The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center

Narrated by Patti Murin

Standalone Contemporary Romance

I adored The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center. When I finished it I thought it was 5 stars all the way, but as I sit here writing my review and looking at the notes I took while listening, I can’t really give it a full 5 stars. For me, there can be nothing in the dislikes column for a 5-star read, but there were a few little things I didn’t 100% vibe with in this book, which you will see in the dislikes section below.

“If you wait for people to light you up, then I guess you’re at the mercy of darkness.”

Emma Wheeler has spent the last 10 years as her father’s caregiver after he was disabled in an accident. She put her dreams of being a rom-com screenwriter aside and had to turn down some amazing opportunities, but she loves her dad and is devoted to his round-the-clock care. Her sister is now graduating and can step in if needed, so it’s perfect timing when Emma gets the opportunity of a lifetime.

Charlie Yates is one of the most famous screenwriters in the world, and he is also Emma’s idol and celebrity crush. He writes action movies, but was forced to write a rom-com and it absolutely sucked. He doesn’t write with anyone and doesn’t want help even though he needs it. Charlie and Emma share the same agent, who convinced Emma to upend her whole life to come to LA to re-write the awful rom-com with Charlie. But did Charlie know?

“Are you trying to put frozen peas on my ass?”
“It’s julienned mixed vegetables,” I said, like I beg your pardon.

Charlie was a dick at first, but he won me over. His problem was that he didn’t believe in love or romance, so how could he write it? Well it was up to Emma to teach him. This created some amazing banter, and I love banter in my romance!

“Because love is something you can learn. Love is something you can practice. It’s something you can choose to get good at. And here’s how you do it. Appreciate your person.
That’s it.
Well—first be sure to choose a good person. But we’re all good people here.
Choose a good, imperfect person who leaves the cap off the toothpaste, and puts the toilet paper roll on upside down, and loads the dishwasher like a ferret on steroids—and then appreciate the hell out of that person. Train yourself to see their best, most delightful, most charming qualities. Focus on everything they’re getting right. Be grateful—all the time—and laugh the rest off.”

There was a LOT of emotion and some tragedy in The Rom-Commers. If you have triggers, you may want to check the warnings, It brought me to tears more than once, but I still found myself smiling for the majority of the book. The narrator breaks down the fourth wall several times to explain things to the reader, and I love that, especially in audiobooks. It wasn’t until I finished the book and thought about my rating that I realized it was a closed-door romance. I was so into the story, that I didn’t notice there was no sex!

Likes:

Brought out every single emotion. I laughed, cried, got angry, got sad, got happy, and more.
After some initial dislike, I loved both MCs.
I loved the secondary characters, especially her father.
Her teaching him about love and romance and him catching on quickly.
A lot of broken 4th wall
The way they wrote together.
Amazing banter.
A unique pet.
A cameo from The Bodyguard.
The bonus scene (audiobook only) from his POV.
I loved the author note (audiobook only).

Dislikes:

She pushed herself on him after he said no and she scoffed at consent.
Emma let him get away with being a douche-canoe too much.
She seemed to enjoy being a martyr and I didn’t like the way she spoke to her sister.
He was always ‘Charlie Yates’, not just Charlie.

The Narration:

The narrator sounded like she had a cold in the second half of the book. But she did a good job for the most part. I especially loved the cameo in the epilogue. I think you can either read or listen for the same enjoyment.

The Down & Dirty:

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center is one of my favorite books of the year despite a few things I didn’t love. Those few things just weren’t enough to make me dislike the overall tone of the book. Until I looked over my notes to write this review, The Rom-Commers was a 5-star read in my head. I didn’t want it to end and I ended up slowing the narration a little so it wouldn’t end so quickly. I have a feeling there will be a great divide on this book—people will either love it or hate it, but I think most will love it!

Rating: 4.5 Stars, 0 Heat, 3.5 narration