Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for the copies to review.

I can always count on Katherine Center for a good time. What I did NOT expect was to finish this one and have shed some tears, but I did, and Center has found a way to melt this thriller loving black heart JUST a smidge. This is probably my favorite of hers to date, and I could not get enough! I loved Emma and Charlie, I loved the plot, and the ending was chef’s kiss. The audio for this was fantastic, the narrator did such a wonderful job with this one. I don’t know who I am reading more romance this year but when they are books like these, I am not mad at it one bit.

This sparkling, funny book is about two screenwriters - one with all the awards and one with oodles of talent but no recognition - who are tricked into working (and living) together to fix a rom-com gone wrong, thanks to their agent. Emma and Charlie were cute and fairly clueless together, and such a joy to read (though Charlie had his moments where I was not a fan). Katherine Center's books are always enjoyable for me to read, and I recommend you add this one to your summer reading list! Narrator Patti Murin is always a delight when I listen to and her narration had me laughing out loud. Note: I received an advanced reading & listening copy, receipt of which did not impact my review. #MacAudio2024

Characters: 3
Connection to the book/Enjoyment: 2
Setting: 2
Plot/Overall Story: 2
Writing: 3

Every point= 0.25 stars, max per category 4 points

Not bad, but really not that great. The last 25% of the book was the best part but when I stopped and thought about it, it felt like a copy of her other books. The plot itself felt lacking to me and I just never connected our bought into the story. I didn’t care for her breaking the fourth wall in how she directly spoke to the reader, it just didn’t work for me. Prob my least fav of her books, but not a bad book. Thankful she is writing closed door still.

Ahhh I loved this one! The pacing was perfect and kept me interested the whole time! While the premise wasn’t super realistic, all of the details that went into the plot and characters were. I loved the LA backdrop and sincerely appreciated the Carleton College shoutout as a current staff member :) This was my favorite book so far from Center!

June Wrap Up 🌌

June was my favorite reading month so far this year. Stand outs from this month were #fireweather #challengerbook and #beforeiletgo which was our book club book for June.

Before I Let Go was such an emotional romance novel. I can't say enough good things about the beauty and complexity of the character development and how much tenderness was written into the trauma. Would recommend reading the cws/tws.

Big thank you to @macmillan.audio for the advance copy of #theromcommers which was an easy, breezy summer read. I would recommend picking this up if you are looking for spice-free romance.

June Reads Ranked ⭐️
🎧 Fire Weather - John Vaillant (432) 5⭐️
🎧 Challenger - Adam Higginbotham (576) 5⭐️
📖 Before I Let Go - Kennedy Ryan (376) 5⭐️
🎧 Fear is Just a Word - Azam Ahmed (368) 4
🎧 Fire Exit - Morgan Talty (256) 4
📖 Not in Love - Ali Hazelwood (384) 3.5
🎧 Abaddon's Gate - James S.A. Corey (539) 3.5
📖 Reaper - A. Zavarelli (260) 3
🎧 The Rom-Commers - Katherine Center (336) 3

QOTD: What was your favorite read in June?

#notinlove #fearisjustaword #fireexit #abaddonsgate #reaper #junewrapup #junereadingwrapup #reading #bookstagram #tbr #readinginstead

This is the saddest review I have to write, because it's the first Katherine Center book that I didn't absolutely LOVE. I didn't dislike it, but it just didn't suck me in like her books normally do. The characters were still amazing as always, and hello, Katherine is the queen of witty characters! I still think this one is worth a read for anyone who has enjoyed her work in the past. The narration for this audiobook was stellar!

Nobody writes rom-com like Katherine Center, and I admittedly put off the Rom-Commers for a bit, because I knew that I would love it (just like I've loved all of her previous books), and I already didn't want it to be over. I loved the snarky dialogue between Charlie and Emma, but, most of all, I loved the idea of a rom-com within a rom-com. While Charlie and Emma are working on a script about people falling in love, they're actively trying not to fall in love themselves, but, of course, it's inevitable, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it unfold.

