The Rom-Commers is THE book of the summer of 2024. Katherine Center has brilliantly created the perfect mix of poignancy and wicked humor. Once I started this wonderful book, I honestly couldn't put it down and when I did, I was beyond curious as to how the organized and seemingly upbeat yet cautious Emma Wheeler would manage her new writing partnership with her idol, the equally cautious yet decidedly unorganized and a bit stuffy, one Charlie Yates. From the very start, the fireworks were going off at a rapid rate as Emma had to leave her stagnant albeit happy life (at least in her eyes) as her father's caregiver in Texas for the bright lights of Los Angeles and the opportunity of a lifetime. Emma now has the chance to offer up her expertise in all things rom-com as Charlie must fix a screenplay he has zero interest in truly seeing brought to the screen and it soon seems that this might have been a huge mistake. But as fate would have it, the many crazy moments between these two set off a chain of events that could only be classified as the true love both never saw coming.

Oh my goodness. Center is such a talented storyteller. We are in Emma's head the entire book and her thoughts and observations made me laugh and shake my head over and over again as she describes all that is happening around her. Her bestie Logan who snags her the job of her dreams is the perfect foil for when Emma is feeling ready to bolt back to Texas as the writing partnership is forever on shaky ground. But I loved that Emma had the moxie to continue to want to make it work and to say she is adorable is almost an insult. She is a lovable, goofy goddess that the world doesn't deserve. Her attention to detail whether it's to manage her Dad's meds and all that comes with his health issues or her copious amount of notes that she rattles off in a heated moment to Charlie about his disastrous attempt at writing romantic comedy, emphasis on romantic, I fell hard for her. She is a joy of epic proportions and deserves much more than she had been handed.

The way the story unfolded was sheer delight and Center beautifully combines truly anxious moments with silly ones in a way that was addictive. I couldn't wait to find out what would happen next and if Emma and Charlie would ever find a way to be happy, even if it meant not being together after their 6-week writing contract was up. I will say that I was jubilant when Charlie stepped up in the very best way and I fell for him almost as much as Emma did. He's a work in progress for sure but sure glad he got a much-needed kick in the pants that only Emma could have delivered! Just know that Center's prose is perfect and gives you that feeling of being front-row center as well as being Emma's partner in crime as everything comes to a head. It's as exquisite a reading experience as I've had in a long time.

With secondary characters who add the right touch when needed even when it might be the wrong words said or seemingly impetuous actions, I honestly could have read another 100 pages of this captivating book. It's a keeper and a must-read whenever you're feeling low. I enjoyed myself immensely from start to finish and wish I could give this gem more than 5 stars. It's a story of perseverance, self-discovery and most of all, that crazy little thing called love. Especially when you least expect it.

5++++++ huge stars!

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center is a romantic comedy on the page. Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a successful screenwriter. She writes romantic comedies and good ones that win contests but she is also the sole caretaker of her father who needs full time care. When a long time friend calls with an opportunity to re-write a script with the famous screenwriter Charlie Yates, she feels it's too good to be true. As her younger sister takes over the caretaking duties, Emma moves to LA for six weeks. However, when she arrives, Emma quickly learns that she is not wanted. Charlie Yates doesn’t want to write with anyone and doesn’t really care about this script, it was just a means to an end. And worst, he doesn’t believe in love. Emma isn’t going to give up. She is going to fight for herself, for rom-coms and love. She is determined to change Charlie’s mind about love. Of course, life is often stranger than fiction. Will their script come true?
Katherine Center is an auto-buy author for me. Her stories are often fun, filled with laughs and great moments. The Rom-Commers is no different. It is so good! I laughed. I cried. I grinned from ear to ear as I could not put it down! It is a grumpy-sunshine, enemies to lovers romance with humor and drama. Are these characters perfect? No, Charlie and Emma are deeply wounded people with pasts that Ms. Center does not sugarcoat or gloss over and do not have easy or simple solutions. No one wants to read characters who are perfect. We want to see characters who change and grow throughout the story and end up changed for the better. Real life people are flawed and yet still lovable which are the type of characters Ms Center writes. The story goes through the highs and lows of falling in love. I loved The Rom-Commers and I closed the book with a sigh and a happy heart. I highly, highly recommend The Rom-Commers!

