I fear I will never recover from this book. I cannot even begin to express the love I have for every part of this book. The characters, the plot, the growth, the emotion!! Perfection. Emma is one of the most relatable FMCs I’ve ever read and I fell in love with Charlie while reading. My heart was having actual palpitations while reading and it felt like falling in love. Go read this book!!!

Emma and Charlie’s love story is the definition of a rom com. I felt like I was watching an early 2000s classic. The funny parts were funny, the sad parts made me tear up, the twist made me audible gasp (concerning since I was on a plane), & overall just such a well written novel. This is by far my favorite read by Katherine Center and I just LOVED IT!

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center was exquisite! I absolutely love Center's writing, plot points and characters. Center writes different occupations superbly which in turn opens a lens to new worlds for us readers. Her character development and growth are unmatched! You can lose and find yourself in her characters. The Rom-Commers and Hello Stranger are both my fav books by Center although every one of her books are fantastic!

Grumpy, introvert Charlie has written the world’s most ridiculous rom-com. His agent brings in Emma to help rewrite the atrocity. Charlie is not known for his rom-coms but he has to get this one written. Emma and Charlie are forced to work closely to get this screenplay written and passable as a good rom-com. Emma’s love for rom-com speaks to my soul! I will watch any and all rom-coms, even if they’re poorly written and ultra predictable. The banter had me kicking my feet and giggling the entire time. Watching Charlie figure out his feelings in such a robotic yet romantic way was the highlight of the book for me. His personality shines brightly when you see what he googles in order to try to decipher his emotions. Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone looking for a rom-com as the title suggests.

Goodreads posted. Instagram post will be live on 26Jun2024.

I finished this in one sitting because I loved it so much! The conceit is familiar but Katherine Center manages to make such wonderful characters that you can't help but fall completely in love with them. I really enjoyed the way she played with both book and movie romance tropes, staying true to the genre but having fun. I also found myself pretty teary at the end as family dynamics were explored. A very wonderful read!

The beginning of this book was very good, I was fully invested. However, halfway through it I wasn’t sure if I hated it or loved it. Emma especially started annoying me more than liking her. Charlie at first was fun and interesting but then he just got kind of boring? Overall, it was a fun book and I flew through it.

Everyone needs to go read THE ROM-COMMERS right now. This will hands-down be one of my favorite books of the whole year. I loved it THAT much 👏 I loved hearing which parts were inspired by real-life events!

I got to see & meet Katherine on book tour and she had the whole room laughing the entire time. She’s SO funny 🤣 totally makes sense how she can write such witty banter!!

I adore how much she cares about the romance genre 🩷 it was just so much fun getting to see her talk about a book that she loves so much. And Josh Duhamel 😍😂

I’ve been reading her books for years and I can recommend them to literally anyone & they’re always well-received.

Emma Wheeler has always wanted to be a screenwriter, so she’s thrilled for the opportunity to work as a ghost writer for Charlie Yates, a famous screenwriter struggling to write a rom-com. Charlie is less than thrilled to have an inexperienced writer telling him what to do, despite the fact that the romantic comedy he’s written is awful. However, Emma has given up a lot to be here, and is determined to let her passion for rom-coms and talented writing shine through in a revised screenplay.

Much like Katherine Center’s previous novels, The Rom-Commers is beautifully written, and full of quote-worthy inspirational messages, and heartfelt yet flawed characters. Unfortunately, plot-wise this book fell a bit short for me. While I was initially invested and taken by the premise, I really didn’t feel much romantic chemistry between Emma and Charlie, so the relationship felt unbelievable. However, based on the countless glowing reviews, I am definitely in the minority, so don’t let my feelings deter you! Overall, I still enjoyed parts of the story, but it just wasn’t my favorite of Katherine Center’s books.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my gifted e-copy!

“Stories exist for the emotions they create—and you can’t write them if you can’t feel them.”

Katherine Center’s ability to evoke real emotions for her seemingly real, flawed, and personable characters is unmatched. Every time I pick up one of her books, I want to live inside it for as long as it’ll keep me. And The Rom-Commers was no exception.

“A great rom-com…is just like sex. If you’re surprised by the ending, somebody wasn’t doing their job.”

The idea that you should never meet your idols because you’ll be let down is at the forefront of this story as Emma is tricked into working with her personal writing god, Charlie Yates. Only, Charlie never agreed to accept help from a no-name screenwriter with zero credits. Both of them reeling from their pasts and everything going on in their personal lives, the last thing they expect is to get along, let alone find a way to write together when they’d only ever written alone.

