Thank you to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing this DRC in exchange for an honest review. Katherine Center is a must read for me and The Rom-Commers did not disappoint. Told from the quirky voice of a perspective writer, this story develops in an enemy to lovers fashion. As much as Emma lives her life in what seems like rom com delusion, while Charlie is a cynic to the nth degree, they find themselves working together on the most high stakes rom com of writer Charlie's career. This is all done while Emma is a live-in co-writer. As they each overcome their own biases in life, they discover their lives must continue to intertwine. Quirky with a happy ending and beautifully Katherine Center!

Okay, Katherine, I see you! This was SUCH A GOOD ROM COM. Ya'll, the banter, chemistry, conflict, and everything was perfect. I'm a huge huge snob when it comes to romcoms (thank you You've Got Mail) but this one checked all the boxes!

*Spoilers ahead*

I don’t even know where to begin in writing my thoughts on this review or what star rating to give The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center.

As someone who loves a good Rom Com and has heard so many good things about Katherine Center I was so excited to read this book. Here’s the conflict, and I have SO MANY OF THEM:

At times I LOVED the FMC so much and could myself in her, yet I also found her annoying and found myself frustrated with the BS she put up with. On the other hand the MMC is a garbage human being in the way he treats her and talks about her. The words “douchey”, “asshole” and “I have never hated a character as much as I hate this man” appeared multiple times in my annotations while reading.

In the end there is “some” happily ever after, but several parts of this book gave me the ick. I think it should be made perfectly clear that this is a work of fiction and that if a person is displaying some of these behaviors in real life they are major red flags you should consider investigating, and if you decide to do so, investigate from a distance, not double down and try harder. (If it were me I would run FAR FAR away). Also, no means no. Period. No matter the gender.

I think the book is well written and there were a few instances I thought were predictable but then threw me for a loop so I liked how it kept me on my toes. The Rom-Commers had many good quotes in it that I consider words to live by, and made me feel things, mostly rage, but that’s still things!

In the end I thought about DNFing this book quite a bit and upon reflection wish I had.
⭐️⭐️

✨ PURE JOY ✨

I’ve got to use Katherine’s own words from the book here. She was describing love but it perfectly captures how I feel about her writing.

“It feels warm. It feels hopeful and kind. Sunshiny. And soothing. It feels like your heart is glowing.”

I mean come on!! 🥹🥹🥹🥰🥰🥰 Katherine’s books make me glad to be a reader. Her characters are so real and funny and her dialogue is UNMATCHED. Charlie and Emma’s banter was everything. The way they worked together. The way they grew. It was 🤌🤌🤌.
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My tiniest criticism is that I thought Charlie was a little too mean on those couple of times Emma overheard him talking about her. I guess it served as conflict for the story but he was so so harsh. 😢
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Still, I wouldn’t feel right giving this book anything less than five stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I’m so thankful for the opportunity to read KC’s books early!! Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley!

loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed it! Katherine Center can do no wrong for me. She somehow manages to make PG romance novels that arent cheesy. I love the characters, dialogue, conflict, they are always just such well written books and characters.

Katherine Center is a favorite low spice author for me. I’m a bit tossed up over this one. It seemed like just another rom com, and the amount of times Charlie Yates was mentioned was absurd.

It was cute, fun with a typical ending but I didn’t feel this one was set apart from the rest in the genre.

Katherine Center does is again! I have loved every book that she has written. I really enjoyed this book.

So gREAT!!!!! I loved everything about this book. I thought my favorite KC book was The Bodyguards, but this is my new favorite. Love the cameo from Jack in it as well.

I rarely rate romances 5-stars, but this one is a standout! I loved the banter between Emma and Charlie! They were so funny, believable, and just all around lovable!

This was such a fun and satisfying read! The characters grabbed hold of my heart and I was rooting for them the entire time. This is the best type of rom-com, strong complicated characters, lots of banter, and an ending that made my heart happy. If you are a fan of rom-coms I highly recommend this book.

Emma Wheeler grew up loving romantic comedies - reading, watching and then writing them! Her dream was to write a hit romantic comedy - but that was before her mother died and her father suffered a life-altering injury in the same accident. Since then, she’s been a dedicated caregiver to her father and cheerleader to her younger sister Sylvie while she pursued her education. When Emma gets the opportunity of a lifetime to co-write a rom-com with Charlie Yates (her favorite screenwriter who is famous AF), she reluctantly lets Sylvie take over caretaking and heads out to LA for the job. When she gets there, everything is wrong. Charlie didn’t know she was coming (or staying at his home) and he’s not agreeable to a writing partner. But Emma made such a sacrifice that she refuses to give up the chance to do this - and the desperately needed paycheck that will come with it. She’s not going down without a fight!

