This was my first Katherine Center book and I can easily say she is going to be an author I read everything from. The emotions that this made me feel! This was pretty obvious the way it would go, however, it still hit me in the feels so hard.
The father-daughter relationship, the sister-sister love, so so sweet.

Title: The Rom-Comers
By: Kathrine Center
Genre: Women’s, Contemporary, Chick-lit, Romance

Red Flags:
Closed door with innuendo, some sexual discussions, crude humor, mild profanity, loss of a parent, guilt, paralysis, cancer, hypochondria, panic attacks,

Favorite Quotes:
"He's not a kid, Sylvie. He's a full-grown adult. I can't just Jedi-mind-trick him into doing whatever I want.”
“Everybody's a kid deep down," Sylvie said. "Use your teacher voice. I bet you'll be surprised.”

“Love is something you can learn. Love is something you can practice. It's something you can choose to get good at. And here's how you do it. Appreciate your person. That's it.”

“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…It's all about the details you notice. And the joys you savor. And the hope you refuse to give up on.”

Summary:
Emma Wheeler is an aspiring screenwriter, who was forced to put her dreams on hold for the last ten years to care for her injured father. Enters Charlie Yates, an infamous author who has a strong desire to try something new. However, when Charlie submits his script, it’s awful! Logan is both Charlie and Emma’s agent. Emma is a long time friend of Charlie’s and he knows Emma is an expert in the Rom-Com genre. Logan reaches out to Emma and offers her a job based on her knowledge in Rom-Com perfection. Emma is hired to help Charlie rewrite his screenplay. Charlie is extremely reluctant to let Emma work with him, and Emma quickly learns her job may be more difficult than anticipated. Charlie is only going through the motions for this script, and truthfully doesn’t believe in love himself. Can Emma teach Charlie what love is and how to write it? This is a tall order!

Review:
The banter and chemistry between Charlie and Emma was beautifully crafted, with Center weaving in the love/hate relationship between the main characters, drawing the reader into the novel and quickly becoming fully engaged in the writing. These main characters are relatable to readers, as they experience, enemy to lovers, loss, and heartache, guilt and pain. Katherine Center is very talented in approaching deeply emotional, and tender subjects! I love all Katherine Center novels! She will continue to be a go to me, and at the top of my TBR shelf! The Narration was excellent! I listened to it in one day. Loved this novel!

Thank you Katherine Center, St. Martin’s Press, and Netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

#KatherineCenter
#Stmartinspress
#netgalley
#theromcommers
#reluectantreaderreads

This book was just what I needed after reading some heavy books.

This was such a cute plot. One highly successful writer works with a woman who is obsessed with romcoms to write a romcom worthy of the genre.

Charlie doesn’t want to work with her but gives in. They slowly learn more about each other and find out they actually get along and are both talented writers who can learn from one another.

There were a lot of heavy baggage with both characters that you slowly see unloaded that only makes the way they react to each other and the circumstances understandable.

This was my first Katherine Center book and it definitely will not be my last! I love the writing style, the plot, and the characters so much! It was an enjoyable read.

I thought there was a moment where I would hate this book, but it was redeemed and I loved the ending!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and McMillan Audio for allowing me to read and review this book early. I’m always thankful.

SO GOOD. This is my favorite K Center book yet. The story and characters are amazing and i love the story. The narrator did a great job at bringing them to life and making me feel so invested and obsessed with the characters.

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center
5/5 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

•••Spoiler free review below•••

Katherine Center is an auto buy author for me. She writes books that simultaneously make you laugh and make you feel. The Rom-Commers is the perfect example of this and may be her best work yet. Our leading lady Emma Wheeler - romance lover and dutiful daughter - has spent the last nine years putting her screenwriting career on hold to provide around the clock care for her father. When the opportunity to write a romcom with THE Charlie Yates is presented to her and coincides with her sister being available to takeover the caregiving, she flies to LA with the goal to make her dream a reality. What happens next is a chain of events that neither of them expected and poses the question of what a romantic comedy really is, do love stories even matter, and are big romantic gestures the peak of all romcoms?

