Katherine Center is a remarkable romance writer and The Rom-Commers does not disappoint. Emma Wheeler has put her screen writing dreams on hold to take care of her father. When she gets the chance of a lifetime to work with Charlie Yates, the writer of her dreams, she takes it. Her sister is left in charge of their dad and Emma heads to LA to rewrite the script of a rom-com with Charlie.
Katheirne Center fans know that a romance will blossom between Emma and Charlie. The fun in reading Center's work is how the romance grows and this novel flowers beautifully. Center's fans also love her life lessons. The Rom-Commers is full of romance, but also the plot leads the reader on a path of self-help. Romance is great, but caring for your self and others is just as important. This combination of romantic and self-love is what makes Center stand apart from other authors. The Rom-Commers is a gift to Katherine Center fans and the perfect introduction to her work for new readers.

Every character in this book needs therapy. The main character Emma drove me bonkers with all her anxiety and her controlling and toxic relationship with her family, and the love interest Charlie wasn't much better. The two of them were incredibly awkward and they were almost too quirky that I was cringing while reading. The whole story was chaotic at times, and I was incredibly disappointed with the ending "twist". I adore of all of Katherine Center's other books, but this one just missed the mark for me. It was pure chaos and not in a good way.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As expected from Katherine Center, this title is full of humor and a bit of silliness but is grounded in reality. Center always makes me laugh, but she also always makes me think and even cry a little bit. The Rom-Commers is no different when family obligations mean sacrifice but also letting go.

I am a BIG fan of Katherine Center, but I have to admit, I didn't love the first two-thirds of this one.

But I loved the ending, it had so many great messages. I was also so glad Katherine Center really wrapped up the whole story. There was no leaving you hanging on for what happened to the characters.

✨ Publication date: June 11, 2024✨

The Rom-Commers is the latest book from one of my favourite authors Katherine Center. I’ve read most of her books and I can honestly say this may be one of my favourites!

Emma Wheeler has put her life and career on hold for the last 10 years. After a family camping trip ends in tragedy and leaves Emma and her sister with one parent who needs constant supervision, she steps in as full time caregiver to allow her sister to go to school and chase her dreams.

Emma longs to be a screenwriter so when her high school friend turned agent reaches out for an opportunity of a life time ghost writing with her favourite screen writer Charlie Yates, Emma takes it and leaves her sister to takeover caring for their dad.

When Emma gets to LA though, she discovers that Charlie never agreed to write with her and overhears him share his less than awesome thoughts on her as a person and writer. Emma wants to leave but after signing a contract knows she needs to stick it out.

Emma has to convince Charlie she knows how to write but he doesn’t believe in love or Romantic Comedy movies which is exactly what they are contracted to write together.

Emma vows to show Charlie that you can’t write about something you don’t feel. So they set out to experience the events written in the script for research purposes and discover maybe, just maybe there is truth to romance movies and sometimes love hits you when you least expect it.

Emma and Charlie’s relationship and banter were fantastic. Such easy characters to get to know and love throughout the story. Emma’s sunshine to Charlie’s grumpy is exactly what you want out of this trope! This is a 4.5 star for me!

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

#NetGalley #katherinecenter #theromcommers

A rom-com within a rom-com? Yes, please! The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center is a must read for contemporary romance lovers. I laughed, I cried, I swooned.

The story follows aspiring screenwriter Emma Wheeler as she gets the opportunity of a lifetime to collaborate with her idol, Charlie Yates. Despite their rocky start, Emma's belief in love and rom-coms eventually manages to break through Charlie's cynicism. There were so many laugh-out-loud moments. The secondary characters were also great. The chemistry and banter between Emma and Charlie is top notch.

Also, special appearances from Jack Stapleton and Hannah from “The Bodyguard”! This is my second book written by Katherine Center and am looking forward to reading the rest of her collection.

