4.5 stars for The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center and narrated by Patti Murin.

Why I loved this audiobook:
-- Great characters
-- Interesting take on a love story (the main characters teamed up to rewrite a horrible romance movie script)
-- Not just another romance trope... It's smart and funny
--Terrific narration!
-- Good length at 11 hours
-- Happy ending, as always

Special thanks to Macmillan Audio for the advanced listener copy of this audiobook via the NetGalley app.

This book was so cute and the banter between the characters was great. Such a perfect and entertaining rom-com. I needed a quick cute book to read right now.

I listen to the audio of this book and the Narrator, Patti Murin did such a wonderful job. She had the personalities of both characters down perfectly. Her voice was very much enjoyable to listen too.

I had big feelings while listening to this book. The first 75% had me smiling like a fool. There was some trauma and drama but the majority left you with a good ol' happy feeling. Contentment. After 75% your emotions go hey wire. I was mad, sad, happy, disappointed within the last chapters. For it to all end in a bang. And Yes, it does end with a happily ever after. This was the ultimate Rom-Com.

This story is about a women from Texas. Emma is an inspiring screenwriter, but more importantly she lives for love. Rom-coms are her complete life, obsession really. For the last 10 years she has been a caregiver to her Dad after a devastating accident. Her ex-boyfriend and agent sets her up on odd jobs but, are you sitting down, he offers the most craziest offer of a lifetime.

Cue, Charlie freaking Yates. He's handsome, charming, brilliant, amazingly cool in his corduroy pants and above all a talented screen writer. What's not to love, but the fact that Charlie doesn't get love.

This entire story is heart warming and filled with really good advice on life and love. You should really read this book!

Did I request the audiobook for a reread because of how much I love this book? I totally did. Patti Murin’s narration hs just so perfect for Center’s books and for Emma and her personality. I adored this book and just preordered a copy betI need a copy with pink spines for my shelf!

Since reading How to Walk Away, Katherine Center has been one of my favorite autobuy authors. If she writes it. I just read it and this was no different.

Despite the fact that this won’t be released until June, a group of friends and I dropped everything to read it. There is just something about Center’s writing that I just adore. Her characters are so relatable and have so much heart.

Emma goes to Hollywood to help her favorite screenwriter completely fix his latest play, a romcom which read nothing like a romcom. They had so many lessons that were sweet and absolutely hilarious. They had several moments that made me feel all the feels.

The caregiver storyline was a little heavier and broke my heart at times. I loved seeing Emma be able to have her own life as her sister found her niche.

Another amazing book by Katherine Center, I just love her books and couldn't put this one down. I laughed, cried and it stole my heart.

It's about two writers who have to rewrite a horrible love story and figure out how to work together without feeling for each other. Then life happens.

Thank you to NetGallery and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a cute book! I really enjoyed
Charlie and Emma’s slow road to romance (which you know I’m not a slow burn fan but it worked in this one) i felt like this book was so much more than a cute romance. There was finding self, grief, sacrifices, and overcoming fears. There was no spice but honestly i didn’t even care. #the banter between them was hilarious, Emma was super quirky, sunshine and deserved all the amazing thing. And Charlie was a grump that needed the sunshine. I definitely recommend adding this to your summer TBR.

Thank you @netgalley for the free arc in exchange for my honest review!

4 stars

In a world where het romance can be so cliche, boring, and frequently misogynistic, Katherine Center keeps showing up as a shining star in that all-too-frequent dark landscape. This most recent effort is another treat from a now proven author.

It's really hard to not want to root for Emma. She's had to sacrifice a lot because of an injury that incapacitated her father in fundamental ways years ago. So that her younger sister could go out and realize her dreams, Emma has mostly forgone hers, and this has kept her opportunities and experiences - romantically and otherwise - limited. When she gets the chance to work on a dream project (sort of) with a dream partner, external forces push her to go against her usual choices and take the opportunity. Enter Charlie, another likeable, if curmudgeonly, character.

There's a subtlety to this love story that makes it feel fresh. It's not overblown or saccharine, and the result is a compelling, character driven connection that keeps readers engaged and entertained from cover to cover. There are some health-related rollercoaster rides in here that some readers may want to be aware of (since this is a genre for escapism and some of this content might feel a little to raw...like a thing a reader might be trying to escape FROM) at times.

Added props to the audiobook narration. I recommend this format when and where available. I'm already looking forward to Center's next release!

The rom-commers ! I highly recommend
I felt so much depth and understanding reading the ebook and audiobook! All that has occurred for the main character as a child to now as an adult !
Her fear to live life and the fact she didn’t truly live the life she deserved for so long because she served her family so well! The pure and perfect love she gives everyone through out this book !
Oh and is she so funny, some how innocent to some of her thoughts and understanding of things. Not in a “blonde” way but in the way she thinks the best of everyone until she doesn’t !

