questioning If Libby questioning if James liked her or not. So again, I enjoyed the movie, obviously the books better, but you know I did enjoy the movie ultimately and that one has had definitely a decent amount of success on Netflix. So just throwing that out there.

Kristen Bahls: 47:37

And then last on my list of Katherine Center's books, which, again, it may be the last one. I would still recommend all of hers, like I said before, but it is called the Bright Side of Disaster and this isn't really a spoiler because the book jacket describes it on the back. But basically the main character she's let her, fiance leaves her when she's pregnant, and so the beginning of the book is obviously going to be very bleak. And you're going to feel super sorry for Jenny, the main character, who is literally left as she is pregnant. So she's basically throughout the course of this book she's trying to live her life with a newborn, a husband who just up and left her I said husband, a fiance who just up and left her and then put the pieces of her life back together all at once and he leaves her like literally a day before she gives birth, if that gives you any context. She ultimately meets a sweet and super attractive neighbor and his name is Jon and for some reason it took me way too long to find his name. It was always the neighbor, the neighbor, the neighbor, and I had to pour over Goodreads. It was kind of like in Things to Save in a Fire the rookie, it's the rookie, the rookie, the rookie. It was so hard to find that his name is Owen. So anyway, in this book the neighbor's name is actually Jon and he helps with her house and so they get to know each other and I'm not going to spoil anything else.

Kristen Bahls: 48:56

But basically this book follows the journey of Jenny trying to put back the pieces of her life and get everything together and Dean, the fiance that left. He is a piece of trash, but that is not super shocking. As I said, he left a day like a day before she gives birth, and the reviews on Goodreads they they refer to him as a man child, which I think is perfection, and it is the perfect way to describe him for sure. But basically, this book was just so frustrating and I don't want to spoil why it's so frustrating, but I was so incredibly frustrated throughout this book, which is honestly why I put it last, just because it took me on an emotional roller coaster that I don't know that I wanted to strap into, and you may already be able to put the pieces together from what I'm kind of talking about, even though I'm trying not to spoil it. But basically, as I'm reading this book the whole time, I'm talking at the characters as if they could hear me, of course, just saying things like no, don't do that. Why are you doing that? Why? Why? Why? Because it is so frustrating.

Kristen Bahls: 49:59

Ultimately you do get a happy ending, and I don't feel like that's a spoiler to say because the title is literally called The Bright Side of Disaster. And after being on this roller cost, roller coaster wow, roller coaster of a novel I feel like you just need a bright side. So ultimately it turns out well. But if you are not prepared to read the story, I don't know that you should. It is, she said. Katherine Center sets up disaster for sure for a large portion of the book before you even start seeing like glimpses of the bright side. So just keep that in mind.

Kristen Bahls: 50:33

This is probably her most I would say that this is her most gut wrenching book that I've read so far. I'm sure How to Walk Away will be able to give it a run for its money, but I would say that that's what this was. It was just really dark and kind of depressing and it took a while. So that, yeah, that is why I put it towards the bottom of the list, but of course, it still turned out to be a really good novel and I feel like with anyone of Katherine Center's novels, I'm almost changed. I feel like I learned something and I grew while reading the book, because that's just the kind of author that she is. So I would recommend all of these books, regardless of where they are on the list, and I think that you should give Katherine Center a try if you are looking for a new romance author. And that's it for today on The Overdressed Teachers podcast, join us on the next episode where I'm going to be talking about some new releases new book releases for 2024. See you then.