Thank you to NetGalley for the advance review copy in return for an honest review. This book was so darn cute. Even though it wasn’t a perfect ending for everyone in their story, it was still such a great ending and reminder that nothing in life is perfect.

my first katherine center book and this surely did not disappoint.
the start was slow but when it picked up, boyy what a ride it was!!

rtc when i regain my ability to form some coherent thoughts.

I just finished the ARC of Katherine Center's, The Rom-Commers. And to @katherinecenter can I just say --- thank you! I've been waiting for this book and it did not disappoint, it's everything we love from this author and more. Amazing characters, amazing storyline, witty, fun, loveable... I could go on, seriously don't get me started. So happy to say this is my first 5 star read of 2024 and I can't wait to buy the physical copy when it comes out in June ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I thoroughly enjoyed this one! It captured the Katherine Center we know and love. How to deal with life as well as romance. Their dynamic was adorable and watching them slowly fall in love was my favorite.

My one thing I didn't like was there was a lot more cursing than I expected.

I love everything about love.

I watch Reality TV shows about love, movies about love, have a special 9-hour Spotify playlist filled with love songs, and LOVE Rom-Coms.

When I think of the classic romantic comedies, there are a few things I need for me to fall in love with them.

1. There has to be undeniable chemistry between the characters.
2. There has to be a believable back story between the characters, show me some depth.
3. Love is about chance. There needs to be chances taken to find "love."
4. Love is not easy, the characters should not fall in love too easy. Love is challenging.
5. The dialogue has to be witty and flirtatious.
6. I need to cry. Like ugly tears.

Now that we have that out of the way, let's discuss Katherine Center's latest book "The Rom-Commers."

The story revolves around Emma Wheeler, who has aspirations to be a screenwriter, and her having the opportunity of a lifetime to re-write a script with the famous Charlie Yates. She literally swan dives to take this chance but Charlie wants absolutely nothing to do with her. Sounds like a recipe for disaster, right? That's just the way we like it.

So does this book, give me the feels. Does this book give me everything and more? Does this book make me laugh? And finally, does this book make me cry ugly tears? Like, ugly, obnoxious "please stop crying so loudly" type of tears?

I answer that with an emphatic YES. A huge YES covered in neon lights and fireworks coming out of the letters.

Through the story of Emma and Charlie, we are introduced to critical moments in each character's lives. Some moments are heartbreaking and reveal the motivations of both characters. The dialogue is quick and witty and I found myself laughing outloud numerous times in this book. But, what I really appreciated were some of the more poignant one-liners that are littered throughout the book. Lines that made you pause and reflect on the meaning. It caused introspection, not necessary in a romantic comedy but a great plus to have in any book.

Like this one:

"Stories exist for the emotions they create-and you can't write them if you can't feel them."

You can't write about love, if you have never felt it.

I loved this book. The last few chapters took my breath away. And I hope this becomes a movie. I couldn't help but imagine Ryan Gosling playing Charlie Yates. If a book can make you think of who would play certain characters, that's a sign of a successful book.

I highly recommend this book! So, plan for your summer and pre-order this book now! You won't regret it!

Thank you St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy of this book!

Katherine Center has done it again! She is one of my auto buy authors and for good reason. Her rom coms always leave me laughing, crying, and falling in love with the characters. I loved the banter between the main characters Emma and Charlie, it all felt natural and realistic. Her books always teach us a lesson and this one is no exception!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC!

Welp. I'm definitely in the minority. DNFing at 50%.

I found none of the characters likable especially Charlie. He didn't have a redeemable thing about him. I HATED Logan and the FMC was spineless and put up with stuff she shouldn't have. But I guess that's what women have to do in Hollywood to get anywhere. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Considering all the rave reviews (or maybe people are waiting to post their bad ones when the book is actually out), this book just wasn't for me but it still could be for anyone else!

