Member Reviews

This book was such a fun time to read.

This book follows Emma and Charlie as they cowrite a screenplay for a rom-com. Charlie is a big shot screenwriter who has a drawer of awards for everything that he has written. Charlie lives in a mansion by himself and expresses how he likes to write by himself and doesn't need any help. Charlie was told that in order to get his mafia movie made, he had to write a rom-com. Therefore, Charlie writes a sub-par rom-com.

Emma lives in Texas as a caregiver to her dad after a rock climbing accident. Emma writes Rom-coms on a small scale and hasn't been able to have a big break in her life due to current circumstances. Emma gets pulled into a ploy that get her to LA to write with her idol, Charlie.

The banter between the two of these characters was sublime! Emma was hard for me to connect with, but I got there in the end. Charlie seems to be a brute on the outside, but is a teddy bear when it comes to those he cares about. This book was fun to read and I enjoyed watching both of these characters develop throughout the book. This book does a great job touching on some hard topics (Sickness, homesickness, independence) and I feel like did it justice.

4/5 Stars. Highly recommend if you like close proximity, GrumpyXSunshine and He fell for her first. Thank you Thank you Thank you to Netgalley, St Martins Press and Katherine Center for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. I feel like I can definitely say I am a Katherine Center stan!!!

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I loved this book! I thought it was very charming. I would be comfortable recommending this book to many of the patrons at my library. I thought the line dancing scene was very funny and the relationships between the characters to be earned. As someone with a sister, I thought the confrontation between Sylvie and Emma to be realistic. Their dad was delightful and I appreciated what I learned about Meniere's disease while reading this book. Overall, I think The Rom-Commers is a great read, especially for the summer, and give it five stars.

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Any book that is related to The Bodyguard, no matter how tangentially, was always going to have a bit of an uphill battle for my affections. I love that book. And while Jack Stapleton does appear, he is by no means even a minor character. Pure cameo. I did come to really appreciate Emma and Charlie a lot, but I also felt like Charlie remained a bit more mysterious than I wanted him to. Also, I needed some more of Emma and her relationship with her sister, especially at the end, because there was some heavy stuff there.

Anyhow, really fun overall, maybe I would have enjoyed a bit more without that Bodyguard association, but who knows. If you like Katherine Center, you'll almost certainly enjoy this.

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I found this book to be extremely insightful as to the choices that one has to live their lives. At the beginning, Emma was simply existing as she took care of her father but limited herself to surviving in a five mike radius around their apartment. She took no chances due to her concern that something would happen despite the fact that the possibility it could was low. But as her father said, what you tell yourself about your life is the truth. Due to the accident and the his physical ailments that resulted because of rock climbing, he could have become bitter and angry; yet, he stated that he became calmer and kinder. When Emma took a chance and went to LA to help write a screenplay with Charlie of whom happened to be her hero, her life became brighter and bigger. She allowed herself to feel and experience love. She became open to the idea that she didn't have to watch scenes from a movie as that could be her actual life. She forgave herself and chose to not only write about her best life but to tell the stories that resulted because of it. This book is joyful and filled with love. A true pleasure to read.

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Katherine Center is the queen of rom-coms. There, I said it. It's true. Her stories are full of well-developed characters, interesting plot lines, miscommunications that drive a reader crazy, and satisfying endings. If you're looking for spice or smut, you won't find it here. You will find a story that tugs at your heart and some poignant statements about love and life. I'm definitely re-reading this one.

Thanks to NetGalley for early access to this book in audio and digital versions. I thoroughly enjoyed both!

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TW: death of a parent, cancer, chronic health issues, grief,
I want to start this off by saying that I have loved every book I've ready by Katherine Center and anytime I see a new release, I HAVE to read it ASAP and this book did not disappoint.
Emma has always taken care of everyone and helped everyone follow their dreams, but along the way she forgot to allow herself the same joys. After an accident that kills her mom and seriously injures her dad, Emma takes over as primary caregiver to her fathers complex medical needs in order to keep him safe and allow for her sister to lead a full life without worry. Being passionate about happily ever afters, movies, and writing for for ever... the isolation she has kept herself in has allowed her to continue honing in on her craft and becoming quite good.
When the opportunity to work with her screen writing idol, Charlie Yates, becomes avaliable, Emma is pushed by her family to unleash her control on her dads care and travel across the country to work with Charlie. Their dynamic is complicated with Charlie not believing in happily ever afters and hating Rom-Coms and those being Emmas forte. Eventually they create a peaceful dynamic full of the best banter, homecooked meals, and productive days spent working out a rom-com screen play that is more than just good enough.
I absolutly loved Charlie and Emma's dynamic. Both pushed eachother to go outside of their comfort zones and make room for love in their lives. Their banter was funny and there were some seriously sad moments. From laughing to crying, this book had it all.

