Why are Katherine Center's books just that good? I’ve seriously loved every one of them and this one is no exception. This book is filled with an intriguing plot line and it kept me reading. However, it’s not super unique like most of her other books. This one seems more predictable but it’s still a read for me.

The Ron-Commers by must read author Katherine Center, has everything a good story needs: tragedy, self-sacrifice, unrealized dreams, famous people who work in Hollywood, humor and of course romance. Writing instructor Emma goes to LA to help her most favorite screenwriter ever, Charlie Yates, fix his latest manuscript which is supposed to be a romantic comedy but isn’t even close. He doesn’t want her help, but eventually consents under duress. Their relationship is instructive, filled with wit, new experiences, and romantic insights that make this a book one does not want to close unfinished. It’s flat out wonderful as Emma tries to show Charlie what romance is. I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book from NetGalley. Most highly recommend.

Emma Wheeler is the sole caretaker of her dad who was in an accident and has a traumatic brain injury. She has been taking care of him for ten years. Her life has been on hold the whole time. When she gets a huge break in her career, she must trust her younger sister to take care of their dad. She moves out to Hollywood to follow her rom-com writing dream. The rest is a love story with so many delightful twists! I loved this story! Thanks to @NetGalley for allowing me to enjoy this ARC. I highly recommend it.

The way I tore through this story. I LOVE the way Katherine Center writes and The Rom-Commers is just continues that trend.

Emma and her family have been living in the shadow of tragedy for 10 years at the expense of Emma’s livelihood, though she’d never admit to that. But things change when Emma gets the opportunity of a lifetime to work with her screenwriting idol, Charlie Yates…trying to fix his awful attempt at a Rom-Com. But that won’t work according to plan, right? Of course.

Charlie is grumpy and surly and completely averse to anything Emma has to say about Rom-Coms.

I love that while Emma is vulnerable and honest, she also has a backbone and isn’t afraid to dish it back and take charge.

I also love seeing the relationship between Emma and her sister, Sylie grow and evolve as adults with shifting dynamics.

And their DAD!? 🥹 just stop. He’s the best.

Definitely give this one a read and thank you so much to NetGalley for this advance copy!

Texas writer Emma gets the career break of a lifetime when she's tapped to help award-winning screenwriter Charlie Yates re-write his terrible rom-com. But how can they write a romance when Charlie has lost his belief in love? Emma takes it upon herself to school Charlie in matters of the heart and HEA's abound.

This is the 10th Katherine Center book I've read and I've absolutely loved everything she's written. BUT....I was a little disappointed by this book. While it's not bad at all, I do feel like it's one of her weaker works. Her previous books were real women's fiction, with and serious topics and complex female characters who experienced growth and struggle, This book 100% read like a rom-com. It was cute and funny, but lacked the depth that showed up in her other books. While there was struggle and heartache, Emma was written in such a peppy, cutesy way that I had trouble seeing her as anything but a comedic heroine.

If you go into this with the understanding that it's a cute, fun read, you'll enjoy it. I've just come to expect more from Katherine Center, so it left me a little disappointed.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the chance to read and review a digital ARC of this book.

the rom-commers by katherine center

“i had theory that we gravitate toward stories we need in life…we look for answers in stories.”

★ ★ ★ ★ .5

everyone has there celebrity heroes. i’m sure i’ve told you before but mine is chris evans. i would simply pass away if i got the chance to meet him. but emma wheeler? she actually gets a once in a life time chance to WORK with her hero, charlie yates. only problem is emma is a romcom writer and charlie? well he can’t write romance to save his life. and he also doesn’t do working with others well. sounds like a recipe for disaster…

man i’m truly convinced i will absolutely love everything katherine center writes. she just does relationships so well. charlie and emma were so fun to read about. i loved seeing their friendship evolve as well as them as individuals. and of course i loved the little cameo from another fav character (i won’t say who for spoilers) but it was just so like them and it was perfect!

huge huge thank you to netgalley for this arc in exchange for my review!!! the rom-commers by katherine center comes out june 11th and is available for preorder now so go add it to your carts 🩷🧡❤️

oh hey! it’s so funny how this just became one of my favorite books i’ve ever read. katherine center you beautiful genius THIS BOOK IS EVERYTHING TO ME. i am sitting here absolutely destroyed by this work of art. this is the definition of a 6-star book. what an unbelievably beautiful testament to the power of love and family and tragedy and the authenticity of life! cheers to emma & charlie forever - i love you to infinity and beyond.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center. This was one of my most anticipated books of the year, and I was so grateful for the opportunity to read it early. I loved Emma and Charlie and the ride they took us on. There were moments when I was so frustrated with Charlie (but I think that was the point). All that to say, this book had amazing chemistry, fantastic banter, and a wonderful supporting cast of characters. I felt a wide range of emotions while reading this (a thing Center is so good at doing with her books) -- I laughed, cried, wanted to throw my book across the room, and got all the warm fuzzies. All that to say, definitely pick this one up!

