📚 The Rom-Commers
✍ Katherine Center
📖 RomCom/Contemporary Romance
⭐4.5
🌶️
➡ For the past ten years, Emma Wheeler has put her own dreams on hold in order to be the primary caretaker for her father. But when an chance to help rewrite an abysmally bad romance screenplay from writing legend and Emma's personal idol Charlie Yates presents itself, her sister steps in to care for their dad so that Emma can travel to L.A. for what she hopes, is a lifechanging opportunity.

Once she arrives though, things don't seem nearly as exciting. Charlie doesn't know she's coming, doesn't believe in love OR rom-coms and he certainly doesn't want 'a failed nobody' helping him.

Never one to give up, Emma convinces Charlie that he does, in fact, need her help and once they begin to write together, other things seem to fall into place too. Their banter feels easy and their chemistry seems to ooze off the page. But is it enough to make Charlie believe in love? And if so, can Emma and Charlie convince themselves that what they have is worth the risk of heartbreak or will their love stay between the lines?
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🙏 Thank you to St. Martin's Press, NetGalley and Katherine Center for the advanced copy of The Rom-Commers. All opinions are my own.
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🎯 What I loved: I was 100% not expecting to be emotionally destroyed by this unassuming Katherine Center book but well, here we are. True to form, Center made this book about the art of the rom-com and had Emma (the protagonist) not only convincing Charlie about the merits of a swoony love story by the end but readers as well. It was witty and emotional and the characters had depth and heart. Center had me rooting for Emma from the get-go and I loved the way Emma & Charlie's relationship developed in a way that paralleled their writing journey.
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Read if you love:
*stories about co-writers
*grumpy & sunshine tropes
*books that celebrate romance as a genre
*protagonists who are caretakers
*celebrity + non-celeb pairing
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See also: The Roughest Draft, Right on Cue, Next of Kin

I loved this book! It is such a feel good book. Made me feel all the feels and anticipate the next move. This has to be my favorite book I have read this year. Who needs a Hallmark movie when you have a Katherine Center book!

I wasn’t sure what to expect of this book as I don’t know much about screenwriting or that world, but it was totally fun and I absolutely fell head over hells for Emma and Charlie! They are absolutely amazing characters who you truly feel like you know. They feel like your friends who you just know would work out—rooting for them constantly! I loved the author’s character building in every aspect—the main characters were well thought out, cute, had some things about them that may or may not jive (but isn’t that the point in a rom com??), but I also absolutely loved the family and friends and other characters throughout! This book is a perfect, swoon worthy rom com written for the screen (pun totally intended!)

Charlie wrote a terrible romcom screenplay and Emma is sent in to help him. It's a big job and she has to leave her position as a caregiver for her dad that she's been doing the last 10 years.

I loved every minute of this! Charlie is a hoot and Emma is so fun. Logan plays a bit dirty but he got the job done!

The two MCs and their work ethic starts out rocky but ends up being great. They really compliment each other even if they don't see it.

I laughed out loud so much! I'm always amazed at Katherine's ability to have such a fun book but have serious issues for some characters too.

A few things like Charlie's fear for Emma to use his high dive when she had been a competitive swimmer and Emma having to put her foot down with Charlie are superb. One of my favorite quotes comes from her dad.. ""Choose a good, imperfect person who leaves the cap off the toothpaste, and puts the toilet paper roll on upside down, and loads the dishwasher like a ferret on steroids-and then appreciate the hell out of that person."

I swooned and squealed at the Jack cameos! He still is one of my most favorite persons from Katherine's books. He's just the sweetest ♥️

Katherine Center's The Rom-Commers is a feel-good story through and through. Yes, there are some tough moments, but what's a good romcom without some adversity? The central characters are screenwriters at different ends of the experience spectrum. Charlie Yates has a drawerful of awards to prove that he is a success in Hollywood, while Emma Wheeler is a fledgling screenwriter who had to turn down a prestigious internship to take care of her much-loved father after an accident left him with multiple disabilities. She has been his 24/7 caretaker for ten years and can't wait until her younger sister graduates from college and takes over the care of their father.

