I devoured this book! The Rom-Commers was a book I was super excited to get to read, and it really didn’t disappoint. I thought that Emma’s control freak lifestyle was super relatable, and that seeing her chase her dream was inspiring. I also was like shocked by how much I enjoyed their relationship. I wasn’t sure it would be my cup of tea when I first started, but by the end I was really into Emma and Charlie’s love story. Also, I thought it was so cute we got some cameos from previous Katherine Center characters. I love when writers write within the same universe like that! Overall, it was a 4.5 star read.

I flew through this one in a single day.

I like Katherine Center's writing. She writes romances, and while that's a main focus of the story, she weaves in bigger life issues. This gives it a little bit more substances than just a straight, fluffy romance. I guess it makes the story a little more relatable.

Overall, a fantastic read. I'd definitely recommend this to others.

I received this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I'm struggling a bit with how to rate this because I overall liked the story here. The screenplay revival by two screenwriters with different areas of expertise was fresh. Emma's backstory was nicely developed. Some of the interactions between Charlie and Emma were funny and kind of charming in a non-conventional romcom kind of way.

That said, there were a few Very Problematic things that we simply must address. (1) Logan's stunt at the beginning of this book is so out of pocket!! How that didn't result in the end of his relationship with Emma nor Charlie firing him is beyond me. I think readers would have benefited from a bit more resolution of that conflict within the story because what he did was very uncool. It was clear that Emma and Charlie were upset by it and then the conflict just kind of fizzles away like it was no big in the long run. (2) Charlie was, like, evil to Emma at various points throughout the book and for what reason? Saying you're trying to conceal/protect your feelings for someone is not a valid excuse to talk like that about other people. Let alone someone you (claim to) care about. What kind of iron constitution does Emma have that she stuck around at multiple points (where she should have left IMO) without addressing the things he said about her? This plot point and Emma's response made me tres uncomfortable. (3) the fight between Emma and Sylvie toward the end of the book had my jaw on the floor. Based on the exchange between those two, I feel like there needed to be more development of the debrief and apology within the book because the brief grudge and then moving along is so unhealthy!! Especially in the context of what they said to one another... (4) The ending between Charlie and Emma really bummed me out. The basic premise of what was going on with Charlie is what I had expected, but the way Charlie handled things with Emma relationship-wise was not ok. Taking away someone's autonomy to make their own decisions about what they can /can't handle is never gonna fly with me. In the same way that throwing money at problems isn't an effective way to solve them either.

I know that was a heavy lift on my Hot Takes, but hear me out - I don't think these things are fatal plot points so much as missed opportunities for character development in things the FMC clearly struggles with (i.e. addressing conflict, conflict resolution). It felt like Emma was presented with the same opportunity repeatedly to handle conflict better, and she just kept falling back to the same old (toxic) coping skills. This was a fun read overall, but my criticisms above left me feeling kind of icky about certain aspects of the plot in a way that made me hesitate to rate this higher.

This is a classic Katherine Center novel that had all the parts of a good romance! You got a slow build, quirky characters, misunderstandings, past trauma, heartfelt life lessons, and a happy ending. It does not have a lot of steam, so if you like a cleaner romance, this is a great choice. I particularly liked the development of the characters and their quirky personalities. Just another great novel by one of my favorite authors!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this ARC!

Katherine Center’s book I always whip through every summer. Her new book, “The Rom-Commers” I was able to listen on the audiobook.
Emma spends her time being the care-giver for her dad, but her real dream, is to be a screen writer. When her friend Logan calls with the opportunity to write for her favorite writer, Charlie Yates, she can’t believe the opportunity, but she also cant leave her father. Luckily Emma younger sister steps up as a caregiver so that Emma can fly to LA. But what happens when Charlie Yates is not what she expected…
I liked this one! Not my favorite by Katherine Center but it was cute! I enjoyed the characters and the slow burning love scenes. I am not into screen writing/acting so that part was hard for me to get into. The ending had me hooked and I really enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook. 4 stars!

I absolutely love this book. The characters are so fun, I love the banter between them. This book made me laugh, tear up, and have a big smile on my face as I read it. Katherine Center can always manage to have heavy subjects without making them bring the book down and add in the laughs too. I enjoyed getting a glimpse at the writting process. For a romance I like that they are pretty clean and sweet. Katherine Center is an automatic read for me and this book is another hit by her. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book.

