I received a copy of this audiobook from netGalley for a honest review.

I have loved Katherine Center since I listened to hello stranger. This book wasn't quite as good but it was still a 5 star story. Emma and Charlie are great together but like most of Katherine's books the heroine is the star. Emma is quirky, fun and a lot stressed out since her mom died and her dad was injured. But now her little sister is old enough to help out and Emma can go to Hollywood where she can write with her idol Charlie in a once in a lifetime chance to fix a rom com. Only problem is Charlie doesn't know she's coming. Of course they fall in love but not everything runs smoothly for these two. In fact almost nothing does.

This book gave me all the feels and happy times I wanted even when I couldn't figure out what was wrong with Charlie. Definitely read the bonus chapter from Charlie's point of view and the author's note at the end.

What a fun, funny, and sweetly romantic ride this book took me on. An ode to romcoms, the book takes a look at stories about love and why we need them. The audio narration was lovely to listen to. Katherine Center has hit 3 in a row for me now, and I can't wait to see what she does next.

I don’t read many rom coms. My initial reaction is that this was corny but in a good way. It was very light hearted and a feel good story. And after I gave my initial reaction I kind of laughed because isn’t that kind of what a rom com is?

The comedic portion was my kind of humor, which is not everyone’s cup of tea, but personally I found it funny. I very much enjoyed both of the main characters. I really like Katherine Center’s writing style and will definitely check out some of her other books.

The narrator was excellent at giving each character their own personality. I enjoyed listening and found myself listening while at home as well as when driving. I loved the bonus chapter.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the advanced reader copy of this audiobook.

The Rom-Commers
By: Katherine Center

I absolutely loved this! I listened to the audiobook through Macmillan Audio. This was such a cute rom-com. I love the banter between the FMC and the MMC.

The FMC is Emma Wheeler who has an obsession with a screen writer, Charlie. Her friend Landon gets her to take a job with Charlie, but Charlie had never agreed to it beforehand and when Emma decides to leave her sick father in the care of her sister, and flies from Texas to LA for a dream opportunity, then learns Charlie wasn’t in on this, she gets upset with Landon and realizes Charlie isn’t what she thought. She has always dreamed of being a screen writer and since she had to take care of her sick father, her dreams got put on the back burner.

Charlie decides to let her help him with and the two get close. She falls first and he rejects her then goes after her when she goes back to Texas to check on her dad after he has a fall. There’s a lot of banter between the two and they end up falling hard for each other by the end. I highly recommend this book. I gave it 5 stars.

I received a complimentary THE ROM-COMMERS by Katherine Center thanks to St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio and Netgalley.

THE ROM-COMMERS by Katherine Center follows Emma Wheeler, a young woman who wants to be a screenwriter. Life hasn't exactly gone her way and she's had to sacrifice opportunities to care for her disabled father. When she gets the offer to help famous screenwriter Charlie Yates on a rewrite of his new rom-com script, she can't believe her luck. Until she shows up for the job and realizes that Charlie isn't great and his script is worse.

I really enjoy Katherine Center's books and this one was no exception. Fun fact, she was the first author that someone recommended to me personally after I joined Bookstagram!

I enjoy the fact that her stories are traditional romances with a fairly expected story arc, but they also touch on some very hard hitting topics. Emma's life has had a lot of hardship with her acting as her father's caregiver while also helping to raise her younger sister. Still, she has great ambitions and she definitely can push for her way when needed.

I struggled to warm up to Charlie initially and it took me a while to get there. He could be very abrasive and his lack of knowledge about how love and relationships work makes sense for the script rewrite purposes, but did make it a bit of a challenge for me to love him. He did win me over by the end, though.

I had a good time with this one and have no doubt I'll be reading more from Katherine Center in the future!

Katherine Center is a genius! I must admit that I'm not a fan of rom coms, but I am now. Her latest book has convinced me otherwise.
It's a sweet tale involving a devoted daughter who has pretty much sacrificed her life to care for an invalid father. However, being a budding screenwriter, she is whisked off to CA to work on a project with a Hollywood legend. Love is never supposed to enter the picture but, alas, it does.
Center writes with passion and creativity, and I couldn't help but fall in love with the lead male character myself. I was rooting for them all and enjoyed all those trials and tribulations they experienced.
The narrators were terrific and the story journey so much fun. Loved it!