Loved the premise, and a grumpy sunshine romance is always fun. However I did not really enjoy Emma's martyr complex. YES she definitely gave up a lot and made plenty of changes in her life to become her father's caregiver, but she brings it up every moment she can and used it as a crutch to do nothing else with her life. Charlie was a really curmudgeon and I was here for it, but he was a little too rude to Emma, I would have run if I were her. In the spirit of romance and wanting an entertaining read, I was entertained and it was a cute read.

Katherine Center DOES NOT MISS. She always finds a great balance of romance, character study, conflict etc. With some romances the characters seem to fall to fast or the third act breakup is not convincing, but I’ve never felt this issue with Katherine’s books. We really get to see the couple get to know each other and grow. Any conflict they face seems genuine and believable. And of course our main character is also going through her own journey aside from the budding romance. In this case our main character Emma is struggling to balance her dream career of screenwriting with caring for her ailing father. There is also grief, sibling relationships, feelings of inadequacy, things that many of us can relate too!

The male main character Charlie was charming and lovable. Get you a man that LISTENS and LEARNS from criticisms and get this… actually CHANGES HIS BEHAVIOR in response. IMPOSSIBLE. someone who so willingly agrees to do things he does not want to do to please someone else. A man who can be clueless but would google how to help you with any of your problems. Someone deep down so unselfish and accommodating. SWOON.

However, one thing that rubbed me the wrong way was how he acts in the beginning. It is a total 360 to how he acts for the rest of the book. He buys into partnering with Emma very quickly after earlier in the day he is listing about 1000 reasons why he would never ever work with her. I sort of get that he has this performance he puts on to act like he doesn’t give a shit but damn did he have to be so mean in the beginning?? I literally teared up for poor Emma!!

One more small complaint. (SPOILER) there is a public declaration of love, which personally is a bit of an ick for me. I’M SORRY I’m so shy I would die.

The ending though. Katherine center’s books (SPOILER) always have a happy ending. I can always count on her for this, she is so good at happy endings and always leaves me feeling hopeful and wholesome. I love seeing the characters growth on display in the epilogue, living their best (but still realistic) lives.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this, loved the characters, loved the plot, loved the growth. Great time would recommend. 4.5 stars!!

I love Katherine Center's books and the Rom-Commers did not disappoint!
Emma is adorable and super funny to the point that I caught myself chuckling.

I also loved the MMC, Charlie, although they could have explored him a bit more. Maybe a dual POV?

But overall, I really enjoyed this story and Katherine continues to be a top author for me

Katherine Center’s romances are everything I love about love stories. They’re charming, big-hearted, and very humanly imperfect.

There’s just about nothing she could base a premise off of that I wouldn’t be willing to give a shot. Rom-Commers, seems at first glance to be exeptionally tropey and potentially unrealistic given the Hollywood aspect of the story. Don’t worry, neither of those things is the case. Katherine Center 100% does here what she does best and balances out the “cheese” factor with punches of realness.

I wouldn’t necessarily say this is my favorite of the romcoms she’s done (I think Hello, Stanger is maintaining top spot there) But I still loved this to death. Read in one day. Binge-worthy goodness.

4 / 5 stars
no spice
Genre: Rom-Com (obviously, lol)
Would reread? Yes
Would recommend? Yes
Single POV

I was blown away! My audience knows that finding a Rom-Com I like is rare for me. This one was AWESOME. Had a lot of depth but also silliness and comedy. It took a few chapters for me to get into The Rom-Commers. I thought it was going to be ridiculous because of how wildly Emma was fan-girling over "Charles Yates" Charlie Yates was name dropped 7000x in the first chapter. But the more we learned about Emma, the better it got. It was hilarious, deep, intense, and so REAL.

Themes & Tropes:
-Hollywood
-Pets (Cuthbert!!)
-Fears and Dreams
-Nepotism
-Forced Proximity (on work project)

Loved the epilogue !!

