This book was so much fun!

What I love about Katherine Center books is that they have a love story, and something else the character is going through. They are fun but also have some depth to them.

In the Rom-Commers, our main character Emma is the caretaker for her father, and has been so for the last 10 years.

Charlie Yates is a screenwriter who Emma connects with through a friend. Together, the two need to work on re-writing his rom-com. But it is not quite that easy. For one thing, Charlie doesn't want to write with anyone. And Emma, is working through her own situation with her family.

There is one scene between the main character and her father that really hit me hard and I can't stop thinking about what the character said.

I also loved how a character from another of her books pops up a few times.

Katherine, you did it again. I will read whatever you write. This book was perfection. Might I say my favorite Katherine book so far. There was laughing and crying. There was so much feeling in this book.

Loved it so much! it was fun, entertaining , witty, tragic , tear jerking , I could go on and on . I hope this does go to a real screenplay cause what I saw in my mind would be epic on the big screen!!

4.5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. It wasn’t as trauma heavy as some Katherine Center books, and I really appreciated that. It felt like an ode early rom-coms. The grumpy hero who comes off as mean but isn’t really, and the happy heroine who has some struggles to overcome. It’s an ode to what many people love about romance reads. It’s meant to be predictable and give us the happy ending that we want.

I enjoyed the set up, and while I thought there were some ridiculous scenes, it worked for me. Is it even a rom-com if it doesn’t have some ridiculousness? I think what I liked most is that this is unabashedly a romance. It doesn’t claim to be more. It’s lighthearted with low level angst.

There’s a twist toward the end that brings a bit of drama. Because of the nature of the book, I just went with it. It was exactly what I expect when I read a Katherine Center book.

This book contains strong profanity, and has kissing.

The Rom-Commers had me in tears a time or two, made me laugh out loud, was witty, smart, and a whole lot of fun.This was a charming read about life and love. Chocked full of life lessons one can take away.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s books for this ARC.

Katherine Center writes heartfelt romantic comedies, and her latest doesn’t depart from the genre. Like all her novels, however, this one also pursues darker themes, notably, when does filial duty become a form of self-martyrdom?

Emma Wheeler has given up a decade of her life to care for her father, paralyzed from a climbing accident and subsequent Meuniere’s disease when barely 45. They live in a small Texas apartment, where Emma keeps close watch over her father’s food and pill intake, and ensures that he doesn’t fall, while struggling to pay the medical bills. She has also raised her younger sister, now in med school, after her mother’s death in that accident. She is a community college English teacher who longs to be a screenwriter. Showing much promise in that area, she gave up on a prestigious Warner Brothers internship to put family needs first.

It’s the nature of rom-coms, that, just when Emma thinks this is her forever life, she gets an improbable chance to step out of her fate. Her high school ex-boyfriend—exes are the new fairy godparents—is a successful Hollywood agent who has generously passed small writing jobs to her, steps up with a beguiling offer. Will she help superstar ‘screenwriters’ screenwriter’ Charlie Yates produce a worthwhile rom-com film script (he is renowned for thrillers, horror, and action movies)? She will rewrite his ‘terrible’ script, and, by very strong implication, her own life. Deal!

But is it? Her ex hasn’t mentioned that Charlie doesn’t know he’s getting a writing assistant, much less one who will be pretty much ghost-writing ‘ from zero.’ Starstruck Emma doesn’t know that her six-week visit to Los Angeles will take place in Charlie’s home. Neither will get the true story until they meet.

Not only is the script terrible, so is the fairy tale prince himself. Charlie is a rom-com troll, arrogant, rude, sloppy and selfish. But Emma hasn’t sacrificed half her life to be cowed before she takes the cash prize promised. This is no simple matter, given his mood swings and her sensitivity. keeps her eye on the prize. Sometimes, in my view, his verbal barrages are abusive, and I just want her to curse him out and leave him to fail. Why did she have to go live with him to begin with? Why, if he was so upset about it even having her help, did he relent to that arrangement? The reason given is that he’s ’old school.’ It’s not convincing.

