The Rom-Commers follows Emma, a failing writer, who gets hired to help Charlie, an award-winning screenplay writer, fix his atrocious rom-com screenplay. The catch? She has to live in his house while they write it and spend every waking moment with him. Shenanigans ensue, and romance blooms on the page and in real life 🤓

Full of Katherine Center’s typical heart, with the sprinkle of real life problems, trauma, and raw honesty from our main characters. So, obviously, I loved it. It didn’t replace the bodyguard or Things We Lose in a Fire as my favorite Katherine Center book, but it did delight me and keep me rooting for these two to overcome their issues!

Read this one for a great beach read this summer!

I really loved The Rom Commers- it might be my favorite Katherine Center book yet. Her characters, the setting- immaculate.

I don’t know if it’s possible to read a novel by Katherine Center without giving her 5 stars! Her romcoms have it all - delightful and dynamic characters; playful banter; engaging plot and engrossing storyline; and happily ever afters. For me, that’s the perfect recipe for a romcom!

Charlie Yates is an award winning screenwriter who is experiencing the “yips” (avoiding the word writers block!) after his recent hiatus. Wanting to get back into the game, he’s anxious for his mafia movie to make it to the big screen. Before that can happen, he’s forced to write a romcom. Known for his testosterone fueled, action packed movies, it’s not surprising his romcom script is not good. It’s terrible. Or as the novel implies, it gives the word “terrible” a bad name!

Enter Emma Wheeler, romcom lover who frequently ghost writers romcoms for very little money and absolutely no recognition. When she’s offered the opportunity to help Charlie Yates rewrite his screen play in LA, she can’t believe it. Charlie Yates is one of her writing hero’s! She has a picture of him above her desk as inspiration. But she lives in Texas and is responsible for taking care of her father who was injured 10 years ago on a family vacation, suffering a TBI and other ailments. She can’t possibly leave him especially since her younger sister is about to start a highly sought after internship. When her sister insisted it’s Emma’s time to pursue her dreams, she finds herself on a plane to LA!

Once there, Charlie makes it obvious he’s not interest in working with Emma or doing anything to the romcom than making it “passable” so his mafia movie can get the green light. Can Emma change his mind or will her dream be over before it even begins?


This was such a charming read and I absolutely loved it! Thank you to NetGalley, Katherine Center, and the publishers for providing me with both the novel and audiobook to read in exchange for honest feedback. Both were a delight!

Absolute perfection. Chef's kiss. Katherine Center never disappoints me! I adored the premise of this—a fledgling writer and one who was "washed up"—and their struggle to work together to set his career back on track and get hers started. Watching them help one another overcome their fears and the lies they believed about themselves was entertaining and heartwarming.

I would like to thank St Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and the author for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Read if you like:
😠 ☀️ Grumpy/sunshine pairs
🖋️ Books about writers
🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒 Family connection
🐹 Guinea pigs

Emma loves love, she’s a screenwriter of romantic comedies, and she’s really good. But, she’s the caretaker for her dad so her career has taken a backseat. The opportunity of a lifetime comes her way when Charlie Yates, famous Oscar winning screenwriter, writes a horrendous rom-com script. His agent, also Emma’s agent, convinces Emma to help fix this disaster. Emma’s sister takes on the caregiving duties so Emma can move to LA for six weeks to write this movie with her idol. A couple problems: Charlie doesn’t want to write a good rom-com (he doesn’t even believe in love), and he doesn’t work with anyone, ever.

Katherine Center does it again! This was a really fun book, also emotional at times. I’ve read three other books from her and this is the first one that made me cry. I loved seeing Emma be brave and come into her own and Charlie open up. I wish we could have gotten a bit from Charlie’s pov, but the great banter and Emma’s sense of humor was great. If you’re looking for a summer read, pick this one up!

I loved this book so much!! It was such a fun, beach read, and the characters were lovable from the beginning!

I tried to read this one for several weeks. I just couldn't get into it. DNF at 40 % . Both of the main characters were annoying. They were both so annoying. This is unfortunate because I really like this author

This is probably the most enjoyable book I’ve read in a while. It’s the sixth of Katherine Center’s I’ve read and they’ve all been great, but this has to be one of my favorites of hers. I just enjoy her writing style so much. Before reading this book I’d DNF’d a book that wasn’t terrible, but was just a slog to try to read. It was almost a relief to start this book afterward, it was just so markedly better. I felt like I was immediately into right from the beginning. The characters are interesting and flawed and are going through a lot (or are dealing with having gone through a lot) and you can’t help but root for them. Typically, I’m not really interested in any rom-com that has to do with Hollywood or celebrities, but this was fun enough I didn’t mind at all. I think anyone who likes rom-coms or has enjoyed previous books by this author will love this book as well.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me access to this eARC for my honest opinion!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for the copies to review.

