Go ahead and do yourself a favor and grab this for your summer beach bag -- and then accidentally stay up wayyy too late to finish it that same night! Emma and Charlie's story gripped me from the start. This was what I have come to think of as classic Katherine Center --- a wonderful romantic love story filled with depth and comedy and a *few* moments where you need to suspend disbelief but it is worth it to be along for the ride. It was a joy to listen to and I will continue to pick up everything Katherine Center writes!

Rating: 3.5 rounded up to 4 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for this arc!

The Rom-Commers follows Emma, a young woman who has given up everything in her life, including her dreams of becoming a rom-com screenwriter, to take care of her disabled father 24/7. Emma puts everyone else’s needs before her own, which causes her career to fall to the wayside. Then one day Emma receives an opportunity she can’t refuse from her high school ex boyfriend who happens to also be an agent for one of the most famous screenwriters in hollywood. Emma is flown out to LA to work with and live with this screenwriter in order to help him revise his screenplay for his first ever venture into the rom-com genre. Charlie the screenwriter is at first completely opposed to working with Emma, and doesn’t take the rom-com genre seriously. Eventually he warms up to Emma and they discover that they don’t just work well together professionally but they also start to develop feelings for one another.

After reading The Bodyguard by Katherine Center I was excited to read another wholesome, sweet romcom from her, and this one did not disappoint! I really enjoy the way that Center is able to include deeper, more emotional themes into her books in a way that perfectly balances the lighter and darker moments. If you tend to be a person that values romances built on emotional rather than physical connections, then this book is for you! Center’s books (at least what I have read so far) also don’t have any spice scenes, which is pretty unique in adult romances and I think is nice because it makes her books more inclusive to people that don’t like consuming smutty books. Personally, I don’t really read romance for the smut so it doesn’t deter me from her books at all. I think the buildup and the tension between the two romantic interests is the best part of a romance book, and I feel like the tension was written well and had me excited to see the what would happen next. The audiobook was a lot of fun to listen to. Sometimes I find my attention drifting elsewhere whenever listening to audiobooks and I have to relisten to parts multiple times before it actually sticks, but that never happened in this one. I don’t think this book perfect by any means- there were times where Emma’s actions had me cringing a bit, but overall if you are not bothered by cheesy stories then I would definitely recommend!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐"Rom-Commers" by Katherine Center is the ultimate summer read! Center's delightful blend of romance and comedy makes for an irresistibly charming story that had me grinning from ear to ear. Set against a backdrop of sunny beaches and quirky small-town charm, this book is the perfect escape for anyone looking for a feel-good read. The characters are wonderfully endearing, and their hilarious antics had me laughing out loud. Center has a knack for infusing her stories with just the right amount of heart and humor, making "Rom-Commers" an absolute joy to read. Whether you're lounging by the pool or soaking up the sun at the beach, this book is sure to put a smile on your face. Don't miss out on this adorable and uplifting summer romance!

I LOVE Katherine Center. She always delivers and this one is no exception. It’s so close to The Bodyguard as my favorite of her books. Can’t recommend the audio version enough; I think the narrator makes the story even better.

Katherine Center is a one-click author for me. I don't care if she is writing an analysis of the yellow pages (remember those?), I will read it. And I will probably find something to love about it. Her newest book, The Rom-Commers, although not among my favorite from her, is no exception.

I enjoy the single female POV we get from Center and her contemporary Emily Henry. This, to me, amps up the anticipation and the angst because we don't know quite what the male MC is thinking all the time. Don't get me wrong, I love a good dual POV as well, but it's nice to have this choice in our reading lives.

In The Rom-Commers, we follow Emma, a freelance writer with dreams of writing screenplays in Hollywood. These dreams are put on hold when her father suffers a catastrophic injury and she becomes his full-time carer. Her childhood BFF Logan, a manager of Hollywood types, gets her a gig helping a struggling but formerly super successful screenwriter rewrite a terrible rom-com script. She upends her life to go help this grumpy guy struggling with writers block, leaving her father in the hands of her younger sister. Can she convince this I-Don't-Believe-in-Love curmudgeon that rom-coms do have a place in cinematic history and convince him that love does exist?

This is full of tropes that most romance readers, including this one, loves. Like I said before, though, of Center's books, this one rates low on the list for me. While I enjoyed their witty banter throughout, neither of the characters were very likable. At one point Emma basically guilt-trips Charlie because he isn't returning her sexual advances. If this were reversed, that would be a red flag for sure. We also have Charlie continuing to dismiss Emma through practically the entire story whenever possible. He treats her like crap so often I found it hard to believe their romantic chemistry and the "love" at the end. Lust, yes. Love, not so much. The themes in this story are also more heavy than we've seen from Center in the past - lots of grief, loss, loneliness, traumatic brain injury, being a full-time carer, cancer... it's like she wanted to throw everything in. So, despite the name of the book, this was the least comedic of Centers' books (for me).