This is a good new-fashioned rom-com, so the ending is a given. But Center isn’t afraid to look at the darker themes that even fairy tales reveal. How much does any one human being owe to their loved ones? When does loving duty become a self-imposed trap? When does rudeness become damaging? Even if the fictional characters are rom-commers, and this book is a rom-com, Emma and Charlie are made to work at their own relationship, and that lends a distinctly non-rom-com reality to a quick and warmhearted read.

This was my second Katherine Center novel and it won't be my last! 5 stars for Emma and Charlie! Loved the characters, the romance and the wonderful family relationships! You will be smiling, laughing and a little teary-eyed when you finish this story! Perfect for your summer reading list. Thank you to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this fantastically charming book.

I just finished reading Katherine Center’s The Rom-Commers and I’m still smiling a big dopey smile. I loved everything about this book from the characters, to the sweet and witty dialogue, to all the feels it gave me while reading. Katherine Center is a genius when it comes to writing such likable characters in a fun and flirty fashion.

Emma is a sassy, compassionate and talented woman. She is adorably insecure but at the same time isn’t afraid of what she wants. Charlie appears to be a pompous and egotistical jerk, but appearances can be deceiving. These two lovely characters share witty banter that keeps the reader invested and cheering for their relationship.

This is a must read for any rom-com lover and is deserving of all the stars! Chef’s kiss.

I really enjoyed this one. It seemed familiar having recently read By The Book by Jasmine Guillory. I love a good close proximity romance and this one definitely fit that trope. I liked the development between the characters and the level of spice was just what I was needing.

I picked up the audiobook and really enjoyed it. It was well produced and the narration was great. I'd definitely recommend that format.

I love a good romcom, and this is a really good romcom!

The Rom-Commers follows Emma Wheeler, an aspiring screenwriter who has been given the opportunity of a lifetime- helping to revise a screenplay for a romantic comedy written by esteemed writer Charlie Yates. Romcoms are Emma‘s specialty, and Charlie Yates is her favorite screenwriter… but what should be a dream job gets quickly complicated.

Emma and Charlie are easy to root for, and Emma has both the humor and gravitas to anchor the storyline. I loved the humor and the chemistry throughout the novel, And the author throws in some wonderful secondary characters as well. I will admit that the ending had a moment that (in my opinion) felt a little unbelievable enforced, but by then I was enjoying the book so much that it was easy to forgive. This is a fun and quick read- definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher, for this advanced copy.

Katherine Center is the queen of romance. My favorite part about all of her books is she unabashedly defends this INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT genre! Each book of hers reminds us of the importance of love, connection, and HOPE! I simply can not get enough of her books, The Rom-Commers included!

I am complete and totally broken in the best way. This book has caused me to just sob my eyes out.

I love every Katherine Center book I have ever read, but I think this is now officially my new favorite. There was just something so incredibly special about this book. It's not your typical romance and that made it so much more impactful.

Charlie and Emma were both such real characters and watching the struggles they go through independently and how it's keeping them apart and causing them so much anxiety. But in the end you get this beautifully told story

There was so much real and raw emotion throughout this book. That was just so incredibly impactful. And such an amazing epilogue!!! I only just finished this book and I already want to read it again.

4.5 ⭐️
For someone who doesn’t read many rom-coms, I really enjoyed this one! Emma Wheeler, an aspiring rom- com screenwriter lands herself a job co-writing a rom-com with Charlie Yeats, an ultra- famous screenwriter who doesn’t believe in love. I loved getting the behind the scenes look at their writing process and a lesson in what makes a good rom-com as Emma is trying to teach Charlie the “rules” about these types of stories— I.e. happy endings, epic first kisses, miscommunication, etc.

The writing and banter was witty and fun. I also liked the side relationships between Emma’s sister and her boyfriend and between Emma and her dad.

Overall this was fun but also had some substance, dealing with a few serious issues. I loved the positivity, hope, and life lessons along the way. I learned a lot about rom-coms in general. This was not 5 stars for me just because it seemed fairly predictable but as I learned, this is probably just how rom-coms are supposed to be.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for an advanced reader’s copy.

