I love, love, LOVED The Bodyguard, but honestly that was the only Katherine Center book I had read!

Until this one! I went in with high high hopes, and unfortunately this book was mostly mid. I didnt feel connected to the characters and am tired of the 'she's not like other girls' trope.

Overall still a fun romcom, but not as great as The Bodyguard

My favorite thing about this book was the first person writing style and it's appreciation of the rom-com genre. Some of it was too far fetched, wrapped up too neat and quick, and tropes became repetitive.
Read this if you like;
✅️quirky well developed characters
✅️ romance without spice
✅️ sweet banter
✅️ Katherine Center's other books

3 🌟

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

(This review has minor but vague spoilers) I want to preface this review by saying I have read six (now seven) of Katherine Center's books and consider her my favorite author. The Rom-Commers had all the elements of a great Katherine Center novel, and I would rate it 4 stars, but overall I couldn't help feeling disappointed. I love Center's books because they are love stories with elements of tragedy that make them bittersweet and poignant. This book had those elements, but the execution felt a little off to me. Essentially, the characters would find themselves in new situations and I continually felt surprised that these things were happening. I was surprised by the way Emma and Charlie meet. I was surprised that Emma eavesdropped on not one but three(!) different conversations. I was shocked by what happened when they went to the farmer's market, which was ultimately anticlimactic. But I was most annoyed by the phone call Charlie gets and refuses to talk about until the end of the book. This book made me cry more than once, and while I liked it as a whole once I was finished, I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped and some parts just didn't work for me.

Trying to describe the way this book hit me feels impossible. It's just simply sparkling. Emma and Charlie are so easy to root for and even the third act conflict made sense. I was on the verge of tears at various points in the book. This story is so exemplary of the genre in a way I wasn't necessarily expecting. Charlie relearning how to fall in love, Emma finding herself outside of her family, the ways they're drawn to each other and push each other away. It was all just so...I don't even have the words. It felt like someone was holding my heart in their hands, making sure it was beating to the perfect rhythm.

5 stars baby!!! This book was SO much more than I expected. It had everything I love in a romance... the banter was bantering! The plot was plotting! And the love was blooming! It was a near perfect story for me. Katherine Center always has a good balance of serious topics and humor in her romances and I LOVE THAT! If you want a story that is really cute, very entertaining, super funny, and will tug at your heart strings, this is for you. Also, as a romance reader, I felt like I was in my happy place while reading all of the parts where the FMC is talking about romance tropes. It was SO fun. And there are many quotable lines! One of my favorite things about this book was the FMC was such a good human. She took care of her family, and her relationship with her father was so endearing. I definitely connected to the book on that level. This is my favorite of the 4 I have read by her. I will say toward the end, I had to remind myself that this was a romance so it had to have a happy ending.... <3

Thank you so much to Netgalley and St Martin's Press (Macmillan publishers) for an advanced e-copy of this book. I will have to get a physical copy to annotate and keep in my 5-star collection!

Actual rating: 2.5 stars .... generously rounded up.

This is my first Katherine Center and I must say, it did not really live up to the hype I've been hearing about it. I've heard that Katherine Center books are light and fun, but also have depth to them. I failed to see the depth in this one. I didn't buy the romance at all. Wasn't a fan of the main characters. The male was just ...... No. And the female made some really questionable and disappointing choices in continuously throwing herself at him.

Even though this one was disappointing, I do plan to pick up some of her others to try.

This book was another boy meets girl. They hate one another but do start to work with one another until you know what pops up!!! Of course after many misunderstandings and lots of back and forthing, cupid hits his mark and everyone lives happily ever after. Ta da!

Katherine Center follows a romantic formula that always seems to work for her. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for me.

