5 glorious stars! Thank you Katherine Center for delivering an amazing rom-com… again!!

The character development in this book was just 👌🏽! Every person written in this book, felt like a friend. They felt like someone I had known before. But Emma and Charlie’s characters were just amazing. I laughed and I cried with them & I loved every single second reading about who they were / were becoming. Even down to their names, just perfect.. Also Emma’s dad, let’s give a second for him- americas dad. What a man!

Such a unique storyline & honestly.., can this be made into a movie?! I’d love that very much!

I also really loved watching Emma grow throughout the book! It was amazing to see her own her gifting and not let bitterness make her petty. Loved her.

💕No bedroom action 👏🏽- Def some crude words mentioned though.
🚨Curse words throughout.

Loved this book & if you’re looking for a clean romcom & don’t mind some crude words/ curse words… you’ll love this book.

Thank you Netgally for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was delightful. I've read three books by this author and this has been my favorite. I love books, but also movies so a book about screenwriters writing a rom-com — and falling in love — is perfect for me.

It was a charming set up with really likable and engaging characters. The banter and dialogue were top notch. Emma could have easily veered into 'manic pixie dream girl' mode but she was charming and sparkly but still flawed which grounded her. I also enjoyed how Charlie was written — a bit of a grump but curious which gave his character a nice arc.

Overall, a terrific read which made me smile and chuckle throughout and also wipe away a tear or too. (I'm sure it was just allergies.)

If I want a romantic comedy that is going to make me feel ALL the feelings, I know I can rely on Katherine Center. You can count on her for characters you love, and elements that might make you cry (in the best way). Similar to her other books, I adored this novel. It was delightful.

Emma takes moments throughout the book to talk to you (the reader) and this might not work for some people, but it worked for me.

“If you wait for other people to light you up, then I guess you’re at the mercy of darkness.” The Rom-Commers will be out June 11th!

Wow! You know someone enjoys a book when they finish it within a day - and that was me with The Rom-Commers. I love all of Katherine Center’s books, and this one sure did not disappoint.

Was it cheesy? Yes. Was the ending predictable? Yes. However, as Emma may say, these qualities are essential when it comes to writing a romcom.

I loved that the story revolves about two film writers living out their own romcom while writing a romcom. It was unique, well written, and very enjoyable to read. It does present some more serious themes such as loss, sickness, and grief which are very important to the plot, but does not take away from the main romcom theme. Reading from Emma’s POV and hearing her inner thoughts was wonderful and added great comedy to this novel - though I kept wanting to tell her that I’m sure her hair is gorgeous!

I hope Emma and Charlie have cameos in future Katherine Center books because I’ll definitely miss them.

Thank you Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for allowing me access to an ARC for an honest 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 review.

I am so grateful to St Martins Presss and NetGalley for this ARC! This is KC’s best love story yet. I have read a good amount of her books and they are all among my favorites but this one hits all the marks:

- amazing and believable banter
- complex characters
- realistic trauma which is well presented
- swoon worthy romance
- general feelings of sunshine and happiness

Emma and Charlie were a wonderful pair of leads. All of the supporting characters were well formed and added a lot to the story. I loved the take on Hollywood/LA culture that mixed real celebs with invented ones. Overall just such a joy and I am so grateful to have been able to read it early!

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center
Contemporary Romance
June 2024 by St. Martin’s Press
336 pages
February 23-26, 2024

💬 “That’s just life. Tragedy 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.”


📖 Synopsis: Emma, an unknown screenwriter, spends most of her days taking care of her father who had an rock climbing accident 10 years ago. One day Emma’s ex-boyfriend/current manager calls her with a chance of a lifetime! She is invited to help rewrite a screenplay by her all-time favorite writer, except she will have to move from Houston to LA for 6 weeks. She has not spent a day away from her dad since the accident, so she does not make this decision lightly. Meeting her writing hero will change her life, but will it be for better, or worse?


*may contain spoilers*
🖋️ Review:
Life may not turn out how you planned or even hoped it would, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still have your own happily ever after! As with many Katherine Center books, I felt a wide range of emotions. I was intrigued, giddy, annoyed with characters, happy, and sad.