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC. All opinions are mine and mine alone. :)

📖 ARC REVIEW 📖

Thank you @stmartinspress for an early copy of The Rom-Commers by @katherinecenter. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. 🤍

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Release date: June 11th, 2024

Blurb: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

🛑Read on with caution; review may contain spoilers🛑

The Rom-Commers, as the title suggests, is a delightful romcom about two screenwriters, Charlie, a famous screenwriter who mostly writes for adventure, sci-fi, and action films, and Emma, a writer herself but has postponed pursuing her career full-time to take care of her father. She loves romcoms, but Charlie doesn’t, which is reflected in his screenplay – it was worse than terrible according to his manager, Logan, who then enlists Emma’s help to rewrite the screenplay as a ghostwriter.

For two people with different opinions about the main subject of their project, Emma and Charlie seemed to work very well together despite those differences. It’s refreshing to see both characters in a book exude professionalism and maturity as I don’t see that in some romance novels where both MCs usually bring out the worst in each other and bicker non-stop initially, which comes off to me as immature and unprofessional, especially in a workplace setting.

What stood out for me in this novel is Emma’s selfless character, who has given up ten years of her career to take care of her partially disabled father. Despite her lack of experience in the industry, she’s brilliant and passionate, and not easily intimidated by those more experienced than her like Charlie. She’s headstrong and isn’t afraid to voice out her opinions, even if her idol Charlie’s work is terrible. Plus, I found her reactions hilarious when she encounters celebrities, her POV is gold!

I wished we had Charlie’s POV as well and not just Emma’s. I feel like there was more to explore with his character, especially with his cancer and his separation from his ex-wife. I also wished the ending didn’t feel rushed, and I hoped we could see at least a part of their finished screenplay.

The Rom-Commers, like Center’s previous books, was a fun and delightful read but also tugged my heartstrings during some moments in the book. Make sure to pick this one up when it releases in June!

Katherine Center’s books always take center stage in the TBR list!

Emma has spent her entire life writing romantic comedies. Most went nowhere, but she has written them. Emma’s track was interrupted a while back when her mother died in a climbing accident and her father was injured and needed her round the clock care.

But her sister is home from college and it’s Emma’s turn to go out into the world and chase her dream.

The dream comes in the form of Charlie Yates. According to her best guy friend, Logan, he wants her help to rewrite a screenplay. A Rom-Com!
Emma has read it and it’s one of the worst things she ever read! So of course, she is going to meet her writing hero and show him how it’s done.

Only they clash from the beginning. They could not be more different if they tried!

But Emma is no shrinking violet. Oh no, she will fight for this screenplay and all romantic comedies.

As they fight it out, this may turn out to be the greatest romcom ever!

A smart, and funny and very satisfying story that I loved!

NetGalley/ St. Martin’s Press June 11, 2024

I absolutely loved this book and highly recommend reading it. It was a pretty fast read and one I had trouble putting down. It was equal parts funny and heartbreaking and a true rom-com written about writing rom-coms. Katherine Center knocked it out of the park with this book!

Thank you NetGalley & Macmillan publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. In short, I’m obsessed with this book. Katherine Center does an INCREDIBLE job at balancing the romance with uncomfortable topics, I.e. death, illness, anxiety, etc. I adore her writing and her characters. At first, I was unsure if I’d like the first person POV, but came to love it. The realness of the situations her characters go through make her stories that much more relatable. Ugh I want to re-read this already.

I truly wish this book would be made into a movie.

Content warnings - death of a parent, illness (cancer, ICU), almost drowning, anxiety, bar fight

I loved this book. It was such a quick read, and had me feeling every emotion. The only thing I would have liked more of was Charlie's insight. But it was such a great book, Katherine Center is an automatic read for me.

Katherine Center can do no wrong. I love her books because I know what to expect. Safe to say, they’re my comfort stories! While she’s perfected the HEA, she brings to light harder hitting topics that can be quite educational.

The dynamic was fascinating. Enemies to lovers? Under one roof? Family drama states away? I don’t know if we’ve got a classified romance trope but either way, I was cheering Emma and Charlie on to just kiss already. It didn’t disappoint, but the build sort of did. It took a while to get there, but also, Emma is the only character to overhear SO much in such a short time. Had it not been for everything she overheard, would this story have happened!? LOL JK yes it would have. But for real, she overhears a lot.

