As a reader, I do think we all have a certain inborn directive intuition that leads us to or away from books. The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center is one of those books for me. My heart lead me straight to it and I just felt this was a book I would truly enjoy… one that I had to read.
The Rom-Commers is both unlike anything I’ve ever read and at the same time, was simmering with this underlying vein of familiarity that stayed ‘til the very last word. There’s something cosy, warm and moving about this story of a young amateur screenwriter who’s talented but pushed to a corner in life, who then gets something of a break when asked to work with her favourite (and very famous) screenwriter.
The Rom-Commers reads like an interesting and perfect blend between a book and a movie. The author has, somehow, pulled in elements you’d find in a movie and tied those with the aspects you’d find in a book and managed to pull it off. The best kind of books are those that play on the back of your mind until you finish them; so any quick break you need to take from them only further fills your mind about them. The Rom-Commers was one of those books for me and perhaps that’s why I finished this book in nearly one sitting.
I would describe Center’s book as a heavily character driven narrative. Written in single person perspective, The Rom-Commers delves into the psyche, circumstance and life of Emma Wheeler, the FMC of this story. With humour, anxiety, courage, and emotion, Emma draws the reader in with every single thought in her mind, telling her story in a non-linear fashion that works with a charm that I’ve found only in some other romantic comedies I’ve read thus far. Her story is tinged with a note of sadness and pain that you can’t look past, even before you discover the reason for it. However, her voice is coated with grit, smart quips and a strong sense of duty that will touch your heart without doubt.
The MMC, Charlie Yates, was a wonderful character to watch interact with our heroine. The book—almost like a movie here—showcases a bunch of snippets of their interactions; each one building on its predecessor until there’s almost a beautiful canvas of friendship painted before the reader. One of my favourite tropes in a book is watching two strangers becoming friends and then something more and The Rom-Commers truly hit the mark for me on that front. Another aspect of this book that stood out to me was watching the main characters interact with one another with what’s-evident-to-the-reader as an imbalance in power (work experience-wise) and how beautifully that was handled. This encapsulates a large part of the first half of the book.
It took me by surprise that there were quite a few secondary characters in this story. The surprise was because I didn’t realise it; as each and every one of them was so well defined and fit so wonderfully in their roles, it never felt like there were too many. I would say they were definitely props in their own way to the primary characters and their story (I mean, who isn’t?), but they bring their own little something to their scenes that’s hard to miss or forget. There’s lots of interesting relationships that The Rom-Commers has, from siblings to exes, to friends and rivals and the characters working with and around them is an equally important part of their journey in this book.
The plot of this story is as simple as it’s complex. Just like any other book in it’s genre The Rom-Commers is about two very unlikely people finding out just how likely they are to never want to spend another day without the other. This, of course, is an over-simplification of any rom-com. The emotional complexities that make them who they are, the circumstances and fears that pull them apart, the traumas and vulnerabilities that bond them and how all this is written is what makes or breaks any book. There were many of these in The Rom-Commers and the way some of them squeeze your heart…you may not be ready for.
Center did a fantastic job creating, developing and nurturing the many plot threads that make this book what it is. I followed each and every thread with anticipation, sometimes fear and most times excitement and couldn’t wait to see where they would lead us. The pace at which all these threads drag us along is wonderfully even—dare I say, fast—and builds with the promise of a mighty conclusion. However, this is the only place for me that the book felt like a movie in a way that didn’t work 100% for me. Like in a movie, there were some gaps in the way some things were resolved. Big fights or drastic decisions that dredge up a lot of past trauma sometimes fell a little on the side of swift resolution that bordered on not being dealt with, both internally by the character and externally within relationships.
However, what I’m very grateful for is a good parent representation that I will forever hold close to my heart. The Rom-Commers is a sweet clean romance with lots of fluff, however it deals with many difficult topics including, but not limited to, emotional trauma and major health struggles that I hadn’t realised was a part of it. Please read all the trigger warnings before starting this book.
The Rom-Commers is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of June 11th 2024.
Will you be picking up The Rom-Commers? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
The New York Times bestselling author Katherine Center’s next laugh out loud, feel good rom-com about writing your own story.
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?