Author Katherine Center is a pro at writing rom coms. Using her position to craft to quirky writers as one teaches the other what it takes to create a perfect rom-com. What they didn't bargain for was living out their very own rom-com.

Just finished listening to this book, and it was delightful!
A ROM COM- about writing a ROM COM

I really loved the characters, and enjoyed the narrator. This book was full of many great quotes a few being...

"All we have is what we have."

"If you wait for people to light you up- than I guess you are at the mercy of darkness."

"S0, it cant be where you are going that matters, it has to be how you get there."

This book really touched on how to continue life after facing tragedy. Although, this isn't my normal style of book, the humor made me really want to see how it would end.

Love being the main focus, it didn't disappoint and i will be recommending this to others!

Thanks for the copy

Thank you Netgalley for approving my request for the audiobook of The Rom-Commers.

My third audio by this author and I absolutely enjoy every single one of them. First, her covers are always so bright and happy and pretty. Second, the characters are so likable and relatable.

This story was so fun and delightful. Will definitely request this author again.

* Emma is hilarious you feel like your in her head
* I love her love of writing , movies, etc
* I feel like I’m in a rom com seeing two writers slowly fall for each other
* Grumpy x sunshine hits every time
* Charlie is a cinnamon roll im in love
* He searched up how long it should take to fall in love after knowing her for a month 🥹 babe your in love already
* Obesessed with their banter
* His rude moment was not it but forgiven
* Absolutely loved this book wow

Katherine Center strikes again! I just simply adore her books!

Although it took me a while to warm up to the MMC, Charlie, I ended up loving the way his character grew and how the story played out, he really opened up by the end and we got to see his true colours. Charlie and Emma both went through a hefty amount of grief and past struggles. Charlie and Emma having that similarity of past loss and painful experiences, it really made their story shine together.

I loved the witty banter and humour , Katherine Center always knocks it out of the park with the perfect balance between serious/emotional and lighthearded/goofy moments. This book definitely makes the message clear on how we can't just judge someone based off of their cover, we never really know what they've been through or what may lie under that hard exterior shell.

Definitely recommend and can't thank St. Martins Press enough for allowing me to read this in advance.

Out June 11th, 2024!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I listened to and read this delightful novel over a couple of days. I enjoyed the banter between Charlie and Emma. It was a perfect rendition of "Rom-Commers"

Was it problematic? Yes.
Was it lighthearted and fun? Yes
Was it over the top? Again, yes.
Is it the perfect beach read? YES!

If you want something fluffy and fun, pick this one up. It was a delight.

When it comes to a Katherine Center book, I’m picking it up without reading the blurb. So, when I saw this ARC of the Rom-Commers was available to request, I hit the button right away, initially not realizing that I had requested the audio version. All in all a great decision, because this was an excellent audiobook and the narrator (Patti Murin) is fantastic! Now, our protagonist Emma seems quirky and has clearly experienced a lot of adversity in her life, so you want to root for her as an underdog, but there are moments when she’s a little less redeeming. Also, I could have done without the extra obstacles in the end, but I guess every love story needs several? Still, another great story by Katherine Center! Bonus, enjoyed the character cameos from The Bodyguard. Many thanks to the author, Macmillan Audio/St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity!

Katherine Center does it again with another delightful romantic comedy, aptly titled "The Rom-Commers." Center is a master at crafting sweet, closed-door romances that will give you all the feels. Like with her other books, "The Rom-Commers" will have you laughing out loud and wiping away tears. There are quite a few hard-hitting topics in the book, so be sure to check the trigger warnings. But, as usual, Center is able to skillfully balance grief and trauma with romance and humor. This book was not my favorite of her works, but it was an enjoyable and easy read that will make the perfect beach or poolside companion this summer. Emma and Charlie were relatable characters, each dealing with their own challenges and past traumas. I loved the "opposites attract" trope and thought they both had excellent character development. Overall, a wonderful rom-com that I recommend.

I listened to the audiobook read by Patti Murin. She has narrated Center's books in the past, and I always enjoy her narrations. Murin is a believable narrator who brings the story to life with a fun and lively performance. The audiobook featured a bonus scene from Charlie's perspective and an author's note read by Center, which are both audio-exclusives, as well as acknowledgements read by the author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I knew I wanted to give the Rom-Commers a try right after viewing an Instagram Reel of the premise of the book and reading the descriptor of the book itself. This is my first book by Katherine Center, and I laughed and loved it. I appreciated her "authors note" at the end and her thoughts about "love stories" and "literature". It was a change of pace to my normal dark, tense, emotional rides of books that I read and I'm not sad about it.

Emma and Charlie both have their own quirks and were relatable as adults and people. Trying to navigate adulthood, life in general, the events that unfold within our control and outside of our control. and the concept of what "love is" and "love isn't". I definitely related to Charlie because I have switched from the side of loving love and all things love to swinging the other way and thinking that love and fairytales are a sham... but questioning deeply if they really are?

I valued the opposing viewpoints and the plot as it unfolded. It wasn't as predictable as one would think. The research going into screen writing and blending the balance of work and living was also well done. The Rom-Commers was definitely an "opposite attract" story that you have you laughing and understanding Charlie and his views, while still appreciating Emma and hers. I also valued how family intertwined throughout the book.

Touching, light-hearted, and a bit quirky, I definitely recommend The Rom-Commers and giving this a try for a change of pace, and laughs about swimming, diving boards, guinea pigs, closet moments, making donuts in the kitchen, and random hospital upgrades.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, NetGalley, and Katherine Center for this ARC. I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the narration of the audiobook and the opportunity to read The Rom-Commers.

First, I'd like to thank Katherine Center, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

𝓐 𝓠𝓾𝓲𝓬𝓴 𝓢𝓾𝓶𝓶𝓪𝓻𝔂

Emma Wheeler is a struggling screenwriter who has consistently sacrificed her dreams to care for her sick dad. When the opportunity of her lifetime falls in her lap, her family pushes her to leave and finally take the leap. Emma leaves Texas for LA to ghostwrite for her screenwriting idol, THE Charlie Yates.

𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓘 𝓣𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽

I really can't express enough how much I loved this book. 8% in I already knew this was going to be 5 stars for me unless something horrible went wrong.

I can nearly always find some way to relate or emphasize with characters, but connecting with Emma felt so natural. Charlie on the other hand....water on your cereal, seriously?! Charlie, are you genuinely a sociopath?  All jokes aside, I loved Charlie, and he and Emma had this kind of relationship that just sucked you in. Even the most mundane activities had me absorbed.

Everything felt like the perfect balance of the main story and side character/relationship development. I especially loved Sylvie and Emma's story line. It was beautiful and painful, but really showed the power of familial love and support.

When I tell you I wept at the ending, I mean it. I was sobbing, laughing, and smiling in my bed throughout the last few chapters. I swear it changed my brain chemistry.

The only thing(s) I didn't like about the book (SPOILERS)
........
is the miscommunication and third-act breakup. The two talked so much, but just weren't speaking the truth out loud. Granted it was really just Charlie, but the speech at the end made up for everything.

In regards to the narration itself, I really liked the narrator and thought her male voice was good - at least good enough that I didn’t find it cringy, which it usually what makes or breaks a narration for me for romances.

Thank you for allowing me this early listen of The Rom-Commers. This was a cute read and I enjoyed it for sure. I loved Emma's character and with time I learned why Charlie was the way he was. I laughed and got emotional at some points. I wanted to shake Charlie at some points, but like I said I couldn't blame him for how life had shaped him to be.

Definitely picked this one up!

I gave it a 4.25/5 stars

Thank you to @NetGalley for letting me listen to the advanced audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Ahhhh this was so cute! Katherine Center really delivered with this book! The characters, pacing and the romance had me in my feels. It had me laughing, crying and smiling the entire time. I loved it and finished it in one day. I recommend the book and the author for anyone who is looking for a feel good, HEA story.

First-person, single POV, the story of not quite enemies but definitely people who don't like each other to happily ever after. That's what a fiction book about love is supposed to be, right? At least, according to the main character, Emma, it is.

This book is a little meta as the main characters work to rewrite a Rom-Com script. As Emma explains what goes into a good Rom-Com, those same elements are happening for real in the story. Emma's narration is also self-aware and talks to someone/reader.

Overall, the narration (listened to on audiobook) was enjoyable. The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center delivered all the elements of a good love story, with unforeseen plot twists and a satisfying ending.

<i><b>PLEASE NOTE:</b> One of the trigger warnings may be a spoiler, but I wish I had known it so I could have avoided reading and preordering this book.</i>

<b>TRIGGER WARNINGS:</b> terminal lung cancer fake-out, past mentions of cancer, maternal death

SPOILERS AHEAD.

Yep, you read that right. <b>Terminal lung cancer fake-out.</b> I usually like to keep my reviews organized, but this one is going straight into the ranting, because this was truly the most egregious, cheap, lazy “twist” I’ve seen in quite a while.

<blockquote>“Turns out, on a screening test, it’s hard to tell the difference between a concerning mass in your lungs and plain old, everyday congestion. That’s the news I just got. Better imaging gives a much clearer picture.”</blockquote>

Here, our MMC Charlie is explaining how he was misdiagnosed with metastatic lung cancer, when all he had was bronchitis. And I have oh so many issues with this.

1. Most doctors would not diagnose a patient with terminal cancer OVER THE PHONE.

2. A doctor would not diagnose a patient over the phone WITHOUT ADDITIONAL IMAGING IF IT WAS TRULY SOMETHING THAT COULD BE THIS MISCONSTRUED.

3. In what motherfucking world would a screening test like this one be used, when it is apparently so poor quality that it makes it easy for a medical professional with 12+ years of schooling and probably decades of experience to confuse METASTATIC LUNG CANCER with BRONCHITIS????? IF there is a concern after a CT scan for lung cancer vs. bronchitis, there is always a biopsy or additional screening required to potentially rule one of those out. In fact, Charlie mentions after he finds out it was just bronchitis that he had one such appointment scheduled to rule out other potential diagnoses. So why did the doctor tell him he had terminal cancer without being sure? Plot convenience and lazy writing. For a doctor to call a patient and deliver news of a terminal cancer diagnosis over the phone without any additional follow up is laughably unrealistic and shows me just how little research Center did in order to incorporate this manipulative plot twist. I can do nothing but condemn her for laziness and callousness in writing about such an emotional thing that affects millions of real people in such a disrespectful way.

I have to say that I truly fucking loved this book for the first 75%. I was having so much fun. But this was such a betrayal for me. You do not get to use cancer as a fake-out plot twist to emotionally manipulate your audience. You do not. When Charlie’s persistent cough kept coming up on the page, I was reminded of the hacking that punctuated my late uncle’s speech. Then, when it was revealed that Charlie was diagnosed with lung cancer (and metastatic lung cancer at that), all of the memories of losing my uncle and watching him waste away were dredged to the surface. I literally broke down into tears.

Let me be clear, this turn of events wasn’t cool with me. I didn’t pick up a romcom to be tricked into a terminal cancer tragedy. I’ve had enough of that in real life. Terminal cancer itself is not a fucking plot device you can use to make a big reveal in the third act to keep your readers guessing. I’m actually so livid that I can’t even properly write a trigger warning for this section without prefacing that some may consider it a spoiler. Terminal cancer should not be a spoiler. Yet Center frames it that way by setting it up as a plot twist. To me, that’s despicable.

But even knowing this, I kept thinking to myself, <i>She has to lean into this. If this is what Center has written, the only thing she can do to hang onto her integrity is to let this character have lung cancer. If she retcons it, that would be the most fucked up path she could take.</i> So despite feeling catfished by a romcom that turned out to be a terminal cancer tragedy, I still didn’t want it to go the way it very obviously did. Because that would have been so much worse. That would mean that Center used cancer to do the work for her of manufacturing tension and emotion into the story because, clearly, she couldn’t come up with either on her own. Then, when it suited her, she took the cancer away so the MCs could have their HEA. Thus, it was all just bronchitis.

And what really pisses me off is that she did this to drum up a third act conflict. That’s all. She had to give Charlie a reason not to jump into a relationship with Emma. This was that reason. Now, terminally ill, he would be all too ready to push her away. But, like Emma had said earlier, every romcom must have a happy ending. So Center threw the terminal lung cancer diagnosis at us for a single scene before immediately reneging on it to explain away Charlie’s atrocious behavior.

This is laziness to the nth degree. Charlie couldn’t have had ANY other reason to push her away? Or hey, maybe we could have had a different conflict altogether? Maybe Charlie and Emma do get together, but Charlie’s rude ass behavior that kept coming up throughout the book starts cropping up again and maybe Emma refuses to put up with it anymore? Or maybe Emma abandons Charlie for a false alarm with her dad, causing him not to trust her while also triggering his abandonment traumas from his mom and ex-wife, and thereby requiring Emma to make amends by learning the lesson that this book had been building toward—that her whole life does not need to be caregiving. She can let other people (like her sister, brother-in-law, and Charlie) help her.

