I think Katherine Center is an underhyped author. I have not seen NEARLY enough posts about this book that was easily one of my favorite romances that I have read this year! I truly think everything Katherine touches turns to gold, and The Rom-Commers is no exception!

For the past ten years, Emma has been the sole caretaker for her father, putting her life and dreams aside to ensure his needs are met. She dreams of being a rom-com screenwriter, but has to scrape by on smaller gigs to balance her home life. When a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with her favorite writer, Charlie Yates, arises, Emma is torn, but with a push from her family she heads to LA to work with him. It'll be no easy task to rewrite Charlie's beyond-terrible rom-com script, but as a hopeless romantic, if anyone can do it, it's Emma. To say Charlie is a grouch is an understatement, but Emma may just be the one to thaw his frozen heart.

Everything about Katherine Center's writing style is fun and endearing. I was smiling, giggling, kicking my feet this ENTIRE book. I also LOVED the way she broke the fourth wall and spoke to us as readers, it was something I've never seen executed quite this well.

I was rooting for Emma and Charlie the entire time - the perfect balance of golden retriever/black cat energy with a "tough guy" who is actually way softer than he seems. Plus, this delves into some deeper topics like traumatic injuries, sickness, and attachment styles, and does them incredibly thoughtfully and well.

This book is incredible and absolutely needs to be on your TBR!

Absolutely loved this book! This was my first Katherine Center book and I could not stop listening! I found the characters to be relatable and realistic without some of the mini tropes that are prominent in romcom. I really appreciated the writing style and appreciated a well done ending!

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to preview this as an advanced reader copy!

"The Rom-Commers" by Katherine Center is a delightful blend of humor, heart, and the magic of romantic comedies. As a fan of rom-coms, I found this book to be a charming escape filled with memorable characters and genuine emotional depth.

Emma Wheeler, an aspiring screenwriter, is a protagonist you can't help but root for. Her journey from caring for her ailing father to seizing the opportunity of a lifetime in Hollywood is both inspiring and relatable. Emma's unwavering passion for rom-coms and her determination to revive a disastrous script penned by her idol, Charlie Yates, forms the crux of the story.

Charlie, a renowned screenwriter known for his apocalyptic action films, provides the perfect contrast to Emma's sunny disposition. His skepticism about love and his reluctance to embrace the rom-com genre set up a delightful "grumpy meets sunshine" dynamic that had me smiling throughout. While Charlie's character could have been explored a bit more deeply, the chemistry between him and Emma is undeniable and their witty banter is a highlight.

One of the standout aspects of the book is how Center weaves in serious themes such as grief, cancer, and personal growth without overshadowing the lighthearted romance. These elements add a layer of emotional complexity that elevates the story beyond a typical rom-com. Emma's internal monologues and her interactions with her family, especially her touching relationship with her father and supportive sister, Sylvie, bring added warmth and authenticity to the narrative.

The story's pacing is steady, with moments of fast-paced action that keep you engaged. While I wished for more scenes showcasing Emma and Charlie's collaborative efforts on the script, the overall development of their relationship from reluctant partners to friends and eventually lovers is sweetly crafted.

In conclusion, "The Rom-Commers" is a four-star gem that offers a perfect mix of laughter, love, and life lessons. It's a story that reminds us to appreciate the good in front of us and find light even in the darkest times. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a heartwarming read that will leave you with a smile on your face and a renewed belief in the magic of rom-coms.

Katherine is a favorite author of mine and this book further confirmed that! This was such a sweet rom com that really did that balance of grief/depth and hilarious banter so stinking well. Emma and Charlie were such quirky, delightful characters and I rooted for them from the beginning! I also really enjoyed how Emma’s dialogue felt like I was just chatting with a friend. Definitely a great choice for a summer read!

𝐕𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐬:
•grumpy/sunshine
•celebrity MMC
•witty banter🤌🏼
•single POV
•workplace romance
•forced proximity
•quirky, lovable characters

I loved this one so much I added the physical copy to my BOTM box!

