This had a fun theme with the LA screenwriting world and it held my interest easily. Loved the character interactions, the grumpy male lead and the chemistry was a nice, slow build.

4⭐️ Solid four stars. I laughed a lot and some parts even gave me butterflies. I loved the storyline between the sisters and dad so much!! My main criticism was that Charlie was kind of a dick for a lot of the book, so it took a lot for me to cheer for him in the end. I think his character could have been refined a bit to make him easier to like. All in all though I enjoyed it and stayed up late to finish reading it!

Katherine Center's *The Rom-Commers* is an absolute gem that captures the heart and humor of contemporary romance. This novel is a perfect blend of wit, charm, and emotional depth, making it a must-read for fans of the genre.

Center's storytelling is impeccable, weaving together a plot that's both engaging and heartwarming. The protagonist, Claire, is a delightfully relatable character, navigating the complexities of love, friendship, and personal growth with grace and humor. Her journey is one that many readers will see themselves in, making her triumphs and tribulations all the more impactful.

The chemistry between Claire and her love interest, Ben, is electric. Their interactions are filled with witty banter, tender moments, and just the right amount of tension to keep readers on the edge of their seats. Center's ability to create such authentic and compelling relationships is truly commendable.

What sets *The Rom-Commers* apart is its balance of lighthearted romance and meaningful exploration of deeper themes. Center doesn't shy away from tackling issues like self-discovery, forgiveness, and the importance of following one's heart. These elements add a rich layer of complexity to the story, elevating it beyond a simple romantic comedy.

The supporting characters are equally well-crafted, each adding their own unique flavor to the narrative. They bring additional warmth and humor, making the world of *The Rom-Commers* feel fully realized and vibrant.

In summary, *The Rom-Commers* by Katherine Center is a delightful and heartwarming read that will leave you smiling long after you turn the last page. It's a beautifully written story that celebrates love, laughter, and the messy, wonderful journey of life. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a feel-good romance with depth and heart!

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 5⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: contemporary romance 📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
For some reason I’ve been super stingy with my 5 star ratings this year but this one was for sure a 5 star read!

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Romantic comedies about writing romantic comedies
Workplace romance (screenwriters)
Emotional rollercoasters- this book will have you laughing out loud one second and in tears the next
Grumpy/ sunshine
Forced proximity
Heartwarming reads
Slow burn

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
The spoiled guinea pig
He makes her donuts
Charlie is the best

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
Literally the only thing that bothered me was when the sisters got into a fight and Emma didn’t apologize lol

𝙵𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚀𝚞𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜:
★ "Whatever story you tell yourself about your life, that's the one that'll be true."
★ “I would write a hundred happy endings for us if I could.”
★ “Well, you’re lucky. Because love is something you can learn. Love is something you can practice. It’s something you can choose to get good at. And here’s how you do it.” He let go of his walker to signal he meant business: “Appreciate your person.”

DNF. I’ve always loved her books but this one is going to the wrong direction. Didn’t like the characters, my first DNF of the year. I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review

After reading a very heavy historical fiction book, I was looking for something very light and sweet. That's exactly what this is, but it's just okay, nothing great. In the beginning of the book, the writing seemed so immature that I wasn't sure if I could keep going. I pushed through that and it got somewhat better - it's a cute story but totally predictable. Emma Wheeler is a talented screenwriter who never got her chance for success because she had to become a full-time caretaker for her dad. She idolizes superstar screenwriter Charlie Yates who just so happens to be a client of her high school boyfriend Logan Scott who's now a Hollywood manager. When Logan makes Emma an offer to work with Charlie to fix a terrible romantic comedy script he wrote, she arranges for her younger sister Sylvie to take care of her dad for six weeks so she can go to LA. Charlie has never written a romantic comedy before and Emma rips it apart in their first meeting. Impressed with her feedback and intrigued by Emma in general, Charlie reluctantly agrees to work with her. To be able to write a successful romantic comedy script together, Emma first has to teach Charlie major lessons about romance and love. When their inevitable romance occurs with many expected twists and turns, it seems like Emma is the only one who doesn't see what's coming (to me, it was all very obvious and her character seemed too smart to not pick up on any of it). Thanks to #netgalley and #stmartinspress for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For the past decade, Emma has put her life on hold, caring for her disabled father while her younger sister finishes her education. Now, however, she has a chance at a dream job: writing a romantic comedy screenplay with her writing idol Charlie Yates. Unfortunately, as much as he can write just about anything else under the sun, Charlie can't write a romantic comedy to save his life...nor is he particularly interested in trying. But Emma didn't fly halfway across the country and put her dad in her sister's willing but unexperienced care just to churn out a lackluster screenplay.