The Rom-Commers is available in hardcover, eBook and audiobook

A (mostly) light hearted and fun summer read. This truly does read like your favorite rom com movie would. Center does break the 4th wall often by talking directly to the reader which only adds to the light and fun tone of the book.

I say “mostly” light hearted because there’s an argument between sisters that feels overly aggressive. The last twist also didn’t totally sit right with me.

Overall this book kept my attention and was a wonderful sweet, joyful summer read.

This was my first Katherine Center, and I can see why she’s so popular. Everything was very cute. But at times, I felt like the light-hearted cuteness of it all conflicted with the heavier themes Center was trying to pump in, such as parental loss, disability, illness, etc. Those two aspects to the story, the light-hearted putting-it-all-out-there for love and the real-life sadness that can get in the way of love, felt in opposition to one another. I’ve seen it done well (Kennedy Ryan, Emily Henry, etc), and this didn’t quite feel right.

I also just… didn’t care for the FMC. Like at all. She was exasperatingly naive for a fully grown, college-teaching, screenplay-writing woman. She also felt superficial. Like aside from her stubborn commitment to her belief in the concept of love, I don’t think there was much to her. And maybe that was on purpose. By making the main character more of an idea-on-legs rather than a person, Center allows every reader to put themselves in the role of leading lady.

All that being said, I enjoyed the book. I liked the force proximity and the grumpy/sunshine dynamic. I liked two artists sharing their love for their craft. I liked the mutual respect, the banter, and the slow burn. I liked the small-town-girl goes to Hollywood story. And I actually didn’t mind that this was closed door. The tropes were really really well done.

Overall, I think this book is intended for a reader who’s more of an optimistic idealist than I am. Therefore, I expect this one will be really, really popular.

A new Katherine Center book just means summer to me, I have loved her books for years and I am always excited to see a new one and another colorful joy inducing cover.
The Rom-Commers met the high expectations I had for this book. I cried, I laughed and I smiled. Emma’s and Charlie’s story is beautifully told and so heartwarming, I even found myself highlighting passages. Now on to the actual story: Emma’s life is confined by being her disabled father’s caretaker her writing has taken a backseat to the demands that poses on her when two separate things culminate to change her life and catapult her to Beverly Hills: her old friend Logan offers her an exciting opportunity working with famed screenwriter Charlie Yates and her sister Sylvia graduates and can take over caretaking duties for a while. Charlie wrote romcom that just doesn’t work, he is a cynic to Emma’s anxious but sunny disposition and they need to figure out a way to work together, work through hard feelings and assumptions about one another and make this romcom work - and they do make it work so beautifully. I loved my reading !

"You want me to take it?" I said. "I'll take it! And I'll spray-paint it bubblegum pink and write my name on it in red Sharpie with little hearts! And I'll tell everybody I won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay for a rom-com so rom-commy it was called The Rom-Commers!"

I was intrigued by the idea that Emma, an amateur yet aspiring screenwriter, would assist Charlie, a well-known screenwriter who also happens to be her idol, in rewriting a script in a genre she knew well because she loved it. Charlie, on the other hand, wasn’t remotely equipped to write it because he couldn't write about love when he forgot what that felt like. beach read anyone? It wasn’t like it but the idea of helping him write something opposite of what he wrote was similar

“I get it now.” “Get what? I asked. “Why we’re rewriting this story”

That said, seeing them work together during the writing process was pretty fun and it made it easy for it all to play out like an actual rom com movie in my head. I truly enjoyed seeing Emma open up Charlie to the confines of romance and love and sparring with him as it allowed him to come to the realization of what that could look like. “everything you say is not romantic is romantic”

The acts of service and kinda getting one another out of their comfort zones was pretty sweet but I also loved when emma humbled Charlie given the nonchalant and entitled energy he gave off initially until it became clear why. I mean he came across as a grump who doesn’t believe in love so it made sense. I think he could’ve went about things differently as I just wanted him to speak up! but I understood why he didn’t and I thought it was ironically selfless.

