I absolutely love Katherine Center and was super excited for The Rom-Commers!

💕He doesn’t believe in love
💕 Grumpy x sunshine
💕Forced Proximity
💕witty banter
💕Slow burn
💕 Single POV


Trigger warning:
⚠️ cancer

Some of my favorite quotes
“I decided that if I just held on, things would get better. I wasn’t sure how much better, but better. And when you’ve seen worse, better is good enough.”

“Here’s another thing I accidentally figured out: happiness is always better with a little bit of sadness.”


“Eight weeks ago, I was one of those douchey guys who thought love was made up by Hallmark to sell greeting cards. I thought it was an emotional Ponzi scheme. I thought it was a fiction we’d been tricked into believing by the animators at Disney. And I thought our only hope of escape was to unplug from the Love Matrix and see our true dystopic loveless hellscape for exactly what it was.”

“All I can figure is this: it hurts to be disappointed. It hurts so much, we’d rather never get our hopes up. And it’s humiliating, too—right? How foolish are you to hope for the best? How pathetic is it to try to win after you’ve already lost? How naive must you be if you don’t know that humanity is dark and vicious and totally irredeemable?“

I really loved this book! It tugs at heartstrings and holds a mirror up readers. I hadn't cried this much while reading a book in a hot minute. I was totally thrown for a loop at the love confession, but it all made so much sense. This became a new favorite romance of mine. I will be continuing to read Katherine Center's books!

I wanted to like this book more than I did. I have enjoyed other Katherine Center books but this one missed the mark with me. It felt too slick or cliche or not quite engaging as far as characterization? I can't exactly figure out why I didn't enjoy it as much, other than it didn't engage me and felt quite predictable.

The story is about Emma Wheeler, an aspiring writer who has put her life on hold to take care of her disabled father. She gets the chance of a lifetime from her current agent/ old friend when he gets her a gig doctoring/rewriting a screenplay written by her favorite author. Sparks eventually fly between Emma and Charlie, the writer, but it felt anticlimactic and not believable. I was not entranced by the MMC in this. The premise was cute but for the the execution and story fell flat.

my thanks to netgalley and the publisher. This is my personal opinion.

ᴛʜᴇ sᴛᴏʀʏ: After a decade of putting her life on hold to care for her father, Emma Wheeler gets the opportunity to spend six weeks writing with her favorite screenplay writer.

ᴍʏ ᴛᴡᴏ ᴄᴇɴᴛs: To be honest, I didn’t like this one all that much despite normally enjoying Katherine Center’s books. I read this with @theofficialbookbestiesbookclub as our July book club pick, and most of the members loved it.

I still laughed and cried at certain parts - Emma’s family backstory was heartbreaking and realistic in many ways, but maybe I was just too cynical when I read this. I didn’t feel like the relationship felt real enough or had enough chemistry to last beyond a hookup from forced proximity.

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮:
🩷like reading about writers and their writing process
🩷enjoy the forced proximity trope
🩷are here for family drama and the struggles of moving on after a loved one dies

💖I feel like most of bookstagram read this one, so tell me - did you like it? Did you buy into Emma and Charlie’s relationship or do you (like me) think it would’ve been over as soon as the forced proximity timeframe was up?

I want to start this off by saying I'm sorry for writing this as late as I did. I got a new job, fell into a reading slump and just got overwhelmed with ARCs in general. I'm working on catching up on them though. It'll be a slow process but I'll get there. Anyways, on with the review!

This book was a letdown to be honest.
I wanted to like this book. Really I did, it had so much going for it. The plot, the writing, the characters, it had it all. Where it lost me though was mmc. Like bro I couldn't tolerate him at all. He's not the worst mmc I've read (all of Colleen Hoover's men combined take that award unfortunately) but he still wasn't great. I couldn't stand most of the stuff he said to Emma. I could've tolerated it if he went through a banger character arc or something but he just didn't. Like halfway through the book he was still an ass. Ew.
Also Emma kept pressuring him and that just gave me the ick. I will say the ending was pretty good though. Just wish that it had been for a better couple. Overall it was fine but man, Charlie was awful. I will read other books by this author but man I hope the mmcs aren't as insufferable as this one was.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

For many reasons, Center may just not be an author for me. I enjoyed How to Walk Away, but have found almost every book since then either a little problematic or just too squeaky clean. I've continued to try, but I believe I'm just not her target audience. I couldn't abide the fourth wall breaking in this one, and I think I just look for something with a little more heart in my romance.