Read this book if you like:
-grumpy x sunshine
-one liners
-LOL funny
-pet guinea pig
-forced proximity

The Rom-Commers will be released June 11th and if it is not already on your tbr, it should be!

Katherine Center can do no wrong. Her writing is exquisite; the love and the trauma feel real.

Personally, I could have used a soft-tissue sarcoma trigger warning as that was what killed my father after it spread to his lungs. Other than that, there is not a single fault with this storyline.

Girl gets amazing opportunity to work with her hero but they say you shouldn't meet your heroes.

Boy behaves badly, redeems himself, and does it again.

Both characters are haunted by their personal trauma.

Can they end up together in spite of their pasts?

The audiobook narration was spot on and was extremely enjoyable. I did switch back and forth between the e-book and the audiobook.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillian Audio for the ARC!

KC truly is the queen of writing a feel-good book. This was definitely more emotional than usual and dealt with some heavy themes, but it made my heart feel so full by the end. So many swoony, funny, and tender moments.

I always love KC’s heroines since they’re typically just normal people trying to stay positive in a bad situation. It’s what makes KC books so dang relatable. I think I related to Emma pretty much the least of all of her heroines (I mean this girl was straight out quirky and shameless) but this book made me laugh, smile, cry, and feel a lot better on a shitty day. Emma was the perfect main character with her positive demeanor as she navigated difficult emotions and situations. The love story, despite its Hollowood settin, came together into such an authentic way and I absolutely loved the slow burn, grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, coworker romance. This is definitely in my top 3 KC books.

I’ve listened to a handful of romcom audiobooks from Patti Murin and she is just outstanding. Perfectly captures the essence of these stories, A+ delivery, and makes me a captivated listener. I was toggling between my kindle and audio at first but Murin completely sold me and I think audio is the way to go for this one.

READ/LISTEN TO THIS ONE! Add it to your TBR immediately, you won’t regret it. Romance fans rejoice.

Emma Wheeler has always wanted to be a screenwriter. She fangirls over award-winning writers whose work she idolizes. After college she was offered a writing opportunity but had to turn it down because she needed to care for her father. That lead to Emma staying with her widowed, disabled dad and becoming his caregiver.

Now Emma is being given a chance to help her favorite screenwriter, Charlie Yates, fix an abysmal script. Charlie is a renowned writer who has won many awards. However, he is not a romance or rom-com writer and his attempt to create one is a monumental failure. He has been forced to write in a genre he clearly doesn’t understand and his agent (a friend of Emma’s) thinks Emma is the perfect partner to rescue the script.

As expected, Emma is not welcome as a co-writer. She’s a nobody, a college instructor who failed at pursuing her dream. But maybe there is something she can teach him and she is determined to prove that romance writing has value and is worth getting right.

Emma is adorable. Charlie is pompous and condescending. They are both smart and appreciate the value of good writing. To begin their collaboration, Emma must first be brutally honest with the famous writer and he must listen as his work gets trashed. Things start off rather rocky and yet the focus is on fixing the script. Center uses the plot to put forward a defense of romance writing. It’s clever and fun, a delightful read.

The audiobook was read by Patti Murin and Katherine Center. It’s a breezy and fun narration that enhances the book.

I cannot believe I had the opportunity to read this book already! This book was one of my most anticipate books of the year and I must say Katherine Center has done it again! Our story follows Emma, a screen writer who never had the opportunity to follow her dreams full force, and her screen writing hero, Charlie.