I really liked this book! I do love when a romance is just a romance, but sometimes, it’s so refreshing when that part of the plot is almost secondary to the larger plot of the book. Like, this felt like a romance but it also felt like contemporary fiction/women’s lit, and I really enjoyed that. Emma and Charlie were both such lovable characters with relatable flaws. My heart went out to Emma, and I absolutely loved her family. Her backstory was heart-wrenching, and as it unfolded, you couldn’t help but to root for her and want her to have a successful career while also maintaining a close relationship helping her dad. And then there’s Charlie, who by all accounts is super successful and living the Hollywood life, but as his reasons for writer’s block were uncovered, you couldn’t help but to root for him too! The invisible strings tugging Emma and Charlie together were woven so well. Their differences connected them just as much as their similarities did, and they both had to overcome some personal hurdles in the third act to finally realize what the readers know all along.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️From publisher St. Martin's Press: Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a screenwriter. She’s spent her life studying, obsessing over, and writing romantic comedies—good ones! But she’s also been the sole caretaker for her kind-hearted dad, who needs full-time care. Now, when she gets a chance to re-write a script for famous screenwriter Charlie Yates—The Charlie Yates! Her personal writing god!—it’s a break too big to pass up.

But what is it they say? Don’t meet your heroes? Charlie Yates doesn’t want to write with anyone—much less “a failed, nobody screenwriter.” Worse, the romantic comedy he’s written is so terrible it might actually bring on the apocalypse.

But Emma’s not going down without a fight. She will stand up for herself, and for rom-coms, and for love itself. What if real life turns out to be so much . . . more real than fiction? true?
*********************
My review: I LOVE when I get a book from NetGalley by an author I already have read and enjoyed. The Rom-Commers did not disappoint. Charlie is grumpy and troubled, Emma is optimistic but weighed down by life. I love the stops and starts in this book...things got flirty and fun, then not. A few times. Way to build up the tension!
Charlie and Emma had great banter, which is a rom com necessity. And I laughed that had to keep Googling things. So normal! Charlie can do so much for Emma, professionally and emotionally. But will he? By the time I got to the last 1/4 of the book I was anxious and ready for them to figure it all out as well as finish the script. I cheered for Emma the whole way. And for a little teary because I love it when a grumpy MC finally sees the love.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance digital copy in exchange for my review.

Emma wants to be a screenwriter and she finally got to re-write a rom-com script for famous screenwriter Charlie. except that he doesn't want to work with anyone and his script is horrible. She has to convince him to give love a chance...

Emma is so sweet and likable. Took me a while to like Charlie since he starts off as a grump. The romance itself is so sweet.
A terrific romance.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

Katherine Center continues to amaze me with her writing. The depth of the characters, the romance/chemistry, the humor, the life lessons. She is one of the greatest, and I was so happy to receive an advanced copy of this book. I loved the characters in The Rom-Commers, I loved the overall lessons about mindset and positivity. I loved the little quirky, fun elements like the pet guinea pig & canned biscuits, and oh, the incredible banter. Don’t miss this book!

Katherine Center has written yet another heartwarming, but not sickeningly sweet, page-turner! I enjoyed almost everything about this book and I had a hard time putting it down every evening. Witty dialogue, believable and identifiable geographic settings, the right amount of backstory and conflict-- I cared about the characters more than I usually do.

Here's the thing, though: right from the start, I felt like I had read this plot before. Writer goes to LA, lives in a house with a cranky antisocial LA bigwig, and against the odds, they end up falling for each other. It didn't make me stop reading because I was so caught up in the author's sparkling dialogue and engaging writing. I did figure out which book's plot begins similarly, but Center takes it in an entirely different direction.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Rom-Commers and cannot wait for whatever she writes next!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free e-copy for review.

This is my new favorite Katherine Center book and my new favorite rom-com book ever. I LOVED IT! Emma and Charlie are the best characters and the premise of the two of them writing a rom com screenplay was so creative. This book was funny, heartwarming, and will stay with me for a long time. It had one of the best epilogues I’ve ever read. So encouraging and entertaining. I could go on and on about how much I loved this book!!!
I received an ARC of this book but I’m going to preorder this book so I can have a copy on my shelf. That’s how good it is!!!!! READ IT! You won’t be disappointed!!!!

I have heard really great things about Katherine Center and was excited that my request was accepted to read this as an ARC! Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press!
This was my first Katherine Center book and to me, it was good not great. I think that other people will really enjoy the story, especially if they are fans of Katherine Center, but it just wasn’t for me and that’s okay! I couldn’t connect to the characters and there were other parts that I didn’t really like. For example, the relationship between Emma and Charlie was frustrating. I didn’t love how Emma was consistently pursuing/throwing herself at Charlie, and kept getting shut down… like girl, when are you just gonna give up lol.

