I really enjoyed this grumpy/sunshine romance between two screenwriters who have had wildly different careers. Even though both characters have quite heavy backstories, this felt like a light and funny read. I loved the Hollywood setting, the banter between the main characters, and the wholehearted defense of the power of happy endings (mostly of the fictional variety).

This was my first book by Katerine Center and I look forward to diving into her back catalog. Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Really wanted to like this book, but you can't have a romantic comedy where both protagonists are insufferable. I must say, I liked the concept; the idea of a lesser-known screenwriter working with her admired one on a rom-com script caught my attention. The beginning was okay, but it didn't improve from there.

Starting with Charlie, he's rude, tiresome, and dull, always finding fault with Emma or outright rejecting her. By the time his reasons were explained, it was too late for me; my perspective of him was already low.

Emma, I don't understand her. I genuinely don't understand how she was constantly mistreated yet kept coming back, or how she claimed she'd act indifferent and did the opposite. Couldn't stand her. And what she said to the sister?? Terrible.

Overall, I didn't see any real chemistry between them; it was always awkward or one-sided from Emma, and the back-and-forth was very dull. By the end, I was so tired of them that I even hoped they wouldn't end up together.

I'll come back to this review when the book is officially released to discuss other things with spoilers, but yeah.
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book!

With every book, Katherine Center keeps getting better - How is that possible? Truly loved this book. She truly honored the Rom-Com genre with this one. I loved the set up - the unconditional love of family caring for family. I loved the father's outlook on life (such a realistic portrayal of a parent). Loved that there was no shying away from tragedies that occur in every life in one form or another, balanced with the fantastical romance of it all. This is escapist fiction in its best form - an escape that makes you feel better and helps you face whatever is coming when you close the book. Chef's kiss.

This was the first book I’ve read by Katherine Center and it won’t be my last! I usually run away from books with a Hollywood setting but I learned so much about screenwriting and rom-coms through this one. Emma and Charlie are the perfect grumpy sunshine pairing. Their banter had me pining and at the same time, I wanted to cry for both of them going through so many painful struggles in life! I think I needed a romance that showed me there can be glimmers in life even if there’s a lot of really heavy, unfortunate stuff to deal with too. This story is full of heart and I fell hard for their slow-burn romance. Stylistically, I enjoyed Center’s interjections into the story. It felt very casual and helped the reader get to know Emma like you’re just reminiscing with an old friend.

Alright , this was cute, really cute, loved the book. Enjoy Emma and Charlie immensely. The whole i dont want to write with you to be actually grow into the story is so nice. I like how it developed, and how she had to find her way, the almost ending got me worried and cry a bit , but thanfully everything got resolved 🥳.
Overall very cute rom com

I absolutely loved this book! This is the first book I've read by Katherine Center and I can't wait to add more to my TBR list. She masterfully navigates the balance between emotional and relatable topics while bringing in humour we all know and love in romantic comedies.

Emma Wheeler, a woman with the dreams of becoming a successful screen writer, has put her life on hold to look after her father. After 10 years of putting her life on hold, Emma is given the opportunity of a lifetime to work with her favourite screen writer. Emma works through the pain of her past and finds that it is possible for her to find joy, and potentially even love, and to look after her own needs.

The characters in this book come to life with the author's writing. Emma is a relatable character brought to life with the wonderfully descriptive writing of Katherine Center. I was completely wrapped up in this book and didn't want to put it down. I am so thankful I was given this Advanced Reader Copy in return for an honest review. I highly recommend this book so anyone who love romantic comedies.

Aspiring screenwriter Emma Wheeler gladly gave up some of her dreams to take care of her father after he is never quite the same after a traumatic brain injury. He survived the rock-climbing fall during a family vacation; her mother didn’t. Emma’s guilt (the camping vacation was her idea) has put her life on hold for the past 10 years, raising her younger sister, teaching English at a community college, living at home, not dating, not living. Logan, her high school ex who happens to be a screenwriter’s manager, has been feeding her writing gigs out of his own guilt for breaking up with her in college, but it’s a bit of a shock when he asks her to help ghost-rewrite a terrible draft that Hollywood legend Charlie Yates—THE CHARLIE YATES!—needs to produce so the award-winner can move on to his next pet project. Emma’s newly graduated sister Sylvie agrees to cancel her internship so Emma can have this six-week opportunity of a lifetime, but Charlie is less than enthused when Logan drops off Emma at Charlie’s mansion, with “I’ve brought you a writer.” In spite of his reservations, they click, and manage to work well together. Emma is willing to overlook his threat to Logan that he’s playing along but has no intention to actually take this project seriously. She cooks for him, helps him overcome his fear of water, and gives him crash-course in romance.

