Everybody's Favorite Guy: A Short Story

by Katherine Center, Ellie Gossage (Narrator)

He’s the last man she ever wanted to see again—or get snowed in with . It’s going to be a rocky reunion in this bittersweet romantic comedy by a New York Times bestselling author.

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.

Genres: Romance, Short Stories, Audiobook, Novella, Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary

Audible Audio

First published March 17, 2026

About the author

https://katherinecenter.com/about/
https://www.instagram.com/katherinece...

BookPage calls Katherine Center “the reigning queen of comfort reads.” She’s the New York Times bestselling author of eleven novels, including The Bodyguard, Hello Stranger, Things You Save in a Fire, and her summer 2024 book, The Rom-Commers. Katherine writes laugh-and-cry books: bittersweet romantic comedies about how life knocks us down—and how we get back up. She’s been compared to both Jane Austen and Nora Ephron, and the Dallas Morning News calls her stories, “satisfying in the most soul-nourishing way.” The Netflix movie adaptation of her novel Happiness for Beginners—starring Ellie Kemper and Luke Grimes—just hit the Global Top Ten in 81 countries, and the movie of her novel The Lost Husband was a surprise Netflix sensation in 2020, hitting number one and landing in their top 25 movies for the year. Her books have made countless Best-Of lists—at Audible, BookBub, and Book of the Month, as well as Goodreads' Best Books of the Year, and Amazon's yearly Top 100 books. Emily Henry calls The Bodyguard “my perfect 10 of a book,” and Jodi Picoult says of Things You Save in a Fire, “Just read it, and thank me later.” Katherine lives in her hometown of Houston, Texas, with her husband, two almost-grown teenagers, and their fluffy-but-fierce dog.

Reviews

[chantalsbookstuff · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a short story, this just felt and fell short for me (no pun intended!). Don’t get me wrong, the characters are introduced in a great way, and in the end you do feel like you’ve gotten to know Walker and Lilly somewhat sufficiently.

I just needed more, more build up, more banter, and a more dragged out romance. It’s not a fault with the book, I just can’t be simply satisfied with a Katherine Centre novella, knowing I could have probably gotten so much more if it was a full-length novel!

[Jayme C (Brunetteslikebookstoo) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two childhood best friends get snowed in for a night in a cabin in the Colorado Rockies-giving them the opportunity to have a real heart to heart conversation.

I am sad to say that three stars is generous for this Amazon Original-51 page short story.

It felt very YA with an immature leading lady and it had a very cheesy Hallmark ending! 🥴

Thankfully, it’s a free listen or read if you have Amazon Prime.

[aira · Rating 4 out of 5]

so good

[˚⟡˖ ࣪ desiree ˚⟡˖ ࣪ · Rating 1 out of 5]

the only good things about this short story were the pretty cover and one long, beautifully written quote about grief.

[Maren’s Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4⭐️ What a surprise to see a new Katherine Center novella coming soon! I think I would have preferred the printed format of this one verses the audio, as the narrator had an almost robotic voice that threw me off. The story itself was cute and such a nice, easy read to end the day with. Fuller review to come.

Thank you Brilliance Audio for the advanced copy.

[Noi (in & out) · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Do you ever miss me?”
“All the time.”

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This was a cute read, but a little too short for me!

Audio book source: Audible
Story Rating: 3.5 stars
Narrators: Ellie Gossage
Narration Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Romance
Length: 1h 20m

[Natalie Mazzanti · Rating 1 out of 5]

Going to rip this apart. First, my nit pick: Kathrine Center do some research on your setting. This bothered me and I couldn’t get past it for the whopping 50 page novella that this was. As someone who has lived in Colorado my entire life, never, not ever, is it in the mid-80s in the Colorado mountains in March. No one goes tubing in a bathing suit in March in the mountains. The fact that the main character even thought this possible irked me to no end. And never does it ever snow to the point of car accidents and power outages and melt the morning. In the Rocky Mountain. In March. Ok, done.

Second, this just felt icky and immature. Not only was what Walker did cruel to Lily (was that her name?), it was mean to Ryan. “I’m in love with this girl but you have cancer so you can have her”; and same from Lily’s POV- I can’t have the guy I’m in love with so I’ll date his best friend (who has cancer). Mean.

This was too short and too long at the same time. Why write this? Rant complete.

[Janssen]

Cute and quick

[Violet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Katherine Center's writing is hit & miss for me. This one was a win. Super cute and I loved the ending.

•Childhood best friends
•Second chance romance
•Forced proximity
•Shared grief
•Novella

4⭐️


*Kindle Unlimited*

[Grace Quan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite, but not terrible either.

[tabasum ☘ {exams till 20 july} · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such a painfully beautiful way to describe grief...