When her high school ex turned agent gives her the opportunity for a lifetime she jumps on the opportunity to meet her hero and change her life! Only to arrive to find that she gets a less than welcoming reaction. The harsh welcome mixed with her feelings of home sickness she finds herself ready to take the next plane ride home. With her inhibitions lower she gives a brutally honest review of the screen play she's read to Charlie and that's when things start to turn around. This book felt like a love letter to anyone who loves a good rom-com book or movie. With the grump of a MMC and the sunshine FMC I found myself slowing down because I didn't want to finish the book but at the same time never wanting to put the book down. I know you'll find these opposites forced into close corners heart warming and you'll be kicking your feet as you read the shenanigans they get into.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves Emily Henry books or other romance books with sweet and lovable characters. Thank you Katherine Center and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Katherine Center always writes a compelling story. This audiobook sucked me in and I enjoyed the enemies to lovers plot. Will definitely recommend to others!

Katherine Center delivers another comfy, familiar read with The Rom-Commers! We have come to expect a somewhat predictable plot from Center, with characters that develop throughout the story (hopefully for the better) and The Rom-Commers gives us just that.
A disheveled once-upon-a-time dreamer and aspiring writer falls into the opportunity of a lifetime, or so it seems. Turns out it might be too good to be true when Emma Wheeler is tasked with rewriting the romantic comedy that world renowned screenwriter Charlie Yates is proposing. Charlie is an angry, brooding, egotistical man with a drawer full of awards as reasons why he shouldn’t listen to Emma, the screenwriter that has never landed one deal. Through a little luck, and lots of lust, Charlie and Emma develop a routine for writing together, and when medical emergencies and near death experiences stand between them, they are faced with a decision of how their story will end.
Katherine Center wraps so many themes and deep issues into stories that still make you feel hopeful for love and happy endings. I didn’t feel like the characters had an immense amount of depth or development, and we all could see where this was going, but Katherine Center pulls you in and leaves you wanting more! This book is the perfect summer read!
Thank you to NetGalley, Katherine Center, St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for granting me access to this book’s audio, in exchange for my review!

First of all, thank you NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the ALC.
Now let’s get into it. This is the best Katherine Center book I’ve head the pleasure of reading. There was cameos from a past favorite as well. The audio was done so perfectly. It’s like I was really watching it play out in my own mind. They brought this story to life.
I believe there’s something in this book for everyone. There’s disability rep, mental health rep, swoony one liners, forced proximity, workplace romance, boy obsessed, etc. this book is STACKED with all the good stuff and you won’t want to miss it!!

Heres the thing. Would I read Katherine Center's grocery list? Yes. I absolutely would. I loved this book. It absolutely lived up to my hopes and dreams. I loved the characters, I loved the plot, the banter, the love. It was funny, heart warming and made my heart happy. Highly recommend this one for any Katherine Center fans!

This book stole my heart! Every element, from the captivating plot to the endearing characters against the backdrop of sunny California, had me hooked from start to finish. And let's talk about the narrator of the audiobook – absolutely fantastic!

I found myself laughing one moment and tearing up the next as I immersed myself in the story. Who wouldn't root for a charming author in need of inspiration, and the perfect co-writer to help him out of his slump? It's the ultimate feel-good rom-com that had me completely enchanted.

Seriously, drop everything and grab yourself a copy of this book. You won't regret it!

I will read anything that Katherine Center writes and cannot wait to read everything that she has written. With that being said, The Rom-Commers was not my favorite Center book. I felt that the love between the two main characters was forced and I did not feel the connection. It was an enjoyable read and there was some funny parts and heartfelt parts but over all, I feel like the chemistry was missing from the love story and this kept me from really loving the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my gifted audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a screenwriter. She’s spent her life studying, obsessing over, and writing romantic comedies. But she’s also been the sole caretaker for her kind-hearted dad, who needs full-time care. Now, when she gets a chance to re-write a script for famous screenwriter Charlie Yates—The Charlie Yates! Her personal writing god!—it’s a break too big to pass up. Emma’s younger sister steps in for caretaking duties, and Emma moves to L.A. for six weeks for the writing gig of a lifetime. But what is it they say? Don’t meet your heroes? Charlie Yates doesn’t want to write with anyone—much less “a failed, nobody screenwriter.” Plus! He doesn’t even care about the script.