I love when novels really have fun with a trope; The Rom-Commers goes brilliantly meta, with Charlie claiming that people literally crashing into one another isn’t fun or sexy—until it happens naturally to them, more than once, and arguing while Emma explains that in a rom-com, the main characters eventually have to stop fighting and fall in love. The insider view of the process of writing is akin to another favorite of mine, The Roughest Draft. For this creative writing major, the writing scenes, obsession over words, passion for and defense of the romance genre, and the breaking of the fourth wall are icing on the proverbial cake, and I didn’t even mind the occasional predictability. Of course when Charlie’s stage directions are a simple “He storms in. They kiss,” Emma has to make him watch hours of best kisses and then offer to kiss him… for science. It turns out their wonderful chemistry isn’t limited to writing. When Emma gets called home for an emergency, is this the end of a beautiful partnership?

As with other Katherine Center novels, medical issues–not just Emma’s dad’s–play a significant role, but it’s the character development that is central to the story. Tiny details like Emma’s dad Etsy shop and Logan’s license plate add to who they are. Charlie’s behavior is mercurial with dash of Kevin Smith and a smattering of warm-cinnamon roll. He tends to tell people what they want to hear, and Emma is disappointed every time she accidently eavesdrops and hears Charlie’s truth, but he is also genuinely kind and kind of quirky himself, (co-parenting a sad guinea pig with his famous ex!) as well as skeptical, bitter, and when it matters, a romantic with the understanding of a grand gesture, after all.

The brisk narrative reminds me a bit of Curtis Sittenfeld’s Romantic Comedy; it’s almost documentarian, moves the narrative at a fast and fluid pace, lends an immediacy to the series of events. I also listened to the audiobook version, and discovered a few details I’d missed the first time around, brought to life by the excellent narration.

I received a free advance reader’s review copies of both the audio and print editions of #TheRom-Commers via #NetGalley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio.

I just loved this book!! I was so excited to get it early, and I had the best time reading it. So so good!!

I love a self-referential rom com and that describes this novel to a T. Female main character Emma Wheeler is a writer, teacher, and unpublished (but very talented) screenwriter who is pretty much as far from Hollywood as possible. She lives in Texas, caring for her father who, after a rock climbing accident, has paralysis on one side of his body and Ménière's disease, meaning he requires 24/7 care. But when her best friend from high school/sort of pro bono agent calls her to offer her the opportunity to work with Charlie Yates, her favorite screenwriter of all time, she coordinates with her younger sister and heads off to LA for 6 weeks to help Charlie fix his, apparently unbelievably horrible, rom com screenplay. The problem is that Charlie doesn't know she's coming, doesn't really want to fix his screenplay, and doesn't want to work with her (or anyone). It turns out that Emma insulting the screenplay is what brings Charlie around, and she ends up staying in his guest room while they try to rehab his remake of It Happened One Night. This was really funny and charming, and I absolutely loved the things that Center did to point out structural elements of the genre that aligned with what was happening in the story. Content warnings for several things: past death of a family member, serious injury of a family member, and cancer. Somehow Center works some magic to balance all that heaviness with enough levity and humor, making this the third book of hers in a row that I've really loved.

Katherine Center’s books are always an auto read for me. I loved most of this book and the story stayed with me for awhile. There were a few things I struggled with around Charlie’s behavior and how he treated Emma (and Emma’s response or lack of response to his behavior). 3.5 for me due to some things that were a little too glossed over for me.

Katherine Center has done it again 🥺

Emma Wheeler is a screenwriter who lives and breathes Rom-Coms. These are her absolute specialty and something she is so passionate about. For 10 years she has been her dad’s full time caretaker after he suffered a terrible accident so her dreams of making it big have been put on hold. Her friend, Logan, offers her the chance of a lifetime to re-write a screenplay by none other than Charlie Yates— Emma’s favorite screenwriter. He only wrote it in order to get another screenplay project approved. The only problem? He wants nothing to do with rewriting it or Emma even though this screenplay was terrible!

Charlie just doesn’t believe in love at all and Emma is the exact opposite, so she has her work cut out for her to change his mind and make him believe!

I just loved every single character. They were quirky, funny, and lovable but also had a lot of depth due to life experiences and current things happening to them. I was so invested in this story from page 1!! It took me a bit to love Charlie but by the end I was obsessed with him! Emma felt like she could be my friend. I LOVE how Katherine always makes you feel like you know the characters!

There was so many funny one liners, swoony scenes while Emma was trying to get Charlie to believe in love, and the grand gestures at the end were just chefs kiss 😭

Also, I loved Cuthbert. You’ll have to read it to find out who that is 😉

A big thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this incredible ARC 🫶🏻

This story was amazing!! This is truly Center’s best work.
First- the pacing and plot make total sense. It’s one of those books you never want to end, but everything in the story has a purpose. She didn’t ramble or not include too much. It was a great length!
Second- the dialogue. The dialogue was so witty and funny! It has real life issues without it weighing down the plot so much that you don’t get to laugh and giggle
Third- the characters. Omg I fell in love with them both. They are both just good people and so much fun to read about. I love love love this book!

