Member Reviews
Katherine Center is a must read for me. Her writing is consistently excellent, and this new novel is no exception. The Rom-Commers is about two screenwriters writing, of course, a rom-com. But it's also so much more than that - a story of love and so much loss, a reminder to appreciate what you have and those you love. You will immediately fall in love with Emma and Charlie and root for them to realize their attraction. You will also fall in love with Emma's family and even Charlie's guinea pig and root for their happy endings, too. Reading a Katherine Center novel is like getting a hug from a long lost friend, comfortable, familiar and so beautiful.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!
Ngl I wanted to punch Charlie for a good part of the book. But now.... I am once again.... in love with a man who can't always communicate his feelings ((predictable)).
Thank you for the ARC! Loved this book and love Katherine Center! I’ve read several of her books but I think this is my favorite. I love reading books about writing and the two main characters were perfect.
Katherine Center has a personal goal of “read for joy” and her stories do just that — you’re laughing and smiling throughout the book, and you genuinely care and root for her main characters. “The Rom-Commers” starts as a classic enemies-to-lovers story, but this novel has an unexpected layer of emotional depth — there were times that I slightly doubted that there would be a happily-ever-after (a must-have for a rom-com according to main character, Emma). Don’t worry! You’ll love the ending! As usual, the author injects joy, hope, love, warmth and romance in every chapter.
Emma thinks she’s been hired to fix the script of superstar screenwriter Charlie’s first attempt at romantic comedy (whom she unabashedly has a professional crush on), after his spectacular career making movies where quotes from his films are marketed on t-shirts. But his rewrite of “It Happened One Night” (with line-dancing) is an insult to the genre and his agent, Logan, tries to get Charlie to allow Emma to be the script doctor. Charlie is all darkness and grumpiness (he thinks pessimism is a smart option) while Emma is joy, humor, and sunshine. The banter is laugh out loud funny and I wanted it to go on and on forever. I’ll be recommending this book for months! 5 stars!
Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO But… Emma and Logan have the same identical shade of equally unusual hazel eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Charlie does catch onto Emma’s love of peonies.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!
"The Rom-Commers" is a delightful rom-com that follows Emma Wheeler's dream of becoming a screenwriter. Despite her passion for the craft, her responsibilities as a caregiver for her father have kept her from whole-heartedly pursuing her career. When her high school sweetheart, now a literary agent, offers her a chance to rewrite a lackluster Rom-Com screenplay by renowned writer Charlie Yates, Emma sees it as a golden opportunity. However, Yates, who doesn't believe in love, presents a formidable challenge for Emma.
I thoroughly enjoyed both the audiobook and the e-book editions of "The Rom-Commers." The audiobook includes two additional treats not found in the e-book: a delightful bonus chapter narrated from Charlie's perspective and an insightful discussion by Katherine Center on her affection for love stories.
Katherine Center lovers rejoice - this is another great book!
The Rom-Commers is the story of Emma, who has basically put her life on hold to provide round-the-clock care to her dad, while still finding time to love and write rom coms. She gets invited to LA to help rewrite a screenplay with Charlie Yates, who just so happens to be her idol and someone she may have a teensy crush on. When she gets there, he wants nothing to do with Emma or her help, but slowly agrees to allow her to help him.
Emma's fierce insistence on making this a great screenplay is strong enough that even Charlie can't entirely resist. And maybe - just maybe - he can't resist her either, until he pushes her away completely.
I always love Katherine Center's books, but I especially love this one. Emma was a great protagonist and I related to her so much.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I LOVE LOVE LOVED this JOY of a book!! Their chemistry was so great. I was rooting for them from the get go. I really enjoyed the strength of Emma. She wasn’t afraid to speak her mind or do the right thing. I think we could all learn a thing or two from her. I loved how Charlie learned to love and to not be afraid of it and to muster the courage to do what was right and good and joyful.
It had a wonderful message of hope and joy and love. It makes me want to shout to the rooftops about how wonderful rom-coms are. Maybe if everyone read this book the world would be a happier place.
Also, y’all. Read the authors note. It was so great.
