I loved this book. It was such a quick read, and had me feeling every emotion. The only thing I would have liked more of was Charlie's insight. But it was such a great book, Katherine Center is an automatic read for me.

Katherine Center can do no wrong. I love her books because I know what to expect. Safe to say, they’re my comfort stories! While she’s perfected the HEA, she brings to light harder hitting topics that can be quite educational.

The dynamic was fascinating. Enemies to lovers? Under one roof? Family drama states away? I don’t know if we’ve got a classified romance trope but either way, I was cheering Emma and Charlie on to just kiss already. It didn’t disappoint, but the build sort of did. It took a while to get there, but also, Emma is the only character to overhear SO much in such a short time. Had it not been for everything she overheard, would this story have happened!? LOL JK yes it would have. But for real, she overhears a lot.

I think my biggest peeve was how the “reveal” came so close to the end, when as readers, you know it wasn’t going to be the actual end and there would be one more twist. Had it been a little more drawn out, I think it would have been a little more satisfying. Also, the dialogue at times was a bit unnatural? There were definitely conversations that felt too formal given the setting.

Don’t let my peeves distract you from THE Katherine Center and all her glory. I still recommend this book as I do all her books because they’re just pure warm fuzzies.

Big thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this ARC. This will be available on June 11, 2024!

Content warnings: cancer, death, grief

This book had me giggling and kicking my feet nearly the whole time! I read it cover to cover in one day and could not put it down. I enjoyed the first half more than the second, just because all of the building tension and family dynamics. The second half slowed down a bit for me & I was ready for certain aspects to be resolved a bit sooner. I see fans of Emily Henry's Book Lovers and Beach Read, as well as lovers of Katherine Center's other work enjoying this! Thanks to NetGalley and the publishing group for letting me read this ARC!

God do I love Katherine Center’s books. They are always such a quick read and that true romcom story. These are my guilty pleasure and this book was great. Loved the characters, their story and development. Letting go of the past is hard for anyone but it’s the only way to move forward. Loved Emma and Charlie, wish there was a sequel!

Katherine Center really knows how to write a damn romcom! I absolutely enjoyed Emma & Charlie’s story. I loved the playful banter and budding friendship before admitting to all the feels. But the familial love in this book didn’t play second fiddle at all! Emma’s family was so beautiful and full of love. And so nice to see “Jake” Stapleton too!

I have really enjoyed Katherine Center;s books, however this one connected a little bit less for me. I did enjoy the concept of them being writers- but I didn't feel the connection. I think I really wanted to feel the spark of collaboration and of creating something together that you KNOW is great, and I feel like it got lost in the constant Mood swings.

I'll continue to pick up Katherine's books- they are always good and certainly have an audience, but this one was missing a spark for me.

Can I just say I will read anything Katherine Center writes? She’s a contemporary romance genius in my opinion. The Rom-Commers was addictive from start to finish! I finished it in just over a day. As usual, her writing was funny, clever, emotional and sweet. I enjoyed the character of Emma (even though she occasionally made choices that made me want to shake her), and Charlie was cute, although I did find he lacked some character depth compared to some of the romantic leads from Center’s previous books. Regardless, I still really enjoyed the book and will be adding it to my Katherine Center collection when it is released!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the eARC of this gem of a story!

Katherine Center has done it again. This is BY FAR my favorite that I’ve read from her.

Emma is/was a writer. Life circumstances didn’t allow her to pursue her dreams. So when her ex-boyfriend calls with an opportunity to help her favorite screen play writer, Charlie, rewrite his (horrible) rom-com, she agrees to help. Once she arrives in LA, she learns things are not as they seem. Charlie does not want any help and more than that, he doesn’t believe in LOVE.

The banter, the flow of conversation between the two, the fact that Emma never really backed down, I love a strong FMC. This book was just perfect.

I love when books physically make you feel something and this one did, I laughed and truly cried. I couldn’t put it down!

Katherine Center has become an author that I instantly add to my TBR. I just see her name and immediately want to read whatever it is, without even checking the synopsis, which was the case when The Rom-Commers appeared in my netgalley feed. As usual, I wasn't disappointed.
Emma, an aspiring rom-com screenwriter, has to help Charlie, a cynical, anti-romance, action writer, fix his rom-com screenplay in 6 weeks in order for his producer to greenlight yet another action story. The rewrite requires them to be roommates and it soon becomes clear to the audience that Emma's impromptu romance immersion course is working very well, even if the MCs don't realize just how well, themselves.
I loved everything about The Rom-Commers, the storyline, the flawed and relatable main characters, the sad moments, the ending. I felt like the novel was believable and the tension and little misunderstandings were just enough to move the story along without becoming frustrating.
This will definitely end up on my have-read-more-than-once shelf in the future.

