The Rom-Commers

The Rom-Commers is a highly anticipated book this summer so naturally I wanted to read it and was lucky to get an advanced copy from the publisher.

This contemporary romance story is a bit slow to get into its groove, but soon will sweep readers up in a charming story about love, navigating the bumps life throws at you and includes a few bits that made me laugh out loud.

I loved that Center incorporates a few of my favourite tropes into her story. Forced Proximity and Grumpy vs Sunshine are used well here with Charlie as a highly celebrated writer/misanthrope and Emma playing the chatty/sunshine role who has dreams of writing RomComs. I liked the couple but wanted a bit more. Getting a stronger lead up to the romance and more of Charlie's POV would have tipped this book into a 4 star for me. 

This was a cute romance with very low spice, a few good bits of banter and two characters who have a lot of emotional baggage to contend with. Center includes interesting themes of loss, resiliency and moving on, making this a bit less comedic and more of a dramatic book for me. 

While The Bodyguard remains my favourite book (and Jack Stapleton makes an appearance in this book!), this was a story that will hit readers in the feels this summer.

Note: One of the highlights of this book are the many quotes that I highlighted on my kindle. 

My Favourite Quotes:

"Kindness is a form of emotional courage."

"Whatever story you tell yourself about your life, that's the one that'll be true."

"Tragedy is a given. There is no version of human life that doesn't involve reams of it. The question is what we do in the face of it all."

"The whole trick to life. Be aggressively, loudly, unapologetically grateful."

"It's all about writing the very best story of your life. Not just how you live it - but how you choose to tell it."

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to St Martin's Press for the advanced copy of this book which was given in exchange for my honest review.

My Rating: 3.75 stars

Author: Katherine Center

Genre: RomCom

Type and Source: ebook from publisher via NetGalley

Publisher: St Martin's Press

First Published: June 11, 2024

Book Description from GoodReads: She’s rewriting his love story. But can she rewrite her own?

Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a screenwriter. She’s spent her life studying, obsessing over, and writing romantic comedies―good ones! That win contests! 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.” Worse, the romantic comedy he’s written is so terrible it might actually bring on the apocalypse. Plus! He doesn’t even care about the script―it’s just a means to get a different one green-lit. Oh, and he thinks love is an emotional Ponzi scheme.

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―even if she has to kiss him senseless to do it. But . . . what if that kiss is accidentally amazing? What if real life turns out to be so much . . . more real than fiction? What if the love story they’re writing breaks all Emma’s rules―and comes true?