Katherine Center is an auto read, auto buy author for me. Her books always dig in deep and won’t let you go until the last page. And even then, they linger in your heart forevermore and I LOVE IT!!!
Thank you to NetGalley and MalcMillan Audio for this ARC! 🥰
Katherine Center is a must read author for me, and she does it again with The Rom-Commers. Something about her writing always leaves me satisfied as a reader at the end of her novels.
Emma is up against all odds when she is thrown together with her favorite writer and has to help him re-write a Rom Com when he doesn’t even believe in love to begin with. Can she do it? Katherine Center’s characters are written with depth and readers will come to love and root for Emma and Charlie.
The perfect summer read!! An Easy 5 stars from me!
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗢𝗠-𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗯𝘆 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 ⠀
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This novel has the big five: spark, build, banter, joy, & scenes. It might be my new favorite Katherine Center
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I audibly gasped at the cameo from Jack Stapleton!!! 💕💕#iykyk⠀
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The Canned Biscuit chapter had me in stitches. 🤣. Charlie is such a mess. Add in the chapters about line dancing, a melancholy guinea pig and this really is the perfect Rom-Com. The epilogue is beautifully written and might have been my favorite part. I loved it! Highly recommend all of Katherine Center's books.
While you wait for this one, you should definitely read 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝗱𝘆𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱.
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I 100% need Nancy Meyers or Hallie Meyers-Shyer to make this into a movie!!!!
𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗥𝗼𝗺-𝗖𝗼𝗺 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: "𝗜𝘁 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁", "𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗮𝗹"& "𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆" (ᴍʏ 𝟸 ғᴀᴠᴏʀɪᴛᴇs), "𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗔𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻"⠀𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝗿𝗼𝗺-𝗰𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲. ⠀
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ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴏ @ɴᴇᴛɢᴀʟʟᴇʏ @sᴛᴍᴀʀᴛɪɴsᴘʀᴇss ᴀɴᴅ @ᴋᴀᴛʜᴇʀɪɴᴇᴄᴇɴᴛᴇʀ ⠀𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗺-𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟭𝟭𝘁𝗵 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰.
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📚336 pages on kindle ⠀
I love this author and I loved this book. I ugly cried at least twice while reading this and that’s how you know it’s good. I will read everything this Katherine Center writes.
I love love love Katherine Center!!!
Each book she writes, she outdoes herself.
Emma and Charlie are my new favs!!!
I love especially how Center takes real life scenarios and writes so beautifully about them.
The review for this book will be posted on my instagram (Bookmarkedfavs) this weekend!!
Thanks for my early copy!!
I’ll be honest that I had the opportunity to listen to this audiobook before getting the chance to read it. Sometimes I find that they can be two different experiences but what stayed the same-I absolutely adore this book!!!! The only thing that changed is a I fell even more in love with the characters and this story.
Dreams do come true! Emma gets the opportunity of a lifetime to relocate to Los Angeles to rewrite a screenplay with the screenwriter of all screenwriters, the epic Charlie Yates! Emma has always been a caretaker, looking after her younger sister and now her dad. Now it’s her time to stop sacrificing her goals and dream big! Nothing is going to stop her, not even cynical Charlie Yates. Emma’s perseverance moves this novel forward in such an amazing manner, leaving us to root for her all the way! Funny and heartwarming while tackling lots of big issues, Katherine Center produced a book as epic as a Charlie Yates screenplay! The Rom-Commers is a breezy, fun read…an absolute gem of a book.
Review is posted on Goodreads and will be posted on Instagram ahead of publication
Katherine Center can do no wrong. Thats it. Thats the review.
Thank you St. Martins Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book. Special shout out to Katherine Center for providing a small group of us book nerds a copy of the physical book to unleash our creative souls into.
Just kidding, I am going to gush sparkly word vomit about this book until GoodReads tells me "no more you hooligan woman." *deep breath* THIS BOOK IS FUDGING PHENOMENAL! P H E N O M E N A L! If I had a dollar for the amount of times this woman's story gave me goosebumps, i'd be a dang millionaire.
"The Rom-Commers" is a love letter to romance lovers in all our gloriously glittery forms! It's seriously so hard to put to words how ridiculously perfect this story is.
