Emma and Charlie’s story was filled with everything a good love story needs. The way they brought out the best in each other, loved each other unconditionally, and helped each other through the hardest times was everything I could expect and more. I loved the journey of them writing a screenplay together and going on dates for “research”. This story gave me butterflies and had me blushing. Loved that it was closed door too! I will definitely be reading more from Katherine Center.

It’s time y’all!! Tomorrow, June 11, everyone can get a copy of Katherine Center’s new release, The Rom-Commers! I was so excited when my friends at St. Martin’s Press sent an early egalley, I read this back in January. I loved it so much I read it again in March. When I got the chance to request the audio from Macmillan Audio I jumped, because KCtr writing + Patti Murin narrating is flipping unbeatable. I don’t like to pick favorites, but this may be my new favorite rom-com.
Emma Wheeler has immersed herself in the art of screenwriting for years. She’s dreamed of it, studied it, but like the best rom-com heroine she’s got one big obstacle. She’s the sole caregiver for her father. But was she too busy to pursue her dream and a personal life, or did she busy herself into perfection ensuring she didn’t have time for either? Charlie Walker is a legendary writer, with awards and accolades most never dream about. To get his next project to production he has to write a rom-com. How do you write a love story when you don’t believe in love, and think the genre is silly? Emma agrees to co-write with her idol but soon finds Charlie never agreed to the matchup. This pairing seems doomed from the start. Rom-com gold!
Katherine Center takes what seems a simple premise and brings so much more. It’s that X-factor. In the author’s note of her last book, Hello Stranger, she lays out a literary manifesto in support of romance novels. This is her mission statement, it’s joyful, passionate, and I’m so glad to be along for the ride. I adored Emma and Charlie’s journey, the ongoing healing, because life isn’t a linear path.
For audiophiles I highly recommend this format. Patti Murin is back to narrate and does a phenomenal job capturing both Emma and Charlie’s voice. I loved the awkwardness and determination of Emma, the quiet and protective side Charlie. Murin adds that next level performance I’m always looking for in my audiobooks that immerses and invests me deeply.

Emma is a likable character from the start, Charlie on the other hand is not so much. He is an award winning, famous screenwriter who doesn’t believe in love. She is a romance lover to her core and is tricked into a ghost writing situation to help Charlie fix his crappy rom-com.

Center is one of those authors who always makes me smile while reading. This book was everything I’ve come to expect from KC.

My favorite parts:
-the drunk pool/swan dive scene … I was cackling!
-Emma’s dad’s speech in the epilogue. It was perfect and is an absolute must read
-the Author’s Note … she always makes me cry in these

4 Stars
I loved The Bodyguard by this author so I was pleasantly surprised to get more of Jack Stapleton in this book! This book is from Emma's POV and she was such a fun character to follow and had me rooting for her and Charlie from the start. I love how Charlie redeems himself in this (I cried when we got to that part in the end with Emma, the screenplay, and that video!!) and seeing his growth through Emma's perspective was great. I highlighted so many quotes from Emma's dad from his talk with her towards the end because they were so good (and as someone who only had use of one hand at one point I sobbed and found him so relatable lol). This one might be my new favorite from this author!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

The Rom-Commers is funny and endearing story involving two writers working together on a rom-com screenplay. I liked how the main character, Emma, felt very confident with herself even after purposefully stunting her personnel growth while taking care of her father. The story is easy and fun to read except for the parts when Charlie kept shutting down Emma and her feelings. Emma put up being pushed away and told she was unwanted more than felt comfortable. Some of the best and most quotable moments of the entire book are when Emma is talking to her father and sister. Thank you Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC to review.

5⭐️ this book is truly like a love story to love. I devoured this book in less than 24 hours and when I tell you that I could not put it down, I just could not put it down. I had to know how the love story between Emma and Charlie ended. When it comesto closed door romances, Katherine Center can do no wrong. I always love the level of self discovery her female main characters have, and how relatable they are. This is up there contending with one of my favorite romances of 2024!

This was an advanced read copy I received through Netgalley so it’s not going to be officially published until June 11, 2024! But this is my honest review!

Add this book to your to read list, I promise you won’t regret it! & then let me know what you thought!