As promised, Sylvie is willing to back out of her own postgrad internship opportunity to give her sister a chance when Logan, Emma's manager (and high school boyfriend). offers her the chance to work with Charlie Yates--her all-time professional idol. Charlie has written a romcom as part of a deal to get his gangster screenplay produced, but his first attempt at a romcom is an utter mess. It may be because Charlie doesn't believe in romantic love anymore after his ex-wife betrayed him. He's not exactly welcoming to Emma, but she accepts the challenge and . . . no spoilers here. Let's just say that Emma and Charlie are living and working together for six weeks, and part of the fun for the reader is their slowly developing relationship.

This is not a steamy romance, but it is so much more. Charlie and Emma are as root-worthy a couple as I've ever seen. They each have their idiosyncrasies and eccentricities, which could either make them a perfect match or an unmitigated disaster. Bottom line: they are adorable. But Center doesn't stop there--supporting characters including Logan, Emma's amazing father, sister Sylvie and her wonderfully supportive boyfriend, her father's helpful neighbor, even a swoon-inducing, egotistical male movie star are portrayed as nuanced, relatable characters. There is also humor to be enjoyed--especially in the banter between Emma and Charlie and in Emma's offbeat ideas of research to enhance the screenplay's content. Sometimes the plot veers almost into fairy tale territory, but romcom lovers won't mind. It is a delightful read.

My sincere thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.

Katherine Center never misses for me. I find her characters so easy to connect with. We’ve got a classic grumpy sunshine couple in the Ron-commers and that’s always a fun time!
I found the writing scenes very interesting as well, and we had just enough tragedy to make our HEA feel worth it. I can’t wait to see what Katherine writes next!

Katherine Center's books truly get better as she writes them. This is by far my favorite of her stories, and I've really enjoyed quite a few of them.

This book has all the best tropes - sunshine vs. grumpy, enemies to friends to lovers, and forced proximity. In The Rom-Commers, you'll meet Emma, who is her dad's caretaker and hasn't really done anything for herself in years. You'll get to know Charlie, a famous screenwriter who isn't what he seems and who Emma is obsessed with. Add in Charlie's ex-wife and his agent (Emma's best friend...or former best friend??), some false expectations and you have a recipe for success.

There were so many moments in this book that made me smile. But there were also some really hard moments in the story as well. This book touches on some tough topics (like death of a parent, Meniere's disease, death, cancer, and more) so please be careful if these are hard for you. Though Katherine Center writes them with such grace and care.

If you read and loved The Bodyguard by Katherine Center, you'll love the cameos in this book from there!

I have to be honest - Although I absolutely adored this story, I miss the flowers on the cover of this book! All of her recent books have gorgeous flowers on them that I feel like has become her trademark style. I wish those were incorporated onto this cover as well!

That may have been the most perfect book I’ve ever read. Like, I feel sorry for any book that has to follow it. It was absolutely, heartwarmingly, exactly what I needed.

An incredible writer gave up everything to help her father after an accident. She’s given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help her favorite author rewrite a screenplay that desperately needs her expertise.

This book has witty dialog, complex situations, hilarious inner monologues and the sweetest slow burn. Throw in grumpy sunshine and forced proximity and you have an incredible recipe. But what Katherine center did with those ingredients? Straight up masterful.

I LOVE THIS BOOK! It made my heart soar. I flew through it and already need the audio so that I can do a reread.

Thank you Berkley for the e-arc to read and review 🥹🫶🏼

Dare I say this could be my favorite Katherine Center book yet? What better setup than a famous screenwriter, Charlie Yates, known for writing successful action/apocalyptic stories trying his hand at a rom-com and utterly failing at first attempt. And in comes Emma Wheeler, who would love to be a successful screenwriter, but whose family obligations have gotten in the way of her dreams. She who knows all about rom-coms teaching someone who doesn't believe in love? Sounds like a perfect setup for a romance.

From their first meeting it's clear that Charlie and Emma have chemistry and promise. And Katherine Center does what she does best and introduces all the different romance tropes to help tell their love story. But in between them working on fixing his screenplay, she also weaves in some serious issues to keep the tension moving along. And then sucker punches you at the end before you get to the happily ever after. You'll also get a surprise appearance by Jack Stapleton from The Bodyguard who plays an important role in the story.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review.

After many favorite reads coming from Katherine Center, I am excited to have another opportunity to review her latest release, “The Rom-Commers.” While this read ultimately landed four stars from me, it was a slower burn to get to that point.

