For the last ten years, Emma has willingly given up her own hopes and dreams to stay at home and be her father’s full time caregiver so that her younger sister can finish school and live her best life. Emma has managed to have a small career working as a screenwriter from their apartment in Houston. Her agent calls with the job of a lifetime. Move to LA for 6 weeks and help her idol Charlie fix his awful, terrible rom-com script. Everything about the idea is so far outside of Emma’s comfort zone so that when she arrives and day one things are not as promised she’s ready to quit before she’s even started. Can her agent convince her to stay? Will Charlie even agree to work with a nobody? Can Emma convince him love is real and romantic stories matter?

This was such a fun read with so much heart and a beautiful message. The banter between Charlie and Emma is perfect. Witty, charming, and funny. I loved the way these characters are actually spending time together on the page. To me that makes the romance more believable. All the little details Center has woven into the story just make it shine. The guinea pig, the line dancing, the donuts, the cameo characters from a previous book? Amazing!

That’s my take away. Katherine Center just writes great love stories. They always feel like your dear friend is telling you something really important and I’m all ears!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a cute read from Katherine Center!

I have read only the Bodyguard by her but even that was an adorable and quirky read that made me smile. Anyways, I was completely hooked by the title and the cover and decided to try my luck to see if I would get the arc and I did! The plot was very cute and both of the main characters felt real and funny in their own ways. If you like Emily Henry but want it to be a tad bit more comedic and goofy then this book is for you! It had some emotional elements but it also had many rom-commy scenes that made me so happy while reading. The third act "break-up' was reasonable and did not make me mad, so!

great read that I would recommend to everyone<3

This is the second book I’ve read of hers and I love this one even more than the last. The writing is so witty and hilarious and I can’t stop reading it. In true rom-com form it is completely unbelievable and ridiculous but I think it just adds to the charm. Thank you to @stmartinspublishing , @katherinecenter and @netgalley for my copy!

This book was just pure joy for me to read! From start to finish, I was invested in the characters and loved every page. Pick this romcom up if you enjoy:
☀️ Fun banter
☀️ Forced proximity
☀️ Grumpy / sunshine

Yes - this is a love story. It’s also a story about the importance of family, finding your purpose, and following your passion.

This is such a sweet, fun read for summer - enjoy it while you sit on your porch or throw it in your bag when you head out to the pool/beach. Perfect for that summer road trip!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

After reading Katherine Center's last two adult romances--The Bodyguard and Hello Stranger--and thoroughly enjoying them, I thought Center was going to be a new auto-buy romance author for me. The synopsis for this one seemed really promising (An aspiring/struggling screenwriter getting hired to work on her idol's failed rom-com script???? LOVE!), but too many small qualms piled up and led to my ultimate dislike of this title (see below).

Things that rubbed me wrong (while avoiding as many spoilers as possible):
-"Real men don't cry" rhetoric
-Possibly the worst MMC I've ever read in a romance--I mean gaslighter, liar, and just plain MEAN
-So many heavy topics! And I don't mind a touch of reality in romance books (e.g., Emily Henry and Abby Jimenez), but man this was bleak at times
-A narrator that breaks the fourth wall in the cheesiest and talking-down-to-the-reader way possible
-(Mini-spoilers here but a possible trigger-warning) A terminal lung cancer FAKE OUT
-The most unlikeable main characters with ZERO chemistry
-A "quirky" FMC who gets off on her martyrdom and is so different from other girls because of her frizzy, wild red hair

...I think that about covers it. Two stars instead of one because I still enjoy Katherine Center's writing style on a sentence level, even if the characters and plot fell short for me with this one.

This is my first book by Katherine Center and I LOVED it!

Emma Wheeler, wanna-be screenwriter, eats, sleeps, and breathes rom-com's. She was supposed to be an award winning screen writer; but instead she has been caring for her dad 24/7 for the last 10 years. She has a real life bulletin board with inspirational photos, quotes, and ideas. One of those inspirations is famous screenwriter Charlie Yates; her personal writing god.