“I had a theory that we gravitate toward the stories we need in life. Whatever we're longing for-adventure, excitement, emotion, connection-we turn to stories that help us find it. Whatever questions we're struggling with-sometimes ones so deep, we don't even really know we're asking them-we look for answers in stories.

This wasn’t just a story of romance and how to write one as it also dealt with elements that molded Emma into the person she is and that increased my enjoyment. It made this feel more real and heartfelt and i felt proud of Emma for still choosing to believe in her dream since for much of her life—it felt unlikely that anything was possible. Emma felt relatable in the role she had to take on during part of her life and I loved seeing her take charge of her narrative. To my surprise, I enjoyed this and can say it was filled with fluffy/cheesy moments and witty banter aside from some introspection. All of which set up this story that revolved around two writers who unbeknownst to one of them--would fall in love in the process of rewriting a rom com.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review!

other quotes

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

“Maybe staying so busy was a lifeline out of my own grief. But I willingly made myself a supporting character in my own story.”

“Real life doesn't come with warnings," Logan argued, half-assedly. "That's why fiction," I said, "is better than real life."

"Whatever story you tell yourself about your life, that’s the one that’ll be true.”

I love a Katherine center book! This one was fun and easy. The way the medical issue was handled at the end kind of threw me. But overall a great summer romance!

4.25/5⭐️

I always enjoy Katherine Center’s books. Some I simply love while others I like a lot but maybe don’t quite make it into the love category.

While this one had all the characteristics of an upper tier book for me (humor, slow angst, a decent storyline, some curves and even some tragedy to add a more serious/in depth touch), I didn’t quite fall for the female protagonist.

I understood and sympathized that Emma had a decades’ worth of issues/guilt to work through, and I was happy that she was finally able to have her chance to shine in her career, but she ended up seeming a tad overblown to me. She began as being a strong, ultra organized caregiver, turned into a less confident, overly out to please woman for most of the book and by the near end became an angry, disgruntled and frankly a bit selfish character. Yes, she had some hard things to work through, but I kind of felt a bit dizzy keeping up with her moods/emotions/actions. While Charlie, on the other hand and also with some baggage of his own, remained true to his character throughout the book... yes, he started out as somewhat of a jerk, but I saw that as more of a defense mechanism than his true personality. I actually loved his sweet, giving nature (which I just knew was coming) and he ended up really shining during the denouement.

So again, it was a wonderful book, and I definitely recommend it. I just wasn’t a complete Emma fan on a personal level.

My sincere thanks to the author, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing the free early arc of The Rom-Commers for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

Emma Wheeler, an aspiring screenwriter obsessed with romantic comedies, finally gets her big break to rewrite a script for her idol, Charlie Yates. However, Charlie is a cynical screenwriter who despises rom-coms and views love as a scam. Their journey from clash to connection is heartwarming, filled with real emotions and unexpected romance. This audiobook beautifully blends the charm of romance comedy with a touching, real-life love story.

The Rom-Commers 💛💕🧡

Thank you to Katherine Center, NetGalley, and St. Martin’s press for this digital ARC. I am extremely grateful and SO GLAD I read this book.

The Rom-Commers is out TODAY and I highly recommend you grab a copy! As always, my recommendation comes with my honest review and touchy topics listed below to help you make an informed decision for yourself.

This book reminded me why I love reading.

Writer rep, screenwriter rep, romance rep, grief rep, parental loss rep. It’s beautiful and chaotic and echoes so many truths of life.

In the last 15% in particular, I was giggling, kicking my feet, and squealing. I mean that literally; you can ask my bestie who heard everything.

Charlie Yates is worthy of being labeled a “book boyfriend” from someone who doesn’t read romance as a primary genre and reserves that label for only men I would respect in real life.

Emma Wheeler is a fireball and is so brave and goofy in all the brilliant ways, and some of the troublesome ways, too.

The dialogue and banter were my favorite part, until Mr. Yates’ non-wood-chippered heart was fully on display, at which point he immediately became my new favorite part of this book.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Content: 🍓🍓🍓

Touchy Topics: Language, parental loss, terminal illness, divorce, grief, alcohol consumption, drunkenness, aftermath of a bar fight.

