The Rom-Commers — Books, Beauty, & Buys

By: Katherine Center
Published Year: 2024
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pages: 336

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this novel.

Summary (Provided by 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?

First Impressions

I love Katherine Center. She manages to find the perfect balance of romance and serious. I also am a sucker for enemies to lovers. The cover is very cute, even if I would’ve personally done a little less variety of colors. But honestly, Center will forever be an auto read for me.

What I thought

This book did not disappoint.

Emma is a ghost screenwriter. She wanted to be a screenwriter, but then her dad had an injury and she had to become his caretaker. When she gets an offer to co-write with her favorite screenwriter (think, picture posted to her wall level of favorite), she can’t turn it down. But when she shows up, he turns out to be a little less than willing to work with somebody, let alone an unknown. His rom-com script is also the worst thing Emma has ever read, and she realizes it’s because he doesn’t believe in rom-coms or in love. So she decides it’s her job to prove him wrong on all accounts.

What I loved most about this book was how transparent it was. A lot of romance novels hinge on silly miscommunications that don’t get resolved or people believing that someone else thinks a certain way about them. Rom-Commers doesn’t stand on this trope. There are some miscommunications or overheard conversations, but Emma immediately confronts them. It still lends itself to conflict, but felt more realistic and complex which I greatly enjoyed.

Emma is a wonderfully written character as well. She is multidimensional with her history and strength, balanced by her passion and her weaknesses. Charlie, the screenwriter, is also a fun character. A lot of the time, Center will save the exposure of a trauma until the end of the story. In this book, she drops it all on you pretty quickly. It shows why Charlie is the way he is and why he might be hesitant, as opposed to Emma just being like “why is this guy being so difficult?!”

It was also fun getting some characters from previous novels in this one. I always enjoy when characters come back. This book made me smile and want to watch a ton of rom-coms, so I think it did its job.