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As always, Katherine Center writes a story with all the pain of real life phobias, loss, & responsibilities artfully crafted into a heartwarming narrative that will have you feeling ALL the feels. Perfect beach read! I loved this one as always by Katherine Center - shes awesome.

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Infinity stars and alllll the feels for this book!! Katherine Center has absolutely mastered the art of lovable characters and witty banter and a healthy dose of hilarity/absurdity (guinea pig in a tabletop barn being serenaded by Queen tunes?!) in the face of tragedy and major life events and very relatable challenges/situations. The Rom-Commers is so very heartwarming and is exactly the type of book you’d want to pick up to pull yourself out of a rut, laugh out loud, and believe in the goodness and hope and joy of life again. Oh and there’s also a love story and a big happy ending and that’s like icing on top of the icing on a cake of an already beautiful and heartfelt story.

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Well, Katherine Center is my new favorite romance author. I could not love this more. The banter! The romance! The stories of their past that shaped them into who they are.
I also have to say, as a person who lost my mother at the young age of 13 and really struggled with her death, Center writes about grief and loss in such a realistic way. I saw the same thing in Hello Stranger. It was nice to connect to a character who went though similar emotions that I went through.
Now I'll be reading all of Center's backlist books.
See more on my bookstagram - @bookish_starry_skies.

Thank you Netgalley, Katherine Center, and the publishers for this wonderful eARC.

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I loved this book so much, I couldn’t put it down and read it in a day! This is the first book I’ve read from the author but it won’t be my last. I felt every emotion as I was reading and was literally laughing out loud at certain parts. I loved both of the main characters, Emma and Charlie, and the build of their relationship. I love how the book addressed adversity and trauma so realistically, considering the light and darkness that we face in life. Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the eARC.

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— 4 ⚝

Katherine Center is a master weaver of nuanced stories that feel grounded in reality and have eye opening profundity. i dove in expecting a swoony, fun, summer rom-com that would make me laugh & shed a few tears. but i felt like I got so much more. There were so many funny moments that had me giggling repeatedly, clutching my chest & gasping for air. lots of tears were shed in the reading of this book. all the profundity resonated with me viscerally. i love the deeper themes of this book which were about choosing to hold on to hope even when times are dark and that life is full of tragedy but can also be full of love if you choose. a lot of the book reminded me of beach read because of the similar themes and also the fact that they are writing a rom-com together and are doing immersive research for it, which was DELIGHTFUL.

i also go into a katherine center book expecting fun and come out with that AND so many life lessons that internalize deeply which I now really look forward to. Although, the mmc’s rude behavior for majority of the book is slightly off-putting, I did warm up to him by the end & actually loved him too. There were so many instances where I was like Emma deserves better but by the end, Charlie rlly did come through! I LOVE emma’s character and wanted to hug her to me tightly and never let go. I deeply sympathized with her situation. she’s such a compassionate and pure character that i was moved to tears whenever she said something tender & vulnerable. but if you ask me who my favourite character is, it's CUTHBERT. obviously.

However, I feel like what happened at the 80% mark with her dad was a little bit overwhelming because it was extremely emotionally heavy and that's just not something that I enjoy in my rom-coms. while i did appreciate the emotional depth and layers that all the tragedy added to the story, it felt very out of place with the general vibe of rom-coms. I also think this felt more on the women’s fiction side than the romance side which is also how i typically feel with her books because i always expect more romantic moments and chemistry but it always feels focused on the fmc. I would have liked seeing them do more things together instead of being told that they did those things, like grocery shopping for instance. As much as I understand choosing the route of single pov, i genuinely think having the mmc’s pov would have added more to the story romantically by explaining his behaviors initially especially for readers who think by the time his motivation is explained it's too late to redeem him.

that said, despite my few qualms, i loved & enjoyed this journey so very much and genuinely see myself reading it again. i think about this book very frequently & it was the same after i read hello, stranger. I fully recommended giving this a shot. I think it’s worth it for the humour and the depth alone! the nuance of the book also makes it so very memorable & interesting & Emma is everything.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley and the author for an e-arc of this book. All thoughts are my own and not influenced in any way.