As always, Katherine Center has written a novel full of life and as endlessly romantic as it is grounded. Emma is a romantic forced to become a pragmatist when she puts her writing career on hold to care for her father. Charlie is a pragmatist forced to become a romantic when Emma is enlisted to help him save his screenplay for a romance movie. This premise of Emma helping her idol, Charlie, to do the one thing he can’t, write a romcom, was immediately intriguing to me. Neither of these characters were instantly likeable, there were times when I wanted to reach through the page and strangle them, but they were people you couldn’t help rooting for.

Center could teach a masterclass on writing tangible interpersonal relationships, not only between Emma and Charlie, but also amongst Emma’s own complicated family. She has the ability to dive beneath the surface of these characters to an often uncomfortable level, but to a point where you can’t help wanting them to grow. My one fault with this book was that I didn’t feel romantic chemistry between Charlie and Emma until about 60%, they were certainly friends but only friends, however that changed at that 60% point and the ending was a romance lover's dream.

I also felt there were points when Charlie would say some pretty harsh things about Emma and she would forgive him over and over, which didn’t seem in line with her overall personality. I began to compare these two to Emma and Dexter from "One Day" due to their speaking in subtext and wilful ignorance, but don’t worry this book had a MUCH happier ending! "The Rom-Commers" also deserves an award for having an understandable, and perhaps even necessary, third act miscommunication which forced one character to make a decision that was so utterly romantic I could’ve keeled over and died. Katherine Center is a go-to for me when I want to read a witty, romantic story about two fully-developed people who find their people.

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

Did I just sob uncontrollably and have my heart completely shattered? Followed by crying over how secretly sweet Charlie was? Guilty! Also, Katherine Center, I hate you for putting me through that emotional roller coaster. Because that ending seriously had me sweating.

The quote that broke me 😭:
“𝙄’𝙢 𝙨𝙤 𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙮, 𝙀𝙢𝙢𝙖,”...“𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙖 𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙪𝙨 𝙞𝙛 𝙄 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙.”

What a beautiful story of love, loss, grief, and overcoming life’s challenges. I was routing for every character and fell madly in love with them all. Emma was the lovable rom-com chatty, girl next door, protagonists who makes sacrifices for everyone she loves. Charlie, the cynic. Who is a handsome yet disheveled hermit of a screenwriter, who you can’t help but fall in love with by the end. And Emma’s dad! Protect him at all costs because that man is an angel. 90% of the quotes I saved are his. I hope he gets his own story in the future!

Read if you enjoy:
✨𝙂𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙥𝙮 𝙭 𝙎𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚
✨𝘾𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙙𝙤𝙤𝙧 𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚
✨𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙭𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙮
✨𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙮 𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧
✨𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 & 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙥
✨𝘾𝙤-𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚

“𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙨𝙢.”

Katherine Center is an incredible storyteller, and The Rom-commers is no exception. You can’t help but to fall in love with this story and all the incredibly well developed characters. Charlie and Emma had me cracking up with their hilarious banter. This book was unputdownable and played out like a classic rom-com movie in my head.

Although this is a rom-com with some moments of happiness & swooning, there are also a few tough topics discussed. It has very real life struggles throughout but with a light at the end of the tunnel. A sprinkling of hope and looking on the brighter side of things, no matter what life throws at you. And it all wraps up with a beautiful ending.

“𝘾𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙖 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙, 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙥 𝙤𝙛𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙣 𝙪𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙖𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙞𝙙𝙨-𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣. 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩, 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙛𝙪𝙡, 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨. 𝙁𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮’𝙧𝙚 𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩. 𝘽𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡-𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚-𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛𝙛.” … “𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙜𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙠𝙞𝙙𝙨, 𝙩𝙤𝙤, 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮-𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙚𝙩𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨,”...“𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚. 𝘽𝙚 𝙖𝙜𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙮, 𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙙𝙡𝙮, 𝙪𝙣𝙖𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡.”

A huge thank you to St. Martin’s Press & NetGalley for the beautiful gifted ARC.