#books #bookstagram #booktok #bookrating #library #bookreview #bookrecommendations #bookrecs#bookcommunity #booklovers #booksofinstagram #bookish #fivestarbooks #romancebook #kindlebooks
#kindleunlimited

When Emma gets the chance to write a romantic comedy screenplay with her favorite screenwriter, Charlie Yates, she thinks she’s made it. But when he had no idea she was coming to write with him and he doesn’t believe in love or romance, it immediately spells disaster. As he caves in and agrees to let her help, she convinces him to go method and do some of the fun things the characters do in the book. They line dance, they cook together, they go to the farmers market…and they start to fall for each other.

I loved this book so much. The writing was fantastic which isn’t unusual for a Katherine Center book, but the chemistry between the two characters was so palpable. Couldn’t love the two of them together more! A perfect summery read.

I will always read a new Katherine Center book. The Rom Commers is another winner. Maybe my favorite! not only do I love her writing style and the topics about which she writes, I always seem to learn a little something new. Emma Wheeler has a dream. She wants so badly to be a successful screenwriter. Her friend in the business sets her up with Charlie Yates, who is a superstar in the screenwriter world. Emma has responsibilities that hold her back. Charlie has baggage that keeps him from believing he can ever love another person. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy!

This was the sweetest, heartwarming summer romance read! I am a big lover of movies and I’ve always been interested in screenwriting. I am a huge lover of rom coms. This was all the perfect fit for me and it was done really well. Emma had such depth to her character and her backstory, Charlie was another character that had such depth and realness to him. Although I didn’t agree with his choices, it made sense for his characters and his past.
Seeing the bond Emma and Charlie create over the weeks together was really special and they grew and learned from each other.
The family aspects were really special too and a great addition.
Also as a movie lover I loved all the movie and industry talk.
I’m excited to see what Katherine Center does next! This was a really great read!

Thanks again to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy!!

"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 𝘵𝘩𝘦 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."
Quoted from advanced copy


I swear thar Katherine Center can do no wrong 😂

She somehow makes me laugh, cringe, sob uncontrollably, and heal again - all within the course of 336 pages.

Also, I have to add that there were several times when I was messaging with her WHILE I was reading because I was laughing so hard 😅

Read if you like:
❤️ Grumpy/Sunshine
✍️ Opposites Attract
❤️ Hollywood/Screenwriter
✍️ Rom-Coms (duh!)
❤️ Powerwash Simulator (IYKYK)
✍️ Bad Attempts at Line Dancing
❤️ Forced Proximity
✍️ Guinea Pigs (who are slightly depressed)

CW/TW: Mentions of chronic/terminal illnesses, including cancer and Traumatic Brain Injuries

Thank you so so much to @stmartinspress and @netgalley for the advanced copy of this book!

THE ROM-COMMERS is out TOMORROW! 😍😍
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#bookstagram #booksta #books #booksbooksbooks #avidreader #ilovereading #thetwistedlibrarian #professionalbookworm #theromcommers #katherinecenter #book46of2024 #whatsnikkireading #forcedproximity #grumpysunshine #oppositesattract #chronicillness #terminalillness #stmartinspress #arc #advancedreadercopy

I struggle endlessly when it comes to reviewing books by Katherine Center, and here’s why. She writes insanely lovable, flawed, relatable characters you cannot help but want to know; her plot lines will capture your attention from page one; her love stories the best of the best. How can I properly do her beautiful, heartwarming, joyful, inspirational stories justice? I simply cannot.

I will leave you with this - read this book. If you are someone who is like me, and struggle with anxiety and overwhelming sadness at times, pick up this book. If you are also like me and suffer from chronic pain from a degenerative illness and have moments of hopelessness, pick up this book. If times are hard and you need a warm hug, PICK UP THIS BOOK. No matter what, you will never regret it.

And if you have already read and loved this one, like I know you will, pick up any of her numerous others.

Read if you like:
•Hollywood romance
•books about writers
•grumpy x sunshine
•forced proximity
•workplace romance
•quirky characters
•joyful books
•swoony romance

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for the gifted copy.

Rating: I liked it ~3.5

Thank you Macmillian.audio for the ALC and SMP for the e-arc in exchange for my review.

I think Katherine Center has a way of writing that sweeps you up in a story. They all have depth and details that make you feel a part of the story.