The writing style was a straightforward first person (Emma) perspective, but straightforward does not mean boring. There is also plenty of unspoken commentary italicized throughout the book that is so great!
Emma is a great lead role/narrator. She is logical, loyal, brave, and selfless. Emma has given up so much of her life and dreams to care for her family. I admire her strength in that. She also can be a little cringe-worthy, but that makes her all the more likable and realistic. Her antagonist, writing hero, and crush, Charlie Yates, feels like the typical misunderstood celebrity. He has a hidden heart of gold being his seemingly giant ego, except his ego seems to shrink page by page. I really loved that Jack Stapleton, from Katherine Center’s The Bodyguard made a few key appearances. If you have not read The Bodyguard, you aren’t missing any important information in this book, but its a sweet nod to her previous work. My only negative comment on the characters in this story seems so silly… I didn’t feel like the characters matched their given names. I can’t even really explain it, but Emma did not feel Iike an Emma, Charlie did not feel Iike a Charlie. Emma and Charlie gave off very much Cameron Diaz and Jack Black vibes to me… I am probably the only one with this random opinion, but there it is, I’ve digressed. Emma’s dad might be my favorite character in this story. He is wise, loving, and giving. He is just a great man and adds so much depth to the story.
The storyline of The Rom-Commers felt so quintessentially rom-com and I loved it! Two people, in the same profession, one award-winning and the other just has not found their big break, end up working together and feelings grow… what is more romantic-comedy than that?! The difference in this book is that there are some very heavy elements interspersed throughout their backgrounds and current days. I love that the resolution does not come until a little later in the story than I am typically used to. I found myself unable to put the book down starting around 65% of the way through.
The Rom-Commers is a good solid Rom-Com novel. It has all the right elements, Katherine Center is an auto-buy for me. You know you are going to get a solid story with depth in the characters. Center’s books are never just fluff and/or spice. I genuinely and continually learn life lessons through her stories.


🌟 - 4.25
🌶 - 🍬, no spice, just kissing


Recommendation:
✅ - If you are a Rom-Com girlie, then no reason not to read this book!
Recommended by:
⬅️ - ARC provided by NetGalley


🚩Check for potential Triggers!
BookBugBex | StoryGraph | Goodreads | Instagram

My Thoughts

There is such a joyous approach given to how these characters interact with one another, even when they are at odds you know things will ultimately work out in a favorable manner.

That being said the story is not filled with just rainbows and sunshine.

Emma Wheeler and Charlie Yates have both felt the darker aspects of loss in their lives, so now finding the light at the end of that sometimes very dark tunnel became something they can only accomplish together.

To say that I really enjoyed how this story unfolded is an understatement, I loved every minute of it from start to finish.

[EArc from Netgalley]
On every book read as soon as it is done and written up for review it is posted on Goodreads and Netgalley, once released then posted on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles as well.

Five stars for this fun, cheery, uplifting book! Is my first Katherine Center book and I can see why fans were so excited to see this new one ready to publish in the summer of 2024. I thoroughly enjoyed this love drama and family story.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Katherine Center’s books are hit or miss for me, but I did like this one. It follows two screenwriters, one famous, one not, one romantic, one anti-love as they work together on a romantic comedy script. My favorite thing about this book is that it is just so funny. I laughed out loud several times. One of my issues with this author’s books is the emotional manipulation inherent in the stories and it is present here. That is more of a personal preference though, so may not bother other readers. Overall, this may be one of my favorite of her oeuvre. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

This was my first Katherine Center novel. I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of this book. I loved the humour, family dynamics and overall flow of the story. I wasn’t bored at any point. I loved Katherine Center’s writing and will definitely be picking up her other novels. I honestly couldn’t find anything I didn’t like about this. This was definitely an unexpected surprise!!

Katherine Center is an auto-buy author for me, and I've seen several excellent reviews fro this one, so I had high expectations going in. Charlie and Emma's story exceeded all of them. Center's writing with this one was compulsively readable—I could hardly put it down from the first sentence—and I loved the tone of Emma's POV. I laughed, I cried, I smiled, I highlighted several passages, and was left when I finished with tears in my eyes and a warm, fuzzy feeling in my heart. Loved this one. IMO, it's Center's best in years.