The setup of this novel is not the greatest, but it feels like a good old fashioned rom-com. Just the right amount of slapstick, a few tears, and some decent meaningful kisses, and there you have it. I have a few quibbles with the relationship (Emma lets him get away with SO MUCH casual rudeness — but then she also goes into it with a "I can fix him!" mentality, so...) and I think they're both too dramatic to have a long-term relationship. But this is a rom-com in book form, so I'll let it slide.

I love Katherine Center's writing.This might not have been my favorite of her books, but I still enjoyed it.

It was a quick read that had a lot of humor and really great moments. It even kind of made me cry a little. And normally, all of that would add up to a 5 star read. But unfortunately, there was one slight problem with The Rom-Commers.Charlie was extremely frustrating, and I had a very hard time liking him. Emma, on the other hand, was so fantastic that she nearly made up for his shortcomings.

In the end, though, I did like this book and was left with happy, warm, fuzzy feelings. And after all, isn't that why we read romcoms.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Katherine Center has quickly become one of my palette cleanser writers! The Rom-Commers managed to balance favorite tropes with freshness. And the dynamic between the characters made the slow burn feel ACTUALLY necessary and so much fun to read.

Classic rom com that makes you feel like a favorite movie. While nothing was particularly revolutionary here, Center always manages to make the familiar seem comfortable without losing the reader’s interest.

***UNPOPULAR OPINION***

Center's books have been hit or miss for me, and unfortunately... this was another miss. Not her best given all the hype. The characters were annoying and had no depth.

Cannot recommend. Hope her next book is better.

THanks to NEtgalley, Katherine Center and ST MArtins Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Already available

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center is a wonderful book about love stories and why they matter. Emma wants to be a screenwriter but has been her father’s caretaker for the last few years. She gets the opportunity to travel and help fix her favorite screenwriter’s rom com manuscript. However, when she meets Charlie, he’s not what she expected, and the script is horrible! He doesn’t care to fix it as it’s just way to get his passion project made. However, Emma puts her foot down and decides to teach Charlie the importance of love. As these two confront their differences while arguing over the importance of love and fixing the script, they’ll learn a lot about each other and see how real life can be even better than fiction.

I loved this book! I loved the characters of Emma and Charlie and thought they were really well written. I thought the plot moved along well. I loved how it took on the messiness of life and still have a happy ending. Five stars!

Thank you to the publishers and Net Galley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is one swoon worthy read! Centre absolutely did it again! But much like centre’s normal books there is heavy content. But if you love an enemies to lovers that turns friends to lovers with forced proximity with a message that even though life gives you those dark moments there is always a way to happiness through it all

In my opinion Katherine Center can do no wrong!! This book was incredible and such a hug in a book. 100% recommend

This is one of my favorite books of the year. It is so adorable, upbeat, and no toxic men. I have loved her other books, but I think this is my favorite.

Tropes/Themes:
✨M/F contemporary romance
✨hate to love
✨grump x sunshine
✨workplace
✨class difference
✨forced proximity
✨slow burn
✨singular pov
✨standalone

I’ve loved all of the previous Katherine Center books I’ve read, so I’m sad to say that this didn’t work for me at all. I'm going to mark this as a spoiler review so I can share my unfiltered thoughts.

I initially super intrigued by the plot, as it's about two screenwriters (one prolific and one nobody) coming together to write a romantic comedy. While I still enjoyed the plot by the end, it paled in comparison to the issues I had with this. First and foremost, Charlie Yates was actually the WORST. Like, are there actually women out here swooning over this man?! He was just a straight up misogynist and a condensing jerk. He was such a stereotype of a stereotypical dude bro (like how he only has beer and lunch meat in his fridge and thinks romantic comedies are "lady movies"). A woman with even the slightest self-respect would never have put up with him with his world views and the way he treated other people. And sure, he made some behavioral changes by the end of the book and groveled his little heart out, but thought patterns like that don’t just change overnight.

Now Emma Wheeler…what to say about her. I was absolutely loving her until about 80% of the way through. She ended up having that big argument with her sister following her father’s fall and her character did a massive switch up on me. I can totally respect that everyone responds to trauma/grief in different ways, but she was such a bitch to her sister!!! She completely berates her and throws her 10 years of (voluntary!) caregiving back in her face...which is doubly unfair considering that Sylvie was a minor for majority of that time). And then she has the audacity to get upset when her sister has a reaction in response to her mistreatment? Her “compassion” started sounding a little too much like martyrdom for my liking. And why was Sylvie the only who ended up having to grovel at the end?! It just didn’t sit well with me. I know caregiving for a loved one is incredibly difficult, but it felt like she was infantilizing her father at times and that way of thinking/treatment never really went away by the end of the book.

