Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Everybody's Favorite Guy by Katherine Center Narrator: Ellie Gossage
Published by Brilliance Audio on March 17, 2026
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Life Fiction
Length: 1 hours, 20 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible
For Lily, falling in love with her childhood friend Walker was the easiest thing to do back in high school. His sudden rejection was unforgettably crushing. Seven years later, their families have conspired to bring them back together at a cabin in the Rockies when a sudden snowstorm traps them overnight with no power. Thanks to a cozy fire, a prowling bear, and a little forced time in an open-air gondola, they confront their unresolved feelings—and a past more complicated than Lily knows.
These Audible short stories can be quick but meaningful vignette if the plot and characters are carefully presented and developed. Katherine Center has succeeded here.
Lily is still hurt by Walker’s high school rejection, so she avoids him. Their mothers are still close and have colluded to go to the family cabin to spread their fathers’ ashes. They end up traveling together from the airport to the cabin and get caught in a freak snowstorm. This allows them time for us to get to know them and for them to reacquaint and evaluate the current person.
Lily is not only still hurt but still essentially invested in a relationship with him, unable to let go. Walker is friendly, kind and sort of acts as though the incident never happened. When the mothers push, Lily blows up about what happened. Walker is then able to apologize and explain why it really happened.
I enjoyed the rather specific contained plots which were emotional and important to their lives. I appreciated the communication which finally was shared as adults. Everybody’s Favorite Guy was a short, touching read.
Narration:
Ellie Gossage was a new narrator to me but her performance was comfortable and kept me in the story. She used a clear, higher voice for Lily and a deeper, lower voice for Walker. These were the two main characters with mainly their mothers as the other characters. I listened at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Katherine Center
Katherine Center is the New York Times bestselling author of How to Walk Away, the upcoming Things You Save in a Fire (August 2019), and five other bittersweet comic novels. Six Foot Pictures is currently adapting her fourth novel, The Lost Husband, into a feature film starring Josh Duhamel, Leslie Bibb, and Nora Dunn. Katherine has been compared to both Nora Ephron and Jane Austen, and the Dallas Morning News calls her stories, “satisfying in the most soul-nourishing way.” Katherine recently gave a TEDx talk on how stories teach us empathy, and her work has appeared in USA Today, InStyle, Redbook, People, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, Real Simple, Southern Living, and InTouch, among others. Katherine lives in her hometown of Houston, Texas, with her fun husband, two sweet kids, and fluffy-but-fierce dog.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 26-Audio
- 26-COYER
Sounds like they needed that closed in time together to air out the past.
yes, while they felt vulnerable and maybe didn’t want to rehash those feelings it did mean they weren’t trying to hurt each other.
Yay💜 So glad you enjoyed this sweet little surprise, too, Anne.
It really was a surprise.
I just listened to this one yesterday and loved it! I think it takes a lot of talent to write a moving romance/story in such a short amount of page and Center nailed it!
Glad to hear you enjoyed it too!
Lovely review Anne. I enjoy shorts particularly if they are good like this.
Thank you Kimberly. It does take talent to make a short have enough development to be good.
I’ve enjoyed this author, so definitely need to get my hands on this one. Great review!
Thanks Lisa. It’s a short but developed story.
How fun! I like the sounds of it and I like the cover a lot
Thank you Carole. It is short and easy to read.