I can always count on Katherine Center for a good time. What I did NOT expect was to finish this one and have shed some tears, but I did, and Center has found a way to melt this thriller loving black heart JUST a smidge. This is probably my favorite of hers to date, and I could not get enough! I loved Emma and Charlie, I loved the plot, and the ending was chef’s kiss. The audio for this was fantastic, the narrator did such a wonderful job with this one. I don’t know who I am reading more romance this year but when they are books like these, I am not mad at it one bit.

A wonderful story! Center's work has quickly become some of my favorites. The stories grip your heart, the reality shocks you and the endings - oh the endings!

This one is no different. If you are familiar with the author's work you will know the story without having read the book, but I strongly suggest reading it! It just makes you feel good!

Can't wait for the next one!

This sparkling, funny book is about two screenwriters - one with all the awards and one with oodles of talent but no recognition - who are tricked into working (and living) together to fix a rom-com gone wrong, thanks to their agent. Emma and Charlie were cute and fairly clueless together, and such a joy to read (though Charlie had his moments where I was not a fan). Katherine Center's books are always enjoyable for me to read, and I recommend you add this one to your summer reading list! Note: I received an advanced reading copy, receipt of which did not impact my review.

The rom commers was an adorable book written by one of my favourite authors. Charlie and Emma had really great banter and I enjoyed it!

Characters: 3
Connection to the book/Enjoyment: 2
Setting: 2
Plot/Overall Story: 2
Writing: 3

Every point= 0.25 stars, max per category 4 points

Not bad, but really not that great. The last 25% of the book was the best part but when I stopped and thought about it, it felt like a copy of her other books. The plot itself felt lacking to me and I just never connected our bought into the story. I didn’t care for her breaking the fourth wall in how she directly spoke to the reader, it just didn’t work for me. Prob my least fav of her books, but not a bad book. Thankful she is writing closed door still.

Katherine Center does it again! I struggled with hello, stranger but love this one. The characters were believable and flawed. I enjoyed that it felt written from Emma’s perspective. Highly recommend.

I have enjoyed all of Katherine Center’s books. This one was no exception. Emma has started a challenging job of helping to rewrite a famous screenwriter’s script. Challenging because he doesn’t really want her help. I liked the way there was a cocoon of emotions concerning relationships and family dynamics. It was a great mixture of humor, emotion, and romance.

Thank you to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for my honest review. I love Katherine Center's books and this was no exception. I laughed, I cried, I loved. I will always read her new releases without even reading the description. 5 stars as always.

4.5 stars.

I really enjoyed this one. It was a rom-com with depth, which I appreciate.

Emma is an aspiring screenwriter who had to sacrifice her dreams following the death of her mother and traumatic brain injury of her father, which left her as his sole 24/7 caretaker. Charlie Yates is a grumpy award winning screenwriter who has written an absolutely terrible rom-com, and Emma winds up living with him for 6 weeks to help with a rewrite, despite his objections.

Forced proximity, grumpy-sunshine, strangers to coworkers(?) to lovers… I mean it’s all just so good. The interactions and banter between characters were fun and funny while at moments also being tender and heartwarming. The character development was great

🎧: For the audiobook readers. The narration on this one was perfection. Patti Murin did a phenomenal job.

This book was an absolute delight. I loved the characters, they were well rounded and likable but also had powerful character arcs. I'm a sucker for enemies to lovers and Katherine did a great job of including great banter but not dragging on the enemies bit for too long. Their relationship brought me all the feels, laughs and tears. Another fantastic romance from one of my favorite authors.

Just when I think this author can’t write a better book than her previous book, she does! The writing has an excellent way of keeping the reader engaged as it just flows seamlessly.

I absolutely adored Emma’s story of loss and devotion to her sister and father. The tragic loss of her mother ripped my heart out but it was so balanced with all the angst of her feelings towards Charlie.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this wonderful story that had me feel all the things. I have been recommending this to all my reader friends.

I wanted to love this because I’ve enjoyed other books by Katherine Center, but unfortunately, this was not a favorite of mine.

I liked the plot - a struggling screenwriter forced to give up her dream to care for her sick father gets a big break writing for her favorite screenwriter. I also liked the plot of having one character who doesn’t believe in love and one who wholeheartedly does writing a rom-com script together.

In theory, incredible plot - sadly I just couldn’t get behind the execution and characters. Charlie was too mean in the beginning and even through the middle for me to understand why Emma stuck around especially if she knew the script wasn’t going to get made. Emma was such an unlikable character to me. She played a martyr type since she gave up a lot to take care of her dad, but the second things don’t go her way or people don’t listen to her exact directions, she throws a hissy fit. I truly just didn’t feel the chemistry between them.

I know a lot of people who enjoyed this book, so maybe it just wasn’t a fit for me. Regardless, I still admire Katherine Center’s stance on being a proud rom-com reader and look forward to her next book.