I think my biggest peeve was how the “reveal” came so close to the end, when as readers, you know it wasn’t going to be the actual end and there would be one more twist. Had it been a little more drawn out, I think it would have been a little more satisfying. Also, the dialogue at times was a bit unnatural? There were definitely conversations that felt too formal given the setting.

Don’t let my peeves distract you from THE Katherine Center and all her glory. I still recommend this book as I do all her books because they’re just pure warm fuzzies.

Big thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this ARC. This will be available on June 11, 2024!

Content warnings: cancer, death, grief

This book had me giggling and kicking my feet nearly the whole time! I read it cover to cover in one day and could not put it down. I enjoyed the first half more than the second, just because all of the building tension and family dynamics. The second half slowed down a bit for me & I was ready for certain aspects to be resolved a bit sooner. I see fans of Emily Henry's Book Lovers and Beach Read, as well as lovers of Katherine Center's other work enjoying this! Thanks to NetGalley and the publishing group for letting me read this ARC!

God do I love Katherine Center’s books. They are always such a quick read and that true romcom story. These are my guilty pleasure and this book was great. Loved the characters, their story and development. Letting go of the past is hard for anyone but it’s the only way to move forward. Loved Emma and Charlie, wish there was a sequel!

Katherine Center really knows how to write a damn romcom! I absolutely enjoyed Emma & Charlie’s story. I loved the playful banter and budding friendship before admitting to all the feels. But the familial love in this book didn’t play second fiddle at all! Emma’s family was so beautiful and full of love. And so nice to see “Jake” Stapleton too!

I have really enjoyed Katherine Center;s books, however this one connected a little bit less for me. I did enjoy the concept of them being writers- but I didn't feel the connection. I think I really wanted to feel the spark of collaboration and of creating something together that you KNOW is great, and I feel like it got lost in the constant Mood swings.

I'll continue to pick up Katherine's books- they are always good and certainly have an audience, but this one was missing a spark for me.

Can I just say I will read anything Katherine Center writes? She’s a contemporary romance genius in my opinion. The Rom-Commers was addictive from start to finish! I finished it in just over a day. As usual, her writing was funny, clever, emotional and sweet. I enjoyed the character of Emma (even though she occasionally made choices that made me want to shake her), and Charlie was cute, although I did find he lacked some character depth compared to some of the romantic leads from Center’s previous books. Regardless, I still really enjoyed the book and will be adding it to my Katherine Center collection when it is released!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the eARC of this gem of a story!

Katherine Center has done it again. This is BY FAR my favorite that I’ve read from her.

Emma is/was a writer. Life circumstances didn’t allow her to pursue her dreams. So when her ex-boyfriend calls with an opportunity to help her favorite screen play writer, Charlie, rewrite his (horrible) rom-com, she agrees to help. Once she arrives in LA, she learns things are not as they seem. Charlie does not want any help and more than that, he doesn’t believe in LOVE.

The banter, the flow of conversation between the two, the fact that Emma never really backed down, I love a strong FMC. This book was just perfect.

I love when books physically make you feel something and this one did, I laughed and truly cried. I couldn’t put it down!

Katherine Center has become an author that I instantly add to my TBR. I just see her name and immediately want to read whatever it is, without even checking the synopsis, which was the case when The Rom-Commers appeared in my netgalley feed. As usual, I wasn't disappointed.
Emma, an aspiring rom-com screenwriter, has to help Charlie, a cynical, anti-romance, action writer, fix his rom-com screenplay in 6 weeks in order for his producer to greenlight yet another action story. The rewrite requires them to be roommates and it soon becomes clear to the audience that Emma's impromptu romance immersion course is working very well, even if the MCs don't realize just how well, themselves.
I loved everything about The Rom-Commers, the storyline, the flawed and relatable main characters, the sad moments, the ending. I felt like the novel was believable and the tension and little misunderstandings were just enough to move the story along without becoming frustrating.
This will definitely end up on my have-read-more-than-once shelf in the future.

*received digital ARC from netgalley