And that 3rd act conflict between her and Charlie? I can’t believe I’m about to defend that jerk, but her reaction to his confession was so frustrating. Charlie Yates, a man completely adverse to feelings and has the emotional maturity of a brick wall, finally takes the leap and expresses his feelings toward her…for her to immediately reject him and throw his words back in her face. And then she has the audacity to tell her dad “I liked him but he didn’t like me back”. No girl, he just didn’t like you back on your timeline. And how naïve/ungrateful for you to assume that the good monetary things happening to you afterwards are completely by chance. What hospital would upgrade someone's services because they're the 1000th surgery? Someone reportedly so involved in the caregiving/medical world would immediately call bullshit on that.

Lastly, there were elements of this that were a little too cheesy/cringey for my liking. It's one thing to include real life actors as background characters, but to go as far to give them dialogue and screen time? I couldn't take it seriously. Also, there were these random moments where the heroine would break the 4th wall and it would completely take me out of the story. And don't get me started on the fact that Charlie was miraculously “cured” of cancer because he really only had bronchitis and not metastasized lung cancer? Give me a break.

Ugh. Apparently I disliked this book even more than I initially thought! Take this raging review with a grain of salt though, because clearly I was not the target audience for this.

CWs for traumatic death of a parent, life altering medical condition, cancer

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley (thanks again!), but didn’t get around to reading it until after it was released.

Thanks to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the #gifted copy of this book.

“I had a theory that we gravitate toward the stories we need in life. Whatever we are looking for- adventure, excitement, emotion, connection-we turn to stories that help us find it. Whatever questions we’re struggling with- sometimes ones so deep, we don’t even really know we’re asking them- we look for answers in stories.”

Thoughts: Katherine Center is hands down one of my absolute favorite authors. I loved this book because it gave me all the feels. The banter between Emma and Charlie was spot on having me both laugh and swoon. I loved Emma's chance to completely change her routine to help with Charlie's script, especially when he wasn't exactly excited about it. These two were opposites in every way, Charlie being the grumpiest grump and Emma trying to find the best in all situations. This book had me laughing and in tears in all the best ways possible. The grand gesture and the epilogue were two of my most favorite parts of this book!!

This was certainly a MUST READ for me... Check it out for a guaranteed HEA.

My first book by Katherine center and I loved it! I can't wait to read others. I read it within a day, I was hooked since page one. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read!

Perfect perfect perfect

I laughed, I cried, I swooned. This was one of my favorites of Center’s books!

Nothing else needs to be said

Katherine Center’s writing is perfection!! This is definitely my favorite book by her so far! I absolutely loved Charlie and Emma. Charlie is a famous screenwriter who doesn’t write romance. Emma gets the chance of a lifetime to re-write his rom-com script. I loved this grumpy sunshine story. Emma’s family backstory definitely had me emotional at times. I loved the banter between Emma and Charlie. I also loved Emma’s passion for writing romance!! I could not put this book down….it was so so good!!!
Thank you @netgalley @stmartinspress and @katherinecenter for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review..

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center is a rom-com and the story of Emma and Charlie.
 
Emma is a romantic at heart and waiting for her big breakthrough as a screenwriter. I loved how Emma is pursuing her dreams and she doesn’t give up and tries to make it her reality. She is a very kind and vivid person and that was a great contrast to Charlie.
 
Charlie is a well-established and successful screenwriter whose career recently has gone downhill. In order to make his dream project happen, he is forced to work on a mafia romance movie, and he isn’t fond of it and ready to give up because it turned out very lackluster. And that’s when Emma is assigned to this project in order to spice up the screenplay. Charlie is oftentimes very focused only on himself and acts as a complete ass to the people around him and that made him very unlikeable at times.
 
Emma idolized Charlie and the minute she meets him in real life her picture of him shatters because he acts like such an idiot. That wasn’t a good start to their work relationship, and it doesn’t get much better until Charlie one day has a change of heart and he sees that romance stories maybe aren’t that bad. But this felt very constructed to me, and I couldn’t really believe their relationship.
 
Overall, The Rom-Commers had a great concept and I just expect a little bit more from the romance. 3 stars.
 
(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)