✨ 𝐑 𝐄 𝐕 𝐈 𝐄 𝗪 ✨⁣
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𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘮-𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 by Katherine Center⁣
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆⁣
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This book seriously feels like the warmest of hugs. It’s precious, funny, sad but not too, too sad, and downright adorable. The MCs have such a great dynamic that is so incredibly fun to read! I ate up every second of it!⁣
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Center’s romances are so wholesome and cute. Most of the time, I’d like something a little less wholesome, but she does closed door so well that it really doesn’t even phase me. ⁣
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Do know going into this that it contains things like cancer and death of a parent.⁣
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Thank you so much to @smpromance for my eARC! It was so good that I simply had to buy a copy for myself, especially when I saw those hot pink sprayed edges. 💖

Synopsis:

Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a screenwriter. She’s spent her life studying, obsessing over, and writing romantic comedies―but also been the sole caretaker for her kind-hearted dad. She gets a chance to re-write a script for famous screenwriter Charlie Yates. But what is it they say? Don’t meet your heroes? Charlie Yates doesn’t want to write with anyone―much less “a failed, nobody screenwriter.” But Emma’s not going down without a fight. She will convince him that love stories matter―even if she has to kiss him senseless to do it. But . . . what if that kiss is accidentally amazing? What if real life turns out to be so much . . . more real than fiction?

Review:

I absolutely loved this book! I found the characters so lovable, even grumpy sunshine Charlie Yates. The love story is such a slow burn and feels so natural and real. I cried so many times with the simple sweet things that they did for each other and how they cared for each other and their families. I loveee Katherine Center - her books and characters always leave a little imprint on my heart.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the digital copy!

The Rom-Commers was a fun, fresh book by Katherine Center. It's about Emma, an aspiring screenwriter who has put her life on hold to take care of her father. She gets a chance to go to L.A. to help super-successful screenwriter Charlie Yates rewrite a rom-com. But it's not all candy and roses. The question is: will she and Charlie be able to work together to get the screenplay done? And is their relationship a rom-com of its own? Kudos to Katherine Center for writing a book that kept me engaged from beginning to end. Highly recommend!

This might be my favorite book by Katherine Center, so far. She writes the most perfect rom-coms and has outdone herself this time. I went through a whole range of emotions from elated, frustrated, sad, hopeless, jealous, pleased and many more. I cannot wait to share this book with others.

As a lover of romantic comedies, I can say that I enjoyed this book. It hit so many familiar tropes in rom-coms but did it spectacularly. Emma and Charlie are two of the most interesting (in a good way) characters I have enjoyed reading; I found them to be very witty but a little mindless in romance. I love that their story was a mixture of heavy topics and how to navigate them weirdly. The story was well-developed and very well-paced. If I weren't the mom of a toddler, I probably would have finished this book in a day. The blend between romance and challenging situations was well balanced, and the thoughtful conversation within the book was so good and did not take away from the story's romance or comedy. The ending was sweet, with the flare of cheesy romance ending and the changes in the characters' lives that were great and not-so-great, but made this book a winner in my eyes,

Now, a warning: If you do not like the miscommunication trope, think twice. I'm not a fan of it either, but it was written so well that I did not scream out "Idiots!" while reading (which I usually do). This is the third book I've read by Katherine Center, so I feel like I can add her to my favorites! I read The Bodyguard last year and was so happy to see some characters from that story pop up here,

Overall, the book is good, and I definitely would recommend it to family and friends. I think it is a great summer romance read, and I hope you all enjoy it.

Thank you, #Netgalley and #SMP, for eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was honestly so perfect. One thing I love about Katherine Center is that you feel every bit of longing and love built up throughout the whole book, yet her books are smut-free, allowing them to be more accessible to all romance readers. With Charlie and Emma in the Rom-Commers, the buildup is gradual and filled with tension. With the characters writing a Romantic Comedy movie script, scenes from the novel took classic tropes of the genera and dissected them. It allowed the reader to not only gain a deeper appreciation for the characters, but also for the art of the Romantic Comedy. In addition to this, both leads were going through their own battles throughout the book, allowing for their relationship and personal growth to both take center stage at various points. All of these factors combined to make a beautifully complicated story that achieved exactly what it set out to. I would absolutely recommend this book to my audience and I am so glad I read this book.

I adored this story Emma is just a wonderful mail character and just feels so real. Charlie is the perfect book boyfriend, we all like them when they're a bit of a pain in the butt! He's funny and engaging and Emma and Charlie just bounced off one another.