*received digital ARC from netgalley

I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the characters’ build up to a relationship and that tension that could break at any moment. I loved the dynamic and background of Emma and her family. It was so tragic yet so unique and vital to the story. I loved the character growth and rooted for her throughout the story. I highlighted so many great lines and quotes to save for later that I know will stay with me long after. Overall, I definitely recommend this book!

This book was hilarious and sweet. The exposition is so good, it's easy to forget you're in between plot points. Emma's thoughts are just so rich and funny and deep. Two tropes I find tiring are "this trauma is my fault" and when one character blows up the budding relationship to save the other MC from them. I really think the tension of his metastatic cancer scare and the anxiety around the father's fall and argument with the sister is enough excitement that the reunion between MCs and reveal of his upgrading their hospital care and reveal of the new screenplay getting bought by Donna Cole could all exist without a third act break up.

Also, "power move" and "jedi mind trick" are overused and stand out the second and third times they appear...

Last year, I had the displeasure of giving Katherine Center, one of my favorite authors, a less-than-favorable review for "Hello Stranger." But "The Rom-Commers" is a delightful return to form; I breezed through it and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Emma has spent the past 10 years taking care of her disabled father and putting her own future on hold. When she gets the chance to co-write a screenplay with award-winning, super-successful screenwriter Charlie in L.A., and her sister offers to move in with their dad in Texas, it seems like Emma's own dreams will finally start to come true. But the last thing Charlie wants is a co-writer, even though his rom-com script is a dud (the reason he's being forced to write it is pretty funny). There are SO many twists and turns along the way; at times, it reminded me a little of Emily Henry's "Beach Read," as Charlie learns that there's more to life than movies about Mafia bosses and macho pursuits. This novel warmed my heart!

Thanks to St. Martin's Publishing Group for the advance copy, via NetGalley.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of the Rom-Commers.

I really loved this book! I thought Emma and Charlie were both flawed main characters and that added to their believability.

I enjoyed watching them evolve through the book and discover what they had been missing.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for an eARC of this book. I have really enjoyed the books I’ve previously read by Center, but unfortunately I just didn’t like this one. I really wanted to love it but I had a hard time seeing the chemistry between the two main characters. I thought that Charlie could be very harsh towards Emma and lacked emotional intelligence. It frustrated me that instead of calling Charlie on this, Emma just let it slide and let him take his frustrations out on her time and time again. I get that Charlie was going through some stuff but I don’t think it excused his behavior. I also think Emma had some trauma to work through and these struggles were mentioned but I didn’t feel like they were adequately resolved by the end. I felt like she still had some growing to do and that left me a little unsatisfied. I think if her and Charlie were real people they both would need therapy. So, all that being said, it made it pretty hard for me to root for them to be together. I still excitedly await whatever Center writes next even though this book wasn’t for me. I think some of my friends and followers will still enjoy this book but I didn’t :(

Katherine Center provides another cute but thought provoking rom com. Emma Wheeler has become the sole care taker for her only living parent and has been forced to give up her dream of becoming a screenwriter. She then gets the chance to work with a famous screenwriter, known for his alien, mafia, shoot em up bad guy moves, on none other than a rom com script.

The main character can be a tad annoying, but overall this work is funny, heartfelt, and worth a read.

Katherine Center does it again!! I love her writing. It’s so witty and funny and relatable. Emma is such a likable character. After putting her writing career on hold for 10 years to take care of her father she gets to work with her favorite screenwriter, Charlie Yates. I loved how the story developed and it left me feeling so happy! Thank you netgalley for the ARC!

Katherine Center is a must-buy author for me and The Rom-Commers did not disappoint. Emma and Charlie are a fantastic enemies to lovers story, and like all Katherine Center novels, have a lot of depth on top of the witty banter and sexual tension.

My favorite part of this book is that Emma is a character that you truly want to root for. She cares so much for everyone around her, putting everyone else's needs above her own, that you can't help but cheer her on as she learns that it's okay to put herself first. Charlie is also endearing with his own traumas. It feels totally believable that he would have a negative outlook on love.

This was definitely not a believable book, but as Emma teaches Charlie, it doesn't have to be when it's a rom-com. The Bodyguard remains my favorite Katherine Center book, but this one was very enjoyable.

TWs for parental loss, traumatic brain injury, cancer

“The two leads will wind up together. That’s what the audience showed up for. The joy of it all. If you don’t give it to them, it’s beyond unsatisfying—it’s a violation of trust. It’s like sex with no orgasm! What was even the point?”