The portion I struggled with most was how Charlie treated Emma throughout the first half of the book. While we get resolution and understand his behaviors at some point, it took quite some time for me to feel invested and interested in Charlie. Emma had an interesting and compelling backstory from the get-go. It wasn’t hard to root for her. I simply questioned how much crummy treatment it took for her to call it a day on this project.

By the end, the train had left the station, and I was finally bought into the lives of both Emma and Charlie. The story wrapped up nicely with a bow for so many of the characters that felt incredibly satisfying.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Katherine Center, and NetGalley for allowing me another chance to read and review. Looking forward to more!

Trying so hard to be a rom-com girlie but I just don’t think it’s for me!

This was cute and I did enjoy it but I just felt like I was waiting for more. Anything I read outside of a thriller is normally dark or fast paced so the lightness of this just didn’t grab me!

I loved the banter, the characters were well thought out and some parts made me giggle. Overall, wholesome and I definitely can see a lot of people enjoying it! I guess I just need a more depth in a story to be fully intrigued and I did find the ending a little rushed.

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐈𝐟…
✨you love a cute family relationship
✨you enjoy a feisty female MC

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

🫶🏻thank you to St. Martin’s Press & NetGalley for this ARC!
🚨pub date: June 11/24

I've loved Katherine Center's RomComs before this, but I think I loved this even more! The Rom-Commers had humor and loveable characters, but there was also a serious factor. I really liked Emma and Charlie's weird, complicated relationship throughout, but it felt like there wasn't enough buildup for their relationship. It seemed like there was a missed opportunity for development. I did really love and appreciate their banter though.

I would still definitely buy this book and would read it again! I love Katherine Center's writing.

Thank you very much for the advanced reader copy of 'The Rom-Commers' by Katherine Center. This one was kind of a miss for me. I have read all of Katherine Centers books and have really enjoyed about 85% of them. This one was a little too slap-sticky for me from the beginning and never really left. I like the Charlie character way more than Emma. I just didn't connect with her. I would still give this 3 stars and I will always read whatever Katherine Center writes, I just wish she would go back to her roots a little more.

I loved this story! Both of the main characters were loveable and relateable. I thought it was the perfecct mix of rom com, but had a great story to go with the romance. Loved it all!

Katherine Center has done it again, and I think this is my favorite of hers yet.

A love letter to fun and love and family and all the baggage that comes with it.

While it follows some familiar beats, I couldn’t put this one down. As always, the author writes characters that are easy to connect with and root for. There are plenty of heartfelt familial moments and the rom-com within a rom-com really worked for me.

As a fellow Houstonian, I always appreciate her nods to our city and state. This will make a perfect summer read.

Such a sweet and hopeful story that reminds you to find joy in life. Emma and Charlie have each had a rough go but through their screen writing together, Emma teaches Charlie about love and also finds some for herself. I love the way Emma addresses the reader to give updates. And her updates are usually funny which makes them even more fun! If you need a heartwarming read, this is it!

Emma Wheeler's dream of becoming a screenwriter takes an unexpected turn when she lands a gig rewriting a script for her idol, Charlie Yates. But as she delves into the world of rom-coms, she finds that reality may not be as charming as fiction.

While the premise had promise, The Rom-Commers fell short for me. The characters lacked depth, and their supposed romantic chemistry didn't quite spark. The writing style, with the narrator speaking directly to the reader, was a bit distracting, and the stereotypical portrayal of Los Angeles didn't sit well with me.

Despite its flaws, the book had its moments of sweetness and swoon, especially with the caretaker trope. The secondary characters added depth to the story, and the Jack Stapleton cameos were a fun touch.

Overall, while it had a hopeful and uplifting message, it didn't fully live up to my expectations. But for fans of rom-coms, it might still offer some enjoyable moments.

Outstanding so far! I love everything Katherine Center, she is a great storyteller.
Looking forward to finishing this one. So far, as always 5 stars!!

Katherine Center knows relationships, of every kind! When you pick up one of her books you are presently surprised to not just get a run of the mill romance but to also get an in-depth look at all the relationships in the characters lives! Another excellent multifaceted story!!

A cute premise with quirky and loveable characters. While I had a feeling I knew how this romance trope would end, I was surprised a few times at the real-life issues pulling on my heart strings. Katherine Center has a knack for complex stories mixing with a blooming romance.