The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center

A Five-Star Book Review

It’s a rarity that I give a romantic comedy five stars, but here you go. The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center earned 5 stars (highly recommend) and a place in my 2024 Hall of Fame Book Collection. Read on to find out why.

Summary of The Rom-Commers (No Spoilers)

Emma Wheeler has given up all her dreams of becoming a screenwriter to care for her dad and ensure that her younger sister has the life she wants. But Logan, Emma’s ex and a current Hollywood A-list manager, calls to often Emma the chance of a lifetime—fix a rom-com script written by her idol Charlie Yates—her family insists that she take the opportunity. Soon, Emma finds herself at Charlie’s doorstep and discovers she doesn’t just have to fix the terrible script, she has to convince Hollywood’s most-famed screenwriter that love is real.

What I Enjoyed about The Rom-Commers

The Rom-Commers is a book that I can easily see translated to the screen. Katherine Center writes exceptionally well, and I loved the scenarios Emma and Charlie find themselves in.

• Most of all, I loved Emma and Charlie together. Both have traumatic pasta that I won’t detail here to avoid spoilers. But their opposite personalities click from the beginning, and their character arcs are real-life believable.
• Emma may be one of my favorite heroines to-date. She’s headstrong with plenty of talent to back up her opinions, but she’s given up on her dreams to care for others. I could relate to her hyper-vigilante tendencies to protect herself from worry, and I loved that Center brought in mental health issues like anxiety to make Emma a realistic main character, not a swooning, weak woman who needed Charlie to make all the decisions for her.
• And then there’s the rom-com aspect. I can poke hole in most tropes all day long, but Center is a master about writing romance without blasting you in the face with “enemies-to-lovers” or “forced proximity.” The romance felt natural here, as did the comedic scenarios and witty banter between the two talented writers.

My Final Thoughts about The Rom-Commers

If you’re looking for a fun read about two people falling in love despite vastly different viewpoints, The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center is the book you should add to your list. It’s sweet and life-affirming, and it emphasizes that love can happen at any time, no matter what the past and no matter what the future might bring.