What if you put your needs first for once? When we first meet Emma Wheeler, the main character of The Rom-Commers, she has been putting everyone else first for most of her life. She helped raise her little sister and she has taken care of her dad for the past ten years, but she is still trying to keep her dream of becoming a known screenwriter alive.

When she is given the opportunity of a lifetime to work with her favorite screenwriter, Charlie Yates, she is reluctant to take it. After much hesitation, Emma flies out to meet her idol. He does not live up to the expectation Emma has had in her head. The adventure that follows is funny, heart-warming, and sometimes a little awkward.

The Rom-Commers is my new favorite book from Katherine Center! The characters are hilarious and relatable. A must read for any Katherine Center and romance fan!

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✨BOOK REVIEW✨

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center

I could not put this one down once I started! I’ve seen some mixed reviews for this one and I’m not really a KC diehard so I can’t tell you where it falls compared to her backlist. I’ve only read The Bodyguard and Hello Stranger and enjoyed both but I really loved this one!!!

The synopsis of this one pulled me in 🥳 Emma lives/eats/breathes her love of screenwriting and rom-coms, but her dreams have been put on hold as she’s the main caregiver for her dad who was involved in an accident that left him incapable of being on his own. But when the chance lands in her lap to help the famous Charlie Yates (who also happens to be her HERO) rewrite a script, she moves to LA for 6 weeks to make it happen. But after her sister steps in to take care of their dad, and Emma gets to LA, she is met with resistance from Charlie. He does NOT want her help, did NOT ask her to come, and WHY on earth would she think he needed her help?! 😫 but Emma does not give up, instead she stands her ground and slowly but surely breaks the grumpy Charlie out of his shell a little bit and the two develop a friendship.

❤️🩷🧡💛💚🩵💙💜

Read if you love:
🎥 screenwriting/the Hollywood life
🎥 celeb romance
🎥 grumpy/sunshine
🎥 stories exploring grief and caretaking
🎥 a lovable FMC

I’ve seen quite a lot of reviews say that Charlie was a jerk (and he def is!!) but it didn’t deter me from loving it 😜 he had a lot of trauma he was dealing with as well that turned him off of love and I was loving every second of Emma putting him in his place.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you @stmartinspress @netgalley for the eARC. This one is out June 11th!!!

This was my first book by Katherine Center but won't be my last! A perfect summer read that I will be recommending to my book club!

I did not enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. The main male character, Charlie, was insufferable and just plain mean. It's not something I'm interested in seeing in a "love interest". I felt that he never had a redeeming moment and the female main character, Emma, only let it slide because he was her idol. I felt this book could have used a dual POV and maybe that would have helped Charlie's case. I also felt the characters had no chemistry. Overall a 3/5 star rating. Not my favorite, not the worst.

Katherine Center is just so amazing at writing characters that make you fall in love with them without even noticing. I laughed and I cried and loved every minute of it.

I love when I read a book and can picture who I think the characters should be played by and Charlie Yates should definitely be played by Hugh Dancy if this is ever put into production. I loved his quirkiness and how damaged he was.

This was a book about so much tragedy but in the end you realize that their tragedy is what makes them perfect for each other.

I received this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love Katherine Center! I can always count on her to give me a well researched, funny, love infused story! Charlie and Emma are such good characters! The attraction between them is instant but to get to that HEA they have to work for it.
So much detail and banter made this book one of my new faves. I love a good grumpy-sunshine, forced proximity trope and this one did not disappoint.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this arc.

4.5

Officially my new favorite Katherine Center book! I was nervous because I don’t usually like Hollywood based books, but this definitely changed that for me. I love how she made her main characters, Emma and Charlie, spend time together doing normal things like grocery shopping, swimming cooking dinners together. The daily tasks made me envision how compatible they were in the lives they could live together. she built a wonderful tension between two characters. They hate each other but then they love each other. the entire time throughout that tension, I wanted to shake Charlie and tell him to get his head out of his ass and finally just admit his feelings to Emma. When an author can make me audibly talk to the characters loud as I read, I know it’s a good book. Finally, how strong Emma was. She spoke her mind and didn’t change who she was for her dream job.


