This book made me really grapple with where the romance genre is going. This is probably the 5th or 6th meta-romance novel I’ve read where the characters are somehow very aware of romance tropes and are interacting with them on the page. I don’t love this trend. At this point, this meta-romance trend feels like a crutch while we’re all trying to answer the question: how does the romance genre exist post-Me Too? In a hyper self-aware Gen Z world?

I’m not satisfied with where we’ve landed yet. The main characters in this novel felt cartoonish. I listened to the audiobook and I could not connect emotionally with either character. That said, I do think Katherine Center is a great writer. These characters just weren’t it for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of this book.

The characters and Emma’s back story was a tear jerker! Typical KC writing style with the quirky rom/com banter. I enjoyed this book and loved the authors note. Katherine really knows how to build emotions and deep characters.

Favorite quote
“It’s all about the details you notice, the joys you savor and the hope you refuse to give up one...

The first chapter was a little slow for me and I thought "I don't know if I'm going to make it through this one". But I kept going and began to like the characters and story. I would say this is a grumpy-grumpy trope and I loved it. The angst between Charlie and Emma was hilarious. Finally, an original story I could enjoy.

Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for this audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗢𝗠-𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗯𝘆 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲, I found myself swept away in a whirlwind of laughter, tears, and undeniable charm. Emma Wheeler, a hopeful screenwriter, embarks on a journey that blends the glitz of Hollywood with the warmth of real-life connections. Center effortlessly weaves together Emma's pursuit of her dreams, her familial responsibilities, and a surprising romance with the enigmatic Charlie Yates. What truly shines in this delightful read is Center's ability to capture the essence of rom-coms while delving into deeper themes of love and self-discovery. Emma's determination and vulnerability make her a protagonist worth rooting for, while Charlie's unexpected complexities add depth to their budding relationship. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗢𝗠-𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗦 is a love letter to the genre, reminding us of the enduring power of love stories. Center's signature blend of wit and heart makes this novel an absolute delight to read, leaving me eagerly awaiting my next encounter with her captivating storytelling.

Eek!!! Katherine Center how do you do it?!?! Yet again another fantastic read by one of the best romance writers ever. I fell for these characters from the beginning. I rooted for them, feared for them, and inevitably swooned over their story. The perfect rom-com with all the necessities and without all the smut! Loved it! 10 stars!!

All good Rom-Coms end with a happy ending.
Emma Wheeler loves love, and more specifically romantic comedies. Despite not having much experience with love, she is really good at writing about it too. Her dream is to create the perfect screenplay of one of her beloved Rom-Coms. So when the opportunity comes to "rewrite" a Rom-Com by her favorite screenwriter Charlie Yates, she cannot resist. It is not until she leaves home and arrives to LA that she realizes this offer may just have been too good to be true.
She finds out Charlie doesn't believe in love and he doesn't really want help from her at all. Emma will not go down without a fight as she defends love, Rom-Coms and herself.

I adore Emma. She is exactly the kind of girl every girl wants to be friends with. She's down to earth, speaks her mind and goes for what she believes in. She's a caregiver and just has the purest heart. I did not enjoy Charlie at first. I hated how he used Emma and rejected her but I definitely warmed up to him in the end.

Katherine Center I hope there are many more of these up your sleeve.
This was in audio format and I truly enjoyed the narration. I think the audio made me love Emma that much more. The emotions and feelings were easily felt with the narration and I love that.

Thank you Katherine Centers, Macmillan Audio, and Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

They say to never meet your hero but I would love more than anything to meet Katherine Freaking Center to shake her hand and thank her for all the amazing books that live rent free in my mind.

I adore this author so much and enjoy the complexities in her stories. With that being said, this one was a bit of a letdown for me. I went on an emotional rollercoaster with this book. There were parts I absolutely loved and brought so much laughter and tears to me while I read it, but at the same time it felt like this book had way too much going on. I wish she would have cut ¼ of the drama out or focused on two topics.

The audiobook is phenomenal. There is something special about hearing the author read her book that she wrote and the narrator who voiced the story was truly enjoyable to listen to. The main narrator did an amazing job truly pulling all the emotions out from this story.

Though this was not one of my favorite books by this author, it still is a solid book. It’s jam packed with emotions, the story was well written and well throughout, I just wish the romance wasn’t outdone by the journey of each character's growth.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC

This book was a roller coaster full of emotions. Katherine Center really said, let me get the tears flowing not even half way through the book.
Emma has such an interesting story, she has a kind heart and always makes the best out of every situation. That includes her family.
Emma carries a lot of guilt, she is her dad’s full time caregiver while her younger sister is away at school. But we really don’t know the reasons of her family dynamics until some chapters into the book.
We then see Emma get a huge opportunity to work with someone who she’s looked up to all of her career, Charlie Yates.
We follow Emma on her adventure of leaving Texas and going to Los Angeles to work with Charlie.
It isn’t all rainbows and unicorns as Charlie is somewhat of an ass at first with her.
The story evolves as these characters get to know each other and we take a peak into the past.
Charlie also carries a lot of emotional baggage that’s leads to him saying he doesn't believe in love!
Emma wants to help Charlie out.
The way Katherine writes, she knows how to pull heart strings and really gets you feeling Emma’s guilt over the day that changed all of her family’s life.
Also the fear she has of leaving her dad in the care of her younger sister.
If you have even dealt with some sort of emotional guilt In your life you will feel for Emma and the way she reacts to situations.
Thought the book you might get a little angry with her because she doesn’t necessarily stick up for herself and let's Charlie treat her like crap but of course that changes over time and Charlie is clearly in love with her but of course can’t show her because of his demons.
Katherine Center outdid herself with this story. She showered us that despite all the bad stuff we go through in life, it’s still worth living. She shows us it’s ok to he sad but we also have to move forward! Second chances are ok and that your time will come!
Thank you NetGalley and Katherine Center for a chance to listen to this audio book!

Oh my goodness. This story is super adorable. I just love all of the banter but also the tender moments of seeing the main female character wanting to be there for others.

There is nothing I enjoy more than a book about two writers falling in love over writing a project together.

Emma was a great protagonist. As the oldest of two sisters myself, I could empathize with the pressure she felt to shoulder everything and make things okay for her little sister in the aftermath of trauma. I loved following her journey with accepting to let things go and allow herself to be happy.

I also enjoyed the banter and sparks between Charlie and Emma from the get-go. I loved that you can feel Charlie fall for Emma first, and hard. I was practically giggling and kicking my feet reading their scenes together.

The only thing that kind of put me off about this story was Emma’s tendency to break the fourth wall and address us readers directly like she was telling her and Charlie’s story to us around a couple drinks. I’m not a big fan of this narration style in general because I find that it leads to a lot of info-dumping and telling instead of showing, which unfortunately happened here. I don’t need the long chapters of backstory. Let the information unfold to us naturally as the story goes. This is the only reason I’m not rating this book a 5 stars because, otherwise, I really loved it.

Lastly, I alternated between the physical copy and the audiobook and would highly recommend consuming this story in either format. Patti Murin was a great narrator, adding further personality and comedic timing to Katherine Center’s already great manuscript.

Katherine Center is one of my fave romance authors, and I was so excited for The Rom-Commers. And overall, it was good.

I liked the premise a lot. But I honestly couldn’t get connected with either Emma or Charlie. And I really didn’t like Charlie until like 60-70% into the book.

The ending was really great, though. I loved the emotion and how things wrapped up for all the characters.

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the gifted audiobook and e-book!

The audio performance was great! I'm a sucker for a male/female narration (this doesn't have that!) but I still felt like it was great! My very first Katherine Center book and yessss. I just loved it. It felt like such a great comfort read. Talking about what we all love about rom-coms?! Grumpy sunshine trope?? Say no more!

First of all, I will read and listen to anything by Katherine Center. Her books always have engaging characters and the perfect blend of wit and pathos. The Rom-Commers is no different, and I swept right through it in less than a day, sometimes reading and sometimes listening, depending on my availability. I love the way Katherine Center brings together two broken people who fill the gaps in each other's lives. And this time, it was done with two screenwriters--one famous and one unknown--navigating the structure of a rom com while they collaborate on a project. There is a lot of fun banter, wise philosophy, and the reminder that we write our own stories based on our personal outlook. Another winner by one of my favorite authors and a fun audiobook that I plan to listen to again with my husband on our next road trip.

Thank, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ebook and the audiobook arcs! I enjoyed both immensely.

Another beautiful story from one of my favorites, releasing on June 11. Thank you so much to #NetGalley, #MacmillanAudio and #KatherineCenter for the opportunity listen to the audiobook in advance!

In an author’s note here, Katherine Center offers a defense of love stories, an oft-maligned genre. She speaks about how they’re stories of human connection and how by the end of these stories, the characters need to have figured some things out — how to nurture, how to communicate, how to forgive. Maybe I love her novels so much because of this; because they’re so relatable, because I always learn from the characters’ evolutions. In this one, there was a line from the MC’s father, who lives with multiple disabilities following a tragic accident— “Whatever the story you tell yourself about your life, that’s the way your life is going to be” — that I deeply needed to hear right about now and will resonate in my mind for quite some time.

A character you wouldn’t expect also gives a compelling speech in defense of love stories in this book, and love in general, after writing a surprise romantic comedy movie script that was not exactly in their wheelhouse. Along the way, there are fun and compelling plot points about:

* ferrets
* Esther Williams’ pool, complete with a high dive that probably wouldn’t pass a modern home inspection
* Jack Stapleton and his legendary visits to hospital patients, if you enjoy nods to other books!
* how we buy into narratives about what we deserve, to the point of punishing ourselves and becoming our own self-fulfilling prophecies (this one resonated with me so hard!)
* how there is life on the other side of tragedy, if you want it enough
* how “happily ever after” is relative, and that’s OK

This is a beautiful and worthwhile book. It’s also funny and had me laughing out loud several times. Grab it when it comes out! I will likely do the same to share a copy with my book club friends.

