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.

thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for this ARC!

even with all the humor in it, i wasn’t expecting this to be as heavy as it was. not at all saying it’s a bad thing. it was just unexpected. these characters have been through so much and deserve everything good the world can throw at them. the lessons they had to learn to be able to be enough for each other. i just hated how cold charlie was throughout most of the book. would’ve loved some more happy charlie moments.

Thank you to the author, publisher and @NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Goodness, Katherine Center did not have to go this hard. I LEGIT cried at the ending of this and I was actually feeling like I didn’t love it until like 80% of the way through.

But this hit me right in the feels in the best way.

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center
Genre: romance, women’s fiction
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

✍️Books about writers (screenwriters)
✍️LA and Texas settings
✍️Emotional reads
✍️About re-writing a rom-com
✍️Quotes galore
✍️Family

Katherine Center’s books feel like a warm hug. There are so many quotes that I love from this one! Here are some of my favorites:

🩷People say “marriage is hard” all the time, but I disagree. I don’t think marriage is hard. I think, in fact, if you do it right, marriage is the thing that makes everything else easier.

🩷Stick with me. We'll get through it—and we'll be stronger on the other side, as all of us always are, for facing hard things and finding ways to keep going. Plus: Bearing witness to the suffering of others? I don't know if there's anything kinder than that. And kindness is a form of emotional courage. And I'm not sure if this is common knowledge, but emotional courage is its own reward.

🩷There it is. The whole trick to life. Be aggressively, loudly, unapologetically grateful.

🩷That's just life. Tragedy really is a given.
There are endless human stories, but they all end the same way. So it can't be where you're going that matters. It has to be how you get there. That's what I've decided.
It's all about the details you notice. And the joys you savor. And the hope you refuse to give up on. It's all about writing the very best story of your life. Not just about how you live it—but how you choose to tell it

As someone who adores rom-coms, I identified with Emma and was so annoyed with Charlie (at first! He grows on you, I promise). Both characters have been through it in one way or another! Seeing their relationship grow and them slowly share more of themselves with each other was so beautiful.

Although this one deals with a lot of heartache, there’s a happy ending! I don’t consider that a spoiler, I consider that a hallmark of a Katherine Center book.

I liked this one slightly more than The Bodyguard (which I also rated 4 stars). Some characters from The Bodyguard show up in this book, but I don’t think it’s essential to read it beforehand!

Two mild annoyances that kept this from being 5 stars:
🎬Emma doesn’t apologize to her sister
🎬I kept forgetting the FMC’s name because it wasn’t mentioned much

Overall, I’d recommend!! I don’t think there’s a Katherine Center book I’ve read so far that I wouldn’t recommend!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my eARC in exchange for an honest review! The Rom-Commers is out June 11th!

Emma Wheeler is about to meet her idol, only to discover he is kind of a jerk (or at least he acts like one). When Emma is given the opportunity to ghost write a script with famous screenwriter Charlie Yates, she can't turn down the opportunity. . . that is until she realizes Charlie never agreed to bringing in a ghost writer. Cue glorious rivalry and bad first impression banter, that quickly evolves into a far deeper relationship.

Katherine Center won my heart with The BodyGuard and Hello Stranger and The Rom-Commers was just as delightful a read. It is funny, sexy, emotional and sweet. Reading this was a wonderful way to spend a weekend!

Thanks to St Martins press and Netgalley for granting me access to an e ARC of this book for review purposes.

Thank you to NetGalley, the Publishers, and Katherine Center for an ARC of The Rom-Commers. Katherine is a rom-com absolute legend. Every book I’ve read, it keeps getting better and better. Some authors have a meh book here and there, but I don’t think that’s possible for Katherine. I swooned, I cried, I laughed. I loved how it’s a book about how to write a love story and how insightful it was and honestly put a lot of life into a wild perspective that I’ve just failed to see (more like didn’t want to see and then had an omg moment). If you have to only read one romance book this year, please choose this one!!

Emma is a screenwriter, but life has gotten in the way of her dreams becoming a reality. An opportunity of a life time, what she’s been building up for - studying, reviewing, obsessing over romantic comedies - has fallen into her lap. She’s been given the opportunity to re-write Charlie Yates, the best screenwriter of all times, new romantic comedy. This may be her in to her dreams. She’s the sole caretaker of her father, but her sister is back in college and insists she must go. When she gets to LA, it’s not what she pictured. Especially a screenwriter that absolutely does not write with anyone else. Emma knows she can help him, even though she’s “a failed, nobody screenwriter”. She knows everything there is to know about love. She will find a way to get through to him because this apoplectic script will never see the light of day if she has anything to do about it. Emma will show Charlie that love actually exists and is not a made up hallmark feeling. What if fiction… starts turning into reality?

