[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.
____________________________________
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.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

If you haven't ever read a Katherine Center book, you should start now. This book is fabulous. Who wouldn't want to read a rom-com about two people writing a rom-com and trying out every silly, outlandish, ridiculous trope there is? You will laugh out loud and fall in love with the characters. After you're done you'll need to go read every other book Center has written!

Emma had dreams of being a screenwriter. For years she was eking out a living thanks to her ex-boyfriend's kindness of sending work her way, and now he brought her an opportunity that could be a game changer - the chance to help one of her favorite writers fix his rom-com screenplay. The biggest problem with the script is the writer, Charlie, who believes love is a scam. Will Emma be able to sell him on the power of love and save this screenplay?

As I age, the list of things I have doubts about grows longer and longer, but one thing I never doubt is how much a Katherine Center book will delight me. As soon I as began reading, a smile formed on the face and stayed there for almost the entirety of the book.

I embraced Emma from the very beginning. It pained me that she abandoned her dreams following a family tragedy. She spent a decade supporting her sister and caring for her father, and now that her sister was finished with college, it was her turn to make her dreams a reality. I was so excited for Emma and really pulling for her to find great success with her writing project. Needless to say, there were bumps in the road. One large bump being Charlie.

There non-meet-cute was straight out of a rom-com, the result of a meddling agent. But as expected, it took a turn towards a working relationship and a friendship of sorts. During this time, there were so many sweet and tender moments shared between these two. Charlie was a quiet hero whose actions did the speaking for him. These gestures were on a smaller scale but managed to make my heart pitter pat. I just adored watching their relationship grow and seeing some kindness and care shown to Emma.

As with all her books, Center married the heavy and light beautifully producing a story that was emotional and packed with humor and cheer. I loved every character I met, cried for the good and tough things that happened to them, and was left in an elated state in the end. AND a special gift to me was an appearance by Jack from The Bodyguard. Special thanks for this as Easter eggs tickle me pink.

Overall, another incredible, touching, and heartwarming tale from Center!

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

I absolutely loved this book! It really is worthy of the title ‘The Rom-Commers’ a perfect combination of Romance and Comedy!

Emma is a ‘failed’ writer who takes care of her father and has a once in a lifetime chance to rewrite a screenplay with a famous albeit prickly writer Charlie. It is filled with ups and downs, a sort of forced proximity trope and a lovely cast of characters! If you need a break from the lay it on thick/over the top romances I think you will enjoy this! I certainly did!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press - Minotaur books and Macmillan Audio for the digital advanced readers and listeners copy!! The narrator of this audiobook - Patti Murin was amazing to listen to! This novel will be published June 11, 2024! Add it to your TBR!!

Katherine Center’s “The Rom-Commers” is a delightful blend of wit, romance, and the struggles of balancing personal dreams with familial responsibilities. The novel introduces us to Emma Wheeler, a determined screenwriter who has devoted years to caring for her father. When the opportunity arises to work with the legendary Charlie Yates, Emma leaps at the chance to finally pursue her aspirations.

Emma’s move to L.A. to collaborate with Charlie on a romantic comedy script is both exhilarating and daunting. Charlie, disillusioned with love and rom-coms, initially sees Emma as an unwanted intruder. However, Emma’s tenacity and passion for romantic comedies slowly chip away at his cynical exterior. The banter and debates between Emma and Charlie are the heart of the story, showcasing their evolving dynamic and mutual respect.

The novel shines in its exploration of what makes love stories compelling. Emma’s quest to prove the worth of rom-coms to Charlie—and perhaps to herself—resonates deeply. She challenges him to reconsider his views on love, leading to moments of genuine connection and blurred lines between their professional and personal lives.

Final Thoughts:

“The Rom-Commers” is a charming read for anyone who loves stories about writers and the romantic comedy genre. Emma’s journey is inspiring, and her chemistry with Charlie is both endearing and entertaining. Katherine Center has crafted a narrative that celebrates the power of love stories, both on and off the screen.

I received an ARC of the book from the publisher, but the thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.

4.5 stars (rounded up to 5).

Well, this will be my favorite contemporary romance of the year.

I bawled throughout, the miscommunication was relatable for once, the slow burn, the chemistry, the story, all of it was absolute PERFECTION.

Katherine Center is always a fun read, but this book is my roman empire. It was so relatable. As the eldest daughter, I have never related to a character more then Emma. Charlie was an absolute gem, so endearing and pure. I loved their relationship so much.

I laughed, I cried, and I believe this will be on the lists at the end of the year for best romance!

10/10

Thank you to the author, netgalley and MacMillian for the ARC.

The way Katherine Center works her way around my heart – it’s uncanny. I fall in love with every story – the storytelling, the writing, and the characters all settling neatly into my heart where they elicit the coveted flips and flutters over and over again.

The Rom-Commers was more of the same. I really really enjoyed this story. I loved the chemistry between Emma and Charlie. I loved their cantankerously sweet slow burn, and the way they provided safe space for each other. Charlie is the epitome of grumpy hero – his grumpiness pushing the boundaries of what I accept of “mean” behavior from a hero sometimes. But the sweetness underneath all that bluster really did make up for everything in the end.

The conflict is the only thing that I really struggled with on this one. It’s only because it involved secrets - which is always a tough plot device for me to invest in – but also because it felt a little bit like whiplash when the secrets were revealed and almost immediately morphed into happily ever after territory. Don’t get me wrong – I was wholly satisfied with how everything played out in the end. I just felt like the pacing was a little bit off and my emotions wound up all over the place as a result.

