SCREAMING, CRYING, NOT THROWING UP BUT CLOSE. It's been a while since I haven't been able to put down a romance and it is EASILY a 5-star book for me. This book reeled me in from the very beginning. The character development is great, there are two main characters and a few supporting, which made it super easy to keep on track and connect to everyone. You'll laugh and cry alongside Emma and Charlie as they learn to navigate being forced to work together by a mutual friend/manager. If this is on your TBR do not hesitate. I'll now be binging all Katherine Center's books!

I am a huge Katherine Center fan, but true confessions.....I struggled with last year's release of Hello Stranger (I didn't hate it but I didn't love it as much as I have her others). I was a little nervous to pick up this year's newest, but there was no need to worry. I loved it! I see the book has gotten some mixed reviews, but I am here to tell you that I enjoyed the underlying premise of the book (two screenwriters working together on a rom-com when one of the writers does not believe in love) as well as the way the plot unfolded. I loved the characters and how they developed throughout the story. I loved the relationship between Emma and Charlie as well as Emma and her dad. I would not be sad to see these characters make another appearance in a new book!

I really enjoyed this. Patti Murin has become a favorite audiobook narrator. It starts slow so give it a chance--picks up after she gets to LA. My personal preference is more spice, but if you are a reader who prefers a romance without explicit sex scenes then this one is for you. I didn't realize I was missing it until the end so you don't need it. Author's note at the end also a bonus. Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the AAC and the opportunity to share my review.

"The Rom-Commers" by Katherine Center is a must read, with a perfect blend of humor, romance, and heartfelt character development. Personally, I felt deeply connected to Emma, who undergoes significant personal growth throughout the story. Especially as an older sister, I found myself relating to her journey. Center's ability to create such an understandable and engaging character made the story feel incredibly personal and touching.

The humor in this book is simply unbeatable. I found myself laughing out loud countless times, only to be swept off my feet by the romantic moments that followed. The way Center masterfully balances humor and romance creates a delightful rollercoaster of emotions that keeps you hooked from start to finish. It’s rare to find a book that can evoke such a wide range of emotions, but "The Rom-Commers" does so with grace and finesse.

The narration in this book, as with all Katherine Center books, is absolute perfection. Patti Murin brings the characters to life and makes the listening experience so enjoyable.

Katherine Center has truly crafted a gem with "The Rom-Commers." It’s a must-read for anyone who loves a good laugh and a heartwarming love story. This truly is a perfect reminder of why we love rom-coms in the first place.

What to expect:
Strong Female Protagonist
Family Dynamics
Enemies to Lovers
Forced Proximity
Laugh Out Loud Moments

Thank you to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio, and Katherine Center for the ALC in exchange for my honest review!

Interesting story. What happens when you have put your life on hold for everyone else and you suddenly get the chance to work with your screenwriting hero? Your family gives you the opportunity to go and you take off for Hollywood. Great characters with a fun storyline.

This was my first Katherine Center, and I can see why she’s so popular. Everything was very cute. But at times, I felt like the light-hearted cuteness of it all conflicted with the heavier themes Center was trying to pump in, such as parental loss, disability, illness, etc. Those two aspects to the story, the light-hearted putting-it-all-out-there for love and the real-life sadness that can get in the way of love, felt in opposition to one another. I’ve seen it done well (Kennedy Ryan, Emily Henry, etc), and this didn’t quite feel right.

I also just… didn’t care for the FMC. Like at all. She was exasperatingly naive for a fully grown, college-teaching, screenplay-writing woman. She also felt superficial. Like aside from her stubborn commitment to her belief in the concept of love, I don’t think there was much to her. And maybe that was on purpose. By making the main character more of an idea-on-legs rather than a person, Center allows every reader to put themselves in the role of leading lady.

All that being said, I enjoyed the book. I liked the forced proximity and the grumpy/sunshine dynamic. I liked two artists sharing their love for their craft. I liked the mutual respect, the banter, and the slow burn. I liked the small-town-girl goes to Hollywood story. And I actually didn’t mind that this was closed door. The tropes were really really well done.

Overall, I think this book is intended for a reader who’s more of an optimistic idealist than I am. Therefore, I expect this one will be really, really popular.

Katherine Center has done it again! I absolutely adore this story. I listened to the audiobook and really loved the narrator as well. I really love reading about people in the book world, weather it's a reader, publish or a screen writer.
The plot was super cute. A famous cute screenwriter who writes a really bad rom-com, and gets forced to get a "ghost writer" for help with it. What could go wrong? Or Right.

I love stories like these that have multiple stories within them. It's not just a "rom-com" but a slice of life with other members of the family too. I like the family aspect even tho some times it can be a serious or sad situation.