I once read that grief is biological. That each person you love has a set of neurons in your brain tasked with keeping track of that person. When that person dies, and that person is gone, those neurons don’t know what to do. They keep searching and searching for their person—even after there’s no one to find. Eventually, the neurons themselves die out. That’s what grieving is: letting go of the people we lost, and the parts of ourselves that try to hold on. And our only consolation is love: Diving back in. Finding more people. Growing new neurons. Fearlessly, stubbornly, insistently choosing love over and over—damn the consequences.

[Sian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Look, I am Katherine Centre down, I really am. But this was not very good. To be fair, most of the Romance Amazon short stories are pretty fucking shit.

Short stories are a hard thing to get right because there just isn’t enough page time to flesh things out. If you try too hard you end up exposition dumping and now allowing for a full redemption arc. If this was a full length novel, I think it would’ve been great. However, the second chance romance was quite badly done and the reason the MMC originally crushed the FMC was incredibly melodramatic. The FMC just immediately forgives him because there’s just no page time for her to actually get over it and accept his apology.

I’d also like to point out, that this is the second book by Centre to have a military man as the MMC… in this political climate? A man in uniform isn’t hot if he aids in war crimes in the name of the American government whilst wearing it. This is also a very American thing, to romanticise the military. I sound melodramatic now but I’m just pointing that out…

[Emma.catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVE Katherine Center’s work so when I spotted this on Kindle Unlimited I HAD to read it! 💖

Lily is on her way to the Colorado Rockies for a family reunion. Tensions are high in this sentimental rom-com as two families come together after a 7 year break in their annual tradition of staying at the log cabin. Lily and Walker may have been childhood sweethearts, but the only reason she has agreed to come was because Walker Shaw wouldn’t be there. He broke her heart once and she wasn’t going to fall into that trap again…All this changes when she lands in Denver, spotting the one and only Walker at baggage claim…

Queue: SNOW STORM ❄️

Ensue: ‘Forced Proximity’ CHOAS 🤭

‘He might always and eternally be everybody everywhere’s favorite guy, but the last thing he was . . . was a sweetheart. Nobody knew that better than me.’ 💖

I do LOVE a bit of snowed-in forced proximity 🤭

In this sweet and touching short story, Lily and Walker are forced to confront their unresolved feelings for one another by reliving a past that is more complicated than it seemed. Will Walker ever be her favourite guy again?

The revelation of the past had an unexpected depth, and darkness to it that I wasn’t expecting from this charming story. As usual, Katherine Center shone through with multiple meaningful moments and heartwarming messages. She managed to capture a genuine sense of both love and grief in a mere 51 pages, and completed this quick, easy read with a satisfying ending 👏🏽

4 🌟🌟🌟🌟

[Sarah | Kerosene.Lit · Rating 3 out of 5]

I already go crazy for these little Amazon Original Stories, so I was especially excited that Katherine Center was releasing one. She is easily one of my very favourite authors! But unfortunately, this was just ok. Womp womp!

I do LOVE a snowed-in situation! And in this case, an unexpected snowfall leaves former childhood friends Lily and Walker stranded together in a cabin to unpack their history. The thing is, Walker's reasoning for their fallout was a lot to condense into a novella. And I hate when conflicts are carried over from high school. Even with the reveal making it easy to hurt for Lily, it's still hard not to see it as a bit childish now that they’re both adults.

But as always, Katherine Center really shines through the meaningful messages in her stories. I loved the way she briefly captured the feelings of grief in this one. At 51 pages, it's definitely an easy, quick read. I don't regret picking it up. It just didn't have the same spark that her full-length romances do.

(spice level: kisses only)

[ellie (semi ia) · Rating 3 out of 5]

➳ 3 ☆! 🏠

⤷ cute! thank you to bff ellie for reading this VERY short story with me hehe. also kind of confused about the title name after reading haha

[Athena · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, we had Dads in sandwich bags :)

[Aggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is as good as it gets in the most endearing way. 💕

[har. · Rating 3 out of 5]

┆ ⤿ 🌨️ ⌗ started: march 20, finished: march 20

"Does any part of you still like me? You know-
romantically?" “I will like you romantically until the day I die."

this was a cute short story!! kinda wished it was more than 51 pages. and also, i really wanted to know more about the characters 😕

[Purrfect Novels · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

Not a bad read for a novella.

[TheConnieFox · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 Cute & short. Longer review to come. 💕💕

[angelpompom · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just don’t think I’m a Katherine Center person.

[mandie ੈ♡˳ · Rating 4 out of 5]

the way this is only a short story but had me hooked, wishing it was a full length novel. i really need to lock in and read her other books.

[♥Rachel♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the snowed in trope/forced proximity trope. Such a great second chance romance, brilliantly executed in a short amount of pages! The reason behind Walker's high school stunt totally changed everything!