Emma a screen writer that has no career but care taking, is given and opportunity of a life time from he ex bf!? This novel is about love loss and the complete and utter truth of feeling pain and love and life all at once ! It’s about living and pushing ur boundaries when u are afraid it’s about how u can’t live and love with no repercussions of pain , just wow Katherine center ! Just wow

I will start by saying in the nicest way possible, I didn't love Katherine Center's last two books, which was a damn shame because I have adored her books for quite some time. I am very happy to announce that she has got me again! This book tugged on my heart strings, made me smile, and appreciate the beauty of the human experience. The concept was nothing groundbreaking: two screenwriters fall in love while they work on rewriting a romcom script gone terribly wrong. One is cynical and does not believe in love, and the other is a hopeless romantic. Had I seen the summary and it was written by anyone else, I probably wouldn't even have bothered requesting the advanced reader copy, but there is something very comforting about Katherine's books. She always creates a world where terrible and tragic things can happen, but the journey is very sweet, and you are left feeling hopeful.

Emma is her dad’s caregiver. Charlie is her screenwriting idol. With a crazy twist, they are thrown together to write a rom-com.

Katherine Center is a guarantee mushy, warm fuzzy, rom-com read. This is no exception. I absolutely devoured this one. Binged it. Didn’t want it to end.
And maybe it’s just because my current life has been tainted with grief and sadness but this one made me feel really griefy. Some aspects hit too close to home but with the promise of a happy ending I could persevere. I am glad I did. I got what I was looking for.
Should you pick this HEA up? Yes. Will you enjoy it? I feel pretty certain you will. Is it easy and predictable and sugary sweet? Yes.
I am thankful for this ALC from @netgalley and @macmillan.audio bc it pulled me out of a deep reading slump.

Spice level: 🌶️/5
Audiobook: 🎧🎧🎧🎧/5

I LOVE LOVE LOVED this JOY of a book!! Their chemistry was so great. I was rooting for them from the get go. I really enjoyed the strength of Emma. She wasn’t afraid to speak her mind or do the right thing. I think we could all learn a thing or two from her. I loved how Charlie learned to love and to not be afraid of it and to muster the courage to do what was right and good and joyful.

It had a wonderful message of hope and joy and love. It makes me want to shout to the rooftops about how wonderful rom-coms are. Maybe if everyone read this book the world would be a happier place.

Also, y’all. Read the authors note. It was so great.

Katherine Center is an auto read, auto buy author for me. Her books always dig in deep and won’t let you go until the last page. And even then, they linger in your heart forevermore and I LOVE IT!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for this ARC! 🥰

Emma dreams of being a screenwriter. She gets a chance to re-write a romcom script for famous screenwriter Charlie Yates and moves to LA for six weeks. Charlie thinks love is an emotional Ponzi scheme, but Emma’s going to change his mind. It's very meta to read a romcom in which the characters are writing a romcom. It's a grumpy-sunshine situation and was such a slow burn that it I'm not sure you can even call it a romance? The book was unsuccessful in convincing me that these two characters like each other and have chemistry. The humor was completely cringe and had me feeling embarrassed for them instead of laughing. I would give this two stars personally, but looking at it objectively I'll raise it to three stars. As for the audio, Patti Murin did a great job and brought much-needed emotion and energy to the story.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing me with an advanced copy of this audiobook via NetGalley.

The Rom-Commers was a witty, banter filled romance, that unfortunately did not live up to the hype for me. Don't come at me, I love KC, but this one just did work for me for many reasons. It never truly grabbed me or kept my attention. It was such a slow burn for me. This is an unpopular opinion and I am highly aware.

Emma was honestly an annoying character, I couldn't relate to her at all. She made the dumbest decisions, tried to change a man that just did not care. She was so obsessed with him that it was borderline pathetic. Charlie was honestly horrible and mean, I did not like him at all. The chemistry between both of them I did not feel it at all.

I also felt like some things needed to be worked through by the characters and they never were. They just magically were “healed”, they needed more growth and it never happened. The romance aspect in this book truly did not work. I enjoyed the plot and the storyline of the screenplay development.

🎧 The narration by Katherine Center & Patti Murin was good, easy to follow. The emotions were felt through the pages and they were able to keep me listening even if I did not enjoy the book.

✨️ Thank you to @netgalley & @macmillanaudio for my gifted ALC in exchange for an honest review.

For many readers, including me, just seeing Katherine Cemter’s name on the cover of a book is enough to make it a must read. Center is a master of writing stories with good characters, plots that keep the pages turning and, most importantly, humor and heart. Readers come to care about her characters and their lives, almost as if they are real people. This book is no exception.

Emma is woman with unrealized dreams and potential. She works freelance on writing projects for her old high school boyfriend. Emma’s father was in a catastrophic accident and requires her to be around full time. Her sister has, in some ways, been living out Emma’s dreams. She has gotten to go away to college and is about to begin a prestigious internship as the story opens.

A plot twist then comes. Logan, the high school boyfriend, offers Emma a ghost writing job with her absolute idol, screenwriter, Charlie Yates. Let’s just say that Emma has an unbelievable crush on Charlie and his films. However, his latest attempt, an update of one of Emma’s favorite movies (It Happened One Night) is an absolute disaster.