#bookreview #bookstagram #authorsofinstagram #writersofbookstagram #authorsofbookstagram #arcreview #releaseday #pubday #katherinecenter #theromcommers #romcom #romance #romancebooks

Rating Scale:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: PERFECT. Probably cried
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Wonderful, just not top 10
⭐️⭐️⭐️: Good! Most books fit here
⭐️⭐️: Not really my cup of tea
⭐️: Basically DNF

Content Scale:

🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓: Squeaky clean!
🍓🍓🍓🍓: Appropriate for most readers
🍓🍓🍓: Heavy topics, likely 18+
🍓🍓: Intense scenes about heavy topics
🍓: Tread lightly

Emma Wheeler studied as a screenwriter, but she’s spent the last ten years as a caregiver. After college, she had won a prestigious fellowship in Los Angeles, and her family had gone camping to celebrate her graduation and her bright future. But a rock climbing accident left her father disabled, so she changed her future. Her younger sister Sylvie was only 12, so Emma turned down her fellowship and stayed home in Texas to help her father and make sure her sister got through school.

Now it’s ten years later, and as Emma sister is graduating from college, and Hollywood is calling. Emma’s agent (and high school boyfriend) Logan calls with the chance of a lifetime. Her favorite screenwriter, Charlie Yates, known for his action movies, has written a romantic comedy. And it’s awful. He is in need of a ghostwriter to help fix the script, and Emma is the perfect choice. So Emma hands over the caregiving duties to her sister and heads out to L.A. for eight weeks of writing with an award-winning screenwriter.

She flies out, Logan picks her up at the airport, and he takes her right to the house of Charlie Yates. And Charlie takes one look a her and says no. He hadn’t known she was coming, or that Logan had told her she could stay at Yates’ house as they did the rewrite, and he turns the entire idea down. He does eventually offer Emma one night in his guest room, before she catches a flight back to Texas. She eventually agrees. And as they talk, Emma teaches Yates something he didn’t know about writing a romance.

After thinking over Emma’s ideas about romantic comedies and reading the scripts that won her the prestigious fellowship ten years before, Yates decides to ask her what’s wrong with him rom com script, a retelling of the classic It Happened One Night. Emma has pages of notes and decides that since he’d been so rude to her, she would go over them all, in detail. From page one to the ending (he doesn’t even have the lovers end up together), she rips through every piece of wooden dialogue, every romantic misstep, and every time he failed to create the magic that movie fans would be looking for before she gets on that plane to go back home.

And then something crazy happens. Yates listens to her. He takes pages of notes on what she says. And he decides he really does need her help with the script. They spend the next eight weeks together working side by side to rewrite the script while also going for drives, making dinners, swimming, babysitting Charlie’s ex-wife’s guinea pig Cuthbert, and taking line dancing lessons. Emma gets to meet people in the industry, and she talks often with her sister at home to help with her homesickness. And unexpectedly, or maybe obviously, she finds herself falling in love with Charlie.

But when they have an epic fight, followed by a medical emergency that sends Emma racing back to Texas to be with her family, she thinks that her screenwriting dreams are over for good. After everything that’s happened, will Emma be able to find her happily ever after? Or is all of those cheesy love story ideas just the stuff of movies?

The Rom-Commers is the latest rom com from the perpetual feel-good novelist whose consistency and writing ability makes her every book feel like a hug. Katherine Center has crafted another story filled with truth and compassion, pain and laughter that reminds you of comfort foods, warm blankets, and favorite nights with friends. Her love stories are not too saccharine or unrealistic. They are told about the type of people you imagine are all around you on any given day.

I am also a big fan of Nora Ephron and Nancy Myers movies and how captivating rom com films can be, so I jumped into The Rom-Commers with high expectations and a longing for laughter and love. I was not disappointed. I thought this was a fun look at the movie industry and it gives those classic rom coms the respect they deserve as masterful stories told with brilliance. This is a beautiful book, filled with heart and tears and laughs and love, and I bet it will steal your heart as it did mine.