It really pains me to give a Katherine Center book such a low rating, but this was unfortunately only a 2.25 star for me. 🫣 All of Katherine's other books have been homeruns so I am surprised and bummed that this one didn't work well for me. I strongly disliked the characters in this book! Charlie Yates, Charlie Yates, Charlie Yates! So much about how wonderful of a screenwriter he is but he was obnoxious and grumpy and just all around unappealing to me. There was nothing swoony about him and there was no chemistry between him and Emma. I felt zero sparks. I didn't care for Emma, either. She was so rude to her sister, and I found her character to be boring. It wasn't the worst book I've ever read by any means, but I just could not get into this one. Even though this one didn't work for me, I am looking forward to reading her next one!

Thank you, Net Galley, and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in return for my honest review.

Katherine Center continues to be an instant-purchase author for me. Her books are consistently among my favorites each year, and the Rom-Commers easily joins this year's list. I love how I almost always learn something new about an obscure medical condition in her recent books. It feels like a fun quirk, among an excellent of novels.

Katherine always writes captivating stories and every one is just better than her last, I just love her!
If you are looking for a delightful romantic story about overcoming life challenges, you need to read this one, trust me, you won’t regret it.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this gifted copy and complimentary audiobook.

Thank you to Katherine Center, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

If I have to read the name Charles Yates one more time, I may scream. I love the grumpy/sunshine trope, but this book took it to the extreme and made the MMC so unlikeable. Yeah, he was going through stuff but that doesn't mean he has to be an ass.

Also, you do not get diagnosed with anything, especially cancer over the phone. That is a big no-no, and honestly so disrespectful. Why didn't he get a second opinion??

This just wasn't for me.

I will never not like a Katherine Center book. They are such a good mix of romance and harder topics. This book had me laughing and crying, usually in the same chapter.
I also really wanted to watch a romcom after finishing this one.

If you haven’t read a Katherine Center book I highly recommend them, but especially this one!



Thank you St. Martin’s press and NetGalley for a ARC in exchange for a honest review!

I loved The Rom-Commers! Took me a little while to get into it but I loved how quirky Emma and Charlie were. They both went through some real life stuff and I like how carefully Katherine handled it.

I would recommend this to everyone!

Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! Katherine Center is an auto buy author for me. And this might have been my favorite of her books yet. It was adorable and the perfect book to read by the pool or at the beach. It gets all the hearts and stars.

“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.

I absolutely love Katherine Center. This story did not disappoint.

I love her voice and I felt it as strongly in this one as her others. Her theme of hope is woven throughout this story and I love how it’s in every one of her stories but so unique each time.

There were some relationship things with a few different characters that felt unresolved but they all had growth and I love how the story played out.

This is a happy ending rom-com with a few unrealistic things and THAT’S OKAY. I don’t read for reality but I know some people struggle with that so I thought I’d include it.

The Rom-Commer’s is a great summer read and I’m so happy it’s out in the world.

Content: explicit language

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I’ll be the first to say that most people will give this 4 or 5 stars if it is their genre. This is also my genre but unfairly I could not shake an image of the main MC from the beginning. A screenwriter forced to lose opportunities for her big break because she is caring for her father who was injured in an accident that also killed her mom, Emma is granted a once in a lifetime opportunity to rewrite or ghost write her favorite movie directors lame attempt at a rom com— which happens to be her specialty. She ends up showing movie director and love curmudgeon, Charlie Yates, what love is really about and of course, they fall for each other. Seriously this is cute, it is a great rom com. Charlie Yates was somehow engrained in my mind as ‘Charlie Sheen’ which made me scrunch up my nose up at the romance. While I shouldn’t fault the author for my view of Charlie as Charlie Sheen, I do think it highlights that perhaps his character was more underdeveloped than it could have been. He also wore big corduroys which I didn’t get and it didn’t help the image…. Anyhow, rom com lovers should read this and NOT consider Charlie Sheen like I did.

Mode: 📱thank you to NetGalley and Harper 360 for allowing me to review and advanced copy e book in exchange for this review.

Katherine Center books always have a special place in my heart! Things you save in a fire was the first book that really introduced me to the genre, and this led me to find so many of my favorite authors. I love that like the Bodyguard, the trope of famous person and normal person, is tied into this- but done so uniquely. Also LOVE the cover art!!