So…Emma makes the necessary arrangements for what she thinks will be the job and experience of a lifetime and flies out to L.A. Okay…I’ve set the scene but don’t want to spoil the fun by saying anything else.

This book is a perfect summer read. Anyone who picks it up will be sorry to see it end.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

I both read and listened to this book, enjoying the audio when I was going for walks or doing household stuff. As a real treat, it is partly narrated by the author. The audio is excellent and invites the reader right in.

Either way (or both) that is chosen, here is a book to put on a must read list.

Many thanks to Macmillan Audio for this delightful listen.

Thank you for the ARC of this audiobook. This is a cute story and did actually have me laugh out loud at points. It’s cheesy and funny. Was good to listen to while at work.

This book is the coziest rom-com with all the classic tropes. I'm now busy researching old-timey movies and trying a new recipe. I love Katherine Center's passion for the genre and her adorable characters. I listened to the ARC audiobook through NetGalley, and I loved the narrator.

I was thrilled to get an advanced copy of the new Katherine Center book because I love her books. So, first of all thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan audio and the author for the ARC.

After a few "heavy" reads, I was ready for a rom com., and this one did not disappoint.

I just love this author and will always read her books.

Witty banter, screenwriters in Hollywood, celebrity romance, forced proximity, grief, cancer,

Emma has spent the past 10 years taking care of her dad, who was injured in a camping accident.

Logan, her high school boyfriend, now gay, living in LA and working as an agent. He schemes to connect Emma and Charlie to give them both a bump to ignite (or re-ignite) their careers.

Charlie is a famous screenwriter who has the yips (is off his game) and needs serious help on the rom-com he wrote.

Hilarity ensures since Charlie doesn’t know Emma is coming to help with his script (and stay at his house) and Emma finds out he doesn’t believe in love. There’s a guinea pig, ex-wife, line dancing, car accident & obviously romance.

The audiobook was an easy listen, and I loved the pacing, different dialects/voices and overall flow.

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center is a clean grumpy/sunshine romantic comedy about two writers, one who loves romance and the other who doesn’t believe in it. Emma and Charlie agree to work together to improve his terrible rom-com screenplay. They butt heads due to their differences in opinions about love and Emma makes it her goal to convince Charlie that he’s missing out on the magic of rom-coms.

This is the first book I have read by this author and it did not disappoint. I loved it! I loved all of the characters and the personal growth we saw from them. This story took me through roller coaster of emotions and I cried throughout the last quarter of the book. It’s funny, sweet, heartbreaking, and lighthearted all at the same time. Themes related to loss of a parent, caregiving, identity and self-worth, cancer are explored in a thoughtful way. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes rom-coms with a bit of substance.

The audiobook version narrator is Patti Murin. She does a great job narrating this book and I enjoyed listening to it as much as I enjoyed reading the physical copy.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for granting me this audiobook ARC in return for my honest review. This book is expected to be published on June 11, 2024.

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center is a clever and funny...Rom-Com. In case you weren't quite sure 😅. The hilarious banter between the main characters and deadpan humor had me giggling, and it made the book very entertaining.

Emma Wheeler is a talented writer who has put her life on hold to take care of her dad. Who, due to a rock climbing accident, is unable to care for himself. Logan, an ex-boyfriend tuned best friend, passes her small writing jobs from time to time. Until one day, he calls with the opportunity of a lifetime! He wants her to work with CHARLIE- FREAKING-YATES. Emma's favorite writer! His new screenplay is his first rom-com, and it is.... utterly, ridiculously ...terrible! It needs a complete overhaul, and Emma just happens to be an expert when it comes to rom-coms.
Yet when she shows up on his porch, he has no idea who she is and wants nothing to do with her. She goes all sassy, angry, on Logan, which Charlie admires, so he agrees she can have his guest room for one night while she sorts her plane ticket back home. Emma is brutally honest about why she thinks his screenplay sucks and Charlie decides he'll take a chance on her. They have just 6 short weeks to improve the screenplay, but in order to do so, Charlie has a few things to learn about writing a rom-com... and love itself.

Over the next few weeks, Emma and Charlie fall into an easy routine of writing, cooking, and researching topics worthy of rom-coms. It doesn't take long before Emma starts to fall for Charlie. Can real life mimic fiction? Can it live up to rom-com status??

The Rom-Commers is such a cute story. I listened to the audiobook, which was read by Patti Murin, and her voice has the tiniest bit of rasp that makes it incredibly honest and interesting. I love audiobooks, and I may or may not have already looked up a list of audiobooks narrated by Patti Murin for my future listening pleasure 🤣

Thank you #NetGalley, Macmillian Audio and author Katherine Center, for the opportunity to listen to an early copy of The Rom-Commers in exchange for an honest review. It was witty, sweet, and rom-commy is all the best ways! I love that it was about two writers and proving love exists! I'll definitely be recommending!