But this was still a 4 star read for me. Center's writing never disappoints; I'm a sucker for witty, fun banter; and in the end, I was rooting for the couple to get together despite the miscommunication trope thrown in at the end. Luckily it isn't drawn out indefinitely and resolves fairly quickly.

Fans of Center's other books will no doubt enjoy this novel as well. I listened on audio and read it as well. Patti Murin does another amazing job bringing Center's characters to life. I recommend either consumption option.

I haven't had the best luck with Katherine Center, but I decided to give it another chance, and DAMN am I glad I did. I really, really loved this one! The forced proximity trope is a fave of mine, and Center pulled it off perfectly! I get frustrated with the misunderstanding trope at times, but this time it wasn't over-the-top, just more of some assumptions that didn't quite get rectified--which worked! Thanks to this, I'll keep reading Center's books!

I received a complimentary copy of this book "The Rom-Commers" and all opinions expressed are my own. I listened to the audiobook. Not one of my favorites by this author, I found the story just ok. I have really enjoyed her past books and I would say she is a go to author for me but this one just miss the mark.

This novel was an absolute delight! I loved the characters Emma and Charlie, the situation they found themselves in, the banter and dialog between them, the teasing and the lovely prospect of watching two very different people fall in love and then having a 'happy ending'. Emma Wheeler is hired to help ghost write an abysmal rom-com novel written by her all time favorite writers crush, Charlie Yates. Emma has worshiped Charlies work for years and jumps at the chance to fly to L.A. and help resuscitate his latest abomination of a novel. Charlie has never done rom-com and it shows. Unfortunately Charlie didn't know he has been given a writing partner and the introduction between them in a bit of a disaster. From there the real fun begins as these two characters, destined for love begin to learn about each other, their quirks, fears and strengths. This novel is so much fun. It made me laugh out loud and also had some very serious elements regarding life, death and grief. There are a lot of important and meaningful life lessons wrapped within this little gift of a book. I listened to the audio version of the book and the narrator was excellent, full of joy and very believable. I especially liked the bonus chapter at the end of Charlie's perspective of an event at the end, and the author Katherine Center encouraging people to read love stories. She states that no one takes love stories seriously theses days, but they are the very stories that hold humanity together. She said it better than that, but she got my attention and I heartily agree with her.:). Don't let this novel pass you by, it is rom-com at it's best. Very highly recommended. 5 stars.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Macmillan Audio for a chance to read/listen to an ARC copy of this delightful novel.

Katherine Center writes beautiful rom-coms and this certainly fits in that category. Emma is wonderfully complex; she is incredibly giving while still knowing who she is as a person. Charlie is hot-shot Hollywood and he knows it. Emma does not back down from the challenge of writing with him and the chemistry is absolutely palpable. There is such wit, humor, and genuine feelings that build between the two of them. I love that it’s so incredibly rom-com-y that the concept of romance and love spills from every page. A book that is a rom-com about writing a screenplay for a rom-com with a writer who needs to be conceived that love is real. Emma and Charlie go through some classic romance maneuvers to determine if they are possible for actually falling in love and all the real awkward moments are included. It’s refreshingly honest with the characters without having them feel like characters - all of this feels like it could really happen outside a book or movie. I was happy with the overall ending, but one giant plot point pissed me off - when you read this - which anyone should - you’ll understand what I mean. This book was a delight to listen to and as always, Katherine Center is the queen of rom-coms. 4.75⭐️, 0.5🌶

While I enjoyed the wittiness of Emma, I did not feel a connection between the characters. The story seemed to jump along with loose threads holding it together and the plot wrapped up very fast and neatly for a this type of trope.

It’s the book she was sent here to write; she has been writing joy-filled romance books for years but this particular story just experiences all the emotions. I laughed. I cried. I laughed a lot more. I got nervous. I cried some more. And I laughed a lot more. Also: there’s a scene with Meryl Streep and a fork that I will just leave at that 🤣😝

The Rom-Commers tells the story of Emma, a rom com obsessed hopeful screenwriter, with the goals of making it big- and she gets offered the deal of a lifetime to move to LA for 6 weeks and rewrite a rom-com manuscript for an Oscar winning screenwriter that she’s always admired and looked up to; but who has no idea what he’s doing writing something romantic or funny. The novel is just pure bliss. I loved every page and now I’m off to go sit on a cloud of happiness.

Patti Murin delivered another beautiful audiobook performance; it was hilarious and cute and just so much fun to listen to!