Egalleys for the The Rom-Commers were provided by St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley, with many thanks.

I am participating in the SMP boycott, and I will not be publicly reviewing this book until SMP listens and addresses reader concerns.

For ten years, Emma Wheeler has sacrificed everything to care for her dad in the aftermath of a serious accident. When her high school best friend, Logan, reaches out to ask her to take a job helping renowned screenwriter Charlie Yates fix a rom-com script, she hesitantly rearranges her life to accept, only to find that Charlie doesn't actually seem to want her help, or to care about the movie at all. That is, until he discovers her writing skills are actually exactly what he needs... and maybe that's not all he needs from Emma.

Like every Katherine Center book I've ever read, this was a delight. I loved both Emma and Charlie right away, and I was so invested in their enemies-to-lovers journey. I loved the way the author invented her own celebrities but also name-dropped Meryl Streep, and it was fascinating to get a peek into the world of screenwriting. This book made me laugh and cry actual tears, and I couldn't stop listening to the audiobook narrated by Patti Murin. The audiobook also includes a bonus scene and an author's note read by the author that I really enjoyed.

While this isn't a clean romance by the strictest standards because of language and some innuendo, there is no spice on the page. There was one joke I didn't love about a character's name, but if you went to public middle school, it's nothing you haven't heard before. This is still very tame compared to a lot of what is out there now.

Thank you @netgalley, @macmillan.audio, and @stmartinspress for the opportunity to read and listen to this fantastic summer read. Romance readers will not want to miss this one!

I always wait in great anticipation for a new Katherine Center book. I must say that the physical book is a gorgeous piece of art with the sprayed edges and the artwork inside the covers. The cover just grabbed me with its vibrant colors. I would rate this book with ten stars if I could! The story stayed with me long after I read the last page. The dialogue between the characters was at times laugh out loud funny and I was always rooting for Emma and Charlie. A great love story about opposites attracting. Katherines' characters always become real to me and are very endearing. She knows how to make you feel the emotions the characters are feeling and therefore her books are very memorable. Her books are like treasures to me that I reread to feel the emotions over and over again. I would LOVE to see this made into a movie please :) @katherinecenter @kejanaayala

THE ROM-COMMERS is Katherine Center’s latest heart-tugging, quick and witty romance. When an acclaimed screenwriter (Charlie) drafts a truly terrible rom-com script, his agent sends Emma, a diamond in the rough and rom-com expert, to revise it. And, obviously, the best way to work together is for her to live in his mansion with him for six weeks. It’s a screwball concept, intentionally reminiscent of the forced proximity in IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (which happens to be the film they’re tasked with updating), but a classic for a reason.

Center’s dialogue sparkles and builds the relationship between Charlie and Emma so genuinely, leading to the truly cathartic payoff in the third act. She never shies away from tough subjects, building out the past trauma of her character’s lives and weaving it in to the story in ways that feel authentic and drive true character growth. That’s especially true of THE ROM-COMMERS, so much so that if you have any triggers around parental illness/death I would highly recommend you make sure you’re in a very good mental head space before diving in. Because once you start, this book moves along at a brisk pace. Like Center’s THE BODYGUARD, this was a one-day read for me, and had me sobbing quietly in bed next to my partner at 2 in the morning in order to finish it. I wanted to live in this world and with Charlie and Emma so much longer, which is one of the highest compliments I can pay a book.

All that delightfulness said, there are a couple of points that kept this from being a flat out five-star read for me.

Emma’s neediness — the number of times that she pushes Charlie, practically begs him to love her — felt repetitive, rather than something she was growing out of.

[SPOILER] The climactic confrontation between Emma and Sylvie was so well written and devastating on both sides. While we seem Sylvie later apologize for the hurtful things she said to Emma, we never see Emma return the apology… she never even acknowledges that she said something just as hurtful as what she was holding onto from Sylvie. It’s just brushed over and feels like an unintentionally hanging thread.

Despite these little peeves, I did love this book in the end and would definitely pop it out as a comfort read in the future.

A fun one with lots of laughter! This was my first Katherine Center and definitely not my last.