This book included some of my favorite tropes:
Forced Proximity
Grumpy Sunshine
Friends-to-Lovers

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hands down one of my favorite books this year! I flew through this book in less than a day and did not want it to end! I enjoyed the characters, the plot, the comedy, and the romance! There were times I wanted to jump in and tell off the male main character myself, but the female lead was such a lovable and well developed character! Definitely another win for Katherine Center! Thank you for the chance to read and review this book!

THE ROM-COMMERS by Katherine Center introduces us to two endearing characters.

Emma Wheeler sacrificed opportunities to nurse her father after an accident that led to the death of her mother. Emma freelanced on writing projects until she is given an opportunity to salvage a screenplay for her writing hero. Charlie Yates is only writing a rom-com screenplay to secure funding for the project he actually wants to do. He doesn't believe in love and goes into this editing process halfheartedly, just attempting to buy time for his pet project to be greenlit.

Emma and Charlie must learn to respect each other's skills and be willing to admit they have flaws. They have their respective griefs to process and find themselves depending on the other as a friend and considering whether it's worth sacrificing that stability for the possibility of something more. What is a familiar storyline achieves new life under Katherine Center's capable execution.

(I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.)

Thank you for this book in exchange for my honest review. This book was not up to the author’s normal par so I could not finish it.

"And they built a life together, and looked after each other, and made the absolute best of their lives...

Tragedy is a given. The question is what we do in face of it all"

When I think about this book what I'll remember the most won't be the romance, but rather the messages around hope and positivity in the face of tragedy.

I loved, maybe love is the wrong word given their circumstances, Emma and Charlie's backstories. The story had the depth that I look for in romance books. It wasn't too heavy, it had funny parts. It kept me entertained as I was reading and put a smile on my face multiple times.

But The Rom-Commers is not a new favorite from KC. I certainly liked it. I didn’t love it. It made me sad that I didn’t love it. I think the characters didn't work for me. I found Emma too chatty and bubbly, Charlie too emotionally stunted. I also don't think they had the chemistry to make it a swoony romance book.

I will continue reading KC because I adore KC's effortless writing. I am also glad that KC insists on her message on telling love stories and being an advocate for reading love stories.

"If you've been shamed away from reading love stories, Hello friend, come over to the fun side. The ridicule, it is wrong. In that way that the world has a way of being so wrong about so many things. Come hang out with me on my hill of love stories. "

I've read the ebook a couple months ago and listened to the audiobook last week. Patti Murin's narration is stellar. Thank you @smpromance and @macmillan.audio for the advanced copies.

There really are a lot of potential triggers in this book (death of a parent, cancer, etc) but the overall mood is light. Of course, our main character Emma is different (curly untamable hair), and the main guy Charlie Yates (it's necessary to use both names when you refer to him even though there's not another Charlie in the book) has an ex-wife she feels she could never compete with. Even though they're both kind of jerks, there are the typical tropes, like their initial meeting being rough and the misunderstandings. Even though the writing itself was fun, it felt like she was taking advantage of tragedy for entertainment, and it felt like a lot. I liked an earlier book I read by Center and enjoyed it but will probably be more careful about the plot next time.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.

Katherine Center’s books are like warm hugs. And this book is no exception. It’s a saccharine sweet story in the best possible way. I could not put it down because it was such a sweet story. I loved the cameo from a couple characters from a past book.

“If you wait for other people to light you up, then O guess you’re at the mercy of darkness.”

I enjoyed this book, but I do have a few things I could say about it.

The overall plot follows our lead, Emma, as she takes a leap of faith to pursue her dream. Emma gets an unconventional opportunity to help a famous screenwriter tackle a new genre, Rom-Com. She must leave life behind, this including her father, who she has been the primary caregiver for. She is to help famous writer Charlie Yates, a egocentric and very successful writer. This talks proves to her that you should never meet your heroes.