[nitya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish this wasn't short, I wanted more :( though I liked the mutual pining

Content warning: death of a parent (past), cancer (side character)

[Em (semi-hiatus) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not everyone can write a novella, and that’s fine.

[ella ⋆˙⟡ ࣪ ˖ · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.8🌟(?😭)

Help why was this giving unrealistic wattpad story meets Lynn Painter meets Ali Hazelwood 😭
One page i was like „i get you girl“ when she said something like that:“I'd felt nothing when he apologized-but I felt everything when he'd confessed."
And then, 2 pages later, walker said something like „l, too, have a father in a sandwich bag."
and I was like what the actual f^ck is happening here 😭

i‘m also sorry to say that, and i mean their history was a bit cute when Walker told us the truth, but the romance didn‘t feel deep… like it could‘ve been an affair 💀

literally nothing really made sense but i wanna read a longer katherine center book now because i'm convinced her longer books are going to be so good !! her worldbuilding and writing was pretty convincing💫

And then we have a veeeeryyy long quote i loved and found so interesting! (But i’m not even sure if im allowed to write this down here since its so long and yeah copyrights 😭):

I once read that grief is biological. That each person you love has a set of neurons in your brain tasked with keeping track of that person. When that person dies, and that person is gone, those neurons don’t know what to do.
They keep searching and searching for their person—even after there’s no one to find.
Eventually, the neurons themselves die out. That’s what grieving is: letting go of the people we lost, and the parts of ourselves that try to hold on. And our only consolation is love: Diving back in. Finding more people. Growing new neurons. Fearlessly, stubbornly, insistently choosing love over and over—damn the consequences.

preread:
my first katherine center book !! well actually it's a short story but it sounds interesting and i'm ready for a cute little romance 🤗 don't actually have high hopes but the cover looks cute so
let's give it a try 💐

[Jonetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

the setup…
Lily is on her way to the Colorado Rockies to scatter her late father’s ashes along with his best friend’s who recently died. Their families had spent every summer at the cabin and this had been their request. But she only agreed to come because Walker Shaw wasn’t going to be there. But when she lands in Denver, who does she see in baggage claim? The man who everyone adores and who broke her heart seven years ago in high school.

the heart of the story…
It was clear Lily and Walker had once been extremely close, ans were their families, and he was her crush. I didn’t mind waiting on learning what he had done and just enjoyed the awkwardness (they got snowed in and were alone) and the path to reconnection. It was a sweet story and being in that cabin all night forced some hard truths.

the narration…
Ellie Gossage was wonderful as Lily, capturing her complete emotional range…angst, anger and hurt. I enjoyed her performance.

the bottom line…
I was delighted to grab this when it suddenly showed up. It’s a short, cute romance that fit in perfectly between my more darker titles.

Posted on Blue Mood Café

(Thanks to Brilliance Audio and NetGalley for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.)

[Kayla_Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[-`akansha´- · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to be on the hype train, I really do... but I keep missing it at the station.

Katherine Center’s books are enjoyable and easy to read, but rating them 4 or 5 stars feels like a stretch to me. And I can’t quite put my finger on it without sounding nitpicky, but here we go anyway: she often has characters ask themselves questions and then immediately answer them, and it happens so frequently that it starts to feel repetitive. The same goes for how reactions are spelled out in a very similar way each time, which eventually gets a bit grating.

I think what I’m craving is a bit more trust, just let the reader connect the dots sometimes. Give me subtext, give me subtlety, give me the chance to feel clever for picking up what you’re putting down.

That said, this one was fun and cute in parts. The premise has all the ingredients for a solid second-chance romance: childhood best friends turned estranged lovers, forced proximity in a snowed-in cabin, unresolved feelings bubbling to the surface. Lily and Walker’s dynamic had potential, and I did enjoy the emotional undercurrent of their shared history.

But the biggest issue? It felt way too short. I know it’s a novella, but it honestly read more like an extended blurb than a fully developed story. Just when things started getting interesting, it was already over. The ending, especially, was rushed to the point of being almost absurd. Walker gives a brief explanation for his past behavior, Lily forgives him almost instantly, and suddenly they’re back together like nothing happened. After years of hurt, it all gets resolved in what feels like two sentences. It didn’t feel earned at all.

To be fair, Katherine Center does pack a surprising amount of emotion into a very short format. There are glimpses of depth—reflections on lost love, miscommunication, and good intentions gone wrong. The audiobook narration by Ellie Gossage was also genuinely well done and added to the experience.

Still, once the “big reveal” about Walker’s actions came out, it felt underwhelming and, honestly, a bit silly. I was almost relieved the story ended soon after because I wasn’t convinced by the resolution—and personally, I wouldn’t have forgiven him that easily.

If you’re looking for a quick, bite-sized, bittersweet romance to fill an afternoon, this might work for you. But if you want something with real depth and payoff, this one probably won’t leave a lasting impression.