I am very new to New Adult/ Regular Fiction stories. I tend to read mostly thrillers of all kinds, horror, and non- spicy romance / rom coms. This was my 3rd by this author and now I can say with certainty that she is a favorite author.

The only slight thing I wasn't crazy about was the MMC name, Charlie Yates. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't written out sooo much. The first 4th of the book, his name was written in full way too many times. But once she met him, she didn't have to be so excited about him anymore. LOL

This was a bit disappointing and forgettable to be honest. I didn’t connect with the characters and Charlie was kind of a jerk throughout the whole book. The fight between Emma and her sister at the end almost made me DNF the book and the big reveal at the end was not realistic or swoony. Just skip this one.

Emma Wheeler dreams of being a screenwriter, specifically of romantic comedies, but being her dad’s caretaker is a full time job. Her friend, Logan, presents her with a once in a lifetime opportunity: rewrite a script for her favorite screenwriter, Charlie Yates. Emma is reluctant to leave her dad, but her sister steps in to take over caretaking duties so Emma can live out her dreams. Except when Emma arrives at Charlie’s door, he wants nothing to do with her or her writing. He doesn’t even care about the script or romantic comedies. But Emma is determined to show Charlie the power of love and rom-coms.

I really like that both characters had a lot going on in their lives outside of just falling in love. Emma has her dad and his health issues while Charlie is in remission and getting over his ex-wife. These circumstances largely impact their character development and how they view love and relationships. However, I don’t enjoy romances where men are dicks but women fall for them as soon as they show any semblance of kindness, and that’s exactly how Charlie acts in this book. It’s also too much of a slow burn for me. I like the premise of the story as a whole, and I don’t think it’s a bad book by any means, but it’s just not what I prefer in a romance. Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Katherine Center for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

For ten years, Emma Wheeler has sacrificed everything to care for her dad in the aftermath of a serious accident. When her high school best friend, Logan, reaches out to ask her to take a job helping renowned screenwriter Charlie Yates fix a rom-com script, she hesitantly rearranges her life to accept, only to find that Charlie doesn't actually seem to want her help, or to care about the movie at all. That is, until he discovers her writing skills are actually exactly what he needs... and maybe that's not all he needs from Emma.

Like every Katherine Center book I've ever read, this was a delight. I loved both Emma and Charlie right away, and I was so invested in their enemies-to-lovers journey. I loved the way the author invented her own celebrities but also name-dropped Meryl Streep, and it was fascinating to get a peek into the world of screenwriting. This book made me laugh and cry actual tears, and I couldn't stop listening to the audiobook narrated by Patti Murin. The audiobook also includes a bonus scene and an author's note read by the author that I really enjoyed.

While this isn't a clean romance by the strictest standards because of language and some innuendo, there is no spice on the page. There was one joke I didn't love about a character's name, but if you went to public middle school, it's nothing you haven't heard before. This is still very tame compared to a lot of what is out there now.

Thank you @netgalley, @macmillan.audio, and @stmartinspress for the opportunity to read and listen to this fantastic summer read. Romance readers will not want to miss this one!

Good Vibes

Katherine Center surprised me with her captivating storytelling. Despite my initial doubts, this book left me in a delightful book hangover—I’ve tried other reads, but nothing quite sticks. I can’t believe it took me this long to discover her! Her name has been all over BookTok, but I didn't think her books were my style. How wrong I was! I finished listening to her book this morning, and nothing else compares. The narrator masterfully holds your attention, and the story is an absolute joy.
Years ago, a tragic accident on the Wheeler family vacation forever changed their lives—the mother lost her life, the father lost the use of his hand, and the daughters were never the same. Emma, the eldest, channeled her grief into becoming a stellar screenwriter, even winning a prestigious internship she had to forfeit to care for her father. Now, thanks to an old friend and agent, Emma gets a fleeting chance to pursue her dreams. She’s been hired to assist Charlie Yates, the award-winning screenwriter she’s admired for years. However, upon meeting Charlie, Emma realizes that some heroes are best admired from afar—a very long distance afar.
This novel will take you on an emotional rollercoaster, making you laugh one moment and cry the next. Like all truly heartfelt stories, it evokes a wide range of emotions from the start, keeping you fully invested until the end. It’s almost like an emotional cleanse—you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll come out feeling rejuvenated.
The book is sweet, fun, funny, heartwarming, agonizing, surprising, and highly entertaining. Katherine Center proves herself a spectacular Rom-Com writer, with at least 50% of the novel being dialogue—something she masters brilliantly. I laughed out loud many times and adored her impactful one-word paragraphs. Center has a talent for crafting wonderful characters that readers can’t help but love and root for. Plus, there’s a fantastic twist that caught me by surprise—bonus points for that. How many Rom-Com authors can write truly surprising twists?