Charlie Yates has won multiple awards for writing films about zombies, the mafia, and alien invasions; but his attempt at a rom-com script is "terrible"! When Emma is given the chance to go to LA to help Charlie re-write his rom-com script, she reluctantly turns over caregiving duties to her younger sister. But will Charlie accept the help from a "nobody" screenwriter? Can Emma convince him that love is not a Ponzi-scheme? And will they both learn something new about life and love?

This book has all the feels, moments of comedy, tragedy, romance, and recovery. It's rare that a book makes me cry, but this one did due to it's realistic earnestness. Emma is scared, but fiercely determined to convince Charlie that love matters; and that writing a fictional rom-com realistically is important. Maybe I'm an easy target audience, because i do adore rom-com's. The research, specificity and detail Emma has put into the craft of writing a rom-com is impressive. She is smart, and sassy, but also insecure and self-doubting. Charlie is cocky and over-sure, but at the same time grumpy and anxious. It is these traits that make the characters relatable and endearing.

I was engrossed from the beginning. The pace of this story was just right. The details of each of their personal struggles being revealed at at precisely the correct moment. You aren't kept wondering too long, but also are left to ponder where each reveal will take the plot next. Just when you think you know where the story is going, it gently twists in a new direction.

I highly recommend this absorbing rom-com and am racing to my library to read Katherine Center's full catalog!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

A fun read that's the embodiment of rom-com! There was a lot of goofy moments and witty banter mixed in with tender moments between the characters.

Emma was probably my favorite part of this book. She was so relatable to me as she put everyone else and their needs above her dreams, her starstruck-ness in Hollywood, and her passion for romance! She was flawed and I enjoyed her story as she struggled with leaving her father behind, who she was the sole caretaker with, and follow a big chance at her career that she put on the back burner. Her growth was very compelling as she really dealt with not always being in charge and letting go of the reins because sometimes the unexpected will happen.

However, Charlie. I wanted to yeet him into the sun with how hot and cold he was with Emma. His whole personality was very closed off so sometimes it was hard to get a read on him (until the very end).

“Because the more we can imagine our better selves, the more we can become them.”

This is the sixth book that I’ve read by Katherine Center. While romantic comedies are not my usual genre to read, Katherine Center always draws me in. I love every minute of reading her books.
Emma Wheeler is an English teacher and wants to be a full-time screen writer. She has been caring for her dad for the last ten years after an unfortunate accident that left him with a brain injury. She loves romantic comedies and would love to become a full-time writer. When an opportunity comes from an ex-boyfriend, Emma just can’t pass it up, especially since it involves her number one favorite screenwriter Charlie Yates. Charlie is known for his action-packed zombie screenplays, but has recently written a romantic comedy. Intrigued, Emma reads it and is horrified at how badly written it is. It is now up to her to teach him about romance and how to incorporated into a romantic comedy screenplay.
Emma is an extremely likable character. You empathize with her and the choices she has made for her life taking care of her dad. She is quirky and not afraid to speak her mind. She has such a good sense of humor. Jack on the other hand is hard to like. He admits that he doesn’t want Emma around, or any other human for that matter.
As they spend more and more time together, Emma seems to grow on Jack. You can begin to see some sparks flying between them.
While this is a romantic comedy, there are also strong characters along the way. I loved her dad and his sense of humor considering his current limitations. Her sister is also a bright light for Emma and fills in for her while Emma goes to LA for six weeks.

Many thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Published on June 11, 2024.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Rom-Commers. It made me laugh out loud and cry at the same time. As someone who is dealing with a parent who has health issues, it hit close to heart. Charlie was a tough character to like, but in the end, this unloveable character won me over. The main character, Emma, also grows throughout the novel as she develops independence from her family and learns who she is outside of her father's caregiver. The awkward Hollywood run-ins made the story enjoyable and cracked me up. Emma and Charlie had great chemistry which kept me from putting the book down. I was eager to see how everything would work out for these two. I highly recommend The Rom-Commers for anyone who enjoys a Hallmark-ish love story.