This may be my favorite Katherine Center yet . The dialogue and storyline were absolute perfection. I have absolutely fell in love with these characters and have the hugest book hangover now . An absolute must read !

this book had me laying and kicking my feet up!!! what an emotional roller coaster ride wow. i laughed, cried, felt the pain in my chest, and smiled all in the same book. I havent fully enjoyed a real like this before!

This was just a fun romance! The characters were quirky and flawed. They accepted each other as-is, but also made each other better. I especially enjoyed some of the strategies they used to learn more about what they were writing.

SPOILER. The only bit that wasn’t believable was around a terminal diagnosis. I just don’t believe they’d jump to that rather than first ruling out a more common curable issue.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to publication.

This was one of my favorite reads for 2024.
I enjoyed reading it, this was pure joy.
Hooked from the very beginning.
I loved all the characters, the banter and the emotional situations.
This book had a little bit of everything.


Thank you to St. Martin's Publishing group and Netgalley for providing me with this arc for my honest review.

WOW. This is, for me, the best Katherine Center has ever been. I love it when a book explores its own trope. This time it's a bit sneaky since it's screenwriters discussing the rules of a romcom, but nonetheless it works. Let me tell. you, there was a moment when I thought I was going to have to write an angry letter but Center resolves it perfectly. It's the perfect blend of reality and rom com escapism. Add this to your summer reading list immediately.

Loved this book! It was everything I expected it to be. A few times the story felt choppy and a little off but definitely not a deal breaker.

Thank you, Netgalley for the ARC of this book!

When Emma Yates gets a call that’s too good to be true, writing with her favorite writer Charlie Yates, she almost turns it down … but her family won’t let her. Charlie, known for writing more sci-fi/fantasy has written a rom-com … and it’s terrible. Charlie isn’t keen on the help, in fact he flat out denies her, but something in him changes and he finally relents. The two spend a whirlwind few weeks together and just as the going starts to get good, Charlie gets bad news and has to pump the breaks at the same time Emma gets devastating news and has to fly halfway across the country … possibly severing the ties as they know it.

KATHERINE CENTER DOES. NOT. MISS. I laughed, I cried, I came out of this learning new words. Every time I read a new book of hers I think “this is my new favorite.” The Jack cameos were *chefs kiss*. This book felt like receiving a hug from your favorite person. If I recommend one book this month: it’s the Rom-Commers.

This may be Katherine Center's best novel yet. I had a personal connection to the FMC and many of her words just felt like they might also come out of my mouth. I just loved every minute of this novel: the banter between Emma and Charlie, the seriousness of grief, the love felt for a parent, the fun and flirty moments with a crush, and the relationship between two sisters. I thought it was the perfect balance of funny and serious, and truly I could have read 100 more pages from Katherine. 10/10 loved this book!

Here’s another awesome romance novel from the Queen of Swoon!

Center has a knack for writing genuine, relatable characters. Emma could be any one of us – hard working, caring for a family member full-time, dreaming of a better future, and always looking forward to “someday”. But “someday” unexpectedly comes with an opportunity she can’t turn down. Then there is Charlie! Oh Charlie… disillusioned by love and in desperate need of a refresher course. When Emma and Charlie connect, it’s not without its rocky (and funny and frustrating) start! But there is definitely a great HEA!!

As usual with Center’s books, there is actual depth to the story and the characters. There is nothing superficial here at all. You are reading about realistic people with emotions, family issues, money problems, insecurities, guilt, and more. The strong family element was particularly compelling for me, and I really appreciate that Center gives her characters powerful backstories.

Did I mention yet that there is a guinea pig in the story? I didn’t? Oh, well, there is a guinea pig in the story. 🐹

I loved the premise of this story and that the main narrative takes place in LA/Hollywood! I also loved that we were able to see a tiny glimpse of Jack Stapleton in this story (from Center’s book The Bodyguard). Yay!

This is a quick read, because once you start you will not want to put it down. It hits the stands in June and you definitely don’t want to miss this one!

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for an eARC of this book, which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.