Unfortunately, it will probably be another year or two before Katherine Center finishes her next masterpiece. Luckily, I have plenty of her other books to dive into while I eagerly await her next release.

Thank you to @macmillan.audio through @Netgalley for the ALC of Katherine Center’s The Rom-Commers. And when I say thank you, I mean THANK YOU! All opinions are my own.

We need a new word for wonderful for this book. 5/5. The end.

Okay, you want more details? Katherine Center loves to write and you feel it on every page. She loved writing it and I loved reading it. It flowed so nicely and could easily be a one-day read. There were special connections throughout the book that felt so easy, yet they must have been difficult to come up with and write.

Emma Wheeler has had to give up a lot in her life and gets an offer she either can (or can’t) refuse, which is to help screenwriter Charlie Yates with his step into rom-com writing.

You will learn insider writer information such as immersion research and pen identity issues like ink color, fine-point or bold-tip. You will see how to lose a conversation, question how many days it takes to fall in love, and want to take note of Emma’s list of kissing categories. In many KC books you will learn about an illness or physical problem, and this one is no different. Like life, there is happy and sad in her books but there is also resilience. There were so many scenes and quotes and learning moments that I highlighted but they would surpass the character count if I added them here. One short one that I relate to: “I don’t have anxiety. I just worry all the time.”

Narrator Patti Murin is a great voice for this book. She gets the humor, the touching parts and the romance. Her voice simply agrees with me and I always know that when she is involved, she will take an already excellent book up additional notch.

The audiobook includes a bonus scene (Charlie’s POV) read by the author.
Both the ebook and audiobook have acknowledgements, but the author reads them in the audio and adds a bit more.

This book publishes today, June 11, 2024. Grab it with both hands and don’t let go!!!

5/5 stars
11 hours 21 minutes at 1x on audio
Locations: Texas and Los Angeles, CA

Another great novel from Katherine Center! Emma is a writer hoping to land a sweet deal for her screenplay draft. Charlie is a successful screenwriter who Emma idolizes. Emma’s future is in flux as she cares for her father who is disabled. When her friend, Logan, gives her a once in a lifetime opportunity to work with her idol, Emma can’t pass it up. How will Charlie respond to a collaboration with an unknown? Can they find success together? How will this project change their lives? Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC. This is my honest review.

Katherine Center, please take a bow! You truly outdid yourself with this gem!

I've read most everything by this author and I have many favorite books. That said, this one is definitely at the top of my list now. It was just such a complete romance in every meaning of the word. It was a beautiful story with scarred characters who needed to find someone who could help heal their wounds. At the same time, even though there was complete heartbreak, there was also incredible hope.

I also loved the plot of a complete rom-com queen helping a re-knowned screenwriter to "fix" a script. Their slowly evolving relationship was quite simply the thing of stories....no pun intended.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: The narration for this audio was wonderful. I toggled back and forth between the audiobook and the ebook and it was wonderful. I was completely engrossed in this story from start to finish and couldn't wait to see how these two worked "things" out. 5 stars

A huge thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both the ebook and audiobook. I voluntarily chose to read and/or listen to them both and review them and the opinions contained within are my own.

Thank you to both St Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for early review copies via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. I mostly listened to the audio because I really enjoy the narration of Patti Murin 😍
Emma, a romcom screenwriter, has been working as her father’s caretaker and putting her own life on hold. When a once-in-a-lifetime job opportunity comes up, Emma is able to take advantage of it as her recently graduated sister takes over in caring for their father. Along the way, Emma grows both professionally and personally. Working with a famous screenwriter, Emma helps him break out of his writer's block and teaches him a few things. Emma learns to forgive herself and is able to finally break out of the shell of herself within which she's been existing. I enjoyed witnessing her growth. And I laughed aloud at the cameo made by a previous Katherine Center main character 🤣
This one is now available for everyone to experience, and I highly recommend it! I got teary while listening to the end of this one, so perhaps prepare yourself with some tissues.

This was my first Katherine Center book but it will not be my last. I loved the romance and disability rep in this book. THe characters were believable and their feelings felt appropriate to the situation. A lot of times in romance books, the characters feelings seem blown out of proportion and unbelievable. I really enjoyed this.

4.5 Stars
I always have a good time with Katherine Center’s novels and The Rom-Commers was no exception.

There was so much I loved about this book. Emma was a great FMC, and she was an easy character to root for. Despite all the difficulties she has faced in her life, she still manages to be a complete ray of sunshine. Charlie is the complete opposite and SUCH a jaded grump. I thought the premise was fun and while I’ve read a bunch of Hollywood romances at this point, I don’t think I’ve ever come across one involving two screenwriters. I loved the banter between the pair - so many funny one liners! And the totally unromantic “research” moments? Swoon!