The premise of The Romcommers was different, and I wanted to like it more than I did. I think I found Charlie to be too whiny to really like him. He wasn’t the hot celebrity, he was just kind of the burned out celebrity who needed a reality check. And while I think that’s the point, I don’t think his character arc was big enough for me to root for him in the end. I liked Emma the most, and I liked her personality and her experience in LA. I wish Charlie was better for her lol, she deserves it. I do think they had sweet moments, but overall, I wasn’t shipping them.

[4.75 Stars🤩] Another incredible book by Katherine Center and my favorite to date! Joy radiated from these pages and I felt like she poured her heart into writing Emma and Charlie's story. The Rom-Commers had Katherine Center's balance of funny and light-hearted with sweet and emotionally charged, heart-rending moments, and I loved every second of this book.

While I wouldn't necessarily label The Rom-Commers as a grumpy/sunshine romance, it IS opposites attract. I loved how different Charlie and Emma appeared to be, but as the story went on, they were so similar beneath all the layers and complemented each other perfectly. Charlie was the PERFECT level of grump-but-secretly-a-marshmallow, and their banter was hilarious! I wanted to kick my feet and giggle so many times, especially at Charlie's sarcasm. Katherine Center wrote their dialogue SO WELL, and it felt like I was sitting at that dining room table with Emma and Charlie, watching them volley back and forth. Wait...am I Cuthbert?!?😉

Another reason I love Katherine Center is the way she gives us not only well-written and perfectly paced romantic development (helloooooo, slow burn!), she builds upon the romantic tension and angst by weaving in sub-plots, side characters, life lessons, and personal growth and development. The relationship between Emma, her dad, and her sister is just as vital to the story and her character's evolution as her romance with Charlie, and in my mind, that takes her books from pretty rom-com pictures to intricate and lovely tapestries that will stay with me long after I've read them.

If you have not read a Katherine Center book yet, then this is a perfect introduction to her! It made me want to curl up on my couch and have a rom-com movie fest because Emma's character goes to bat over the importance of these stories for all of us rom-com lovers.

+A HUGE thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the arc of The Rom-Commers! All thoughts in this review are my own.
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Details:
💘Contemporary romance
🎈Romantic comedy
Workplace romance
👀Single, first-person POV
⛈️Darker themes and elements
🥀Third Act Breakup (kinda)
🙌🏻Would re-read
🌟Favorite

Tropes:
🌪Broody MMC
📍Forced proximity
🧲Opposites attract
🤐Secrets
🧨Slow burn

Spice:
🌸No intimate content (clean)
____________________________________
Emoji Ranking System:
🤩Fantastic (4.75-5.00)
😍Great (4.25-4.75)
😊Good, but not great (3.50-4.25)
😒Just OK (2.75-3.50)
😑It's A No (1.00-2.75)
🚫DNF

Absolutely love Katherin Center!!! Even though I don't typically enjoy stories about Hollywood or famous people in general, I loved this book. The Rom-Commers will keep you on the edge of your seat. There's fun, there's grief, there's tragedy, there's love. This book gave me all the love/fluffy/romance feelings. Bring in Emma, a so to speak wanna be author/screen writer, when her high school best friend Logan gets her an editing job with her adored author Charlie Yates in no other place but his mansion in California! But how can this happen when she's full-time caregiver for her father? Will her sister step in and help her out? I loved the forgiveness and love that flowed through this story. The sibling love is strong. I did think that Charlie could've dialed down his meanness just a tad but yet maybe not because then it showed us the soft side of him and that he was just throwing off a gruff side.

*Possible triggers: Mention of Cancer, mention of accidental death,

Thank you to NetGalley, Katherine Center, and St. Martin's Press for allowing me this arc eversion. All opinions stated above are my own.

Rom-Commers was my 2nd read by this author, and it did not disappoint! Center shows us once again how incredibly skilled she is. The way she pairs difficult topics with humor, and emotion. The pace was just perfect.

MCs: Emma Wheeler, Charlie Yates

Unknown writer Emma is paired up with a legendary, award-winning screen writer Charlie, to help his case of the "yips". She takes time away from care-taking for her dad, after a tragic accident, that forever changed her family to help Charlie re-write a screenplay completely out of his genre. She teaches Charlie that you need to understand love, in order to write about it.

