Katherine Center is already an auto buy author for me, I swear everything she puts out is better than the book before and the rom commers is no exception. I read this gem in one sitting and as a pregnant woman that's no small feat. I absolutely loved it. I laughed, I cried, I tossed my phone to the other end of the couch when Charlie was being too difficult to stand anymore. I also adored the chemistry between Emma and Charlie. I cannot wait to add the physical copy to my shelves!

I am not sure how I feel after reading this book. On one hand, I thought the romance was perfectly angst-filled, suspenseful, and frustrating. On the other hand, the story was sweet, funny, melancholy, and introspective. It’s a cheesy rom-com, but it’s also a trauma-laden character study. I just felt so many emotions while reading this, and I’m not sure if I’m happy or sad at the end.

At first, I honestly wasn’t sure this would be a story for me, but it seemed like within five minutes, I was already near the end of the book. I just got completely swept away in the pages and didn’t want to stop reading!

I was thinking about this book at work today when I was about 85% through it. My thought was that I was either going to absolutely LOVE this book or I was going to hate this book. I honestly didn’t know, based on the events that took place right before I had to stop reading.

I mean, Charlie has to be the most frustrating male main character I have ever read. Even after the conclusion, I still don’t think I actually like him. Is he perfect for Emma? Maybe. But that doesn’t mean I have to like him. And I didn’t. He made me angry throughout the entire book. He does show glimpses of decent human behavior and kindness, but I can only forgive so much.

I loved the characters’ backstories, even though they are sad for everyone. Their trauma shone through their actions, but made them all better/stronger in the long run.

I also adored the little cameo from our favorite couple from The Bodyguard. It made me happier than it probably should have. 😂

Overall, this is a another winner from Katherine Center.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I actually listened to this book. Great narrator. A laugh out loud engaging romantic comedy. The writing was very clever and I couldn’t stop listening. I loved the concept of the behind the scenes writing a rom com. The characterization was done so well that I could imagine not only what they looked like, their mannerisms, and how they felt. It was great.

All someone has to say is, “This is a book by Katherine Center,” and I want to read it. Every book she writes makes me so happy, and that is precisely what THE ROM-COMMERS did, too. I laughed. I cried. I laughed some more. And I fell head over heels for Emma Wheeler and Charlie Yates. What an exceptional love story with the bad, the ugly, and all the good!

I love the way Center writes because whoever she uses as the stories narrator grips your heart and doesn’t let go. You can love them. You can get annoyed with them. You can want to hit them upside the head. You can cry with them. But they have such a stronghold on you the entire book that by the end, it feels like you are leaving a friend behind when you close the book. But that’s all the more reason to reread it 😉

For anyone who loves the grumpy/sunshine and forced proximity tropes, Center absolutely nailed them. They are two of my favorites, and I loved seeing Emma and Charlie stuck together! Plus, their banter while being a grump and sunshine is so good!

I’m not sure if you can tell, but I really liked this book and audiobook. Katherine Center writes fantastic books, in my humble opinion. You cannot go wrong reading the THE ROM-COMMERS!

Thanks, St. Martin’s Press, for the arc!

Content Warnings: familial death, grief, cancer, injury detail, medical trauma, panic attacks

5 stars

Thank you, St Martin's Press and NetGalley, for the advanced copy of The Rom-Commers.

And thank you, Katherine Center, for another amazing rom-com. I could not put this one down! This was a one-sit wonder for me! Katherine Center has it. Whatever it is. Her novels lure me in and will not let me go even after the last page. The Rom-Commers was no different. This is a great read to grab for a day at the beach or a day in the house or a day at the coffee shop or anywhere really! Just grab it and devour it. You won't regret it!!

Emma Wheeler has put her life on hold for the last ten years. When her mom passed away and her dad was left needing a full-time caretaker, Emma made a promise to her little sister. She'd take the first ten years so her sister could finish school, and her sister would take the next ten years. She didn't mean it though. She would never ask her sister to put her life on hold and come take care of their father who has very special nutritional and medical needs. But when her writing agent tells her that he needs her to help rewrite a rom-com script with famous screenwriter Charlie Yates, her idol, how is she supposed to turn that down? Her sister is all in to help and pushes Emma to take the job. It's six weeks. What could happen? Unfortunately for Emma (fortunately for the reader), LOTS!

I liked so much about this book, but there was one big thing I didn't like that knocked down my rating a bunch. Charlie was just not very nice for a large chunk of the book. He said some super mean things, and continued to say those things basically the whole story. He was sweet and kind in many moments, but those did not make up for his off-handed rude comments for me. The rest of the book I really enjoyed- the banter, setting, plot, and family dynamics. It was a fun easy read, but I am not sure I would recommend it.

Ok, this book was great! 100% recommended for any rom-com lovers.