Center has done it again. I first fell in love with her writing after reading Hello Stranger and I loved this one as much if not more. She is just so good at balancing the humor, trauma, hope and romance. She is truly an author that I thank time and again for pu ching me in the feels 😂.

I love Emma and was so happy to see her have an opportunity to break out of her shell and do something for her after having spent so much time taking care of her family. Her supposed friend though... Boo...Hiss! 😅 Charlie was so prickly at first 😂 but I love how he became himself again while Emma was working with him. Not gonna lie, I screamed towards the end there because he was so frustrating. 😅 But then, I also thought it was really sweet how he redeemed himself. So I guess he's forgiven. 😂

I absolutely love the moments between Emma and her dad toward the end of the book. 🥹 Family can get messy and Emma had some big feelings but he was such a great dad in those moments.

I went between the ebook and audiobook for this one. The narration of Center's books are always excellent! I love listening to them and I can't wait for the next one!

A huge thanks to St-Martin's Press, Macmillan audio and Netgalley for the ARC/ALC. All opinions are my own.

Wow wow wow! Katherine Center does it again! What an absolute joy of a book. I absolutely loved Emma and Charlie and all the other characters throughout the story. I appreciated their perfectly imperfect story. I loved the banter and the avoidance. I even didn’t mind the story that caused them to separate and then come back together. Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy to review.

The Rom-Commers is the story of Emma and Charlie (and their separate underlying traumas causing each to wrap themselves up in their private little cocoons) and how they open up while rewriting a terrible rom-com script. I both read and listened to this title and really enjoyed the way Center wrote Emma and had her on occasion speak directly to the reader, on the page and with the phenomenal narrator on audio. My only quibble was how fast it seemed that the two fell in love as the 6 weeks of writing wasn't clearly differentiated and it felt like days in the front end seemingly to make room for what's coming at the back end. I still thoroughly enjoyed this book and will recommend it, though with some sensitivity considering the amount of trauma and medical complications throughout. This is not a super light book. Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the early access in exchange for my honest opinion. 4.5 stars

I wanted so much to like this book more than I did. It had such a promising premise--I'm a sucker for books about writers, particularly aspiring or down-on-their-luck ones, and I'm always down for a sunshine/grumpy pairing, as this book's synopsis seemed to be hinting at. I've also really enjoyed many of Katherine Center's novels in the past. However, I was burned by HELLO STRANGER last year, and unfortunately this book was only a marginal improvement.

I truly disliked both Emma and Charlie. Emma struck me as painfully naive and all too happy to be walked on. She was far too content to be a martyr, and I really did not like how she treated her sister. I can understand the desire to be the father's caretaker, particularly as the older sibling, but she essentially did not trust her sister to take care of their father. (Never mind the fact that the father is not a complete invalid and can in fact speak up for himself and ask for the treatment he needs!)

But then Emma's martyr-ism translated so poorly into her "relationship" with Charlie. It was so frustrating how often she was okay with him insulting her interests or work, or condescending to her in an entirely unnecessary way. There is truly no justification for how much bullshit she was willing to take from him, even if he did pay her to fix his manuscript. And it did little to convince me that she was ever in love with him.

As for Charlie...well. If the above wasn't clear enough, he was an asshole. I hated how he literally had to insult Emma at every turn, not only to her face but to other people as well. There was absolutely no reason for it, and I'm shocked how readers are supposed to find him charming. I also hated the reveal of his health troubles; it felt added in for shock value and more to justify why he's allowed to be such a terrible person, especially towards the end of the novel.

There were positives here--the peek into the writing/creative process, for example, and Emma's relationship with her father. However, the main characters and their romance were a pass for me.

I've rounded up to 4 stars for this book, mainly because I'm a fan of Katherine Center. While I did enjoy it overall, after reading some other reviews, I find myself agreeing with certain criticisms.