Emma Wheeler is a screen writer who is living with her sick father. She gets a call from Logan (her agent) with the job of a lifetime. To work with the infamous CHARLIE YATES (the screenwriter of all screenwriters and her icon). Only catch is….she has to move to Hollywood rewrite his entire screen play. Emma hops on a plane (nervously as she has never left her father before) to arrive at Charlie’s house to realize he has no idea she is coming. He hates her. He wants nothing to do with the novice screen writer in his presence. Emma decides she is going to leave but not without telling Charlie how bad his screenplay is. Charlie finally folds and decides that he will work with her. They spend day in and day out rewriting their screenplay immersing themselves in experiences that their characters will do like line dancing, watching compilations of romantic kisses, and swimming. Throughout this, Emma has to convince Charlie that love does exist and Charlie is not easily convinced. But their time together, he slowly begins to see how Emma will finally make him believe in the concept of love.

Tropes: grumpy sunshine, workplace lovers, enemies to lovers, close proximity, Hollywood

A must read for summer! Thank you St. Martins press for the ARC!

This made me laugh and cry and I pretty much devoured it in one sitting. Emma was a wonderful lead character. A loving daughter and sister (🥰 her dad and Sylvie) and an excellent narrator. I loved her voice, she was funny, engaging, warm , full of heart in some very difficult circumstances and I got sucked into to her story straight away. Charlie was my favourite type of male character, incredibly frustrating at times but also wonderfully adorkable, vulnerable and relatable. I adored Emma and Charlie together. They had excellent chemistry, really good banter and I loved every moment we got to spend with them. A well deserved 5 ⭐️.

My new favorite Katherine Center! I just adored this book - it was so sweet, charming and funny while still having KC’s signature heart wrenching and family elements. I loved the characters, the premise, the wit and banter - everything!

This is my first Katherine Center book, however it will not be my last.

From the opening scene I was hooked on the characters and the story. So much so that I devoured this book in one day.

I chuckled. I gasped. I cried. Lots of feels in this romantic comedy about writing a romantic comedy.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was another great entry into the Katherine Center library. I loved listening to this and I loved the characters. It was great how Emma set up how a romcom should work & then it played out in the story, Charlie’s awful screenplay got Emma out of her rut to get her to her best life. I loved that Jack & Hannah from The Bodyguard made appearances in this book. This book is light & fun yet has some serious & deep issues going on. ‘There it is. The whole trick to life. Be aggressively, loudly, unapologetically grateful.”

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Katherine Center for a copy of this book.

A cute, as you might expect, rom-com with often very charming dialogue. Katherine Center has some fun, meta inclusions - discussing the process of writing rom-coms, their purpose, and the reading experience - that could come off as gimicky, but I think she navigates rather well.

There were two things that didn't feel quite as neatly developed. First, I never really got a handle on Charlie Yates's character; the way he describes himself is different from how Emma describes him is different from how he behaves. I also felt like the epilogue really dragged, just to pack in those plot points that should have been part of the main narrative.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Holy wow times one thousand. By no exaggeration, I took an eight minute video explaining the plot to this story because just about everything but the kitchen sink gets thrown at you in the last 20% and I was laughing, crying, rolling my eyes, trying to do basic math. It was intense.

The basics: Emma is a screenwriter and full-time caretaker for her disabled father - disabled, shall I add, by an incident that traumatized the entire family. She gets an opportunity to work with Charlie, her all-time-fav screenwriter, which means setting up her younger sister to step in as caretaker while she's gone.

Except nothing goes right, starting with quite intense beef between Charlie and Emma from the beginning. And then, of course, things get a bit easier, and romantic tension ensues, and you know the rest.

But somewhere at the 80% mark, I was gripping the couch like my life depended on it. What was going on?? Why were there so many phone calls? How much news can a person receive in the span of like four weeks?

I'll say this: the rom-com part is good. The tension is good (although, he was a little mean for me. Kudos to Emma, I would've cried about 20 pages in). The conversations about the grief we carry, the grief we hide, the ways we pretend to be okay and deal with our trauma on our own when our family and friends are right around the corner, carrying the same grief - stellar. Almost cried at that part.

Maaaybe we lost the plot somewhere in the third act. There are worse things that could've happened. I enjoyed it and I am certain everyone's gonna love this one. June 11th!!!

I didn't want this one to end! I loved getting to know Charlie and Emma. I loved getting glimpses of Jake and Hannah and other characters from past books. I loved the writing and learning about the process of making a screenplay. The only issue that I had was that Emma received information several times by overhearing other's conversations. By the 3rd time it became a little unbelievable. Other than that, it was a beautiful love story and I laughed out loud many times.