Absolutely enchanting. I was fully prepared for another saccharine sweet romance from a center but she truly blew me away with this one. This was sharp, witty, perfectly awkwardly funny, and didn’t give off the ultra goofy two shoes’ vibe that some of her previous books have heavily leaned in to. This felt less preachy and more approachable, more raw in its emotion and tackling of defensive mechanisms, especially Charlie.

“I would write a hundred happy endings for us if I could.”

Charlie and Emma’s dynamic was so captivating. I felt giddy and all a flutter seeing them together, trading expert quips and buried compliments. Their chemistry leapt off the page and their budding romance felt organic and mature. As we get to see more and more to Charlie, beyond his brash attitude and comments, his actions truly tell the story of a lovable, dork just doing his best. I was rooting for him so hard and I’m so glad Emma stuck it out with him. He’s worth it, no doubt, though would I have risen above some of his early comments? Hell no.

“There’s something about a kiss that brings all the opposites together. The wanting and the getting. The longing and the having. All those cacophonous emotions that usually collide against each other teaming up at last into a rare and exquisite harmony.”

The family drama with Emma added depth to Emma’s background, even if the ending felt a bit too clean. Not surprising given Center’s brand for sunshine and optimism, but I definitely loved the sister dynamic and change at the end.

“I had a theory that we gravitate toward the stories we need in life. Whatever we’re longing for—adventure, excitement, emotion, connection—we turn to stories that help us find it. Whatever questions we’re struggling with—sometimes ones so deep, we don’t even really know we’re asking them—we look for answers in stories.”

This is my favorite read from the author and such a heartwarming and enjoyable romance I can’t wait for others to experience this one!

This is my absolute favorite Katharine Center book yet (a hard feat…) from the crazy unplanned meeting of the main characters in the beginning, to the underlying family dynamics, to the playful banter between colleagues, I loved the writing, the twists and turns and the vulnerabilities displayed by Emma and Charlie. I laughed, I cried, I felt all the emotions. And I devoured this in a day. No notes.

✨T H E R O M - C O M M E R S✨
🅶🅴🅽🆁🅴—𝑅𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒
🗓ℙ𝕦𝕓 𝔻𝕒𝕥𝕖—𝕁𝕦𝕟𝕖 𝟙𝟙, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟜

"𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓽𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓯 𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓮, 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽'𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽'𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓮 𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓮."

✂️ P L O T L I N E
Emma Wheeler longs to be a screenwriter for Romcoms, but she is also a full time caretaker for her dad and forced herself to give up on her dreams long ago. Charlie Yates is a famous screenwriter who is having a case of the yips and can no longer seem to write anything. When Charlie is forced to write a romcom, he needs all the help he can get. Emma has her work cut out for her since Charlie is a full on pessimist and doesn’t believe anything about love. Will all their research that they need to do for this fictional story turn into something real?

💭 ⓂⓎ ⓉⒽⓄⓊⒼⒽⓉⓈ
Katherine Center really can do no wrong. Her books always make me feel all the warm fuzzies that I’m craving. Don’t let the title and the bright color of the cover fool you though, there are still some serious topics in this book and the most amazing thought provoking quotes. If you are a caretaker for a parent, this book will really resonate with you. A reminder that we don’t need to give up all of our hopes and dreams and that we can’t control everything. The banter between Emma and Charlie was also so fun. With her fierce and sassy personality, she had no problem putting him in his place and made for the best FMC. Pick this one up for all the feel good vibes with a small side of emotional themes.

📚 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
💫Workplace romance💕
💫Grumpy vs. sunshine☀️
💫Forced proximity👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨
💫Screenwriters📝
💫Witty Banter🗣️
💫Closed door romance🚪
💫Los Angeles backdrop📍
💫Heartfelt and funny🥰
💫Amazing quotes💭
💫An ode to rom-coms🎥

⚠️ 𝙏𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨: death of a parent.

📝𝕄𝕐 ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾📝
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

💕Q U O T E: ”𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝒶 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝑜𝓇𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝑒 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓉𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝓉𝑜𝓌𝒶𝓇𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝓌𝑒 𝓃𝑒𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒. 𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝑒'𝓇𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒻𝑜𝓇-𝒶𝒹𝓋𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒, 𝑒𝓍𝒸𝒾𝓉𝑒𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉, 𝑒𝓂𝑜𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃, 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓃𝑒𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃—𝓌𝑒 𝓉𝓊𝓇𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒽𝑒𝓁𝓅 𝓊𝓈 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓉. 𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓆𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝓌𝑒'𝓇𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝓇𝓊𝑔𝑔𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽-𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒𝓈 𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓈 𝓈𝑜 𝒹𝑒𝑒𝓅, 𝓌𝑒 𝒹𝑜𝓃'𝓉 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓌𝑒'𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝓈𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂—𝓌𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝓈𝓌𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓈.”

🙏 Thank you NetGalley, St Martin’s Press, and Katherine Center for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts. 💕