This is only my second Katherine Center book (there will be many many more now) I laughed so many times during this delightful story. Then the tears brought it to 5 stars for me. If an author can make me laugh and cry in the same book, I’m all in. I felt like I was in the story with these characters and knew them well. This is a book I will read again and again. Sweet, handles some big topics (loss of parent, primary caregiver for other parent, cancer to name a few) but draws you in to the story. I prefer stories that present both MCs point of views instead of only the FMC point of view, in my opinion it would have made Charlie a more likeable character throughout the story.

My full review is attached in the included link.

The Rom- Commers is my first read by author Katherine Center. I went into this ARC blind, so I had zero expectations. We have an enemy-to-lovers start that turns into friends-to-lovers with forced proximity. We also have a grumpy- sunshine trope that immediatley piquedd my interest. It also touches on some topics like tragedie, sickness and death that tore at my heartstrings.

Let’s write a book about two writers writing a rom-com screenplay and turn that book into a rom-com. Katherine Center, you are an absolute genius!

This book had allllll the feel-good vibes. I finished it in two days. I really enjoyed all the “research” that Emma and Charlie put into writing their rom-com, which obviously led to them falling in love. I even appreciated the epilogue that didn’t leave anything out, including an update on the guinea pig.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the digital reviewer’s copy in exchange for my honest review.

Emma is a screenwriter; or so she hopes. Her career isn't exactly taking off the way she hoped. Her dad is ill and she is his full time caregiver. She has sacrificed a lot in her life to care for him and she wouldn't have it any other way. But when Emma gets the chance of a lifetime to move to LA she needs to call in some help.

Emma gets the chance to help famous screenwriter, Charlie Yates, rewrite a script. This is the job of her dreams so she knows it can't be passed up. She calls her sister to tag in for her dad's care and off she goes to Cali. She just wasn't prepared to be so unwelcome by Charlie. He has zero interest in writing with her. Emma knows she can take his romcom to the next level if he just gives her a chance. She digs in her heels and refuses to take no for an answer!

Emma has her work cut out for her over the next 6 weeks. Charlie the grump doesn't even care anymore about his script so Emma has to convince him to fall in love with love. That's when the real chemistry starts and both start to have some very unexpected feelings. Things have to close drastically when Emma finds out her dad has taken a turn for the worst and is having emergency surgery. She has to get home fast but her and Charlie have so many unspoken words.

Talk about a grumpy sunshine, bickering, forced proximity, laugh out loud novel! This was a very cute book and I found I had a lot of respect for Emma for the way she cared for her dad. What happens with her dad was unexpected but it adds such a beautiful layer to the book.

Thank you @NetGalley, @stmartinspress, and @katherinecenter for my ARC copy to read in exchange for my honest review.

4.25 🌟

I love Katherine Center!

When I saw Katherine Center had a new book coming out, it was a no brainer that I would need to pick this up ASAP. The Rom-Commers was such a fun read. I loved Emma in this story and the way she was unapologetically herself. I did struggle w bit with feeling like she liked to play the martyr. Charlie is where this book feel a little short for me. While I eventually liked him in the end, I'm not sure how Emma could come around to him, at least not initially.

Thanks, Netgalley for the ARC of this book!

I needed a lighter book after reading something heavy, so what better book to pick up than The Rom-Commers by one of my favorite authors? This book has KC's signature quirk and fun side while also tackling heavier topics... but it's more akin to The Bodyguard than How To Walk Away/Things You Save In A Fire (iykyk).

This book follows two screenwriters - one is well-established in his career, has the awards in a drawer to prove it, while the other is a ghostwriters and has no accolades at all. He hires her to help him fix a screenplay for a romcom he's writing - something out of his depth, especially given that he doesn't believe in love.

I really enjoyed this one for the most part, but both of the characters REALLY got on my nerves at points. Her self-esteem issues made me want to shake her at points, and there is nothing I hate more than when a man says REALLY mean things about a woman and they just get brushed under the rug (which happens a lot in this book).

Despite the bumps in the road, I was rooting for these two, and the ending had me absolutely sobbing by the end. I overall would recommend giving it a read!! 3.5 star rating, rounded up since she's a favorite author of mine.

This is so painful for me to do but I have to give this book 2 stars. I honestly wanted to give it 1, but I've read and liked many other Katherine Center books so I couldn't in good faith go all the way to 1.