Thorns:
-Wasn’t in love with the audiobook narrator
-Emma overheard Charlie and/or Logan trash taking ABOUT her no less than 3 times in the first half of the book. How often does a person really overhear those things? Also it was a main plot point of the book, so hard to ignore.

Thank you MacMillian Audio and NetGalley for the ALC.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Quick Breakdown

Grumpy x Sunshine
Strangers to Friends to Lovers
Workplace Vibes
Sudden Roommates
Forced Proximity
Celebrity Romance
Single POV
Closed Door

Emma is an aspiring screenwriter who’s had a tragic accident put her plans on a permanent hold. Her high school ex & current Hollywood agent who has occasionally sent her writing work, sends her the failed rom com screen play written by her favorite screenwriter, Charlie Yates. He’s begging for her help fixing it. So, she rearranged her life & gets on a plane for LA.

Nothing hits like a Katherine Center read. The Rom-Commers is no different. It felt like a love letter to the romantics of the world. The way she crafts stories with realistic tragedy, yet chalk full of hope has me continually coming back for more.

I laughed. I cried. I couldn’t put it down.

I saw so much of myself in Emma as well as who I want to be. Just like her, I’d easily catch crushes with no follow through growing up & still fall in love often - with songs on the radio, a new dinner recipe or book. Emma was a self sacrificing heroine, putting herself last to a fault. I loved watching her grow once she allowed herself to reach for what she wanted.

Charlie had to grow on me. He’s a grump who’s been hurt in the past, no longer believing in romance. There were several moments where I struggled with him, but alas, he eventually won me over. I never doubted he cared for Emma & his good/sweet moments far outweighed the bad.

I listened to this one as soon as it became available to me, instantly addicted. So hooked into the story, I transitioned to the ebook at bedtime, continuing to read on dark mode much later than my typical bedtime. By morning I was listening while I read so I could virtually annotate while I read. It’s narrated by Patti Murin & she flawlessly delivers the emotional punch this one deserves.

Emma Wheeler gets the opportunity of a lifetime...to work with her favorite writer Charlie Yates. She declines. She's read the screenplay and it's a mess. Completely opposite of what she wants to do. Soon she acquiesces only to find out that Charlie has no idea she's there to help him out. These two characters were so toxic that I wasn't rooting for them to have their own HEA. What for? But as I got to know the characters and their quirks, I started rooting for them to change the error of their ways.

The story was helped tremendously by narrator Patti Murin who gave the characters the depth and breadth they needed to bounce off the page.

🧡The Rom-Commers🧡

Emma Wheeler, an aspiring screenwriter gets the chance of a lifetime to rewrite a screenplay alongside her crush and favorite writer of all time, Charlie Yates. There’s just one problem. He has nixed the idea from the very beginning and refuses to work with anyone.

If you’ve read KC’s previous books, you know her stories have true to life traumas that our MCs need to work through and this book is no different. (If you need TWs, feel free to DM me) We learn our characters flaws and we see their growth and it’s no surprise, we see them fall in love and live out their happy ever afters—-with canned biscuit donuts!

This book was such a perfect slow burn summer read so thank you @macmillan.audio for the audiobook, @netgalley for the eARC and thank you @katherinecenter for always adding Dallas to your list of tour stops!

Pub Date: June 11, 2024

#evesbookishreads #bookstagram #bookreviewerforfun #reading #books #igreads #igbooks #booklover #instabooks #bookaddict #bookaholic #bookstagramfeature #rockosminireviewmonday #theromcommers #katherinecenter #macaudio2024 #netgalley

Katherine Center did it again. She is perfect at blending humor with feels. Emma gets the opportunity of a lifetime - to work on a screenplay with her favorite writer Charlie Yates. This requires her to pass off being her dad's caretaker to her sister and head off to LA. Unfortunately things get off to a rocky start as Charlie isn't the guy she thought he was. I loved watching Emma and Charlie first develop a friendship of sorts to then falling for each other. I also thought this story was important to see that you can and should have your own life and not just be your dad's caretaker. So much heart and humor, I couldn't put it down!