But Emma’s not going down without a fight. She will stand up for herself, and for rom-coms, and for love itself. She will convince him that love stories matter. What if the love story they’re writing breaks all Emma’s rules—and comes true?

5⭐ (audio) I listen to tons of audiobooks, and as long as the narrator doesn't pull me out of the story, I'm happy. Patti Muran, however, stands out with these characters and their personalities, and Center's fabulous humor! Fantastic narration!

4⭐ (story) I really enjoyed this new novel by one of my favorite authors. I've had one or two misses with this author, but this one is a gem. The characters are well-developed and feel real. The chemistry and interactions between these two is hilarious and heartwarming. This is a definite winner for me!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced audio copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!

Katherine Center has done it again. She is the queen of the rom com! You got me ugly crying on my commute home! I had all the feels, the twist ending was delightful, and I have hope in humanity again! You even made line dancing seem cool! 🙌🏼.

Emma Wheeler has been writing rom coms her whole like. She chose to take care of her ailing father instead of taking that internship that would have put her on the path to success. Charlie Yates is her favorite screen writer and some how Emma is ghost writing a rom com with him.

It’s everything you are going to want in your next rom com, feel good read! It’s brain candy! And this story is SWEET! Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan Audio

This book was so good! I loved everything about it. The romance was so sweet, the humor was great. It had rom and com, so it did its job perfectly.

4.5 rounded up to 5!

My summary:
Girl admires boy's work from afar before landing the dream opportunity to work with him on his romcom screen play! Turns out boy is a total grump, doesn't actually care about his screenplay, and doesn't believe in romcoms or love. Girl is convinced that she can make him appreciate the genre and turn the script into something amazing along the way because of her deep love and adoration for it (... and maybe him!!?).

This book is a love letter to romcoms and a dissertation-level defense of why we all love and need these books! The FMC, Emma, speaks with so much adoration for romcoms and explains to our MMC why these stories are important. Every reason she gave is one that fans of this genre have also given when asked, 'why do we bother with this garbage?'. WELP, one mans trash is another mans treasure and I'll garbage dive for the rest of my days if it means more books like this.

In typical Katherine Center fashion, she writes about heavy topics and makes them lighter somehow without negating their importance and impact. She expertly navigates tricky subjects and gives the MCs so much depth as individuals as we learn their back stories. I especially loved Emma's story and the intricate nature of her relationship with her family. I loved how it unfolded throughout the book and the way that Katherine Center revealed it slowly to us as readers. It made me enjoy reading about her past as much as I enjoyed reading about the present relationship with her and Charlie.

Now Charlie... he's the reason for the .5 star hit. TBH, he was kind of rude. He had a few moments where I thought to myself, "Surely we're going to meet another love interest because it CANNOT be this guy!?" I'm all for a grumpy MMC, but he had moments that were simply rude and he wasn't my favorite. BUT, he did have incredibly redeeming moments.

Overall, this book was fantastic! I received the audio as an ARC and I'll be re-reading the physical copy when published because of how special some of the writing was. I absolutely recommend this to romcom fans everywhere. Thank you for writing such a beautiful representation of this genre, Katherine!!

I like Katherine Center’s books. And I love her love for love stories. In her authors notes she talks about love stories letting us get to witness the best in people and I really appreciated the perspective. If you are someone who likes to read love stories, I think you will enjoy rom-commers. Emma is a a talented screen-writer but is unable to pursue any opportunities due to being a caretaker for her father. When she gets the chance to work with a screen-writer she admires everything falls into place for her to seize the opportunity she is given, but the two of them have different levels of enthusiasm and motivation for the project. This book gives forced-proximity and grumpy(ish)-sunshine. As I said, if you like romance (especially ones without a bunch of spiciness) you will probably like this book.

If you are someone who reads A LOT of romance, this is one that I think you’ll enjoy, but I don’t think it’s one you need to run to get your hands on ASAP. There isn’t anything here that is especially exciting or stand-out about this, and I personally didn’t love the main character and didn’t get a ton of chemistry between them.