How do you know when a story is good?
If it can sway your emotions. If you feel what they feel. Not many writers can do that in my experience.
This is my first story that I have read by Katherine Center. I listened to the audiobook version with the talented Therese Plummer. As always, Therese brought the story to life and executed it perfectly.
The characters!! I fell in love Emma instantly. She is relatable, her situation is far from ideal and yet she is brave enough to fly to LA.
Enter the famous Charlie Yates. Emma is a huge fan of his. When Emma meets her favorite writer her entire life starts to shift.
The Aithor Katherine Center writes so well you feel like you are on this journey with them. I had tears streaming down my face at one point. I want all my Rom Coms to be just like this one.
I am running to read all of her titles.

I recommend Katherine Center's books for anyone who is looking to try romance but all of it just sounds too cheesy or all spice, no plot...

Katherine Center DOES IT RIGHT! Its real life, relatable, imperfect people who just happened to fall in love. We watch her characters grow together as well as watch them go through a ton of personal growth.

The third act conflict was fantastic, I honestly wondered if this would end with a happy ending even after all the screen writing talk about happy endings being so necessary.

Katherine Center is an auto buy from here on out!

I loved this book! I listened to it in one sitting and it had me feeling all the emotions. The characters were dynamic and charming, and I completely understood where they were coming from. They had to learn to love and trust each other as the book went on. It made me laugh out loud more than once and had a MMC who was entirely obsessed with the oblivious FMC the whole time. Even better, the MMC was not pushy at all with being in a relationship with the FMC, if anything, it was the other way around! The book had me on the edge of my seat and more than once I had to sit down with a box of tissues in anticipation of what was coming next. The narrator did a great job with this book as well. She had a voice that fit the character wonderfully, and her voice acting made me feel what the FMC was feeling. This was a book that made me run around screaming into pillows, and I will likely read it again within the year.

This book is so fun and the audiobook is excellent! The banter was phenomenal and the two MCs were really well suited (once they found their rhythm). I loved all of the side characters as well (except Teej, screw him) and they all served really well as a background for this love story. Emma gave up so much for her family and it is nice to see her finally getting out of her shell, even though she's terrified at first. She is likeable from the first moment and Charlie Yates doesn't know what to do with her, which is very fun. Listening to them both pull the other out of their shells is really nice and even the breakup is done really well and is justified. They're both a bit broken and finding how to peice themselves together while falling in love with one another is really well done.

Also, shout out to Meryl Streep for existing in all universes real and otherwise. :)

Read Completed 3/26/24 | 3 stars
Wow, I'm incredibly disappointed that I didn't enjoy this one more. The ratings so far (this is a June release date and I read it in March) are very high with mostly 4 and 5 stars, but this one just didn't do it for me. If this was my first Katherine Center book, I probably wouldn't have picked up another one.

My main disappointment was that I felt zero chemistry between Emma and Charlie. ZERO. I didn't feel any butterflies, I got not emotion from Charlie, and it felt very one-sided and disproportionate to have Emma infatuated with him a little bit in the beginning. I've read plenty of rom-coms where the affection is unrequited at first and then they fall in love, but I don't know. For some reason, it didn't work here for me at all, and Charlie is so closed off that I didn't EVER feel like they were falling in love. There was a point about that in the book, kind of, but as a reader, I just never really felt it at all.

There was just something about the characters too... I didn't like any of them. I actually really didn't like Emma right from the beginning. Charlie was a jerk when they first met. I didn't like the randomly British best friend. I didn't like her sister. Okay, her dad was sweet. We'll give them that one, but everyone else I just actively didn't like. This is SO WEIRD because I adored THE BODYGUARD and really enjoyed HELLO, STRANGER.

One of the things I really appreciated has to do with something Charlie reveals to Emma that becomes something important to the plot. MINOR spoiler but I'll put it in tags in case you don't want to know... [Charlie reveals his ex-wife left him when she found out he had cancer. He was going to celebrate his 5-year anniversary of being cancer free with Emma and that it was basically cured at 5 years, which I appreciated like crazy being that my husband had cancer and hitting that 5 year remission mark is huge, amazing, and also the same for his type of cancer where you're basically considered cured at 5 years. (hide spoiler)] So that was a big thing for me and I appreciated the heck out of how that was written. But THEN... more major spoiler since it's a thing that happens in the end.... [ I HATED that she gave him a cancer scare. Charlie had bronchitis and is coughing a lot throughout the middle of the book. They think he may have lung cancer because they can see something on his scan, but it's just bronchitis. I absolutely hate that it was used as a cancer scare and that it was used as a turning point for the characters to profess their love. That ruined the magic of him being cancer-free and as someone who has also had that feeling (a plain old boring cyst that didn't show up well on a scan and then we had to wait to find out what it was), I hated that moment and it ruined things even more for me. (hide spoiler)]

I also didn't really like the asides to the reader, breaking the 4th wall, essentially. I would rather Emma just tell the story and not like she was telling the story to you, dear reader. It got like, cheesy movie rom-com instead of cute book rom-com. I don't know. Something about it just really took me out of the reading experience.