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Katherine Center is a favorite author, so I was excited to read this new book! Overall, this was a fun, whitty read! I loved the banter of the main characters and Charlie's grumpiness! I loved the relatable inner dialogue of Emma! I loved the real discussion on life and love! I think the only thing I wanted was a little more! I wanted a little more story before the end! And at least one more kissing scene, because oh my heck! Enjoyable read overall! (Thank you Netgalley)

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Katherine center did it again!!! This book is so fun! I couldn’t put it down.. this latest book might be my most favorite yet.

I’m waiting for another one of her books to be turned into a movie. This one would be perfect! Bring back the rom com era!

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I’m disappointed :(. I’ve loved Katherine centre’s other works and the idea of a script writing romance seems so fun. It’s literally called the rom-commenrs which should’ve been a clue that it’s a romantic comedy and the humour just didn’t land for me. This is a case where I think me and the book weren’t meeting each other in the right place and I think so many other people are going to love this book. They’re going to sit on the beach and enjoy this.

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This is my 3rd Katherine Center book and I absolutely adored it. I laughed a lot of times through out the book. I cried in the end because it was just beautiful. Emma and Charlie’s story was amazing. It was truly a journey of life and love. Highly recommend this light hearted book as a great summer read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Katherine Center and Macmillan for the ARC. These opinions are my own.

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I easily devoured this rom-com in only a couple days! In a fame-adjacent story (the bets kind of romcoms in my opinion), we follow two screenwriters as they work to write a screenplay together while dealing with a ton of heavy personal things as well. Their romance is a major part of the story, but it definitely isn't everything, and probably not even the main thing as we see our leads navigate chronic illness/injury and complicated family relationships and work-life balance. I loved everything about this one, and definitely have a new favorite Katherine Center book! This is truly the perfect summer read.

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Charlie, a successful screenwriter, needs to write a rom-com. His problem? He wrote one but it’s bad. Very, very bad. He thinks romance is a Ponzi scheme and doesn’t believe in love.

He needs help. And fast. Enter Emma, an aspiring screenwriter who has been hired to re-write Charlie’s script.

Her problem? She’s the full-time caretaker for her dad, who was injured in an accident that took her mother’s life. But her sister steps in to help so Emma can fulfill her dream to write for Charlie, her writing hero. Dreams can come true.

Now her problem is how to thaw Charlie’s cold heart and make him believe in love and rom-coms.

In true Katherine Center form, this book has the perfect blend of romance and comedy, but with substance and depth. The witty banter gets me every time.

I closed the book with a full heart and a smile on my face.

I also loved the theme in defense of love and rom-coms, a theme the author continued in her note at the end of the book. Don’t miss it. Finding joy in adversity is another overriding theme that I loved.

I read a variety of genres and rom-coms will always have a place in my heart and on my shelves. Especially one written by this author. A well-done rom-com requires serious writing chops, and Katherine Center is among the best. She is able to write a story that has the perfect magical blend that captivates this reader.

My only regret is I now have to wait another year for a new Katherine Center book.

Don’t miss this one. A pure delight from start to finish! 5+ stars!

* I received a digital copy plus the audio version, via NetGalley. All opinions are my own

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4.5 Stars! The Rom-Commers is Katherine Center's latest romance novel and it's a love letter to the genre! It showcases all the reasons we readers love our happy ever afters.

An award-winning screenwriter and a wannabe screenwriter are forced to draft a rom-com together. Charlie is only phoning this in to get a different script produced and he makes it clear he thinks rom-coms are terrible and unrealistic. Meanwhile, Emma is a die-hard fan of the genre and makes it her mission to show Charlie why he’s wrong.

Throughout her quest to write an incredible script, she explains to Charlie (and us readers) all the vast reasons that rom-coms are worth their weight in gold.

I loved the moments where Charlie "breaks the fourth walk" and talks to us, which mimics some TV shows and movies. It was a fun nod to the movie industry!

The chemistry between these two was a slow burn, as they grew more and more important to each other. While the love story was cute, the defense of romances was the true star and made this a fantastic read for anyone!

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I loved this! The chemistry between the leads was impeccable and the stakes were clear from the beginning. The character development served as the heart of the story. I've already recommended this to several other readers.

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This book made me fall in love again with Katherine Center. I finished the book about a week ago and I am still thinking about it. I loved Emma, I related so much to her- the want to have these big dreams and sacrifice them for the love of family. I didn’t want this book to end and I’m so happy that it ended the way it did. I cannot wait to tell everyone about this book

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