Her books are all filled with the best kind of stuff. I am talking strong females, love that will make your knees weak, plot points that will make your emotions spiral and with all of that combined will make your physically smile down on the page but her latest is something deeply special.
Bold statement time. This has the highest potential of kicking "Happiness for Beginnings" out of my favorite book by the queen herself... that's how hard this story goes.
I know you're thinking "le sigh" this is just another gummy bear & unicorn fart filled love story that Dani endlessly reads but NO she is M O R E, M O R E, SO MUCH MORE!
Katherine Center expertly crafts this emotionally & heart warming story of a ridiculously talented female writer who is loses her shine to the daily care of her father when the opportunity of a life time drops into her lap. The opportunity? Help celebrity crush, Charlie, to give his earth destroying bad rom-com a new life. Writing with Charlie essentially opens her world to joy, independence and love.
You'll experience butterflies of discovering love. The deep cut that is understanding grief and loss. The anxieties of new beginnings. It's will spring tears into your eyes. You'll old man wheeze out into the world. Center excellently weaves in all these emotional feelings with goofy banter, swoon worthy "dates" and a fur baby named Cuthbert to bring story perfection. I'll forever say it. This book is the book.
The quotes that Katherine Center littered throughout the prose are going to live rent-free in my head forever. I have about twenty just written down in a notebook so I can savor them randomly.
- Hollywood
- Hilarious Banter
- Forced Proximity
- Coworkers to Lovers
- Narrator Breaks the Fourth Wall
- Emotional AF
- Dealing with Grief
- The Best Literary Family
- A Fur Buddy You'll Want to Squeeze
- Star-studded Cameos (IFYKYK)
Ps. Emma is literally going to be the best literary women spawned in 2024. You guys are going to be obsessed with everything that is her. She is an icon.
"The Rom-Commers" publishes on June 11, 2024. Just take it from me, order this now.
This book had me feeling all the feels: sad, happy, and laughing. I will read anything Katherine Center writes. She always makes me fall in love with her characters as well as get so invested in their life.
Emm Wheeler was such a relatable character. Taking care of everyone else before her self. Till she finally decides to do something for her. She goes to Hollywood to help writer Charles Yates romance his screenplay up a little.
This was a fun book but not as good as some of this authors previous work. It felt a little too long and I wasn't a fan of the cancer fake out.
Oh Katherine, how I love you and all your books! And multiple cameos from Jack Stapleton? Oh my heart! This book of love and loss and all the things that make me laugh and cry! Life isn’t perfect but it is beautiful. And so much of our happiness is how we choose to look at it. Please let them make this book into a movie!
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. Everyone is going to want to preorder this one! 💜🩷💙
Absolutely devoured this book! Katherine Center has a way of writing funny, realistic, flawed characters that you can't help but root for. This book had me on the edge of my seat!
I didn’t think Katherine Center could get any better, but here we are. This is her best work yet! I smiled, laughed, and went through all five stages of grief. This one is a must read.
Emma gets the chance to write with the well known Charlie Yates who tried to write a rom com when his typical genre is action movies. She is a master at her work, and has some things to teach him, but he is a closed door and uninterested in her opinions or help.
I love how KC always implants some medical awareness in her books. This one references TBIs and some cancers. It’s always done so well without feeling like a textbook, and I love that she adds them to her storyline. Also, all of the Jack Stapleton cameos were great!
Read if you love:
-grumpy x sunshine
-the Bodyguard
-medical info/hospital settings
-Guinea pigs
-books with amazing epilogues
Thank you so much to NetGalley and St Martins Press for my advanced copy!
Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced digital copy of “The Rom-Commers” in exchange for a review
I’ve been with Katherine Center since ‘How to Walk Away.’ She’s a classic go-to in the sweet romance, human connection space. I always pick up her new books as the come out.
So why only 3 stars? The main character was a bit naive for my taste. C’mon sis, we all know he likes you…GET WITH US
Thank you netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review. This book made me laugh and made me cry. It was such a fun rom com with some heartbreaking moments. I highly recommend.