What I loved: Representation of anxiety! We don't see enough of this representation in MCs. Emma's quirkiness, her love for her family, and how good she is at her craft. All of the research they do for their writing - the line dancing scene had me laughing!

What I didn't love: What a jerk Charlie is at times (however he makes up for it!). Also, the part at the end regarding Charlie - I don't want to give away any spoilers, but I don't love how that played out.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one, and would recommend it to my friends!

A big thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC! Rom-Commers comes out 6/11!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of The Rom-Commers!

Emma has dreamed of being a screenwriter but after a tragic accident ten years ago she has been in Texas taking care of her father. Her ex-boyfriend in LA has been trying to help get her screenwriting projects and he reaches out to her because her favorite screenwriter EVER, Charlie Yates, needs help writing a romantic comedy, Emma's favorite genre. As Emma and Charlie write together, they soon begin to live their own romantic comedy. But is it real?

I really enjoyed this one by Katherine Center! Her books are just a balm for the soul. While both characters are flawed they find ways to help each other overcome their past hurts. Emma is such a fun, resilient character and Charlie really blossoms with Emma's friendship. I will definitely continue to read everything Katherine Center puts out!!!

Are you looking for the perfect rom com? Look no further because Katherine Center DELIVERED with her new book. She truly outdid herself. I COULD NOT put this book down. I used reading a chapter of this book as a studying reward (finish a studying task, read a chapter).

Tropes
✨workplace romance
✨grumpy sunshine
✨family drama
✨health (check trigger warnings potentially for this)
✨celebrity romance

Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I truly laughed out loud reading this book (and went through all of the other emotions too). I loved seeing the romance between the two main characters evolve and there were also had some fantastic side characters that really helped round out the story. Swipe through the images to see some of my favorite quotes.

I have read a few of Katherine Center’s other books and have LOVED them. Please go add this book to your TBR and buy it on June 11th!! I am definitely going to pick up a physical copy to have on my shelves.

Thank you Katherine Center and Netgalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so funny and made me feel all the feelings. You really just want to cheer for the characters’ happy ending the entire time. Emma puts her life on hold to take care of her disabled father for ten years as her younger sister goes to school and finishes her degree. When the time comes for her sister to step up and Emma to have the opportunity to live her dream, it’s really difficult for Emma to let go. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to move across the country to try to live your dream while constantly thinking about your family. Charlie is Emma’s dream writer and has written a terrible rom-com that their shared agent wants them to work together to fix. Their love story was so wholesome. Moving from work acquaintances to having dinner together and sharing a routine. I loved that Emma put her heart on the line and was very upfront on how she felt. Their journey was definitely not easy but they made it through. The epilogue was exactly what I needed!

The Rom-Commers was my first Katherine Center book and I enjoyed it! I was sucked in from the start, learning some of Emma's background and the almost failed attempt working with Charlie Yates. Was his full named used too much in the book? Yes it was. But that did not deter me from having fun reading this. Charlie definitely is not a nice MMC and I am not sure why Emma liked him so much but in the end all turns out well. I enjoyed that there was the disability aspect added into the book, but you can't tell me that in 10 years Emma's dad never tried to get her to spend more time on her work or her life, I can't imaging him not letting her go to the beach once in 10 years! This book was fast paced and I flew through it. I laughed out loud so many times. This definitely won't be my last book by Katherine Center.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center for an honest review.

Katherine Center’s ode to the perfect romcom recipe captures the heart, where Emma Wheeler gets a dream opportunity to co-write a romcom script with her idol writer, Charlie Yates. However, Charlie turns out to be quite different from Emma’s expectations: he despises the genre. Tasked with fixing Charlie’s lacklustre script, Emma finds herself teaching him the essential elements of a romantic comedy.

Charlie is far from the ideal hero with his grumpy and cynical demeanour; there are times when his back and forth feelings for Emma that got to me, but he definitely grew on me and I embraced his character development. Emma’s background adds a layer of emotional depth to the story too. As a former caregiver, her experiences resonated with me deeply, evoking a mix of empathy and reflection.

Katherine Center masterfully weaves together humor, romance, and heartfelt moments, creating a story that is both touching and entertaining.

And that HEA. Wow!

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy.