The Rom Commers by Katherine Center
Narrator: Patti Murin
Rating: 3.5 stars
Pub date: 6/11

Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for my advanced copy and to Macmillan Audio for my complimentary audiobook. Big thanks to Katherine Center for my cute bookish gift, too!

Emma Wheeler is an aspiring screenwriter whose dreams are interrupted when a tragic accident forces her to become the full-time caretaker of her father. When an opportunity arises for her to help the famous writer, Charlie Yates, rewrite his terrible rom-com, she jumps at the chance to change her life.

This is a tough one to review. On the one hand, there is a lot to like! The banter was cute at times, and I loved Emma’s snark. The characters were flawed, but Emma was relatable. I enjoyed the celebrity sightings (including Jack Stapleton), the complicated family relationships, and the adorable guinea pig.

While I enjoyed most of this story, the real reason I couldn’t rate it higher was because of Charlie. He is a handsome, misunderstood writer who doesn’t believe in love, and at first, this seemed like it was going to be adorable. But he was SO mean to Emma throughout the book that it was hard to root for him and for a relationship to develop between them.

While the reasoning for Charlie’s bad behavior became clear later on, it was too late for me. Their chemistry felt forced after Charlie repeatedly told Emma he had no feelings for her. He spent so much time rejecting her advances (which are very cringey, by the way) that it became impossible to imagine them together. I honestly think Emma deserved better.

Patti Murin did a great job narrating this one! I loved her voice for Emma and she was able to bring the rest of the characters to life, as well.

This book has gotten great reviews, and no one is more disappointed than me that I didn’t love it. If this is on your TBR and you’re a fan of Katherine Center, I still highly recommend it. I am a huge fan of hers and will continue to read everything she writes.

Katherine Center has done it again!! Another fabulous story and one I couldn’t put down! Emma and Charlie are both such lovable characters who have been through lots in life. Especially Emma, and you just feel for her and her sacrifices immediately and what to see her get a win! So when she follows her dream (even with a rather large push from family) you hope it all works out for her. Of course lots of things try to get in the way to threaten this dream, but you still keep on laughing and smiling through it all with Emma and Charlie’s banter. For Emma writing a rom com is a dream, she’s seen them all and can recite about as many. For Charlie writing this romance is just a way to get his other movie produced. Definitely check out the Rom-Commers when it releases!!

The Rom- Commers

This title is perfect for this book, I truly felt like I was watching the newest Netflix Romcom with my friends the whole time I was reading it. Thank you SMP and NetGalley for the Advanced Readers Copy!

The Rom-commers follows Emma, a romance screenwriter who is also the full-time caretaker for her dad, because of that her career has always been on the back burner. Until she gets a call offering her a position to help rewrite the script for the famous Charlie Yates who has written an absolutely terrible RomCom. In order to do so she must move to LA, stay in his home (we love a forced proximity) and convince him that love exists (we also love a grumpy sunshine moment). You can see where this story is going from here.

I absolutely loved every character in this story, Charlie had the perfect amount of charm, and Emma felt like a really well developed character. One thing I especially loved about there dynamic was that Emma saw through his indifference so quickly, rather than taking every cold thing he said and making it about her she could see that it was a reflection on his own fear. I will say though, drunk Emma had me cringing HEAVILY, but I guess that was the point really, I was embarrassed for her.

Katherine Center always does such a great job of developing characters, giving them goals, and never leaving you wondering what there motive was (unless it’s an intentional mystery).

I cant wait to see this book in stores!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the eAudiobook ARC! Emma Wheeler is an aspiring screenwriter but things just haven't been going her way, until the opportunity of a lifetime presents itself to her. Now, Emma is being offered the chance to work on the script of a new film adaptation of "It Happened One Night" with the famous, award-winning screenwriter Charlie Yates. Now, Emma must leave her ailing father and home behind for California. But the one thing standing in the way of her new start just so happens to be Charlie, who denies agreeing to any re-writes on his script and doesn't want to work with a no-name screen writer. Emma must convince Charlie that her ideas are good and that his script could use some help in the romance department. With humor and heart-felt emotion, the Rom-Commers is a perfect read for romance fans. Readers of Katherine Center's the Bodyguard will also be thrilled at the guest appearance of Jack Stapleton! Patti Murin provides a fun and emotional voice to the characters, bringing the story to a fuller depth of emotion.

3 1/2 stars rounded up to 4

I should start my admitting that I haven't been the biggest fan of Katherine Center's previous books. But I seem to always read them thanks to the gorgeous covers and book world hype that always tempts me so much!!

I actually think The Rom-Commers is my favorite Center book that I've read so far. To me, it was a little less cheesy than many of them are and it had a cute and fairly unique premise. I listened to the book on audio and for me, I think this is the way to go with Center's books.

The main thing that bothered me, and this is a biggie, is that I just didn't really sense the romantic connection between the two main characters, Emma and Charlie. And there's not really any building of feelings, it seemed like. Maybe Emma was in denial about her feelings and obviously she didn't get any sense that Charlie liked her romantically. But everything seemed to happen suddenly but also kind of vaguely, where I still wasn't totally sure the couple actually really liked each other in a romantic kind of way.