Literally Center could’ve done ANYTHING else and this would’ve been a 4 star review.

<b>Warning: the rest of this review contains spoilers not strictly related to the lung cancer fake-out.</b>

And speaking of the lung cancer diagnosis, Charlie did something I feel can almost qualify as gaslighting when he got the phone call with his terminal diagnosis. Emma asks him if he’s sick, and the following happens:

<blockquote>
Charlie gave me an Olympic-level eye roll that involved not just his face, but his neck and shoulders, too. Then he said, “Not everybody is dying all the time, Emma.” There was a bitterness to his voice I hadn’t heard before.
“I know, I just—“
“Let’s not add your paranoid hypochondria to this situation, okay? It’s bad enough without you backing up a whole dump truck of crazy.”
</blockquote>

So not only does he flat out lie to Emma, but he proceeds to manipulate her by using her self-confessed anxieties about health problems as the reason she’s reading into the situation, and then calls her crazy.

Does he ever apologize about this? Nope. In fact, at the end, he is so unapologetic about all the lying that, when Emma says to him that he would rather “feed [her] heart into a wood chipper” than tell her he was sick again, he says, “Correct. And I would do it again, too, because I was not going to be another person ruining your life…You can’t be trusted to do the right thing for yourself.”

I’m sorry. Lying to her was the “right thing” for her? Gaslighting her? Leading her on and shutting her down? Hurting her again and again? That was all better than the alternative—simply telling her the truth and letting her make her own choices?

Sure, this all ties back to his shard of glass—the lesson he needs to learn. His mom and his ex-wife both abandoned him at different points in his life when he was sick and needed them most. But he never really learns anything from that. Emma just tells him that she was ready to be with him before she knew his terminal diagnosis was made in error and not much in the way of Charlie’s development is explored beyond that.

To add insult to injury, Emma’s character growth was also poor. She is characterized as someone whose anxieties controlled her life so much that she’s taken to making her role as a caregiver for her hemiplegic, medically complex father her whole identity. She doesn’t have a life outside of him.

When she goes on this adventure to LA, she anxiously leaves her father in the hands of her younger sister, Sylvie, who hasn’t lifted a finger to care for him since he was injured ten years ago. Sylvie was also a literal preteen when the accident happened, so I can give her grace for that.

Yet, when Sylvie leaves their father alone for one night and he falls down the stairs and ends up in the ICU, resentment and rage tear through Emma so thoroughly that she tells Sylvie she will never forgive her if her trip to the beach kills their dad. Sylvie shoots back (SPOILERS AHEAD) that they would be even then, because Emma’s trip to the mountains killed their mother. This is a touchy subject for Emma and she instantly vows to never speak to Sylvie again, all the while never recognizing that what she said to Sylvie was equally as fucked up.

I get saying things in anger. In fact, in a moment of high emotion, when your anxieties are eating you alive as your father goes into emergency surgery from which he may never wake up, I can see myself saying the same fucked up things. However, character growth would mean coming out of that emotional stupor, realizing the error of your ways, and fucking apologizing for them.

What happens instead is Emma continues to ignore Sylvie, clinging to the moral high ground of “wow that was so fucked up of her to say, I’m literally never speaking to her again.” As I said before, Sylvie only parroted back the exact thing Emma had said to her. So the fact that she NEVER recognizes how fucked up it was for her to say that, and especially, that she never apologizes to Sylvie for it, while Sylvie herself has to grovel on her wedding day for Emma to forgive her, just made me absolutely despise our FMC. Center bungled her characterization. Just like she bungled everything else at the end.

And for what? This was a fun book up until the 75% mark. I was having a grand old time reading about two flawed screenwriters going on romcom research dates. Patti Murin’s narration was especially quippy and her comedic timing had me literally laughing out loud. But then it all fell apart in the last quarter. The characterization of the two MCs and the terminal cancer fake-out plummeted my rating from a respectable 4 straight down to a 1 star. I am utterly disappointed by the lazy manner in which this was wrapped up and betrayed by the blasé, yet emotionally manipulative way Center trotted out terminal cancer like a show pony just to go, “Sike!”

<b>OVERALL RATING:</b> 1 star.

<i>A big thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Macmillan Audio, for providing me with an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!</i>