[3.5 stars] A sweet & wholesome romcom about finding love again in unexpected places even after tragedy, illness and loss. My first Katherine Center book - I usually read spicier romances, but this was cute and enjoyable with memorable family characters.

My only issue was that Charlie (MMC) seemed so unlikeable, it was hard to see the romantic appeal. He was so unpleasant to Emma and didn't seem to have much going for him, seeming more like a project bordering on problematic I-can-fix-him vibes than an actual romance.

Despite this one letdown I did enjoy the suspense and family relationships featured, and curious to check out more Center romances in the future.

The best Center book by far! I love the romance and main characters were very cute. I could read these books all day.

I enjoyed the entirety of this book, but the last quarter had me incapable of putting it down.

For a book that spent a lot of time talking about rom coms, it was the PERFECT rom com. Both characters were so well layered & lovable.

I don’t want to say much that will give this book away, but I adore when a romance novel has substance & tackles more topics than love. This book deals with death, grief, chronic illness, shame, & the pressure of balancing doing the right thing while not giving up on your dreams.

THE ROM-COMMERS
Katherine Center

Emma and Charlie set out to write a great romantic comedy and end up writing their own love story.

Emma dreams of being a Hollywood screenwriter. It would be her one wish come true. Logan, her manager, knows this and has the most exciting opportunity for her. She would co-write a rom-com with the famous screenwriter, Charlie Yates. She says yes to the offer before knowing all the details. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

There’s just one problem…

Emma is coming in a little late. Charlie has already written a manuscript and Logan says it’s not his best work, it's terrible, he says. Although he is a famous screenwriter, he has never written a rom-com. Emma takes it upon herself to teach him all about the rules of writing an exceptional romantic comedy and ends up teaching him all about the rules of love.

I never let a year go by without spending time with one of my favorite authors. Katherine Center is known more for her sweet emotional connections and less for her sizzling love-making scenes. When I read her books my sarcasm and pessimism take a back seat to lightheartedness and optimism. We all deserve to have a little pocket of joy and Katherine Center is that for me.

She takes me back to a more innocent time of my life when love was all there was and the only thing you lose in a relationship is time. She reminds me that sometimes it is that simple; all there is is LOVE!

Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copies! It was my pleasure to read.

THE ROM-COMMERS…⭐⭐⭐⭐

I enjoyed this for the most part, but it was not my favorite of Katherine Centers books.

I liked the main characters, they were funny and somewhat relatable, and I liked them together (I hate that she keeps forgiving her ex), but what I really didn’t like the whole “I have cancer and am dying so I’m going to push this person away and lie to them and take away their choices because I know what’s best for them, oh wait, nvm it was just bronchitis”

I loved Katherine Center's last two books - The Bodyguard and Hello Stranger. Her passion clearly shines through in everything she does and I greatly admire that. Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me. I did not connect with any of the characters. For me, they were very unlikeable. I also felt the way some of the plot drivers were handled totally missed the mark. However, I recognize that it has great potential to appeal to other readers and I encourage others to try it out! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book.

The Rom-Commers is an another triumph by Katherine Center. It is a laugh-out loud at times and loving look at the lives of two very different screenwriters who turn out not to be so very different after all.

Emma is a quite good but untested screenwriter who has been a winner of two screenwriting contests but mostly freelances to pay her bills. She’s been living at home in Dallas taking care of her Dad for the past 10 years since he was injured in a rock climbing accident and became disabled.

The other screenwriter Charlie Yates is famous, known all over the world, and has won several Academy Awards and Golden Globes and Emma thinks he’s amazing.

Her best friend and former high school boyfriend Logan calls her because he’s Charlie’s manager. Charlie has written a terrible rom-com (he’s never written a rom-com before- though he’s written many other genres) and he wants to hire Emma to fix it.

Logan says Charlie has read her work and loves it and Logan sends Emma a copy of Charlie’s rom-com. She agrees that it’s terrible.

The catch is that she’d have to come to LA for six weeks to rewrite it and her Dad can’t be left alone. Finally Logan convinces Emma to let her sister Sylvie take care of her Dad while she rewrites the rom-com.

Emma and Charlie bicker over the rom- com and writing and many other things as they get to know each other and rewrite the rom-com. They start out not really liking each other and things develop from there.

Typical Katherine Center, this is definitely a book you’ll fall in love with…the characters as well as the situations they get into and the stories they tell and the feelings that they develop. Love is definitely in the air. Be sure to read The Rom-Commers! You’ll be glad you did!

I liked this book, but felt it lacked a little. Maybe it just felt a little too gloomy. I do like realistic books, but this was just a little dreary. Overall, I would rate 3.5-3.75 rounded up to 4.