This is very much and enemy to lovers book. While other reviews could stand Emma, I actually think she was the weakest link, and enjoyed Charlie very much. Emma I felt whined too much, was annoying at times and always thought her way was the only way…dare I say she had a huge ego, like Charlie. I also felt like when it came to Charlie, she let him walk all over her, and quickly forgave him for everything. I did like that she did speak to us as the reader. Charlie stayed true to himself . I did feel like their romance took WAY TO LONG, also wanted some sexy time… but alas.

I did enjoy the major conflict of the book, leading to the ending, which I did enjoy as well.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a digital review copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

I had fun reading this book, and I'm a huge Katherine Center fan, but I found the characters of Emma and Charlie to be mostly forgettable (sadly) and while the novel was really fun, I had some issues with it. It wasn't a home run for me like some of her other books have been. There were a few scenes at the end that toed the line of ridiculousness to the point that I began to find Emma annoying and unrealistic. Besides that, I thought their chemistry was only good, not great. BUT I loved the set up of writing a screenplay together, of this sort of enemies to friends to lovers trope thing, and I liked that there was a complex backstory for both Emma and Charlie. So while I will continue to read everything written by Katherine Center, this falls in the medium category of her books for me personally.

Katherine Center books have been hit or miss for me. The last one, Hello Stranger just enraged me with how ridiculous the plot was. But this one… idk.. it just sucked me in. Was it predictable? YUP. But I really loved it. The way the ending got tied up sooooo quickly after the build up to the what was going to be “the big problem” was my only complaint. It was literally only a couple of pages. But this one gave me all the feels and I really loved it.

First, I am extremely thankful that the amount of language in this book was decreased! There were a few words but less than other stories. The Rom- Commers was a fun little story of two screen writers who work on a movie script, and of course fall in love along the way!
It wasn't my favorite of Katherine Center's but it was still extremely enjoyable and most definitely did not turn me away from her future work. I am highly looking forward to her next one.

Can I just say how laugh out loud funny this book was? It was just a nice wholesome, hilarious story. No smut (not that I have a problem with smut
….i just sometimes want a nice funny rom com. This book is IT. It would make an amazing movie.
The characters are flawed, interesting and hilarious. The character growth arcs are “chef’s kiss”. Looks like I will have to add another author to my favorite’s list.
I received a ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

wow did I love this book! katherine center hits it out of the park once again with THE ROM-COMMERS and I had such a blast reading this, she had me laughing aloud several times with the absolutely amazing banter between our two main characters. this book is definitely quite dialogue heavy but I loved getting to see their conversations play out and their verbal back and forth throughout. this book is truly a love letter to the romance genre as we explore what makes a rom-com and the true meaning of love which was so sweet.

the main characters were absolutely incredible! emma has such a great backstory and seeing her connection to her family and all that she is sacrificed but now getting to see her live out her dreams was so touching. the discussions of grief and loss in this were so poignant and definitely evoked some emotions (and admittedly some tears) throughout. and I cannot write this review without mentioning charlie! the way he groveled and the things he said and the tiny things he noticed were just too good. so many amazing quotes and moments - I can definitely see myself rereading this book in the near future!

also the ENDING! I can't spoil anything but just know that it is so worth it and will put you in all the feels. highly highly recommend!!

Katherine Center does it again! Thank you to St. Martin's express for granting me access to this title, because although I read this on my Kindle; Katherine Center is an auto buy author for me so I snagged her book but listened to it. One of my favorite tropes is enemies to lovers add sunshine and grump and I am totally in. What I genuinely appreciate about Katherine Center is that her novels always feel like a warm hug and the plots are radically different. There's no rinse and repeat with Katherine Center. Each novel of hers has given me a different literary gift and story to hold onto.

WOW! I listened to this non-stop in one day. I loved everything about The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center. The Rom-Commers is my new favorite book from her. The audiobook narration was perfect. I cannot stop staring at this beautiful cover. I felt every part of this book. I have always appreciated how Katherine Center adds medical pieces to her book. I'm a healthcare worker and truly appreciate how she handles these elements of her stories (or those I have read). I didn't want the story to end because I greatly care for Emma and Charlie!