The only thing that kept this from being a 5 star was that Charlie was just so mean at times and even though we learn why that is, I just didn’t like it. I didn’t like how he talked down to her (and about her), and how Emma just took it and didn’t expect an apology. Everything just happened so quickly at the end it was hard for me to reconcile his actions.

I read this via audiobook and it was a great experience. The narrator did a wonderful job, especially with capturing the snarky banter between Emma and Charlie. I would highly recommend the audiobook.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the review copy.

I devoured this book! It made me feel all of the emotions and my husband even caught me crying a couple of times. I loved the banter and the chemistry and everything about Emma and Charlie. They had my smiling like crazy one second and then tearing up the next.

I love a good grumpy sunshine pairing and this one was PERFECT! All I really have to say is GO READ THIS BOOK! It is my new favorite Katherine Center read and if you like rom coms with depth then I think you’ll love it too!

The audiobook was done so well! I loved the narration by Patti Murin and definitely recommend listening if you like to read books that way!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

*4.5 Stars On My Instagram Account*

"All genres have a promise...the same is true for a romantic comedy. The two leads will wind up together. That's what the audience shows up for; the joy of it all...The fun is how we get there..."

...and WOW do we get there in the laugh out loud yet tender comfort read/listen of The Rom-Commers by the always sentimentally funny author Katherine Center.

Emma loves to write romcoms. She's even won writing contests but as the caregiver for her sweet Dad who needs constant care from an accident for which Emma feels guilty, she has no time to pursue her writing career. Then a chance to help an award winning screenwriter salvage his awfully bad RomCom script comes her way and her Dad and sister force her to take the opportunity.

Charlie is a cranky grump. He doesn't believe in love and can't remember the last time he laughed, so of course his try at romantic comedy is a dud. He can write violence and action but in order to get approval for his next movie the studio wants this script.

He doesn't want Emma's help but soon she's living in his mansion, writing with him everyday, and helping him hide from his ex-wife. Their hilarious mishaps, ridiculous arguments and obvious chemistry makes its way into their RomCom story but then Charlie gets a phone call and it changes everything.

When I found out that voice actress Patti Murin was performing the words of Katherine Center this easily became my most anticipated summer book and neither let me down. As always the funny capers were awesome but it was those tender heartfelt moments that made the tears fall.

Hey Prime Video and Netflix you have a ready made RomCom hit with The Rom-Commers! It fulfills all the promises of the genre for us fans.

I received a free copy of this book/audiobook from the publishers via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you so much to @katherinecenter @netgalley @macmillanaudio @stmartinspress and @pattimurin for my audio copy of The Rom-Commers!


"A great rom-com is just like sex. If you're suprised by the ending, somebody wasn't doing their job. We all know where it's headed. The fun is how we get there."

"I had a theory that we gravitate toward the stories we need in life. Whatever we are looking for ... we turn to stories to help us find it."

“That's just life.
Tragedy really is a given.
There are endless human stories, but they all end the same way.
So it can't be where you're going that matters. It has to be how you get there.
That's what I've decided.
It's all about the details you notice. And the joys you savor. And the hope you refuse to give up on.
It's all about writing the very best story of your life.
Not just about how you live it—but how you choose to tell it.”
- Katherine Center, The Rom-Commers

Happy pub day to @katherinecenter and her newest rom-com, so aptly named The Rom-Commers!

This story focuses on Emma Wheeler, a talented writer who has put many of her own dreams on hold to care for her father, who suffered a TBI while rock climbing ten years earlier and has since been diagnosed with hemiplegia and Meniere's disease, in addition to helping raise her younger sister.

Our MMC is Charlie Yates, an award-winning screenwriter who has also been through some trauma and has lost his writing mojo.

The two are brought together by a mutual friend in hopes they can re-write Charlie's dumpster fire of a rom-com screenplay. This grumpy/sunshine duo made me laugh, cry, and occasionally say, "Oh come on!" as they stumbled through the ups and downs of writing, life, and love. They both brought out good things in each other, even though the way they went about it weren't always the best.

While the main focus was Emma and Charlie's relationship, I honestly think I was more in love with Emma's relationship with her dad and younger sister, Sylvie. Her dad truly was the best example of gratitude and making the most of your life, and as someone with a younger sister, I also loved how Sylvie was not only Emma's little sister, but also one of her best friends who grew up a lot while Emma was in Los Angeles.

As always, Center's writing in The Rom-Commers is full of heart and beautiful, but there were a few instances that rubbed me the wrong way that I wish had been handled a little differently. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll leave it at that, but feel free to message me if you want specifics. This book wasn't my very favorite of hers, but I would still recommend it to rom-com fans and fans of her writing, even though it was a heavier read.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and its overarching theme about treasuring every moment, holding those you love close, and not letting fear dictate how you live life.

I can't wait to read more from Katherine in the future!