What I loved:
1) great premise- underrated but talented screenwriter is enlisted to help a top screenwriter to fix the rom-com he must write to fulfill his contract
2) enemies to lovers with great chemistry
3)witty/hilarious banter
4) great emotional development by both main characters, and some touching scenes where they reveal their deepest secrets and fears to each other
5) great plot, slow build, twists and turns. An emotional rollercoaster in the best possible way
6)natural and organic building of relationship and feelings between the two MC’s

Honestly, I haven’t read a book by this author that I haven’t enjoyed. She is super talented.

Thank you to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book to read and review.

5 PERFECT STARS ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
this. this is my new favorite romance book of all time. and maybe, quite possibly, my favorite book of all time?? and i’m taking it as a sign of fate that it releases on my birthday June 11th so I can reread it again. and again. this is a book i want to inject in my veins, blend in a smoothie and drink for breakfast.

(and there is no spice, just perfect beautiful ROMANCE at its core)
this made me laugh, cry, cry some more, cry some more and then heal my heart in the best way possible.
i will be standing on a mountain top screaming on my birthday for everyone to read this unbelievably perfect blueprint of a romance novel. 💗😭🫶🏼

I loved this book so much! This is my favourite Katherine Center book I have read, and I have read almost all of her books. This book made me feel every emotion. I cried I laughed I got mad, and I got annoyed. Just like any Rom Com it is predicable, but they did it just right.

I 100% recommend this book for anyone who loves a romance with more depth.

Katherine Center is one of my favorite romance authors and she does it again with the Rom-Commers. I laughed, I cried, and felt all the emotions as I savored each page in this novel. I absolutely love her character development and the dialogue between the characters. I highly recommend this for your next beach read!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own

Katherine Center can do no wrong! She has a way of really making you feel while reading her books. This yet again knocked it out of the park for me. I always love a good grump to sappy story and this did not disappoint!

**This book will be published on 06/11/2024!**
I received this e-book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and the author/publisher for the copy!

Emma Wheeler LOVES romantic comedies. She enjoys writing screenplays for them, as well as obsessing over any rom coms that she can get her hands on. BUT Emma also is the sole person that takes care of her father, who needs around the clock care. When Emma received a phone call from her best friend, Logan, to have the chance to rewrite a terrible script for Charlie Yates, a famous and decorated screenwriter, she cannot pass up this opportunity. With her sister taking over the care for her father, Emma heads to LA for six weeks.....only for her to learn that Logan didn't tell Charlie that he was bringing Emma to help rewrite this. He didn't even WANT to rewrite it! Emma tries her best to get through to Charlie so they can write a much, much better Rom-Com- but will he let her?

OMG! I have not read a Katherine Center book I don't LOVE. Her books are AMAZING and this one just adds to it! I laughed out loud so many times, she is hilarious. She took us on a frustrating, funny, relatable, and loving ride. If you have read any of her other novels, you definitely need to add this to your list! There is even a familiar character that pops into this story from her other book, The Bodyguard! I also just want to add in, Emma is a great name for an MC (it's my daughter's name)!

I have procrastinated on this review of The Rom-Commers. Why? Perhaps because I think I’ve become a broken record regarding Katherine Center’s novels. Novels that put a vulnerable heart on the line and show all the ways that it can get thumped, pounded, pained yet still remain hopeful, caring, compassionate. And how we really need that hope and compassion in a world where it is not in ample supply. Where reading a book like this can bring gentle joy into your life for a few hours but have residual effects. Okay. There. Review done. 😉 Ha!

Years ago a tragic accident happened on the Wheeler family vacation during which the mother lost her life, the father lost use of his hand and more, and daughters were never quite the same. Emma, the eldest, however, became a stellar screenwriter at school and even won an important internship that she had to relinquish when her father needed a caretaker. But now, thanks to an old friend and agent, Emma has a chance to pursue her dreams even if only for a short while. She’s been hired to help Charley Yates, the award-winning Charley Yates that she has fan-girled over forever. But Emma discovers when she meets Charley that maybe “heroes” are best seen from a distance. A very long distance.

So the thing about a Katherine Center novel is that one minute you’ll be crying and then next laughing. Like all things that have real heart and humanity, there are so many feelings in this novel that show themselves early on and continue. But, and I feel this is important, Center does not use sentimentality or angst to evoke those feelings. She uses someone relatable and lets her experience life outside the safety of her niche.

I was not always enamored with Emma but I’ve known women like her who feel the crunch of taking on burdens at a young age that their peers never experience. While Emma is fun and says what’s on her mind, she’s sometimes prickly and demanding especially later in the novel in her relationship with her little sister for whom she’s given up a lot. And like a real-life relationship, the emotions, a little bitterness from everything she’s sacrificed, have begun to show.