Overall, I think this will be a hit with Katherine Center's usual fanbase. She knows what formula works and she uses it. The book has a deeper lesson as many of her books do and I think this was an important one and that many of us can learn from Emma's life. I found the listening experience to be enjoyable; I just wish I felt that romantic spark a bit more!

Katherine Center's books are such a breath of fresh air that I saved this audiobook for a special day and even with such high expectations, it didn't let me down. Her stories are just pure joy! And Patti Murin is the voice I hear when I read her books so hearing her as the narrator is as natural as listening to Katherine herself tell me her story.
The Rom-Commers is about two screenwriters, one who is famous for writing action movies, and one who has won scholastic accolades and contests for writing amazing romantic comedies but then disappeared into oblivion as her family and personal life took over her ambitions. So what happens when the famous action writer is contracted to write a rom-com? And it's terrible? Opportunity, conflict and so many possibilities!

In addition to being an amazing story told with heart and soul by Patty Murin, the audiobook also contains a bonus scene, an author's note, and acknowledgments read by the author. I really appreciate having these included in the audiobook, the author's notes and acknowledgements always add another layer to the story and it's great to have these available to all audiences!

This book felt like a love letter to Rom Com movies and I was here for every minute of it. I loved Emma and her eternal optimism and devotion to Romantic Movies. I loved her passion for writing, plotting, character development and movies. This book had me smiling from ear to ear. I haven't read a ton of Katherine Center books but friends have told me this one is on the lighter side for her. Which is right up my alley. I seriously seriously LOVED this book. For me this book had a perfect balance of fun and heartfelt. Both characters had their past traumas that come up, but they also brought out the best parts of each other also.

I had such a great time listening to this story, I am now in love with and will be searching out any and all audiobooks narrated by Patti Murin.

There are a few nods to Katherine's previous book The Bodyguard in this one. I hadn't read that one and as soon as I finished the Rom-Commer's I went and got the audiobook immediately! It is also narrated by Patti Murin! But I think that says a lot about how much I loved this one that I immediately had to dive into another book by this author.

Katherine Center’s book I always whip through every summer. Her new book, “The Rom-Commers” I was able to listen on the audiobook.
Emma spends her time being the care-giver for her dad, but her real dream, is to be a screen writer. When her friend Logan calls with the opportunity to write for her favorite writer, Charlie Yates, she can’t believe the opportunity, but she also cant leave her father. Luckily Emma younger sister steps up as a caregiver so that Emma can fly to LA. But what happens when Charlie Yates is not what she expected…
I liked this one! Not my favorite by Katherine Center but it was cute! I enjoyed the characters and the slow burning love scenes. I am not into screen writing/acting so that part was hard for me to get into. The ending had me hooked and I really enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook. 4 stars!

This was my first Katherine Centers book and it will certainly not be the last! I enjoyed this book!

Things I liked: for the audiobook, I thought the narrator did a great job representing Emma and her humor, and real-ness. There was some witty banter, some funny moments, and the FMC Emma overall was a likeable character.

Honestly I thought the MMC Charles was a bit of a jerk so it was hard to root for him at times. But yes - he had reasons . And he did have a pretty epic redemption arc in the end. Lol.

Overall, I would recommend this book. It was a relatively quick listen, & a good choice if you like rom-coms, grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity.

Thank you Netgalley & Macmillan Audio for this ALC!

This book was another great entry into the Katherine Center library. I loved listening to this and I loved the characters. It was great how Emma set up how a romcom should work & then it played out in the story, Charlie’s awful screenplay got Emma out of her rut to get her to her best life. I loved that Jack & Hannah from The Bodyguard made appearances in this book. This book is light & fun yet has some serious & deep issues going on. ‘There it is. The whole trick to life. Be aggressively, loudly, unapologetically grateful.”

Thanks to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio, St. Martin’s Press and Katherine Center for a copy of this audiobook.

Katherine Center has easily become one of my must read authors over the past two years. I absolutely loved The Bodyguard and Hello Stranger, and The Rom-Commers did not top either of those for me.

The Rom-Commers is still a good book, but perhaps I just didn't love Charlie Yates, one of our MCs, especially in contrast to Emma, who is so easy to love! Our story follows Emma, who is a great romantic comedy writer that has missed her big break due to staying home and taking care of her disabled father. Her friend calls her and tells her she has the opportunity to write with Charlie Yates (a very big writer), after making arrangements for dad she shows up on Charlie's door step ready to work....except he wants nothing to do with her.

Common tropes include forced proximity and enemies to lovers (although it's more like they don't get along instead of straight enemies). I do think this book could have been made better if it had a little more substance to them actually building a relationship, instead of it just seeming like their time together flew by.

Thank you to NetGalley and McMillan for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

My first Katherine Center book! Ive heard a lot of positives about her so I was excited to go into this book.
I would rate this 3.5 - 4 stars. I listened to this fully on audio so I'm not 100% sure if that affected my rating. The book started off good but i feel like there was more showing than telling of their romance. They lived together for 6 weeks but we only saw a snippet of a few days of this time. We also focused moreso on each of the characters trauma/past versus them falling in love. It wasn't a couple that I was completely swooning over.