First, I want to give some love to Patti, our narrator. I Love listening to Patti Murin because she definitely does justice for all books she narrates. She has a comforting tone of voice and really knows how emote when she’s narrating all parts

Ok now the book… GAWD I haven’t had a 5star rating in over a month! And I thought my ‘emotions’ were off kilter, but no… I was just waiting for the right book to hit all the buttons in me to be a 5star read and Katherine did it. With every one of her books I read or listen to… I love her writing more and more.

I love Charlie and Emma! Laughter was out loud! Sarcasm was checked and I smirked! And man….tears were shed…. I had to keep those in check as I was listening to the end of the book driving to work, but if i had been at home i would be bawling!

The last 20% of the book… 😭🥹😩🙈🥺🙂🙃😆😅. All the emotions were had! And thats what makes this a 5 star for me, when I feel the butterflies in my stomach, when I cant stop listening even though im already late for work 😅. It was EVERYTHING. And i cant wait for her next book!!!!!

𝗧𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽𝗲𝘀:
🧡Forced Proximity
🧡Grumpy/ Sunshine
🧡He’s Famous
🧡Witty Banter
🧡Care Giver
🧡Single POV

I received an advance listening copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I loved listening to Katherine Center’s new book The Rom-Commers! This was such a fun read. The story follows Emma, a romantic at heart, and Charlie who doesn’t believe in love. They are working together to rewrite Charlie’s movie script. After a few weeks of forced proximity, it isn’t a surprise when feelings develop.

This was a perfect rom-com book that will be released just in time for summer! I loved the interaction between the characters. Their banter and one liners had me laughing out loud at times. However, there were also some more serious topics addressed and I think it made the story more “real” for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced audiobook!

If you love, love read this now! Also, read author’s note! Perfection!

Protagonist Emma Wheeler's journey from aspiring screenwriter to rewriting both her own and her hero's love story is both heartwarming and humorous. The narrative's strength lies in its well-drawn characters, particularly Emma and famous screenwriter Charlie Yates. Their dynamic is electric, as Emma's passion for rom-coms clashes with Charlie's cynical worldview. Watching their relationship evolve from reluctant collaborators to something more adds depth and emotional resonance to the story. What sets "The Rom-Commers" apart is its exploration of the power of storytelling and the impact of love on our lives. Through Emma's determination to prove that love stories matter, the novel celebrates the genre while also challenging its conventions. The witty dialogue and clever references to classic rom-coms will delight fans of the genre, while the authentic emotional moments will resonate with readers of all backgrounds. Overall, "The Rom-Commers" is a charming and uplifting read that reminds us of the magic of love and the importance of chasing our dreams. With its blend of humor, heart, and romance, this novel is sure to leave readers smiling long after they've turned the final page. Highly recommended for anyone in need of a feel-good escape into the world of love and laughter.

Well, another five star read by one of my favourite authors!

I listened to this one (thank you @netgalley, Macmillan audio & St. Martin’s Press) and I couldn’t put it down! I absolutely loved the main character Emma- I found her to be so funny, caring, and loveable, and I was just rooting for her from the very beginning. And I found myself quickly falling for Charlie too- who started off gruff and rude, and quickly won my heart when we peeled back the layers!

Absolutely recommend this one- heartwarming, filled with laughs, forced-proximity/grumpy meets sunshine, and some tear-jerker family moments!

This one comes out June 11, 2024! Be sure to get it :)

Okay this negative review is my fault because I kept reading this one after knowing it wasn’t going to be for me. I dislike romances with health issues tied in. I feel like they are just for the feels. So I kept reading. And it got worse, an emotionally unavailable guy that she keeps trying to like..etc. It reminded me of a hallmark movie but in book format.

Highly entertaining. I love a good enemies to lovers story, especially when the banter is well written. There’s also a lot of depth injected into the characters and their interactions. The heart-to-hearts have… well… a lot of heart. Each of the leads have their own versions of life-interrupted that they have to work through and it’s satisfying to see them grow and understand each other, but mostly themselves.

Chemistry-wise, I think it needed a smidge more to be perfect. While they understand each other on a professional and emotional level (which is amazing, don’t get me wrong) there was something still missing. They had a lot of fun together but I wanted even more outings and shenanigans to bring it out of the inner monologues into some outer adventure.

The characters aren’t perfect, they have some definite flaws, which was mostly good but had me wanting to demand an apology or two here and there. And I thought the endgame was an easy guess but it was still a great emotional rollercoaster. Not perfect but still amazing writing overall.

…and I definitely recommend the audiobook. I’ve done all my Katherine Center reads on audio and the production is always spot on and highly bingeable.