Charley is depicted as a grump despite have an extremely successful Hollywood career. Does he have his reasons? Well, let’s just say that I might be a grump too if handed the cards he was dealt. This is what makes the novel feel so real. These aren’t cardboard characters. These characters have depth and history, reasons for their behavior, and the obligatory scars.

The familial and friend relationships in The Rom-Commers ring true to me as well. The misunderstandings, the jibes, the saying of hurtful things that you’d take back in an instant, the love and loyalty.

Yes, there are some fantastical scenes as part of grand gesture but they add to the dreaminess of this love story.

At the end of the audiobook, Katherine Center makes a case for love stories. And, I think she’s right. We all need love stories. The ones in which a couple learn about each other, discover foibles, fall in love maybe a la Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. But having read the romance genre for more than a few decades, I’d have to differentiate between love stories and the lust stories that are prevalent. Lust stories are rarely love stories. But love stories can be lusty. My unsolicited 10 cents.

I have funnily enough begun to equate Patti Murin’s voice with Katherine Center’s, enough so that I’m semi-startled when I do hear Katherine Center (that’s not her voice j/k). Patti Murin brings The Rom-Commers alive. She enhances the heart in this novel and makes all of the lively banter so much fun. I could, probably, happily listen to her narrate any and every book.

The Rom-Commers will be out just in time to add to your TBR beach bag or mountain tote (is that a thing? Let’s let it be a thing.) I hope you fall in love with it as much as I did. And don’t forget the Refrigerated Biscuit Donuts!

Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy.

The Rom-Commers was a fresh, quick read.

Emma is more worried about taking care of her dad than living her life, until she gets an amazing chance to work with her favorite screenwriter. Emma takes the opportunity and we see Emma and Charlie learn to live with each other and teach each other new things.

Emma and Charlie's relationship felt real, but almost too real. There was a lot of dry humor and feelings that developed for seemingly no reason. At times, Charlie was flat out mean. I do think Center did a great job showing how much outside situations can affect all areas of your relationships. I think the resolution at the end could have used a bit more to it because it doesn't feel like this relationship would last much longer than what we see on the page. Overall, I would say I enjoyed the banter and the funny situations. Definitely a rom-com in it's own right!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the arc.

I really enjoyed this book by Katherine Center. This is my second Katherine Center book and my new favorite of hers.

I loved both Emma and Charlie and watching them work together and falling in love was just so much fun. The humor of the characters and their lovable nature was top notch! There were some dark moments especially when Emma was explaining her fathers accident and what it meant to her, but overall this book was fun and such a joy to read. The end definitely had me in tears and a little scared of what was to come, but I was very happy with the ending and so glad that Emma and Charlie got their happily ever after!

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the gifted copy in exchange for my honest review!

I loved the concept of this and loved the first 60% of the book. It was a great lead up to a great story and found that both MC were well developed. Then an abrupt halt happened at around 60-70% of the way through and I was cringing through the rest of the book. I needed it to be over and couldn't bear the dialogue and ending. I enjoy KC books, but this was a miss for me.

I have enjoyed everything that this author has put out but this story is by far my favorite. It was the journey that I needed to take with characters who were engaging and entertaining and made me wish were real. I will definitely purchase a physical copy and that’s the sign of a great read in my opinion.

Really wanted to love but this felt formulaic to me :( I just feel like I can see the plot from a mile away :(

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the ARC! #theRomCommers #KatherineCenter #NetGalley

Emma is an unknown and struggling writer who finds herself contracted to help her favorite writer ever, Charlie, to rewrite a screenplay in LA. Emma is a control freak when it comes for caring for her disabled Dad who needs help 24-7 and is nervous to leave him with her sister in Texas. Charlie is reeling from his divorce and childhood trauma and trying to overcome a case of the writer “yips”. Emma is determined to turn his lacklustre work into a rom com full of laughter, emotions, and romance. Charlie has been promised they’ll make his next work into a movie if he gets this one at least mediocre which pushes Emma to become determined to prove to Charlie that romance and love do exist by getting him to experience the things he writes about in order to make the reader feel the activities through the words like swimming and line dancing.
The right book comes to you at the right time. The Rom-Commers was just the delightful and light-hearted romance I needed to make me laugh at their banter but also enjoy the intense love of a tight knit family and the infectious gratitude and positivity they exude.

Every time Katherine Center writes a new book, I instantly run to pre-order it. I did that to this one, as well as got an ARC copy. This was absolutely amazing. The character development for both of the MCs was such a moving thing to watch. The banter between them was hilarious, witty, and enjoyable. The love throughout the book was felt so deeply. The deeper raw moments hit hard, and I even cried near the end of the book. All of this wrapped up with a flawless ending. Katherine Center is a magician with words. This might just be my now favorite book of hers!!!

I received this ARC from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press to read/review. All of the statements above are my true opinions after fully reading this book.