If you have read a Katherine Center book before and loved it, then you won't be disappointed. Just stop here and go get the book and enjoy the ride. If you haven't read one of her books, you should. I am not a romance reader but I just love her stories. She has unique way of taking what could become VERY cliche and making it fresh, funny and page turning. I just adore her main female characters. They are smart, energetic and snarky. The narrator for the audio version is just wonderful. If you are a fan of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, you will think you are listening to her voice and tone. I laugh through these books and enjoy the journey she creates. There are twists and turns, ups and downs, love and sadness. Characters you understand and connect to who feel familiar. I will always pick up the next one that comes but you should read this one now!!

This was not my absolute favorite of Katherine Center's book, as it wasn't quite as deep as some of them have been. However, it was a joy to read from start to finish. The central obstacle the two love interests faced was one of the kind that should have been easy to overcome, but pride always gets in the way. I loved how the two main characters worked together to make a screenplay. You can tell the author did her research on how to write a screenplay, which was interesting to see. I loved the banter between the two main characters. FInally, the supporting characters were good additions to the story and really brought it to life. All in all, The Rom-Commers is another win for Kathering Center, albeit one that was more of a feel-good story than usual. No tears were shed, and that is OK!

Katherine Center is an absolute auto-buy, auto-read for me every time. I devoured this story. Center is so good at fully immersing you in feelings of loss and grief, while also bringing you incredible humor and joy. I fell in love with Emma and Charlie, and you will too!

I enjoy Katherine Center’s books and this one was no exception. I really enjoyed the main characters and watching their relationship grow over time. It was a fun enemies to lovers troupe between writers. Definitely a fun read.

Katherine Center show what is truly takes to write a good Rom-Com movie:

When Emma’s father got sick she knew she had to step up to take care of him and her younger sister. She put her dream of being a screenwriter on hold. For 10 years she has put others before herself until an old friend wants to bring her back in. A well known screenwriter needs help writing a Rom-Com and it just so happens that Charlie Yates is Emma’s favourite screen writer. When she reads the screenplay it is horrible and she cannot believe he wrote it. When Emma meets Charlie, well maybe one shouldn’t meet their hero. Worst Charlie doesn’t want to fix the screenplay and Emma knows rom com and know she can help him fix it, but it will take all of her to get it done and maybe just maybe she can find her own happy ending.

Center is the author that reintroduced me to Contemporary Romance, and is still a go to quthor for me when I need a change of Pace. I find that she has the ability to suck me in to her characters and stories right from the start and I need to know how this relationship is going to play out. The Rom-Commers is no different. When we meet Emma I already feel like I know her and the hardship she has gone through with giving up ehr dream so her younger sister can achieve her's.

When I saw that this book gave me all the emotions and feelings, I am not lying. It made me laugh, cry, feel dispare and hoepful, and sometimes all of these at the same time. I will say that I felt that this was a bit lighter in topic than some of the other books that I have read by Centre but I was okay with it and it was what I needed at the time I was reading it. The concept is really cute and I was here for it

Emma is a pretty loveable character, she is very happy and very much no self-centred at all. She wants to do what is best for everyone around her even if it is detramental to herself. There are times when i wanted to slap her for not thinking of herself first, but that is just who Emma is and she does go on a bit of the journey in the book to discover that it is okay to put herself first every once in awhile

Charlie (I am not writing his last name) on the other hand is basically an ass for most of the book. He puts Emma down (A LOT) and critisces her even more. I think Charlie has a hard time being around someone like Emma and he lashes out even more. When you first start reading Charlie he does not really have any redeeming qualities even though Emma searches for them. He has his moments and did I like Charlie by the end, Yes?

Grumpy Sunshine trope which was played perfectly, and honestly one of my favourite troupes when it comes to romance novels. I will say the third act I was not a fan of and it seemed a bit rushed towards the end, but this did not take away from my overall enjoyment of the book. One thing that did was the use of the MMC's full name every single time that Emma talks about him she uses his full name. We know by the tenth time who is it. I mean it's cute to begin with but then it was just annoying.

This is going to be one of my favourite by Centreprobably in my top two now (my favourite is still Things You Save in a Fire) but this is a close second. You'll want to pick this one up if you are looking for a lighter read and if you are a fab of the grumpy Sunshine Trope.

Enjoy!!!