Anyways, not really for me, but again I think Katherine Center fans will enjoy!

They say to never meet your hero but I would love more than anything to meet Katherine Freaking Center to shake her hand and thank her for all the amazing books that live rent free in my mind.

I adore this author so much and enjoy the complexities in her stories. With that being said, this one was a bit of a letdown for me. I went on an emotional rollercoaster with this book. There were parts I absolutely loved and brought so much laughter and tears to me while I read it, but at the same time it felt like this book had way too much going on. I wish she would have cut ¼ of the drama out or focused on two topics.

Though this was not one of my favorite books by this author, it still is a solid book. It’s jam packed with emotions, the story was well written and well throughout, I just wish the romance wasn’t outdone by the journey of each character's growth.

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

10 stars!

I was so ecstatic when I saw the email from NG saying I was approved to read it! I love Katherine Center's books, she's an amazing writer!

Emma and Charlie, what can I say? They didn't start out in the best way: she thinking the job was a done deal (that Logan!) and him not knowing at all that she was coming. Not a good start.

But Charlie is curious about Emma's opinions on his script and soon realizes she is indeed an expert and she ends up staying with a contract for six weeks.

So many tropes in this story and so well done! I loved the forced proximity and the way they worked and lived so well together, and how their friendship blooms so well after their rocky beginning.

The ending was just amazing! Loved it so much! Loved the whole thing so, so much!

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

I literally jumped for joy when I learned I was approved to read Katherine Center’s The Rom-Commers. Her books always go to the top of my TBR list.

For good reason. She puts out heartwarming stories that make me smile and dance while simultaneously weaving in heavy themes that serve to deepen the emotionality of her characters.

This book was no exception. Our protagonist, Emma, is a die-hard romantic and a skilled romantic comedy writer who hasn’t been able to break out because of life circumstances.

But she finally gets her chance. The famous Charlie Yates has to put out a rom-com and he direly needs help from a ghost-writer. Her little crush on him non-withstanding, Emma is the perfect woman for the job.

Except, when she gets to LA she finds out that Charlie doesn’t believe in love. And nor does he actually want his romantic comedy to make it to the big screen.

The only way for Emma to achieve her dreams is convince a jaded Charlie that love is real. And maybe, just maybe, the two will find their own HEA on the way.

I adored both Emma and Charlie. Emma is a glass half-full kind of girl who has been through the wringer but comes out with a smile. Charlie, though he initially seems like a jerk, proves to be layered and kind. You can’t help but root for the two of them.

A five star sweet rom-com.

There is nothing I love more than a book about two writers falling in love over writing a project together.

Emma was a great protagonist. As the oldest of two sisters myself, I could empathize with the pressure she felt to shoulder everything and make things okay for her little sister in the aftermath of trauma. I loved following her journey with accepting to let things go and allow herself to be happy.

I also enjoyed the banter and sparks between Charlie and Emma from the get-go. I loved that you can feel Charlie fall for Emma first, and hard. I was practically giggling and kicking my feet reading their scenes together.

The only thing that kind of put me off about this story was Emma’s tendency to break the fourth wall and address us readers directly like she was telling her and Charlie’s story to us around a couple drinks. I’m not a big fan of this narration style in general because I find that it leads to a lot of info-dumping and telling instead of showing, which unfortunately happened here. I don’t need the long chapters of backstory. Let the information unfold to us naturally as the story goes. This is the only reason I’m not rating this book a 5 stars because, otherwise, I really loved it.

📖 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐦-𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫

"𝘈 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘮-𝘤𝘰𝘮," 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, "𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘹. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘣. 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦."

I loved this book! This story managed to have me cackling in tears and then had my heart in a chokehold at the loss and very real tragic events that took place.

At the heart of this story it’s about Emma trying to help Charlie believe in love again while also healing her heart so that she can finally begin to live her life. Emma had spent 10 years just surviving after a tragic accident changed her future and family, forever. Emma was a gem. Everything about her character was relatable, especially her fan-girling hard over Meryl Streep. I mean, it’s Meryl Streep, she’s ICONIC!

I didn’t know what to make of Charlie at first. I couldn’t decide if I liked him or not, but people are complex and that’s definitely true for him. Everyone has things they are trying to overcome. He managed to be unbelievably sweet while also standoffish.

Emma and Charlie are so perfectly opposite in nearly everything that I loved their moments together. In true Katherine Center style, this is a clean romance with only the absolute most cinematic kisses on page!

I recommend this story to everyone that grew up loving classic rom-coms with just a dash of heartache. Things aren’t perfect for Charlie and Emma and I think that’s perfect for them.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐦-𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 releases on June 11! Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my eARC so that I could share this honest review!

𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘴:
🫶🏼 𝘙𝘰𝘮 𝘊𝘰𝘮 (𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺)
💋 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘺
☀️ 𝘎𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘺 𝘹 𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦
✨ 𝘖𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘈𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵
💖 𝘊𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦

“𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘐𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.“