I am SO CONFUSED by this book. Neither of the main characters were interesting. Their banter felt forced and over the top. They had NO chemistry and in fact he was mean to her over and over again and she didn't even really seem to like him all that much either.

The story felt ironic because it centered around a screenwriter who wrote a terrible Rom-Com which is exactly what this book is.

There were so many cringey, eye roll moments and the ending was terrible. I'm honestly so confused about what is going on here. Usually with most books I don't enjoy, I can find something salvageable in the writing or I can understand how the story might resonate with others - I'm struggling with this one.

My favorite of hers is The Bodyguard which was the most recent one of hers and compared to this one is why I'm just so confused.

This was my first Katherine Center book, but now I will for sure be reading her back list. This book gave me all the warm and fuzzy feelings of a 2000's rom-com. I will say, as someone with severe daddy issues, it was a little hard to read.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

After reading so many wonderful things about Katherine Center, I was so excited to dive into The Rom-Commers. Unfortunately, the hype did not match this novel of Center's. The main characters were frustrating and the romance was not quite believable. Charlie was downright mean to Emma for most of the novel and Emma just took it and gave into the "I can fix him" trope. The insight into screen writing was the best part as it's something I do not know much about, but in a Romance novel, that's not exactly what one probably wants the best part to be. Luckily it was a super quick read.

I'll try another Katherine Center novel to see it lives up to the challenge, but this one just wasn't for me.

Each time I read another Katherine Center novel, it becomes my new favorite, and this one is no exception. The writing sparkles; the dialogue is snappy and witty, the emotions are heartfelt without being cloying, the story arc is great, and the characters are convincing and engaging. I love Emma and Charlie, and the back stories of each one lend them depth. Emma, a screenwriter getting her first big break, and Charlie, a writer who resists her efforts to fix his egregious rom-com screenplay written under protest, start as antagonists but soon become friends on the path to love. The path develops some major bumps along the way, of course, but a novel about rom-coms requires a happy ever after, and the author delivers one here, though HEA is redefined in the epilogue, in one of my favorite passages from the novel. Anyone who likes witty writing and excellent banter, as well as genuine explorations of grief and guilt, as well as love, will enjoy this story.

Can a non-romance writer deliver a good screenplay for a Rom Com? Not if they don't believe in it (it being romance).
Charlie Yates is the king of Screenwriting. Awards and accolades galore. But he is not without fault. This is clear when he attempts to write a Rom-Com.
It is terrible - the word chosen by everyone who reads it.
However, he needs this script to be approved so that he can move forward with another script, one he is passionate about. So, his agent decides to bring in another screenwriter to help him with the romance part.

On the surface, Emma Wheeler is all wrong for this project.
She's had no success in the genre.
And her sole relationship was with the man who is now Charlie's agent. And he is now out of the closet. Ouch!
But while she doesn't appear to be a good fit, there is something she has over Charlie - she believes in love. And after some negotiating, is finally brought on board to turn the script around, and in doing so, just may make Charlie see that romance is not fiction.

With the life Emma has been dealt, I really loved that she got this opportunity for herself. Charlie's harsh words for her could break anyone, but I applaud her for challenging him. As any romance reader knows, this genre isn't treated with enough respect in the industry. I liked how Emma helped open Charlie's eyes to the complexities of the genre and made him work to deliver something even he could be proud of.

Will love blossom between them? Given Charlie's behavior, I wasn't sure. But in the back of my mind, like a true romance reader, I always had that little bit of hope.

Overall, I always love books about books (or in this case, writing). I enjoyed how the one explored romance and how to deliver convincing (i.e. not sappy) material to win over any audience.

What happens when two writers need to work together to re-write a rom-com script but one of them doesn't really believe in love? Meet Emma and Charlie. Emma longs to be a screenwriter but struggles while caring for dad, who requires round-the-clock care. Charlie is a successful screenwriter, but is struggling with writing a rom-com that he's being forced to write. The dynamics of Emma and Charlie meeting and subsequently working together is just as you'd expect any successful rom-com to be. We get grumpy/sunshine, we get some forced proximity, we get banter, and that slow churn love that is adored in any rom-com. Can Emma get Charlie to believe in love and can they rewrite this script and make it truly magical?

Katherine Center pulls at your heart strings but makes you laugh at the same time. It was fun to have some character cameos from another book of hers (yet this still is a standalone).

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars
Spice: This is a clean romance book

Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Katherine Center for an ARC of this book, these opinions are my own.