An outstanding book from Katherine Center. I read all of Center's releases every year and they are just so much fun to read!!! Katherine is the queen of dialogue, banter, and she so seamlessly creates the most fun rom coms!!!!

Katherine Center is always an auto buy for me as she has only let me down once. Not mentioning the book but everyone and their mama loved it, it was purely just me. 😅🤣

The book is the reason she’s an auto buy for me though. The character development, the banter, everything about this book was amazing and I absolutely cannot wait for her next book to come out.

Emma and Charlie will not be forgotten by this avid reader. Emma’s life has been put on hold to care for her father. With just a little shove, her life changes in ways she couldn’t expect. This is not without conflict, a love story and somewhat being forced to chase her dreams. These lovable characters are hard to let go. Katherine Center has a way of making you love every single well developed character more than the last. This is a story of finding yourself. It’s also the reminder of the importance of family relationships.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this advanced audiobook!

I absolutely loved the concept of this book. It was a love letter to rom-coms in all their forms and enjoyed every second of that.

Charlie started off kind of unlikeable but the more we got to know him, the more I really enjoyed his character. I enjoyed Emma right from the start and loved her dedication to her family. She felt like a really relatable and well developed character.

I don’t love a miscommunication trope, but this one didn’t bother me too much. It didn’t last overly long and I think it was handled pretty well. I love a grand gesture so that really helped it too.

This was another great book from Katherine Center. Was it my favorite of hers? Not quite, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the eARC of The Rom-Commers! All opinions in this review are my own.

I have only ever seen positive reviews for Katherine Center's books so I was excited to finally read one! I absolutely loved The Rom-Commers from the concept of a die-hard rom-com fan trying to help one of the best screenwriters fix his own to their banter throughout the book to the way they fell for each other (sometimes literally). Center has a talent for creating loveable characters and making them read like real people. I look forward to reading more of her work!

All the feels! A great rom com! Katherine Center does it again with a unique idea turned into a feel good book with all the cozy details predictability you expect in a rom com. I enjoy her books and her characters and no surprises here. A great book people of all ages will enjoy. Thank you St Martins Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

review posted: 8.7.24

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

I have loved Katherine’s books since I read How To Walk Away. I love her book covers, they are fun and bright and cheerful (like her!)

I was sent an e-ARC of The Rom-Commers and I could not wait to read it. And then, lo and behold, I saw (quite by accident one day) that she would be at Square Books in Oxford. I let my friend Reeca know and we made plans. Of course, my plans were hindering on a thousand things going right that day to leave work a tad early. And of course that day, everyone acted like the world would fall apart. But I left somewhat early and raced to Oxford for a glass of wine with Reeca before the signing.

I had wanted to read the book before the signing, but life gets in the way. So I actually read it while on vacation a few weeks later.

Meeting Katherine in Oxford was fantastic (read all about that here!) and even though I knew I would love The Rom-Commers, I don’t think I anticipated loving it as much as I did.

What I liked:

The cover was so cute! So fun! So colorful. Also, I did not realize until the book signing that the edges of the book were going to be spray painted pink. That just gave it that little extra sparkle!

Emma. What a delightfully layered character. I wanted to exchange BFF necklaces with her. I admired her quiet strength. I loved her LOVE for the rom-com. And that is when I liked her the best- when she was all passionate!

Emma’s dad. The gems of wisdom he would share with his daughter were great and she needed every last one of them.



Bottom line: It’s a winner for Katherine Center! *claps hands in anticipation of her next book!*



*This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.*

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an eARC of The Rom-Commers in exchange for my honest review!

Having previously enjoyed Hello Stranger by Katherine Center, I'm glad to say that another book of hers, The Rom-Commers, has turned out to be another touching, amusing, and sometimes heartbreaking read. Emma and Charlie make for a charming couple, even if the book starts out on a path that leaves me wondering if Charlie really is all that suitable of a love interest. Goddamn, he's such a grumpy little jerk in the beginning. But hey, the book succeeds at helping me warm up to him significantly and vibe with the chemistry between him and Emma. This book gets plenty of laughs out of me, too, as well as wrenching my heart through Emma's backstory. And on top of all that, I appreciate that this book revolves around a pair of screenwriters, which contrasts with the great number of rom-coms that focus on authors, journalists, actors, and/or directors. We just don't get many screenwriter romances, and The Rom-Commers contributes to changing that a little.

Overall, I'm officially rating The Rom-Commers four out of five stars. I'll continue to keep more of Center's books in mind.