Great story and great characters, what more could you ask for!

"It’s a titan of the genre. It’s practically sacred. And Charlie Yates, my beloved Charlie Yates, my gold standard, my writer by which all other writers are judged, my absolute all-time screen writing hero … He mutilated it. He besmirched it. He desecrated it.”

"So you want to buy them, but they’re too expensive?”
"They’re just not the kind of flowers you buy for yourself.”
"I’m glad I bought them for you, then.”

I loved this book! After the first chapter, I knew that this book was good and super funny! If you are a little hesitant to read this, know that you will be having a great time. When Emma finds out that she’s given the opportunity of a lifetime to call right a romantic comedy script with her favorite screenwriter, she can’t say no. Unfortunately for her, her favorite screenwriter Charlie, did not know that he was teaming up with Emma. I really liked reading how Charlie finally agrees to work with Emma on the script. I loved all the times that Emma would stand up for herself and show Charlene that she’s not someone you can just walk over. The romance between Charlie and Emma is definitely a slow burn. I did like all the little glances between them. I was not expecting this book to have so many emotions. I felt so much for Emma and how she literally put her life in pause for so many years taking care of her dad. The ending in this book had me tearing up. I am so happy that Emma finally gets her happily ever after!

Read if you like:
Dual POVs
Cowriters to lovers
Celebrity crush
Celebrity romance
Forced proximity
All the feels
Banter for days
Kissing only

Fun romcom with humor, heart, and healthy relationships. The characters are great but the backstory could use more development.

Once I got into this book, I couldn’t stop! I loved it. Charlie and Emma captivated me from the beginning. I ended up listening to the audiobook also. The narration was excellent. I highly recommend it! I love “love” and this book did not disappoint. There was no spice in this book but I didn’t find myself too disappointed about it. The story was that good! Katherine Center is an amazing storyteller. I’m going to have to check out the rest of her books.

I was so excited to get the new Katherine Center book after reading and loving the Bodyguard! This book had such a fun plot! The MC's were better together...although at times both frustrated me. I did love Emma's dad! Overall a good book...I did both laugh and cry, and loved the end.
I would recommend this book to fans of rom-coms!
I would like to thank net galley, the author Katherine Center, and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book!

Can I say, after reading The Bodyguard and falling in love with Katherine Center’s writing, I’ve been excited for every new release since. I was so honored to have been contacted to receive an ARC to this one, and am even more excited to talk about since it was SO GOOD!

I loved every second of this book. This book kind of gave me The Roughest Draft vibes (which if you didn’t know, is one of my favorite books). This story was a screenwriters romance. I don't know what it is about romances about writers, but every single one I've read is really good (Beach Read, The Roughest Draft, now this one!).

Now onto the actual plot, this story follows Emma, who put her dreams to the side when her father had a really tragic accident, leaving him to need constant care. About 10 years pass, and an opportunity of a lifetime arises. The chance to work with her favorite screenwriter, Charlie. Emma's sister steps in as caretaker, so Emma can fly to LA for six weeks to help with Charlie's screenplay.

This story had the perfect build up and were about these really beautifully developed characters. There were so many ways I felt like I related to the characters, and was completely rooting for them the entire way. One of my favorite reads of the year, highly recommend!

What a story!! Katherine Center never ceases to amaze me. I always walk away from her stories with a nugget of wisdom about the human condition that makes me contemplate my own life.

“The Rom-Commers” was a hilariously crafted romcom with so much heart and depth. Charlie & Emma were such real and raw characters with difficult pasts that shaped their personalities and views of the world. I truly loved their story and the way they healed one another❤️

Overall, I highly recommend this story if you’re looking for a sweet, closed-door romance with humor, heart, and swoonworthy fun😍 Read if you enjoy screenwriter romances, celebrity romances, and tonssss of witty banter!!

⚠️POTENTIAL SPOILERS BELOW!!!!⚠️
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🚨TW: grief associated with losing a parent, mentions of a near-drowning incident (past), cancer (past)
🚨CW: infrequent strong/mild language & just kisses!!