Clearly others loved it so I will be the outlier opinion here (hey, did you also not like HAPPY PLACE by Emily Henry? Let's join this lonely club) while others gave it 5 glowing stars. You'll just have to read it for yourself! But if you find you're feeling no chemistry, maybe we feel this together.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: Patti Murin was the narrator for this audiobook and normally I usually love her. I've listened to many of her narrations and she voiced both THE BODYGUARD and HELLO, STRANGER and I had no issues with her narration. I guess combined with this book, it just didn't work for me. She was fine, but I didn't like the characters and that just all compounded. I really hated her voice for Charlie? It didn't feel attractive or like much of anything at all. Again, probably the character's fault, but I just didn't connect with that.

Katherine Center is one of my favorite Romance authors, her stories have depth and vulnerability while still being full fun and joy. Her characters face all that this messy adventure we call life throws at them and find people that value them to love along the way. The Rom-Commers is another wonderful story that teaches us to chase after our dreams and passions, to be true to ourself and find fulfillment in the things that bring us joy. I loved watching Emma teach Charlie to appreciate and understand Rom Coms and the joy and wonder they bring to the world. I loved watching them both learn to love and be loved in open and healthy ways, to see that sharing your struggles and sorrows doesn't make you weak, but does allow you to find the strength to face hard things and to go on with the help and support of those who love you. As always, I loved the supporting characters. This is a gem of a love story! The beauty of romance is that readers are guaranteed to come away from the story glowing and joyful and lifted by the HEA and by characters figuring out how to love and connect deeply. A romance about teaching others to value romance, even better!! I'm on board 100%

I especially LOVED the author's note at the end of the audiobook that shouts from the rooftops that Romance is not a genre to be scoffed or belittled or ridiculed, but should be valued and appreciated as the most pro-social genre out there. Love stories are actually the most hopeful and healing stories. The world will always be better with more love and kindness and people learning to connect and appreciate others and treat others well. I LOVE romance and I'm always thrilled to support the authors and stories that put more hope and joy and love into the world. Katherine said this in her author's note, "If you've been shamed away from reading love stories, hello friend, come over to the fun side, the ridicule is wrong...come hang out with me on my hill of love stories." Thank you so much Katherine for adding this wonderful story to the hill of love stories that fill me up and let me soar! The Rom-Commers will speak to the soul of every hopeless romantic and closet romantic out there; come join us romance readers, writers and lovers on the fun side!

The word that keeps coming up for this book is delightful. I truly felt delighted while listening to the book for so many reasons.

Overall, the book meets your expectations of the name. Quirky heroine, Emma, embarks on a journey to write a romcom screenplay with a serious Hollywood screenwriter. Emma’s love of RomComs feels so familiar as my own and it made it feel like I was relating to a friend.

Reflecting back, I didn’t particularly fall in love with the MMC, Charlie. He definitely is the grumpy to Emma’s sunshine. Even though he may not have jumped off the page for me, they do have some good dialogue that did make me laugh out loud at least once. There is zero spice but you do get some good tension in places.

There are deeper themes of sadness and difficulties because of Emma’s role as her father’s caretaker. They help even out the more ridiculous parts of the story (as any true romcom would have).

The narration really adds to the overall feeling of delight. Patti Murin is so charming and makes it feel like your friend Emma is telling you her story.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

“Whatever story you tell yourself, that’s the one that will be true”🥺

OKAYY. So this book didn’t follow the usual Katherine Center comfort chick-lit formula we all know & love. But I was ok with that. And I think you will be, too!

Emma & Charlie have a slow-burn relationship with open communication but…just enough mystery to keep you wondering😉 It’s also definitely further on the romance side for a KC book, but has just enough chick-lit to keep it multi-dimensional👌🏽 KC doesn’t included any comically evil characters or frustrating misunderstandings in this one—just enough drama to keep the story realistic & moving.

Thank you NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. Which is this: if you’re a fan of Chick-Lit or Romance, this is a must-read👏🏽

An adorable rom com indeed! I listened to the audiobook ahead of release date and had a lovely time listening to the amazing Patti Murin tell such a charming story.

The first half was a bit slow, but then it really sped up and captivated me in the last half. I was giggling and kicking my feet and audibly reacting at every turn! The characters were so endearing. Emma and Charlie feel very real and well rounded. The other characters feel less so, but it didn’t bother me.

This was my first book by this author and now I’m about to binge them all! Bye! :)