Charlie, at times, was a difficult character to root for. His demeanor toward Emma often bordered on rude and mean-spirited, and even though we eventually understand his motivations, it felt somewhat excessive. This dynamic certainly added drama to the story but affected my perception of his character. Emma, too, had her flaws and moments that were hard to like, but on the whole, I found both characters flawed yet relatable. Their banter and the glimpse into the writing process were highlights for me.

The emotional rollercoaster really kicked in during the latter half of the book. I appreciated the concept of the two characters writing together, though as a fan of rom-coms, I wished there had been more romance. While there were plenty of dramatic and comedic moments, a bit more romance would have made it even more enjoyable for me.

Overall, despite its shortcomings, I felt a wide range of emotions while reading, as one does with Katherine Center's books. I enjoyed it and can't wait for more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

So full disclosure, Katherine Center is a huge hit or miss for me, and thankfully this was a huge hit. I love Emma and Charlie and their dynamic with my whole heart. I am a huge sucker for a mmc who doesn’t believe in love, so Charlie definitely scratched that itch for me! Such a fun book that had me from the opening sentence.

The Rom-Commers is another win from Katherine Center!! Once again her characters feel true to life with real challenges. Even though Emma and Charlie are in the screenwriter world mixed in with Hollywood, they still felt relatable. They have fears and anxieties that are complicated but not unbelievable. The Rom-Commers didn’t take over my top Katherine Center spot (The Bodyguard), but if you enjoy her writing, you’ll enjoy this story too!

The Rom-Commers is out now! Thank you St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for my e-arc!

If you are looking for a cutesy rom-com for the summer with a predictable ending (isn’t that why one reads a romance?) and some awkward laughable moments, then The Rom-Commers is for you.

Emma is a screenwriter who hasn’t been able to fulfill her dreams as she is the full-time caretaker for her father after a tragic accident left him partially paralyzed. But when her friend offers her the chance to work with the screenwriter of her dreams, Charlie Yates, she is terrified to take it. Who will take care of her dad? Her sister, Sylvie, and her father assure Emma that they can survive for 6 weeks while she heads to LA and so she does.

Except that Charlie did not know she was coming and had no desire to work with a nobody like her, let alone give her the guest house at his estate. But as it turns out, Emma impressed him with her insights and he agreed to work with her and learn a bit about how to write a good rom-com. What neither of them expected was that they might end up in a rom-com of their own…

I will preface by saying I’m not big on romance but after reading Katherine Center’s Author’s Note on romance novels in a previous book, my entire perspective changed. One reads a romance for the HEA and so this one is predictable in that. The journey, the characters, the obstacles are different and that’s what makes these “fun”.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for this gifted ARC

Not what I was expecting, but then, the only constant with Katherine Center is that the story is much deeper than the synopsis and cute cover would indicate.

This book made me laugh, made me tear up, and made me think. I also liked the "meta" of it all--a romantic comedy about romantic comedies.

I like how Emma gradually learns to accept help--which is so very difficult for many of us. In fact, her growth as a person is one of the best things in this story.

✨𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀✨
• they fall at the same time
• screenwriters falling in love
• the big C
• traumatically injured parent
🌶️ no spice

✨ 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 ✨
Emma is roped into helping award winning screenwriter Charlie Yates to write a rom-com.

✨ 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 ✨
I struggled liking the MMC as he was a little bit a lot of a douche bag just because he was an acclaimed screenwriter. He said some pretty douchey things to Emma even though he didn’t know her circumstances. Both of them are going through difficulties in their own but learn to lean on others for help.

This book gave us a front row seat into not only the writer life but also the film industry. We also get to know two very flawed people who grow to like each other when their initial meeting was rocky.

The target audience for this story is those interested in the film writing process and also those who are looking for a sweet romance with no spice, just kisses.

This book is so good, it makes your heart feel warm ☀️
If you do not own this gorgeous book, go buy it! This is like the absolute best feel good, swoon worthy , heart warming romantic comedy movie but in BOOK form. Katherine is one of my favorite authors. I will return to this book again and again. I would rate it hundred stars if I could. It gave everything and more.