“The most vital thing you can learn to do is tell your own story.”

I honestly love how raw this story is and I’m trying SO hard not to spoil anything in this review. Every piece of it felt like a gift and I highly recommend picking up a copy for yourself ASAP. You don’t want to miss this one.

“It can’t be where you’re going that matters. It has to be how you get there.”

Katherine manages to tell the journey in each of her stories. The romcom and the romance are the parts that bring a smile to our faces, but the journey is what sucks us in and holds us hostage. The history and each characters’ individual stories are what make it impossible to let go even after finishing reading. Talk about a massive book hangover… I read this book a couple weeks ago and I am STILL thinking about it now.

Tropes:
- celebrity romance
- forced proximity
- Hollywood romance
- grumpy/sunshine
- workplace romance
- books about writers

CW: Cancer, loss of a parent

Charlie Yates is an established screenplay writer, who is in a slump. In order to get back on track he has to write a rom-com from an old movie. Emma Wheeler has been hired to help get him on track. From the very beginning, these two are at each other. He wants no part of her and she's fangirling on her idol. What could possibly go wrong? Like any good rom-com, there has to be some angst before we get the HEA and it was a beaut. The make up was everything you wanted and more!

✔️ Opposites Attract
✔️ Entertainment Industry
✔️ And They're Roommates
✔️ Hurt/Comfort
✔️ I Don't Believe in Love

Katherine Center's books are just a joy and this one is no exception.

The Hollywood/writing a film romcom backdrop was a blast!
- I loved hearing Emma express why people love romance on film and the thrill of watching people fall in love. (I'd go to her TED talk on this subject).
- Emma being starstruck was fun too, contrasting with Charlie being blasé about it all 😂
- My favorite scenes were of Emma making him experience some of the things he was writing about, accusing him of not picking romantic things and not understanding romantic tension. 😂

Emma was easy to root for; strong, self-sacrificing and a generally good person. I love how KC's FMC start out with the deck stacked against them and emerge with an HEA like nothing they would have imagined. This is why Katherine Center's books are not only lovely and swoony, but they're joyful and kind of inspirational too (the messages of grabbing joy and caring for each other and what is needed to make a relationship last).

Highly recommend this one! If you've read The Bodyguard, you'll see some familiar characters too (though this also works very well as a standalone)

Steam
Banter 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
Swoon 💕💕💕💕💕

5 stars!
Ahh! There it is again, the classic KC touch of just simple, clean, heart warming romance full of good dialogue, funny banters and realistic characters!
That is right! I could not say it any better. It was awesome, entertaining and relatable as always. Fun twist here and there and always having the smart, sweet, strong female character that everyone cannot help but root for!
KC does not need to write steamy scenes or elaborated description of a man’s massive package and hard muscled chest and back. KC powers her books with really good dialogues, boiling anticipation, giddy and funny reactions, interesting pets and most of all relatable characters. Like all her books, this is heartwarming and very entertaining just as all rom-coms should!
Special thank you to St.Martin’s Press and MacMillan audio bot for ebook and audio advance copies for review. I highly recommend this read and I gave it 5stars because I had a great reading journey with the Rom-Commers!

🎬 The Rom-Commers - Katherine Center

4.25 ⭐️ - I said it once, I’ll say it again. Katherine Center has a fan in me. Every time I read one, I wonder why it took me so long to find her. I’ve enjoyed every one of them, her newest is no exception. It’s heartfelt, funny, serious, and thought provoking all at the same time.

Emma Wheeler desperately wants to be a screenwriter. She’s spent her whole life studying, writing romantic comedies, and winning contests. But, after an accident, she became to sole full time caretaker for her father. When she gets the chance to rewrite a screenplay for her favorite writing god, Charlie Yates!, the opportunity is too good to pass up. When Charlie doesn’t want to write with her, Emma does everything in her power to change his mind.

This book is so fun. How to write a good rom com while reading a good rom com! It has personal and professional growth, family issues (and solutions), and fun, playful romance. This is a great summer read and I cannot recommend it enough. I love the way KC tells a story, grows her characters, and develops a book you never want to end. It even had some little book crossovers (if you read the bodyguard, you’ll catch it!) which adds some fun flair. I definitely recommend picking this one up this summer! I can’t wait to see what KC does next.

Thank you Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, and St Martin Press for the early arc and listener copies!

What a summer delight! Emma, a dedicated screenwriter and loving caretaker for her father, finally gets her big break when she's invited to re-write a script for the legendary Charlie Yates. However, the road to success is far from smooth. Charlie Yates turns out to be dismissive and cynical, and the script he's written is a disaster. Despite these challenges, Emma's determination and passion for storytelling shine through. Her struggle to prove herself to Charlie and bring the romantic comedy to life is both inspiring and endearing.

Loved this one by Katherine Center. Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this novel.

Katherine Center has become one of my new favorite authors! The Rom-Commers has everything you expect from one of her novels including witty banter and swoon worthy romance. Highly recommend if you have enjoyed her books in the past.

This was a quick and fun read! We have forced proximity. Enemies to friends to lovers. The grumpiest of grumpy and sunshineist of sunshine. This book is full of swoony and sweet, heartwrenching and tragic, and will undoubtedly have you grinning from ear to ear and tearing up while reading it.
 
I appreciated in this book that there were heavy themes interwoven into the story with the lighter, fluffier plotlines I wanted. Katherine Center’s ability to objectively tackle some very tough topics and life experiences while simultaneously finding the beauty and grace in living, learning, and loving, was a treat to read.
 
All in all, I walked away from this thinking, “I really liked that story” where sometimes after a romance I’m borderline contemplating getting the guy’s name tattooed on my lower back (KIDDING) – but do you know what I mean?! I think part of my own personal inability to latch on heavily with their love story is because I read Leather & Lark before this. Talk about a swing on the romance pendulum in the opposite direction. It was a good, fun, smart, and quick read that I definitely recommend you pick up (especially if you like more of a clean romance).

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, for the advance reader’s copy of The Rom-Commers. Please allow me a moment to fan girl over Katherine Center. I eagerly anticipate her yearly release, and I love her books. I enjoy how her characters overcome hardship, and her hopeful prose. This greatly pains me to write, but I really did not like The Rom-Commers. I found the premise unrealistic. The MMC, Charlie Yates, was, well, mean. I did like the FMC, Emma, but she had too many cringe moments (shoes on wrong feet, I told you I LIKE you, but you don’t LIKE me, past trauma with heights - then becoming intoxicated and messing around on a high dive, to name a few). Without spoiling, I also found the ending to be patronizing and implausible. Maybe it’s my mood, maybe it’s a “Katie” thing, but in addition to being annoyed by the novel, I was also bored by it. It moved miserably along at a snail’s pace. I’m so sorry that I didn’t enjoy this book. Perhaps my expectations were just too high? I remain a fan of Katherine Center’s, and will continue to watch Happiness for Beginners while I wait for her next book.

I love Katherine Center and I love her writing, This book was just as great as all her others. It was a fun read and the banter is always great!

In this Katherine Center book, the heroine was given an opportunity to work with the hero in re-writing a script. Leaving her younger sister to care for their father, the heroine arrived at the hero's home to learn that said person didn't want to cooperate with her. Undeterred, the heroine began the challenge to change the hero's mind, not realizing that the journey will change the dynamics between them.

This is a quintessential Katherine Center novel. Wrapped in the author's distinctive writing style, the story brought a relatable heroine with her own hardships to deal with. There were a good set of secondary characters that helped enrich the whole story, in good and bad ways. Some more details could have helped in the story, but that's a personal preference of mine. Overall, another enjoyable book from the author.


** Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions and thoughts in the review are my own. **

Emma Wheeler is a rom-com screenwriter. Her ex-boyfriend, Logan, from high school is her agent, and he finds her writing gigs. She’s not picky and just needs the work so she can support herself and her dad. She’s her dad’s caretaker after a climbing accident left him with serious medical conditions. Logan finds Emma a huge gig writing with Charlie Yates, a big time screenwriter, known for winning lots of awards. Not only is Charlie well-known, but he’s Emma’s favorite screenwriter. The problem is that Charlie doesn’t think he needs help with his latest screenplay, a rom-com. However, Emma sets out to show him what rom-coms are all about and how important love really is. I loved how this book started, but it went downhill after Emma meets Charlie. I just didn’t like him as a male lead. In fact I didn’t find either character relatable. There is one chapter with line-dancing that I thoroughly enjoyed and laughed through. However, overall, I liked this story, but just did not love it.

A special thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing an advanced reader’s copy.