Dear Katherine,

THIS BOOK! I am absolutely smitten, totally in love, wholly wrapped up in this story. Happiness for Beginners has long been my favorite of your books, but this one gives it a run for its money.
I adored Emma and Charlie. It wasn’t difficult to love Emma. I saw a lot of goodness in her, even if I also saw flaws. I think that’s something I love about your books—your characters are so raw and real, I feel like they could be my neighbors or my friends (at least the friends thing would always be my hope). I’ll be honest, I wasn’t so sure about Charlie at first. He grew on me quickly, however, and then I was smitten and rooting for them both to figure things out and just get together already!
I love how the challenges you set up for your characters always throw not only them, but also me. I never see almost anything coming. They really add to the realness and humanity of your novels, and that is the case with this one as well.
I adored Emma’s family, and how supportive they were of her. I loved how Emma was pushed and stretched and pulled, and Charlie was pushed and stretched and pulled, and how they grew, both as individuals and together.
The banter and humor were spot on, and that was balanced so well with depth and rawness. I just loved it. I absolutely adored it.
Forever yours,
Jessica

AUDIOK REVIEW: I loved this audio! I felt like the narrator really brought Emma and her emotions and thoughts to life. The audio makes this read even better.

TW/CW: mentions death of parent (occurs previous to book); mention of cancer; health concerns with parent; mentions of divorce; multiple uses of the f-word; romance: kisses only

**Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Macmillan for the copy. All thoughts are my own.

Katherine Center's "The Rom-Commers" is a delightful rom-com that brings together all the beloved tropes and quirks of the genre with a fresh, modern twist. Center, known for her witty and heartfelt storytelling, delivers another winner with this novel, blending humor, romance, and a touch of real-life complexity.

The story revolves around Lucy Parker, a lovably clumsy but fiercely independent woman who finds herself in a series of hilarious and awkward situations as she navigates her career and love life in a bustling city. The charm of "The Rom-Commers" lies not only in its laugh-out-loud moments and swoon-worthy romantic encounters but also in its exploration of self-discovery and personal growth.

Center excels at creating relatable characters, and Lucy is no exception. Her journey from moments of self-doubt to moments of triumph is both endearing and inspiring. The supporting cast is equally memorable, from Lucy's quirky best friend who dispenses dating advice like a fortune cookie to the charming love interest who challenges her in unexpected ways.

What sets "The Rom-Commers" apart is its ability to balance humor with genuine emotional depth. Center deftly weaves in themes of friendship, family dynamics, and the pursuit of happiness amidst the chaos of modern life. The dialogue sparkles with wit, and the romantic tension sizzles on the page, making it impossible to put the book down.

Furthermore, the novel's setting feels vibrant and authentic, adding another layer of richness to the story. Whether it's the bustling cityscape or the cozy coffee shops where Lucy contemplates her next move, each scene is vividly depicted, drawing readers deeper into Lucy's world.

In conclusion, "The Rom-Commers" is a must-read for fans of romantic comedies and anyone looking for a feel-good story that will leave them smiling long after they've turned the final page. Katherine Center has crafted a gem of a novel that captures the essence of love, laughter, and the beauty of imperfection. It's a testament to the power of storytelling to uplift and entertain—a true joy to read.

I've read a couple of Katherine Center's books and I tend to really love them, so I was excited to get to this. As usual, I loved this book, too!

Like with any of Center's books, she writes flawed characters and a plot packed with heartfelt emotion. Sometimes you love the characters because of their relatability, and sometimes you don't when they make decisions that don't seem entirely logical. Regardless, the characters feel like fully fleshed out people with complicated lives and complex emotions that exist outside of the plot. They are probably my favorite part of her books as it's very easy to understand them when they are written in such a compelling way.

As for the story itself, it's full of funny, romantic moments and tons of banter that keeps the story engaging, so, naturally, I read this very quickly. I think the ending scene is probably one of my favorites of Center's books and will stay in my mind for awhile.

If you want to laugh, cry and generally enjoy a book - read this. Katherine Clark’s books always put me into a good mood.