Emma was such a wonderful character. Having given up her dreams in order to give her father a great life, the reader is set up to root for her story, wherever it may lead. The fact that it leads to Hollywood and working with her screenwriter hero, Charlie Yates is icing on the cake. The fact he turns out to be difficult and surly is par for the course, but this girl loves a good enemies to lovers trope and I’m eagerly along for the ride. Charlie, of course, ends up to be a good guy with reasons for acting the way he’s acting and pretty quickly warms up to Emma. I love their journey, as well as the conflict and resolution in the latter third of the book. The whole story just had a roundness that made the reader feel great about how the conclusion was reached.

I’ve been waiting for another Katherine Center novel that has that magic formula of romance, comedy, and tragedy similar to her 2022 novel, The Bodyguard, and The Rom-Commers gets it just right. A fabulous enemies to lovers story that made me laugh, tear-up, and anticipate the fabulous happily ever after that I know is waiting at the end of the book. If you’re looking for that book to put in your beach bag, don’t leave this one behind!

I was instantly hooked on Katherine Center's writing after reading "The Bodyguard," which piqued my interest in her book "Rom-Commers." I'm thrilled that I picked up "Rom-Commers." Intriguingly, the book is titled "Rom-Commers," as romantic comedies are my favorite. I found myself laughing throughout the book. The main character, Emma, was incredibly amusing, and I admired her quirky, resilient, enthusiastic, and nurturing nature. The male lead was equally charming and quirky. Both characters had their struggles and inner battles to conquer. I loved that they were both screenwriters. Katherine did a fantastic job of bringing the characters to life and depicting the life of a screenwriter. This book is perfect for anyone seeking laughter and a feel-good story.

Love Always Catherine

Thank you, St. Martin's Press and Katherine Center, for gifting me this book.

Omg another hit by Katherine Center!!! Who’s surprised? No one here 😂 I freaking loved the angst and the lead up, and the ending had me in tears!!! I loved the epilogue too and there’s so many lines I highlighted. It even opened up conversations with my husband. I love the wisdom at the end- I truly agree wholeheartedly!! Now to wait for the next KC book to obsess over 🤓

Ok. So, I rate books based on how much I enjoyed them. So, even though there are a lot of things that I did really like about it, I have a huge issue with this book that simply didn't let me enjoy it at all.

I really liked Emma. I liked how she talked and her wit. I liked her relationship with her family and her unabashed love for romcoms. And how in a lot of aspects of her life she wasn't cowed by other people or other opinions (except with Charlie but I'll come back to it). I liked her development throughout the story specially her relationship with her sister. She needed to learn somethings and she did. I loved her dad. And I got a little emotional about ther family's story. I liked the writing as I always like with Katherine Center's books. I liked the message that happiness needs a little sadness (it reminded me of the movie Inside Out to be honest). If this were a woman's fiction about Emma and her family and her going through her journey, I would've enjoyed a lot more.

But alas, it is not. It is a romance. And I really like romance (specially romcoms). So, what was the problem? Charlie. I HATED him from beginning to end. He constantly talks badly about her and belittles her to other people (she hears him every time) through a lot of the book (eventually he stops doing it but it was never talked about). But when he is with her, he's all complimentary and adoring. It gave that feeling "I'm embarassed by you on public but I can like you in private" in the beginning. She keeps doing mental gymnastics to justify that he actually cares about her and he is only pretending that he doesn't. She keeps trying to "fix" a grown man. He keeps her at arms length and being hot and cold. And then does big gestures as if that would erase everything. Am I supposed to root for them to be together? Am I supposed to like him? Yeah, no. Sorry, but no. He is one of the worst love interests that I've ever read.

And I have to rant a little bit about something. So, SPOILERS for the rest of this paragraph. I knew that he would have a scare about having cancer again but it wouldn't be cancer. Just to what? To make me feel sorry for him and want them to be together because he did that love declaration? No. It felt like emotional manipulation to try and make me forget how awful he was. END OF SPOILERS

I'm sad because I could really see a book that I could like a lot. But Charlie ruined it for me.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the ARC.

Review: I really wanted to love this more than I did. It felt a little young, and a little cringe worthy at times. Although I do have to say, this is a fun, quick summer read. It reminded me a bit of Emily Henry books, but the writing didn’t do the characters justice in my opinion. Overall, I enjoyed reading it, but I wasn’t itching to pick it up and listen to the banter between Charlie and Emma.