All in all – this was still an excellent story. I was addicted to it, and it caused my heart to perform all the usual falling-in-love acrobatics. This is another Katherine Center gem, and I enthusiastically recommend you read it! ~ 4.5 Stars

There honestly wasn’t a single thing I didn’t love about this book. Katherine Center is so skilled at balancing really serious issues - grief, illness, divorce, etc. - with truly perfect rom-com banter. The back and forth between Emma and Charlie are they spar, and write together, and drive each other crazy, and begrudgingly fall in love is just chef’s kiss perfect.

This book might break your heart a little in certain moments, but the rom-com developing between the leads while they write a rom-com will out it back together. Honestly, I need to see this story on a screen. I’d watch it on repeat

Five stars for the fact that I binged this book in 24 hours.

Emma is a writer. Charlie is a famous writer. She gets hired to rewrite his terrible rom-com screenplay in six weeks, by his agent - but not by him. She leaves her medically fragile dad behind at home, then shows up on Charlie’s L.A. doorstep. He is unaware and chaos ensues. By some miracle, Emma agrees to stay one night and then return home in the morning.

I’ll let the story tell itself from there. It’s a rom-com, and while Charlie clearly doesn’t understand the genre, Emma does and so do I… we all know how their story will end, but the fun is the journey getting there. Buckle up for witty banter, family drama and grief, interesting side characters, and a guinea pig named Cuthbert.

As Emma said to Charlie, “A rom-com should give you a swoony, hopeful, delicious, rising feeling of anticipation as you look forward to the moment when the two leads who are clearly mad for each other finally overcome all their obstacles, both internal and external, and get together.”

Mission accomplished, Katherine Center.

It doesn’t get more perfect than this one! The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center is a romantic comedy about two writers writing a rom-com together where one doesn’t believe in love and the other is obsessed with all the nuances involved in making a good rom-com. Emma Wheeler is offered the chance of a lifetime to come to L.A. and work with her favorite screenwriter, Charlie Yates. With her family’s help, she sets off on what she thinks will be a dream for the next six weeks. What she finds is a surly, blocked writer who wrote the worst rom-com screenplay she’s ever read. To top it all off, Charlie doesn’t know she’s coming, doesn’t want her help, and believes that all rom-coms are a cheap copout. So why is he writing one?

Emma is a great character to follow. She’s spent the last ten years as her father’s sole caretaker after a hiking accident left him a hemiplegic and with Meniere’s disease (an inner ear issue that affects balance and can cause sudden episodes of falling). Emma’s life didn’t pan out the way she thought it would and has since spent it in fear and with a lot of anxiety. Writing is her outlet, her dream, and she has dozens of original scripts to prove it. Her high school boyfriend and now friend is her agent, sending her random jobs she can do from the comforts of home, but this job, working with her favorite screenwriter is a pipe dream until her younger sister comes home and takes over caretaking duties sending Emma on her own adventure.

As the narrator of our story, Emma’s thoughts on what is happening and how she lays out her own life story in the midst of it all is hilarious. She even breaks the fourth wall talking directly to the reader at the serious moments or not-so-serious with inside information to make this rom-com follow the “rules of rom-coms” as she calls them. Charlie Yates is an enigma to her. He has everything she wanted. His screenplays have all become big blockbuster movies with the awards to prove it, and yet the screenplay she read and has been hired to fix is not the Yates she knows. He can do better and she is determined to make him do better.

The romance here sneaks up on you. For Emma, this is a job, even if it is with the cute screenwriter of her dreams, it is a job, one she plans to take very seriously. Charlie doesn’t even want her there, but after hearing what she has to say about his rom-com script and reading one of her scripts, he reluctantly agrees to hire her. After a few rocky sessions, their writing takes off. The banter between them and the sweet friendship that develops is like reading one of my favorite Nora Ephron movies.

Overall, I loved The Rom-Commers. Emma and Charlie’s banter, the meet-cute which I didn’t talk about above because it must be read and enjoyed not spoiled, and all their subsequent encounters will make you laugh, cry, and swoon. I loved that they are writers themselves and talking about romantic comedies. It’s an interesting insight into how they think and what we are reading. While this is my first Katherine Center book, it will definitely not be my last. If you are looking for your next summer read, look no further than The Rom-Commers.

I have never met a Katherine Center book that I didn't like. The Rom-Commers is no exception.

Emma and Charlie are opposites, yet they go so well together. The banter back and forth is great. I absolutely love when I am able to laugh out loud while reading.

This rom-com is heartwarming and a must-read.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book. This is my honest review.

Screenwriter Emma is tasked with a dream job of helping to rewrite a rom-com with her favorite screenwriter, Charlie Yates. But this proves difficult when it’s made clear Charlie doesn’t believe in love…yet.

The Rom-Commers is a romance that really lives up to the title. There’s comedy, there’s romance…some themes and scenes may seem over the top but I know they would fit the genre perfectly if you saw them on screen.

Emma is a very organized, enthusiastic fan of rom-coms and movies in general. She’s caring and very invested in what she’s doing in the story - not just writing the screenplay but helping out Charlie along the way.

Charlie is awkward but lovable! Though at times he can seem bitter and/or mean, I think it’s obvious where his heart is and you just need to find out the reason behind his words.

It’s an easy love story that draws you in. Definitely one of my favorites this year and one I would recommend!

This author did it again!!!! This book was funny, with the banter between Emma and Charlie, it was actually never ending because these two are so funny, it gave Grumpy/Sunshine vibes. There was an unexpected pet that Charlie introduces her to, and some work drama that had nothing to do with Emma but is the reason why he needed her to help, it sounds like a lot right??? Lol, you gotta read it.

Charlie is known to be the king of rom-coms, he has created amazing work that has inspired Emma is so many ways and being the fan that she is she gave in to helping Charlie even though their first time meeting was horrible. She’s there to help “save” his career, but little did she know it would be the other way around for her and even for him.