This star rating went down to the 3.5 range for me when i felt as though the FMC was way more invested/ begging for the man. This is explained later on in the book but the FMC’S actions still stuck with me. I also didn't love the way the narrator did the mmc’s voice, that definitely took away from the story for me.

Overall, they were a cute couple and I really did enjoy the scenes of them ending up in typical rom-com situations and falling in love through it all. I just wish we saw more of that and the building of their relationship. The book made me chuckle/laugh out loud a few times and the writing was really good! I just don’t think its a book that will stick with me for too long.

Really loved The Rom-Commers! Katherine Center really knows how to write characters you really care about. Couldn't stop listening to this one!

A+ to the narrator of this book, she really made these complex characters come to life. As for the story, I must say Katherine Center has does it again. She managed to get me swept up in Emma and Charlie's world especially with all the banter. I was constantly trying to find ways to fit more listening time in during my day. The Rom-Commers was such a fun story and the perfect binge read for the summer.

Are you looking for some fun characters and hilarious scenes? The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center has it.

"Emma is desperate to be a screenwriter. When she is asked to help another screenwriter fix his new Rom-Com, it turns out to be Charlie Yates - her favorite writer ever. And he's written a terrible Rom-Com, mostly because he doesn't think love is real. So Emma will do anything to convince him that love stories matter. But what happens when the love story hits close to home?"

First - this is a wonderful audiobook. Patti Murin gives Emma so much personality. From her convictions to her guilt about her mother's death and her passion for love stories. I really felt like I was listening to Emma's story.

There are so many funny scenes in this book - Lorenzo the Cowboy at Line Dancing lessons - and the scene on the high dive in Charlie's pool. I would watch this on Netflix just for that.

This is a romance so you have some idea about where the story is headed. But KC takes a different way to get there. When you meet someone and are attracted to them, you each have to work through the other's issues and hang-ups and hope it works. You're cheering for Emma and Charlie to get there.

This is a great book and characters from Center. Look for a lot of copies of this at the beach this year.

My rating for this book is 4.75 stars!

In The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center, Emma Wheeler, aspiring screenwriter and caretaker of her father, gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with her favorite screenwriter of all time, Charlie Yates. Unfortunately, when she goes to meet him in LA, she finds out that he doesn't want to work with her, doesn't care about the project they're supposed to work on, and doesn't even believe in love! Emma decides that she's going to work to convince him otherwise and make a great romcom script. Along the way, their relationship goes from writing colleagues to maybe something more.

I LOVED this book! Emma and Charlie's sunshine and grumpy dynamic made me laugh and made for the perfect setup for their character arcs. I loved how they slowly grew to like each other and were so surprised when it happened.

I also loved Katherine Center's writing style! It was so. unique and relatable and compelling. She made the heartbreaks so painfully poignant and the happy moments perfectly sentimental and emotional. I wept for heartbreak and joy, and could not stop rooting for all the characters to get their happy endings.

Thank you to Katherine Center and Macmillan Audio for the early audiobook copy of The Rom-Commers! Definitely check it out when it releases on June 11th!

The narrator of this book was Patti Murin. I have listened to several books by this narrator and they are one of my favorites! The narrator seamlessly moved between characters, and kept an easy and understandable flow between chapters. The narrator made the main characters sound unique and relatable.

Emma and Charlie’s story is a fun one. They are both writers, but of very different genres. When Emma gets the chance to work with Charlie, a famous screenplay writer, she takes the chance.

Katherine Center is a storyteller. I am constantly amazed by her creativity. She weaves together the main story and side stories into something that is a joy to read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC, and for letting me share my early thoughts on The Rom-Commers.

Katherine Center is becoming one of my quintessential summer authors. This is my second Katherine Center book, and I adored it! The dynamic between Charlie and Emma was perfection (also - of COURSE Charlie is a Gemini).

This was very nearly a 5 star for me, it just lost me a little toward the end - I was expecting Charlie to have some big secret reason she would hate him and while he did have a secret, it certainly wasn't hate-worthy so I found myself re-reading to see if I missed something.

This is the perfect book to read (or listen to) by the pool or lounging outside in the sun.

Very cute, a bit of a book within a book feel and lots of sharp dialogue. I really enjoyed this story and think most closed door romance lovers will too.

What a cute story! This was my second novel by Katherine Center and I will definitely check out more of her earlier novels.

Emma Wheeler loves romantic comedies and wants to spend her time writing them however as the only caretaker for father (who needs around the clock care) her dreams to become a screenwriter have been on hold. Emma gets the opportunity to work with screenwriter Charlie Yates that she absolutely loves (and has a crush on) thanks to a friend who happens to be Charlie's agent. Charlie is switching genres of writing style and needed someone to guide him. Can Emma teach Charlie how to write a rom-com and how to feel love so he really gets it?

Katherine masterfully navigates the balance between emotional, relatable and serious topics while bringing in humour and some romance.

I absolutely recommend this book so anyone who loves romantic comedies! It's going to be a great summer read or listen for anyone who likes this genre!