Thank you SMP for eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adored this book. But honestly not surprised as Katherine Center is one of my favorite authors and for a reason.
One— I loved that it takes place in the same universe as The Bodyguard and we got to see Jack Stapleton again. Will never stop recommending that book.
Two- this book made me CRY. Not because of a tragedy or anything, but you know those scenes in movies where the couple is arguing or they’re not official yet and are just like “do you really not feel that way for me?” and the other person denies it but they’re LYING— or really just any kind of angst and it just makes you cry? Well Center’s writing just has that effect on me.
I love when a book makes me feel, and this one sure did. I love Hollywood romances too, and this one is about two screenwriters. He had made it Hollywood big and she’s trying to catch her break.
It’s a bit of grumpy sunshine, and it’s also He Falls First.
Thank you Macmillan and NetGalley for the read! Absolutely loved it!

A rom-com about two writers writing a rom-com? Delightful. I really liked the premise of this story but unfortunately the male main character was a miss for me. Charlie said insulting things about Emma multiple times, which she overheard, and didn't really apologize or explain why he said them. He didn't have enough of a redemption arc to get me to buy this love story. I liked Emma a bit more and had more empathy for her but ultimately I think this will be a forgettable story.

Thank you to @Netgalley for the ARC of Katherine Center’s The Rom-Commers. And when I say thank you, I mean THANK YOU! All opinions are my own.

We need a new word for wonderful for this book. 5/5. The end.

Okay, you want more details? Katherine Center loves to write and you feel it on every page. She loved writing it and I loved reading it. It flowed so nicely and could easily be a one-day read. There were special connections throughout the book that felt so easy, yet they must have been difficult to come up with and write.

Emma Wheeler has had to give up a lot in her life and gets an offer she either can (or can’t) refuse, which is to help screenwriter Charlie Yates with his step into rom-com writing.

You will learn insider writer information such as immersion research and pen identity issues like ink color, fine-point or bold-tip. You will see how to lose a conversation, question how many days it takes to fall in love, and want to take note of Emma’s list of kissing categories. In many KC books you will learn about an illness or physical problem, and this one is no different. Like life, there is happy and sad in her books but there is also resilience. There were so many scenes and quotes and learning moments that I highlighted but they would surpass the character count if I added them here. One short one that I relate to: “I don’t have anxiety. I just worry all the time.”

I highly recommend this book, which publishes today, June 11, 2024. Grab it with both hands and don’t let go!!!

5/5 stars
Locations: Texas and Los Angeles, CA

I was so excited about this book because I have enjoyed the Center books I have read. Her books are so full of emotional punches and thought-provoking. This one did have a lot of emotional elements. Do look up trigger warnings. I should have done that because I had a hard time reading about cancer after my sister’s diagnosis last year.

One of the hardest things for me to enjoy about this book was the two main characters. Emma was hard to love and a bit over the top. I didn’t enjoy how she self-sacrificed her life and then complained about it. She didn’t take no for an answer, but not in a good way. How she treated Charlie was uncool and left me feeling uncomfortable. I get trying to look past things when someone is giving mixed signals, but no means no. He told her no many times before she stopped throwing herself at him. It wasn’t cute.

Now Charlie.. I also had a problem with how he treated Emma. For the most part, he was trying to fit this grumpy/grouchy trope, but it failed. He was rude, and I would not be happy with the comments. She frequently questions herself when it comes to things he says. He will act one way and then say something different. I get it; it’s a lot of mixed signals. The thing is, he was rude. Many of the comments he made about her to others were very hurtful. I didn’t love how she brushed past it and let it go.

The actual plot and romance were all very predictable. I know, that happens with romances but, I usually don’t find that with Center. It was a very fast-paced read. I started and finished it in two days. I loved the banter throughout the book! I thought Emma’s family was precious, and I adored her father. Even though this was fast-paced book, things happened rather quickly. Sometimes it felt a little too fast and like whiplash.

Overall, I am not sure how I feel about this one. I enjoyed it, for the most part, but it had some issues that had me questioning things. I love Center, and this book will not stop me from jumping into her next book. It just felt like it was written by someone else because it’s so different.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for an e-arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own!