Believe it or not, this was my first Katherine Center book! I really enjoyed the combination of the heavier topics intertwined with the banter between Emma and Charlie. I really liked Emma’s character. There’s a lot to dive into with the situation surrounding her mother’s death, her survivor’s guilt and how it’s manifested into her caretaking role with her father, and I think the author did a really great job with that. I didn’t love Charlie - I thought he was downright mean a lot of times. I did however love his pet guinea pig 🐹 and the grand gestures he finally makes! Overall this was an enjoyable read and I’m looking forward to digging into the author’s back list.

enemies to lovers?? one of the best tropes of all time?? written by Katherine Center?? So stinking good! I love the banter between Charlie & Emma! The chemistry between the two is undeniable. Katherine Center cannot write a bad book!

This story was such a fun ride. The characters were well written and relatable. The romance was sweet and I loved the humor. Emma and Charlie had a lot of layers. Charlie was a little frustrating, but overall this was a great story.

Whenever I have the latest novel by Katherine Center in my hands, I just want to sink into a comfortable chair, shut out the rest of the world around me, and just curl up with her words. That to me is complete bliss.

The Rom-Commers was everything that I had hoped it would be. Another five-star read from one of my favorite authors. This novel had emotion, humor, romantic tension, and wonderful characters. Did I mention the romantic tension? Yes, well, that is my thing. The push and pull between the two main characters was everything that I adore. From beginning to end, this book stole my heart, and I didn’t care if I got it back.

How could a reader not love Emma Wheeler? Impossible! She was loyal, devoted, quirky, kind, and in need of a break – personally and career-wise. When she was offered the chance to help her all-time favorite screenwriter rewrite his romantic comedy, she was thrilled with the opportunity but filled with worry over leaving her primary obligation as caregiver for her dad. Even with her younger sister agreeing to come and care for their dad for the time that Emma would be away, she was still nervous to leave him.

As it turned out, Emma was not the only one with concerns. Charlie Yates just wanted to get this project done and over with. He didn’t write with anyone else, and romantic comedies were certainly not in his normal wheelhouse. This was a means to an end, and he just wanted to cross the finish line with something resembling a romance. Plain and simple. He certainly didn’t want to spend his days writing alongside of someone with very little experience.

Emma and Charlie had great banter. Their interactions throughout the book were golden. While Emma was a firm believer in love, Charlie had become much more cynical about the whole idea of love. Did I always like him? Nope. But as I mentioned, the push and pull, the will they-won’t they is basically what I live for in a romance book, so I was in my zone, feeling every little emotion right alongside of Emma.

Whenever I keep checking my Kindle to see how much time I have left in a novel, and dreading reaching that final page, I know I have found a winner. Katherine Center is one my favorite authors for a reason, and she never fails to put a smile on my face and deliver a story that finds a spot in my heart.

*5 Stars

How can every single book written by Katherine Center be an absolute banger?!?! Ugh seriously, so swoony, so PERFECT! I loved this story. I love her writing. & I love how you always fall head over heels for the characters. Most importantly, I love that her books always feature closed door romances. You get all the longing without the gross 🍆 talk lol

Thank you so much NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press & the wonderful Katherine Center for this ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange of my honest review! I truly enjoyed the realness of this book with the life issues Emma goes through between juggling her job, responsiblities, and dreams while trying to take care of her father. Emma gets a great opportunity to follow her dreams as a screenwriter, but along the way finds love and friendship.

I am generally not one for closed-door unless a romance really grips me. The Rom-Commers had me locked down. I literally cried- this was a totally in my feels book that was also really funny and cathartic.

Con- I am one of those people who don't love when they use someone's full name again and again. Unless the joke is REALLY funny, on the page it just doesn't play well and I get annoyed. He (Charlie Yates) was also a bit of a tool. I got past it but meh.

Pros- grief representation FTW! I had a very Silver Linings Playbook experience. It was raw and real and funny and I'm here for that kind of relatability that is also full of laughter and joy.

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this advance copy of The Rom-Commers. This one is available for purchase today!

I’m a Katherine Center fan and have loved almost all of the works I’ve read by her (I have one or two on her backlist I believe), but this one wasn’t my favorite of hers. I really had trouble connecting with the male character, and found him to be too grumpy/over the top for me. At about 65% into the book, I was pretty surprised that I was still finding issues as to why these two were having such an issue communicating. I love Center’s writing style, and I never have an issue with her pacing, but I think these troupes just aren’t my favorite, so this one was a bit of a miss for me. I’ll definitely continue to read her future works because she’s been an author that I’ve given 5-stars to, and I know her work can mesh with my tastes.

Thank you again to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for this honest review! Pub date was summer 2024, and you can pick this one up now!

I absolutely adored this one! My biggest complaint is that I can't get over how she never apologized to Sylvie for what hurtful things she said. I also can't get over how mean Charlie is for such a loooonnnggg period of time in the book.

I'm a sucker for Katherine Center, so I was ecstatic to receive an advanced copy of this title. No surprise that I loved this one! The way she writes female characters has always fascinated me - like they're real, normal girls that I would meet out on the streets of my hometown. I can't wait to see what she does next!