This is a Romance. I was pulled into this story for the first page, and I really loved the characters in this book. I also felt the connection the two main characters had for each other. I did not put this book down, and I read this book in two sittings. Great and fun read. There were so many fun moments in this book. The ending was just everything I wanted for a book like this. I received an ARC of this book. This review is my own honest opinion about the book like all my reviews are.

I received this book complimentary from NetGalley.

Emma is an aspiring writer who's had to deprioritize her career over the last decade to be the full-time caretaker of her father. She has the opportunity of a lifetime to move from Texas to LA for six weeks to ghostwrite for her screenwriter idol, Charlie Yates. Charlie has somehow managed to write the world's worst rom-com screenplay, and Emma's been called in by her manager's SOS. Charlie, however, doesn't want the help. He is dismissive, to say the least, and has to be wooed by Emma's talents and determination to give the screenplay another shot.

Katherine Center is an auto-read author for me. The com part of the rom-com was absolutely there for me, I chuckled out loud more than once. I enjoyed the dialogue so much.

It was really fun to learn more about screenwriting and the art of the rom-com, I've read plenty of books about writers but never screenwriters.

The rom in rom-com was a little weak for me. Now... maybe I'm not reading Charlie the intended way, but Charlie was not my favorite MMC. At first, he is self-absorbed and very dismissive, which is the type of setup that gives us a good grumpy-sunshine dynamic, but the way I see it is Charlie is manipulative and selfish and absolutely positively needs a boatload of therapy. As Emma notices, Charlie tends to hide his true feelings from everyone, so I never trusted him. I think I needed more glimpses into the "real" Charlie and more moments of letting his guard down.

"When Charlie Yates is scared of something, he pretends it doesn’t matter."

Also, silly little side note, I think Charlie has some very John Green-esque traits between the hair grabbing and the water in his cereal. Honestly, thinking of Charlie as having a dash of John Green's personality was really fun.

Something I enjoyed about this story though was the characters were very layered and their struggles felt real. I love it when an author can create life obstacles that feel authentic and are given the appropriate amount of weight. Emma has to turn her life upside down, and I felt that as a reader, not just through the logistics of rearranging her life, but also through her emotional struggle, feeling hyper-anxious and homesick.

Emma is put in a bad spot by Logan at the start of the story, and I think she handles that well, but when Charlie repeatedly is an ass, I wanted her to have more dignity. I also didn't like the way Emma's curly hair was depicted. I can appreciate being self-conscious about something, but this was written in a way that I think reinforces curly hair negativity. The only positive thing ever said about it is that Charlie likes it. Meh. There should have been a curly positivity moment where the ex-wife or Donna or someone else is like hey, my hair is the same way, why don't you try this method/cream/etc, and learn to love your texture. IDK, just spitballing.

Overall, I had a good time, and I couldn't put the book down. I read it in a 24-hour period. I will continue to snatch up any Katherine Center book.

Shoutout to the Jack Stapleton cameo, love a good crossover. The Bodyguard is a fun time, so definitely check that book out.

As with all Katherine Center rom-coms, this needs to be a movie ASAP.

I loved this book! It was sassy, fun, emotional...just ALL the feels! Charlie was a precious book boyfriend and Emma kept him on his toes. It was just fantastic!

** Thanks St. Martin's Press via NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Nothing beats the warm fuzzy feeling of reading a Katherine Center book!!

I really enjoyed this one. As with all of her books, there is humor, romance, and some sort of trauma impacting the main characters. It gave grumpy sunshine and a little bit of enemies to lovers, and I was here for it!!! I would def recommend this one!

(Not a steamy read though if you are looking for that in a romance)

This pains me to write, but this is one Katherine Center book that didn't work for me. I struggled right from the beginning, I didn't like the banter between Emma and Logan (and that only got worse), I couldn't connect to either character and things didn't get better as I kept reading. I know I'm in the minority with these feelings, it pains me to even write that I didn't like this one enough to finish because I have loved everything I've read by Katherine Center. For all those who connected and adored this book, I am so happy for (and jealous of) you! I will not let this one book deter me from reading the next book Center publishes and fingers crossed it's more like the previous books for me.