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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?
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?
Title: The Rom-Commers
Author: Katherine Center
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Expected Publication Date: June 11, 2024
Review:
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an egalley of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
Katherine Center is quickly becoming one of my favorite chick lit/contemporary romance authors. Her books are fun and funny, with just enough quirk in her main characters to make them extremely endearing and relatable. And this book, THIS BOOK!, is my most favorite by her to date!
Emma Wheeler has spent her life wanting to write screenplays. But her obligation to caring for her disabled father has taken the front seat to her dream. When she's given a chance to help rewrite a rom-com screenplay for one of the most famous screenplay writers, Charlie Yates, she jumps at it, even with the fear in her mind that something can go horribly wrong while her sister cares for their father. She and Charlie click and the screenplay begins to take shape, as she teaches him the meaning of romance, and they slowly form a closer bond. But when there is an emergency in her family, Emma knows she must put them first and leave Charlie behind, even if her heart tells her it will break if she does.
I first have to say how many times I laughed in this book. SO. MANY. TIMES. Literally laughing out loud and getting strange looks from those around me. But I didn't care because to say Center thoroughly entertained me would be an understatement. Her ability to write hilarious scenes with intriguing dialogue and characters who tear at your hear strings is amazing. I was thoroughly enchanted by the story line and the characters from the very start. And my heart was cheering for a happily ever after, though it seemed an impossible task.
The writing style is so much fun. Mostly because Center has the FMC, Emma, talking to her audience. I have rarely seen this done in books and have always worried this would not work well. But it works so well for this book. It really helps the reader to form a connection with the FMC. It made me totally invested in the story. It was as if she were my friend and she was telling me the greatest story of her life.
Emma Wheeler's character is fiercely loyal to family. Her tragic past shapes her future. I want to take her in my arms and just give her the biggest hug, tell her everything will be alright, tell her she's not at fault for things, and tell her to just live her life and not feel so guilty. She never puts herself first. And it's always in the back of her mind that her tragic past is her fault and she has to somehow make up for what she thinks she's done. At the same time, she has a let's make lemonade out of these lemons attitude. She can see the good in situations outside of her own. And her determination to teach this to Charlie is unsurpassed.
Charlie Yates would seem to have it all: great career at a young age with many awards to show for it, a nice house, and plenty of money. But he's lonely, and a recluse, and doesn't believe in the good things in life. He's been hurt too many times to think that you can make lemonade out of lemons. When he meets Emma, he's determined to not change his mind. He's closed off to any possibility of happiness. But she slowly unravels his grump tendencies and he begins to realize there is more to life than the tragedies that happen to us.
It was easy for me to fall quickly in love with both Charlie and Emma. Their characters are unique and unconventional.
And the supporting characters are a lot of fun. Emma's dad, who is disabled but has the most amazing outlook on life. Emma's carefree sister, Sylvie, with whom she has a best friend relationship. Logan, Emma's ex boyfriend and friend, who has the best quote in the book: "You're lonely. He's lonely. It's like an incubator for fornication." T.J., Emma's nemesis and fellow screen writer. And a slew of other fun side characters to show what the Hollywood screen writing and acting scene is like. And, best of all, Jack Stapleton, from The Bodyguard, makes an appearance and it's lovely how it ties the books together (though you can read this as a stand alone as it does not make a true difference to the story line). I loved them all.
I truly had a hard time putting this one down. And when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it and thinking about how I could get back to it. The pacing was perfect. I truly enjoyed the build between the male and female main characters. And I appreciate Center building a romance but not using spice. Don't get me wrong, I love some spice, but she makes the romantic connection through dialogue and situation and it's really just quite perfect.
Center does address a few topics that are sensitive; cancer diagnosis, tragic loss of a family member, and psychological child abuse. But she does so with great care and mastery adding lighthearted banter and situations where possible to even it all out. She also helps the reader see the bright side of things that can hurt us. Her story both ripped my heart out and healed it all at once. And I love how she doesn't sugarcoat things and shows romance from the imperfect side of things.
This book is about life and loss, love and tragedy, and understanding things happen but those things ultimately can shape you into a better person. It's full of life lessons that we all need to learn.
5 stars
Author:
BookPage calls Katherine Center “the reigning queen of comfort reads.” She’s the New York Times bestselling author of eleven novels, including The Bodyguard, Hello Stranger, Things You Save in a Fire, and her summer 2024 book, The Rom-Commers. Katherine writes laugh-and-cry books: bittersweet romantic comedies about how life knocks us down—and how we get back up. She’s been compared to both Jane Austen and Nora Ephron, and the Dallas Morning News calls her stories, “satisfying in the most soul-nourishing way.” The Netflix movie adaptation of her novel Happiness for Beginners—starring Ellie Kemper and Luke Grimes—just hit the Global Top Ten in 81 countries, and the movie of her novel The Lost Husband was a surprise Netflix sensation in 2020, hitting number one and landing in their top 25 movies for the year. Her books have made countless Best-Of lists—at Audible, BookBub, and Book of the Month, as well as Goodreads' Best Books of the Year, and Amazon's yearly Top 100 books. Emily Henry calls The Bodyguard “my perfect 10 of a book,” and Jodi Picoult says of Things You Save in a Fire, “Just read it, and thank me later.” Katherine lives in her hometown of Houston, Texas, with her husband, two almost-grown teenagers, and their fluffy-but-fierce dog.
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