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.

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!